Steve Jackson Games Forums - View Single Post - [Psionics] 'Spirit Magic' as a psi ability

Prince Charon · 08-23-2018, 01:20 PM

A Gadget that might be closer to how many GMs use Spirit Communication in their games:

Mirror of Terethiel (Breakable, DR4, -15%; SM-4, -15%; Can Be Stolen by ST (Will not immediately work for thief), -15%) [46]
Spirit Magic (Cosmic Modular Abilities; Astral Projection, -10%; Only for Allies with Summonable, -40%; Requires IQ Roll, -10%) 13 [52]
Spirit Communication 3 [18]
Spirit Empathy (Astral Projection, -10%) [9]

Spirit Communication [IQ/H] [4] IQ

Notes
The spirit within this glassless silver mirror exists to facilitate communication between mortals and spirits, and can summon friendly spirits into its presense (otherwise the user would be limited to those spirits already present). Influence rolls serve as the base skill for the mirror's Spirit Magic (both to convince the spirit to appear, and to negotiate for services), as just because a summoned spirit is friendly and inclined to help, does not mean that they will do exactly what you want (Allies, but not Minions, after all). Occultism and/or Spirit Lore (and related skills) can be quite useful for determining the right Influence skill(s) for the spirit you're working on.

It may help to use these Influence rolls to modify or replace the spirit's Frequency of Appearance rolls in this case.

EDIT: Meant to say, I was thinking of either adding a Nuisance Effect limitation due to the spirits the Mirror calls needing to be negotiated with, or replace Allies with Contacts (you can get a Contact to help you physically, it just requires more effort than an Ally - also Contacts fit the symbolism of a mirror better). Thoughts?

08-23-2018, 01:20 PM	#12
Prince Charon Join Date: Dec 2012	Re: [Psionics] 'Spirit Magic' as a psi ability A Gadget that might be closer to how many GMs use Spirit Communication in their games: Mirror of Terethiel (Breakable, DR4, -15%; SM-4, -15%; Can Be Stolen by ST (Will not immediately work for thief), -15%) [46] Spirit Magic (Cosmic Modular Abilities; Astral Projection, -10%; Only for Allies with Summonable, -40%; Requires IQ Roll, -10%) 13 [52] Spirit Communication 3 [18] Spirit Empathy (Astral Projection, -10%) [9] Spirit Communication [IQ/H] [4] IQ Notes The spirit within this glassless silver mirror exists to facilitate communication between mortals and spirits, and can summon friendly spirits into its presense (otherwise the user would be limited to those spirits already present). Influence rolls serve as the base skill for the mirror's Spirit Magic (both to convince the spirit to appear, and to negotiate for services), as just because a summoned spirit is friendly and inclined to help, does not mean that they will do exactly what you want (Allies, but not Minions, after all). Occultism and/or Spirit Lore (and related skills) can be quite useful for determining the right Influence skill(s) for the spirit you're working on. It may help to use these Influence rolls to modify or replace the spirit's Frequency of Appearance rolls in this case. EDIT: Meant to say, I was thinking of either adding a Nuisance Effect limitation due to the spirits the Mirror calls needing to be negotiated with, or replace Allies with Contacts (you can get a Contact to help you physically, it just requires more effort than an Ally - also Contacts fit the symbolism of a mirror better). Thoughts? __________________ Warning, I have the Distractible and Imaginative quirks in real life. "The more corrupt a government, the more it legislates." -- Tacitus Five Earths, All in a Row. Updated 12/17/2022: Apocrypha: Bridges out of Time, Part I has been posted. Last edited by Prince Charon; 08-24-2018 at 06:11 AM.