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SR6: A New Archetype. The Gear or Virtual Mage

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Kreistor

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« on: <05-23-20/1050:41> »
With SR6, a new type of build has opened up that has never been optimally reasonable before. Burnout mages have happened, but they never really were an option for rigging and decking. That has changed.

With SR5, the best you could do for Logic was Prototype Transhuman Gnome with Cerebral Booster 2 and Eceptional Attribute Logic, and Metagenic Logic Changling for 11. (Yeah, pixie too.)

A new option has opened up. Cerebral Booster has capped at 3 Logic. The spell Increased Attrib can do +4 to Logic and Intuition. Any race can now boost logic to 11 with just Exceptional Logic. When Gnome shows up, this should rise to 12, and if Changeling happens again, 13.

I am not going to complete a full build here right now: maybe if I have time later today. My suggestion is Priority D Mystic Adept, Hermetic, boost Magic to 6 at creation. Control Rig 1 (and long term Deltaware Control Rig 2) costs you only 1 essence and Magic. Decker does not require more than a Datajack, but may as well use the rest of that 1 Essence for other relevant ware. Use the Smart Firing Platform to shoot using Logic if you are a Decker: the Rigger has drones for that unless Alphaware is available to defray the Control Rig essence cost.

Just a little out of the box thinking.

Shinobi Killfist

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« Reply #1 on: <05-24-20/1258:05> »
4e you could easily be a mage/decker.  Not that I want it, I'd prefer they roll back to SR 1-2(3?) where magically active people had a +2 target number in the matrix, which in later editions would have translated to just a dice pool penalty.  Terrible they got rid of it, when they should have continually made a mages interactions with tech harder and harder each edition.

markelphoenix

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« Reply #2 on: <05-25-20/0006:39> »
4e you could easily be a mage/decker.  Not that I want it, I'd prefer they roll back to SR 1-2(3?) where magically active people had a +2 target number in the matrix, which in later editions would have translated to just a dice pool penalty.  Terrible they got rid of it, when they should have continually made a mages interactions with tech harder and harder each edition.

Ehh, I think the Essence tax on required head gear is sufficient. If anything, with the spell Overclock, they're going the other direction, where sufficiently tailored and powerful casting of magic CAN augment technological capabilities. Also makes me think of Cyberzombies with blood magic, another case where mojo (albeit blood mojo) and technology work in tandem.

Shinobi Killfist

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« Reply #3 on: <05-29-20/1041:59> »
4e you could easily be a mage/decker.  Not that I want it, I'd prefer they roll back to SR 1-2(3?) where magically active people had a +2 target number in the matrix, which in later editions would have translated to just a dice pool penalty.  Terrible they got rid of it, when they should have continually made a mages interactions with tech harder and harder each edition.

Ehh, I think the Essence tax on required head gear is sufficient. If anything, with the spell Overclock, they're going the other direction, where sufficiently tailored and powerful casting of magic CAN augment technological capabilities. Also makes me think of Cyberzombies with blood magic, another case where mojo (albeit blood mojo) and technology work in tandem.

Its a thematic part of the setting where magic and tech don't mesh well together. I think the rules should reinforce the setting, not ignore it. The spell overclock was a terrible addition for that reason. I never liked how cyberzombies were made but it works better than overclock in that the costs are high enough to show the magic and tech don't work well together. Its cyber zombie for a reason and not just juiced up technomagic cyborg.

Kreistor

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« Reply #4 on: <06-19-20/2119:00> »
I think the Essence tax on required head gear is sufficient.

What headgear specifically? All you need is a Datajack which is hardly Essence expensive, or Trodes. Literally, you can do this with 0 essence cost. An Image Link can be in goggles and any earbud enhancement provides AR sound. You may want your deck in your head, but it is not required.

Reaver

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« Reply #5 on: <06-20-20/0107:47> »
4e you could easily be a mage/decker.  Not that I want it, I'd prefer they roll back to SR 1-2(3?) where magically active people had a +2 target number in the matrix, which in later editions would have translated to just a dice pool penalty.  Terrible they got rid of it, when they should have continually made a mages interactions with tech harder and harder each edition.

Ehh, I think the Essence tax on required head gear is sufficient. If anything, with the spell Overclock, they're going the other direction, where sufficiently tailored and powerful casting of magic CAN augment technological capabilities. Also makes me think of Cyberzombies with blood magic, another case where mojo (albeit blood mojo) and technology work in tandem.

Its a thematic part of the setting where magic and tech don't mesh well together. I think the rules should reinforce the setting, not ignore it. The spell overclock was a terrible addition for that reason. I never liked how cyberzombies were made but it works better than overclock in that the costs are high enough to show the magic and tech don't work well together. Its cyber zombie for a reason and not just juiced up technomagic cyborg.

Me and Shinobi rarely agree. BUT, on this point we are almost in lock step.

From 1 -3 SR, Magic and tech were mutually exclusive. They just didn't work together - like at all. This separation was so extreme that mages back in the day, had to have separate spells just to attack tech! Elemental Spells suffered a damage stage down, mana spells just didn't work AT ALL.. The only thing you could take was "Wreck" and then each type of vehicle was a separate spell! Thus Wreck Drone, Wreck aircraft, wreck ship, wreck car, Wreck LAV... and so on..

THIS was part of the reason why spirits had Immunity To Normal Weapons... Tech just had no effect on magical constructs. (But, nothing stopped someone from just punching a spirit and using their Charisma in place of Strength - made Faces useful and kept Sams from dump stating!

Good luck getting the team mage to heal your wounds if you were Essence lacking, as that affected the mages target numbers.. "Lets see... you have a Serious wound you say? And you have 0.25 essence you say??? Nothing I can do... I would need to make 4 successes against a target number of 11... and The drain just isn't worth the attempt"


There was a trade off, be awakened and cut off from the technological side of the world; Or, Embrace the technology, and lose your connection to your humanity....
Those were the options a Runner had to gain an edge over the Corps and the Cops.

But, well 4e decided to ditch a lot of the dichotomy that a Dystopian setting brings with it, and moved to a more Trans-humanist tone... And when "tech is the future' is at the core of that vision... along with simplification and rewriting the basic core from the ground up,  Small things that matter get missed....

And well Welcome to MagicRun, where the Mage really CAN to anything better then anyone else!
« Last Edit: <06-20-20/0113:43> by Reaver »
Where am I going? And why am I in a hand basket ???

Remember: You can't fix Stupid. But you can beat on it with a 2x4 until it smartens up! Or dies.

BeCareful

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« Reply #6 on: <06-20-20/1332:23> »
Though they still retained Essence, meaning technological augmentation has a limit to what it can do for you (or Cybertech Eats Your SOUL!!), while Magic has no upper limit and there's a spell for everything!
Though that bit's only really noticable in high-powered stuff, the other bits are noticable the rest of the time.
"Welcome to Shadowrun, where the biggest obstacle is you!"