Shadowrun
Shadowrun General => Gear => Topic started by: Ergocorp on <11-05-13/1817:47>
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Hi all, wondering if anyone had any ideas on the following. One of my group is playing a troll street Sam who wields a sledge hammer as his primary weapon. He's asked me if at some point down the line he could have a frost hammer. There are no permanent enchants in the game right?
Is there potentially a technological solution for this?
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No, there's no way of enchanting things permanenty through magic, except for when it comes to Weapon Foci which only work when wielded by their magical owner.
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And weapon foci don't carry that kind of effect. A possessing spirit with the appropriate Elemental Aura could work, but then he's just as liable to be damaged by it.
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Indeed, this isn't D&D. Ask him first if he wants the 'frost hammer' because it would look cool, or for the extra damage. If it is for the extra damage, his best bet is to get a mage to cast a Cold Aura spell on him, or for a spirit with the Cold Aura power to possess him. In both cases, it is temporary, and in the second, he's no longer in control of his character. If he just wants it for the coolness, well, wait until 5E version of Arsenal comes out, and load up the Custom Look mod on it, to have an AR skin that has the head look frosty, with an icy mist falling off the head of the hammer, maybe with glowing Norse runes, as well.
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Note that Street Magic suggests the GM allow characters possessed by friendly spirits be allowed to RP the spirit for the duration. Whether you want to follow that advise is up to you, of course.
Anyway, like Mirikon (can I call you Miri?) said: in SR4-5 almost everyone is going to be running AR of some description. If it's about the looks, why not let him have a sledgehammer that has been modified to look sorta icy (nice blue colour, changes to shape) as per the personalized weapons of SR4, and then further enhanced by an AR graphic overlaid around the hammers head, making it really look like some sort of magical artefact when seen in AR.
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You could take inspiration from Arsenal and let it count as Custom Look: Helps on Intimidation Tests but helps raise your Public Awareness if you're not careful.
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You could take inspiration from Arsenal and let it count as Custom Look: Helps on Intimidation Tests but helps raise your Public Awareness if you're not careful.
It's a Frost Sledgehammer. I don't think he plans to be very careful :p Bring on the Public Awareness! Ooo, I bet the trid vids about his character will totally play up the frost hammer bit and make it actually magical. I can already see the character munching popcorn while wishing the real weapon was as badass as the movie version.
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The weapon would have to be wireless and hence hackable to have an AR icon, no?
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Maybe. Can't you just slap a tag on it that carried the graphic around? Regardless, hacking a melee weapon is explicitly stated as not really impacting its efficiency in the rules. You could taunt the guy by making his hammer look like a wilted banana, though!
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You can produce an AR icon with RFID tags, so the weapon itself wouldn't have to be hackable.
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The tag is, of course, hackable, so the end result is the same. Be prepared to wield a floppy male genitalia for a hammer occasionally ^^
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Had a hacker try to hack a teammate in SR4, teammate found out and contacted shared hacker contact for some payback. Guy's commlink got hacked and started broadcasting he was a registered sex offender.
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Awesome guys, thanks for the help :)
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Had a hacker try to hack a teammate in SR4, teammate found out and contacted shared hacker contact for some payback. Guy's commlink got hacked and started broadcasting he was a registered sex offender.
Nice! Have to keep that one in mind.
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The tag is, of course, hackable, so the end result is the same. Be prepared to wield a floppy male genitalia for a hammer occasionally ^^
Then the hacker should be prepared to be beaten with the floppy male genitalia. But yes, any AR skin you put on the weapon could be hacked. Most hackers wouldn't bother with that, when there's better things to hack, like the smartgun the sammy is carrying, or that guy's cybereyes, or the Face's commlink, or... Besides, do you really want to piss off someone who goes around using a sledgehammer as his primary weapon?
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The tag is, of course, hackable, so the end result is the same. Be prepared to wield a floppy male genitalia for a hammer occasionally ^^
Then the hacker should be prepared to be beaten with the floppy male genitalia. But yes, any AR skin you put on the weapon could be hacked. Most hackers wouldn't bother with that, when there's better things to hack, like the smartgun the sammy is carrying, or that guy's cybereyes, or the Face's commlink, or... Besides, do you really want to piss off someone who goes around using a sledgehammer as his primary weapon?
It just sounds like the kind of group where that stuff could get some laughs!
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Besides, do you really want to piss off someone who goes around using a sledgehammer as his primary weapon?
Oh, hell, yeah. I'd hack that thing because he had it as his primary weapon. .oO(|\|00b.) ;)
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Ork Gunslinger gets her SMGs hacked. "My babies!" Uses (melee-hardened) SMGs to beat up the hackers. Makes a necklace from their teeth.
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See, this is what I love about the propensity for SR4 players to think that the hacker more-or-less has to be running along right next to everyone - or even that anyone is going to notice who did the job. The first thing the hacker / decker should do is Take Cover. Then get a little distance. Then start slicing 'ware and gear - because you can't shoot or magic what you can't see. The decker's best tricks have always been able to be done from half a world away - and the right hacker is going to be able to 'ride along' and remotely channel a hack through the toughest sam's gear ...
