A World Without Reagents, What could go wrong? Options

[shonen_mask]

For pure convience only?

Regents add a playable aspect to magic use and give the magic system some depth. So spending more on regents can be like having better augmentations.

Or just denying access to regents which seem easier than denying characters their cyber and bio.....

[Tymeaus Jalynsfe...]

For pure convience only?

Regents add a playable aspect to magic use and give the magic system some depth. So spending more on regents can be like having better augmentations.

Or just denying access to regents which seem easier than denying characters their cyber and bio.....

What playable aspect do the actually add. Magic is already playable without reagents.

[Chrome Head]

For pure convience only?

Regents add a playable aspect to magic use and give the magic system some depth. So spending more on regents can be like having better augmentations.

Or just denying access to regents which seem easier than denying characters their cyber and bio.....

A playable aspect? Like TJ says, magic is already playable without reagents.

Depth? Maybe if the drawback was more than monetary. Say to use reagents you have to spend a complex action preparing them before you can cast with them. Maybe that could make them more appealing to me. But right now, just spending some cash can greatly change the whole way magic works. It's a small drawback, really. And I don't see how I could ever like holding a force 1, 8 success spell in a force 1 sustaining focus.

[shonen_mask]

Never said it was not palyable. It will be the easiest point for characters and GM's to alter how magic actually works for one instance to the next, if at all...... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cool.gif)

[shonen_mask]

And how would one explain away the rarity of magic using folk versus the technological faithful?

Sure, you can just make some obscene modifier to casting or put reagents in to give roleplaying some flavor....

[Tymeaus Jalynsfe...]

And how would one explain away the rarity of magic using folk versus the technological faithful?

Sure, you can just make some obscene modifier to casting or put reagents in to give roleplaying some flavor....

I see no actual roleplaying flavor in Reagents. Probably because I have been using Fetishes and "reagents" in my Spellcasting (SR4A) for years without needing to have a mechanical benefit from/for them. *shrug*

[Moirdryd]

I like reagents and the way they work in the core rules for SR5. I've been playing with Fetishes since SR3 and while I think the agin represented in any version before SR4 is by far superior SR5's system shows that it has room to grow into an interesting system all of its own. Sure if you do away with Limits the you don't need them, but that's a Houserule, limits are part of SR5. It offers a way for nuyen cost of bypassing the limiter of Force with out Edge, it's a game changer certainly but not a game breaker and it means mages have to bring tools along for the job if they want to go that little bit further without relying purely on luck.

The edition is still new and who knows what the supplement books will introduce to the rulesets? It wouldn't be the first time in shadowrun when a core system has been drastically added to and modified in its own focused sub book. With the promise of the Traditions becoming more as they were before the universal magic thing there is plenty of space for development.

[Shemhazai]

I agree with the idea of needing to spend a simple action to prepare reagents for use. I don't think you should be able to have a backpack full of them to use as "ammo" without taking them in your hand in some way.

I also think that anyone spotting you using a reagent would have a much easier time knowing that you are using magic. "I wonder what that's for?"

I also think that discarded reagents, like "magical dust" would have the astral fingerprint of whoever used it to perform a magical effect, not to mention actual fingerprints on more tangible items.

Going further, orichalcum should be dense, full of mana and easy to transport. Other reagents should be bigger and bulkier, like an ostrich wing or something. (Okay, maybe not that.)

[shonen_mask]

I agree with the idea of needing to spend a simple action to prepare reagents for use. I don't think you should be able to have a backpack full of them to use as "ammo" without taking them in your hand in some way.

I also think that anyone spotting you using a reagent would have a much easier time knowing that you are using magic. "I wonder what that's for?"

I also think that discarded reagents, like "magical dust" would have the astral fingerprint of whoever used it to perform a magical effect, not to mention actual fingerprints on more tangible items.

Going further, orichalcum should be dense, full of mana and easy to transport. Other reagents should be bigger and bulkier, like an ostrich wing or something. (Okay, maybe not that.)

Full of mana true and they represent a cultural focus to me....

I like the idea of mostly mineral based reagents, and natural or not should fit in one hand. Anything larger can be represented by the foci or lodge....

[xsansara]

On a technical side, you certainly don't unbreak the problem with spells cast at low Force, but with many hits, because you can still circumvent the limit with Edge. So, you would have to forbid that, too.

I don't GM currently, but when I do again, I will discuss with my players to have reagents allow you to shift dice from Spellcasting to Drain or vice versa. Sort of like a comeback of the good old magic pool. This would allow you to cast small spells safer or really burn yourself, when you feel you need it. Nothing a beginner would need, but later on, you have a much easier time to stack the Spellcasting pool than the Drain. Capped at your skill (Spellcasting or whatever), I would think.

But this has to be discussed before even making chars, because the F1 exploit is pretty central to many magic builds.

[Tanegar]

On a technical side, you certainly don't unbreak the problem with spells cast at low Force, but with many hits, because you can still circumvent the limit with Edge. So, you would have to forbid that, too.

Using Edge isn't nearly as broken, because Edge is a severely limited resource. If you use it for nothing else but breaking the Force Limit, you can do that a maximum of six times, seven if you splurged on Exceptional Attribute. But really, how many Mr. Lucky magicians do you see? Using reagents, you can cast no-Limit spells all night long, at a trivial cost.