Okay here's the numbers

Artistic skill 10 in flute carving
10 levels of IA in that skill
10 spare karma
karma pool 3
he can get 5-6 successes in his virtuoso test and spend 10 karma to make this damn thing a rating 10 Virtuoso flute which becomes a rating 10 manawarp in the flute's local area that is a bloody aspected toward the user


Screw power foci for magician adepts

Did anyone else choke on this?

my copy didn't arrive yet =(

but, it seems pretty cool.

Without tweaking a force 4-5 power focus is possible that costs 10 karma, and also provides background count to everybody else in the area

You forgot to Center first. Creative Skill Flute Carving.

But personally, I am not impressed. To have 10 levels of IA in a skill is to be Magic 10 and having spent 5 PPs on the IA and that is a Grade 4 Initiate. I would think the ability to generate such a Background count is par for course for a Grade 4.

hm. i'll have to check the rules tonight--i'm pretty sure there's a limit of 5 on the amount of background count these can create.

That's pretty cool. Anti-Magic fields here we come!

I wonder what would happen when 2 virtusoes do their things? Or what would happen if the virtuso piece was brought to another area with background count?

Hey! Wouldn't it mean instant kaput CZs? Cool, Kremlin! You've just invented the CZ repellant!

Why do I invision an orc adept with a Break dancing Virtuso piece and Improved Abillity in Breakdancing/popin' n' Lockin' 5/7(10) and after using said ability to mesmerise a Security force say something like " You got served!" uhg ....



*Openes up NSRCG3*

And the bullets smack into a Force 18 Physical Barrier.

Sustaining Focus

Nah he has the Geasa of Movement and Verbal on his magic power ability so the force 18 Physical Barrier spell is accompanied by him doing the Chinese typewriter and saying something like "Can't touch this!"

A few balances to this that I noticed were: it takes 1 month of time to create the virtuoso piece/compose the physical performance. Physical pieces (carved flute, musical score, dance step routines) count as a material link to the creator, and even for physical ones you must spend a month creating the routine.

Also, due to the wording of the virtuoso: "This Background Count is aspected to the creator adept and does not interfere with him." Doesn't mean he gets it beneficial to him. Just it doesn't affect him negatively. So he can run around with a 10 background count, and use his magic as normal, while everyone else is an effective -10 to magic and so one, its not much, but a little bit better.

On the other hand, with 10 successes, I noticed it only takes 45 minutes to create the piece... but being a walking -12 to magic might piss a few magicians off.

It really needs to be errata'ed to limit the maximum Background Count to 5, similar to the Astral Static spell.

What is the area of effect/ range of the background count? Is it only going to apply to spells cast at the person carrying the item, or anyone in the immediate vicinity? Basically, how far does the background count extend?

There is no canon rule to determine the background count, you might rule that the Background count is only big enough to affect the adept(while you may not be wrong, the wording in SOTA 2064 implies it affects more than just the adept). The problem is in the variable nature of the way virtuso can be used. If it is an static art piece, perhaps it only affects the room in which it is displayed. If it is like a dance piece, it might affect the whole hall. If it is an open air performance, a case could be made that it affects everyone that can see it.

They should start posting some FAQ info on the 206x books.
'Course then we'll just yell at them for that too most likely.