Shadowrun
Shadowrun General => Gear => Topic started by: friczvonbrock on <10-03-15/0207:15>
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Hi chummers,
I'm running a campaign and one of the PCs tried to use Tell the truth in another PC.. That created a lot of chaos and one of the players asked me if he can find a Talismonger that have an artifact to help against mind control...
Is that possible? Is that recommended? If yes, what would be the price and how much karma would spend in the process...
BTW jut one of the players is Awekened...
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The short answer is no. Only magic users can use magic in Shadowrun.
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Well, if you are an adept you can get a qi-focus for iron will.
You could all get quickened will and logic increases on your characters. Potentially +8 to resist for 2 karma each - until the next really strong mana barrier...
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North is correct in the "short answer is no".
The LONG answer is: there is precedence for an artifact to bond with a non-awakened. In one of the 4e PDFs, there were rules and an example of a weapon focus that was made for and bonded by a non-awakened.
However, the creation and bonding were extra ordinary and required what would be several runs worth of time to do. Not to mention hazzardous! (In the weapon focus, a tooth from a live dragon was needed! - Good luck!)
So, yes, if you want to design and have available in your game a artifact that can be bonded by a non-awakened, you can do so. But your players should expect to pay WITH an arm and a leg to get it!
(Thank god for cyber-limbs!)
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HAhahaha
Thanks y'all for the answers!!
I think I'll old that in game by them, and made them more suspicious with Awekened!!
And tell them to somebody else do a awekened character or they'll be unprotected...
Thanks again!
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Echoing the others, the short answer is 'No.'
The long answer, aside from unique, very expensive, foci that take several runs worth of materials and time (in addition to the cost) and would likely require a human sacrifice and a focus addiction, as the example Reaver mentioned did, there are only a few ways for a 'mundane' to use/access magic, ranging from 'potentially dangerous' to 'you done f*cked up'.
Quickened/Anchored spells are the go to for mundanes needing some kind of magic put on them, without having a mage doing the casting in the moment. There's lots of good things to be said about a Quickened Increase Willpower, for instance, or an Anchored Mana Static spell set to activate when an incoming spell is detected. However, those spells will light you up on the Astral, since you won't have any masking, and you won't be able to walk through wards without either stripping your defenses or setting off every alarm in the place. Also, you have to have a mage willing to cast the spell in the first place. So we'll call this one 'potentially dangerous'
Then you have BADs. Several Bio-Awakened Drugs and Magical Compounds have potential to give you certain magical abilities during their duration. They're expensive, don't last too long, and come with some drawbacks that can be pretty crippling, depending on the drug. Oh, and let's not forget the whole addiction thing, because BADs have that name for a reason. Trying to keep up a constant defense in this way is stupid, at best.
Continuing on our tour of horribly bad ideas, we come to spirit pacts. Spirits (ESPECIALLY free spirits!) may occupy the whole spectrum from good to evil, but their thought processes can only charitably be called 'humanish'. They are creatures alien to our world. Sure, they might not all be chasing Sigourney Weaver, but even the Roswell Greys can't be counted on to act in a way a metahuman can always (or usually) predict. A spirit pact offers potential power, but at a nasty potential cost.
And then the final stop on our tour is, of course, spirit possession/inhabitation. If you're very lucky, it is possession, and you merely get shunted to the side for a bit, trapped in your own head and forced to watch as something else controls your body, speaks with your voice, and generally acts without your advice or consent. If you're not lucky, it is inhabitation, and you're a brand new insect spirit! Well, not you. Your soul's been eaten and an inhuman creature is wearing you like a cheap suit. Like in the first Men in Black movie, except not nearly as pretty. So by this point, you've done f*cked up.
Long story short? Pray that anyone promising actual magic to a mundane (other than quickened/anchored spells) is LYING to you. If they aren't, then you're in deep, deep drek.
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I would add here, that since this was PC Versus PC problem in the OT, I Highly recommend a Bullet in the Brain pan for the offending Wiznerd. I doubt he can hold off the whole team at once. Hard as it may be sometimes you have to kill off a PC to hammer a lesson home. Come to think of it, that would have been my first response upon realizing what jackass was doing.
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While I loath inter PC violence - it never ends well, somedays you just have to think like the Characters.
From the Gun-Bunnies view:
Magic is scary. Useful but scary. It can create fire from nothing, rip a building apart, or rob you of your free Will. You, and the 'professionals' you work with commit arson, kidnapping, blackmail, and mayhem for a living. (Murder is usually just the whipped creame on the actual run...), and now some jackass spellslinger is hinting at mind raping you.....
< I can already smell the gun powder >
From the awakened View: while magic is useful. Its tiring (drain), so trying to run around magically juiced is very difficult, and usually draws unwanted explosives (See above as to why). Now, the 'professonials' you hang with have all chopped out parts of their very SOULS to gain the edge magic gives you. Not to mention they carry guns. Lots of guns with lots of bullets. And they get paid to put those bullets into things. So you are basically hanging out with well armed (Guns!!) Crazy people (essence loss) that generally fear/envy you.
