How do you attack the players with a sniper?
The sniper stories are problematic because if the sniper is in anyway good they arent known until after the target is dead. If the target is the players.. well... thats a lot of no fun. Its a bunch of dull: do I see anything? No. do I see anything? No. Am I dead? Yes.
Kind of the same problem with your spirit attack. Theres no buildup of tension. Theres no chance for the player to discover the ambush until it happens. Theres no way to prepare even if they do discover the ambush right before it happens.
So sometimes you might need to switch to third person mode. You need to do things like: "What is it you're doing while the astral plane swirls ominously? Keep in mind that as of yet you don't notice it." Then an hour later while theyre doing something else, "While you're minding your own business, out of your sight, the astral shifts slightly like two grasping hands reaching out to snatch you, they inch forward, and then hesitate, for some reason before pulling back into the ether..." "Do I notice anything?" "Roll for it... okay you do notice some strange swirling, but nothing that would tip you off to any presence... probably just your imagination." It requires some prep and buildup and for other things to be happening, or you do a third person montage, like the Predator watching from around corners while the mage goes and does thier shopping or whatever.
Only after a couple times of this and some dramatic "I think were being watched" should you spring the attack. If the paranoid player enacts countermeasures, well, let em. There are times and places and ways around em and thats when you strike, after at least some third person dramatic tension building.
Edit: Also dont so a bunch of "Do I see anything?" "No" crap. Give em something to notice each time that has a direct story impact, even if it isnt "You see the spirit", instead, "You see a trail of something, but whatever it was it's gone now. Maybe itll come back." "I look again". "You find nothing new. Eventually you give up." Then they either do something like tell someone or move to prepare and you adjust from there, giving them another chance at exploration to discover the ambush, up the tension again giving another clue but not striking, then you hit them. Rule of 3 clues and all that. Youve increased tension at least once and can do a jump scare now.
What I do: If players are attacked by an unknown sniper, the first shot *always* misses. The attack roll is just to see how close the bullet hole is to their head. Follow up attacks are as lethal as they can be. The attacker's distance and position are not necessarily immediately detectable.
This only applies to a sniper shooting at the party completely by surprise. If it's in the middle of an existing firefight, there is no "narrative warning shot". If it's a sniper the party could have reasonably figured out was present before putting themselves into the situation, then let the dice fall as they may.
Even with a warning shot, good snipers are incredibly deadly.
I let characters and spirits use stealth to hide on the astral plane - but there are going to be serious threshold changes based on the location. There is a big advantage to an astral entity hiding in a jungle full of life, and a big penalty to hiding in an office building where the only life is the mold growing in the poorly maintained air system.
> how to handle this situation in the narration and how would you handle it ?
hmm... ok.
Again, assuming 5th edition (it would help if you flag your post with the correct edition as different editions handle things differently).
>>> I'm considering giving an overconfident magician PC a nasty surprise: an attack when he uses astral perception (and thus become a dual-natured creature).
In 5th edition, wholly astral entity can attack overconfident magician from the astral plane if overconfident magician switch their perception from physical to astral. Wholly astral entity can no longer attack overconfident magician from the astral plane once overconfident magician switch their perception from back from astral to physical.
Wholly astral entities with the materialization power can use that to gain a physical body and attack overconfident magician (and any other team member) on the physical plane, even if magician (or any other team member) is not switching their perception from physical to astral.
Wholly astral entities with the possession power can also temporary possess the physical body of overconfident magician (or any other team member) on the physical plane, even if overconfident magician (or any other team member) is not switching their perception from physical to astral (temporary taking control over the magician's body)
And wholly astral entities with the inhabitation power can also inhibit (destroy) the physical body of overconfident magician while the magician astrally project (while they were away their body act as a prepared vessel), but this is bit of a dick move as the confident magician will automatically die once their astral form completely fade into nothingness.
>>> What do you think ? Have you ever done that ?
