Discuss them before we publish them in the Rules thread.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:47, Tue 21 Jan 2014.

I do not like this rule, it spits in the face of my Anarchist tendencies. -@

2064 Adept rules

New ordeals:
Masterpiece: Requires “virtuoso” technique (pre-existing or taken upon this adept level)

Way ordeal: Must make some great achievement pursuing the adept’s personal path – significant sacrifice of resources, time or attribute points and must have measurable results

New metamagic:
Attunement (Animal, Item): Separate technique for animal and item.  Max items or animals attuned = grade. Attuned item/animal can act as ritual link. Animals: Gain sense link, ability to issue simple telepathic requests.  Range = (Magic + Charisma + Willpower) * 10 m.  Mage can suffer stun if creature is damage.  Cost = essence of animal.
Items: TN drops by 1 when using attuned item.  Karma cost = item’s resistance.  (7 for gun or katana, 9 for car, dikoted catana))

Cognition: Builds on Centering.  Can Center for success or to reduce modifiers on intelligence, perception & learning tests or to reduce modifiers when defaulting to intelligence.  Can also add 1 die to knowledge & language tests.  Requires free action to use.  Reduces karma cost to increase skills by 1 to minimum of 1.

Empower Animal Companion:If you’ve attuned an animal, perform ritual and spend karma = 4 * cost of power adept possesses.  Can then use simple action to temporarily transfer power to animal via sense link.  Can’t transfer more points of power than initiate grade.

Infusion: Builds on Centering.  Exclusive Complex Action making Centering Skill 4 test.  Each success (max of grade level) gives .25 power points to boost existing power or acquire new power.  Max power level = 1 if not pre-existing power.  Boost lasts for Magic * Grade minutes.  After boost, resist (successes) S stun and lose equivalent rating of random power points for same duration.  Available “new” powers limited to adept’s grade.

Astral Projection: Can project like a mage, but lose 1 point of essence per minute rather than per hour

Somatic Control: Builds on Centering.  Exclusive Complex Action to make Centering 4 test.  May then shunt (successes) attribute points (max of grade level) between attributes, minimum of 1.  Change effective for Attribute * grade minutes.  After this time, attributes revert and can’t be shifted again for 10x as long.  All skills based on decreased attributes are reduced by 1 for each point of change if skill greater than new attribute.  At conclusion, resist damage with power =successes, Serious if above racial max, Moderate if above Racial modified, Light otherwise.  Changes can impact combat pool.

Virtuoso: Can create a virtuoso piece – skill test of 9, may add dice for adept level.  Successes = rating of piece, can boost by spending good karma.  Piece can mesmerize, also counts as exotic material for enchanting.  Very valuable for collectors

Powers:
Aid Spell: .5/level.  Adept concentrates for exclusive complex action.  Spell-caster in physical contact with adept may add (level) dice to spell casting attempt in same initiative phase.  Adept makes drain test using willpower (mana) or body (physical) against (force / 2)M Stun.

Animal Empathy: .25/level.  Add 1 die/level for skill tests with animals

Commanding Voice: .5.  Coplex action to issue forceful but simple order (3 words or less).  Adept pits Charisma against opponent Willpower in opposed test.  Penalty of +1 per extra person effected.  If adept wins, target takes next free or simple action to either obey or pause in indecision (GM call).  +2 penalty for subsequent attempts on same individual in 24 hrs.

Cool Resolve: .5/level.  1 die/level to resist Charisma-linked skills used against them.

Deep Rooting: .5.  Advanced version of Rooting.  Same effects as 1 level of rooting.  Reduces recoil penalties by half  (round down) with firing arc of 90 degrees, with max turn of 90 degrees/action.  Disengaging is complex action

Eidetic Sense Memory: .5.  Photographic sight and other sense memory.  Can photo-read, increasing reading speed

Elemental Strike .5.  Builds on Killing Hands.  Can create secondary elemental effect (chosen at power purchase time).  Creates visible effect around character’s hands/feet.  Simple action to create, remains for magic attribute combat turns or until extinguished.  Not allowed for distance strike or delay damage.

