Shadowrun Play > Previous Editions
Shadowrun 4E House Rules
JanessaVR:
Optional Rules
Technomancers
Although we had a player who was a regular technomancer in the past, we’ve eventually reached the point where we came to regard the presence of technomancers in the Sixth World as more of a headache than they’re worth. Accordingly, they were retconned out of existence, but these rules might be applicable if we’re running a one-shot that won’t affect the greater campaign world.
Technomancers Are Magical
Technomancers are essentially a different kind of magician and the Resonance Realms are explicitly metaplanes. But the Resonance is fundamentally incompatible with mana as magicians and adepts know it and thus a person can only be one or the other.
Rules in Play
• The SR4A Core Rules and SR4 Unwired are the primary source for technomancy rules. Of special note is that the Optional Rules for “The Resonance Difference” in SR4 Unwired pp. 137-138 are being used.
• Technomancers can take the Focused Concentration quality.
New Echoes
• Compile Living Sprites: Sprites occupy a gray area between mere tools and more conventional spirits. With this Echo, the technomancer can choose to compile fully sapient sprites.
• Compile Tool Sprites: The opposite of the above Echo, the technomancer can choose to compile sprites that are decidedly non-sapient. These sprites are merely “smart” tools and more akin to Agents (SR4A, pp. 234-235; SR4 Unwired, p. 87).
• Faster Registration: Registering sprites now only requires (30 minutes * the rating of the sprite).
• Private Files: You can create files that are marked as not to be archived in the Resonance Realms.
• Speedy Registration: Registering sprites now only requires (15 minutes * the rating of the sprite); Faster Registration is a prerequisite.
JanessaVR:
Still Working On
All-Ritual Spellcasting
The Basic Idea
Enforce greater game balance by not letting magicians dominate to quite the degree that they do. This proposal would put them on the same level as deckers – that is to say, critical team support members, but not front-line combatants. By increasing the casting time for spells and summoning, they can assist on run preparation, and even go along on runs to handle things like ward penetration and such, but won’t be expected (or able) to quickly sling spells in a firefight.
Is this even a good idea? It will certainly change the feel of gameplay, but will it be for the better?
Dumpshock Thread(s)
All-Ritual Magic
Main Ideas
• Increase spellcasting time to one minute per level of Force.
• Increase summoning time to one minute per level of Force of the spirit.
• To compensate, new spell research shouldn’t be arduous.
Some Possible Variations
• Have one minute be the minimum casting time. If you do well enough on the Spellcasting (or Summoning) roll, it's only a minute. If you don't roll so well, it takes even longer (another minute or two).
• Some sort of bonus for voluntarily spending more time than normal on the casting ritual?
Problem Issues
• Having both Spellcasting and Summoning take one minute per level of Force can work, but if Counterspelling or Banishing take more than several seconds (tops), then they're nearly useless. Using Counterspelling to unravel an existing spell can take some time, but if countering a spell headed for your face takes a full minute, you're screwed. And good luck getting a spirit to stand still for a minutes-long Banishing ritual.
Survey Says…
The gang is a bit skeptical about this (but admit it has possibilities), and so they want to do a one-shot campaign with some throw-away characters to test this one weekend and see how it goes.
A Unified, Consistent Magic System
The Basic Idea
Spellcasting and Summoning are practically two different magic systems, running on two different sets of rules for what magic can and can’t do. There needs to be a single set of rules for what magic can and can’t do in Shadowrun. Also, shouldn’t a spirit’s formula be something that can be recorded in a grimoire and cast as a summoning ritual?
Dumpshock Thread(s)
Merging Spellcasting and Summoning
Main Ideas
• Each type of spirit gets its own summoning spell (i.e., Summon Fire Elemental), which are part of a new category of spells – Summoning. Spirits can’t cast spells from this category.
• Bind Spirit and Banish Spirit would be spells as well.
• This would mean that Aspected magicians basically cease to exist. No big loss, as no one’s ever wanted to play one.
• Possibly tighten the magical skills into “magic you can do right now” and “magic that takes hours (or days or weeks) back in your lodge.”
• Possibly rule that all spirits suffer from some degree of Evanescence and can’t cross over from the metaplanes unless they’re summoned, or unless they arrive in (and then stay in) a Domain with a Background Count equal to their Force. Summoning grants them a “work permit” to roam about more freely. The only Free Spirits would then be former Ally Spirits, whose Karma/Cash/Reagents-expensive summoning ritual has effectively granted them “permanent residency” on the physical plane. It would result in fewer free spirits roaming around all over the place, which actually isn’t a bad thing.
Problem Issues (copied from Dumpshock posts)
• Do you plan on sustaining a Summon X Sprit spell for the whole time it’s summoned? That could get inconvenient real fast, especially if the sprit’s off on remote services. One possible fix would be a new Spell Duration of “Special” (after the sustain-until-permanent period ends, they basically use the existing rules on summoning duration), but this isn’t the most elegant solution. It also begs the question of how Free Spirits stick around if no one’s sustaining their summoning. Watcher Spirits now just became a burden instead of a convenience.
• Are we ok with Spellcasting being able to reach into the metaplanes and yank a spirit on the physical plane? Well, actually, isn’t that what Summoning is doing right now? So it’s not like that ability doesn’t currently exist in-game. That said, it would seem to imply that Grounding is possible again, and that’s not a good idea. The flipside is the possibility of Summoning spells from the metaplanes that reach into the physical plane and yank people into the metaplanes. Actually not that far out of an idea, if the person is standing in a Mana Warp / Astral Rift that connects to some metaplane. Still, have to deal with the concept of spells crossing planes.
• How is Great Form Invoking supposed to work? Perhaps a spell version of Summon X Spirit as Summon Great Form X Spirit, which costs more Drain.
• Do we care about the possibility of casting Summon X Spirit on the astral plane? If you’re using Astral Perception, you’re dual-natured for as long as you do so, so is anything stopping you from casting spells or summoning spirits right now on the astral plane according to canon rules?
Survey Says…
Not yet submitted to the “House Rules Committee” for consideration. Need to spend quite some considerable time thinking/designing on this one.
Xenon:
This is the sticky for SR4 house rules:
https://forums.shadowruntabletop.com/index.php/topic,27.0.html
JanessaVR:
--- Quote from: Xenon on ---This is the sticky for SR4 house rules:
https://forums.shadowruntabletop.com/index.php/topic,27.0.html
--- End quote ---
I've seen it, but these are my group's house rules and I wasn't going to just mix them into that thread.
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