I've just updated my character sheet one last time, for the record. One or two minor mechanical changes, but also incorporated a new element into my backstory: having to quit my previous job because my cover was blown by SK corporate security on an assignment, which I think is better and makes a lot more sense than just up and deciding to leave a profitable career one day and falling into becoming a Shadowrunner.
I've just updated my character sheet one last time, for the record. One or two minor mechanical changes, but also incorporated a new element into my backstory: having to quit my previous job because my cover was blown by SK corporate security on an assignment, which I think is better and makes a lot more sense than just up and deciding to leave a profitable career one day and falling into becoming a Shadowrunner.
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Okay, PMs have been sent out, sorry about the delay, if you did not get a PM tell me because it means I accidentally missed you. if you have any unanswered questions ask here or in the PM I sent as well since I am positive there are probably some unanswered questions at the moment.
Either I didn't recieve one or I don't know where they are to find them....
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Check your Inbox. If there's a new one you should have a little red box above it.Either I didn't recieve one or I don't know where they are to find them....
FaeGlade Plural
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And just FYI:
I will be on a family visit from Saturday to Monday, and will be back Monday afternoon. I'll be away from books and character sheet, though maybe I'll be able to check in once or twice.
Just in case the game starts then, my first responses will be a bit delayed.
I will be on a family visit from Saturday to Monday, and will be back Monday afternoon. I'll be away from books and character sheet, though maybe I'll be able to check in once or twice.
Just in case the game starts then, my first responses will be a bit delayed.
FaeGlade Plural
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So, thanks to now having absorbed Data Trails, here is a need trick every runner should make use of:
Shadows.run: Shadowrunners Commlink.
For a mere 13k Nuyen, this SOTA street-modified Commlink not only makes your a tough nut to crack for deckers, but even lets you run silently. Ask your Fixer for this vital tool today!
Device Rating 7, Firewall 8, Data Processing 7, Sleaze 6. Availability 14R, Cost 12,850
Technically, this consists of several purchases and tricks.
The basis is a Fairlight Caliban, because it's the best available Commlink. But this works with all other Commlinks too, you just get lower ratings. Throw in the standard sim-module, or hot-sim if you really want to.
Now we're starting to mod it.
First, we need a Sleaze-Rating. After all, we're shadowrunners and want to run our commlink silent - which uses the Sleaze-Rating to make being spotted harder.
In Data Trails, we find the handy commlink Dongles - but higher ratings get exponentially more expensive. So we stick with a Rating 1 Stealth Dongle for a mere 3.000€.
That's not enough though. Well, Data Trails also lets you mod your electronics. You could add a Sleaze-Rating that way, but that'd at most go to 2 and reduce your matrix condition monitor too. That's not good enough.
Fortunately, you can also hard-write a module into a Commlink. Normally, those are only available to Cyberdecks, but that option explicitly says you can.
The Program Carrier is a handy little thing that allows you to run a program - hard-wired into it - on it. It's exactly what we want. (Costs you 500€ if you buy the parts)
So, what Cyberprogram do we choose?
Well, Data Trails also has the "Smoke and Mirrors" program. This program increases your Sleaze by up to 5 (!), but at the cost of increasing your Noise-Rating. Oh wait, we don't want to hack anything, Noise never affects defense-tests and actually makes you harder to spot. It's perfect! (250€) If you don't want the noise for some reason, simply shut it down.
So, do we put that onto our Program Carrier? Well, we could - but why should we? Instead, we pick "Virtual Machine" (80€) - this Cyberprogram lets us run two programs for the price of one! Granted, it also makes you take an extra dice of matrix damage each time you take damage. So that's a drawback, what do we use with it?
Why, we pick "Encryption" of course. One extra point of Firewall. That doesn't compensate for the additional damage we take (on average, it's an extra 0.33 extra damage resisted), but remember that Firewall is also used for all your defense-tests. So in addition to on average taking 0.33 of an enemy success away from attacks (thus reducing damage by 0.33 too), you'll be more resistant to basically all matrix-actions too.
Technically, you might even be able to load other programs into your VM, effectively removing the limitation from the Program Carrier.
To get equivalent defense out of a Cyberdeck, you'd have to shell out over a quarter of a million at least. Granted, that Cyberdeck will be better for actual decking - you have configurable attributes, you have an attack rating and you can do a lot with programs and modifications (which decks can have more of).
But even if you are a Decker, this handy little Commlink trick is cheap and just plain better for defending your personal device network (your smartgun etc.)
So, @Conundrum :
This seems perfectly RAW-legal to me, and it makes perfect sense: You buy a good commlink, then slot in an additional processor that runs a sleaze-rating, then hard-wire in an additional processor that can run two matrix programs at the cost of easily overheating. And then you use that to run Encryption, and Smoke and Mirrors creates a ton of false information and hides your location data.
Still, do you have any objections to that?
Upgrading my Commlink like that will probably be one of my first purchases - it's just a good precaution. Sadly, i can't find a good way to free up the 4800€ at character creation, but all the required stuff is very easily available (highest availability is 4R for Smoke and Mirrors).