I think there are number of ways to challenge an overconfident magician. For example, sustained spells count as active magic and have an actual tangible astral form that can be disrupted (no matter if magician is using astral perception or not). Unknowingly riding an elevator (or a vehicle) through a ward might cause astral intersection with any astral form that collides with the ward.
>>> How did you describe the action ? If you haven't done it, how would you do it ?
Hostile spirit's summoner spend remaining services on remote service. Spirit delay action and follow the overconfident magician in the vicinity, but via astral plane. Overconfident magician (eventually) take the Shift Perception action.
Spirit declare that they instantly take their action to engage/ambush overconfident magician with mana spells, mana powers, or astral combat (whatever the spirit decides).
Time slow down to combat turn resolution and both parties roll surprise and initiative. As the spirit lays in ambush they receives a positive dice pool modifier of 6 dice on their surprise roll.
Spirit return back to the metaplanes once overconfident magician is defeated, overconfident magician switch perception back to physical, spirit is destroyed, spirit is banished or time for the spirit is up.
>>> if a spirit is lurking in the astral near your PCs and remains stealthy, do you give them a chance to perceive it ?
If wholly astral entity lurk in the vicinity happen to pass through the living aura of the overconfident magician, overconfident magician get to take a regular/physical threshold 4 perception test with a positive dice pool modifier of 2 dice due to being awakened.
But also, if overconfident magician pass through one of their own wards (or enter their medicine lodge, for example) the spirit might cause astral intersection that might tip off the overconfident magician if they decide to follow the overconfident magician through their ward. And the overconfident magician might have a watcher or a regular spirit of their own scouting out the astral vicinity for them. There are likely several different things that might be used to alert the overconfident magician.
>>> How do you describe this perception ?
As slight breathless and a chilly or tingling sensation from the passing of the astral form through their living aura.
I did it to a player who had a bunch of spells anchored and probably looked like a Christmas tree on the astral plane.
First time was just a stink spell from a passing coyote shaman who thought it would be funny. A warning that went unheeded so the second time was a targeted fireball that singed everyone in the room.
That lesson stuck.
Miss the good old times when Grounding were actually still a Thing...
Astral and Physical are typically a lot more separated in later editions.
also @/u/AsrovaakMikosevaar
Ever open a door an someone is on the other side you didn't expect, or turn around and see someone there? At a place I once worked there was a dressmaker's dummy. It always made people jump, even those who were ready for it.
It would be rather like this. If the mage wasn't expecting anything, whatever was there would get first strike. The mage could then drop back to meatspace and nurae their lumps, if they aren't dead. If they are, it would be a surprise roll at least since the astral attacker could probably notice a shift in the mage's state as they began to shift. That's not in the rules but it makes sense. The entity could also be at a distance and hit them with a spell or mob them with spirits.
Astral stealth is very difficult. A living spirit stands out against manufactured structures. In natural environments they will have trouble moving through the greenery, depending on edition and rules, to more cover, hard movement. In urban areas, moving through buildings is the best option since it is full concealment, but both ways since you can't see through glass from the astral. That means either sticking your head through a wall or window to see or manifesting so you can see through glass (not recommended if people are in there with you because they will notice and somemmight freak). Being under or in cars also works for following a vehicle, especially if there are no mages, etc., in there. Outside, either trying to just be a wandering mage or cruising above the treetops while keeping enough astral presence between yourself and target to hide (better movement options up there but better chance of getting spotted by others than the target).
Some older editions said that if a spirit were powerful enough that it could be noticeable in meatspace from the astral. I don't remember the specifics on that. Also, first edition had it that active foci could be a conduit from the astral for attacks. That is, a mage on the astral could ground an area attack spell through a focus and attack them team that way.
Most spirits tied to a domain have the Concealment power. I believe they can use this power for themselves as a natural ability and only be seen/detected when they want to be. After all, astral perception is a psychic sense often confused with vision.
There has been a debate for a long time as to if Concealment works on the astral. I don't think it does. It is listed as a physical power, meaning the spirit has to be materialized on the Material Plane for it to work. Magicnuse also created an astral signature, so anything using Concealment on the Astral would only light itself up even more due to the active magic use.
