Aura Masking? Do you mean Concealment?

Aura Masking is a Free Spirit Power, but it is still contested like Masking is, If I Remember Correctly. And at 5BP Quality, like Neraph Suggested, it is likely not all that powerful, since the Spirit only has 1 point of Edge (Spirit Pacts have a 5 BP cost per Edge Point of the Spirit)

Depends. Which creature's ratings are considered for the Power received by a Power Pact, the spirit's or the recipient's?

I believe that the answer to that is the Spirit's Rating for a Pacted Power. I could be wrong, though. Regardless, that particular Power is still contested.

Exactly the point of me asking. I looked back over it and I can see arguments for both sides. The next question would be this: the spell the Free Spirit gets - how does it cast it? With his Spellcasting pool or the donor's? The answer will be the same both ways.

@Neraph
Since powers can be given to characters without magic (as far as I know), the spirits attributes are used.

For the spell pact, the spirit gets knowledge of the spell. So it casts with its own attributes.
There is no question there.

Wow. I agree with Irion. On both points. Wow.

That's an interesting interpretation. However, the text can be interpreted differently. In fact, the book uses the same phraseology for the spirit's Power and character's spell transfer.

What if the character has a Magic rating?
What if the spirit does not have Spellcasting?

A merlin hawk can cast spells, too, even Detection spells. So someone assensing the hawk might have a hard time figuring out who exactly put that Detection spell onto that critter - assensing table has it in a way that you cannot clarify the exact purpose of the spell, it sounds more like a classification into one of the five categories. Weird.
They'll have to trace the signature back to the caster and see if they either reach the hawk or somebody else.
Or did I get something wrong here?

You may also want a bandit. Basically a racoon with an opposable thumb, picks locks like it's no deal with a little training. They're also stealthy, perceptive and come with a variety of senses.
A trained demon rat can support you with vast masses of devil and normal rats. The Gamma variant also regenerates. Just don't pick a Beta type, not that a nosferatu will care about the VITAS-3, but other people might do - or use that as an advantage. They also share your habit of avoiding sunlight. I'd have thought of one for an inhabitation ally spirit if I didn't kind of dislike rats.
The whole category of urban paracritters is very helpful.
You could employ some technology to use audio communication below the normal human hearing range. Use it to give commands without any human hearing, it will at least work with animals with the power Enhanced Senses (Hearing). Or train them to respond to the wactchers you can send. Watchers (and spirits) won't even be caught on camera when manifesting.

The whole idea about powerful wards will require taking the Astral Perception power. It's not a bad power, anyway, just... pricey.

Also, there's still Neraph's Death Squirrel. I'm a fan of that one.

There's even been at least one beast handler thread before.

Free spirits do have spellcasting as NPCs. Period.
If not, they may cast with magic-1 for all that I care.

And why should anything change, just because the character has a Magic rating?
I think something like that should have been mentioned....

Don't allow Infected PCs at my table, so can't give you any pointers from first-hand experience, but especially if you are possession tradition, I would look at an Ally Spirit. It can possess your leader wolf/hawk and buff them against mook bullets as well as cast spells etc.

Also, with Eyes of the Pack, don't forget your run-of-the-mill birds, bats, rats and roaches (and other such mundane easily squished beasties) that can act as recon or even tac-net sources for you.

Since, technically, Free spirits are the only ones capable of a Spirit Pact (Have not read Running Wild yet, though), your question is moot. All Free Spirits have Spellcasting. And even if the Character has a Magic Rating, the Power is granted by the Free Spirit, so the Character uses the Spirit's Stats to activate it. How I have always read it anyways.

You can't default on Spellcasting.


No, all Free Spirits can get Spellcasting - this does not mean that they automatically get it. Also, just because you've interpreted a set of text one way does not mean that that is the correct way. The text is ambiguous enough as to provide for solid arguments either way.