Shadows.run: Shadowrunners Commlink.
For a mere 13k Nuyen, this SOTA street-modified Commlink not only makes your a tough nut to crack for deckers, but even lets you run silently. Ask your Fixer for this vital tool today!
Device Rating 7, Firewall 8, Data Processing 7, Sleaze 6. Availability 14R, Cost 12,850
Technically, this consists of several purchases and tricks.
The basis is a Fairlight Caliban, because it's the best available Commlink. But this works with all other Commlinks too, you just get lower ratings. Throw in the standard sim-module, or hot-sim if you really want to.
Now we're starting to mod it.
First, we need a Sleaze-Rating. After all, we're shadowrunners and want to run our commlink silent - which uses the Sleaze-Rating to make being spotted harder.
In Data Trails, we find the handy commlink Dongles - but higher ratings get exponentially more expensive. So we stick with a Rating 1 Stealth Dongle for a mere 3.000€.
That's not enough though. Well, Data Trails also lets you mod your electronics. You could add a Sleaze-Rating that way, but that'd at most go to 2 and reduce your matrix condition monitor too. That's not good enough.
Fortunately, you can also hard-write a module into a Commlink. Normally, those are only available to Cyberdecks, but that option explicitly says you can.
The Program Carrier is a handy little thing that allows you to run a program - hard-wired into it - on it. It's exactly what we want. (Costs you 500€ if you buy the parts)
So, what Cyberprogram do we choose?
Well, Data Trails also has the "Smoke and Mirrors" program. This program increases your Sleaze by up to 5 (!), but at the cost of increasing your Noise-Rating. Oh wait, we don't want to hack anything, Noise never affects defense-tests and actually makes you harder to spot. It's perfect! (250€) If you don't want the noise for some reason, simply shut it down.
So, do we put that onto our Program Carrier? Well, we could - but why should we? Instead, we pick "Virtual Machine" (80€) - this Cyberprogram lets us run two programs for the price of one! Granted, it also makes you take an extra dice of matrix damage each time you take damage. So that's a drawback, what do we use with it?
Why, we pick "Encryption" of course. One extra point of Firewall. That doesn't compensate for the additional damage we take (on average, it's an extra 0.33 extra damage resisted), but remember that Firewall is also used for all your defense-tests. So in addition to on average taking 0.33 of an enemy success away from attacks (thus reducing damage by 0.33 too), you'll be more resistant to basically all matrix-actions too.
Technically, you might even be able to load other programs into your VM, effectively removing the limitation from the Program Carrier.
To get equivalent defense out of a Cyberdeck, you'd have to shell out over a quarter of a million at least. Granted, that Cyberdeck will be better for actual decking - you have configurable attributes, you have an attack rating and you can do a lot with programs and modifications (which decks can have more of).
But even if you are a Decker, this handy little Commlink trick is cheap and just plain better for defending your personal device network (your smartgun etc.)
So, @Conundrum :
This seems perfectly RAW-legal to me, and it makes perfect sense: You buy a good commlink, then slot in an additional processor that runs a sleaze-rating, then hard-wire in an additional processor that can run two matrix programs at the cost of easily overheating. And then you use that to run Encryption, and Smoke and Mirrors creates a ton of false information and hides your location data.
Still, do you have any objections to that?
Upgrading my Commlink like that will probably be one of my first purchases - it's just a good precaution. Sadly, i can't find a good way to free up the 4800€ at character creation, but all the required stuff is very easily available (highest availability is 4R for Smoke and Mirrors).
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I'm gonna go ahead and roll for my starting nuyen. (4D6 x 100) + 5,000 starting cash leftover.
Looks like I'm starting with 6,700.
Looks like I'm starting with 6,700.
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Serafina it looks mostly good, it had me a bit worried at first but it looks scarier than it is particularly given the horrific boost deckers just got. My only thought now is that virtual machine on a commlink is a can of worms looking at other possibilities. I decided to check some Shadowrun sites and was surprised to see that basically every community has discussed it and the jury is out except for places like the Reddit Shadowrunning communities which just flat out banned mods to make everything simpler. I would prefer you do not run virtual machine, it is not a big dent in what you have done and keeps things like cheap 9 attack commlinks from being an easier thing.
Edit: Looking at other sites things like virtual machine with RCC is even a mess.
Edit: Looking at other sites things like virtual machine with RCC is even a mess.
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Hey, can someone clarify something for me? According to p. 106 of the 5E core rulebook:
As far as I can tell, this means that it will usually be significantly cheaper to jump more than one level in an active skill than to just buy the next rank. Except that... doesn't make any kind of sense.
As far as I can tell, this means that it will usually be significantly cheaper to jump more than one level in an active skill than to just buy the next rank. Except that... doesn't make any kind of sense.
FaeGlade Plural
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@Conundrum Sure, not running VM is fine. It has drawbacks anyway, and the main trick (decent Sleaze on a Commlink) still works after all. Just costs 1 point of Firewall with that setup.
Mind you, I see no way to get a Commlink with Attack 9 in any cheap way using VM - or any other option really. There certainly is no equivalent to Smoke and Mirrors, and high-rating Attack Dongles are horrifically expensive.