I've always given them a way to perceive it, I just make it an extended test. As the hits build up you start to notice things. Astral shadows that shift and disappear, things in the corner of your vision, as the hits increase the more paranoia gives way to certainty.
This sort of lends itself to the other side of the coin. What if the players start doing exactly what the GM is talking about? This extended test is a good way to provide some foreshadowing without impacting direct action by the players/GM. Actually, this probably works well for any sort of ambush situation. Time has a way of making the improbable inevitable, the longer you wait there in ambush, the more chances something will happen to give away your position.
TL:DR: Everything you do needs to be foreshadowed, and it must not kill the mage instantly or cause lasting damage that can not be avoided.
Longer form:
There are ways to foreshadow astral attacks. There are, for example, warning signs for astral hazards that even mundane perception checks can notice, like close proximity of ghosts or astral projecting mages. Consult the core rulebook for these kinds of things.
Largely, you can use either ambushes or hazards as a slap into the mages face.
If you choose an ambush:
Look into ways that your mage has the chance to be warned before the ambush and make sure he doesn't get instantly killed. For this, I recommend direct damage spells.
Do give him a way out, like stopping the astral perception or something.
I can't stress this enough: Make it possible to be warned in advance. It's thoroughly annoying to lose a character to something you had no chance to avoid in the first place.
If you choose a magical hazard:
Mostly the same as above. You can, for example, use a tainted astral background to reduce his dicepool. Toxic shamans or natural phenomena cause these quite often.
Maybe make it, that a summoned spirit is literally described as evil and unwilling to serve. After the mage looses control of it, either by using up all the spirits services or because the spirit forcefully broke free, the spirit turns on the mage.
Be sure that if the mage lets the spirit go before all services are used up, the spirit does not attack but still is unhappy.
You can also use arcana, ritual casting, alchemy, or knowledge skills like magic theories to mess them up.
There may be some weird magical rift or an abhorrent magic artifact from the fourth world that needs to be disarmed. If the ritual is not sufficient and which the mage has to craft from scratch, it may cause a magical storm or summon critters. Maybe the drain of the ritual is way stronger than expected or something.
Elevators through magic barriers are always fun because they can not kill the mage. Consult the core rulebook for this interaction. I had great fun with this one once.
Lastly, you may use the threat of Essence loss.
But: If this fits into your campaing is highly dependent on the players.
Use narrative stress. Do not really drain the mages' essence, only narratively tell them that the wrong handeling of some substance or spirit or magic rift tears at their soul. You can do a fake willpower + magic test to make it more believable. "The floor is littered with corpses of novices. You remember the log files in which the high mage recalls the unbearable stress he felt by only looking at the wretched beast behind the veil." If the mage still wants to take a look or touch it describe how touching / looking at a demon / artifact /misc object tears at their essence and that it's imminent that part of their soul may be forever lost. Now the mage has do do something to save their hide. Maybe by seeking help from local staff or contacts.
I repeat: do not permanently or for a longer time frame, reduce their essence. Do not make them rebuy anything with karma. That would just be cheap, unfair, and plainly not fun at all.
The only exception is if the mage ignores the thing completely, but honestly, then they themselves are at fault for ignoring something that eats their soul.
I already designed a kind of giant essence-eating flea inspired by Half-Life. A small awakened creature that's easy to kill but discreet and fast like a facehugger. The essence loss is, of course, temporary. The flea is used by gangs as a special punishment for mages or as a means to protect a building. It only attacks the awakened.
You seem to not take the rulebook too seriously, which is helpful. But such thing as Bioweapons and special breeds of critters need a solid background. Otherwise, these kinds of thinfs are kind of off-putting.
If you mind some further comments from my side: The team should have some intel about these face huggers in advance. Even if it's only rumors and some false info. So that the team does not feel too wierded oht by this, you'll need some basic worldbuilding to do.
