The Gaming Den

Since some people have expressed interest in our medieval conversion for Shadowrun, here are the basic rules my friend has written up. This is mostly character creation material, as actual rules are currently in draft form. Some knowledge of actual SR4 rules is assumed, so if you have any questions just go ahead and I'll try to shed some light on the subject. Please remember I am not the original creator of those rules, so don't credit me with anything. Also, our first language is French, so excuse the eventual grammar / spelling mistakes that might arise upon reading. I'll post up the weapons, armors and items that he wrote up later, because the formatting will undoubtedly be screwed upon upon copy&paste.


CHARACTER CREATION
BP=400

Races:
Human 0
E+1

Goblin 0
C-2 L-2, Low Light Vision, Small

Halfling 20
A+1 S-2 C-1 W+1, Small, +2 Vs Toxin/Disease,
+2 Infiltration

HobGoblin 20
B+1 S+1 C-1 L-1 Low Light

Kender 20
B -1 A +2 S -2 C -2, Small, +2 Palming,
Kleptomaniac (Composure (3) to avoid stealing)

Dwarf 25
B+1 A-1 R-1 S+2 C-1 W+1, Thermo Vision, Small, +2 Vs Toxin/ Disease

Gnome 25
B-1 S-1 C-1 I+2 L+1, Low Light Vision, Small

Ork 30
B+3 S+2 C-1 L-1, Low Light Vision


Elf 30
A+1 C+2, Low Light Vision

Centaure 30
B +1 S +1 I -1 L -1, Thermo, Low light,
Magic Sense, Uncouth

Troll/Ogre 40

B+4 A-1 S+4 C-2 I-1 L-1 Thermo Vision, Big, +1 Ar, +1 Reach

Pixies 40
B -3 A +2 R +2 S -3 C +1 L -1 Low Light, Mini, Fly
Astral Perception, Concealement (Self), Idiot

Attribute=200

Qualities +35/-35

Positive:

Guts 5
Toughness 10
High Pain Tolerance 5x(1-3)
Blandness 10
Exceptionnal Attribute 20
Lucky 20
Aptitude 10

Natural Immunity 5-15
Home Ground 10
Architect 5
Double Jointed 5
First Impression 5
Animal Empathy 10
Ambidextrous 10
Educated 10
Toxin/Disease Resistance 5/10
Will To Live 5-15
Quick Healer 10
Photographic Memory 10
Knight 10-30
Rich 5x(1-6)

Magical:

Adept 15
Mage 15
Mystical Adept 20
Astral Chameleon 10
Focused Concentration 10

Mentor 5
- Faith 5x(1-6)
Pious 20


Magical Resistance 5x(1-6)
Murky Link 10
Spirit Affinity 10
Astral Perception 10
Astral Hazing 10

Metagenic:
Sharp Reflex 20
Rapid Thinking 25
Glamour 5x(1-3)
Nasty Vibe 5
Arcane Arrester 25



Negative:

Addiction 5-30
Allergy 5-20
Plagued 15/30

Bad Luck 20
Idiot 20
Combat Paralysis 20
Infirm 10/20
Uncouth 20

Elf Poser 5
Ork Poser 5
Technologically Challenged 5
Incompetant 5
Low Pain Tolerance 10
Sensitive System 5
Vertigo 10
Weak Immune System 5
Criminal 10

Magical:
Astral Beacon 5
Spirit Bane 10

Skills: Lx4 Bp, GLx10 Bp, KLx2 Bp, Spec 2 Bp/1Bp

Combat:
Martial Weapon Group
- Blades
- Clubs
- Polearms
- Shield

Archery Group
- Bows
- Crossbow
- Exotic Weapon - Sling

Thrown Weapon
Unarmed Combat
Dodge

Exotic Weapons
Artillery

Physical:
Stealth Group
- Infiltration
- Shadowing
- Disguise
- Palming
Athletic Group
- Gymnastic
- Running
- Climbing
- Swimming

Diving
Escape Artist
Riding
Pilot

Social:
Influence Group
- Leadership
- Con
- Negotiation
- Etiquette

Intimidation
Instruction
Interrogation

Technical:
Engeeniring Group
- Masonery
- Carpentry
- Locksmith
- Demolition
Medical Group
- Medecine *
- First Aid
- Herbalism *
Outdoor Group
- Survival
- Tracking
- Navigation *
- Trapping
Armorer Group
- Blacksmith *
- Fletcher *
- Leatherworker *