@LastChronicler : Note how it says "The Active Skill table works in a similar manner" (to attribute increases). In other words, where Attributes cost (new rating x5), Skills cost (new rating x2) - and in both cases, you have to pay the cost for each step.
With what you've quoted, it's pretty simple. Say you go from 7 to 9 instead. That would cost 90-56=34 Karma, or in other words 16 for Rating 8 and 18 for Rating 9.
Mind you, I see no way to get a Commlink with Attack 9 in any cheap way using VM - or any other option really. There certainly is no equivalent to Smoke and Mirrors, and high-rating Attack Dongles are horrifically expensive.
@LastChronicler : Note how it says "The Active Skill table works in a similar manner" (to attribute increases). In other words, where Attributes cost (new rating x5), Skills cost (new rating x2) - and in both cases, you have to pay the cost for each step.
With what you've quoted, it's pretty simple. Say you go from 7 to 9 instead. That would cost 90-56=34 Karma, or in other words 16 for Rating 8 and 18 for Rating 9.
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Hmm Serafina around 2 AM when I looked through the book I could have sworn I found a way to get 9 attack for under 100k but cannot figure out how, probably misread something. Of course with matrix combat cheap is a very relative term particularly given the new top end in the form of the Fairlight Paladin and you can still get a 9 attack commlink for around the same price as a 9 attack deck though you are breaking the 100k point and getting up near 150k. It does look like best bang for your buck all around is sleaze in part thanks to reducing noise being a relatively easy thing.
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FaeGlade Plural
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Actually, I fail to see how you can even get Attack 9 on a Commlink by ANY means.
You can use an Attack Dongle - but that outright GIVES you an attack rating, it doesn't stack with an existing one. You can increase it via programs, but arguably not via modifications since the Dongle is not by itself a device (nor would RAW the "give attack/sleaze rating" go up if you mod it).
There, the limit is 6 - and THAT would cost you 108.000€.
You could then add a program carrier with Decrypt, pushing it to 7 at most. That's the hard limit as far as I can tell
You can use "add matrix attribute" followed by one instance of "increase matrix attribute". You only get a single modification and nothing says you can perform the increase more than once (you can only combine the two because it explicitly says so). That gives you an attack rating of 2.
Also, regarding Smoke and Mirrors and Noise Reduction:
Most Noise-Reduction I could find reduces Noise due to Distance. Smoke and Mirrors doesn't produce Noise due to distance, so those won't help.
General Noise Reduction can be had - from a module or dongle, so you can't combine it with other ways to mod your commlink. There's also a program for it, but again you generally won't have that on a commlink.
RCCs DO get universal noise reduction, it's one of their great advantages, but that's a great thing since it allows a minimum of hacking for Riggers.
Other than that, you can get universal Noise Reduction 1 from a Datajack.
Okay, and potentially Fresnel Fabric, but that's more of an issue with that than anything in Data Trails (and from the description, it's arguably just a directional antenna too).
Oh, and more relevant to Xiulas own mechanical tricks: I found a post that explains addiction ratings a really well. Mind you, it also makes the problems with RAW on addiction pretty clear - the main one being that using a drug constantly for a week is no different than using it once, as long as you leave it be thereafter.
However, an easy fix for that is:
After the first use, each additional (11-addiction rating) uses per week advance the timer by one week. If you are addicted to a substance, add twice your Addiction Rating (Mild: 1, Moderate: 2, Severe: 3, Burnout: 4) to the number of times you can use a substance before advancing the timer.
This houserule would punish repeat use - if you're constantly hooked on something, you'll slip into addiction really fast.
And while we're at it.
Anyway, just some suggestions. Feel free to implement them, modify them, or just ignore them.
You can use an Attack Dongle - but that outright GIVES you an attack rating, it doesn't stack with an existing one. You can increase it via programs, but arguably not via modifications since the Dongle is not by itself a device (nor would RAW the "give attack/sleaze rating" go up if you mod it).
There, the limit is 6 - and THAT would cost you 108.000€.
You could then add a program carrier with Decrypt, pushing it to 7 at most. That's the hard limit as far as I can tell
You can use "add matrix attribute" followed by one instance of "increase matrix attribute". You only get a single modification and nothing says you can perform the increase more than once (you can only combine the two because it explicitly says so). That gives you an attack rating of 2.
Also, regarding Smoke and Mirrors and Noise Reduction:
Most Noise-Reduction I could find reduces Noise due to Distance. Smoke and Mirrors doesn't produce Noise due to distance, so those won't help.
General Noise Reduction can be had - from a module or dongle, so you can't combine it with other ways to mod your commlink. There's also a program for it, but again you generally won't have that on a commlink.
RCCs DO get universal noise reduction, it's one of their great advantages, but that's a great thing since it allows a minimum of hacking for Riggers.
Other than that, you can get universal Noise Reduction 1 from a Datajack.
Okay, and potentially Fresnel Fabric, but that's more of an issue with that than anything in Data Trails (and from the description, it's arguably just a directional antenna too).
