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From: [l--a--d] at [husc8.harvard.edu] (Lester Ward)
Subject: Shadowrun FAQ
Message-ID: <[1992 Nov 24 161225 1087] at [magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu]>
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This will be the last Shadowrun FAQ in it's current format. All five
files are contained in this post. Most of the questions are about the
First Edition of Shadowrun, which is why this FAQ list will be
getting revamped.
Good luck,
Wordman
"Tell him you and Fudgie were playing with the Cuisinart."
-- Grendel's advice to young Sally, whose dog he killed with cyanide
>>>>>>>
****************************************
* SHADOWRUN *
* Frequently Asked Questions *
* General *
****************************************
Post Name: ShadowFAQ -- General
As of: July 1, 1992
Version: 0.4
Compiled by: Wordman ([ward 1] at [husc.harvard.edu])
This post and those like it (which are posted all at once, at the
beginning of every month) are meant to answer some FAQ (frequently asked
questions) about Shadowrun and to suggest some house rules which hope to
fix some of Shadowrun's deficiencies.
Entirely new rules systems and/or long, radically different rules are
not included in these posts, for the sake of brevity, if nothing else.
So, you will not find, for example, rules for martial arts or new types
of spirits in these posts.
The house rules were put together from the posts of the people posting
to rec.games.frp, rec.games.cyber and flashlife. They are divided into
separate posts by category:
armor -- armor gets its own category.
combat -- guns, melee and initiative
decking -- matrix, decking, deckers, decks
magic -- sorcery, phys ads, enchanting, conjuring
mechanics -- dice, metahumanity, misc.
general -- this post, intro and questions about real world stuff
At the beginning of each of these posts is an outline of what the post
contains. Generally, each entry in a post starts with the general FAQ,
then attempts to answer the question under vanilla Shadowrun rules, if
applicable. Following this are house rules relating to and/or answering
the question or concern.
Many of the house rules go very well with other house rules. The intent
of these posts is to modularize each house rule into simple components
which may be mixed and matched.
None of these house rules has anything at all to do with Shadowrun II
unless explicitly stated.
CHOICES:
Where two very similar house rules existed, either the more complex of
the two was used, or two sub-variant were listed. Some subtleties were
left out to cut down on the length of these posts.
FEEDBACK:
The vanilla answers to some FAQs may be in error or dispute. Usually an
SR rule is specific as to meaning, so conflicting interpretations of a
rule should be rare. If you disagree with a vanilla answer, mail
[ward 1] at [husc.harvard.edu] and state your alternate case. Please note that
this is if you disagree with the listed vanilla INTERPRETATION of a
rule, not the rule itself. An attempt was made to give vanilla answers
in the way which seemed to be consensus when disscussed on rec.games.frp
If you disagree with a posted house rule, please do NOT send mail to
[ward 1] at [husc.harvard.edu.] Just don't use it.
If you have a house rule that seems reasonable, please post it to
rec.games.frp. If it is general enough, it will find its way onto these
lists.
PERSONAL NOTE FROM THE COMPILER:
My apologies for not including the names of the authors of the house
rules. I feel that this had more cons than pros (not the least of which
was, quite honestly, my having to keep track of who did what).
I do not necessarily agree with or use the house rules in these posts.
I have attempted to take my opinions out of these posts all together,
but I'm sure they seep in anyway. Again, my apologies.
Enjoy,
Wordman
[ward 1] at [husc.harvard.edu]
*******
G1: When is Shadowrun II coming out?
*******
It's out now.
*******
G2: Where can I get the Neoanarchist's Guide to Everything Else?
*******
This net.book (not to be confused with the FASA product "The
Neoanarchist's Guide to Real Life, which is in production) is compiled
by Jerry Stratton and contains SR articles of every description.
Available by anonymous ftp from teetot.acusd.edu in rpg/shadowrun.
Submissions can be sent to [j--r--y] at [teetot.acusd.edu.] The current issue
of NAGEE is number 3.
*******
G3: What other SR resources exist on Internet?