Detective Group
- Perception
- Search
- Investigation
Artisan
Forgery

Magical: *
Sorcery Group
- Spellcasting
- Ritual
- Counterspelling
Conjuring Group
- Summoning
- Binding
- Banishing
Alchemy Group
- Enchanting
- Potion
- Identify
Astral Combat
Assensing

Ressource = 50 Gp/Bp, Max 50 Bp=2500 Gp

Finishing Touches:
Starting Money= Ressource Left/10
Bound Spirits = Force*Service Bp up to Force=Magic
Focus=
Condition Monitor
- Stun = 8+W/2
- Physical = 8+B/2

By Default, you are Uneducated:
- May Not Default Professionnal Knowledge
- Technical and Pro Knowledge Skills cost x2
- Do Not Read or Write.


QUALITIES
Positive:

Architect 5:
Add 2 dices to any Engeenering Test involving large constructions.

Educated 10:
Knows how to read and write his spoken language.
May Default Knowledge Test to Logic.

Knight 10x(1-3):

Faith 5xRating:
Each rating gives access to a divine power according to
Mentor Diety.

Astral Perception 10:
Character is Dual-Natured.

Pious 20:
May take Faith 7 for 10 Bp.

Sharp Reflex 20:
+2 to Reaction to avoid harms.

Rapid Thinking 25:
+2 Initiative and +1 IP.

Rich 5x Rating:
Every Rating of this quality allow you to take 5
additional Bp of Gold (250 Gp).

Negative:

Plagued 15 or 30:
Character has a contagious disease, apparent (30) or not.

Idiot 20:
Character start with half Knowledges and always fail
test relating to technical Skills.

Technologically Challenged 5:
Character has a -2 DP mod to any action involving unfamiliar technology.

Vertigo 10:
-2 DP mod and Composure Test when at risk of falling.

SKILLS

Combat:
Blades - Agility **Includes Axes**
Specs - By Type, Parry

Clubs - Agility
Specs - Clubs, Hammer, Maces, Flail, Staff, Parry

Polearms - Agility
Spec - Pikes, Halberd, Spears, Javelin, Trident, Scythe
Blocking.

Bows - Agility
Spec - By type, by condition.

XBow - Agility
Spec - Hand, Light, Heavy, by condition

Shield - Reaction
Spec - By Type

Thrown Weapons - Agility
Spec - Hachette, Knives, Javelin, Rock


Physical:
Riding - Reaction
Spec - By Animal

Pilot X - Reaction
Spec - By Vehicule Type
Social:
Interogation - Charisma
Spec - By Method

Technical:
Masonery - Logic
Specs - By Construction Type

Carpentry - Logic
Specs - By Construction Type

Herbalism - Logic
Spec - Medicinal, Culinary, Poison

Trapping - Logic
Spec - Snare, Pits, Mechanical, Hiding

Armorsmith - Logic
Spec - By Armor Type

Weaponsmith - Logic
Spec - Blades, Axes, Spear Head, Maces, Arrow Head

Fletcher - Logic
Spec - Bows, Crossbow, Arrow, Polearms Shaft, Clubs

Leatherworker - Logic
Spec - By item Type

Magical:
Enchanting - Logic
Specs - Weapons, armor, amulet, etc

Potion - Logic
Specs - By type

Identify - Intuition
Specs - By type

MAGIC
Notes:
Metalic armors disrupt the flow of mana around the bearer, causing diminutions in magical abilities (-1 Magic / 2 points of Metal armor).

Adept Powers:



Spells:



Necromancy:


Traditions:
Hermetic
Drain: W+L
Spirits:
Fire
Earth
Water
Air

Necromantic
Drain: W+L
Spirits: Possession
Guardian
Guidance
Task
Men

Religious
Drain: By Gods
Spirits:
By Gods

Lodge :
10 GP x force

Focus:
200xRating Gp
Sustaining
Binding
Weapon

300xRating Gp
Spellcasting
Summoning

100xRating Gp
Banishing
Counterspelling

500xRating Gp
Power

Metamagic Foci:

1000 x Rating Gp
Link Focus

2500 x Rating Gp
Masking
Shielding

3000 x Rating Gp
Centering
Anchoring

Fetish:

MENTORS
/*
Faith powers that grant spells work at force=faith and roll
faith+drain attributes. They do not incur Drain. They are
sustained normally. Combat Spells have an additionnal +2 force.

