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Conjuring Magician - Any thoughts?

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8-bit

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« on: <10-23-14/1722:42> »
This guy is meant to be super good at conjuring, with some pretty good spellcasting abilities as well.

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-- Priorities --
Metatype E (Human)
Attributes B
Magic A (Magician - 6 Magic, 10 Spells) - Buddhist Tradition
Skills D
Resources C

-- Karma Expenditure --
50 Total
-13 in Qualities
-18 to bind Force 3 Power Focus
-8 to bind Force 2 Health Sustaining Focus
-5 for one Spell
-2 for Sneaking 1
-2 for Etiquette

6 Left

-- Attributes --
Body 3
Agility 2
Reaction 4
Strength 2
Willpower 5
Logic 3
Intuition 6
Charisma 3
Edge 3
Essence 6
Magic 6

Initiative - 10 + 1d6
Astral Initiative - 12 + 2d6
Physical Condition Monitor - 10
Stun Condition Monitor - 11
Physical Limit - 4
Mental Limit - 6
Social Limit - 6
Astral Limit - 6

-- Qualities --
Mentor Spirit - Eagle (-5 Karma)
Focused Concentration 2 (-8 Karma)
Allergy - Pollutants, Mild (Mentor Spirit)
Allergy - Silver, Moderate (+10 Karma)
Distinctive Style (+5 Karma)
Weak Immune System (+10 Karma)

-- Skills --
Assensing 4 - dice pool 10
Binding 6 (+2 Spirits of Air) - dice pool of 12 (14) w/o Foci
Etiquette 1 - dice pool of 4
Perception 6 (+2 Visual) [+2 Mentor Spirit] - dice pool of 14 (16)
Spellcasting 6 (+2 Combat) - dice pool of 12 (14) w/o Foci
Sneaking 1 - dice pool of 3
Summoning 6 (+2 Spirits of Air) - dice pool of 12 (14) w/o Foci

-- Knowledge/Language Skills --
TBD - 18 points

-- Gear --
Vashon Island: Ace of Wands w/ Nonconductivity 6, Rating 6 Respirator - 3,000 nuyen
Force 3 Power Focus - 54,000 nuyen
Force 2 Health Sustaining Focus - 8,000 nuyen
Rating 6 Medkit - 1,500 nuyen
Transys Avalon Commlink - 5,000 nuyen
3 Renraku Sensei Commlinks - 3,000 nuyen
Micro-transceiver - 100 nuyen
10 doses of Psyche - 2,000 nuyen
300 drams of Reagents - 6,000 nuyen
Force 6 Magical Lodge Materials - 3,000 nuyen
Survival Kit - 200 nuyen
15 Magnesium Torches - 75 nuyen
Capacity 1 Glasses w/ Image Link - 125 nuyen
2 Gold, 4 Silver, 4 Standard Credsticks - 300 nuyen
Rating 4 Fake SIN w/ Rating 4 Fake License (Registered Magician), Rating 4 Fake License (Power Focus) - 11,600 nuyen
Hyundai Shin-Hyung w/ Morphing License Plate, Spoof Chips - 30,000 nuyen
1 Month of High Lifestyle - 10,000 nuyen

Remaining Money - 1,300 + (5d6 x 500) nuyen

-- Magic --
Fire Ball
Clout
Lightning Bolt
Analyze Truth
Heal
Increase Intuition
Increase Willpower
Increase Reflexes
Improved Invisibility
Influence
Physical Barrier

-- Contacts --

9 points TBD

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Edited on October 27th. Thoughts? Criticisms?
« Last Edit: <10-27-14/2112:45> by 8-bit »

Imveros

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« Reply #1 on: <10-23-14/1758:19> »
How are you getting to 23 dice to summon?

Magic (6) + Skill (6) + spec (2) + mentor (2) + Focus (4) = 20

The only thing i can think of is you are stacking the summoning and power foci

SR core P318

Quote
You can’t bond more foci than your Magic attribute, and the maximum Force of all your bonded foci can’t exceed your Magic x 5. Regardless of the number of bonded foci you have, only one focus may add its Force to a dice pool for any given test.