*******
Flashlife: Send name and email address to [flashlife request] at [kpc.com]
CyberRPG: (mailing list of rec.games.cyber postings)
Bunch o' stuff: [archive server] at [vertas.com] Send a mail message with a
body of "send help" on one line and "send index" on the next
Jayhawk: Mary Kuhner's fiction at ftp.white.toronto.edu
/pub/frp/shadowrun/jayhawk
Discussion Group: [shadow r n] at [hearn.bitnet]
*******
G4: What are all the Shaowrun products currently out?
*******
RULES & TECHBOOKS:
Shadowrun
Shadowrun II
GM's screen
GM's screen for SRII
Grimore
Paranatural Animals of North America
Rigger Black Book
Shadowbeat
Shadowtech
Sprawl Sites
Street Samurai Catalog
Virtual Realities
SOURCEBOOKS:
Seattle Sourcebook
London Sourcebook
Neoanarchist's Guide to North America
Native American Nations (volumes 1 & 2)
RUNS:
Bottled Demon
DNA/DOA
Ivy and Chrome
Dragon Hunt
Dreamchipper
Elven Fire
Harlequin
Mercurial
Total Eclipse
Universal Brotherhood
FICTION:
2XS
Changling
Choose Your Enemies Carefully
Find Your Own Truth
Into the Shadows
Never Deal with a Dragon
Never Trust an Elf
RUMORS: (These have all been mentioned as being in production, but the
validity of such claims is unknown).
Denver Sourcebook
Harlequin II
map pack
Neoanarchist's Guide to Europe
Neoanarchist's Guide to Real Life
Paranatural Animals of Europe
Grimore II (This one .is. definately true)
****************************************
* SHADOWRUN *
* Frequently Asked Questions *
* Armor *
****************************************
Post Name: ShadowFAQ -- Armor
As of: July 1, 1992
Version: 0.4
Compiled by: Wordman ([ward 1] at [husc.harvard.edu])
This post contains FAQ (frequently asked questions) and standard house
rules about the Armor portion of the Shadowrun gaming system. Posted
simultaneously with this post is a post titled 'Shadowrun: FAQ General'
which contains more information on what the point of this list is, where
it came from, et cetera.
Outline
I. Weakening armor
II. Layering armor
*******
A1: Armor is too powerful. What is to be done?
*******
HOUSE 1: Treat the current autosuccesses from armor as auto-sixes.
HOUSE 2: Armor does not give auto successes. It gives it's rating in
dice (used as body dice) to damage resistance.
VARIANT 1: Light armor gives 1 autosuccess in addition to dice.
Heavy armor gives 2 autosuccesses in addition to dice. Form-fitting
just gives dice.
HOUSE 3: Armor as vanilla, but impact of attack can bruise. Resist
damage with Body and dodge. If this does not get rid of the damage,
then armor reduces damage. If any real damage gets through armor, the
person takes that wound as normal, but if the armor absorbs all
remaining damage, the character takes a STUN wound equal to one wound
category less than the damage that the armor cancelled.
HOUSE 4: Armor gives no autosuccesses or dice. Instead it subtracts its
rating from the Power of the attack. Zero power attacks do no damage.
[This will be how SRII works. --Word]
HOUSE 5: Armor degrades one point (permanently) if a) a weapon hits
with a deadly damage code (regardless of whether the character resists
the damage or not) or if b) the character inside the armor takes any
damage at all. Note that both conditions can be satisfied from a single
hit, degrading the armor by 2 points. This is the most that armor can
be degraded by a single weapon hit.
HOUSE 6: Roll a number of dice equal to armor rating. Add them together
and divide power level of the attack (dropping all fractions). The
result becomes the number of autosuccesses.
*******
A2: If I wear a lined coat over a secure jacket, do I get the benefits
of both?
*******
VANILLA: No. Only the highest rating is valid. Armor is not
cumulative. (Many feel that even though this rule has some logical
holes, armor is already too powerful to warrant changing it.)
HOUSE 1: Use most powerful armor, as normal, but other armor gives
extra dice at 1/2 its rating. No other armor may be worn with Heavy
Armor. Helmets are as normal.
HOUSE 2: Each additional suit adds 1 to the rating of the toughest
armor. If the additional armor has no rating in the category it is
resisting, it gives no bonuses.