Every being following a mentor diety must follow is tennets
or fall into disfavor.

D = Daily Power, W = Weekly, M = Monthly.
Otherwise at will.

Summoned Spirit will be of Force == Faith and grant you
a number of service = Success on Drain+Willpower.

*/


Major Pantheon:

Death
Mage Bonus: +2 to Combat Spells and Spirits of Men

Mundane Bonus: Insane Courage : Don't fear the Reaper.

Downfall: May not heal wounds or offer positive magical effects.

Spirits Type: Men, Fire, Guidance, Earth

Drain Attributes: Charisma

Faiths:
1. Destroy Undead
2. Death Touch
3. +1 Dv to attack causing P.
4. Summon Spirit of Men [M]
5. Foreboding [D]
6. Manabolt [D]
7. Essence Drain

Names:

Knowledge
Mage Bonus: +2 Detection Spells, Binding

Mundane Bonus: Educated (free)

Downfall: -1 to Combat Skills and Spells Tests.

Spirits Type: Men, Guidance, Task, Air

Drain Attributes: Logic

Faiths:
1. +1 to Pro Knowledge Test
2. Analytic +2
3. Catalog [D]
4. Analytic +2
5. +3 to Knowledge Skill of Choice
6. Analytic +2
7. Search [W]

Names:

Love
Mage Bonus: +2 to Con and Manipulation Spells

Mundane Bonus: +2 Con

Downfall: Seductress (p. 194)

Spirits Type: Men, Task, Fire, Water

Drain Attributes: Charisma

Faiths:
1. Turn Undead
2. Orgasm
3. Control Emotion [D]
4. Enthralling Presence
5. +2 to Seduction Test
6. +1 Charisma
7. Mob Mood [M]

Names:

Justice:
Mage Bonus: +2 to Divination Spells and Interrogation

Mundane Bonus: +2 to Interrogation

Downfall:

Spirits Type: Men, Task, Guardian, Water

Drain Attributes: Charisma

Faiths:
1. Turn Undead
2. Compel Truth [W]
3. +2 Leadership
4. Mind Probe [W]
5. Compel Truth
6. +1 Charisma
7. Compulsion [M]

Names:


Magic
Mage Bonus: +2 Assensing & Astral Combat
& Astral Perception
Mundane Bonus: Astral Perception

Downfall: Blind.

Spirits Type: Men, Task, Guidance, Guardian

Drain Attributes: Logic

Faiths:2
1. Bind Undead
2. Analyse Magic [W]
3. Lucifer Lamp
4. Astral Projection / +1 Astral Ip
5. Magical Guard
6. Endowment (People) [Â¥]
7. Astral Gateway [Â¥]

Names:
Nature
Mage Bonus: +2 Survival, +2 Beast Spirits

Mundane Bonus: +2 Survival

Downfall:

Spirits Type: Earth, Beast, Water, Plant

Drain Attributes: Body

Faiths:
1. Animal Control
2. Destroy Undead
3. Natural Weapons (Str P)
4. Summon Plant or Beast Spirit [M]
5. Shape Change [D]
6. Elemental Resistane Faith.
7. Summon Greater Plant or Beast Spirit [Â¥]

Names:

War
Mage Bonus: +2 Combat Spells, +2 Guardian Spirits

Mundane Bonus: +2 to Initiative or Leadership

Downfall: Wolf (p.194)

Spirits Type: Men, Guardian, Fire, Earth

Drain Attributes: Charisma

Faiths:
1. Turn Undead
2. Rallying +2
3. Commanding Voice
4. +1 IP
5. +2 Combat Skill of Choice
6. Powerball [D]
7. Summon Greater Guardian Spirit [Â¥]

Names:

Minor Pantheon:

Agriculture
Mage Bonus: +2 Health & Plant Spirits

Mundane Bonus: +2 to Artisan skill of Choice

Downfall:

Spirits Type: Men, Water, Plant, Earth

Drain Attributes: Logic

Faiths:
1. Turn Undead
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Names:

Blacksmiths
Mage Bonus: +2 Manipulation & Enchanting

Mundane Bonus: +2 Blacksmith

Downfall:

Spirits Type: Fire, Men, Task, Earth

Drain Attributes: Logic

Faiths:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5. Reinforcement [W]
6.
7. Endowment (Object) [Â¥]

Names:

Disease
Mage Bonus: +2 Beast & Health

Mundane Bonus: May not Die from Disease.

