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Ancient History
Recently I updated my Mundane Magic page. It is interesting to note how as the editions have advanced how things have changed. It used to be that a mundane character with enough time and karma could almost become a poor man's mage...if they had access to the Astral, that is. Depending on the power level of your game, a mundane character picking up a little bit of magical skill here and there might even the edge between mundane characters and their Awakened counterparts. So what follows are some Optional Rules that gamemasters could choose to implement in their game.

Optional Rule: Mundane Assensing
Gamemasters may choose to allow non-Awakened characters to spend time and Karma to develop the Assensing Skill. The character does not gain the ability to astrally perceive or project, but if they do gain access to the Astral, they can use their Assensing Skill in the same way as any Awakened character.

Jenny Greentusks, Occult Detective takes a deep breath before stepping into the astral shallow, one of the permanent remnants of Hong Kong's magical past. It's hard to tell if the physical just got dimmer, or if the Astral is just so vibrant it looks dark by comparison. Jenny steels herself and takes the medallion from the murder scene. In the astral, the focus glows. She knows what to look for...

Optional Rule: Mundane Astral Combat
Gamemasters may choose to allow non-Awakened characters to spend time and Karma to develop the Astral Combat Skill. The character does not gain the ability to astrally perceive or project, but if they do gain access to the Astral, they can use their Astral Combat Skill in the same way as any Awakened character.

Somewhere behind her, Jenny Greentusks body sits in an astral rift. Right in front of her is the fire spirit that a stupid student summoned to impress his girlfriend. Six deaths in the an apartment fire later, and here she is. One astral fist raised, Jenny gives a tusky grimace. "You can run, but you can't hide."

Optional Rule: Mundane Conjuring
Gamemasters may choose to allow non-Awakened characters to spend time and Karma to develop the Binding Skill. A mundane character with these skills can only use them to bind free spirits, following the rules provided in Street Magic.

Outside the ritual circle, Greentusks calls out a name...and something answers. She can feel its presence. The binding chant comes smoothly, a rush of syllables that shape air, shape thought, shape magic...and then Jenny knows, with certainty, that the spirit is hers. Only for three tasks, maybe, but that'll be enough.

Optional Rule: Mundane Enchanting
Gamemasters may choose to allow non-Awakened characters to spend time and Karma to develop the Enchanting Skill. A mundane character with this skill can refine raw reagents into refined reagents, and craft fetishes and ritual materials.

In her apartment, Jenny takes her knife to the polished bone she bought from the lore store, shaving off splinters one at a time, glancing from time to time at the image on the open data terminal in front of her. She needed to get the talisman right if it was going to work.

Optional Rule: Poor Man's Magician
Gamemasters may choose to allow non-Awakened characters with Magical Skills to take the following Positive and Negative Qualities that are normally restricted to Awakened characters, with the appropriate changes as noted:

Positive Qualities
  • Astral Chameleon
  • Mentor Spirit - Dice pool modifiers
  • Spirit Pact - A mundane character cannot engage in a Drain Pact or Magic Pact.

Negative Qualities
  • Astral Beacon
  • Cursed - The character may only take Cursed (2) and Cursed (4), but the build point bonus is halved - 5 BP and 10 BP, respectively.
  • Geas - If a mundane character breaks her geas, she cannot used any Magical Skills for the next 24 hours.

Somewhere back in the meatworld, Old Bones comes across the sedate form of an female ork, an amulet of bone laying between her breasts. A glance at the Astral shows that her spirit has gone travelling, no doubt the work of the spirit hovering over her and maintaining the astral gate. With wrinkled fingers he snaps the amulet from Jenny's neck...caught far away, Greentusks mutters a silent fuck.

Optional Rule: Smoke From Heaven
Gamemasters may choose that Deepweed forces all characters, mundane and Awakened, to astrally perceive.

Take a hit of that voodoo shit
Astral trippin' Astral trippin'
Emotion pollution from Gaea's tit
Astral trippin' Astral trippin'
--The Ballad of Jenny Greentusks
bibliophile20
I like it and I'll probably allow it in my game, and I'll definitely allow it if I ever run a Hong Kong-based campaign.
Rotbart van Dainig
Actually, spirit pacts for mundanes is the RAW - just not at chargen.
snowRaven
I like it AH - I like it very much!

How about also allowing Banishing? Back in SR2 (I think?) mundanes could use that skill, and in SR4 it could be viable to use those techniques along with Force of Will for mundane characters. They just can't banish anything the traditional way.
Ancient History
QUOTE (Rotbart van Dainig)
Actually, spirit pacts for mundanes is the RAW - just not at chargen.

There's room for confusion; I just wanted to specify.

QUOTE
How about also allowing Banishing? Back in SR2 (I think?) mundanes could use that skill

Used to be they could use Conjuring to resist spirit powers, but not banish.
bclements
Heh, contact high. Nice.
fool
yeah but the one every mundane wants is counterspelling.
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