Are you REALLY sure you want to be shooting off you mouth???? Cause it could be the last time. A shotgun to the face usually does that.
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Yeah, if I were playing a character who'd had the threat of magical intrusion into his mind levied against him by a 'teammate'... That 'teammate' would be having some full metal jackets intruding in their mind shortly. If they actually did it? Pfft. Dead man walking, all in all. Activities like that should turn a team against them as a whole at the least; if word gets out, imagine the negative reputation that kind of activity would cause.
I've seen inter-PC violence go well; it's a matter of attachment to the characters. The less attached, the easier it is on both sides. I don't know how attached your guys are, so I can't say for sure, but... Did anyone warn the spellslinger of the many ramifications of such behavior? It doesn't have to be in so many words, just a simple 'Are you sure you want to do that?'
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Maybe the caster didn't realize the full implications of this before he did it. I suggest an OOC chat about perception of magic, especially mind-reading or mind control, before the bullets start flying.
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Yeah, it's the same as finding out the decker has started to hack all your gear or having the street samurai willingly catch you in the blast of a grenade without remorse. Unprofessional, in the very least grounds to never work with them again.
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Immediately grasping to the nuclear option of "kill the wizard" is a bit excessive at this point. Yes, he did something wrong, but in the end Shadowrun is still a game played between friends.
Like Whiskeyjack said, it's a much better idea to talk OOC a bit about inter-player behavior - including blatant mental assaults - and what the team expects on that front. Make it clear what it means when people allow it to happen, and get to a concensus of what your party will be doing. That probably means "No inter-party hostilities allowed".
After all, we probably all end up running with characters we probably wouldn't be hanging out with if it was a pure in-character decision, just because it's fun to play with friends and it's fun to let thém play what they want. Within reason.
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I agree with you on the 'talk out the ramifications OOC' part. That said, if it still happens, that's definitely a bullet meets brain-pan offence. In some ways, that's worse than just physically attacking someone.
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Hope the OOC talk goes well. I have been in a few of those conversations. A couple times the offending PC's player says something along the lines "I'm playing the character and thats what he would do." My response is "OK. You understand the situation. If you are doing that it is fair if I do too." ...a few dice or RPS later: Please generate a character with more respect for <authority, superior firepower, or whatever>
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While I don't entirely disagree with the suggestions of killing something, it might be more helpful for that something not to be the offending mage.
Why? Strong emotions, death, etc can alter background counts in areas that don't see them regularly. So if the mage is really slotting the team off, kill a chicken or have the face suck it up and french kiss the waitress. The mage will get the point when they start taking penalties.
Or start accepting runs in more exotic locales - Gobekli Tepi nexus (Rating 8), Nazca Geoglyphs (Rating 9), Pyramids of Egypt (Rating 7), Stonehenge (Rating 12), Sidney Song line (Rating 11), Arlington Cemetery, Sistine Chapel, Notre Dame (Rating 10), The Great Cairn line in Tír na nÓg (Rating 14), blast sites of Hiroshima and Nagasaki / Nazi death camps / Native American Re-Education Center at Abilene (Rating 13), Auschwitz and Blackstone Prison (Rating 16), Aurora Borealis (Rating 18) ... and so on.
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I really hate that change to background count on this edition. It's ubiquitous, meaning it's boring. It's magic Noise. A kid who is really sad on his birthday can generate background count...that just cheapens it and makes it sound really banal and stupid.
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Agreed, WhiskeyJack. An atrocious murder of some sort or a declaration of true love (Taj Mahal style, not just going to a knee), that makes a bit of sense for a temporary fluctuation, but a kiss or a family reunion? Way too irrelevant.
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It's odd. They made it so common that I almost can't justify it not being around, but it's still nearly crippling to a lot of builds. The penalty on rolls is nothing, the lowering your Foci and sustained spells and preparations is the part that makes it rough. Oh, and eternally pissing off every spirit you summon... Meanwhile a positive background count is worthless, which oddly enough almost makes the otherwise hilariously bad Geomancy rituals almost seem worthwhile...
"Hmm... Wait a week and roll again to get several reagents? Or get three right now and tap out this mana line for a month..." A permanent, aspected background count shouldn't be the kind of thing you'd get rid of for 60 fucking nuyen worth of shit. Even if it comes back.
I mean, like... Fucking, work at a Stuffer Shack! Ritual takes (Force) Hours to complete. A part time shift is like four fucking hours! You would make enough money to just fucking buy the reagents, I bet. And you'd probably get an employee discount on FizzyFluid or whatever. If working a shitty part time job is easier and quicker and more efficient than a ritual, that's...
Sorry, it's irrelevant but goddamn Geomancy showcases some of the worst mechanics in Shadowrun.
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Thanks Y'all for the answers!!
I was out for a time, cause I found a new job and I had to dedicate my time to this.... but now I'm back to the forum!!
In the end the magical player got out from the table... reason? The player stop going and the PCs didn't want to work with his PC anymore, and that took a lot of conflicts and inner rage, the group almost got sliptted. But now is everything fine, but the group is yet without anyone with magic, there is just a Social Adept, but almost all of his abilities are passive.
Thanks again!!