Dumpshock Forums > Would Corps Ward

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tisoz

Feb 14 2007, 10:28 AM

I noticed there is no size limit for a shamanic lodge, other than the minimum of 3 meters by 3 meters. So a lodge could be as big as the shaman has space to set it up.

It makes sense from a cost standpoint to use a lodge as an astral barrier and in place of a ward. A lodge acts as an astral barrier and about everything that a ward does, only the lodge does not expire like the ward does. The rating (force) of a lodge can be increased over time, too. So a staff shaman could be told to go work on the lodge when there is no other activity to keep him busy. The shaman would need to follow the same totem of course and the location of the facility would need to be in the totem's domain, but that could all be addressed when hiring the shaman, or contracting for one to come erect a lodge.

Which leads to another possibility, shamen erecting multiple lodges for many customers. The cost for even a high rating lodge should remain linear because any shaman of that tradition could be called in to increase the rating. It is as easy to erect a rating 6 lodge as it is to increase a lodge's rating from 6 to 12. And the materials cost the same.

Should we see more corporations shielding their entire facility with high rating astral barriers in the form of shamanic lodges? It would cost 3000

+ the cost of the shaman and less than a week to have a rating 6 astral barrier, and the sky is the limit. I could realistically see corps hiring a shaman for a month, paying 15,000

for materials and getting a rating 30 astral barrier around their entire facility. It might make even more sense to get a small team of shamen so that they each are aware of any breaches.

Backgammon

Feb 14 2007, 03:10 PM

From a purely fluff standpoint, no shaman would erect lodges he does not plan on actively using. The lodge is a sacred place of bonding between the shaman and his totem. Erecting lodges as a cost saving replacement for wards would not go well with shamen and their totems.

Kagetenshi

Feb 14 2007, 05:41 PM

All they have to do is find a Plutunic shaman, providing they're a place of business. That or a Wise Warrior, though he might be better suited for making a research lab his lodge.

~J

jrpigman

Feb 14 2007, 07:17 PM

QUOTE (Backgammon)

Yeah but what shaman wouldn't want to use a lodge with extraterritoriality? It's a win-win.

Thane36425

Feb 14 2007, 10:24 PM

QUOTE (jrpigman)

Yeah but what shaman wouldn't want to use a lodge with extraterritoriality? It's a win-win.

Because their lodge, which also functions as a material lnk to them, would be at the mercy of the Corp. Lodges also have a limited area based on their rating, a much smaller area than a ward. So, it would be reasonable to have a mage or shaman going around building and maintaining large area wards than building lodges all over the place. Besides, lodges cost money in terms or materials and salary, wards are just salary and since you are paying the Shaman anyway, they are essentially free.

tisoz

Feb 14 2007, 11:39 PM

QUOTE (Thane36425 @ Feb 14 2007, 04:24 PM)

QUOTE (jrpigman @ Feb 14 2007, 02:17 PM)

Yeah but what shaman wouldn't want to use a lodge with extraterritoriality? It's a win-win.

Because their lodge, which also functions as a material lnk to them, would be at the mercy of the Corp.

A ward doesn't create a link to the creator? It carries the astral signature.

I think any magician working for a corp probably has to give up something as a material link. The corp would probably require it as a show of loyalty. And the corp needs some way of keeping employees in line.

QUOTE

Lodges also have a limited area based on their rating, a much smaller area than a ward.

I was looking for an area and only found a minimum of 3m*3m. A lodge needs to be at least big enough to contain an enchanting shop as a lodge is a requirement for shamen to enchant.

QUOTE

So, it would be reasonable to have a mage or shaman going around building and maintaining large area wards than building lodges all over the place.

Wards do have a maximum area that can be warded.

QUOTE

Besides, lodges cost money in terms or materials and salary, wards are just salary and since you are paying the Shaman anyway, they are essentially free. Besides, lodges cost money in terms or materials and salary, wards are just salary and since you are paying the Shaman anyway, they are essentially free.

A permanent ward would cost Karma, which is quite valuable to the magically active. Even using the 5000

a point basis, a Force 6 ward would cost 30,000

in materials, so to speak, while 30,000

worth of lodge materials could build a Force/Rating 60 lodge. A wards Force is limited to the creators Magic Attribute so a Force 60 ward is going to be extremely rare. Just comparing costs of permanent wards to lodges, wards cost 10 times as much (using the Karma cost of 5000

a point.) Lodge materials are also reusable, so if the corp shuts down the facility, they can take the lodge materials with them and use them in the next project. The ward is permanent and can not be moved.

A point in favor of wards is letting conjured spirits create them. This may allow the conjureror to increase the wards Force to two times his Magic attribute, by facing Physical drain in the summoning test. Another benefit is it frees the magicians time. If the magician orders multiple spirits (elementals or perhaps great form nature spirits) to work together to create the ward, then the ward will likely last much longer.

But for a high Force, nigh invulnerable, astral barrier (and that is what I would want) a lodge looks like a no brainer.

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