Empathic Healing 1: Adept can transfer some or all of target’s wounds to himself.  Adept makes magic test against 10 – target essence.  Successes = max boxes to transfer.  Must be in physical contact, only works for physical damage

Empathic Reading .25/level.  Receive -1 TN/level to determine if target is lying.  Intelligence test against lying character’s negation open test.

Enhanced Balance .5/level (max 2).  Reduces TN for physical test involving balance or knockdown by 1/level (climbing, tight-rope walking, gymnastics, etc.)

Enthralling Performance .5  Adept makes open test using performance skill.  Audience members make willpower check against resulting TN.  Any who fail suffer +4 distraction to perception tests, though can be knocked out of trance by direct threat, startling noise, etc.  Can last for Charisma * 10 minutes max.

Facial Skulpt 1.  Can change face for # hours = magic attribute.  Takes 10 – Willpower minutes of concentration.  Adept makes open magic test to determine TN for perception tests to recognize.  TN for disguise tests reduced by 2.

Gliding 1: Adept can run up to Magic meters across water, thin ice, fragile tree limbs, etc.  Longer distance requires break points.

Improved Ability (Expanded).25/die for Artistic/Performance knowledge skills.  .5/die for B/R, Social skills, Vehicle skills

Inertia Strike .5.  Damage level reduced by 1; Opponent makes knockdown test as if damage were 1 level higher.  Serious wound or worse is automatically knocked down.

Iron Gut .25/level.  Each level reduces power of ingested toxins by 2

Iron lungs .25/level.  Each level increases breath holding time by 45 seconds and reduces Fatigue tests by -2

Kinesics 1/level (max 3)  Reduces TN for Etiquette & negotiation tests by 1 to minimum 2.  Also add 1 die/level to Charisma success tests.  Apply +2/level for tests to determine if adept is lying.  Two adepts with Kinesics can use Complex Action to non-verbally communicate simple notions.

Linguistics .25:  10 – Magic attribute hours of exposure to language are required to learn it.  Intelligence test against TN from 4 to 8 based on language commonality.  Success means karma-free language skill at level 1.  Increasing costs normal karma, but learning time cut in half.

Living Focus 1: Adept can sustain one spell cast on her, but suffers usual +2 modifier for sustaining a spell.  Max force = Magic attribute

Melanin Control .25 Can shift hair or skin color for Magic hours.  1 complex action for each shift: albino,tan,brown,black; white/gray,blonde, read/brown, black

Motion Sense .5 Perception test against target (large metahuman 2; regular metahuman 4; small metahuman 6; smaller than cat 8)  Add background count.  One success detects.  Success reduces blind-fighting modifier by -2

Multi-Tasking .5 Get 2 free actions/phase

Nimble Fingers +1 for stealth/Quickness tests involving slight of hand.  Insert Clip; Pick Up/Put Down object; Remove Clip; Use Simple object are free actions

Pain Relief 1.  Magic test against target of 10-Essence, round down.  Success reduces target’s stun by 1 level.  Base time = 30 minutes, must maintain physical contact, can’t use on self.

Penetrating Strike .75/level (max 3). Each level ignores 1 level of armor.  Can’t be used for distance strike

Resilience .25/level.  Extra 1 die/level for stabilization tests and when checking for permanent damage from deadly wounds.  Reduce TN by 1 when checking for wound effects

Side Step .5/level – extra combat pool die/level for Dodge and Full Dodge tests

Sprint .25/level  +1 Quickness/level for determining running distance

Sustenance .25.  Only needs 3 hours sleep + 1 meal equivalent to 8 hours/3 meals.  Only need 1 restroom trip/day

3D Memory .5 Can memorize area view first hand with a Complex Action.  Later can make Perception to mentally walk area as if were walking through.  Can’t disturb or interact and can only see what was available for viewing.  Areas can’t be greater than magic square meters.  Can memorize magic areas.  Target to remember is modified as time passes >24 hrs = +1, > week = +2, > month +3, > year +4

Voice Control .5 Can throw voice up to Magic meters away, defeat voice recognition systems (opposed test using Intelligence against Intelligence or rating of target system).