Here's another question: Why would a spirit enter into a Power Pact with someone that does not have a Magic Rating? The only solid argument for having to use the spirit's ratings for the Power is that you may not have a magic rating. In that case, what would the spirit get out of it, save karma? The fact they get a spell at their disposal that they didn't know before is the driving force behind this Pact. Also, please keep in mind that a Force 10 Free Spirit can have an Edge of 1 - it just went free, for example, or had to burn Edge to not be perma-banished.

Quite right.

To a Free Spirit this by itself is a huge reason to do it.

Exactly my point, and exactly why the Power Pact is so ambiguous in its text.

Rules Lawyery Crap...

If you want a Pact at my Table and you only pay 5 BP for it, you get a Force 1 Spirit. Period.

OK guys, seven pages later we've gone from nosferatu to free spirits. Make a new thread for that if you're so interested please.

Well, if you want to play a game by the rules you must play the game by the rules, whether or not that means that you pay a Spirit Pact for the Edge X 5 BP of the spirit (with no mention of the Force of the spirit...) or if you want the whole Husbandry group for your Nosferatu MysAd Beast Handler so he can ride that wyvern he just used Incluence/Compulsion on.

Also, for OP: If you're going to chimera something to give it armor, give it the armor from a kraken. It's the highest amount of armor out of the books at 9/12. Hardened Armor is a Paranormal Power and is not a valid choice for a Chimeric Ability.

Typical Free Spirits have Edge Attribute equal to their Force (See Street Magic). Arguing otherwise is Gaming the system.
Otherwise I can have a Force 30 Spirit with that Edge of 1 powering my pact. Absolutely Ludicrous.

I really need to get me Runnig Wild, apparently.

For NPC-Free spirits Force=Edge.

So, back to the Beastmaster then ....

HERE is a link to a PC I am playing on DS who is somewhat related to this concept. He is an eco-activist, erstwhile shepherd roaming the shadows, well more the forests and hills at the moment, with his Attuned/Empowered Border Collie.

Magic 7? Curious as to how. Maybe I missed something.
Intersting character, though.

Furthermore, Body and Willpower 4 is...suboptimal.
I also think relying on the (highly debatable, no one ever takes it at more than Level 1) Attribute Boost Power for all Atributes is kind of "meh".
Outdoorsman for a skill groud at 2 makes no sense, just crack it up to 3 normally instead.
If you go blades you want the Martial Arts that improve DV by +2 and also Ambidexterity and Two Weapon Fighting for Full Defense while attacking.
But the main problem is that poor Jake is of no use. 5 Dice (few more with boosted Agi) to attack for 2 damage? Come on...
Better go for some powerful awakened crittel I'd say!

I really l ike your concept though. It's just very weak as it stands there.

Mine has neither...
If you mean the above, I think there is another thread, linked there, to comment on.

However, I have cleaned up the concept a bit, and now have lower mental stats in favor of a more balanced character. Intuition and Will I changed to 6

I was replying to Pbangarth, not you Krishach.
*Shrug*

We used karmagen, so he initiated and then raised Magic.


[hubris]I've played this game since it began over 20 years ago and other RPGs long before that. I can min-max with the best of them. I wanted to play a farmer who got pissed off at the corporations, and see what I could do with him. Keeping this guy.. and his dog ... alive will be a challenge worthy of my skills.[/hubris]

As a farmer/shepherd, when he was baling hay, etc. he Boosted STR and BOD. When he was out hunting for supper, he Boosted AGI and REA. All of his Adept Powers, maybe with the exception of Astral Perception, and both Initiations are directly applicable to his farming/shepherding life.

Makes Sense, Pbangarth... Awesome character concept.

"Get ahf mah laaaahn!"

I know. Just pointing out that the linked example has it's own thread. It seems like the beastmaster angle doesn't have a huge number of pitfalls beyond the animal management and survivability, rather it is more creative usage to get the most out of.

Nosferatu is likely the largest danger zone so far.

Haven't heard much in the way of Mystic Adept though, other than having to take Astral Perception as a power.

