 Adepts and Foci, Adepts, Power Foci & Spell Category Foci |
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 Jan 11 2005, 10:32 PM
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#26
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Immortal Elf  Group: Members Posts: 11,410 Joined: 1-October 03 From: Pittsburgh Member No.: 5,670  |
SOTA:64. basically, infusion foci grant an adept adept powers with a power point cost equal to 1/2 the focus' force.
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Jan 11 2005, 11:26 PM
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#27
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Target Group: Members Posts: 69 Joined: 11-January 05 From: St. Paul, MN Member No.: 6,961 |
And probably 10x as expensive in :nuyen: and karma as a power focus - hahahahahaha
My GM has the book, I guess I'll be borrowing it. At least then I can maybe get some spell resistance powers. 8) Thanks again everyone! -Mr. Sinister |
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Jan 11 2005, 11:42 PM
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#28
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Immoral Elf Group: Members Posts: 15,247 Joined: 29-March 02 From: Grimy Pete's Bar & Laundromat Member No.: 2,486 |
You could always go for the Magic Resistance Adept Power.
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Jan 12 2005, 12:22 AM
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#29
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Senior GM Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 1,406 Joined: 12-April 03 From: Redmond, WA Member No.: 4,442 |
Well, besides the fact that your expected number of successes (2) is higher than his expected number of successes (1.83)? And that a Tie goes to the defender in Combat Spells? You can have cover. You can have concealment. You can bring along others that look like bigger threats to the magician. You can have Improved Reflexes and go first. You can take the damage from the spell and let your team mates mop up the magician and his buddies, and then your team mates can Treat you. I remember a magician complaining one time. "You mean the adept can have 7 dice in specialized skill with his rifle, 6 dice from Improved Skill, and 7 dice from pool to shoot me from a long distance before I even know he's there? He can Aim to take his TN to 2. That's 20 dice, with an average of better than 16 successes. Even with Armor 6 and Bullet Barrier 6 and Combat Pool I only have 14 dice to stage it down. That's so unfair! I'm going to throw away this useless magician and make XXX instead." |
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Jan 12 2005, 12:31 AM
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#30
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Canon Companion Group: Members Posts: 8,021 Joined: 2-March 03 From: The Morgue, Singapore LTG Member No.: 4,187 |
Magic Resistance Adept Power is good, so is Spell Shroud and True Sight but only against specific spell-types. Carrying around your own background count is good too, or hiding in an area with background count (that is most places runners would choose to visit).
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Jan 12 2005, 01:48 AM
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#31
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Target Group: Members Posts: 69 Joined: 11-January 05 From: St. Paul, MN Member No.: 6,961 |
I guess the main thing that bugs me is that a Mage has the possibilities of reducing the damage my Adept does (via armor gear, armor spell, increased/modified attributes, etc), but my Adept has basically no options to reduce the damage a Mage does to me with spells.
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Jan 12 2005, 01:50 AM
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#32
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Beetle Eater Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 4,797 Joined: 3-June 02 From: Oblivion City Member No.: 2,826 |
Then again, you don't take drain every time you swing a sword or shoot a gun with most adept powers. It's also only true with Combat Spells (and I suppose damaging Health Spells).
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Jan 12 2005, 01:55 AM
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#33
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 5,430 Joined: 10-January 05 From: Fort Worth, Texas Member No.: 6,957 |
I've played shamen almost exclusively since 2nd edition came out and never had a problem with drain. I rarely suffered it, and when I did, low rating stims fixed it long enough to keep the fight going.
Later, once the character has some karma under his belt (or earlier if you take a bit of cyberware) you can start taking physical drain, which is even easier to fix, since you've got heal and treat to fix them. Taking a light wound while mana balling three enemies is well worth it in a lot of cases, especially when you're almost gauranteed to be able to fix that damage in or after the battle. Drain is a good idea to balance spellcasting, but IMO it doesn't do enough. |
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Jan 12 2005, 02:03 AM
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#34
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Immoral Elf Group: Members Posts: 15,247 Joined: 29-March 02 From: Grimy Pete's Bar & Laundromat Member No.: 2,486 |
Stim Patches are good way to loss Magic.
