Post mission 2 wrapups

I'd either get enough successes to finish the thing in 10 minutes flat, or explode.

I'd put my money on the latter.

Does your current initiation level as to your magic roll Sao it would be 8 or is it your base magic rating? 7

Your grade doesn't affect the roll, just your current magic rating

True, I'm far more liklely to explode.

Which is kinda why I'm considering converting some karma to cash to buy a Cyclops to get around on.

My other option is just to summon elementals, but as a heremetic I don't get Spirits of Beasts, the more or less best option.

It takes a STR of 6 to pick up 200lbs, which is where I put the average weight needed to carry an adult.  Orcs might need a bit more, and trolls certainly do... but I'm an elf, so I'm likely sitting at the bottom end of average for adult weight.

So I looked at my options, pretty much the Air and Earth elementals.  With STR+4 almost any Earth Elemental can carry me with ease.  Agility -2 means at least a force 6 Earth Elemental or I may as well walk myself...Which if it's 'running' gets up to a respectable 70MPH (I actually set up a spreadsheet to calculate this).  That's OK, but almost any vehicle can do the same job better, though an Earth Elementals 'pilot' will be a lot better, having Logic -1 and Intuition equal to force.  Decent to get around if I'm not in a particular hurry and don't feel like killing myself summoning a ride.

Air is more fun.  At STR -3 it takes a Force 9 to carry me... but with AGI +3 it's base move is 18, or 36 if running.  Then multiply that by 9 for the Movement power...  convert to MPH because I'm American and can't handle meters...  That's 160 MPH 'walking', and 320 'running', rounding down.  That's what I call decent speeds for running around town.  Still, that Force 9 is likely to hurt.

This is what happens when I get bored.   A chart of how fast spirits go with forces selected with either the minimum needed to carry an adult or a base movement at least equal to my own 7:

 

Type	Force	STR	AGI	Move	Mvt. Pow	Meter/Min	KPH	Run KPH	MPH	Run MPH
Air	9	6	12	24	9	4320	259	518	162	323
Beasts	4	6	5	10	4	800	48	96	30	60
Earth	6	10	4	8	6	960	58	115	36	72
Man	8	6	8	16	8	2560	154	307	96	191
Water	6	6	7	14	6	1680	101	202	63	126

Technically you could get away with a lower force Air Spirit if it uses it's Psychokinesis power to carry you, but it would always have to check and get 6 successes.... which means on average the thing would still need to be about the same force.  But if I did want to go Economy Air it would look like this:

Type	Force	STR	AGI	Move	Mvt. Pow	Meter/Min	KPH	Run KPH	MPH	Run MPH
Air	6	3	9	18	6	2160	130	259	81	162

So... after next mission, with Lifestyle paid and all, I need to get me some kind of cheap transportation.  Either a Cyclops, or maybe one of those wheelchairs so that when I go astral I don't have to have someone carry me around... though riding spirits has got to be worth at least a little style.  Maybe we could come up with a custom ritual for the purpose.  Also a gear list for the magical stuff available that isn't part of standard SR, like the flying carpets and such.

What about a carrying pouch, the kind parents use to carry their newborn on their back? Sun can act as a porter for you then

Lol. Why a cyclops? Wujen gets a tiny bit of cash and suddenly he thinks he's a king that needs to be carried around everywhere. Imagine what happens when he gets a REAL pay day.

WuJen wrote:So... after next mission, with Lifestyle paid and all, I need to get me some kind of cheap transportation.  Either a Cyclops, or maybe one of those wheelchairs so that when I go astral I don't have to have someone carry me around... though riding spirits has got to be worth at least a little style.  Maybe we could come up with a custom ritual for the purpose.  Also a gear list for the magical stuff available that isn't part of standard SR, like the flying carpets and such.

As far as cheap transport is concerned, you could get a dodge scoot like Sam has (only 3,000) or a segway (4,000). I suppose you could get a large drone, but you would end up spending at least 3x more than that for the drone, so that wouldn't be any good. Transportation doesn't really get any cheaper than that.

As for magical gear, I keep meaning to make up a chart, but get sidetracked. If there is any general request for something, let me know what you want and I'll stat it out and give you a price. Anything magical will cost more than a technological equivalent though. Specifically for magic carpets, those are imported from Amsha and fairly rare around here, but acquirable if you want to hunt one down. The cheapest one costs 100,000, and has the vehicle stats of handling 5, speed 5, body 5, sensor -, acceleration 5, pilot 3, armor 0, seats 1.

Cyclops is cool because it's so small, they talk about commuting to the office and sticking it in a corner or under a desk.  You can definitely ride it around in a building. don't recall exactly but it's also in the 4000 range.  I have often toyed with the idea of a Samurai with Spears riding one of these.  Give it gecko tips and it goes anywhere but in water.

There are a couple of drones like the Steed and Orderly that are specific to being used for this.  They are medical drones, a wheelchair and hospital bed with built in medkit in these instances.


Edit:  Ick, it's a little more than I thought.  6500.  Still, the point is that I don't have to have someone carry me around.  The Scoot is pretty much an outdoor only thing, whereas I can ride the Cyclops inside and it's small enough to store inconspicuously.  The Segeway-Terrier would be a decent second choice, but the Cyclops is better in almost every way for 2000 more.