Downfall: Catch every Disease they come across.

Spirits Type: Water, Plant, Beast, Men

Drain Attributes: Logic

Faiths:
1. Bind Undead
2. Noxious Breath
3. Acid Stream [D]
4. Venom
5. Infection
6. Toxic Wave [W]
7. Pestillence [M]

Names:

Healing
Mage Bonus: +2 Health Spells and Resisting Disease or Poison.

Mundane Bonus: +1 Medical Group, +2 Resisting Disease
or Poison.

Downfall: May not Harm Sentient Humanoid Being.

Spirits Type: Task, Man, Plant, Water

Drain Attributes: Logic

Faiths:
1. Heal Faith boxes [W]
2. Turn Undead
3. Heal [D]
4. Diagnose [W]
5. Heal
6. Cure Disease or Antidote [W]
7. Resurect [Â¥]

Names:

Hunting
Mage Bonus: +2 to Tracking & Beast Spirit

Mundane Bonus: +2 to Tracking

Downfall: Composure to not Pursue a worthy prey.

Spirits Type: Beast, Guidance, Air, Plant

Drain Attributes: Intuition

Faiths:
1. Low Light || Thermographic Vision
2. +1 to Bow
3. Animal Empathy
4. Detect Life [D]
5. +1 to Bow
6. Ultrasound || Low Light || Thermographic Vision
7. Paralyzing Howl [M]

Names:

Merchants
Mage Bonus: +2 to Divination and Negotiation

Mundane Bonus: +2 to Negotiation

Downfall: Composure test for dishonest Dealings Knowingly

Spirits Type: Men, Earth, Guidance, Water

Drain Attributes: Charisma

Faiths:
1. Analyse Truth [D]
2. Turn Undead
3. Assense Worth [D]
4. Analyse Truth
5. +2 to Bargaining Test
6. Detect Magic
7. Compulsion [W]

Names:

Pain
Mage Bonus: +2 to Manipulation & Spirits of Men

Mundane Bonus: High Pain Tolerance II

Downfall:

Spirits Type: Men, Beast, Fire, Guidance

Drain Attributes: Intuition

Faiths:
1. Bind Undead
2. Agony
3. Fear [D]
4. Summon Spirit of Man [W]
5. Mass Agony [D]
6. Desire Reflection [M]
7. Summon Greater Spirit of Men [Â¥]

Names:

Peace
Mage Bonus: +2 Counterspelling & Guardian Spirit

Mundane Bonus: Gain Another Language at N.

Downfall: Must always seek path of least Conflict

Spirits Type: Men, Guardian, Water, Plant

Drain Attributes: Charisma

Faiths:
1. Turn Undead
2. Kinesics +1
3. Calm People [D]
4. Kinesics +1
5. Calm Mob [M]
6. Kinesics +1
7. Guard

Names:

Thievery
Mage Bonus: +2 Illusion Spells, +2 to Athletic, Stealth, skill of choice.

Mundane Bonus: +2 to Athletic or Stealth skill of choice.

Downfall: Composure Test for Honest Dealing.

Spirits Type: Men, Task, Guidance, Air

Drain Attributes: Charisma

Faiths:
1. +2 to Attack Made from Surprise
2. Detect Object Spell [D]
3. +2 to Another Athletic or Stealth Skill.
4. +2 to Con or Locksmith.
5. Illusion or Divination Spell [D]
6. +1 Agility
7. Concealement [D]

Names:

Strength
Mage Bonus: +2 Health & Guardian Spirits

Mundane Bonus: +1 Physical CM

Downfall: Must Train In Free Time.

Spirits Type: Beast, Earth, Guardian, Fire

Drain Attributes: Strength

Faiths:
1. Turn Undead
2. Shatter
3. +1 Strength
4. +1 Physical CM
5. +1 Strength
6. Summon Guardian Spirit [W]
7. +1 Strength

Names:

Ancient Pantheon:

Earth
Mage Bonus: +2 to Health & Earth Spirits.

