Is it possible if my players run into an ancient artifact that grants them some sort of power or ability. I know there are certain componds that can give mundane powers and certain artifacts that give power. Could they stumble onto an artifact that gives a mundane person powers. I was hopeing to let them find one of these if they do the right things, and if they sell it they make a great profit, if they don't... they will start getting hunted by X group. A relic this great, even if its not a super powerful or useful ability, still is a prized relic. Any thoughts?

anything is possible. I can't think of anything off of the top of my head from EDd if that's what you're asking. Most of those items required the user to 'bond' them as well, although it cost legend points instead of karma. Different system, same deal. maybe bloodcharms?

Well, there were some very simple items with magical properties that did not need any threads to work. Many of them worked through the use of true elements.

those are things like hotplates, a peice of irn with true fire woven in to it to cook something, or a cool cloak, a cloak with true air that stays cool or dry. He's looking (if I'm reading the post right) for something that could grant bonuses like a weapon foci, or something like an anchoring foci that a mundane could use.

Now we have allowed one thing in our games. An anchoring foci, that is made an activated by the mage that created it, and then given to someone else to use. Basically "do this spell when someone says this word". That goes into a grey area because it is technically off of the person that created and bonded it, but the creator is still the one that takes the drain for the spell effect. It would work in 2nd edition, not in third by the rules that the foci has to be on the person that bonded it to be active. If you allow spirit trapping from ED, then this could perhaps be overridden. But there's no rules for 4th edition anchoring yet, so who knows.

Your best bet, is to use an item with a spirit trapped in it, and have a mundane know the true name of the spirit. Even in SR3, a mundane can command a free spirit with it's true name. So if ther's an item wit ha spirit, and the spirit can access the items powers, plus use it's own when commanded, then having it's true name should technically allow anyone to use the items powers.

Hope that helps a bit

<shrug> If you mean an artifact that grants permanent abilities...it's possible, but it probably wouldn't be a good thing for the character.

Two Words: Nemesis.

Two More Words: Tempter.


Nemesis handed out magical artfacts like candy. It was how he marked people. If you find a mysterious focus that mundanes can use floating around, it might just be one of his.

Tempter is even beter because it could be the artifact, a tiny sentient burr that will grant great power to its victim upon request. Of course, the more power the victim accepts the more corrupted and inhuman he becomes.

well i'm thinking of a run whose back page starts off with the phrase, "bottle bottle whose got the bottle?" didnt the "artifact" in that try and corrupt but granted powers to whomever picked it up.

Its just something to spice up the game. I am going to use that short mission that was written about the mayan tomb and make a mission off of it. I figure if the characters help the right people and do the right thing, then the spirit of the dead mayans, (or something along those lines) could reward them with an ancient item of power. Maybe it would give the user the ability to use a critter power or cast one spell... something along the lines of that. Then later they can find out that having an item of such great value can mean bad news for them. I already ran the Bottled Demon mission with them, so they are already scared of magic artifacts. So it would be interesting to see what they do. I also wanted it to be used by a mundane because i feel that they would not give to our mage since she went nuts during Bottled Demon.. haha. So it they could use it, they might be tempted to keep it.

If there are things like what i discribe or something close to it, any magical item that a mundane can use.. please let me know.

The anchoring focus with a trigger that the character can figure out to activate/deactivate it. Also gives the magician that created it incentive to retrieve it as he is subject to drain every time it gets activated. The focus could have been stored someplace the magician thought was safe, or it could have been located someplace the magician was afraid to get it from. Now that the PCs have it, he can get it back.

http://forums.dumpshock.com/index.php?show...c=9996&hl=staff

It isn't exactly Myan, but there are fun times to be had with it.

Would a quickened spell on an item not achieve the desired result? Pick up, put down, power of sorts? dependant on spell selection of course?

Not really, no. A quickened spell would never turn "off," and a constant quickened spell would only effect the item itself.

Quickened spells should work, depending on the spell.

Say an Armor spell quickened on longjohns. When a character put on the longjohns, they should get the benefit of the spell.

A Shadow Spell quickened upon a cloak, should allow whoever wears the cloak to be surrounded by visibility modifiers.

Light quickened on a ring should work. Keep it in a box and open when needed.

It just occurred to me that I had one that may have qualified once. out of a published adventure no less, although its of more use to magicians with conjuring.

