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Re Magical Skills for Mundanes

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Falconer

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« on: <09-10-16/1426:35> »
Just wanted to toss some rules stuff on Lochabar's question for the committee.

Magical skills for non-awakened.

Arcana... essentially this becomes a knowledge skill without active uses for them no big controversies here that I can think of.

The next two...are trained only skills which can by RAW only be learned by those with a magic rating
Assensing. -  Replaces perception for all purposes while assensing/projecting.
Astral Combat -- Essentially unarmed combat replacement while projecting or alternative while assensing.

Both of these are again trained only skills.   Generally speaking there is no way to use the astral unless awakened or having a magical attribute of 1 or higher.  There is one exception that I can think of though.  And I'm not sure if it's been reprinted in 5th edition.

Under 4th it was possible to dose them with i think it was 'deepweed' and force them to go on a magical acid trip during which they were essentially blind and unable to use perception.  Also to attack them unopposed in 4th unless they actually trained the dodge skill.  (the dodge skill was usable in 4th to dodge astral attacks while acrobatics was not.  Your only other option was the astral combat skill for defense/offense).

Essentially for someone with regular access to these drugs... it's conceivable they might learn the skills despite the lack of a magical attribute.

firebug

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« Reply #1 on: <09-10-16/2015:28> »
Deepweed makes adepts and magicians astrally perceive (even if the adepts don't have the power).  The thing you're thinking of is Tempo, which caused a massive drug war, along with a whole host of other issues as it opened normal metahumans up to astral tampering, as they were simultaneously dual-natured and high as fuck.  It was considered a crisis, and there's basically no Tempo available anymore.  Not to mention, as a BAD (Bioengineered Awakened Drug) it probably had heinous side-effects, and was described to be super addictive, both physiologically and psychologically, with users quickly gaining a resistance to it and needing more and more to feel the effects.

As training to skill level 1 takes only one day, you could try and argue that if you were on Tempo for like 12 hours, you could buy a skill point...  But you'd need to be training that whole time, and Tempo is described as having similar effects to Novacoke and being a hallucinogen, making you disoriented, and the astral sight effect is described as "fleeting flashes"  of astral space and auras.

Long story short, your idea is valid, but Tempo is so hard to get now, and fucks you up so much, that you could never use it to gain any useful experience of what it's like to be able to have astral perception.
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Raiderjoseph

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« Reply #2 on: <09-10-16/2055:41> »
Better stick to BTLs and dreamchips made by Awakened. But wasn't there a martial art move that let you attack spirits?
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firebug

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« Reply #3 on: <09-11-16/1026:33> »
Yeah, there is.  It's terrible though and really not any better than just using a big gun.  They roll WIL vs WIL, and do CHA + net hits in Stun the spirit resists normally (but not with their Immunity) then they take pseudo-Drain equal to the hits the spirit got, resisted with CHA + WIL.

The technique is called Neija, and it only works on materialized spirits to begin with.  The best option is still just...  Don't be dual-natured so spirits can mess with you without materializing, and then when they do, if your Awakened team can't do it, get a high-damage gun and go to town.  If your GM hasn't banned it, just use the Bull's Eye/Double-Tap called shot (the one from Run & Gun that needs APDS ammo) and you'll one-shot them if you hit.
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Hibiki54

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« Reply #4 on: <09-14-16/1603:43> »
Neija is garbage unless you have a high charisma.

Falconer

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« Reply #5 on: <09-17-16/1537:53> »
Thanks, it was tempo I was thinking of.

My only point was it was possible for someone without magic to be exposed to the astral where those other two skills came into play.

Though... given the 'high as fuck' bit... I think it's fair to say they're in no condition to train anything... leaving those skills safely within the rules of awakened only.

At the very least you'd probably need an addict negative quality for a drug which is nigh impossible to find almost always leaving you with the withdrawal side effects.  And a skill you couldn't use if you ever bought off the addiction.  Making it not a very viable bit IMO and no really worth an exception.  (was thinking deepweed as far more common... and confusing with with nigh impossible to find tempo).


Though it is still fun to weaponize astral combat... many peoples responses to astral combat is.. I turn off astral perception.   Or the rude awakening to mages that astral combat while projecting works like melee combat and a spirit can make an intercept attack to stop him from getting away while it mauls him.   If you can somehow use DMSO and deepweed with a splash grenade or paintball type bullet... fun can ensue....


Novocrane

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« Reply #6 on: <09-17-16/1544:36> »
Quote
Arcana... essentially this becomes a knowledge skill without active uses for them no big controversies here that I can think of.
Street Grimoire, p126.

Quote
Neija is garbage unless you have a high charisma.
Silly question time; can you take martial arts as an AI? Could you potentially take Exceptional Entity for unlimited charisma, then theoretically whack materialised spirits? (presumably not through the matrix, but through a drone, though the question remains open)