Shadowrun RPG > Magic and the Planes

importance of magic

(1/1)

necessitysslave:
Am I missing something? probably you say....

what importance has magic stat actually got to do with casting spells/conjuring except kama costs for learning associated skills, whether a spell is physical or stun drain and 1/3 of a spell pool dice

in 3rd ed obviously

mercy:
I know it plays a big part for adepts

Gabriel:
You've pretty much got it in the crosshairs there, N-Slave. Of course, those are some pretty big considerations. After all physical and stun damage for drain effects can kill a character faster than a sniper rifle. And adepts get power points based on the Magic attribute. If you ever want to run with the big boys (initiates) you have to get that up to 8 or 9. That's when you can do some really impressive damage, not just street-level drek like a Fireball 6. Imagine what would happen if you could toss a fireball 9 and still only get a moderate stun for that? Pretty wiz.

Gabriel

kv:
Yeah- you already mentioned it, but overcasting does major damage- which is anytime you cast more than your magic rating (so a force 7 anything for your non-initiated hermetic does physical damage, rather than stun damage). It doesn't seem like much, but if really does count when you're in a firefight (the firearm kind or metaphorical magical kind), and that little spell makes the difference between your death and the death of whatever enemies you're facing.

  -kv

Retread:
Well, Magic rating has other uses as well. For example, a magician with too much spare karma could create 5 different familiars with his/her 6 Magic rating. Magic rating also determines a number of other things: Area of effect for spells, the target number for magic loss, the dice used in Supremacy Duels, it's also your "Hit Points" with regard to attacking astral objects. Basically, as meat, people are fundamentally different than spirits, however, on the Astral, your Magic rating is your effective Force rating. It determines how "big" you are and how noticeable you appear to be. People with high magic ratings and no Masking metamagic appear sharper, more brilliant (or terrifying, depending on the nature of your magician) people who have suffered magic loss appear faded, dull, and less noticeable.

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