Oh, and more relevant to Xiulas own mechanical tricks: I found a post that explains addiction ratings a really well. Mind you, it also makes the problems with RAW on addiction pretty clear - the main one being that using a drug constantly for a week is no different than using it once, as long as you leave it be thereafter.
However, an easy fix for that is:
After the first use, each additional (11-addiction rating) uses per week advance the timer by one week. If you are addicted to a substance, add twice your Addiction Rating (Mild: 1, Moderate: 2, Severe: 3, Burnout: 4) to the number of times you can use a substance before advancing the timer.
This houserule would punish repeat use - if you're constantly hooked on something, you'll slip into addiction really fast.
And while we're at it.
The severity of an addiction is limited by the substances addiction rating. It can not go higher than 1 level/2 points. (Rating 1-2: Mild, 3-4: Moderate, 5-6: Severe, 7+: Burnout.
However, if you are at the maximum value for a drug and have a critical glitch on your addiction test, you must make a Withdrawal Test. If you fail, you'll be compelled to cut the drug with something harder, which will advance your addiction to the next stage.
This rule would make mild substances significantly safer to use. Soykaf is now pretty much locked at a Mild Addiction, Alcohol normally only produces a moderate addiction. Psyche would be the hardest drug you can use "safely" without burnout (unless you glitch of course).
However, if you are at the maximum value for a drug and have a critical glitch on your addiction test, you must make a Withdrawal Test. If you fail, you'll be compelled to cut the drug with something harder, which will advance your addiction to the next stage.
This rule would make mild substances significantly safer to use. Soykaf is now pretty much locked at a Mild Addiction, Alcohol normally only produces a moderate addiction. Psyche would be the hardest drug you can use "safely" without burnout (unless you glitch of course).
With some addictive substances, you're just so exposed to them that you no longer notice them. Classic examples are coffeine, nicotine or simsense. They're just everywhere, and you're exposed to them all the time.
Such substances are not subject to the Repeat Use time advancement. This never applies to substances that produce a crash-effect, and should not be applied to especially heavy uses of such a substance (for example, it should not apply if you get utterly drunk).
This is an obvious fix for the above houserule, so that you won't burn out within the month from drinking five cups of coffee each day.
Such substances are not subject to the Repeat Use time advancement. This never applies to substances that produce a crash-effect, and should not be applied to especially heavy uses of such a substance (for example, it should not apply if you get utterly drunk).
This is an obvious fix for the above houserule, so that you won't burn out within the month from drinking five cups of coffee each day.
Only substances that result in a Crash effect (=any negative effect when the drug wears off) are counted for the Drug Interactions table (p. 193, Chrome Flesh).
The damage of result 14+ is instead: Immediately resist physical damage equal to the highest addiction rating with body only.
This effect is in addition to the effects of Overdosing, which occur regardless of whether a drug produces a Crash effect.
If you get an Overdose from a Street-cooked drug, add +2 to the stun damage you have to resist for each interacting Street Drug.
If you are using Pharmaceutical Drugs, you instead reduce the stun damage you have to resist by 2 for each pharmaceutical drug.
Designer Drugs get the same reduction as Pharmaceutical Drugs. In addition, they can be designed to produce no interactions when used with each other. This prevents you from taking stun damage when combining only drugs that have been designed to be combined for you specifically. If you use a drug that has not been, calculate the damage as if all designer drugs were street drugs. You are still subject to overdosing from the same drug, and designed combinations produce the effect of speedballing (+1 addiction rating).
The first part is another obvious fix - now you won't turn into bloody gibbets from having three different pharmacological substances run through your system. Whether a drug has a crash effect is also a pretty good measure of whether it is a "combat drug" (or similar enhancer), which is why it's also used with the "Constant Buzz" houserule.
The modification to the damage make sense IMO. More dangerous drugs result in more damage, less dangerous ones in less damage.
As for the OD-rules, currently drug-grades don't interact with them at all. This way they would, and on higher grades you might make drug-combinations somewhat more palatable.
The damage of result 14+ is instead: Immediately resist physical damage equal to the highest addiction rating with body only.
This effect is in addition to the effects of Overdosing, which occur regardless of whether a drug produces a Crash effect.
If you get an Overdose from a Street-cooked drug, add +2 to the stun damage you have to resist for each interacting Street Drug.
If you are using Pharmaceutical Drugs, you instead reduce the stun damage you have to resist by 2 for each pharmaceutical drug.
Designer Drugs get the same reduction as Pharmaceutical Drugs. In addition, they can be designed to produce no interactions when used with each other. This prevents you from taking stun damage when combining only drugs that have been designed to be combined for you specifically. If you use a drug that has not been, calculate the damage as if all designer drugs were street drugs. You are still subject to overdosing from the same drug, and designed combinations produce the effect of speedballing (+1 addiction rating).
The first part is another obvious fix - now you won't turn into bloody gibbets from having three different pharmacological substances run through your system. Whether a drug has a crash effect is also a pretty good measure of whether it is a "combat drug" (or similar enhancer), which is why it's also used with the "Constant Buzz" houserule.