****************************************
* SHADOWRUN *
* Frequently Asked Questions *
* Combat *
****************************************
Post Name: ShadowFAQ -- Combat
As of: July 1, 1992
Version: 0.4
Compiled by: Wordman ([ward 1] at [husc.harvard.edu])
This post contains FAQ (frequently asked questions) and standard house
rules about the Combat portion of the Shadowrun gaming system. Posted
simultaneously with this post is a post titled 'Shadowrun: FAQ General'
which contains more information on what the point of this list is, where
it came from, et cetera.
As mentioned in the General post, many house rules are effective when
used together. This is especially true of this section.
Armor rules are included in their own post.
OUTLINE
I. Reaction and Initiative
II. Speedier/Deadlier Combat
A. Pools
III. Damage locations
IV. Grenades
*******
C1: How do I stop magicians with Increase Reaction Spell Locks from
riding circles around cybered people?
*******
VANILLA: Since you are limited to a maximum of four actions, characters
with very high initiative scores will likely run out of actions, dodge
dice and defence dice very early on in combat, leaving them open to
multiple attacks resisted without aid.
PSEUDO-VANILLA: While not actually in the rulebooks, the following has
been mentioned by Paul Hume and Tom Dowd: when "stacking" spells over
cyberware, only the highest rating holds. Reaction enhancements are not
cumulative.
HOUSE 1: Disallow Increase Reaction spells.
HOUSE 2: Change Increase Reaction spells to only gain one die for every
TWO levels of the spell. Thus Inc. Reac. 2 is equivalent to Wired 1,
Inc. Reac. 4 is equiv to Wired 2.
HOUSE 3: Change the number of phases between a character's actions from
7 to a variable number, based on cyberware/spells. Everyone gets only
one die for Initiative. The value of the roll is added to Reaction
(cyber/spell adjusted). Normal characters get an action every 7 phases,
other characters by this table:
wired boosted Increase Physical
_level_______reflexes____reflexes____Reaction____Adepts__
1 4 5 6 4
2 3 4 5 3
3 2 3 4 2
4 - - 3 1
VARIANT 1: This same idea, but limiting the Reaction bonuses of the
types of cyberware and/or spells (+1 per level of wired, for example, in
stead of +2).
VARIANT 2: This same idea, but limiting the maximum number of
actions to four.
HOUSE 4: Roll initiative normally. You get only ONE 'dice' action
(shooting, spellcasting, etc), which can occur on or after your
initiative number. You get a number of 'non-dice' actions (reloading,
aiming, movement, drawing weapon, etc) equal to 1 + levels of any
reaction enhancements.
*******
Does the rule of 6 apply to initiative?
*******
VANILLA: No. Initiative is not a test and the rule of 6 applies only to
tests. [This can be found in the eratta sheets].
HOUSE 1: Yes.
HOUSE 2: Yes, but only to the natural die (the 'free' die that everyone
gets for initiative; extra dice from cyber are as normal.)
*******
C2: How do you speed up combat and/or make it more deadly?
*******
VANILLA: Use the new combat rules from the Rigger Sourcebook.
HOUSE 1: Change the armor rules you use, to make combat more deadly.
See the FAQ Armor post for these.
HOUSE 2: Eliminate the dodge and combat pools. Use a Combat Pool
instead, equal to your reaction. Dice from it may be used to help dodge
(up to Quickness in extra dice) or help a combat skill (up to present
level of skill in dice).
VARIANT 1: Set the combat pool = (Quk+Int+Will)/2 (round down). [This
is what Shadowrun II will use.]
HOUSE 3: Dodge pool is no longer used to resist damage, but to avoid
being hit. The target number for the dodge is 4 for melee attacks and
thrown weapons, 5 for projectiles, and 6 for bullets and explosions.
Dodge successes cancel with attacker successes. Getting more successes
than the attacker means a clean miss.
VARIANT 1: As above, but the successes reduce damage. (Yes, these
two are different. This variant allows some of the attackers successes
to sometimes be wasted by incomplete staging.)
VARIANT 2: As above, but the target number is the skill level of the
attacker.
HOUSE 4: Only dodge pool OR defense pool may be used between actions.
