The Gaming Den

So my GM is still ruminating over how he might "adjust" direct and indirect combat spells. I was thinking of influencing the process by suggesting my own change: Increase the drain code of all direct combat spells by two and reduce the drain code on all indirect spells by two. How would th...

Do you guys have any spiritual advice? The impression I'm getting is the best suite of spirits to have in your tradition are: Guardian (give it a big gun) Guidance (for divination and a pretty awesome engulf) Man (for the spirit of man trick) Task (sorta like skillwires for mages) Elemental: Either ...

Somewhat off-topic, what is it with Shadowrun and the phrase "fingers in pies?" It shows up in more than one of source book and feels like it must be some kind of bizarre inside joke. I haven't really noticed this. It seems like a valid description of Megacorp activities, given the huge s...

I'm having a reading comprehension problem with the Increase [Attribute] line of spells. The spell's text can be found on page 208 of the SR4A book. If I have a Charisma of 7 before casting Increase Charisma, does this mean I must cast Increase Charisma at a minimum of Force 7? Or If I have a Charis...

I'd like to second Schwarzkopf's suggestion. Adepts make superb faces. They have the ability to buy up skills higher than anyone else (via Improved Ability), they can shuffle around their mental attributes on the fly to improve dice pools (via Cognition), and they can massively expand the power of s...

Soundwave.... that's intriguing. I can't seem to find it, so I guess this is a custom spell constructed under the rules found in Street Magic (p 163-165). Would this spell have a drain code of F/2 + 4 ? +1 from Type = Physical Spell +2 from Range = Area +2 from Elemental Effect -1 from Stun Damage? ...

Control Action and Mob Control are both definitively worthless, because you need to spend a complex action to cast it and then a simple action to command them, and until you command them, they can act on their own. And their action will almost certainly be shooting you. Even without that, it's in e...

First, I wanted to say thanks for the helpful, really well thought out responses I've gotten on my SR-4 questions. You've all given me a lot to think about. And then onto more questions: I've been looking at Control Action / Mob Control Vs. Control Thoughts / Mob Mind. These seem like awesome spells...

Passive Defense spells pretty much suck ass. A real gun bunny is still going to kill your ass, and a bunch of mooks is easier to hide from than to beat up. The raw of it is that sustaining buff spells just isn't that good in SR, and I don't recommend them unless they are totally batshit nuts like I...

I'm trying to evaluate which spells to select for a Shadowrun, 4e magician. There's a lot of good spells, and I can only afford a handful of them, hence my dilemma. The old Shadowrun Newbie Questions thread has been pretty helpful in pointing out what to look for http://www.tgdmb.com/viewtopic.php?t...

I notice that in both Stick-and-shock scenarios, Longarms are judged to be useless. Is that solely because the Gauss Cannon completely dominates the niche sniper rifles otherwise would occupy? If so, would the removal of the gauss cannon cause substantial reevaluation of the usefulness of longarms? ...

ummm.. no.

I think maybe my first SR-4 character ever should be something less challenging to optimize. Or at least more rewarding. I still appreciate your efforts in helping me make a feasible Nosferatu.

In case it matters, assume an elf or maybe a pixie under a sustained human form shapechange.

I have another possession question: There's 2 ways, to the best of my knowledge, of working as a Possession mage. Way 1 is to build a normal mage, and summon spirits to possess stuff. How good this is, nobody knows, because the rules basically say that the GM should arbitrarily decide what does and ...

Thanks for detailing a full build and the logic behind the build choices, UmaroVI. It's very helpful in helping me distinguish good decisions from bad ones. I wanted to know a little more about possession: What happens to sustained spells when you allow a spirit to possess you? Do those spells autom...

Possession, if you build around it, is really, really good. It's also a frequent target of houserules. I would suggest checking with your GM how he feels about this one. Theoretically, the major drawback of the "Channeling, run around possessed 24/7" mage is that being possessed is blatan...

As a magician with a decent (~14) conjuration and drain dice pools, can I depend on possession by a guardian spirit to provide the combat capability I need? It sounds easier than having to somehow sustain several high-force buffs. Because of the huge number of BP's I'm flushing down the toilet by tr...

Easy. You drop them with a stunball before they attack. Or you do something else that prevents them from shooting the hell out of you. Yeah, that's exactly that line of thinking that prompted me to ask if a character really needs dodge/gymnastics. See, thing is I've never played the system and I've...

Shadowrun4 basically worships the double tap. It pretty much doesn't matter how accurate you are, you are not going to drop anyone in less than 2 hits. On the flip side, it pretty much doesn't matter how much armor you're wearing, you are not going to take much more than 2 hits without going down. ...

Oh man, I read the table on 141 wrong :doh:. I though dodge added to reaction on all defender rolls, not just during full defense! Thanks for sorting me out. Is full defense a good option? It's usually a terrible idea in D&D, but this is of course a completely different game system... I mean if ...

I have a question about Gymnastic Dodge: Why is it considered superior to just buying regular dodge? It seems like regular dodge applies against all attacks, unless you are surprised, and counts for double on full defense against melee attacks. Gymnastic dodge only applies when going full defense. A...

I have another question related to critter regeneration and other awakened critter powers that utilize the Magic Attribute: Does a Power Foci augment those kind of abilities? Also, as I'm reading the books trying to build my character, how much BP is worth devoting to Gear Nuyen (for a magician)? [E...

It would never occur to me to attempt to use the Infected Rules in either Runner's Companion or Running Wild. Those are seriously terrible rules. -Username17 I'm too new to this system to see where this is going to lead. Exactly how might the game start to fall apart if I roll up an infected magici...

I think there was a modification to the casting rules that made cast spells with a power over your magic rating more attractive for high Body characters. Can't be bothered to look it up though. It makes Dwarves (and Trolls and Orks + associated metavariants) more attractive. Especially while shapec...

Hell, I wrote those rules and even I think they're shit. Infection in gameplay is a bitch of a karma hump to get over, if you ever do, and the Infected at chargen tend to be overpowered as hell. There are some additional Infected types in Running Wild . If you can tolerate answering a couple very i...

Why would elves be the optimal race for anything? They are the only race that boosts Agility, and the number of bonuses you get to attributes at the very least offsets the BP cost of the metatype, an no penalties that will haunt you in the long run. For a spellcaster you are also getting a fat +2 t...