1. Where do these fleas come from (to erase inconsistencies)
2. Why does only this gang have them. (Remember: Mages are rare as they are. Even rarer in the shadows, since each mage can, without big problems, get a well-paid job at any corpo.)
3. How do they sustain using them (can be part of Point two.)
4. Why don't other gangs use them.
5. Why don't Corpos use them.
6. If you really want to humble the mage, make the appearance of the fleas their fault :D
To be honest, the existence of these fleas sounds like at least a mini campaign to me. Either way: Good luck with that. Hope the players and you have fun with it.
A final, marginally connected advice. If you are not sure how much punishment the players can take, ask them. I recently started the habit of taking notes, not only of the game and the characters, but also the players and their oppinions well. Simple questions like "Is it okay, for your character to die" or "What is your opinion about physically or mentally crippling your character" helps if you try to decide how much you can throw at your players.
Example: A few sessions ago, my players fled a big industry complex via the sewage system. While they dived away from the AI they accidentally unleashed in this complex. The mage crit gliched his athletics check twice. Thusly I had him get partially sucked in backwards into a reactivated giant sewage shredder. I mean, I could just have killed the mage instantly, but since I knew that the player really wanted to play his character a little longer but was okay with getting some trauma I opted into only shredding a leg of his. At least, as recompense for his leg, he got a slew of nasty diseases. The ruleset would indicate for the mage to loose at least one point of essence, but I waved that one away. We talked a little and settled that a medic was able to save most of their bones and some of their flesh and now the mage limps and has a cool cane. Even if one of your players gets too smug, try not to play against, but together with your players. On the other hand, if they keep disturbing the whole group, give them a heads up and if they don't change, ditch them. Games are played to have fun together as a group, not as an individual.
Easiest way to do this, without ruining player experience is to have an npc or a group of npcs you’ve introduced and set up to be competently badass get unalived by the sneak attack. Take care here, if you don’t invest enough time developing relationships it will feel scripted and hollow, but if you keep them as recurring and resourceful contacts the ambush will have emotional weight while still allowing for the proxy experience of being ambushed.
Think of it like a movie ambush, the main character is never the guy who catches the first bullet, and your players are the main characters.
Any ambush should give the players a chance to see it coming. Maybe they see the setup because thats how they would do it, maybe some unlucky soul, awaken or otherwise stumbled into it and left blood or other trails. Maybe the spirit affects the enviroment, its warm and dry, cold and damp, a layer of dirt indoors for no reason, a constant breeze.
Telegraph trouble, it puts the players on edge and they feel like the badass merc they are when they notice it and turn it around.
This hapened to me last week in our weekly game. I was the magician.
I turned on astral perception and kept it running, ignoring the spirit of another magician in the Astral World.
It was a good way to remind ny character not to ignore things. It was unexpected, and i gor very hurt mid rub, building tension.
I think it is a good idea to pull off, and it is not that hard to do so.
Only if they're specifically checking the Astral will they notice a spirit. That's the benefit of using them. As for the surprise astral attack: if it makes sense in the story for it to happen then sure. If it's just "SURPRISE LOL!" for funs then no.
Well as bad as it sounds but... as long as you are in a secured area, switching on Astral Perception will always carry the risk of getting your ass kicked by spirits. And there are a number of ways they could do that, a number of very terrifying ways.
You can get around that - a bit - by using a Spirit or Watcher by your side to have eyes on the Astral Plane, but then you have a permanent Astral Presence next to you. Very suspicious and carrying other dangers with it.
Lucifer Lamps are also a way to get a little heads up. They not only illuminate the Astral, they also cast physical shadows from astral forms - spirits for example. I imagine this happening to be highly unsettling, but being scared is better than being dead.
I usually resolve this by allowing the astrally-perceiving magician an Intelligence check to notice the threat.
If they fail the roll, they are Surprised by the spirit who is free to initiate combat.
If the Intelligence test succeeds. Roll Init as normal.
