Ok I have been playing SR since 1st Ed and usually play spell slingers. Oddly I usually don't bother too much with power focus or reusuable spell fetishes- I know they get other names but I keep to the older names. Maybe a power focus but I guess I was too active early on when the rules let you channel an attack through a mage's focuses. I mean I don't want to be going over the fence when the ring that acts as a focus for my invisibility spell suddenly grounds out a fireball from the other side. Not only am I on the receiving end of something nasty but i just lost something i poured karma and money into.

but these things I usually say was jewelry or strange fetishes. I never really htought of them as 'magic wands" or stuff like that. But after someone had a thread about making Harry Dresden as an SR character I htought about it and clearly Harry's Blasting Rod and staff are spell focuses, he even complains how much work it takes to rebuild them when he loses one. Harry's 'blasting rod' is clearly a spell focus in SR terms for his flame thrower spell.

So was I alone in missing the idea of a wand as a power focus?

Form and function, Snowblood. In Western cultures of ceremonial magic, rods, wands, staffs and other magical tools were very important symbols of authority that featured very prominently in the grimoires and traditions. (We'll leave off the idea of a wand as phallic symbol in the male-dominated magical traditions.)

But, yeah, I think that backlash against Harry Potter will definitely push many people to overlook or reject the idea of a wand as a valid focus form factor. Lots of people read into SR themes that they then treat as ironclad rules, and these themes are often metatextual in nature. Harry Potter, being a novel aimed at children, will totally run up against those themes.

It's off topic, a little, AH but I don't think of a wand as terribly phalic. shape aside it's believed in ritual magic to be a scaled down version of a staff, the way an atheme, a ritual knife, is a scaled down form of a sword-a heck of a lot safer to wave around indoors in a ritual.

But my question is did other spell slingers avoid it too? Yeah I think the Harry Potter affect is going to avoid that but to compare the genres, Harry Potter's wand is a power focus and using a wand is almost a geas for most of his spells. For Harry Dresden his rod (carefully not called a wand) is clearly a spell focus.

I've had NPC's with Wand foci before now. It all comes down to paradigm (I use that word alot lately)

They were very popular in the Genesis game.

i would say that easy to drop foci pulled a dodo alongside the grounding rules.

as one no longer need objects that are easy to dispose off, lest they act as the conduit for a fireball, i would say that more "permanent" objects like necklaces, rings or bracelets would be more common. especially as they can be activated or deactivated by a thought.

only problem is that it can make the user look like a bad copy of mr. T...

Afraid to say that wand and staves have always been high on my foci list. But I have had several mages in the game both PC and NPC. Typically expedanable spell foci, spell foci and power foci.

I've never actually played a Mage, so I've never had the option to use a wand or not. However, I have entertained the idea of running a Chaos Mage that carts around a golf-caddy full of Fetishes from different traditions for the express purpose of optimising their Drain Codes. Some of those fetishes might be wands.

I realised the difference betwen Harry Dresden and Harry Potter, however, the fact that the Harry Potter books exist has significant metatextual consequences.

haha, now i suddenly got the mental image of a mage patterned on casey jones

It's all about style. Some people like the idea of a mage that's completely under the radar, with foci that are worn under the clothes or appear to be mundane objects. Some people prefer to walk in crackling with energy, rocking the Vincent Price voice and penetrating gaze, daring anyone to challenge their Dark Powers. Then there's the guy who thinks a pointy hat with "WIZZARD" spelled out in sequins is the way to go...

yeah I'm usually the under the radar type. I imagine brooches or rings, pendants or even earings. The question is does anyone go for the wand and staff look? The idea of holding a wamd to someone's throat- Harry Potter movie style horrifies and amuses me at the same time.
DLN: That wand you were holding to the guard's throat to make him talk."
Me: "Yeah?"
DLN: "Wasn't that the spell focus you use for healing spells?"
Me: "Yeah"
DLN: "I didn't know spell focuses could multitask."
Me: "They can't. but he didn't know that."

I usually go for jewelry for my foci (rings primarily, sometimes a ring and bracelet connected by a chain mesh), but my Power foci usually take the form of a sword, staff, styalized cloak (wolf pelt, a la orc shaman from W3), or other particularly ostentatious item. For instance, the last mage I played had a Stacked Power/Weapon Focus claymore.

My character, UNCLE ZOLA, wears his power focus in the open. It's the doll on his belt.

Would he pity the fool who jibba jabbers about his mohawk grenades being pointless?

A SR magical mohawk grenade in, pink or green, now in production.

My mage carries his power foci in a compartment of his cyberarm.

It looks a little wierd on the astral.




-np

Sweet, post the stats since I'm making Mr T as an npc for my current game, he's a "T"roll combat mage/ adept.

OK lets see:
Mohawk Grenade

Magical grenade that has a bound Task Spirit with the Makeover spell. When the grenade is "Activated" the spirit will wait 5 seconds and then cast Makeover on the nearest metahuman or critter. This counts as 2 services (one to count and one to cast).

Just about anyone can create a Mohawk grenade. Or hell just learn the Makeover spell and have fun.

But please remember to pity the fool you cast it on.

Especially with the Calling rules found in Running Wild.

I like it, but I think I'll work on something based on metamagics and unique spells since I don't want the grenades easilly replicated by my players...

... For changing someone's haircut?

Achoring focus with the make over spell, with a trigger of hitting a target to trigger the spell.

No, I'm envisioning it as acting exactly as it does in the commercial, but with a limited duration. maybe a customized spell with elements of makeover, fashion and trid phantasm with a "specialized spell structure to sustain it for a number of hours equal to the spells force" and intense drain.

Could be pretty easy to do as a AR effect.

Throw a virtual grenade and an AR mask appears over your target's head.



-np

Heh. Is it bad that I kinda wanna play a mage now with forearm blades, with the blades replaced by Wand foci?

*snikt*

Bull

bull, that got me thinking about having foci up ones sleeve, on a quick release system

There used to be a big thing when mages used to have forearm blades that were weapon focuses. It was all the rage for a while about a decade ago. Huge flame wars over if it was allowed by RAW.

Bonus points if the retracto-wand can be also used as both a computer interface and a stabbing weapon.



-karma

Hehe, "My wrist-mounted commlink is also my spell focus for 'Awsome'."

You and Dick Tracy