HOUSE 5: If a character elects to dodge, one dodge roll is made with
all dice and holds for all attacks on him until his pool refreshes.
HOUSE 6: Attacks stage up at set values by type of attack, but stage
down normally.
VARIANT 1: Melee attacks stage up at 1, down normally.
VARIANT 2: Gun/missile attacks stage up at 2, down normally.
VARIANT 3: Heavy weapons stage up at 4, down normally.
*******
C3: Shouldn't there be a hit location system?
*******
VANILLA: The amount of damage done by shooting someone in SR is based
on a skill roll. The more skill you have, the more damage you are
likely to do. Since the amount of skill you possess does not change how
hard the bullet hits, the only way to explain this is by saying that the
more skill someone has, the more likely they are to shoot someone in a
vital and/or exposed location.
HOUSE 1: Use DMZ-like hit location system. Mark two damage tracks (one
mental, one physical) as follows:
+1 +2 +3 +4
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 D
When a character is injured, roll 2d6 to determine where on the track
the damage is applied. Wounds do the same number of "boxes" as in
Shadowrun. For example, a Moderate wound with a 2d6 roll of 6 fills in
boxes 6, 5 and 4, giving a +2 modifier to all the character's die rolls
thereafter. Skip any boxes that are already filled in. At 0 the
character is just unconscious; at D, comatose (mental) or dead
(physical). Additional boxes on the Mental track wrap onto the Physical
track.
*******
C4: Why are grenades so wimpy?
*******
VANILLA: Good question.
HOUSE 1: Increase the base damage of grenades to D.
*******
C5: What are all the modifiers to ranged combat?
*******
Recoil (Rigger Black Book, pg. 131-32)
Burst +2 per burst
Full auto +1/round
Heavy Weapon 2*uncompensated recoil
compensation -1/rating
Reactive trigger extra shot for sngl shot wpns (Street Sam pg18,20)
Blind Fire +8 (SR. page 65)
Cover, Partial +2
Cover, Full +4
Target Running +1
Attacker in Melee Combat +1/Opponent (see ALSO, pg65, col 2, para 5)
Attacker Running cannot shoot
Attacker Moving +1
Attacker Moving on difficult ground +2
Visibility norm LL Therm
Full Dark +4 +2 0
Glare +2 +4 +4
Mist +2 +2 0
Reduced Lgt +2 0 0
Smoke/Fog +4 +4 +2
Ultrasound Sight negates visiblity mods (Street Sam, pg 36)
Smartgun +2 (SR. pg 136)
Smart Goggles +1
Image Magnification (SR. pg 65, col 1, 2nd paragraph)
Target standing still -1
Laser sight -1 (SR. pg 136)
Wounds
Light +1
Medium +2
Serious +3
****************************************
* SHADOWRUN *
* Frequently Asked Questions *
* Decking *
****************************************
Post Name: ShadowFAQ -- Decking
As of: July 1, 1992
Version: 0.4
Compiled by: Wordman ([ward 1] at [husc.harvard.edu])
This post contains FAQ (frequently asked questions) and standard house
rules about the Decking portion of the Shadowrun gaming system. Posted
simultaneously with this post is a post titled 'Shadowrun: FAQ General'
which contains more information on what the point of this list is, where
it came from, et cetera.
Outline
I. Starting Deckers
*******
D1. Using Virtual Realities rules, how does a starting decker use Tech
to get a deck? Does he pay street costs? What about programs?
*******
VANILLA: Continue to use the prices in the original rules for purposes
of beginning equipment.
HOUSE 1: Use street costs in Virtual Realities for decks and programs.
Remember street decks do not come with MPCP chips.
HOUSE 2: Use tech money to buy hours of deck-making/programming time.
300Y will give you one day of time. There are no skill rolls to cut the
time nor can time overlap (i.e. no saving days by designing one
component while another's chips are cooking).
*******
D2. How to you keep non-decking players from being bored while decking
is happening and vice-versa?
*******
VANILLA: Use the quick and dirty resolution system from Virtual
Realities.
HOUSE 1: The Practical Approach: Create deckers that have combat or
other skills. This keeps them in the action.