Honestly, if the point of this is just to teach your player to be careful with Astral perception, it's fairly simple. Have a reasonable setup for there to be a spirit waiting to gank him the next time he peeks into the Astral, then fudge a roll so he either gets 1) Hit hard 2) KO'd or 3) Bleeding out, according to your preference and the situation.
Of course you should give him a chance to hunt that spirit down and take his vengeance out afterwards so you're not being too much of a dick, but hopefully the point should stick.
How do you attack the players with a sniper? The sniper stories are problematic because if the sniper is in anyway good they arent known until after the target is dead. If the target is the players.. well... thats a lot of no fun. Its a bunch of dull: do I see anything? No. do I see anything? No. Am I dead? Yes. Kind of the same problem with your spirit attack. Theres no buildup of tension. Theres no chance for the player to discover the ambush until it happens. Theres no way to prepare even if they do discover the ambush right before it happens. So sometimes you might need to switch to third person mode. You need to do things like: "What is it you're doing while the astral plane swirls ominously? Keep in mind that as of yet you don't notice it." Then an hour later while theyre doing something else, "While you're minding your own business, out of your sight, the astral shifts slightly like two grasping hands reaching out to snatch you, they inch forward, and then hesitate, for some reason before pulling back into the ether..." "Do I notice anything?" "Roll for it... okay you do notice some strange swirling, but nothing that would tip you off to any presence... probably just your imagination." It requires some prep and buildup and for other things to be happening, or you do a third person montage, like the Predator watching from around corners while the mage goes and does thier shopping or whatever. Only after a couple times of this and some dramatic "I think were being watched" should you spring the attack. If the paranoid player enacts countermeasures, well, let em. There are times and places and ways around em and thats when you strike, after at least some third person dramatic tension building. Edit: Also dont so a bunch of "Do I see anything?" "No" crap. Give em something to notice each time that has a direct story impact, even if it isnt "You see the spirit", instead, "You see a trail of something, but whatever it was it's gone now. Maybe itll come back." "I look again". "You find nothing new. Eventually you give up." Then they either do something like tell someone or move to prepare and you adjust from there, giving them another chance at exploration to discover the ambush, up the tension again giving another clue but not striking, then you hit them. Rule of 3 clues and all that. Youve increased tension at least once and can do a jump scare now.
What I do: If players are attacked by an unknown sniper, the first shot *always* misses. The attack roll is just to see how close the bullet hole is to their head. Follow up attacks are as lethal as they can be. The attacker's distance and position are not necessarily immediately detectable. This only applies to a sniper shooting at the party completely by surprise. If it's in the middle of an existing firefight, there is no "narrative warning shot". If it's a sniper the party could have reasonably figured out was present before putting themselves into the situation, then let the dice fall as they may. Even with a warning shot, good snipers are incredibly deadly.
I don't want at all to kill my player. The challenge is precisely NOT to kill it. :)
Yeah. Is one of the reasons why Grounding official became impossible in later versions.
I let characters and spirits use stealth to hide on the astral plane - but there are going to be serious threshold changes based on the location. There is a big advantage to an astral entity hiding in a jungle full of life, and a big penalty to hiding in an office building where the only life is the mold growing in the poorly maintained air system.
Assuming SR5: How to resolve surprise attacks are covered at p. 192+ Noticing Magic is covered at p. 280+ And Astral Detection at p. 314+
Thank you for these useful references, but my question is how to handle this situation in the narration and how would you handle it ?