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"Fine, you guys go into combat. I'll be here, safe and secure in my bullet-proof freezer!"
"Why the freezer?"
"Because Mungo ate all the ice cream, so it is empty. Also, I overclocked my deck so badly that it overheats like crazy. Now, where is my parka and knitted datajack tuque?"
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"Mungo ate all the ice cream?? ... maybe today is a good day to die!!"
On an amusing side note, at one point I created a Vory-linked troll (giant) character for a new player to the group. His sidearm was an MGL-6 grenade launcher. He was the demo tech - lived in an old two-story ex-restaurant, and kept his boom-boom in the old (no longer cooling) walk-in freezer. Andre the Giant. ;)
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The first thing the Decker should do is not even be required to take cover and make distance. They should have matrix-spotted the enemies ages ago and started scoring Marks shortly after, ready to eject 3 clips in the first round of combat.
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The first thing the Decker should do is not even be required to take cover and make distance. They should have matrix-spotted the enemies ages ago and started scoring Marks shortly after, ready to eject 3 clips in the first round of combat.
Presuming they had cause to assume these guys were enemies.
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Usually "hey, there's enemies with smartguns over there" is enough reason to assume that when you're on a run. :P And getting Marks in advance is never a bad tactic.
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Usually "hey, there's enemies with smartguns over there" is enough reason to assume that when you're on a run. :P And getting Marks in advance is never a bad tactic.
Unless they only turn their wireless on when the fight's starting.
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Which means you're dealing with smart enemies and should grenade the hell out of them.
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This is why I like starting fights in spam zones or static zones.
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Couldn't you use a Unique Enchantment to place elemental damage on it? There is already an example in the Digital Grimoire of a sword that could bond with anyone and was dual natured. Also i heard that in previous editions (back when bug city was still big) that you could enchant a weapon with slay bug or some such thing. It wouldn't be that far of a stretch to bind a spell to the weapon and only the person bound to it would not be effected by it.
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You could do a unique enchantment to 'bend' the rules, I guess. Remember, though, that the enchantment you're talking about had some stringent requirements, like getting a dragon's tooth, and killing someone as part of the enchantment process. And it was ungodly expensive.
Long story short, no runner will have it.
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Well the motto of this edition IS: "Everything has a price." And you don't necessarily have to use human sacrifice, though you could always sacrifice a horrible person like a toxic shaman or mass murderer if you don't want to feel bad.
And they could always find the item.
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Only place you'll 'find' something like that is if you rob a dragon's lair.
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than that would be one epic run my friend. Regardless that was just an example.
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You'll also notice, Evil Tiki Man, that there is advice to the GM to make unique enchantments that radically break the rules to be limited-time or essentially one-event enchantments - the specific thing needed to slay the toxic dragon, for example, which is a Power/Weapon Focus 12 that can be 'bonded' by anyone ... but which will last only a few days, just long enough to get you to that dragon's lair and kill it before it goes dormant.
Otherwise, well, an item like that can become a game-breaker - whether because it makes the subsequent adventures too easy, or because everyone and their brother is out to get the magic football you've made. Long story short, a wise GM makes those things once-in-a-blue-moon deals.
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Or, to paraphrase what a wise man once said, "You were so preoccupied with whether or not you could, you didn't stop to think if you should."
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"Fine, you guys go into combat. I'll be here, safe and secure in my bullet-proof freezer!"
"Why the freezer?"
"Because Mungo ate all the ice cream, so it is empty. Also, I overclocked my deck so badly that it overheats like crazy. Now, where is my parka and knitted datajack tuque?"
Whatever style points you get for hotsimming from inside a freezer, you lose for trusting anyone enough to tell them where to find your brain-burned corpsicle.
But we know how hard it is for you to NOT TELL PEOPLE stuff, so you're partially forgiven.
Whoever squats in your doss next will eventually find you when they go looking for their/your "Captain Crispy" peanut butter Udon (with purple-flavored snozberry nuggets!) stash and figures out that the fridge is locked from the inside, but that could be a few weeks. But it's okay, just about everyone you know will be dead too.
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I thought magic in shadowrun said you can create any spell you want. What if you made a spell that would only act through your weapon on contact. Then you use a foci to sustain it. Thats is what I did when I wanted a character to have a sword channel a lighting spell.
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I thought magic in shadowrun said you can create any spell you want. What if you made a spell that would only act through your weapon on contact. Then you use a foci to sustain it. Thats is what I did when I wanted a character to have a sword channel a lighting spell.
The [Energy] Aura spell already does something similar, though it coats your whole body in the aura. But a sustained spell is different from what the OP is looking for, Basic. They want a +1 Frost Hammer, like in D&D.
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Something like that would be completely unique in the world, and breaks the rules of Magic as they are currently understood, making it nearly priceless as a collector's item and a research object.
