[Laurentius]

Evening, all...

     I currently am working on a few character designs, and had a question about knowledge skills, as well as designing a mentor spirit.

     First, the knowledge skills:
     How would you all break down the knowledge skills related to particular corporations? For instance, someone with Records on File would probably know a little more about their previous employer than the average chummer on the street, but would you leave it to a broad "Corporation X" or narrow it down? "Corporation X Politics" for instance. In particular, what aspects of a corporation would an ex-student be familiar with? "Corporation X Education Policy"?

     Secondly, the mentor spirit archetype:
     I was looking at the Salamander, which in legend is said to be a being of fire, or immunity for fire. As such, I was thinking +2 Manipulation Spells and +2 Fire Spirits. However, I'm at a bit of a loss for a suitable negative, and would welcome other ideas on the positive side of the dice as well.

Your time is appreciated.

[Ethan]

The Mentor Spirit negatives usually have a Gameplay and a Psychological disadvantage. Perhaps a -2 to summon Water Spirits or a general -1 when facing Water Spirits of any kind (and maybe swimming tests).

According to Wiki, the salamander became symbolically used by smiths as well so you could provide a bonus to Armorer skills too.

Perhaps a test to not respond with violence or perhaps the character's demeanour is that of a "hot head"?

As for the Knowledge Skills, I'd say a bit of both politics and general inner workings of the corp. Perhaps keep one at 1 and specialize it, like say Ares Politics (SMG Division) or something.

[Laurentius]

Thank you for the quick reply, Ethan. Reading through the mentor spirits, the disadvantage is usually -1 die, and since they're amphibious normally, I'd probably lean towards a negative for water spirits, rather than a swim test.

Salamander
     Salamander is the representation of elemental fire a symbol of enduring faith which triumphs over the fires of passion. Its inherent protection against fire made it a symbol for smiths, and the toxin their skin produces protects them from attack.
Advantages: +2 dice for Manipulation spells or Armorer Tests (player must choose one), +2 dice for fire
spirits.
Disadvantages:  Salamanders tend to live only come out during evening and night, as well as during rainfall. Salamanders must succeed on a Willpower + Charisma (3) check to engage in social activity during daylight hours.

An attempt at a social disadvantage, as well as a minor description. A tendency towards violence might also be suitable, since they have toxic skin:

Samandarin is the main steroidal alkaloid of the skin glands of the fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra). It is extremely toxic, causing strong muscle convulsions and high blood pressure combined with hyperventilation in vertebrates.

Thoughts, comments, suggestions?

I like the idea of specializing the knowledge skills, since the corps (especially the AAA ones) are huge. In this particular case, I was consider Saeder-Krupp Politics (Magical Studies Division) or the like.

[Makki]

like it. double it with the Nocturnal flaw

[Laurentius]

Nocturnal flaw? Which book would that be in? (Glancing through SR4/A and Runner's Companion didn't yield any results.)

The character is currently capped on negative qualities, though... Mild Allergy to Cats, SINner, Records on File, and Compulsive Pyromania.

[Makki]

it's metagenetic in RC

[Laurentius]

Ahh, that'd explain why I didn't pick up on it. I have yet to really delve into meta-genetics and heavy augmentation (though once I'm done learning how to work the Matrix, that's the next target). Don't suppose you have any suggestions for the fluff paragraph for the spirit?

[Laurentius]

Alternately, I could have
Salamander
     Salamander is the representation of elemental fire a symbol of enduring faith which triumphs over the fires of passion. Its inherent protection against fire made it a symbol for smiths, and the toxin their skin produces protects them from attack. However, their love of darkness and the toxicity of their skin prompts many salamander magicians to move in darkness and avoid physical contact with others.
Advantages: +2 dice for Manipulation spells or Armorer Tests (player must choose one), +2 dice for fire
spirits.
Disadvantages:  Salamanders tend to live only come out during evening and night, as well as during rainfall. Salamanders must succeed on a Willpower + Charisma (3) check to engage in social activity during daylight hours.
Or
Disadvantage: -1 die when dealing with water spirits.
Or
Disadvantage: Salamanders tend to live alone, due to the toxic nature of their skin. Salamander magicians must succeed on a Willpower + Charisma (3) check in order to avoid retaliating against those that touch them.
Or
Disadvantage: If a Salamander magician succumbs to their base passions, he takes –1 die to all actions until he atones for his error.

Opinion?

