The file I got off the web page is about 190 pages long. Is that what was suppose to be up there?






Oh-oh, I see a new active Skill. Arcana is a Knowledge Skill, right? That's ok, but I really didn't want to see a new active Skill. Oh well.

I already like the listing of the sidebars in the TOC. Yeah! Not just the actual contents of that list, not to downplay my hope that I'm correct assuming a definative sorting out of Elemental damage spell LOS finally, but that the listing of the sidebars is actually there. Obviously there are alot of sidebars in the book, judging from the list. It's great to have them listed so you can find them a lot easier for referencing them.

From the page count it looks like Manipulation spell catagory is becoming the 900 lb gorrila, again. But the Detection page count is pretty high now too, even higher than Manipulation. Are those just spells, or does the Detection section have a bit more discussion about how to work those spells since they can be tricky?

Now off to check out the sample text....

Madness?

I'm curious as to what exactly a 'Task' spirit is. Is that like a Watcher, only it actually does something other than fly around and screech? For those that haven't noticed they are listed for the Manipulation catagory of the Hedge Witchcraft tradition at the end of the Shinto file.

I also noticed that there are 5 pages of new spirit powers. That seems like a lot of new powers. Especially for only about 2 pages of new spirits. Although an exact count is difficult to determine from a TOC, that could be as few as 6 or 7 new spirit types. It doesn't look like it includes toxic or invae though as there are sections for those in other chapters.

If you want the ability to re-bookmark the PDF, add other pages to it, etc, then BattleCorps or RPGNow are your best choices.

BattleCorps will probably be doing some sort of print+PDF bundle as well.

[Buying stuff on BattleCorps probably also encourages them to work on HoloStreets more, too ... ]

Edit: I believe Paizo.com watermarks their ebooks as well, and DriveThruRPG certainly does.

So would kidnapping their loved ones.

Darn it. I bought all of my PDFs (quite a few) from DriveThruRPG. I never realised there were other formats out there. I don't have a problem with the watermarking, but the ability to bookmark my PDFs would be nice. I also have problems printing some of the Shadowrun pdfs from there as some of the pictures do not appear. Has anyone else had this problem from another site, or is it perculiar to DriveThru?

Oh yeah - pg. 146.: Shadow Spirits. I don't know what they are but I feel an Evil GM mode coming on. Heh!

Task Spirits?!

[edit]Damn, I missed Brahm's post where he already caught it.[/edit]

Hmmm. I think skill or ability focused spirits. Maybe they're like gnomes and faerie cobblers and all that stuff. It's the association with the Witchcraft tradition that makes me think so.

Hmmmm - "I summon the Dish-washing faeries, Force 8."

Heh. Now that would be worth studying magic for.

Onmyodo, when it comes to the rules, can basically be seen as a Japanese off-shoot of the Wuxing tradition. It makes heavy use of the Chinese five elements, the relationship of yin and yang, geomancy, and ordered cosmology. Mechanically, it would have been difficult to make it different enough from Wuxing to justify its inclusion over other traditions. But if you don't feel the Wuxing tradition covers it well enough, you can definitely homebrew it.

Similarly, I'd consider Shugendo close enough to the Buddhist tradition in its techniques. Buddha is very important in Shugendo, as is the focus on sutras, mandalas, and asceticism.

heh, if you want to be rude you may say that the japanese have ripped of the chinese in every way possible when it comes to culture

look again, there is a "the path of the wheel" entry for page 40...

hehe, nothing to be ashamed of. that content list is so above all expectations that its easy to miss stuff. still, i never expected them to drop something as vital to the SR world as the elfs own magical tradition

I'm not sure what you're basing your conclusion on, but there is IC text and shadowtalk in the book.

That's ok. Your responce is more colourful, and perhaps more appropriate. Like, don't all spirits do tasks?

Sorry to break it to you but both are Active Skills. We could have made Enchanting a full blown Skill Group though, so don't be too down.

Actually, spirits perform services .

I don't think it's too much of a give-away at this point to say that Street Magic rounds out the number of basic spirits that traditions can conjure to 10. We have no plans on adding any further. As those looking closely will have gathered the 4 new types include Task and Plant - the two other types are Guidance and Guardian spirits. All official traditions use 5 of those 10 spirits in their magical correspondences.

At this point it should also be obvious why Street Magic took a little extra time to playtest and hammer into shape. The book covers a boat-load of material and there was plenty of stuff left over.

Unlike previous editions SR4 (and Street Magic) intends to keep special case rules to a minimum and the mechanics as streamlined as possible. For an idea of where we're going with Voodoo and other Possession-based traditions, check the Tradition Overview pdf under "Possession-based Traditions" header.

Actually, Psionics has always been in the Magical Oddities sections (all the way back to the Grimoires).

SR's had fairies like that for a while. But they are something different from spirits.

I thought so. Apparently, I was wrong.

Don't get your hopes up, i heard they royally screwed up this one.

may i ask for a source please?

Really, do you?

Psionics don't work in the shadowrun worl any different than some hermetics do anyways. Oh they see it as science..But they still basically do the same thing.

Psionics explain their magical powers using "science". Sound just like some Hermetics to me.

So i am basically saying that psionics should just get some flavor text and be happy with it. Hell I do not even know if you could give them a list of spirits and what these used their spirits top do what..I mean the spirit list of air,plant,beast,fire and man could fit a psionic just as well, as man,task,plant, guideness, and beast, or maybe fire, earth,water,air, plant. Or any other spirit list.