HOUSE 2: The Practical But More Limiting To Your Players Approach: Use
only NPC deckers. Have all decking happen behind the scenes.
HOUSE 3: The Theatric Approach: Handle decking as a role-playing
encounter, rolling dice only occasionally. A creative GM can keep all
the players interested in the description of the place (use lots of
sculpted systems) as well as have the decker interact with the Matrix
the way it is intended to be -- on a human level.
HOUSE 4: The Intellectually Unsatisfying but Very Effective Approach:
Have the decker character run by himself. Literally. Give the player
the node map (or make him make one up using the random tables in SR) and
let him make all rolls for himself as well as IC. This requires trust
worthy players, but works well for many campaigns.
*******
D3: Do Persona programs take up storage space?
*******
No. They are hard-coded into optical chips in the deck. The size
ratings given in the rules are useful only when you are writing one of
these programs.
*******
D4: What, exactly, makes up the hacking pool?
*******
Hacking Pool = Natural React + Skill + (2*Response Increase Level).
Cyberware (except for some of the new goodies in Shadowtech like the
Math SPU) has NO effect on hacking pool. This includes cyberware which
increases reaction unless otherwise stated (e.g. Wired and Boosted
reflexes don't help at all).
*******
D5: How the hell does decking work?
*******
This example uses full Virtual Realities rules, inc. modes and load.
Decker with Reaction: 5, Computer: 6, Intelligence: 6, Hacking Pool: 11
Deck:
MPCP: 6 Attack: 6 (72Mp)
Bod: 6 Auto-Execute: 4 (16Mp)
Evasion: 6 Deception: 4 (32Mp)
Masking: 6 Sleaze: 4 (48Mp)
Sensors: 6 Hardening: 3 Response: 0
[Note, this deck is actually illegal. The sum of the persona ratings
can't exceed 3 times the MPCP (in this case, 18). This error will not be
fixed to keep the numbers a bit more managable.]
Decker loads all utils to start with. Enters in Masking Mode with MPCP
set at 6. This gives effective ratings of:
Bod/Eva/Msk/Sen: 3/3/9/3 Load: 5 (MPCP/2 + (Mp in active mem)/100))
Decker tries to sleaze into a Green-4 SAN with an Access-4.
SAN Green: 2 Threshold Rating: 4
Max Load: 8 IC Load: 2
Decker enters node to contact range, Load goes to 7 which is 'normal
load'.
SLEAZE with Auto-exec:
Execution Test: none. SAN Rating - Auto-exec rating = 0. No T#
penalty.
Opposed Success Test Decker IC
# of Dice 4 (Sleaze Rtg) + pool 4 (IC Rtg)
Target Number 4 (Node Rtg) 9 (Deckers Masking)
Decker wins if Her Succ - Node Succ > 2
The node wins if the same value is < 0
All other results (difference being 0,1 or 2) are 'ties'.
SLEAZE without Auto-exec:
Execution Test: Decker Node
# of Dice 4 (Sleaze Rtg) + pool 4 (Node Rtg)
Target Number 4 (Node Rtg) 9 (Deckers Masking)
Decker wins if Her Succ - Node Succ > 2
The node wins if the same value is < 0
All other results (difference being 0,1 or 2) are 'ties'.
Then as Opposed Success Test above. Pool does not refresh.
Next situation: Datastore with Black IC:4. Black IC swarms out and
attacks.
This situation will almost never happen. The Black IC needs a trigger,
like Access or Barrier or it will either a) never activate, or b) always
activate when anyone -- even legitimate users -- enter the node. It
could also come in, activated by an alert. If activated by alert, the
Black IC acts as Probe IC, and would interrogate the decker when it
found her. For the sake of the argument, let's say the decker failed
to sleaze or deceive the Black IC. Since she was in a datastore
scanning for data, she was probably in Sensor Mode. All utilities are
still in active memory, giving her a load of 7.