You are also at risk for focus addiction. Granted you dice pool is high, but i have rolled 21 dice, gotten no successes, used an edge to re-roll, and critically glitched... The dice gods are not fond of hubris!
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8-bit

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« Reply #2 on: <10-23-14/1838:51> »
I had Power Focus and Summoning Focus stacking. Did not remember that section where they can't stack. That will free up a lot of money and karma to not bind the Power Focus. You are right about that. Still 20 dice is pretty good. Focus addiction is only for active foci, I can turn them on and off to sort of cheat the system. Will edit it later.

Shrazkil

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« Reply #3 on: <10-23-14/1954:56> »
I had Power Focus and Summoning Focus stacking. Did not remember that section where they can't stack. That will free up a lot of money and karma to not bind the Power Focus. You are right about that. Still 20 dice is pretty good. Focus addiction is only for active foci, I can turn them on and off to sort of cheat the system. Will edit it later.
Honestly you are better off keeping the power focus, and losing the others. It is a catch all for summoning/binding etc.

Build wise, you have no stealth capabilities, be it magical or otherwise, which could hurt.

Focused concentration 3 might be worthwhile with 3 buffs in the spell list. That way if you purchase one more level after creation, you can keep reaction boosted cheaply.
« Last Edit: <10-23-14/2005:25> by Shrazkil »

8-bit

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« Reply #4 on: <10-23-14/2224:35> »
Yeah, I suppose I can keep the Power Focus. The extra money can go towards a vehicle, while the karma can go towards qualities perhaps.

Reaver

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« Reply #5 on: <10-23-14/2237:34> »
Not bad for a "walk around" guy. But as a running.... well i wouldn't run with him.

Spirits get cranky when they feel abused. Not going near a pissed off free spirit. As mentioned before, lack of stealth skills is a worry.

The high Ettiquette skill suggests a face position, thus a secondary position during combat.

<edit: missed something you had, and like an idiot, commented on it)
« Last Edit: <10-23-14/2239:43> by Reaver »
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Top Dog

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« Reply #6 on: <10-24-14/0416:58> »
While you shouldn't abuse spirit, a conjurer character can certainly summon spirits to help him do running things (including combat) and not get astral flak for it, as long as you treat them well. And that includes them getting shot and such, as long as you don't put them into unnecessary danger. After all, they do get... something in exchange for them helping you, and while being disrupted isn't fun, it's not lethal either. And since spirits have a lot of utility and power, summoners are very viable as runners.

You might want to look at stealth, though, as Reaver suggested. Spirits will actually help with that too, but some skills (and/or invisibility/stealth spells) would certainly help.

You have a lot of sustained health spells. I presume those are to boost your drain resist, which is nice, except keeping all 3 spells active will give you a -6 on all dice pools (well not drain and such, but most). That's not a good idea. You can get sustaining foci to do it but those'd be expensive (you can shove Reflexes on a F1 if you use reagents, but the Int and Will need force 6 and 5 respectively). You can also shove them onto a spirit but then it'd only last a couple of turns, ór really piss the spirit off (and see Reaver's comment on that).

Shrazkil

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« Reply #7 on: <10-24-14/0958:18> »
While you shouldn't abuse spirit, a conjurer character can certainly summon spirits to help him do running things (including combat) and not get astral flak for it, as long as you treat them well. And that includes them getting shot and such, as long as you don't put them into unnecessary danger. After all, they do get... something in exchange for them helping you, and while being disrupted isn't fun, it's not lethal either. And since spirits have a lot of utility and power, summoners are very viable as runners.

You might want to look at stealth, though, as Reaver suggested. Spirits will actually help with that too, but some skills (and/or invisibility/stealth spells) would certainly help.

You have a lot of sustained health spells. I presume those are to boost your drain resist, which is nice, except keeping all 3 spells active will give you a -6 on all dice pools (well not drain and such, but most). That's not a good idea. You can get sustaining foci to do it but those'd be expensive (you can shove Reflexes on a F1 if you use reagents, but the Int and Will need force 6 and 5 respectively). You can also shove them onto a spirit but then it'd only last a couple of turns, ór really piss the spirit off (and see Reaver's comment on that).

