Shadowrun
Shadowrun Play => Rules and such => Topic started by: Slipperychicken on <03-14-17/1320:09>
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So I had an idea to go fast: Summon a pretty strong spirit (I'm thinking a Spirit of Beasts for lore purposes) in the shape of an animal that is capable of accepting metahumans as riders, treat it with great reverence like Gandalf treats Shadowfax, have it use the Movement power on itself, and then fly the spirit around at great speeds of (Force+1)*Force meters per round.
The idea is to have a pretty fast and flavorful way to get around, especially for insertions where astral security isn't that great. Maybe have it pull a wagon or something so the rest of the party can come along for the ride.
What I'm wondering is how this would work in rules-terms. Would riding a magical spirit-animal be a Pilot Ground(Animal) check, or its own skill altogether? How should I decide how much weight a spirit can bear before its speed decreases? Is there a good way to convert critter movement to vehicle stats?
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Not sure why you would do this. It would be way more efficient just to use the movement power on a creature or vehicle with a base speed of at least (Force+1) meters per round. Also, unless you're specifically conjuring a spirit of draft animals, I think "treat it with great reverence like Gandalf treats Shadowfax" and "have it pull a wagon or something so the rest of the party can come along for the ride" are mutually exclusive.
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Not sure why you would do this. It would be way more efficient just to use the movement power on a creature or vehicle with a base speed of at least (Force+1) meters per round
In SR5, using movement powers on vehicles is, umm, problematic. Even if you have the skills to keep control, the number of dice rolls every turn (spirit power, object resistance, crash check if speed changed a lot, as it usually will) is a drag on play.
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Not sure why you would do this. It would be way more efficient just to use the movement power on a creature or vehicle with a base speed of at least (Force+1) meters per round. Also, unless you're specifically conjuring a spirit of draft animals, I think "treat it with great reverence like Gandalf treats Shadowfax" and "have it pull a wagon or something so the rest of the party can come along for the ride" are mutually exclusive.
The main reason is because I think it's cool. Also, spirits can fly pretty fast, so I imagine that could come in handy for certain insertions and exits.
If you get a decent-force beasts spirit bound (force 7+ maybe?) and can ride it at 250+ mph while carrying a macguffin-sized load in addition to yourself and your gear, then that's a great option to have in your pocket. Part of me just wants to be in a tense moment in SR and reply "I call up my magical pony and fly away with the package" and have that somehow actually work.
There's also the possibility of an NPC doing this. I could see people going around on a spiritual mount for style, opulence, and convenience. No need to take the elevator when your mystical steed can carry you right up to your 30th floor office. An executive's daughter might demand a magic pony, and the executive may be able to hire magicians to make that happen. Lore things like that too.
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Another good reason to do as the Chicken suggests?
Spirits are not bound to the range of motion of a vehicle.. A Spirit can be moving straight ahead one round then directly vertical the next! or be moving left, then right... things cars and even drones can not do.
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Another good reason to do as the Chicken suggests?
Spirits are not bound to the range of motion of a vehicle.. A Spirit can be moving straight ahead one round then directly vertical the next! or be moving left, then right... things cars and even drones can not do.
In SR5, using movement powers on vehicles is, umm, problematic. Even if you have the skills to keep control, the number of dice rolls every turn (spirit power, object resistance, crash check if speed changed a lot, as it usually will) is a drag on play.
Yeah, but on the other hand, you can achieve escape velocity on a motorcycle.
The main reason is because I think it's cool. Also, spirits can fly pretty fast, so I imagine that could come in handy for certain insertions and exits.
If you get a decent-force beasts spirit bound (force 7+ maybe?) and can ride it at 250+ mph while carrying a macguffin-sized load in addition to yourself and your gear, then that's a great option to have in your pocket. Part of me just wants to be in a tense moment in SR and reply "I call up my magical pony and fly away with the package" and have that somehow actually work.
There's also the possibility of an NPC doing this. I could see people going around on a spiritual mount for style, opulence, and convenience. No need to take the elevator when your mystical steed can carry you right up to your 30th floor office. An executive's daughter might demand a magic pony, and the executive may be able to hire magicians to make that happen. Lore things like that too.
Now that I've gone and actually looked at spirits, it seems that air spirits are better than beast spirits, so maybe think less "Shadowfax" and more "giant eagles".
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I've done this.
My GM hated me.
It was fun.
Fly you fool!
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First of all, what you're talking about can absolutely be done, I've done it myself just once in the campaign where I'm a player, but only once because I like to treat my spirits with respect.
Second, the various reasons you mention under the " why npc's would do this " are the opposite of "treating the spirit with great reverence ", it is talking something amazing and making it trivial and I would personally consider it demeaning to the spirit as well. Remember that spirits are sentient creatures and I don't see many of them liking being made to carry spoiled rich brats around on their back.
So if you want to treat the spirit with reverence and still use this ability I would say, use it sparingly and only when nothing else will work.
Also if I remember correctly there's precedence in the fiction, I believe Talons ally spirit had an alternative form which was a motorcycle.