You would have corporate research divisions, unscrupulous academic institutions and powerful individuals falling over each other to take it from the character by progressively escalating means. Either he will accept a massive payment, which presents its own balance issues, and deprives him of the special-snowflake weapon you bent the rules to give to him in the first place; Or he will eventually be met with such overwhelming force that he will die.
Just trying to hold onto an object like that in the face of all comers could be a campaign in and of itself.
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If you're willing to house rule 4e material and your player is willing to spend about 1.5 million nuyen on it, and your street sam is willing to pay the price of being magically active in some way (aspected mage, or physad, i guess), you could always take a True Water(Ice) element from Parageology and have it be the basis of a weapon focus. One of the potential abilities is the manifestation of the Element for about an hour.
Pricy to have your weapon covered in frosting but heh.
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... have your titanium reinforced whatever-weapon hold a small compartment of dry ice/water, released through some kind of trigger (wireless even maybe.) . and have it be all misty and cold and stuff. Does ZILCH besides look cool, but there's your solution. :P
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if you just want the visual effect, there is a lot of options available (quickening an physical illusion spell to the hammer's head, etc) as others have mentioned....
but for the most part... "Magic works only for the awakened" has been a staple of SR since 1e... and is probably not going to change anytime soon....*
* there is the whole unique enchantment thing in D.G.... but I as a GM would probably NEVER allow such a thing... or, at the very least would be the focus of an entire campaign chapter.....
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Couldn't you use a Unique Enchantment to place elemental damage on it? There is already an example in the Digital Grimoire of a sword that could bond with anyone and was dual natured. Also i heard that in previous editions (back when bug city was still big) that you could enchant a weapon with slay bug or some such thing. It wouldn't be that far of a stretch to bind a spell to the weapon and only the person bound to it would not be effected by it.
I have played every edition of Shadowrun and read Bug City cover to cover multiple times. You heard wrong.
The example in the Digital Grimoire has several problems. First, it breaks the fundamental laws of magic. Second, it subjects any mundane wearing it to focus addiction automatically. Third it's fourth Edition. Fourth, as a mundane you REALLY do not want a dual natured weapon.
Fifth, and yeah, this is opinion, but the rules in that book flat out state that the unique enchantment "rules" are there to solve problems that cannot be solved with the rules. Then they basically proceeds to tell you to "make it up as you go". In other words, if game balance or any other part of the lovingly crafted magical theory that is Shadowrun does not satisfy your itch, we have this 18 page cash-in product for you.
Back in my day, this is what we refered to as "Buy The Book" content. (A common house rule in my youth stated that you could only play what you owned. So if you wanted to play with a certain edge or flaw, you had to own the Companion book so the GM could always reference the material. Some books in some systems (*cough* AD&D *cough*) was plain overpowered. Therefore, content that was plain better than everything else was called "Buy The Book" content.)
I am sorry if I come across as condescending or rude. I recognize your intention to help the OP out with a possible solution, but that particular book is a can or worms that best stays closed.
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Actually, the 'mundane wielding a magic weapon' thing was what Anchoring used to do in 2e. It turned out to be rather hellishly powerful, so Anchoring got dialed back quite a bit.
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Actually, the 'mundane wielding a magic weapon' thing was what Anchoring used to do in 2e. It turned out to be rather hellishly powerful, so Anchoring got dialed back quite a bit.
I don't remember that... not that I doubt you. But it has been a VERY long time since I played 2e :D
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Anchoring was a lot like preparations, only way more complicated, expensive and powerful. Basically you prepared a trigger spell (like detect blood) and a spell to be triggered (like deathtouch) then you anchored the two together. Once the trigger spell went active, the other spell unloaded. This basically led to mages being able to arm mundanes with one shot magical weapons. However, the need for a trigger spell made them somewhat unreliable. They also we astrally active, attack-able and cost karma.
Anchoring was useful if you knew you would face something nasty that needed lots of mojo to be front loaded, but aside from that, it really was a rare occurrence. In my experience, it was used a lot more in novels and stories than in actual gameplay.
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Alternatively, i could almost see a very healthy ''trade'' market for that sort of thing.
CorpMage+Phantasm Spell (extra for trid- :P) + Sustaining focis+ Exhorbitant /month pricing for added magical flair and effects.
Catering to the rich and the trendy shadowrunners.
Aside from some obvious annoyances (LOS spellcasting on first purchase/recasting) and whatnot, i dont see anything system-wise that would prevent that.
(Then again, depends how you rule the ''Moving an AoE spell requiring a Complex Action and LOS rule'', since all illusion spells or almost are Area Spells or dont apply to the visual range of others.)
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how about a liquid nitrogen container in the head that releases a dose on contact?
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looks like someone is trying to earn a medium-sized chunk of Big Ds orichalcum on the sweat of our brows!
To the first party to develop a magic item that can be used by a mundane, I leave the medium-sized chunk of orichalcum I keep in my sock drawer at Lake Louise.
I do not know if this bequest has been claimed yet. I also don't know how large "medium-sized" is when referring to orichalcum, or why a dragon needs a sock drawer.
Portfolio of a Dragon: Dunkelzahn's Secrets