Pretty sure the plan is to have those spells quickened eventually ( which I would reconsider astral beacon as a nq if that's the case, trail for intuition would be active for 9 hours.). I would set yourself up with 7 karma waiting at creation, so you can likely initiate after first mission.

Top Dog

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« Reply #8 on: <10-24-14/1018:44> »
Pretty sure the plan is to have those spells quickened eventually ( which I would reconsider astral beacon as a nq if that's the case, trail for intuition would be active for 9 hours.). I would set yourself up with 7 karma waiting at creation, so you can likely initiate after first mission.
That  could work. Having a lot of Health spells active is a good thing if you can pull it off, you just need a way to do it, and quickening is a good one.

8-bit

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« Reply #9 on: <10-24-14/1216:52> »
Psyche was a temporary measure for a few of the spells, and Quickening was my thought, yes. That would allow me to overcast combat spells if necessary, or summon spirits with less worry. I should probably change the specialization to Combat Spells instead of Health Spells, since most Health spells only count a certain number of hits anyways.

I have no intentions of abusing my spirits (although binding, in itself, is still fairly abusive), because getting on the bad side of spirits as a conjurer seems like a very bad idea.

I'll take a look at Stealth stuff later tonight when I have access to my books. Also reconsidering Astral Beacon as Shrazkil pointed out.

Thanks for the comments and critiques guys, I'll try and get a new version up later tonight.

Tarislar

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« Reply #10 on: <10-24-14/2158:57> »
-18 to bind Force 3 Power Focus
-8 to bind Force 4 Air Spirit Summoning Focus
-8 to bind Force 4 Air Spirit Binding Focus
-4 for Force 6 Bound Water Spirit with 4 Services


-- Skills --
Assensing 6 (+2 Aura Reading) - dice pool 12 (14)
Binding 6 (+2 Spirits of Air) - dice pool of 12 (14) w/o Foci
Etiquette 1 (+2 Street) - dice pool of 4 (6)
Perception 1 (+2 Visual) [+2 Mentor Spirit] - dice pool of 9 (11)
Spellcasting 6 (+2 Health) - dice pool of 12 (14) w/o Foci
Summoning 6 (+2 Spirits of Air) - dice pool of 12 (14) w/o Foci 


Why the double up on the Conjuring foci ?   Really, why not use that Cash & Karma to buy the AGI/STR points & then stick those 2 points into higher Charisma ?

Why 4 services on 1 spirit.  Why not 2 at 2?
For that matter,  Karma for 1 Service is a waste of cash, with your resources I would just bind pre-1st mission.

I think I would get a 5th skill higher.
Assensing-6
Binding-6 + Air+2
Perception-6
Spellcasting-6 + Health+2
Summoning-6 

Also, consider STR-1 & use that 10 karma for 5x L1 Skills.



8-bit

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« Reply #11 on: <10-25-14/0010:59> »
Edited the build a bit. I have some free cash and karma. Thinking Sneaking 1 or Pilot Groundcraft 1 for the Karma, any suggestions on the cash?

Shrazkil

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« Reply #12 on: <10-25-14/0012:56> »
Edited the build a bit. I have some free cash and karma. Thinking Sneaking 1 or Pilot Groundcraft 1 for the Karma, any suggestions on the cash?
Stealth at 1 will at least get you out of critical glitch range with 1 die rolled, 3 into stealth would be better, so that 2 ones don't glitch you. If that is possible.

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« Reply #13 on: <10-25-14/0326:03> »
Edited the build a bit. I have some free cash and karma. Thinking Sneaking 1 or Pilot Groundcraft 1 for the Karma, any suggestions on the cash?
5 dice in driving isn't going to do much. Better off letting your car drive I think - you're going to get money to spend on autosofts to make it drive better then you anyway. Sneaking is better (your car can't sneak for you).

8-bit

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« Reply #14 on: <10-25-14/0348:53> »
Sneaking it is then. Also, adding a Driver's License to the Rating 4 Fake SIN. Still have 2,800 nuyen left to spend, any ideas?