For that matter, something like the Horseman is perfect, but it's weighing in at 12000+, and is also more conspicuous.  I have long loved the Revolution, especially with Gecko Tips, but that's for when I really do have lots of money.

Lol. I thought you wanted to hire a literal cyclops (troll metavarient) to carry you around. There are a lot of options if you have unlimited funds to spend, but a tight budget does limit one's options

I threw a short list of magic items into the magical equipment section. It's not an exhaustive list by any means and I'll be adding to it as I get around to it. As I've mentioned before, if there is something you would like to see, I can stat it up and give you a price. Magic is quite plentiful in this world so just about anything is possible, though not necessarily within your price range.

For sure the Magic Carpets are a bit pricey.


Other suggestions:

Weapons:
Magic Rods and Staffs as Melee weapons, except damage is based on Magic rather than Strength
Magic Wands that function similarly to Thrown weapons, but damage is based on Magic, rather than Strength
---In either case the weapon skill could be either a new one, or based on Sorcery or Enchanting.  These could be further enchanted as weapon foci, but the ranged variant might become very powerful as their are no ranged magical weapons in SR.

Vehicles:
Magic Footwear that adds Magic to the wearers movement rating. 
Capes that allow levitation at the wearers movement rating
---often sold in matching pairs

Utility:
He-man Harness that adds rating+Magic to the users Strength for the purpose of carrying and lifting.

'Wedding Rings' that allow the wearers to know the direction, distance and general health condition of other wearers.  Traditionally sold as pairs, though larger sets are available.

Magelight, a small enchanted gem that emits illusionary light only visible to the owner and willing companions, it bears no weight but follows the owner about a foot to the left and behind the owners shoulder when active.

I have about 50 other items that I have listed that I just need to type up formal descriptions of, as well as some special stuff that Ankev Industries is developing that I'm gonna leave secret until you guys get around to dealing with that corp.

As for the price of the magic carpet, considering its a tiny personal aircraft it's not that bad, but it def is beyond your price range.

Purchases:
(none - spending it all on initiation after all)
- 4,292Y for magical group, permanent lodge and first month building cost

Karma use
- 5K for magical group


- 9K for initiation with ordeal
He will consult with Ichiro Doumeki (his contact) on what sort of Ordeal would be optimal.
He prefers a Deed, though if his spirit wants blood, he will hope he can have the Yamamoto clan identify someone who deserves it.

Run Proposals
- As a player, I like heists - scouting, researching and plotting leading up to 60 seconds of frantic action (and the inevitable fuckup which makes it all go to hell).
- Murder mysteries are also fun - murder at a cocktail party etc.
- More generally, I'm interested in runs which don't make Sato the spotlight for extended periods of time (or at least not in a way that hold people up).

Other personal stuff
- Sato is interested in helping our good doctor with the cure for Ghoul Fever.  He redoubles his interest after he hears of the news report about the police crackdown on ghouls.  He has a soft spot for Carl and wants to make sure he doesn't create problems for him.
- Sato is interested in identifying his Spirit Knife and will ask WuJen for help.

winkingchef wrote:- More generally, I'm interested in runs which don't make Sato the spotlight for extended periods of time (or at least not in a way that hold people up).

I don't purposely do so, but almost everyone in the group has a dice pool of 0 for all social skills. I think Wujen has the second highest dice pool after Sato, and he only has 2 dice if he's doing anything other than negotiation (where he has a respectable 6)

Don't get me wrong - I love how you do social encounters.  


My issue is that my time tends to be spotty, especially during the work day and I always feel like people are waiting on me.  Weekends are easier.

Well, everyone has different availabilities. Once you guys shuffle around for the next run, the dynamics will change, I'm sure.

GameMaster wrote:

winkingchef wrote:- More generally, I'm interested in runs which don't make Sato the spotlight for extended periods of time (or at least not in a way that hold people up).

I don't purposely do so, but almost everyone in the group has a dice pool of 0 for all social skills. I think Wujen has the second highest dice pool after Sato, and he only has 2 dice if he's doing anything other than negotiation (where he has a respectable 6)

That's exactly why I'm looking into giving Sun some social skills. Charisma 2 and etiquette 1 doesn't get him far, though, so it's tricky picking. Any suggestions are more than welcome.

I can eventually chip what we need but need more cash first. There is a couple skills I need before I get to ettiquette, but I will get to it. I'm hoping to be able to cover whatever we don't have with us at the moment in case we need it.

So I'm assuming we roll for initiation after we are done all the rest of the down time stuff.

well, we need to get that ritual done first, then you can roll whenever you like

Umm....

*Poof* the ritual is done?

Also, what's it cost for me to bind that manipulation focus? I mean I have it, I may as well use it, though it burns me to spend karma on gear.

I assume we are going for the permanent lodge? Also what force did you want it at? Just the minimum to get the ritual done?

It's a force 1 manipulation spell focus, so 2 karma.

Ok.  I guess I'll bind that thing while I'm at it.  never hurts to have another die to toss.  I'll be spending any extra time after the ritual and that binding either canoodling with Little Dragon or studying that ley line setup they had powering their lab, as well as going over whatever notes and research materials were left.

Yes, permanent circle.  I may want to bind an elemental one day, assuming the Spirits of Man get over their hatred of me.  We got the minimum down to 6 right?  I doubt I'd need a circle stronger than that any time soon, and I can always upgrade it later.