[Onion Man]

A potentially violent reaction to being touched sounds like fun to RP to me, but might make a mess of the campaign if your GM decides to exploit it.

[anotherJack]

I don't like disadvantages based on the true animal (toxic skin), I think you should stay on disadvantages based on the mythical being.
So disadvantages based on water are good, event if -1 dice when dealing with water spirits is too sweet. I'd say -1 dice to all tests whenever your character is wet, panic test when in/under water, and -1 dice with water spirits.

Plus, I don't understand the reason of the manipulation spells bonus.
I'd say +2 dices with spells involving fire elemental effects, or +2 dices to resist fire/heat effects, instead of the manipulation spells bonus.

[Makki]

the Manipulation Spells or Armorer is fine. Manipulation is the equivalent of crafting via spells. Look at the Artificier totem

[Laurentius]

A potentially violent reaction to being touched sounds like fun to RP to me, but might make a mess of the campaign if your GM decides to exploit it.

Agreed. Mostly another look at possible RP side effects, as those are what I'd prefer.

I don't like disadvantages based on the true animal (toxic skin), I think you should stay on disadvantages based on the mythical being.
So disadvantages based on water are good, event if -1 dice when dealing with water spirits is too sweet. I'd say -1 dice to all tests whenever your character is wet, panic test when in/under water, and -1 dice with water spirits.

Plus, I don't understand the reason of the manipulation spells bonus.
I'd say +2 dices with spells involving fire elemental effects, or +2 dices to resist fire/heat effects, instead of the manipulation spells bonus.

The reason for the manipulation spells bonus was because of the protection against fire aspect and crafting as opposed to harming with fire. Armor and barrier spells fall under the Manipulation category, while the offensive spells are limited to Flamethrower, Fireball, Firewater, and Napalm. While the +2 with spells involving fire elemental effects would be ideal, that would divide the bonuses between schools, which none of the other mentor spirits do (even Fire-Bringer opts manipulation). On the other hand, there aren't any mentor spirits with -1 to a particular kind of spirit, instead opting for -1 against physical damage, a spell category, a social test, or in one case (phoenix) binding tests. This would make me say -1 to swimming tests, but the other penalties seem to have an in combat or avoiding combat penalty, so it seems too lenient.

Personally, I think I'd like to go with a role-play effect, but I'd like to it be one that isn't going to bar it from the majority of campaigns. The social tests in daylight would be akin to a sunlight allergy, in terms of barring effectiveness, it would seem to me. Probably going to rule out the touch side effect because even salamanders can differentiate between friend and foe, in addition to the fact it'd potentially add a lot of difficulty to a group campaign.

the Manipulation Spells or Armorer is fine. Manipulation is the equivalent of crafting via spells. Look at the Artificier totem

Something else I was considering might be enchanting instead of armorer, to keep it within a magician's area of expertise. Thoughts?

[Ethan]

Perhaps +2 for Spells that involve Fire somehow, +2 for Enchanting or Armorer (Choose one).

Disadvantages... I like the night-time thing, or perhaps a -1 to Social tests in the daylight hours.

[Laurentius]

To give a sort of '+2 for Spells that involve Fire somehow', I'd probably say the best I could come up with would be to follow Dark Goddess' example and have +2 to two spell categories, in this case:

Advantages: +2 dice for Combat and Manipulation spells.
Along with potentially an Or:
Advantages: +2 dice for Enchanting and Armorer tests.
Depending on whether you follow the image of the fire elemental aspect of the salamander or the smith-helping task spirit feel of the salamander. I'd probably lean towards the Combat and Manipulation bonus, since the character has Compulsive Pyromania.

If we go with two spell category boosts, then the night-time disadvantage (though based on the real salamander) might be best, since Dark Goddess has one of the steepest disadvantages, causing conflict for failure. It would be similar to Rat's (fleeing from combat if test is failed, unless there's no way to run), although applied in a social situation. Perhaps allow for a fallback option like Rat's?

Disadvantage: Disadvantages:  A Salamander magician must succeed on a Willpower + Charisma (3) check to engage in social activity during daylight hours, or avoid direct interaction with others. If there is no way to avoid interaction, they will seem agitated and take a -1 penalty to social tests.

[anotherJack]

+2 for combat and manipulation spells, sounds a lot too much powered. I think you can see with your GM about the "spells involving fire" thing, which maybe hasn't been done yet but seems much more balanced than the bonus for two full categories.
Or you must upgrade a lot the disadvantages to match the advantages' power.