Wall Running 1.  Can move up to Magic meters on sheer wall or vertical surface

Foci
Adept Focus: Increases effective magic attribute by force, but grants no power points.  Affects amount simultaneously active, tests, ranges, etc.  Also grants dice for drain resistance, though not affecting whether stun or physical.  Cost is same as spirit focus

Infusion focus: Grants a particular power.  Rating must be point cost * 2.  Cost same as spell category focus, but availability is 8/72

So is Improved Ability for Athletics and Stealth still .25/point?

Yes

Huzzah!
Still surprised/preturbed that vehicle skills and repair was upped that much. This used to be the only way that another build could compete with riggers.

They weren't upped. They weren't available before at all.

Generally, such skills would be classified as Combat related (.5) or non-combat (.25). I never expected them to have an all-inclusive list, and I reiterate that .5 for improved b/r (especially since you have to choose an expertise) or for piloting skills (which still don't come into play as much as combat skills, and Rigger/Physads are hard to make) is unnecessarily steep.

But the non-combat skills were limited to physical movement skills. Decking and rigging were specifically excluded.

And B/R is hard to argue as a "physical movement" skill.

Anyhow: Any objection to these?  Any tweaks?

Attunement would likely need to pull some rules from Ally Spirits, and would definitely need to spell out some definitional bits to define a "willing" animal.

I can see Infusion being useful, and then there's that drain issue. No problems with it, just file under "fascinating".

Is Somatic Control limited to physical attributes or all? I do see a little issue of someone combining SC with Attribute boost. Drop, say, Strength, then pump it back up from a starting stat of 1. It's an easy 2-step process to boost mental attributes without penalty.

I want a better defined list of effects for Elemental Strike, beyond "set on fire, blind, knockdown, knockdown too I guess". Damage bonuses against Elementals are a given, but secondary effects appropriate to the element are also worth considering. Metal hands give a better object resistance and improve rolls for disarming or sundering weapons, that kind of thing.

Empathic healing sounds like a great, if painful, way to get around not having a health mage.

Would posit that Gliding should build off of Traceless Walk, and a reduced cost would be considered "the next level".

How many tests to learn a language is an adept allowed? I always liked the idea of an Adept just sitting at his local library picking up stacks of languages on his off time.

Motion Sense should be limited by magic attribute, and needs to say whether it is affected by flying characters and those using Traceless Walk.

You didn't list a cost for Nimble Fingers. I think it's .25, but that's a memory that's aged 8 years.

Pain Relief should list sympathetic skills to assist on the test, like massage, meditation or leadership.
"Cause we are just too damn pretty to die. Look at that chiseled jaw, huh?!"

Penetrating Strike seems a little underpowered, especially for the cost.

3d Memory - modify it so that any object manipulated during a memorization of an area can be manipulated similarly in the memory. Allow players to place emphasis on parts of the terrain to reduce the TN later (make an Int check vs the size of the room, successes indicate the number of "hot spots" a player gets; hot spots can reduce the gradual TN creep). Make sympathetic to Eidetic Sense Memory (reduce TNs for the Hot Spots check, and memory degradation over time). If you have both you should be able to take papers, lay them out on the floor and "read" them later, when you have more time (but only if the print is visible).

Voice Control - sympathetic to relevant knowledge skills, like acting, voice acting or ventriloquism for tests.

Again, I consider Wall Running to be the ultimate expression of Traceless walk-gliding-wall running and would push for a cost reduction in the presence of the former two. Also, if there is a wall flush with a lake, can you alternate between the two, treating one power use as a break-point for the other?

Anyone notice how Sprint is at least twice as effective (by the numbers) as Free Fall or Great Leap?

And am I the only one who thinks Traceless Walk should give a bonus on Stealth tests?

Want more clear rules on the Infusion Focus.

A few "I just realized"es
Note: Traceless Walk already allows you to run on anything solid, because you exert no pressure. So Gliding is SSDD, but worse.

Also Inertia Strike is stupid on account of the number of Knockdown effects Elemental Strike gives you.

Penetrating strike, if it is "reduce target armor by 1", it is simply "punch for less damage and more Power". With the exception of Hardened armor, the point is moot and not a good tradeoff anyway.

