[8-bit]

Consider buying a F1 Sustaining Health Focus (or buying Focused Concentration 1) and using it to sustain Force 1 Increase Reflexes cast with Edge.  You could end up with, what, eight hits on average?  That's 8+4d6 extra initiative, which means you'll have a comparable amount to what most optimized Adepts have.  And normally you'd need to resist 8DV of drain (which would be physical) to achieve that.  Instead you'll just resist 2DV of physical.

That might be one of the best edge uses I've ever heard of.  Bravo.

It's not a new one; not by any stretch of the imagination. It's also a fairly brittle and expensive setup. Not only do most people not have a huge Edge pool, but spending it means you don't have it for later, and as has been stated, a Force 1 sustained spell can be collapsed extremely easily.

[Michael Chandra]

I haven't read anything that says they are, but it would make sense if they were.  I'm still surprised to find out that background count has the potential to be more vicious than Noise.

Only under Aaron's statement that Noise does NOT shut off wireless functionality, despite it literally saying that, but solely wireless bonuses.

Shrazkil, those bonus dice going afterwards you mention is exactly the gap in the rules I mentioned that people have a problem with. Since each is a modifier to your dicepool, a GM can however argue you can only apply each bonus to 1 part of the split. But it's a pretty bad rule right now and we really need a FAQ on it.

[Shrazkil]

Ok and threshhold 3 is the standard for these? I Was told specializations and bonus's from mentor spirit will affect both sides of the dicepool split, so if i am splitting 14 dice, and have +4 combat from mentor, specialization, i could do 11 dice each, and what about spell foci? Does that affect the whole pool or seperate, because if i cast 2 spells of different schools i could use each foci?

Yes 3 is the threshold.
At the moment yes, modifiers are After the split.

However normal split pools applies them Before the split.
I wouldn't be surprised if it gets a retcon to make it before the split to match other combat actions.
At the very least it should be that modifiers can only be applied 1x, so you wouldn't get the Power Focus or the Specialization to both Casts.
That or they should move all modifiers to Post Split so its just the Skill/Attribute dice that get split.
After all, if Mentor can be applied twice then surely smartgunlink should be applied to both shots.
I'm torn on how Power focus should work, its the same for both spells so that to me should be pre-split.

Really though, w/o much chance to stage up the damage your talking 2 separate chances to resist and something like an Armored Jacket w/ Non-Con-4 is going to remove most of that DV-6 before body dice even come into play.  You'll probably end up with 1-2 net damage.  But I guess it all depends on who the targets are.

Could be a deadly combo on normal targets -6ap should put most targets in the 9-10 dice range, and if i am currently under cheese rules able to roll around 16 dice if foci counts twice, after split, i should get about 5 damage each, plus 2 rounds of -5init and -1 all rolls.

[Xenon]

When you are hit by two overlapping area effects at the same time you don't resolve it as two individual area effects (instead you add half of the lower blast DV to the highest blast DV and you use the AP of the highest AP blast and add 1 for each additional simultaneous blast).

Indirect combat spells work very much like mundane attacks ( no need for aura targeting, affected by visibility modifiers, avoided by reaction + intuition etc. etc.)

Maybe the intent was that multiple indirect combat LOS (A) spells cast as one attack action and overlap use the same Multiple Simultaneous Blast rule as mundane explosives would use....?

[ZeConster]

I dunno, the Multiple Simultaneous Blasts rule says it's only about explosives.

[Tarislar]

It's not a new one; not by any stretch of the imagination. It's also a fairly brittle and expensive setup. Not only do most people not have a huge Edge pool, but spending it means you don't have it for later, and as has been stated, a Force 1 sustained spell can be collapsed extremely easily.

Agreed, but with an 8 edge character its a solid option.
Personally I'd keep a normal Force-2 on me for most of the adventure & only blow that edge to boost the power when the sh-t was about to hit the fan.

[Tarislar]

I dunno, the Multiple Simultaneous Blasts rule says it's only about explosives.

Agreed, that won't work on normal AE spells.
Its not an explosion, its a fixed area being filled w/ said element.
The new "Elemental Grenade" spells on the other hand do specifically state they use those rules IIRC.

[Tarislar]

Could be a deadly combo on normal targets -6ap should put most targets in the 9-10 dice range, and if i am currently under cheese rules able to roll around 16 dice if foci counts twice, after split, i should get about 5 damage each, plus 2 rounds of -5init and -1 all rolls.

After rereading the foci description, I can't see it being post split.
Its a modifier to the attribute, not a situational/environmental modifier.
To me it acts similar to a temporary attribute boost, but to Magic, as such its part of the base pool & would be split just like your magic & skill points.

[Shrazkil]

Could be a deadly combo on normal targets -6ap should put most targets in the 9-10 dice range, and if i am currently under cheese rules able to roll around 16 dice if foci counts twice, after split, i should get about 5 damage each, plus 2 rounds of -5init and -1 all rolls.

After rereading the foci description, I can't see it being post split.
Its a modifier to the attribute, not a situational/environmental modifier.
To me it acts similar to a temporary attribute boost, but to Magic, as such its part of the base pool & would be split just like your magic & skill points.

I think we had a source from missions say it does, albeit still not official.

I guess the main thing that makes it seem plausible was, what if it was 2 different types of spells, and had 2 foci. Both would work in that case. Its a slippery slope, and not something i plan to build around. I just saw it come up in another thread and wanted to make sure i understood how it all works.

[Michael Chandra]

I still think the primary cause of the 'modifiers afterwards' line is because different spells face different negative modifiers, such as visibility modifiers, and they want those to apply to each spell separately. It's still a really messy rule though, and it doesn't help that Multiple Attacks in itself is a small disaster as far as I'm concerned. (Not that I blame the writers, but things went wrong there somewhat.) And now you get why it's in my list of controversies.

[Tarislar]

I still think the primary cause of the 'modifiers afterwards' line is because different spells face different negative modifiers, such as visibility modifiers, and they want those to apply to each spell separately. It's still a really messy rule though, and it doesn't help that Multiple Attacks in itself is a small disaster as far as I'm concerned. (Not that I blame the writers, but things went wrong there somewhat.) And now you get why it's in my list of controversies.

Agreed.
In occurs to me that with Firearms you  have the same problem really.  After all, your targets could be at different ranges & such.
It seems like Modifiers should just always be after the split for all Multi-Attack options really.

[Xenon]

If you wield one firearm then both (in the case of Long Burst) or all three (in the case of Semi-Automatic Burst) targets need to be at short or maximum medium range.

If one target is at short range and one is at medium range then you only use the medium range environmental modifier for the combined multiple attack (but only if there is no other environmental modifier -Visibility, Light/Glare or Wind- that give a total negative dice pool modifier of more than 1 dice).

[Tarislar]

Aye, I get the rule.
I'm just thinking if they made Ranged the same as Spells, applying environmental after yet with Attr modifers before, then it would be equal at least.

[Shrazkil]

Aye, I get the rule.
I'm just thinking if they made Ranged the same as Spells, applying environmental after yet with Attr modifers before, then it would be equal at least.

No drain for firearms though.

[Michael Chandra]

But you can smuggle a spellcaster past metal detectors, concealment won't be a pain, spirits aren't near impossible to kill, etc.