And you can't heal Drain with Magic, even if it is Physical. |
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Jan 12 2005, 02:29 AM
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#35
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Beetle Eater Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 4,797 Joined: 3-June 02 From: Oblivion City Member No.: 2,826 |
Even beyond what Fortune says, I'm not sure I see the problem. I mean have you ever used a rigger? They can rock a mage like nothing else. Manabolt does nada to a gun drone and even Powerbolt needs to hit mucho TNs to effect them. Seriously, Shadowrunners will beat stupid enemies every time. Why don't your guards alternate who is shooting and who is hiding behind cover so that only one of them can get hit at a time? |
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Jan 12 2005, 05:42 AM
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#36
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 256 Joined: 24-October 04 Member No.: 6,784 |
Fortune, I don't recognize that rule (Although it makes sense) Can you cite where is specifies that you cannot heal physical drain with heal/treat ?
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Jan 12 2005, 05:57 AM
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#37
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Beetle Eater Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 4,797 Joined: 3-June 02 From: Oblivion City Member No.: 2,826 |
Page 193 Health Spells
"No techniques known to magic can earse fatigue, cure psychological condistions or cure Drain." I know there is another one that's even more clear. |
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Jan 12 2005, 05:58 AM
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#38
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Senior GM Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 1,406 Joined: 12-April 03 From: Redmond, WA Member No.: 4,442 |
It's not in the detailed description of Drain Resistance Test (SR3.183).
It's not in the overview of Sorcery Drain (SR3.180) It is, of course, in the section between "Exclusive Actions" and "Noticing Magic". So see what Kanada Ten will post in three minutes. It'll be excellent. |
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Jan 12 2005, 06:01 AM
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#39
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Beetle Eater Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 4,797 Joined: 3-June 02 From: Oblivion City Member No.: 2,826 |
Page 162 Drain (last line)
"Physical damage caused by Drain cannot be healed using magic, only by rest and medical attention." < :rotfl: > This post has been edited by Kanada Ten: Jan 12 2005, 06:05 AM |
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Jan 12 2005, 07:43 AM
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#40
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 7,116 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 1,449 |
With a Willpower of 6, it will be hard for any mage to even affect your character. And you do get to roll that Willpower to resist the spell. So he is trying to get net successes with a TN of 6. I have played a sorcerer with tons of foci, Totem bonuses, etc., and he still flubbed important rolls because of high TNs. You can also invest in the Magic Resistance power or improve your Willpower if you want to improve your odds. A mage who surprises you is in the same optimal position as anyone else making a surprise attack. But most of the time, they are juggling their attack, spell defense for themselves and others, and adding dice to help soak Drain. For most spellcasters, a target with a Willpower of 6 ruins their day. |
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Jan 12 2005, 07:49 AM
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#41
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 116 Joined: 3-January 05 Member No.: 6,925 |
The only thing that I want is an Adept with the Spell Reflection meta... 8)
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| Guest_Crimsondude 2.0_* |
Jan 12 2005, 07:58 AM
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#42
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Guests |
Unless you're a Blood Mage. Am I alone in thinking that the rules were better before Kenson came along? Am I alone in thinking that the old rule that you couldn't project through living matter was a good idea? |
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Jan 12 2005, 09:41 AM
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#43
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Canon Companion Group: Members Posts: 8,021 Joined: 2-March 03 From: The Morgue, Singapore LTG Member No.: 4,187 |
In the first place for SR3, there was never any limit to projecting through living matter. In the SR3/BBB itself, projecting through living matter was already stated as possible. |
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Jan 12 2005, 01:20 PM
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#44
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 278 Joined: 28-September 04 From: The Smoke Member No.: 6,709 |