Ich think survivability is a bigger factor than you might think. You sink a TON of both nuyen and karma in your dog. and it dies pretty easily. if that happens, you can basically start a new character (numbers wise).

haven't really sunk karma into a beasty, yet. Since I am working primarily with paracritters, I hadn't even given the animal attunement much thought until this thread.

However, that being said, I find that running numbers, and gearing the beasts properly (modern K9 unit dogs have Kevlar, there is no reason my wolf the size of a horse can't), that some are remarkably hard to kill, especially if employing fading tactics. Fenrir Wolves have counterspelling as well, which I could handle (I believe) as a group effort if I am covering them too. Any thoughts to increasing their survivability?

Honestly, in terms of the combat-oriented Fenrir Wolves, I am more concerned of losing them to the law than your regular shadowrun fight (regular, not the high-intensity runs).

Hmmmm...

13 karma for Attunement (dog) Power - which can be used for any dog, even the modified ones you might prefer
6 karma for Attuning Jake specifically
13 karma for Empowering the adept powers he has
8 karma for the 20,000 nuyen to buy him

Total: 40 karma, which can be regained in 4 to 8 runs. For me, the fun of playing them is worth the cost.

you can't attune a paracritter. Mundanes only. Much to my sadness.

There's a spell for that: Borrow Sense, page 166, Street Magic. It is still, in my opinion, a suboptimal choice - you'd be better off with Possession/Inhabitation spirits in the animals. You get that psychic connection and it toughens the animal and all that.

But you can attune a mundane biodrone. For a lower Karma cost than a normal critter, too, since the Attunement cost is dependent on the animal's Essence.

It's kind of weird that it would be based on Essence. What reason could there be for that?

MAGIC!

What if you bond to an animal then Call a spirit to Inhabit it?

Then you instantly die because Calling is pure evil, only slightly more so than Inhabitation.

AFAIK, the rules wouldn't have an answer for that? But I feel like the spirit should override everything, only gaining memories and things, not metaphysical bonds.

I'd think that the Bond is something that the spirit gets to use - "all skills and abilities" and all that. Depends on which Merge you get. Maybe a Possession wouldn't have access to it though. But still you'd have the psychic link of it being your Bound spirit.

See, I wouldn't call it an ability of the animal at all. It's an ability of the PC, and a magical state of affairs.

Right, but depending on the merge the spirit gets all of the vessels' abilities, mundane and magical. The ability was initiated by a PC, but the magical effect is fully a part of the animal now.

I was counting on the mental link to spirits to give me most info, and eyes of the pack/borrow senses/spells for the rest. A single attuned animal might be good for long term, but that would be one I would never risk, and put the highest priority on keeping it hidden.

Possession by bigger spirits tends to be pretty easy to spot as "not normal." Is there any way to mitigate this other than the concealment power?

I don't think it is fully a part of the animal at all, see. Yes, it clearly depends on your perspective. Luckily, GMs who allowing Calling and PC-controlled Inhabitation spirits are rare. So it doesn't matter.

Aura Masking?

EDIT: No, Realistic Form.

Improved Invisibility or Physical Mask spells may also help, but check with your GM first!

Is this really a way? I am planning on playing a Houngan and would really like that power, but I do not know a way to get my fingers on it

That's very difficult, but a hougan could pull it off, at least in theory. Calling aside, only ally spirits get Realistic Form, Inhabitation flesh forms get Aura Masking, too. Great forms of Guardian and Task spirits get the endowment power. It's up to the GM wether or not Great forms (Invoking metamagic provided) count as "spirits his tradition can conjure", the FAQ suggests a clear "no". If not, a great form spirit with endowment has do endow the ally spirit with the endowment power (yeah, I know, wonky) who then can pass on his Realistic Form onto other spirits.
Physical Mask (even as an Innate Spell for spirits of man) may be way more easier, if allowed.

Since I possess the Physical Mask spell, I will prefer this one Thanks anyways.

Actually the FAQ clarified the latter.

Ally spirits can only select from the powers available to your normal non-invoked spirits.

So no great form powers on allies.

Free Spirits, both PC and NPC, can get both Realistic Form and Aura Masking.