Grounding Spells through Foci, Can it still be done? Options

[Fortune]

None of the Corps have Astral patrols in your games?

[Jrayjoker]

I do more street level stuff. Gangs, Mafia, some mom and pop corps. No A, AA, or AAA yet. Believe me, as soon a this crew is ready they will be in for it big time.

[Fortune]

Well, another drawback would be that anything magical, whether that be Spells, Foci, Formuli, or what-have-you that is over Force 2 is illegal without a permit.

[LinaInverse]

So are most Pistols, Cyberwear, Rifles, Biowear, and other gear. I don't see people avoiding them because of legality issues.

[Jrayjoker]

Also, knowing a spell is easier to conceal than a sniper rifle.

[Canid13]

But having it in an Anchoring focus isn't, not on the astral.

[Mugzy]

Agreed J. With Optical Vision mag and a manabolt spell, a mage can snipe away happily, with almost nary a thought.

Don't get me wrong, I love playing mages, but I have to say, without something to equalize rampant focus use (besides addiction.. thats not that bad really), and without making all mages take bio-rejection from square one, its no wonder it seems over half of the people creating characters on here are spellslingers.

Mages were powerful enough already before drain codes were pussed out and grounding was surreptitiously not included.

Legality isnt really the answer. Most players dont care if they're equipped with mil-spec cyberware that would get them thrown in the can for the rest of their lives, so making force 3 and higher illegal wont do anything.

A grounding metamagic or something similar would be great. Even using a mana spell, like manaball through it to effect those non-awakened guys or non astral people using too many foci for their own good would be great. Masking should have a purpose beyind showing off most of the time anyway....

[Jrayjoker]

I don't think everyone here makes mages. I think a lot of people here aren't afraid of the extra rules and inherent complexity of mages, etc.

What mages should do IMHO is wait for metamagic masking before using focuses, and masking the hell out of them when they are in use. Same with quickened spells. That will put a damper on their use and limit focus addiction quite nicely.

Of course, who's players would ever do that?

[BitBasher]

[GrinderTheTroll]

[bitrunner]

eh, i couldn't remember off the top of my head if it was mana or physical - i just remember it had to be AOE...

i'm a big advocate though of doing anything that will level the playing field where magic is concerned - even if it takes other magic to do it...so i hope something like Grounding can be established.

if nothing else, having too many quickened spells and foci that aren't masked should lure in astral entities that are curious or hungry - after all, i came up with Strain III, it must be about time for Strain IV - quicker, more mobile...kinda like the vapor vampire that was on the old Star Trek series - ahh, decend over a mage, suck his foci and quickened spells dry...i'll sleep good tonight! :wobble:

[Kanada Ten]

If mages are such a problem in your games then perhaps you should consider altering the F/2 drain to straight Force.

I would hate to see Grounding come back in it's old form, though I previously suggested a Metamagic similar to Possession that allows a projecting magician to posses active foci to overcome the supposed problem.

[bitrunner]

that's exactly what i did in my home campaign - but i can't do that in Missions - it's canon...ya gotta take the bad with the good....

[fistandantilus4....]

I prefer tto use the grounding rules. If nothing else, it makes mages think twice before quickening a F8 armor spell and an incresed reflexes +3D6 to themselves. karma can be earned back, but the idea of being picked off from the Astral plane when you're not paying attention can and does make them think twice.
Even having it as metamagic really cuts back on that. It's not as scary if only the elite can do it.

[Mugzy]

I've been playin SR for a while, since late first edition, but what Ive run into in the world of online SR has been a completely different ball o' wax.

Ive tried a few online SR Mud's, and in each of those, mages were so prevalent, and so heavily used/abused, the players began to take all their advantages for granted.

When the twinked ork mage goes to a meet with a mafioso and enters his office invisible, rapping his staff on the floor to let the mafia guys know he was there, as opposed to announcing his presence or showing any sign of respect, and the goons dont even give him a dirty look... ( A bit of a bad example I know really...)

.....it's hard to look at a mage in a favorable light.

In tabletop, seldom do these things happen. I suppose things are different everywhere you go.


Where was I going with this? I think I forgot....

[Kanada Ten]

[Fortune]

Looks like he's using house rules on top of house rules.