Let's say the Black IC has Shifting Defence (VR pg.22)
When the IC activates, its load gets added to the node's. Assuming that
its load rating is 2*rating, its load is 8; however, it also has
Shifting Defence which increases the rating (ONLY for the purpose of
determining load) by one, making the rating 5, giving a 10 load. When
the IC activates, this 10 load is added to the 7 of the decker. 17 is 2
more than the Maximum Load of the node (see below). This sends the node
into overload. This triggers a passive alert (but since the decker is
being attacked, this is somewhat academic). IC behaves as if it were 2
rating points lower than normal, as do utilities. For simplicity (too
late!), the events of this paragrph will be ignored in the following
example.
Datastore Orange: 3 Threshold Rating: 5
Max Load: 15 IC Load: 10
COMBAT
Initiative:
Decker gets 1d6 + Reaction. No pool.
IC gets 7 (Orange Node) + 4 (IC's rating) = 11 (IC probably wins)
IC Attack (The VR Black IC says "once the Black IC scores a hit the
decker may Hang Tough or Jack Out." I take this to mean that
the IC needs to score a hit in normal combat before it gets
nasty; like having to touch someone for Poison Touch to work.
This is not explicit in the rules, but my guess is the IC needs
one net to start its process and DOES, incidentally, damage the
DECK when it does so):
Resisted Success Test:
IC Attack: T# = 3 (Deck's current Bod (in Sensor Mode))
dice = 4 (IC Rating)
Decker Resist: T# = 5 (Node Rtg)
dice = MPCP + pool. Deck's hardening gives 3
auto-successes.
If Decker gets more successes, no damage, Black IC hasn't got
hold of her. Decker gets to attack.
If the IC gets more successes, net successes apply to the
damage track of the deck, Black IC gets hold. Black IC
Effects (see below).
Decker Attacks (w/ Auto-exec)
Decker's pool refreshes
Execution Test: none. Node Rating - Auto-exec = 1, so +1 to all
Decker's T#s with the attack utility.
Opposed Success Test
Decker Attack: Decker IC
# of Dice 6 (Attack Rtg) + pool 4 (IC Rtg)
Target Number 8 (5(Node Rtg) + 2 due 3 (Deckers Bod)
to IC's Shifting Defence
+ 1 due to Auto-exec)
Side with greater number of successes damages the other. Decker
must overcome threshold, IC must overcome hardening. If the
attack program had a staging and Decker did damage, the damage
would be the staging plus the net successes. If the Black IC
hits, it gives the net successes in damage to the deck. Black IC
Effects (see below).
Decker Attacks (without Auto-exec)
Decker's Pool refreshes
Execution Test (aka Aiming):
T#: 5 (Node Rating)
dice: pool
Total successes - 3 (for Node Threshold) add to the Attack
Program's Rating for next step. If 0 net successes, attack
misses.
Resisted Success Test for Damage
Decker: T# = 5 (Node rating)
dice = 6 (Attack rtg) + # successes from Execution test
+ remaining pool.
IC: T# = 6 (Decker's Computer skill)
dice = 4 (IC Rating)
Net successes apply to IC. If the Utility had a staging, the
damage would be base staging plus net successes.
Black IC Effects
Decker's pool doesn't refresh
Hang Tough
Resisted Success Test
IC: T# = Decker's Body (not Int in Virtual Realities)
dice = 4 (Rating)
Decker Resist: T# = 4 (IC Rating)
dice = Her Body + remaining pool, Hardening Auto-succ.
IC net successes do damage (one box/succes) to Decker.
Jack Out
Unresisted Test
Decker: T# = 4 (IC Rtg)
dice = willpower
Any successes and she's out, but must use Body to resist 4M2
stun damage. Then she must resist Dump Shock (SR 102).
****************************************
* SHADOWRUN *
* Frequently Asked Questions *
* Magic *
****************************************
Post Name: ShadowFAQ -- Magic
As of: July 1, 1992
Version: 0.4
Compiled by: Wordman ([ward 1] at [husc.harvard.edu])
This post contains FAQ (frequently asked questions) and standard house
rules about the Magic portion of the Shadowrun gaming system. Posted
simultaneously with this post is a post titled 'Shadowrun: FAQ General'
which contains more information on what the point of this list is, where
it came from et cetera.
Outline
I. Reaction spells
II. Spell locks
1. grounding
2. vs. quickening
3. karma costs
*******
M1: How do Increase Reaction spells work?