Mundane Bonus: +1 Armor

Downfall: Mountain

Spirits Type: Guidance, Earth, Guardian, Fire

Drain Attributes: Body

Faiths:
1. Destroy Undead
2. Find stone/metal [D]
3. Shape stone
4. Summon Earth Spirit [W]
5. Harden [D]
6. Petrify [D]
7. Quake [Â¥]

Names:

Fire
Mage Bonus: +2 Combat & Fire Spirits

Mundane Bonus: Fire Resistance 6

Downfall: Allergy, Submerged in Water - Severe

Spirits Type: Fire, Guidance, Guardian, Air

Drain Attributes: Charisma

Faiths:
1. Destroy Undead
2. Flare Compensation
3. Elemental Attack - Fire
4. Summon Fire Spirit [W]
5. Fireball [D]
6. Energy Aura
7. Summon Greater Fire Spirit [Â¥]

Names:

Sun
Mage Bonus: +2 Health & Fire Spirits

Mundane Bonus: +2 Damage Resistance Test

Downfall: Sun

Spirits Type: Fire, Air, Guidance, Guardian

Drain Attributes: Charisma

Faiths:
1. Destroy Undead
2. Flare Compensation
3. Light
4. Hot Potatoe [D]
5. Summon Fire Spirit [W]
6. Flamethrower
7. Weather Control [W]

Names:

Moon
Mage Bonus: +2 Perception, Assensing & Guidance Spirit

Mundane Bonus: +2 Perception

Downfall: May not Overcast during the day and Drain always P.

Spirits Type: Men, Guidance, Air, Task

Drain Attributes: Intuition

Faiths:
1. Destroy Undead
2. Low Light Vision || Thermographic Vision
3. Light
4. Dream [D]
5. Shadow Cloak
6. Divining [M]
7. Conceal [M]

Names:

Storms
Mage Bonus: +2 Air & Water Spirits

Mundane Bonus: Resistance to Electricity 6

Downfall:

Spirits Type: Air, Water, Guidance, Fire

Drain Attributes: Intuition

Faiths:
1. Destroy Undead
2.
3. Elemental Attack - Lightning
4.
5. Lightning Ball [D]
6. Energy Aura - Electricity
7. Storm [M]

Names:
Water
Mage Bonus: +2 Divination & Water Spirits

Mundane Bonus: Water Breathing

Downfall: Allergy - Fire, Severe

Spirits Type: Water, Guidance, Guardian, Plant

Drain Attributes: Logic

Faiths:
1. Destroy Undead
2. +3 Swimming
3. Mist [D]
4. Summon Water Spirit [W]
5.
6. Energy Aura - Water
7. Summon Greater Water Spirit [Â¥]

Names:

Wind
Mage Bonus: +2 to Illusions & Air Spirits

Mundane Bonus: Feather Fall

Downfall: Claustrophobia

Spirits Type: Air, Guidance, Task, Guardian

Drain Attributes: Intuition

Faiths:
1. Destroy Undead
2. Magic Fingers [D]
3. Elemental Attack - Blast
4. Summon Air Spirit [W]
5. Levitate
6. Energy Aura - Blast
7. Summon Greater Air Spirit [Â¥]

Names:

Winter
Mage Bonus: +2 to Manipulation & Air Spirits

Mundane Bonus: Cold Resistance 6

Downfall:

Spirits Type: Air, Water, Men, Task

Drain Attributes: Charisma

Faiths:
1. Destroy Undead
2.
3. Elemental Attack - Cold
4. Ice Sheet [W]
5.
6. Energy Aura - Cold
7. Storm [M]

Names:

From a cursory look, it appears that the balance is tipped such that mundane characters are hopelessly outclassed. SR magic is balanced by guns, cybernetics, and robotics. In the medieval version, a 'samurai' unable to purchase muscle augmentation and a rocket launcher, but the mage seems to have lost nothing.

That said, it seems as though mechanics for knighthood are missing.

Races:
Goblin
Gnome
Halfling
HobGoblin
Kender
Centaure
Troll/Ogre
Pixies

Few problems I see at the start:

1 These races aren't standard fare Fantasy races and expand it beyond the really necessary: Human, Elf, Dwarf [Half-Orc, Halfling]
2 Kender, Halfling, Goblins, and Gnomes are the same classification of race. It's redundant to have all four.
3 It's Orc not Ork in Fantasy.
4 There are no Half-Orcs, but there are Halflings.
5 Kender and Halflings are the same thing. Literally
6 Centaure, Orcs, HobGoblins, Ogre, Goblins, Trolls, and Pixies aren't good guys, they're bad guys.
7 Ogres and Trolls aren't the same things.
8 No race should get things like Uncouth, specially not Centaure over Trolls/Ogres.
9 Toxin/Disease resistance isn't as great in Fantasy Land.
10 Pixies are flat out broken and are very much not adventurers.