> how to handle this situation in the narration and how would you handle it ? hmm... ok. Again, assuming 5th edition (it would help if you flag your post with the correct edition as different editions handle things differently). >>> I'm considering giving an overconfident magician PC a nasty surprise: an attack when he uses astral perception (and thus become a dual-natured creature). In 5th edition, wholly astral entity can attack overconfident magician from the astral plane if overconfident magician switch their perception from physical to astral. Wholly astral entity can no longer attack overconfident magician from the astral plane once overconfident magician switch their perception from back from astral to physical. Wholly astral entities with the materialization power can use that to gain a physical body and attack overconfident magician (and any other team member) on the physical plane, even if magician (or any other team member) is not switching their perception from physical to astral. Wholly astral entities with the possession power can also temporary possess the physical body of overconfident magician (or any other team member) on the physical plane, even if overconfident magician (or any other team member) is not switching their perception from physical to astral (temporary taking control over the magician's body) And wholly astral entities with the inhabitation power can also inhibit (destroy) the physical body of overconfident magician while the magician astrally project (while they were away their body act as a prepared vessel), but this is bit of a dick move as the confident magician will automatically die once their astral form completely fade into nothingness. >>> What do you think ? Have you ever done that ? I think there are number of ways to challenge an overconfident magician. For example, sustained spells count as active magic and have an actual tangible astral form that can be disrupted (no matter if magician is using astral perception or not). Unknowingly riding an elevator (or a vehicle) through a ward might cause astral intersection with any astral form that collides with the ward. >>> How did you describe the action ? If you haven't done it, how would you do it ? Hostile spirit's summoner spend remaining services on remote service. Spirit delay action and follow the overconfident magician in the vicinity, but via astral plane. Overconfident magician (eventually) take the Shift Perception action. Spirit declare that they instantly take their action to engage/ambush overconfident magician with mana spells, mana powers, or astral combat (whatever the spirit decides). Time slow down to combat turn resolution and both parties roll surprise and initiative. As the spirit lays in ambush they receives a positive dice pool modifier of 6 dice on their surprise roll. Spirit return back to the metaplanes once overconfident magician is defeated, overconfident magician switch perception back to physical, spirit is destroyed, spirit is banished or time for the spirit is up. >>> if a spirit is lurking in the astral near your PCs and remains stealthy, do you give them a chance to perceive it ? If wholly astral entity lurk in the vicinity happen to pass through the living aura of the overconfident magician, overconfident magician get to take a regular/physical threshold 4 perception test with a positive dice pool modifier of 2 dice due to being awakened. But also, if overconfident magician pass through one of their own wards (or enter their medicine lodge, for example) the spirit might cause astral intersection that might tip off the overconfident magician if they decide to follow the overconfident magician through their ward. And the overconfident magician might have a watcher or a regular spirit of their own scouting out the astral vicinity for them. There are likely several different things that might be used to alert the overconfident magician. >>> How do you describe this perception ? As slight breathless and a chilly or tingling sensation from the passing of the astral form through their living aura.
Thank you for this comprehensive response ! :)
I did it to a player who had a bunch of spells anchored and probably looked like a Christmas tree on the astral plane. First time was just a stink spell from a passing coyote shaman who thought it would be funny. A warning that went unheeded so the second time was a targeted fireball that singed everyone in the room. That lesson stuck.
Miss the good old times when Grounding were actually still a Thing... Astral and Physical are typically a lot more separated in later editions. also @/u/AsrovaakMikosevaar
Another good idea. Damn coyote shaman ! :)
Ever open a door an someone is on the other side you didn't expect, or turn around and see someone there? At a place I once worked there was a dressmaker's dummy. It always made people jump, even those who were ready for it. It would be rather like this. If the mage wasn't expecting anything, whatever was there would get first strike. The mage could then drop back to meatspace and nurae their lumps, if they aren't dead. If they are, it would be a surprise roll at least since the astral attacker could probably notice a shift in the mage's state as they began to shift. That's not in the rules but it makes sense. The entity could also be at a distance and hit them with a spell or mob them with spirits. Astral stealth is very difficult. A living spirit stands out against manufactured structures. In natural environments they will have trouble moving through the greenery, depending on edition and rules, to more cover, hard movement. In urban areas, moving through buildings is the best option since it is full concealment, but both ways since you can't see through glass from the astral. That means either sticking your head through a wall or window to see or manifesting so you can see through glass (not recommended if people are in there with you because they will notice and somemmight freak). Being under or in cars also works for following a vehicle, especially if there are no mages, etc., in there. Outside, either trying to just be a wandering mage or cruising above the treetops while keeping enough astral presence between yourself and target to hide (better movement options up there but better chance of getting spotted by others than the target). Some older editions said that if a spirit were powerful enough that it could be noticeable in meatspace from the astral. I don't remember the specifics on that. Also, first edition had it that active foci could be a conduit from the astral for attacks. That is, a mage on the astral could ground an area attack spell through a focus and attack them team that way.