Proposed adaptations from SR4E:
(note, I haven't crunched numbers so they will be bad until I fix it)
Edges n Flaws
Linguist = +1 == +1 or +2 to all language skills, 1/2 learning time for new languages (does not stack with Adept Linguistic power learning time)
Made Man = +2 == 30hr/wk required assistance, free group contact with a criminal unit. Best used for a reduced fencing cost and resource access, but this should also be a viable source of cavalry.
Jury Rigger = +2 == temporarily fix an item using B/R to get asses from fire.
Restricted Gear = +1/L == Every level in this trait gives you access to a single item that is +2 Availability (per level) during character creation.
Dependent = -1,-2,-3 == Someone BB can abuse and coerce you into doing something. -1 is a demanding relationship that requires time and money, -2 is a spouse, child, family member or family that requires a minimum Middle lifestyle to support, -3 is a spouse, child, or family member in the hospital or with similar medical requirements. Player must maintain a Middle or high lifestyle plus medical expenses subject to GM's decision. Players who allow their family member to die due to inaction gain the equivalent value in Bad Reputation (disloyal).
In Debt = -1/L == Gain cash that must be spent during character creation, and must be paid back plus interest. And we're probably not talking about banks.
Mysterious Cyberware == Gives some fun ideas for how to make them cooler. I can PM BB if he wishes.

Code of Conduct
For 1 point, a character can join a faction that represents their ideal nature. If they later choose to leave this faction, they immediately lose all associated benefits, while the penalties persist until roleplaying or GM fiat cause them to desist.
Examples:
Assassin - Wanton destruction is not your way. You favor pinpoint accuracy and a clean getaway. Lower notoriety (increase difficulty for police tails and investigation), but slower reputation gain. Lost immediately in cases where the assassination goes out of hand - killing a politico is one thing, but blowing up a baseball stadium to get to them is sloppy.
Bushido/Paladin - faster good reputation gain, but must keep pace on their combat skills with equivalent levels in intellectual pursuits.
Mercenary Credo - You are considered a professional gun for hire. While this does keep you from too much vendetta bloodshed, you do not get along with "honorable men" and have something of a bad reputation - you kill people for a living. Some people take issue with this.
Sworn Soldier - Family before all. You work with one of the larger criminal syndicates, and while this gives you access to many wonderful resources, you are more antagonistic (and antagonized in turn) towards rival factions and police officers. In the end, if you have to choose between a Family and yourself, you'd better choose the right one.
Etc. etc. etc.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:00, Mon 17 Sept 2012.

SR4E SURGE
Latent SURGE == +1
You do not begin play with SURGE, but instead gain it at a time subject to GM's discretion. Have fun growing horns in the middle of Nevada!
Class I SURGE == +1
Mostly cosmetic changes, a character must take at least 2 points in positive traits, and 1 point in negative ones.
Class II SURGE == +2
More pronounced modifications, mostly associated with a particular genus. Characters must take 4 points in positive traits, and 2 in negative ones.
Class III SURGE == +3
Class 3 is the most severe changes to a metahuman body. A Changeling of this type takes 6 points in positive traits, and 3 in negative ones.

In addition to the listed point values, a character with SURGE can buy additional traits either with karma (equivalent to Edges), or with equivalent flaws (after the Class I-III mods are taken into effect).

Other SURGE traits:
[this is where the math gets narky, and should really be discussed]
360 degree eyesight = +2 == through movement, alteration or growth of additional eyes, a character has a visual field around the entirety of their body. They lose 1d6 for perception tasks because of processing difficulties in the metahuman mind, but can see in all directions simultaneously <against the penalty, but I put it down for the sake of completion>

Animal Pelage = +1/+2 == Unlike the Unusual Hair mod, this fur gives a distinct advantage to players. Quills deal bonus damage when struck unarmed, or in unarmed combat; Insulating fur improves survival in cold wilds, and can be waterproof; Cammo fur, etc etc...

Arcane Arrester = +5 == Any spells cast on the character are treated as 1/2 Force; cannot be taken by characters with any Magical ability.

Beak = +1 == Looks cool, hurts in melee, probably simpler to stick under "fangs" in YOTC

Bicardiac = +2 == Improved resistance to stun damage, and vastly superior endurance in athletic circumstances due to two freaking hearts. Poss weakness to injected toxins because of increased blood flow.