So play a Magicials Way adept. In my campaign, I've modified how Combat Spells work - the target may stage the damage down. We don't do the whole sucesses versus sucesses thing because it makes spells rather hard to deal with. This way, it is possible to take a light from a spell cast at S just as it is to take a deadly from a spell cast at M. It balances out nicely but still makes magic a pain in the backside to the low WIL characters. Hell, even my shaman needs to worry about it. |
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Jan 12 2005, 01:20 PM
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#45
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 278 Joined: 28-September 04 From: The Smoke Member No.: 6,709 |
delted double post
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Jan 12 2005, 02:17 PM
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#46
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Immoral Elf Group: Members Posts: 15,247 Joined: 29-March 02 From: Grimy Pete's Bar & Laundromat Member No.: 2,486 |
That makes Combat spells even harsher than they already are. As it stands now in canon, the target only has to get the same amount of successes as the caster (which is pretty hard already) to avoid the damage. With your rule, the target would have to get 8 successes more than the caster to stage down a D damage spell. |
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Jan 12 2005, 02:17 PM
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#47
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 496 Joined: 28-June 02 From: Orlando FL Member No.: 2,915 |
CD is talking about SR1 and 2, where you couldn't project through living matter...no matter how you visualized your astral form, it still had the same "astral size" of your normal body, and so if a building had vines growing over the walls, you couldn't project through them - they were a cheap way of keeping out astral spies...it was the same with even a mundane person - you couldn't just "fly" through their body...of course, that made Possession harder, and we just all HAD to have Voodoo and its Possession power... :P
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Jan 12 2005, 03:40 PM
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#48
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 5,430 Joined: 10-January 05 From: Fort Worth, Texas Member No.: 6,957 |
The inability to heal physical drain is a new thing in 3rd, and one our group had missed. Thanks for pointing that out, it at least stops one area of abuse.
Re stims losing your magic: If you use only rating 2 or 3 stims and have a magic attribute of 6+, your odds of not getting any successes (especially with karma pool available) are pretty low. And even if those fail you still get to roll 2d6. With a 6 magic that 2d6 isn't likely to hurt you. Overall the chance of losing magic to stims is so low as to make it almost negligible unless you're already very hurt. Re having enemies alternate cover: that doesn't do a bit of good if the team is using grenades, elemental balls, or other area affects. If enemies take full cover they hurt their offense so much that being defensive doesn't matter. Unless there is a time restraint on the mission (most have them, but they're usually long enough to allow a few extra rounds in a firfight) then having the gaurds hide is a waste of their energy and resource, which will most likely end in their deaths as the party picks them off one or two at a time (or just drops a bomb on them). My biggest problem with magic is the ability to focus all of your spell pool on offense and still be able to use all of your combat pool for defense. The house rule that pools are combined should take care of that. I don't mind mages rarely suffering drain, as long as they can still be hurt by bullets, clubs, etc. Inability to project through living matter being taken away is another little change we didn't notice. I think I'll be house ruling it back to the way it used to be. Buildings with ivy growing on the walls and elementals / astral projectors watching the roof greatly reduce the power of a projecting maze to scout the area with little fear of detection. Granted awakened gaurds can change that, but I'm looking at having a campaign where awakened animals, critters, etc. are fairly rare. |
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Jan 12 2005, 03:48 PM
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#49
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Target Group: Members Posts: 41 Joined: 13-February 03 From: Ottawa, ON, canada Member No.: 4,088 |
im with Candid13 on this one.
your adept could maybe learn sorcery through roleplaying or some s*it, then bond foci like a sorcerer, no? |
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Jan 12 2005, 03:58 PM
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#50
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 586 Joined: 22-November 02 From: Gordonsville, Virginia, U.S.A. (or C.A.S.) Member No.: 3,630 |
mfb:
I have a copy of SOTA: 2064, but I'm not quite clear on something. (I have scanned it, but I wasn't too thorough; I didn't want to end up knowing more about certain things than my GM, Sahandrian.) What, exactly, is an "Infusion Focus" ? Mr. Sinister: Just out of curiosity, did you take your alias from the Marvel Comics character (real name, Nathaniel Essex, a foe of the X-Men and mutants in general) ? The only reason I'm asking is that my alias (and my SR character, incidentally) is also from their comics. --Foreigner |
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