[Shango]

One of the player's in my group has asked about a mana equivalent of ballistic / impact armor.
Basically she wants something besides her raw willpower to protect her from magic attacks.
I told her that I didn't think that anything like that existed, but that I would check on the boards to verify.

Does any such thing exist or is this a deliberate game balance thing, like no teleporting?

Thanks

-Erich

[raggedhalo]

Get a friend with Counterspelling. Otherwise you're out of luck!

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

... well, since there's Barrier and Mana Barrier ... I don't see why there couldn't be some sort of Mana Armor.  Design the spell ...

[blackangel]

Like an aura mana barrier. It could be nice... And what about an aura offensive mana barrier.
The other advantage would be the protection against spirits.

[Novocrane]

A Fomori / Fomoraig infected character would have something like that, between Arcane Arrester and Magical Guard., and being a regenerating troll.

[Mirikon]

There's the Astral Armor spell, which protects you from astral attacks...

[Xzylvador]

Couldn't biofiber (SR4A 264) theoretically be grown into the shape which could be worn?
After growing it over a biodegradable mold or something, it might be possible to harvest it and wear it as a magic armor vest/cloak...
The plant is difficult to maintain even when planted and needs lots of maintenance, so it certainly couldn't live very long when used this way. Maybe degrade 1 rating every hour or so, as well as lowering its rating whenever taking physical or magical damage.
Process, skill and effort required for growth and delicate harvesting procedure as well as an in-built source of nutrient for the plant would mean high availability and put a nice price tag on it.

Note: Not RAW, but explain it to your GM and he might houserule something. It certainly shouldn't be common-place or used very often, but when preparing for a special mission, maybe the GM likes this kind of planning ahead.

[RythmnSylver]

An idea i had for a new spell was using mana to "harden" certain elements in a form of armor. you'd need a spell for each element of course but still some examples being::
Hardened Flames :: provides force /2 Ballistic/Impact "permanent" each point of Armor piercing degrades both by their amount permanently, adds full armor to fire resistance tests. + Force/2 to low light and normal visibility + Force*2 to Thermographic visibility   Drain Force/2+5

Hardened Blast :: provides rating =  force /2 Ballistic/Impact "permanent" each point of Armor piercing degrades both by their amount permanently. Degrades Blast damage by rating. Drain = force/2+5 Defending against a Blast attack ('Nade, weapon, breath attack) disables armor on next IP.

[Inconnu]

This touches on something that's been nagging me. Could someone with no or 0(it's different) magic use Counterspelling? I could kind of integrate in my head there being things you can do to disrupt magic w/o needing it(superstition anyone?)

[Xzylvador]

This touches on something that's been nagging me. Could someone with no or 0(it's different) magic use Counterspelling? I could kind of integrate in my head there being things you can do to disrupt magic w/o needing it(superstition anyone?)

The answer is no.
And actually, having 0 magic or no magic is pretty much the same:

If a character’s Magic is ever reduced to 0, she can no longer perform any kind of magic.
The magician has “burned out,” losing all magical ability and becoming a mundane forever.
She retains all magical skills and knowledge, but lacks the ability to use them. Active skills become Knowledge skills.

[RythmnSylver]

the closest a non awakened character can get to using counterspelling is if a Mage in the back is gaurding you.. then you add their counterspelling to your defence rolls..

[blackangel]

the closest a non awakened character can get to using counterspelling is if a Mage in the back is gaurding you.. then you add their counterspelling to your defence rolls..

An "aura" / spheric / personnal mana barrier sustained by said mage will provide the same without the problem of line of sight. In fact it could be better because it could go over 6 as it would match the net hits of the casting up to the force.

[Inconnu]

A person with - magic can BECOME magic. A person with 0 cannot. Ergo, different.

[Shango]

An "aura" / spheric / personnal mana barrier sustained by said mage will provide the same without the problem of line of sight. In fact it could be better because it could go over 6 as it would match the net hits of the casting up to the force.

Couldn't this cause an issue with other mages tracking the astral connection back to the caster?

-Erich

[Mirikon]

It also is going to call in all the site's magical responses as your barrier has to force its way through any wards in the building.