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I'm sure other GMs will have their House Rules on this but the Guard spirit power and the Stability sprite power stops Glitches. I'd go so far as to say that together, Guard and Stability will prevent even Critical Glitches. In my games, Gremlins are "free" BPs for Magician PCs.
Sterling
Jun 10 2007, 07:09 AM
This is my take on how you stop Mister Rooftop Sniper. But do realize there's many different takes on how the 'World' works in SR4.
I'd simply let your sniper player have a similar encounter with gangers. Let him snipe a few, and remember, an unsilenced sniper rifle is noisy. One five rolled on a perception test lets you hear it. Silenced gunfire... threshold of two (perception test modifier table on page 117). So the way I see Shadowrun in the 2070s is drones. Lots of drones. They're everywhere. The stoplights? Drones. Patrolling beat cops? They're drones. And while Lone Star might not have a drone patrolling every block (except in the AAA and maybe the A areas) they definitely have drones that are able to assess a loud noise and determine that it's gunfire (maybe even the type and caliber! "Drone #43232 reporting burst fire of assault rifle caliber in the vicinity of..."). So in a combat turn or three, your sniper is spotted (well, more likely his gun, as people aren't as easy to spot for a drone) and his position reported. Now, a sniper rifle is a very dangerous thing, right? So why wouldn't you expect a Renraku Stormcloud drone to have one? Hell, even a sport rifle's got decent range for a blimp-style drone that's operating 500 meters above you. Lone Star might be interested in questioning the sniper, so stick and shock ammo might be on the menu, or maybe gel rounds. Regardless, one patrol drone reports to the overwatch Stormcloud and BAM, one severe headache. Or, if a drone can get a visual, Lone Star will want to send at least a Northrup Wasp or two his way.
If you're not comfortable with the streets being so drone heavy, don't forget there's a lot of air traffic in most major cities. I'd expect a muzzle flash to draw attention, and a Lone Star helicopter's a hell of a thing to drop on his head.
In my game, depending on the area, I expect a Lone Star drone to be somewhat nearby and actively listening for trouble. If it hears gunfire, it heads that way if it's close, or reports the gunfire to the Spider rigger on overwatch. If the area's nice enough, a few drones may triangulate the position to make an intercept patrol easy. If it's a crappy area, remember that street or gang mages (and their spirit friends especially) beat snipers.
Of course, the easiest way is to have your prone, rooftop firing sniper to realize that laying on a roof in a crappy area is a great way to meet hungry devil rats. Or ghouls.
Lastly, keep in mind Seattle has a lot of rainfall. And with the recent activity from Mount Ranier, the rainfall is now acidic. If it's not raining, there may be ashfall (aka 'Seattle snow') and neither one makes for a happy sniper.
Demon_Bob
Jun 10 2007, 07:22 AM
Stick and Shock on a Sniper Rifle is counter productive. Use an Assult Rifle instead. The one with the grenade launcher.
Glyph
Jun 10 2007, 08:17 AM
QUOTE (toturi) |
QUOTE (Aaron @ Jun 10 2007, 08:34 AM) | QUOTE (toturi @ Jun 9 2007, 03:22 PM) | QUOTE (Aaron @ Jun 10 2007, 04:08 AM) | QUOTE (toturi @ Jun 9 2007, 02:51 PM) | And without knowing the PC builds, it is difficult to ascertain if he is likely to glitch. |
If you are referring to my comment on glitching during a Fake ID check, it's relatively easy to do that when you can't start with a fake that has a Rating higher than 4.
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No, it is not easy to Glitch, if you know how.
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Wait ... huh? I'm talking about the probability of glitching on four dice or less. What are you talking about?
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[ Spoiler ] I'm sure other GMs will have their House Rules on this but the Guard spirit power and the Stability sprite power stops Glitches. I'd go so far as to say that together, Guard and Stability will prevent even Critical Glitches. In my games, Gremlins are "free" BPs for Magician PCs. |
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I wouldn't call it "free", considering that it costs a service from the spirit and ties up the one unbound spirit that a magician can have (if a bound spirit is providing this service, it costs time and expensive binding materials). Plus astral barriers such as wards can be a problem.
toturi
Jun 10 2007, 08:28 AM
QUOTE (Glyph) |
[ Spoiler ] I wouldn't call it "free", considering that it costs a service from the spirit and ties up the one unbound spirit that a magician can have (if a bound spirit is providing this service, it costs time and expensive binding materials). Plus astral barriers such as wards can be a problem.
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True, but the SOP of Magicians in my games is to summon an unbound spirit and have it do Guard and Magical Guard from the minute they wake up.