The modification to the damage make sense IMO. More dangerous drugs result in more damage, less dangerous ones in less damage.
As for the OD-rules, currently drug-grades don't interact with them at all. This way they would, and on higher grades you might make drug-combinations somewhat more palatable.
Anyway, just some suggestions. Feel free to implement them, modify them, or just ignore them.
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FaeGlade Plural
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And since we're at houserules:
Metamagic: Way of the Adept (Adepts Only)
As an Adept delves deeper into understanding of their powers, they often focus on their own aptitudes and understand them in deeper ways.
When learning this metamagic, the Adept must select one Adept Way. The Adept gains 1 Power point, plus an additional 0.25 PP for each Initiate grade. Those power points can only be spent on the powers listed in their way. The Adept can use a mixture of those points and their normal PP to buy a power. In addition, the Adept gains the other benefits with their way. The Adept can now also learn Enhancements (2 Karma each) and Metamagics associated with their Way. An Adept can only ever follow one way.
Artisans Way
Adept Centering: The Adept can apply this metamagic to either Vehicle Active Skills or Technical Active Skills. Choose one when learning this metamagic, the other benefit can be bought as an Enhancement.
Qi Focus: The Adept can bind Qi Foci that grant Improved Ability (any Vehicle or Technical Skill) for 2 Karma less.
Enhancements: Domain of the Artisan, Master of Nine Chakras
Metamagics:
Powers: as p. 176 Street Grimoire
Artists Way
Adept Centering: The Adept can apply this metamagic to Performance or Artisan tests and adds +1 to its rating for this purpose.
Qi Focus: The Adept can bind Qi Foci that grant Improved Ability (Performance or Artisan) for 2 Kama less.
Enhancements: Domain of the Artist, Pied Piper, Skin Artist, Master of Nine Chakras
Metamagics: Psychometry
Powers: as p. 176 Street Grimoire
Athletes Way
Adept Centering: The Adept adds +1 to this metamagics rating when using it with any skill from the Athletics Skill Group, as well as Diving, Free Fall or Running
Qi Focus: The Adept can bind Qi Foci that grant Improved Ability (Athletics Skill Group, Diving, Free Fall or Running) for 2 Karma less.
Enhancements: Air Walking, Domain of the Athlete, Master of Nine Chakras
Metamagics: Supernatural Prowess
Powers: as p. 176 Street Grimoire
Beasts Way
Attune Animal: The Adept must only spend 3 Karma to attune to an animal that matches their totem, and adds +1 to their Initiate grade for this ritual.
Empower: The Adept can complete this ritual for 2 Karma less (to a minimum of 1 Karma).
Enhancements: Claws, Domain of the Beast, Master of Nine Chakras
Metamagics: Apex Predator, Totem Form (Animal)
Powers: as p. 176 Street Grimoire
Invisible Way
Astral Stealth: The Adept adds +1 to their Initiate Grade for the Masking, Improved Masking, Flexible Signature and Flux metamagics.
Domain Infiltrator: The Adept can easily deal with background count. It only takes an hour for them to become acclimated to a Background Count equal to their Initiate grade.
Enhancements: Digital Celerity, Shadow Touch, Master of Nine Chakras
Metamagics: Stillness in the Void, Sensing
Powers: as p. 177 Street Grimoire
Spiritual Way
Mentors Guidance: The Adept must have a Mentor Spirit to learn this way. Thanks to the Mentors assistance, the Adept can learn the Ally Conjuration and Calling (Spirit type) rituals (p.126 Street Grimoire). For those rituals and for binding free spirits (p. 204 Street Grimoire), the Adept can use Arcana in place of the required skills and can add their initate grade to the relevant tests.
Enhancements: Domain of the Spiritual, Master of Nine Chakras
Metamagics: Channeling, Exorcism, Psychometry
Powers: as p. 177 Street Grimoire
Speakers Way
False Impression: The Adept adds +1 to their Initiate Grade for the Masking, Flexible Signature and Flux metamagics.
Qi Focus: The Adept can bind Qi Foci that grant Improved Ability (Social skill) for 2 Karma less.
Enhancements: Domain of the Speaker, Master of Nine Chakras, Silver-Tongued Devil
Metamagics: Fae-Touched, Presence
Powers: as p. 177 Street Grimoire
Warriors Way
Attune Item: The Adept can complete this ritual for 2 Karma less.
Imbue Item: The Adept can complete this ritual for 2 Karma less.
Weapon Focus: The Adept can bind Weapon Foci for 2 Karma less.
Enhancements: Barrage, Domain of the Warrior, Master of Taijiquan, Master of Nine Chakras
Metamagics:
Powers: as p. 177 Street Grimoire
New Enhancement: Domain of the (Way)
Adepts that follow a way are less affected by background count related to their way. Reduce Background count penalties by your initiate grade if the background count is aspected in a way that fits your way. This applies only to adept-powers, not to any magical skills for Mystic Adepts, since their spellcasting is not attuned to their way. This is determined by the GM, below are typical examples for domains that fit a way:
Artisan: factories, industrial areas, workshops, laboratories (but not polluted natural areas)
Artist: concerts, museums, art galleries, historic buildings, places of natural beauty
Athlete: areas of competition, sport events, dangerous natural locales (cliffsides, underwater caverns etc.)