The elemental scrolls mentioned in dunklsans will where on lone to MIT&T and you steal them, hilarity ensues.

Without having to bond them they act as a powerful spirit focus for all elementals and spirits of the elements. Arguably a mundane could benefit from this but the only use he has for the dice is binding of free spirits (remembering a mundane can do that he has 0 dice (so he cant) but he dose gain the +3 dice for knowing the true name and then can bind the spirit, if it was an elemental spirit and he had the elemental scrolls he /may/ get the extra dice for it).

Edward

You could also just have a spirit in the jar. Like an Imp. Technically the Imp activates the magic item, and the sucker wielder of the item can reap the rewards.

For as long as the spirit feels like allowing him to benefit from them anyway.

-Frank

Shadowrun, meet Terry Pratchett. Terry Pratchett, Shadowrun.

Quickened Flame Aura spell on a longsword. +2 Power, neat firey effect, and if it's low Force, the area damage will be negligable.

There's always the fruits of the passions/horrors. One may have survived.

The armor spell provides a armor to its target. Worn armor provides an armor to its wearer. The person who wears the longjohns would be protected by their natural armor rating. The longjohns, being inanimate objects, would be protected by a barrier rating + the armor spell. The armor spell only applies to attacks that specificly target the longjohns.

that doesn't work. If a character is wearing the longjohns, any attack targeting them would by definition be targeting the longjohns as well (except in the case of called shots to the head/hands/feet). So the spell would work.

Magical underwear.

Ok. Let's analyse the shot then..

Bullet goes flying at xY.

Bullet strikes outer armour of target. Power reduced by armour value.

Bullet strikes second layer of armour. Power reduced by 0.5 * armour value.

Bullet strikes Armour spell on underwear. Bullet passes through underwear. Bullet strikes victim, maybe victim bleeds.

Now.. the thing to consider is.. the bullet is hitting the underwear and passing through it. Assuming that the armour spell provides no armour to the victim, but increases the barrier rating of the underwear by force... then you're shooting through a barrier of rating force.

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that actually BETTER then armour? As in, "stops the attack cold if it does not exceed power"? It's restricted to shots hitting the area.. but that's fine. Undershirt covers most of it -- about the same as a vest, in fact.

Relevent information: page 124.

Okay, let's look at Quickened spells in SR4:

Combat Spells - Even if you could sustain a combat spell (Hey! Damage every turn!) it would just destroy the item.

Detection Spells - All target living metahumans. You could not, for example, quicken clairvoyance to a monocle to see what's around the corner, or clairaudience to a conch shell to hear something far away.

Health Spells - Health spells only effect living beings, or at least beings with some semblance of a working metabolism. Now, you could quicken several of these spells, such as hibernate or increase (attribute), but not on an object. Yes, yes, you could try to wear a critter, but PETA will come after you with Ungamunga trolls.

Illusion Spells - While this might seem like a good place to start, illusion spells are cast on areas, not objects. You might think paying your runners with a quickened trid phantasm of a suitcase full of kruggerands is funny (fairy gold, anyone?), but there aren't a whole hell of a lot of other tricks.

Manipulation Spells - Now here, finally, we have a category of spell designed to effect matter. Should be perfect, ja? Except that most Manipulation spells don't target objects. You could quicken levitate, which might come in handy, but most of the other spells (mana barrier, shadow, etc.) are area spells.

Good point, but that doesn't really solve the problem of being shot in the crotch while wearing magical underwear. And I know we're all dying to see how this one turns out.

Actually, you don't get cover because shooting the armour cannot miss the person inside the armour?

Cover gives target modifiers because shooting through it, you could miss. You don't know exactly where the person is behind it. Hard to make that argument.

Likewise, it may be in Your game that you allow that particularly messy idea.. it's actually Contrary to the game mechanics listed in called shot (which are in the corebook, as much as some people dislike them, and include in the examples, shooting someone in the head as a Vulnerable target...).

Besides -- shooting through barriers doesn't inherently give cover. A barrier 20 transparent wall just reduces power by 20. Barrier rating 10 undershirts are fundamentally identical (They don't inhibit the ability to see the target).

If you don't like it, you're free to rule otherwise, but to simply say "No, game mechanics disagree" would be wrong. Game mechanics don't say anything about it, but have sections which would indicate it.

Of course, it being magic, you could just accept that it would give armour of force... and apply normal armour stacking rules, since it's not a spell put on the person.

