Hi. At what force level would you take the Shapechange spell??

The spell has a TN4. Would this mean you could take this spell as a force 1 spell like the old argument for Increased Reflexes +3 INI DIE force1??

Or does the force have to be greater than the Body attribute rating in order to work??

Thanks for the help.

I rarely take it at more than Force 2 since I prefer to use it to turn into pigeons, mice, and things like that. But if you use it to turn into something powerful, you'll want a higher Force so that you can hit the threshold you need. EDIT: Oh wait, no, that's Body. Disregard me.

Only for a few weeks.

ack. It helps to ready the spell description text.

I am developing a custom spell based on the Shapechange spell that would allow a spellcaster to transform into an elemental form like an air elemental and was trying to figure out what the force of such a spell would need to be.

I would say the force of the desired Elemental form should be no higher than the spell's force. Not that I'd allow it. You may want to look at Flame Aura as to an idea of drain for a single aspect of that transformation.

I'd allow it to assume the physical form of a materialized elemental, no problem. They won't have any of the spirit's powers -- including Immunity to Normal Weapons -- and won't be dual-natured (unless they decide to astrally perceive while doing so). Basically, they just get the physical attribute modifiers, a flashy appearance, movement speeds, and Reach if any.

Doc has it. The spell would only give the elemental form and not the elemental's powers.

That would be frightening to give a spell caster access to the elemental's powers too(if only for the Immunity to Weapons power).

The main reason behind the idea of this spell was do give the spell caster the ability to transform his physical form into an air/gaseous form, so he could move through small spaces like cracks under doors, pipes, etc.

Any thoughts on what the force of this spell should be since a threshold like in the Shapechange spell would be hard use??

I was thinking about using the force of the spell with the form's elemental spirit's stats to determine the spell caster's physical attributes in the elemental form(body, quickness, and strength).

Is mist form in one of the source books??

Why not just shapechange into a flea, ant, or other tiny critter? I've found that the best use of shapechange is as a recon spell. No one ever suspects the butterfly.

You do have to be careful, though. I had a character who was checking out an old warehouse in rat form get jumped by a cat once. I stunbolted the hell out of that cat, and the guards just thought that the cat was so lazy it wasn't even going to finish me off. Out came some light pistols, away went my combat pool, and I was gone (for the moment).

I like the version that was listed in one of the old SR2 adventures (Ivy and Chrome?) that let the caster take a limited number of pre-selected items with him when he shapechanges (limited by Force, IIRC).

This version was included to give some modesty to the couple of teenage girls who use the spell, and would otherwise appear naked in front of the party.

I allow it in my game (+1 Spell Level modifier) and it allows the caster to include up to (Magic + Force) kilos of equipment in the transformation, with anything that would accompany him when he projected (foci, fetishes, talismans, etc) not counting towards that limit. While so transformed, all gear except the magical gear is non-functional and inaccessible.

Yeah, I meant Drain Level. Sorry. English is my first language, so naturally I suck at it.

A set of normal clothes weights, what maybe 1 KG at the most? If the object is to allow the caster to keep his clothes, etter really adjust the weight down, 12 KG is a lot of stuff.

Also, if you let magic easily alter the mass, density, and shape of things I suspect there are a lot of cheesy exploits just waiting in the wings.

I would have considered that basic weapon and armour package you mentioned an abuse. The only thing that stops the spell being the king of infiltration is that you can’t take anything with you as a butterfly. It would be almost as useful as teleport. I also notice that you gave focuses free. I didn’t think you could take focuses now. The fact that you had to be able to ware your focus or sustain the spell yourself was also signifigant.

Edward

Then don't use it. I couldn't care less, and it's no fault of my own that you can't come up with any ways to challenge uses of the spell. I was just offering up my house rule for anyone who might be interested in something similar, and it's worked perfectly fine in every game I've GMed where the spell showed up.