Biosonar = +5 == Due to pronounced modification of the vocal cords and hearing centers, the character is able to see like an ultrasound vision modification. Automatically grants High Frequency Hearing.

Bone Spikes = +1 == Look cool, do more damage in unarmed melee, hurt a little too.

Dynamic Coloration = +2 == Gain the ability to camoflage yourself on the fly while nude. Incompatible with other skinmods. Also, you're naked.

Climate Adaptation = +2 == Gain bonuses to survival in either arctic or desert environs (chosen once).

Corrosive Spit = +2 == Like the toxin ability, gain the ability to shoot a gooey acid from your mouth! Careful while kissing.

Dermal Alterations = Var
+2 == Barkskin +2 Impact armor, look like treebeard.
+1 == Blubber. Resist cold. Surprise children at christmas.
+2 == Dragon Skin +2 v fire, -2 Perception re: heat.
+3 == Granite skin 3/3 hardened armor, but can't wear non-customized armor. Look like an Obsidiman. Win.
+2 == Rhino Hide, 2/5 armor, can't wear non-custom armor.

Frog Tongue = +2 == An adhesive spring-loaded tongue. Grab anything lighter than STR*100g; can be used to apply chemical secretions at range

Glammer = +3 == Be all elfy, get bonus to social skills except intimidate, gain Distinctive Style flaw w/o benefit.

Electrosense = +2 == Sense electrical fields up to Essence*m away.

Elongated Limbs = +1 == +1 Reach, awesome monkey impressions.

new tails:
Balance (+1), paddle (+1, swimming), Prehensile (+2, 1/2 STR, but can hang upside down indefinitely), the Thagomizer (+2, Reach 1 Ankylosaur tail, smash like a club).

(larger) tusks +2 (fangs, but better and no reach penalty)

Monkey Paws = +1 == bonus on climb, better coordination

Nasty Vibe = +1 == be intimidatin'

Setae = +2 == Gecko hands

Ogre Stomach = +1 == -20% lifestyle (food) cost, +2 v ingested toxins

Photometabolism = +1 == -10% lifestyle cost

Shiva Arms = +3 == +2 arms per, max 6

Proboscis = +2 == A prehensile tail on your face.

Berserker = -2 == +1 all physical stats, -1 all mental ones, attack nearest target (friend or foe), resist with Willpower test.
Bioluminescence = -1 == On the plus side, you are a flashlight. On the downside, you're a flashlight.
Insectoid Features = -2 == Look like a bug spirit. How could that go wrong?
Cyclopean Eye = -2 == penalties on ranged skill tests.
Neoteny = -2 == Look like a kid. Should be limited to preexisting conditions.
Scent Glands = -2 == Skunk time!
There are more of these, but I don't feel like typing any more. (they aren't so great)

Other Edges:
Latent Awakening = +1 == Become an Adept or Magician later! Earn extra cash! Hope you didn't roll up a Street Sam (Unless you are Thump. Then, damn).
Focus Addiction = use too many foci, get stuck

Adept Powers:
Berserk = 1 == +1 to all physical attributes, -1 all mental ones. Trigger as free action, lasts Magic*minutes. If a totem gives you the Berserk trait, automatically activates concurrently.
Power Throw = .25/L == +2 STR for range on thrown weapon and objects (and people)

K, that's the end of my word-wall.

Impressive wall :>

Going back up, comments on the 2064 stuff:

I abbreviated the rules.  There's lots more text.

Attunement: Fundamentally, animals will look upon your request as "friendly", but in the end their own interests/survival will take precedence.  If you're controlling a dog and the GM decides they see a squirrel, all bets are off :>

Somatic Control is indeed limited to physical.  Missed typing that bit.  I'd probably rule that the "base attribute" is the value prior to magical manipulation.  Which sort of nulls that end run.

Empathic healing has a potential issue if you allow first-aid to be applied after it's done.  However, I'd probably treat it as magical healing of the first character.  Whether first aid would be allowed on the adept, I'm not sure.  BB, care to make a ruling?

Interaction between Gliding and Traceless Walk is that if you have Gliding, you still get ripples, moving branches, etc.  If you have both, you don't.

