I was wondering if anyone has heard anything about physical adepts in the new edition? I noted that they're mentioned in the description of Street Magic, but has anyone seen rules for them? From Origins maybe?

Surely they are in the main book.

They are in the main book.

Physads worked pretty well before, and a lot of the abilities convert easily to the new system (dice bonuses, skill bonuses, attribute bonuses). I wouldn't expect much change in adepts (certainly less than the change in everything else).

Excellent! Thank you all for your replies!

One of the improvements I learned of is that Magic Loss from wounds has been done away with. Whether a starting adept can be a match for a starting Wireboy remains to be seen. We probably won't know until SR4 finally hits the streets.

Obviously some adept powers will change quite a bit (those connected to Combat Pool for example) but there is also the question of the variable magic attribute and initiation.

I don't know of any concrete facts about this but the talk of Magic as an attribute has seemed to imply that Initiation will not work the same as it currently does, that you will not increase your magic attribute through initiation and presumably then a human will not increase their magic score above 6. If this is correct (and I stress if) then it has some serious implications for PhysAds.

Indeed it does. But you can't raise skills above 6 or 7 and can't raise attributes above 6 (9 with cyber?), then I'd say that there are some pretty serious implications for the whole game.

True enough, the whole game is changing, what I was trying to emphasise is what is, I think, a fairly important change to Physads. A street sammie will install cyberware into his/her body and upgrade it by purchasing better grades of cyberware, or going to bioware to get the same effect with less impact on essence, that is pretty much the way it works now. At present Physads improve their powers through initiation which increases their magic attribute above 6, if the new system does not allow them to increase their magic attribute through initiation then they need some other means of improving their powers or gaining new ones, that would seem to be a big change. Probably not as big a change as Deckers/Riggers/Hackers have gone through but certainly more of a change than has happened for street sams and it may end up being as big a change as with the other magic users.

I think that between bioware taking essence and street sams not being able to raise skills above 6 or so and potentially having easy access to magic and major changes to weapons and armor due to the new dice system, street sams will change markedly (to the point where "conversion" from SR3 will effectively mean "rebuild from scratch with the same concept" for many or even most street sams). I can still envision most adepts not needing a rebuild.

Changes to skills, armour and weapons will apply to all characters not just street sams, which means physads have that change as well, and bioware costing essence means it functions like expensive but more essence friendly cyberware. Unless essence works in a very different manner in 4th Edition that change will be minimal, an actual simplification since there will no longer be a Bio Index to keep track of. As for easier access to magic that is something I have not heard of, or did you mean easier access to the matrix? If thats the case then again its a change that applies to everyone not just street sams.

So of the four changes you listed for street sams (weapons, armour, bioware and access to magic) two automatically apply to physads as well, and one is something I have not heard of. The remaining one (bioware) can mean some street sams will need to be redone because their cyber and bioware essence cost exceeds 6 but by the same token any physad with even one level of initiation in 3rd edition is going to need to be rewritten as well since it seems initiation no longer increases your magic attribute. On top of that there are more physad powers than cyberware or bioware that will either dissapear or be completely reworked because of the fixed T# and loss of combat pool.

I still think physads will need more reworking than street sams.

I guess we'll have to wait for the book to find out who is right.

True enough.

Just a thought--the skill+linked attribute mechanic just made the attribute boost adept power a whole hell of a lot more useful. For less than the cost of a permanent attribute increase, adepts suddenly have a whole lot more bang for the buck at critical moments in the game.

Yeah. skill+attribute makes adepts scary. Very scary.

(But my inner fists-full-o'dice gamer is thrilled)

... and then again the authors might have considered that and adjusted the cost of Att Increase and Att Boost accordingly.

No matter how clever the authors, the powergamers of the world will always be one step ahead of them. Such is the way of things.