One thing I should have said at the start is that these mechanics are not only made for PCs. So hobgoblins&co are not destined for PCs but to give the DM an idea of what the NPC/monster's race is worth in BPs.

Regarding Knighthood, there is a positive quality worth 10-20-30 BPs.

EDIT: Also, what would you suggest to avoid Magic super-outclassing Mundanes ? AKA Linear warrior, quadratic wizard ?

The Earthdawn solution was to make everyone an adept. I'd just do that here to be honest.

The Vigilante wrote:EDIT: Also, what would you suggest to avoid Magic super-outclassing Mundanes ? AKA Linear warrior, quadratic wizard ?

There are two ways you can do this. One is the previously suggested Adepthood for all major martial characters. The other is to do a separationist principle: where mundane and magical things do entirely separate things. So magic can't be used to directly do what the mundane skills do. Like kill things, or spy on people, or influence people's opinions. You'd be limiting mages to stuff like telling the future, blessings and curses, inducing suspended animation in the willing, and similar odd effects.

The second suggestion runs counter to what you seem to be designing. It will feel a lot more like medieval and a lot less like fantasy, though.

Another option would be to use most cyberware and bioware, but say that they are either some sort of magical blessing enhancement, or that they come from a different power source than magic (the ancient gods of chaos, demon magic, sacrifices to the Giant Frog, whatever). Your body can only contain so much of this power, before it explodes or whatever.

I don't know what you're doing with your world, but you could posit that there exists some degree of a schism between the two orders (making those characters who choose to openly associate with both social outcasts).

Also, you don't need kender and halflings as separate races. Gnomes and goblins could be separate, or you could just make them different templates that all play off the "short guy" metatype.

I would advise at least making all of the "standard" races equal in BP cost, if just for simplicity's sake.

I think it would help a lot if you went into what type of fantasy world these rules are for. Is it more "magic is rare and wondrous" or "we have magic streetlamps?" How much of the world is explored and/or settled? Socially, does it look like feudal Europe, with duchies kingdoms, and such, or is most of the world ruled by one massive empire, or are there a couple strong kingdoms? Proper nouns are really necessary, but basic style is kinda necessary for some of the involved rules aspects.

Certainly a possibility is to jack the lethality up on swords until they match up with what guns are capable of in SR. If a reasonably skilled swordsman can expect to run through a room full of goblins and leave 10 of them twitching on the floor incapacitated in a round of combat, the fact that he doesn't have the ability to drop mana blasts on rooms won't be as important.

But you're still up against the fact that mages in Shadowrun are not just competing and competitive in combat, they are doing stuff that is important and useful in all aspects of the mission. Stuff which is nominally balanced against cars, grappling hooks, internet search engines, and other conveniences of modern life that have no fantastic equivalent.

If you can summon a Shadowrun Spirit, you can make your friends travel five times as fast (or more, if you are totally hard core). If you can drive a car, you can make your friends travel twenty times as fast (or more if you are a crazy good driver). Now these capacities multiply, meaning that if you have a car and a spirit you can cover distances at electronic communication speeds. That's a good example of synergy between the mundane and the magical. But in a medieval setting, cars don't seem to exist and there doesn't appear to be a direct equivalent. It's simply that someone who can summon speeds up the team and anyone who cannot does not.

---

The most obvious solution is to divide up magic functionally. That is, to completely disregard the Dragonlance source material and give everyone a portion of the magic. That is, every single person gets a magic attribute, and the magic that people have access to is a highly restricted subset. In fact, with everyone getting a magic attribute, you might want to take the magic attribute away and base dice pools off of different stats depending on the magic type - but I get ahead of myself.

For example:

• Demonolgy If you are a Demonologist, you can conjure. You can conjure Air, Earth, Fire, or Water spirits. You cannot cast any spells or anything like that.
  
  Druidsm If you are a Druid, you can conjure. You can conjure Beast and Plant Spirits. That's it. Also, you are a possession tradition.
  
  Chicanery If you are a Chicanerist, you have a spell list. This spell list contains the Control Manipulations, the Light/Sound Manipulations, and some Illusion spells. Remember that there aren't any electronic anything, so there are no physical illusions in the setting.
  
  Necromancy If you are a Necromancer, you have a spell list. This spell list contains a bunch of Health spells (like Heal) and the Direct Combat spells (like Mana Bolt).
  