For linguistics, I suppose you could learn all of them at level 1 if you really wished, though I might cap it at Intelligence or Intelligence * Level if a player got crazy and it was actually relevant to the game.

Motion Sense picks up on impact of movement of characters through the mana background.  So traceless walk and flying should have no impact on effectiveness.

Nimble Fingers is 0.5.

Description for Pain Relief is "allows an adept to channel energy into his hands and apply it to chakra points on another target".  So leadership wouldn't fly.  And sympathetic wouldn't much matter given that only 1 success counts

Penetrating Strike sucks.  It's less powerful than an equivalent boost to strength and there are lots of ways to do that cheaper.  Plus the strength boost works on Distance Strike, influences knock-down, etc.

Relationship of Wall Running to Traceless Walk is again elimination of secondary effects (e.g. sound of feet on the wall).  Don't see why you couldn't alternate between walls and lake if you've spent the points on both.  The visual would be pretty cool :>

Traceless Walk *does* provide a modifier to hearing based detection.  Whether that's relevant will depend on the situation.

What more detail do you want on the Infusion focus?  It gives you an extra .5 power point per level of focus.  The specific power(s) are fixed at the time the focus is made.  No increase to magic.  You're not allowed to invoke the "Magical Power" from MITS by Infusion, everything else is fine.  You've got access to the power so long as you've bonded it and the focus is active.

Empathic Healing could be limited by applying the same penalties to casting a spell of a Force above your magic attribute. Making it so the wound has to be healed naturally without magic or surgery still makes sense because the adept usually has more durability than the mage does.  The other option being you make it like an attack that the Physad resists, like say (12-target essence)*(wound level being cured) where armor has no effect but any damage resistance body mods could.
Should also stipulate that an Adept cannot cure critical wounds, like organs that need to be replaced.
Or were you talking about using first aid on the healed after using magic? In the latter case, treat it as healing magic, 'cause that's what it is. (forgot our rules on healing now. So long since Thaden)

Gliding- Yes, but unless you gain a bonus to jumping into trees House of Flying Daggers style, there's nothing Gliding does that Traceless Walk can't except for sprinting onto lakes. Does Gliding assume you auto-succeed on the balance checks TW calls for?

PS- Would rather fix it than leave it as "sucks". Perhaps if we changed it to bypass one source of armor instead of one point of armor it would become definitively useful. It does say that it allows an adept to transmit the force of the blow a short distance (in SR4, don't know the flavortext here). With the reduced damage it's not splat-tastic, but it definitely gives you an advantage when you're in melee against someone in hardened heavy combat armor.

TW- Pardon me while I derp.

Actually, that's exactly the detail I wanted. It doesn't augment your Magic, so you can't violate any of the limitations already imposed on you (like you can't get a +1 to Improved Ability in a skill you've already got at cap), and doesn't modify your magic attribute for purposes of secondary effects. It's like spending karma on a power point instead of initiating. Thanks for clarification. What's the karma cost we settled on for buying power points? I seem to recall we reduced it from 20, though that may just be wishful thinking on my part.

I was talking about first aid.  Agree you can't heal the wounds on whoever you sucked them from.  The question is whether you can do first aid on the adept (given that they were technically harmed rather than healed.  If first aid is allowed, it essentially allows you to suck away two light wounds for free assuming someone's available to do first aid that's semi-competent.  On the other hand, that sucks up time and there's a chance of it failing.  So I could go either way.  BB, what's your ruling?

Don't see a reason for other limiting.

Gliding gives the ability to run on water and walk on fragile branches.  Traceless walk doesn't.  It's very much a "House of Flying Daggers" thing.  Hard to see much practical use, but it's a cool effect.

For PS, 1 source of armor allows a level 1 skill to bypass heavy military armor, so that's a bit excessive.  Could just double the effect.  2 points of armor for .75, 6 points of armor for 2.25.  Boosting strength by 6 is pretty costly and tricky otherwise, so it would still be useful.  And it's expensive enough to be worth it I think.

I know there was a post somewhere that BB talked about reducing it from 20 to 10.  Though that seems somewhat low to me.  To go the initiation route it's going to cost you 18 just for your first level unless you do an ordeal and/or have a group.