*******
VANILLA: Each level of the spell adds to the casters Reaction and gives
him an extra die for initiative. The number of successes scored is
irrelevant.
HOUSE: For ways to control this spell, see the Reaction section of the
FAQ Combat post.
*******
M2: How does grounding spells into a spell lock work?
*******
VANILLA: Spells and spell locks behave like living things on the astral
plane. When the come in contact, they fight. If the spell wins, it
grounds into the lock. Spell locks fight with a rating of 1 (regardless
of what force the spell they are locking was cast at or how many
successes were made during the casting.) If the attacking spell was a
mana spell, the astral portion of the lock is destroyed, and the spell
it was locking dissapates; the lock itself will have to be rebonded, but
is intact. If the attacking spell was a physical spell, it grounds into
the lock (in real space), destroying it. If the attacking spell was (in
addition to being a physical spell) an area spell, the spell effects
those around the lock in a normal way.
*******
M3: What is the difference between spell locks and Quickening?
*******
VANILLA: Only Initiates can use Quickening; any full magician can bond
a lock. Locks have and astral rating of 1; quickened spells have a
rating equal to the force they were cast at (actual force, not how many
die were used). Quickened spells have no physical component.
*******
M4: Can anyone pay the karma for bonding a spell lock?
*******
VANILLA: No. The same magician must a) cast the spell to be locked, b)
lock the spell, and c) pay the karma. The magician does not have to
lock the spell TO himself, however. There is an astral link between the
caster and the lock.
*******
M5: The rules for First Bonding in the Grimore (pg. 48) allow PCs to
bond powerful foci for nearly no karma if enough Arcana and Orichalcum
is used. How can that be stopped?
*******
VANILLA: Remember First bonding only applies to foci that have never
before been bonded by anyone: foci just produced, generally specifically
by and/or for the bonder. Second, Arcana and Orichalcum are really
expensive (weather the cost is measured in nuyen or time). Making foci
can take a long time.
HOUSE 1: Apply the modifiers to final cost of the foci, not to the base
cost. That is ((base*rating)-modifiers), not ((base-modifiers)*rating).
In other words, bonding a power foci rating 3 using 4 units of
orichalcum would cost
(7*3)-4 = 17, not (7-4)*3 = 9.
HOUSE 2: Keep the rules as is, but make the First Bonding mean bonding
the magic to the focus, not the focus to the magician. In other words,
the First Bonding makes the focus a focus (gives it it's astral presence
and abilities), then the focus needs to be bonded to the magician as per
the tables on the next page (pg49).
*******
M6: Which are better, Shamans or Mages?
*******
VANILLA: Just the facts:
_category_______________________Shaman_______________________Mages_____
Spells Cast identical
Sorcery Bonuses Totem dice, always avail elemental service
Category By totem only by elemental type
Sorcery Penalties by totem none
Conjure Nature Spirits Elementals
Time of summoning One action Force * hours
Length of service Until sun rises or sets continuously
or until services used or until services used
Abilities Limited Extensive
Range Limited to domain summoned in no limits
Types restricted by domain by materials used
Initiation Extras Grade added to totem dice
Great Forms can cross domains
Astral Quests to totem plane to all elemental planes
****************************************
* SHADOWRUN *
* Frequently Asked Questions *
* Mechanics *
****************************************
Post Name: Shadowrun: FAQ Mechanics
As of: July 1, 1992
Version: 0.4
Compiled by: Wordman ([ward 1] at [husc.harvard.edu])
This post contains FAQ (frequently asked questions) and standard house
rules about the general Mechanics of the Shadowrun gaming system.
Posted simultaneously with this post is a post titled 'Shadowrun: FAQ
General' which contains more information on what the point of this list
is, where it came from et cetera.
Outline
I. dice
A. 6 vs. 7
B. High rolls = extra success
II. priorities
III. Metahumanity construction
IV. Skillwires and cumulative ratings
V. Concentrations/Specializations
*******
Q1A: Are a six and seven (or 12 and 13, etc.) Target number the same?
