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spirit bombs

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shinryu

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« on: <08-09-13/1937:50> »
sorry, could not resist the topic title...

so, there's this little problem with spirits being invincible to just about everything other than magic. by RAW, about the only type of summoned beast a mundane can actually do immunity-bypassing damage to with starting gear is a water elemental (with the flare gun). However, there are few problems that can't be solved via the application of a much larger explosive device. i think the following recipe proves to be technically legal:

1-2 kg of high-rated foam explosive (for arguments sake, rating 12, 1kg, say)
wireless blasting cap
A long, reasonably sturdy stick

shape foamed explosives into a shaped charge. apply blasting cap. place on end of stick. perform touch attack. detonate wirelessly via free action. probably a pretty injured spirit. alternatively, apply to suicide drone and perform remotely.

by RAW, the spirit's armor rating is halved by the direct contact, and since it's a shaped charge you're safe from the blast.  the minimal damage of this little bundle of joy is 13P,  maybe better if you roll well on your demolitions setup. adding in another kilo or uprating your explosives gets you up to 16-20P or better. even your tougher spirits probably don't want to put up with that on a regular basis.

on a related subject, it seems like one defensible reading of the immunity power would be that the immunity rating is actually equivalent to the essence of the creature, not the doubled virtual armor number. therefore if the (doubled) essence of the creature is penetrated by the attack, the creature would get its unmodified essence added to its damage resistance test, plus half its essence in free hits. this seems a lot saner than the intepretation that it's free hardened armor. a force 6 spirit would still get 12 soak dice and 3 free hits against any physical attack, for example, and that attack would still have to beat 12DV + AP to work in the first place. it would make them hard to kill physically, but not so ridiculously hard as they are now. i don't even think this qualifies as a house rule, though definitely rules-lawyering...

RHat

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« Reply #1 on: <08-09-13/2100:24> »
Ares Alpha with APDS is pretty respectable for killing spirits.  In fact, ItNW was indirectly nerfed by the ramping up of damage this edition - at Force 6 with standard ammo, any hit will deal damage.
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shinryu

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« Reply #2 on: <08-09-13/2208:12> »
oh, agreed; it was a pleasant surprise to do the math and figure out a force 6 spirit no longer required you to carry around high explosives to deal with it effectively. that said, the theoretical force 12 killing machine spirits bouncing around the forums really just begged for a creative solution, and this seemed like a reasonable idea. i do think spirits using edge oh, any time ever they are summoned solves a lot of this problem, but on the off chance you run into a nasty one a creative samurai may be glad he brought the pointed stick of explosive justice along. also works great on overly-cybered trolls and military vehicles too.

ZeConster

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« Reply #3 on: <08-09-13/2259:46> »
Ares Alpha with APDS is pretty respectable for killing spirits.  In fact, ItNW was indirectly nerfed by the ramping up of damage this edition - at Force 6 with standard ammo, any hit will deal damage.
Correction: it'll pierce. With a single net hit, you've still got 12P/-2 versus 10 Hardened Armor (so 5 free hits on the soak test) and between 4 and 10 Body, which means an Air Spirit has about 14.95% chance of soaking all the damage, while with an Earth Spirit, it's 52.07%.

CanRay

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« Reply #4 on: <08-10-13/1602:48> »
Spirit Bombs sounds like a drink at a magician bar.  ;D
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shinryu

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« Reply #5 on: <08-10-13/1604:39> »
the power of this cocktail is over 9000!

CanRay

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« Reply #6 on: <08-12-13/1546:13> »
One part Ginger Ale, one part Grain Alcohol, and one part variable depending on the Spirit "Summoned".  ;D
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Crunch

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« Reply #7 on: <08-12-13/1550:04> »
One part Ginger Ale, one part Grain Alcohol, and one part variable depending on the Spirit "Summoned".  ;D

Cinnamon Schnapps for Fire, Aqavit for water, Aromatic bitters for air, Jagermeister for beast, and potato vodka for earth?

Lysanderz

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« Reply #8 on: <08-12-13/2041:58> »
One part Ginger Ale, one part Grain Alcohol, and one part variable depending on the Spirit "Summoned".  ;D

Cinnamon Schnapps for Fire, Aqavit for water, Aromatic bitters for air, Jagermeister for beast, and potato vodka for earth?

All of my yes.