With all the stuff going on about free spirits, I was taking a closer look at the listed Spirit Pacts in SM pg 108.

The flat rate BP cost of 5 x Spirit Edge doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense. Given the descripions of the Pacts.

So, for the purposes of our game, we are gonna have the BP cost of the Pact work on a case by case basis.

Drain Pact: Leave at 5 x Spirit's Edge since it is directly tied into the Edge of the spirit and rolling all those extra drain dice is just nice.

Dream Pact: This either costs 5 BP or gives a Bonus of 10 BP. Depends on the demeanor of the spirit and the relationship between the character and the spirit, worked out in the character's background at character creation with the GM.

Formula Pact: I figure this should only cost about 10 points. It has been repeated in the forums, time and again, that lifespans have no bearing on SR games. So it shouldn't really cost much of anything. Having thier aura tainted by the formula could cause the character (and/or Free Spirit) troubles along the way. The only reason I didn't set it at 5 points is the Formula Pact can be used by the imprinted player as a means to get a PC Free Spirit around any astral barrier.

Life Pact: Set the cost for this one at 10 points. The edge of the spirit has no bearing on the use of the power. Since the player has to use a complex action and spend 1 Karma, there are fairly resonable restrictures on it. It is something that is very situational and dire (hense, not used too often), since a complex action can be used to apply First Aid and probably get back more then 2 boxes at no Karma Cost.

Magic Pact: This is changed to a BP cost of 5 x Free Spirit's Force. Since, Force and Magic are the same for Free Spirits and Edge plays no part in the formula of this power.

Power Pact Leave at 5 x Spirit's Edge since a Free Spirit's Edge determines what powers it has.


It has been debated in a few other threads about the costs of pacts and if characters that have pacts with a Free Spirit are required to pay karma to cover the higher cost of the pact as the spirit raises thier Edge. In the context of our game, if the Free Spirit raises an attribute that would increase the BP cost of a Spirit Pact then the character that is in the pact must spend Karma to cover the cost. The method and timing of covering the cost is worked out between the GM and the players. Much like a character with Latent Dracomorphosis that goes through the changes and becomes a Drake during the course of the game.




PS. Interesting aspect to Formula Pact...

"The spirit infuses a copy of its spirit formula into the character, who then carries it with him for the rest of time. The character gains the power Immunity to Age (p. 288, SR4), and the spirit cannot be affected by the use of any other copy of its formula for as long as the character lives. The character’s aura is visibly tainted by the spirit’s signature. The character himself may be used (or use himself ) as the spirit’s formula for any purposes."

So, if the Free Spirit infuses more than one person with a copy of his formula none of them can be used to affect the Free Spirit. As per the RAW.
(editted for spelling)

Immunity to Age has no mechanical effect in the game, and thus should be considered free. Consistently having a Free Spirit's formula on hand, however, has some value. In regards to using it for a PC Free Spirit to bypass Mana Barriers, please note that said PC must use one of their available Power Points to get said pact, unless they choose to forgo Friendship Pact, which then has it's own consequences.

Overall, I fully support Frank Trollman's pricing for the various Spirit Pacts, some of which you where dead on.

http://forums.dumpshock.com/index.php?show...irit+Pact\



I will need to double-check, but I believe there was something about a Free Spirit only being able to have a single Formula Pact at any given time.

I looked around for that abit and couldnt find anything about it. As a matter of fact. There are several Friendship Pact threads that talk about multiple formula and life pacts as a means to keep friendship pacts from being complete suicide on the spirit's part.