Physical Mages in 2nd/1st Ed, Did they exist, and how did they work? Options

[Kakkaraun]

I finally found a use for the topic description line ;).

Anywho, one complaint I've always had about magician's way adepts is that they're adepts first, mages second...and what I'm wondering is, did they work differently in earlier editions, maybe in a fashion more to my liking?

Thanks.

[Talia Invierno]

They were introduced in Awakenings (late 2nd edition).

Although the structure was slightly different (they were classified as a variant of full magician, not adept), the end result was effectively the same as that of the 3rd edition: astral access traded for access to physical adept abilities on a point-by-point Magic trade-off.

It was recommended that the class be limited to NPCs.

[Kakkaraun]

Shite. Oh well. Looks like sustaining foci and Increase Reflexes +3 :(.

(As opposed to the adept power, see. :))

[blakkie]

[Kakkaraun]

I wanted to build a very fast mage, that's the thing. Not, like, munchie fast. But fast.

[Herald of Verjig...]

Gecko crawl. At force 6 with 6 successes and natural unaltered magic rating, you can skitter at 36 meters per combat turn. That's equivalent to a human with a quickness of 12, that's pretty fast.

(yes, you don't mean movement speed, you mean action speed, fine)

Either pay the cash and have some magic loss, or go with the reaction and reflex boosting magic and sustaining foci.

[blakkie]

[Kakkaraun]

7 Q, 6 Int. Increase Reflexes +3 makes the initiative be...okay...6+4d6. Yum. And there's plenty of ways to easily raise that Reaction by one, thus eliminating the very freakish possibility of a one-Phase combat turn ;).

Okay, as long as we're on the subject, how easy is it to dispell that (I'm rusty, I've just returned from a year-long gaming hiatus)? Let's say we toss it into a force 3 Sustaining focus (which isn't too bright, astrally, right?), and get...3 successes. Is it likely that any sec-mage is going to just...flomp it? And is it reasonable to walk around all day with that focus active?

[tisoz]

[mfb]

a neat trick i'm working on is anchoring an instant-draw spell to my weapon, linked to a Detect Melee Attack Directed At Me spell. once that's done, i'll link a personal-range Redirect spell to it as well (maximum L drain = teh guud!).

[Kakkaraun]

Here's a foci question. I can't seem to remember how this works...when you deactivate a focus, it's a free action...if you deactivate a sustaining focus, do you have to recast the spell? And finally, it's a simple action to reactivate a focus, right?

Oh, and are there any canon rules for tattoo foci (not quickening)? I seem to remember something about that.

[TinkerGnome]

If you deactivate a sustaining focus, the spell dissipates. If you want to turn it back on, you need to take an exclusive complex action to recast the spell into it (following normal sorcery & drain rules).

[Kakkaraun]

Oi.

But hey, you do need LOS to dispell a foci, right? Or do you just need to be able to see it on the astral?

[TinkerGnome]

Neither. You just have to be able to see the target of the spell and be on the same plane.

[blakkie]