Metal Magic, A Heavy Metal Magical Tradition Options

[Weldûn]

♪ Dio can you hear me? I am lost and so alone, Im asking for your guidance wont you come down from your throne. ♪

A short prayer in the church of metal

Possession or Materialization is a tricky one...
Becoming metal incarnate is fitting... But so is summoning some ridicolous monster only fit for an album cover...

Fortunately, not all traditions are one or the other, so I've put this to a matter of choice.

[TeOdio]

There already is a Metal Tradition. The Norse tradition. FREYA!

[Lionhearted]

How's invoking the goddess of fertility metal?

[Stahlseele]

YO I'M A BLONDE MOTHERFUCKER AND I WORSHIP THOR
I'M GUNNA USE MY AXE BUST DOWN YOUR DOOR
SCREAMING VALHALLA AT THE TOP OF MY LUNGS
I GOT PHAT RHYMES AND I SPEAK IN TONGUES
RAGNAROK THE PARTY LIKE A VALHALLA PARTY
RAGNAROK THE PARTY LIKE A VALHALLA PARTY
NORSE. (crazy motherfucker with a longship baby)
NORSE. (gunna kick your ass and I don't mean maybe)
NORSE. (crazy motherfucker with a longship baby)
NORSE (LONG BLONDE HAIR THAT IS SOFT AND WAVY)

[Falconer]

Lets see... possession check... 3 of the 5 best spirits known in the game with no good reason for any of them... check...

Classic exercise in full blown munchkinism and powergaming.

[O'Ryan]

3 of the 5 best spirits known in the game with no good reason for any of them... check...

None of the 5 best spirits showed up! I didn't see Mantis, Wasp, Ant, Roach OR Spider! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Edit: Or radiation. (No armor and you WILL die in 24 hours without treatment if exposed to force 9+. You can't say that's not awesome!)
"Munchkinism" and "powergaming" both seem a little strong, in this instance.

[Falconer]

Not strong at all... the spirits you just listed are toxic... and not available to PC's.

The spirits in street magic + spirits of man are all noticably stronger than the other spirit types. You'll notice that most posted traditions make far heavier use of those than the ones in the starting book. Think about the reason for that..

Possession is almost always tops on the munchkin charts... especially when both guardian AND task spirits are involved (instant magical skillwires with almost any skill combat or technical... and the type is charisma, which means it makes sense to buy the social charisma skills anyhow for the char).

So lets see... here
Combat: Fire (Fire)
Detection: Beasts (Beasts)
Health: Guardian (Noise)
Illusion: Man (Blood)
Manipulation: Task (Metal)


Fire makes sense, beasts makes sense, noise is nebulous... but guardian doesn't reaally fit except as a powergaming choice, same goes for blood... water is a far better fit, and metal once again... earth. task or guidance makes more sense for noise..

[Tymeaus Jalynsfe...]

There already is a Metal Tradition. The Norse tradition. FREYA!

Only You Te0dio... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Weldûn]

Lets see... possession check... 3 of the 5 best spirits known in the game with no good reason for any of them... check...

Classic exercise in full blown munchkinism and powergaming.

Hey, how about posting a suggestion BEFORE simply labeling this as "munchkinism and powergaming."

The spirits in street magic + spirits of man are all noticably stronger than the other spirit types. You'll notice that most posted traditions make far heavier use of those than the ones in the starting book. Think about the reason for that..

Far heavier? I use two, instead of one. So fucking sue me.

Possession is almost always tops on the munchkin charts... especially when both guardian AND task spirits are involved (instant magical skillwires with almost any skill combat or technical... and the type is charisma, which means it makes sense to buy the social charisma skills anyhow for the char).

Any combat or technical skill, per 3 force of the spirit. And that overrides ALL the host's skills. So you'd have to REALLY want that particular skill RIGHT THEN AND THERE.

And I gave my reasons for choosing Charisma over Intuition in the OP. If I went with INT, you'd have Metal Mages who were by default, Metal GODS, as the artisan skill (singing, playing musical instruments) comes off of... Intuition. Yes, a Metal Mage should be inspiring. Should they be artistic geniuses?

So lets see... here
Combat: Fire (Fire)
Detection: Beasts (Beasts)
Health: Guardian (Noise)
Illusion: Man (Blood)
Manipulation: Task (Metal)

Fire makes sense, beasts makes sense, noise is nebulous... but guardian doesn't reaally fit except as a powergaming choice, same goes for blood... water is a far better fit, and metal once again... earth. task or guidance makes more sense for noise..

Again, Guardian fits only as they're linked to Health Spells. They way you put it, that would be the ONLY reason to do it, which is just ridiculous in it's generalization. That said, I agree that it's not the best choice, but that's because noise is nebulous, as you put it. Water is not a good fit for Blood because what blood symbolizes in this tradition is the heat of emotion and the power of the music flowing through the listener. Hence why the element is tied to Illusion Spells and hence why they are Spirits of Man.

Still, you've raised a good point with the Task Spirits on Metal. I got caught up in the imagery given for them in the book, and I really shouldn't have allowed that. Looking back on it now, after having tweaked it over the last couple of months, I agree that Spirits of Earth fit the slot in a far better manner than Task Spirits. And as for Noise... Yeah. Guidance. Not Guardian.

Now, off to edit the OP again. Thanks for the input.

[Falconer]

Weldun... when you've seen as many people trying to play fast and loose with the rules... it's hard not to call a spade a spade. Normally they have certain things which make them easy to spot... intuition is the most common custom drain attribute (it dovetails with assensing, resisting astral combat, and a whole bunch of other magical activities such as being the stat which resists spells when willpower or body isn't). They normally normally use spirits of men and the ones from Street Magic because those 5 are generally considered more potent than the elementals and beast spirits.

I wasn't criticizing your choice of charisma it makes sense.


And yes possession is full of problems for the GM. Get the metamagic which allows you control your own body while possessed. Channeling. And by strict RAW you have access to both the spirits skills and your own. Not only that the spirit not only augments your physical attributes but replaces your mental AND special attributes (magic and edge) for all purposes except resisting spells cast at you... then you use the lower. So yes you summon a force 6 task spirit on the fly with two skills you don't have and possess yourself with channeling and you have them too.

I don't believe they intended for the vast majority of that. but that is how they wrote the rules for possession and how the channeling metamagic alters them.

[Weldûn]

Weldun... when you've seen as many people trying to play fast and loose with the rules... it's hard not to call a spade a spade. Normally they have certain things which make them easy to spot... intuition is the most common custom drain attribute (it dovetails with assensing, resisting astral combat, and a whole bunch of other magical activities such as being the stat which resists spells when willpower or body isn't). They normally normally use spirits of men and the ones from Street Magic because those 5 are generally considered more potent than the elementals and beast spirits.

I wasn't criticizing your choice of charisma it makes sense.


And yes possession is full of problems for the GM. Get the metamagic which allows you control your own body while possessed. Channeling. And by strict RAW you have access to both the spirits skills and your own. Not only that the spirit not only augments your physical attributes but replaces your mental AND special attributes (magic and edge) for all purposes except resisting spells cast at you... then you use the lower. So yes you summon a force 6 task spirit on the fly with two skills you don't have and possess yourself with channeling and you have them too.

I don't believe they intended for the vast majority of that. but that is how they wrote the rules for possession and how the channeling metamagic alters them.

Fair 'nuff. As I said, I've adjusted the OP to reflect the new spirit selections. And having the choice of Possession and Manifestation is simply one of theme, they both make sense for the tradition.