A brief journey into my mind.. that's moderately off topic and may cause nightmares to the sensitive.

The question is really whether or not an object can be the "subject" of the spell.

Don't forget Craig Sanchez's masking focus from Dunklezahn's Will. I forget precisely which adventure book featured it, but it either augments one's metamagical masking power (and effective Magic attribute for that power) to the tune of five initiate grades (and raises your pre-initiation Magic attribute rating to 6 if it was lower, for the purposes of masking) or, if you are mundane, gives you masking equivalent to a Grade 5 Initiate with Magic of 11.

The idol from the Bottled Demon adventure might also be construed as such a device, though it only acted as a no-binding-required Power Focus(12). Could argue that it would grant a mundane a Magic attribute of 12, though they would lack the spellcasting and conjuring abilities/skills to take advantage of it. Plus, given how it drives you mad and slowly whittles you away into a twitching prematurely aged husk, it's unlikely a mundane who tapped into the power of the idol would live long enough to buy and raise magical skills after the fact.

I remember there being a physical barrier spell that could be strung between two buildings .... or actually be anchored within a wall of a building .... increasing its barrier rating. from my interpretation.... if the barrier spell is quickened/anchored onto something, then when a bullet crosses the barrier's plane, the power is reduced. period. I would figure, does the bullet cross an activated barrier. y/n ... if yes, then reduce the power.

I think it is more of a matter of wether or not a character who wasn't the subject of a spell can directly benefit from its effects. Take hiding behind an invisible wall, for example. Or, more in keeping with the theme of the previous examples, wearing a full ninja-suit that has improved invisibility quickened on it. Some would rule that invisible clothes make an invisible character. Others would just say that the Emperor is letting it all hang out.

I think those are two different things.... ninja suit with improved invis... would make the suit invis.... but barrier ... because it affects the integrity of the suit .... would give the wearer protection. I am sure that the descriptions of the spells also outlines the limitations. In sr2 at least ... you could span a barrier from points ...and any bullet or vehicles or people passing through had to resist the barrier. (which means a reduction in power/speed... etc.)

Do you let them get buckshot in their hides through it, or do you rule that the cover modifier is gone (invisibility takes affect), but the wall still acts like a wall (and reduces power of all attacks by it's barrier rating, stopping cold any that are reduced to 0 or less)?


Invisible clothes? That's a messy one.

One internally consistent way the spell has any value is if it actually does confer invisibility. Otherwise it's somewhat inconsistent with not needing to cast invisibility on everything you're wearing and have eaten.. (IE, you just took a bite of soyburger, cast invisibility on yourself -- is the soyburger chunk visible? Are your clothes visible?)

Another is that anything you've got on/in you at time of casting is invisible, anything added later is not. I can't really see any others. That would mean it's all hanging out.


But, that's also fundamentally different. It hinges on whether the spell covers the person wearing the clothes. It's not the same as "shooting through the clothing with barrier rating force" or "instant comfortable armour with ballistic force, impact force". It is only equivalent to the armour spell expanding to cover someone -- someone else can argue that. I don't have any inspiration or desire to.

Perhapes to conclude, you can have an artificate that grants powers to mundanes because you will give you players a great and fun session.
All spells so far (SR3 at least) die with their caster. There is a grey area over Quickening and activily sustaining, sustaning foci at the moment of death.

I keep thinking to the example of Quickening when Ricky Rat Boy quickened the stink spell to a spot in the bar. Definitely not a person in the bar, but then again, that example was dropped in third edition. As far as objects being the subject, Invisibility is cast on a subject and it has been officially noted that a gun or a wall (objects) can be the subject.

Quicken a Stealth spell to a motorcycle and no more engine racket. Just don't try blowing the horn.

How about a quickened area version of Compel Truth to a witness chair?

Vehicle Mask quickened to a vehicle or drone seems sensible. Nice way to raise the signature and preserve those drones.

There must have been Catfall quickened on an old Charger in that Dukes of Hazzard trideo!

No, it wasn't dropped. MitS 77 and 78

Cool. Just re-read it. Looks like spells can be quickened without needing an object at all.

so do you think it was the bar owner that had Rikki killed?

More consequences to quickened spell than just karma cost.

comparing Rikki Ratboy to Harlequin...

that's probably the nicest thing anyone ever said about him. *sniff sniff*
*tear drop*

Different Harlequin, there's like a hundred of 'em.