  Divination If you are a Diviner, you get a pile of Detection Spells. Also, you can astrally project and perceive. And you can make Watchers.
  
  Abjuration If you are an Abjurer, you provide Spell Defense. Also, you get the whole Telekinetic Manipulations deal.

-Username17

But if you wanted to keep Mundanes around, you could do that. But you'd want to mark up everything they could do so that you could see how much for badassery was left for the magic users to have. If individual mundane people are capable of less impressive feats than they are in Shadowrun, then for balance the magic users are going to have to be weaker as well.

So for example, here's some stuff that mundanes can do:

Stab People in the Face
You're writing the mechanics, so swords in the hands of skilled fighters are pretty much as lethal as you say that they are. I know that my flatmate has killed a couple of people in sword fights in the real world, so I'm guessing it can't be that hard. So the inclusion of sword and bow can easily leave room for deadly attack magic. Now there apparently aren't any hand grenades, so however lethal a sword or an arrow is in your rules, creating balls of fire may still have a niche attacking multiple enemies. Balancing swords and fireballs is just a math problem. Swords can be more deadly and don't cost drain. Fireballs nuke groups of enemies and cost drain. Definitely workable.

Heal the Sick and Injured
Herbs and healing talent does pretty much whatever you say it does. If mundane herbalism seriously allows you to cure petrification that creates a lot of potential space for magic to get you out of problems without overshadowing Aragorn. Furthermore, even if you go "realistic" with your healing rates, if you define magical healing as multiplying the healing rate rather than setting a healing rate you can make having a bonesetter around essential even though getting wounded people back in the action is an impossibility in any timely fashion without a mage. With that sort of dual essentiality, the specific numeric contributions of each aren't super important to overall balance. The car/spirit movement example is a good one that can be applied in many fields.

Sneak and Scout
The utility and efficacy of mundane stealth and tracking is pretty much whatever you make it. And ironically, you pretty much define it by how you set up magical tracking and stealth. If you live in D&D land where magic reveals the hidden magic and the sequestered mundane, then mundane stealth is pretty much a joke. But it doesn't have to be that way. If, for example, magical invisibility makes you unfindable by mundanes and stick out like a sore thumb to the magic senses of demons while simply sneaking around without magic allows you to sneak under the radar of magic senses and nonmagic senses both - then mundane stealth has a clear purpose. Indeed, with magic being extremely binary at stealth it would actually be pretty useless at sneaking into major Dark Citadels, because the Dark Lord is probably going to shell out for both mundane and demonic guards. And that makes mundane sneaking with its chance of getting past all kinds of guardians the preferred means of sneaking into the most well defended fortresses.

Bypass Security Systems
It's not all pacing guards and bound demons, there are also locks and magic glyphs and traps and stuff. If you need magic to find and disable magic glyph traps, the mundane trap monkey is pretty much useless. If you don't, then the non-magic character provides the potential for a clear service to the party in doing that. What this means is that the limits and practical effects of magical security systems have to be as well defined as those electronic ones of the future are. Maybe glyphs can't activate if they are partially covered (allowing rogues to disable them by scattering flour)? While the fact that there are such limitations and the players know what they are is important, there is no special imperative for them being any particular thing.

-Username17

cthulhu wrote:The Earthdawn solution was to make everyone an adept. I'd just do that here to be honest.

Yeah, really, you could use someone's magic rating to give you a relative sense of their ability level, where peasants and stuff have a 0 magic rating, and big monsters have a huge rating.

PCs choose between basically being adepts or magicians. If you wanted, you could have different types of mages (clerics, wizards, etc) with different spell lists.

You could make everyone either Adepts or Mages. And then if you wanted to have a Blackmoor-style campaign where all of a sudden Orcs with laser rifles and cybernetics show up, you can just slot them right in. At least, that's what I would think. I'm hardly a Shadowrun Expert.

Here's a question for the Shadowrun folks: what kind of Ballastic/Impact values do you think should be assigned to medieval armor? I know that Field Plate armor is going to be fairly protective, but I wouldn't think it would be quite as effective as a full suit of security armor in 2070.

Also - instead of just giving races special abilities like Low-Light Vision, couldn't you apply a BP value to the ability? That way you could attach a point value to everything that the character has as a racial ability. And would you want to have a full 400 points to make a character? Would it be better to perhaps have a 300 point character like in Warp Cult and give them a bit more room to "grow" then the average Shadowrun character?