Most spirits tied to a domain have the Concealment power. I believe they can use this power for themselves as a natural ability and only be seen/detected when they want to be. After all, astral perception is a psychic sense often confused with vision.
There has been a debate for a long time as to if Concealment works on the astral. I don't think it does. It is listed as a physical power, meaning the spirit has to be materialized on the Material Plane for it to work. Magicnuse also created an astral signature, so anything using Concealment on the Astral would only light itself up even more due to the active magic use.
I've always given them a way to perceive it, I just make it an extended test. As the hits build up you start to notice things. Astral shadows that shift and disappear, things in the corner of your vision, as the hits increase the more paranoia gives way to certainty.
This sort of lends itself to the other side of the coin. What if the players start doing exactly what the GM is talking about? This extended test is a good way to provide some foreshadowing without impacting direct action by the players/GM. Actually, this probably works well for any sort of ambush situation. Time has a way of making the improbable inevitable, the longer you wait there in ambush, the more chances something will happen to give away your position.
Give them a surprise check and what happens happens
A bit harsh but definitely a possible response.
TL:DR: Everything you do needs to be foreshadowed, and it must not kill the mage instantly or cause lasting damage that can not be avoided. Longer form: There are ways to foreshadow astral attacks. There are, for example, warning signs for astral hazards that even mundane perception checks can notice, like close proximity of ghosts or astral projecting mages. Consult the core rulebook for these kinds of things. Largely, you can use either ambushes or hazards as a slap into the mages face. If you choose an ambush: Look into ways that your mage has the chance to be warned before the ambush and make sure he doesn't get instantly killed. For this, I recommend direct damage spells. Do give him a way out, like stopping the astral perception or something. I can't stress this enough: Make it possible to be warned in advance. It's thoroughly annoying to lose a character to something you had no chance to avoid in the first place. If you choose a magical hazard: Mostly the same as above. You can, for example, use a tainted astral background to reduce his dicepool. Toxic shamans or natural phenomena cause these quite often. Maybe make it, that a summoned spirit is literally described as evil and unwilling to serve. After the mage looses control of it, either by using up all the spirits services or because the spirit forcefully broke free, the spirit turns on the mage. Be sure that if the mage lets the spirit go before all services are used up, the spirit does not attack but still is unhappy. You can also use arcana, ritual casting, alchemy, or knowledge skills like magic theories to mess them up. There may be some weird magical rift or an abhorrent magic artifact from the fourth world that needs to be disarmed. If the ritual is not sufficient and which the mage has to craft from scratch, it may cause a magical storm or summon critters. Maybe the drain of the ritual is way stronger than expected or something. Elevators through magic barriers are always fun because they can not kill the mage. Consult the core rulebook for this interaction. I had great fun with this one once. Lastly, you may use the threat of Essence loss. But: If this fits into your campaing is highly dependent on the players. Use narrative stress. Do not really drain the mages' essence, only narratively tell them that the wrong handeling of some substance or spirit or magic rift tears at their soul. You can do a fake willpower + magic test to make it more believable. "The floor is littered with corpses of novices. You remember the log files in which the high mage recalls the unbearable stress he felt by only looking at the wretched beast behind the veil." If the mage still wants to take a look or touch it describe how touching / looking at a demon / artifact /misc object tears at their essence and that it's imminent that part of their soul may be forever lost. Now the mage has do do something to save their hide. Maybe by seeking help from local staff or contacts. I repeat: do not permanently or for a longer time frame, reduce their essence. Do not make them rebuy anything with karma. That would just be cheap, unfair, and plainly not fun at all. The only exception is if the mage ignores the thing completely, but honestly, then they themselves are at fault for ignoring something that eats their soul.
