Ask The Sage - Quick Rules Questions volume 9- Shadowrun system

[TADHG]

Sixth World:

Playing another doctor character. I want the highest skill to be in Medicine, under Biotech. I would probably need to specialise, but can't find it in my book how to do that. I am taking the positive quality that allows one skill at 7.

[Yamaneko]

Originally Posted by TADHG

Sixth World:

Playing another doctor character. I want the highest skill to be in Medicine, under Biotech. I would probably need to specialise, but can't find it in my book how to do that. I am taking the positive quality that allows one skill at 7.

The answer is on page 65 of the latest printing of the Core Book for Sixth World. It is in the last paragraph under the SKILL section.

Essentially a specialization costs the same as one rank of the skill.

[TADHG]

Originally Posted by Yamaneko

The answer is on page 65 of the latest printing of the Core Book for Sixth World. It is in the last paragraph under the SKILL section.

Essentially a specialization costs the same as one rank of the skill.

so, feasibly, I could bought one rank of Biotech, and 7 ranks of medicine? (I didn't do that.) Sixth edition did away with skill groups, in a way, didn't it. I have Biotech, and medicine, but not first aid?

[Yamaneko]

No. You buy the biotech skill up to 7 potentially, then for the cost of a skill rank get the specialization. This gives you the bonus dice as indicated for being specialized that add into the dice pool.

After game play you can purchase an expertise after you begin play. Check out page 92 for more details on how that all breaks down.

[TADHG]

Originally Posted by Yamaneko

No. You buy the biotech skill up to 7 potentially, then for the cost of a skill rank get the specialization. This gives you the bonus dice as indicated for being specialized that add into the dice pool.

After game play you can purchase an expertise after you begin play. Check out page 92 for more details on how that all breaks down.

Oh! And here I thought that meant I had to buy the ranks separately. That tells me I have more points to go spend, since I took priority A in skills.

[Yamaneko]

What did you spend originally to get the skill to that level?

[TADHG]

Originally Posted by Yamaneko

What did you spend originally to get the skill to that level?

Originally I spent 5 skill points in both Biotech and Medicine, then split and only continued with medicine to 7, costing 12 pts. But only have to spend 7 to get it to 7., not a point for every rank.

[The Rat Queen]

Hello! I have a question from a player about SR5 concerning Chummer and adept powers. I'm not very well-versed in adepts, so I come to you, my wiser brethren and...um, sistren?...for answers!

"I usually make my characters in an Excel Spreadsheet, so I'm not terribly familiar with Chummer 5. When I try to choose Qi Focus rating 4 in Chummer, and bond it, the power is represented wrong.

Force 4 is equal to 1 power point. But when I bond it in Chummer, for improved attribute I get +3 to an attribute or +3, two times, if I choose a skill. When I do it for Improved Reflexes, third level, I get 2.5 power points back.

Anybody know how to get this to work correctly in Chummer?"

[Phettberg]

Let's look at it:

Qi Focus 4 is equivalent to 1 PP, that's true.

Improved physical attribute costs 1PP/rating - so this focus should only give them one rank of the power.
Improved Ability (skill) costs 0.5PP/rating - so 2 ranks there.

I just tried putting this into the newest Chummer version, and there was a glitch where when I entered the improved attribute (I didn't have the power before) it was logged as rating 1, total rating 2, putting me at -1 PP total. I just decreased the rating 1 to 0, total rating 1, all as it should be.

Though when I tried the same with the skill I got a +1 too, so there is definitely something glitchy there. For me this might have something to do with multiple foci at once, but who knows.

However, two ways of amending that:

The easy - Just make a note that this power is actually at x rank, move on. As long as the karma paid for bonding is correct that's all that is really needed.

The slightly less easy - once a character is put into career mode you will have an "improvement" tab, through which one can add free changes to the character sheet. If you fiddle with that you can bump up the power to where it should be, though I am not sure if you can decrease it too. I recommend making a safety copy pre-career mode.

[bothers]

A question from a player:

Does a mana barrier work both ways? In other words, does it give resistance bonuses to the caster's target/s?

I'm thinking probably yes? CRB says "Anybody trying to cast a spell through a barrier must contend with the Force of the barrier" which would seem to imply the caster is also hampered by it.