Beast: wilderness areas, favorite locations of the adepts totem
Spiritual: places of worship, areas of spiritual significance
Speaker: places of social activity, (bars, bordello, parties etc), crowded places (slums, transporation nodes)
Warrior: places of violence and warfare (but not of atrocities, such as massacring civilians)
The main reason for this is admittedly to streamline how Ways work.
In their RAW form, you basically have to buy expensive powers to get any real benefit out of them, what with percentual reductions and all that. Just straight giving power points fixes that nicely. Since they're also tied to Enhancements and Metamagics anyway, turning them into a Metamagic themselves actually makes quite a bit of sense too. It's pretty much a replacement for your first additional power point this way - which was very tempting to take as your first metamagic anyway (since all other scaled with initiate grade).
I also removed the Magicians Way and the Burnouts Way.
The former was basically just a "pick whatever you want" Way, which just outright doesn't fit the theme! And then it tied up two Enhancements - Digital Celerity just fit the Invisible Way much better. I gave Master of Nine Chakras to every way instead of removing it, because it's a nice if limited ability.
The Burnouts Way - well, I can see it's benefit for a few specific builds, but it didn't behave like a way at all. So I just removed it too.
As for "Domain of the (Way)" - it just makes too much sense. It's obviously something that needs GM-adjudication, but that goes for everything background-count related. I tried to keep it about equally strong for every Way too.
Also, it's kinda nice that Adepts are just less affected than Mages by background count - which is why I also made an explicit exception for Mystic Adepts.
I tried to keep all benefits of ways about equal. I am not 100% sure whether I managed, suggestions and critique are welcome.
Spiritual Way is now pretty interesting - an Adept that can actually deal with spirits without being a mystic adept. It doesn't grant anywhere near to the power of the Conjuring skill group, and if you're a mystic adept you probably don't need this way anyway.
Metamagic: Way of the Adept (Adepts Only)
As an Adept delves deeper into understanding of their powers, they often focus on their own aptitudes and understand them in deeper ways.
When learning this metamagic, the Adept must select one Adept Way. The Adept gains 1 Power point, plus an additional 0.25 PP for each Initiate grade. Those power points can only be spent on the powers listed in their way. The Adept can use a mixture of those points and their normal PP to buy a power. In addition, the Adept gains the other benefits with their way. The Adept can now also learn Enhancements (2 Karma each) and Metamagics associated with their Way. An Adept can only ever follow one way.
Artisans Way
Adept Centering: The Adept can apply this metamagic to either Vehicle Active Skills or Technical Active Skills. Choose one when learning this metamagic, the other benefit can be bought as an Enhancement.
Qi Focus: The Adept can bind Qi Foci that grant Improved Ability (any Vehicle or Technical Skill) for 2 Karma less.
Enhancements: Domain of the Artisan, Master of Nine Chakras
Metamagics:
Powers: as p. 176 Street Grimoire
Artists Way
Adept Centering: The Adept can apply this metamagic to Performance or Artisan tests and adds +1 to its rating for this purpose.
Qi Focus: The Adept can bind Qi Foci that grant Improved Ability (Performance or Artisan) for 2 Kama less.
Enhancements: Domain of the Artist, Pied Piper, Skin Artist, Master of Nine Chakras
Metamagics: Psychometry
Powers: as p. 176 Street Grimoire
Athletes Way
Adept Centering: The Adept adds +1 to this metamagics rating when using it with any skill from the Athletics Skill Group, as well as Diving, Free Fall or Running
Qi Focus: The Adept can bind Qi Foci that grant Improved Ability (Athletics Skill Group, Diving, Free Fall or Running) for 2 Karma less.
Enhancements: Air Walking, Domain of the Athlete, Master of Nine Chakras
Metamagics: Supernatural Prowess
Powers: as p. 176 Street Grimoire
Beasts Way
Attune Animal: The Adept must only spend 3 Karma to attune to an animal that matches their totem, and adds +1 to their Initiate grade for this ritual.
Empower: The Adept can complete this ritual for 2 Karma less (to a minimum of 1 Karma).
Enhancements: Claws, Domain of the Beast, Master of Nine Chakras
Metamagics: Apex Predator, Totem Form (Animal)
Powers: as p. 176 Street Grimoire
Invisible Way
Astral Stealth: The Adept adds +1 to their Initiate Grade for the Masking, Improved Masking, Flexible Signature and Flux metamagics.
Domain Infiltrator: The Adept can easily deal with background count. It only takes an hour for them to become acclimated to a Background Count equal to their Initiate grade.
Enhancements: Digital Celerity, Shadow Touch, Master of Nine Chakras
Metamagics: Stillness in the Void, Sensing
Powers: as p. 177 Street Grimoire
Spiritual Way
Mentors Guidance: The Adept must have a Mentor Spirit to learn this way. Thanks to the Mentors assistance, the Adept can learn the Ally Conjuration and Calling (Spirit type) rituals (p.126 Street Grimoire). For those rituals and for binding free spirits (p. 204 Street Grimoire), the Adept can use Arcana in place of the required skills and can add their initate grade to the relevant tests.