*******
VANILA: For the most part, yes; howvever, if someone has, say a +2
modifier to do something, six and seven become 8 and 9, which is quite a
differece. This works both ways -- with target number of 4, a +2
modifer is effectively the same as a +3 modifier. Six and seven are can
be different in opposed success tests, as well (rating 7 IC is different
from Rating 6 IC).
HOUSE 1: The rule of six is altered. When 'rerolling' sixes, the value
added is the face value minus one. A six on the reroll adds 5 + a new
die under the same rules. Thus (with one die) rolling a 6 then 4 yeilds
6 + (4-1) = 9. Rolling a 6 then 6 then 4 yields 6 + (6-1) + (4-1) = 14.
*******
Q1B: When your target number is 4, but you roll an 18, do you get any
bonuses?
*******
VANILLA: No. Only the number of successes matters, not the highest
number rolled.
HOUSE 1: You gain an extra success for every multiple of six over the
target numer. Thus T# + 6 is two successes, T# + 12 is three successes.
HOUSE 2: Multiples of the target number are extra successes. With a T#
of 4, an 8 gives two successes, a 12 would give three total.
VARIANT: Only applies to target numbers 5 or greater.
*******
Q2: How does the Priority system work?
*******
VANILLA: An archetype must be composed by assigning each priority value
(0,1,2,3,4) to a category; NO category OR value can be used more than
once. This is the system from the Third printing of the SR rules.
HOUSE 1: Use the system from the First printing of the rules; each
category must be chosen only once, but the only restriction on which
values may be used is that they must add to ten (for example, using 0-3-
3-3-1).
VARIANT: As HOUSE 1, but only one category may be taken at 0.
*******
Q3: The way the Priority system is, Metahumans end up very weak.
*******
HOUSE 1: Metahumanity takes Race priority 3, not 4. Metahuman mages
take magic at 4, Race at 3. Methuman adepts can take Magic at three and
Race at 2. Optionally, make Trolls use the vanilla system (Race 4).
HOUSE 2: Metahumanity takes Race priority 2, not 4. They get NO special
discounts for magic.
HOUSE 3: Eiliminate the Race priority and choose only priorities 1
through 4 (that is, eliminate 0).
VARIANT 1: Make metahumans subtract 3 from attributes.
*******
Q4: If I have level 3 skillwires with a rating 3 firearms skillsoft as
well as a firearms skill of 5, when I slot the chip is my firearms skill
5 (normal skill level) or 8 (the sum of the chip and normal level)?
*******
VANILLA: Neither. Your skill is 3, the level of the skillsoft.
Skillwires override existing skills. The normal Shadowrun guideline is
when two skills/systems are operating at once, use the highest of the
two, do not sum the ratings. For example, a samurai with Wired Reflexes
2 and a Increase Reaction +1 spell on him only gets 2 extra dice (from
the higher of the two systems), not three. Note that Skillwires are an
exception to this rule as they always use the skillsoft rating.
*******
Q5: How do concentrations and specializations work?
*******
VANILLA: The mechanics of concentrations and specializations (c/s)
differ widely depending on when in a characters life they are used,
either during character creation or after character creation.
During character creation one concentration can be chosen per skill
(if desired). This gives the character what amounts to two skills. For
example, Bob spends 6 skill points to buy Firearms 6. He then decides
to concentrate in Pistols. Bob now has a Firearms 5 skill and a Pistols
7 skill. A character can also take one specialization per
concentration. Bob chooses to specialize in the Preditor II, giving him
Firearms 4, Pistols 6 and Preditor II 8. Note that no extra skill points
were spent.
After character generation, the only difference between normal skills
and c/s (apart from the narrowness of focus, of course) is karma cost to
improve them . Treat the normal skill, the concentration and the
specialization as different skills. Bob has some karma points. He
could increase any and/or all of his normal or c/s skills. To increase
his Firearms to 5, he'd have to spend 8 karma (current rating (5) x 2
(normal skill)). Bumping his Pistol skill to 7 would cost 9 points
(current rating (6) x 1.5 (concentration)). Moving Preditor II to 9
would take 8 points (current rating (8) X 1 (specialization)). Note the
increasing any one of these skills has _no_ effect on the other two.
[blame me for crossposting - mod]