But the CRB also says "Mana barriers do not affect their creators, who can see through them or pass through them at will and allow others to do so as well", so... does this apply to casting through them or not?

Thanks in advance!

[Phettberg]

I would say the mana barrier does not apply to the caster, as in their astral body, but it does apply to their spells. That reading is entirely consistent with both excerpts above.

A question that might pop up (because this edition does not make it clear) is whether casting an indirect physical spell is "casting through" as you more or less cast on one side and then just lob the effects, but in 4e (and 3e, 2e etc) it was spelled out that a mana/dual natured barrier blocks anything spell related on impact. It's one of these "implied" legacy rules.

Basically, there is no "one-way mirror" for either spells or bullets. You can only block one or the other, or both at the same time, depending on spell.

EDIT: Actually thinking about indirect spells that go "boom" - when a mana barrier does not cover the entirety of a hallway/space (like a rectangle on an open field) I generally treat them the same as a grenade. A physical character could lob a grenade above a barrier, after all, so I let mages do the same with these kinds of spells. Same goes the other way around, however, so a barrier that is only 2 meters tall may only cover you from bullets/bolts. Now a player might argue that his mage's indirect bolt spell could do a zig zag around the barrier, but I don't allow that over just having a symmetrical rule for both astral and physical characters. The in game explanation is that using a bolt like that is just too hard to do to function effectively.

[Yamaneko]

Originally Posted by bothers

A question from a player:



I'm thinking probably yes? CRB says "Anybody trying to cast a spell through a barrier must contend with the Force of the barrier" which would seem to imply the caster is also hampered by it.

But the CRB also says "Mana barriers do not affect their creators, who can see through them or pass through them at will and allow others to do so as well", so... does this apply to casting through them or not?

Thanks in advance!

Which edition is the inquiry about bothers?

[bothers]

Oops, yes, that would have helped. Phett's assumption was correct, we're using SR5.

Thanks for that, Phettberg, that does help. I suppose you could also use astral or unarmed combat to punch someone on the other side of your mana barrier which is a fairly comical thought.


While I'm here, we could also use some advice on deciphering what the book is telling us about force and net hits on barriers.

From p 316: "A mana barrier has Armor and Structure ratings equal to its Force."
From p 294: "Mana Barrier creates an invisible barrier of magical energy. It has a barrier rating equal to the net hits scored..."

So which is it, force or net hits (and if the latter, net hits against what)?

[Phettberg]

I reckon the above should read barrier rating. No point in using the force after you have rolled for a simple spell, since while it is your limit on hits you could also score less.

In fact it would be nonsensical to use force regardless of hits, because then you would not need to be particularly good at manipulation spells to cast the mightiest barrier, just able to take a large amount of drain.

Actually I reckon it says force because that's the language used for ritual magic and building a lodge, where I believe it is actually set to the force, rather than hits of preceding checks. Something like that anyway. I must admit to rarely using ritual magic for characters.

[Yamaneko]

It helps if you have the errata or the last printing of the actual core book. The pdf version should be up to date as well and available if you purchased it through one of the many stores like DrivethruRPG.

Force is the limit to the number of net hits that you can apply where net hits determines the armor and structural rating of the barrier.

MANA BARRIER
(ENVIRONMENTAL, AREA)

Type: M
Range: LOS (A)
Duration: S
Drain: F – 2

Mana Barrier creates an invisible barrier of magical energy. It has a barrier rating equal to the net hits scored and follows the rules for mana barriers (p. 315). This barrier does not restrict living beings or physical objects, but it impedes spirits, foci, dual beings, and spells on the plane in which you cast it (physical or astral). If cast on the astral plane, it also impedes astral forms and reduces visibility.

I'll see if I can find the errata that updates this but I don't think it ever officially was released at that point but I could be wrong. Look up the section on Mana Barriers, it may be a few pages before the listed page 315 of the last printing and I won't quote the whole thing but the key section you want with respect to your original question is this:

"Anybody trying to cast a spell through a barrier must contend with the Force of the barrier, which is added to the Defense or the Resistance dice pool. If the spell doesn’t normally have an opposed dice pool, the Spellcasting test becomes an Opposed Test against the Force of the barrier."

There is far more information on who and what it affects depending on where it exists so read up on it.