Enhancements: Domain of the Spiritual, Master of Nine Chakras
Metamagics: Channeling, Exorcism, Psychometry
Powers: as p. 177 Street Grimoire
Speakers Way
False Impression: The Adept adds +1 to their Initiate Grade for the Masking, Flexible Signature and Flux metamagics.
Qi Focus: The Adept can bind Qi Foci that grant Improved Ability (Social skill) for 2 Karma less.
Enhancements: Domain of the Speaker, Master of Nine Chakras, Silver-Tongued Devil
Metamagics: Fae-Touched, Presence
Powers: as p. 177 Street Grimoire
Warriors Way
Attune Item: The Adept can complete this ritual for 2 Karma less.
Imbue Item: The Adept can complete this ritual for 2 Karma less.
Weapon Focus: The Adept can bind Weapon Foci for 2 Karma less.
Enhancements: Barrage, Domain of the Warrior, Master of Taijiquan, Master of Nine Chakras
Metamagics:
Powers: as p. 177 Street Grimoire
New Enhancement: Domain of the (Way)
Adepts that follow a way are less affected by background count related to their way. Reduce Background count penalties by your initiate grade if the background count is aspected in a way that fits your way. This applies only to adept-powers, not to any magical skills for Mystic Adepts, since their spellcasting is not attuned to their way. This is determined by the GM, below are typical examples for domains that fit a way:
Artisan: factories, industrial areas, workshops, laboratories (but not polluted natural areas)
Artist: concerts, museums, art galleries, historic buildings, places of natural beauty
Athlete: areas of competition, sport events, dangerous natural locales (cliffsides, underwater caverns etc.)
Beast: wilderness areas, favorite locations of the adepts totem
Spiritual: places of worship, areas of spiritual significance
Speaker: places of social activity, (bars, bordello, parties etc), crowded places (slums, transporation nodes)
Warrior: places of violence and warfare (but not of atrocities, such as massacring civilians)
The main reason for this is admittedly to streamline how Ways work.
In their RAW form, you basically have to buy expensive powers to get any real benefit out of them, what with percentual reductions and all that. Just straight giving power points fixes that nicely. Since they're also tied to Enhancements and Metamagics anyway, turning them into a Metamagic themselves actually makes quite a bit of sense too. It's pretty much a replacement for your first additional power point this way - which was very tempting to take as your first metamagic anyway (since all other scaled with initiate grade).
I also removed the Magicians Way and the Burnouts Way.
The former was basically just a "pick whatever you want" Way, which just outright doesn't fit the theme! And then it tied up two Enhancements - Digital Celerity just fit the Invisible Way much better. I gave Master of Nine Chakras to every way instead of removing it, because it's a nice if limited ability.
The Burnouts Way - well, I can see it's benefit for a few specific builds, but it didn't behave like a way at all. So I just removed it too.
As for "Domain of the (Way)" - it just makes too much sense. It's obviously something that needs GM-adjudication, but that goes for everything background-count related. I tried to keep it about equally strong for every Way too.
Also, it's kinda nice that Adepts are just less affected than Mages by background count - which is why I also made an explicit exception for Mystic Adepts.
I tried to keep all benefits of ways about equal. I am not 100% sure whether I managed, suggestions and critique are welcome.
Spiritual Way is now pretty interesting - an Adept that can actually deal with spirits without being a mystic adept. It doesn't grant anywhere near to the power of the Conjuring skill group, and if you're a mystic adept you probably don't need this way anyway.
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Newcomer though I am, I'd frown on this kind of thing. When you select Magician, Mystic Adept, Physical Adept or Aspected, you're making a character-defining choice. Initiatory rituals that enable you to circumvent defining-weaknesses of the Magic User Typology choice smack a little of trying to have your cake and eat it too.
If you want to play an Adept who can Conjure spirits, you should be playing a Mystic Adept. Especially since 'can use their magic rating in place of the skill required for them and to bind free spirits' is going to give you equal Conjuring skill rank to all but high-Conjuring specialists.
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Have you looked at the options in question?
Anyone can bind a free spirit - you explicitly do not need a magic rating, or the binding skill.
This would just add your initiate grade to it - hardly that gamebreaking (I replaced using magic rating in the interest of mechanical unity).
And you'd still need a spirit formula - acquiring one is hardly a simple task, requiring either a metaplanar quest (can't be done by an adept), finding an object that has it (very hard generally) or investing into Arcana, meeting the spirit and then designing it. So this mostly opens up plot hooks.
Likewise, Call (Spirit Type) can be done by anyone - it says so right at the end of the description.
It also takes several days, is quite expensive and you have to negotiate with the spirit in order to do it. So it's a far cry from even normal binding rituals - which are cheaper and at least guarantee you some services. Never mind actually summoning up spirits on the fly, which this can't even remotely emulate.
So that's mostly a big sign of "hey, use those things if you want to!" and a minor bonus that makes it somewhat more tenable to do.
The real boost of this Way is being able to call up an Ally Spirit. Those can be pretty powerful allies, and you'd actually somewhat gain spellcasting that way (ally spirits can cast spells, including those you don't know).
But Ally Spirits are also HUGE Karma sinks. In addition to the 5 Karma to learn the ritual, and the cost of creating the formula, you need to spend a ton of karma to bind it. A barebone spirit without any bells and whistles and barely force 3 already cost 24 karma. A good one (Force 5, 1 additional form, four spells, three extra powers, three extra skills) would cost a whooping 92 Karma.
So I wouldn't consider that broken either. And it fits the "adept that follows a mentor spirit closely" theme pretty well, the Ally Spirit will probably be a representative/manifestation of your mentor spirit.
Anyone can bind a free spirit - you explicitly do not need a magic rating, or the binding skill.
This would just add your initiate grade to it - hardly that gamebreaking (I replaced using magic rating in the interest of mechanical unity).
And you'd still need a spirit formula - acquiring one is hardly a simple task, requiring either a metaplanar quest (can't be done by an adept), finding an object that has it (very hard generally) or investing into Arcana, meeting the spirit and then designing it. So this mostly opens up plot hooks.
Likewise, Call (Spirit Type) can be done by anyone - it says so right at the end of the description.
It also takes several days, is quite expensive and you have to negotiate with the spirit in order to do it. So it's a far cry from even normal binding rituals - which are cheaper and at least guarantee you some services. Never mind actually summoning up spirits on the fly, which this can't even remotely emulate.
So that's mostly a big sign of "hey, use those things if you want to!" and a minor bonus that makes it somewhat more tenable to do.
The real boost of this Way is being able to call up an Ally Spirit. Those can be pretty powerful allies, and you'd actually somewhat gain spellcasting that way (ally spirits can cast spells, including those you don't know).
But Ally Spirits are also HUGE Karma sinks. In addition to the 5 Karma to learn the ritual, and the cost of creating the formula, you need to spend a ton of karma to bind it. A barebone spirit without any bells and whistles and barely force 3 already cost 24 karma. A good one (Force 5, 1 additional form, four spells, three extra powers, three extra skills) would cost a whooping 92 Karma.
So I wouldn't consider that broken either. And it fits the "adept that follows a mentor spirit closely" theme pretty well, the Ally Spirit will probably be a representative/manifestation of your mentor spirit.
Anyone can summon and try to bind them once they have their True name, yes, but the binding is made more difficult for needing to add Binding/Banishing to Willpower if you want to roll more than just your attribute (which has got to beat Force+Edge on the Spirit's part). This makes things appropriately more difficult for someone who isn't a trained Conjurer because Free spirits are otherwise relatively easy to summon and bind; there's no roll for Summoning or Drain.
Yes, obtaining the Spirit Formula is a hurdle to be cleared, but so what? Being able to conjure up a spirit and bind it to owe you services (and banish it later should you need to) is one third of the function of the dedicated Magician. Making it any easier for people who can't do it inherently is kind of a bigger deal than you're giving it credit for.
There's a lot that's expensive in Shadowrun to begin with. Adding a single die to any active skills (or god forbid, skill groups) gets pretty prohibitive when measured against the benefit once you have more than a bare handful of points in it. Ditto with attributes, Foci, etc. But gaining access to permanent Ally Spirits who can use spells (when you can't cast them at all to begin with) is kind of an order of magnitude more useful than getting an extra dice for a particular skill pool, too.
Physical Adepts are thematically removed from the concept of spellcasting and conjuring. They can obviously call Free Spirits, yes, but only in the sense that everyone else can too. They're the people who have magic that is strictly internalised and don't have much to do with the Astral realm. They're the grounded community of the Awakened, even if they still have mystical powers surging through their bodies. Being able to conjure up sorcery-wielding partners goes against what they're meant to evoke, and I don't see why it should be an option when it would make sense to just play a Mystic Adept if that was what one hypothetically wanted.
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While the mage debate rages, @Conundrum, do we know if the IC is almost ready?
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Sorry for the wait on my reply.
To get 9 on attack you can also have Modify a Matrix Attribute, dropping your firewall by one to get the 9 on attack. I am glad I reread before posting this, I missed the only one mod available thing, that changes things a bit
Noise is still easy to get down though because according to the developer Aaron Pavao datajacks stack so noise is not an issue if you want to be cheesy, though this is usually something I homerule away if people are cheesy with it, it is fine to have multiple but just don't use that to just ignore noise.
As for Fresnel Fabric it has to be aligned with the target to work which limits it's use some.
I will need to read the house rule stuff.
Noise is still easy to get down though because according to the developer Aaron Pavao datajacks stack so noise is not an issue if you want to be cheesy, though this is usually something I homerule away if people are cheesy with it, it is fine to have multiple but just don't use that to just ignore noise.
As for Fresnel Fabric it has to be aligned with the target to work which limits it's use some.
I will need to read the house rule stuff.
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I am still waiting on at least the basics of some people's backgrounds. I am using backgrounds in the openning post for some people, backgrounds can also affect how certain people or groups interact with your character.