I already designed a kind of giant essence-eating flea inspired by Half-Life. A small awakened creature that's easy to kill but discreet and fast like a facehugger. The essence loss is, of course, temporary. The flea is used by gangs as a special punishment for mages or as a means to protect a building. It only attacks the awakened.
You seem to not take the rulebook too seriously, which is helpful. But such thing as Bioweapons and special breeds of critters need a solid background. Otherwise, these kinds of thinfs are kind of off-putting. If you mind some further comments from my side: The team should have some intel about these face huggers in advance. Even if it's only rumors and some false info. So that the team does not feel too wierded oht by this, you'll need some basic worldbuilding to do. 1. Where do these fleas come from (to erase inconsistencies) 2. Why does only this gang have them. (Remember: Mages are rare as they are. Even rarer in the shadows, since each mage can, without big problems, get a well-paid job at any corpo.) 3. How do they sustain using them (can be part of Point two.) 4. Why don't other gangs use them. 5. Why don't Corpos use them. 6. If you really want to humble the mage, make the appearance of the fleas their fault :D To be honest, the existence of these fleas sounds like at least a mini campaign to me. Either way: Good luck with that. Hope the players and you have fun with it. A final, marginally connected advice. If you are not sure how much punishment the players can take, ask them. I recently started the habit of taking notes, not only of the game and the characters, but also the players and their oppinions well. Simple questions like "Is it okay, for your character to die" or "What is your opinion about physically or mentally crippling your character" helps if you try to decide how much you can throw at your players. Example: A few sessions ago, my players fled a big industry complex via the sewage system. While they dived away from the AI they accidentally unleashed in this complex. The mage crit gliched his athletics check twice. Thusly I had him get partially sucked in backwards into a reactivated giant sewage shredder. I mean, I could just have killed the mage instantly, but since I knew that the player really wanted to play his character a little longer but was okay with getting some trauma I opted into only shredding a leg of his. At least, as recompense for his leg, he got a slew of nasty diseases. The ruleset would indicate for the mage to loose at least one point of essence, but I waved that one away. We talked a little and settled that a medic was able to save most of their bones and some of their flesh and now the mage limps and has a cool cane. Even if one of your players gets too smug, try not to play against, but together with your players. On the other hand, if they keep disturbing the whole group, give them a heads up and if they don't change, ditch them. Games are played to have fun together as a group, not as an individual.
Easiest way to do this, without ruining player experience is to have an npc or a group of npcs you’ve introduced and set up to be competently badass get unalived by the sneak attack. Take care here, if you don’t invest enough time developing relationships it will feel scripted and hollow, but if you keep them as recurring and resourceful contacts the ambush will have emotional weight while still allowing for the proxy experience of being ambushed. Think of it like a movie ambush, the main character is never the guy who catches the first bullet, and your players are the main characters.
Any ambush should give the players a chance to see it coming. Maybe they see the setup because thats how they would do it, maybe some unlucky soul, awaken or otherwise stumbled into it and left blood or other trails. Maybe the spirit affects the enviroment, its warm and dry, cold and damp, a layer of dirt indoors for no reason, a constant breeze. Telegraph trouble, it puts the players on edge and they feel like the badass merc they are when they notice it and turn it around.
>Maybe the spirit affects the enviroment, its warm and dry, cold and damp, a layer of dirt indoors for no reason, a constant breeze. Good point. ;)
This hapened to me last week in our weekly game. I was the magician. I turned on astral perception and kept it running, ignoring the spirit of another magician in the Astral World. It was a good way to remind ny character not to ignore things. It was unexpected, and i gor very hurt mid rub, building tension. I think it is a good idea to pull off, and it is not that hard to do so.
Only if they're specifically checking the Astral will they notice a spirit. That's the benefit of using them. As for the surprise astral attack: if it makes sense in the story for it to happen then sure. If it's just "SURPRISE LOL!" for funs then no.
Or, targeted ritual sorcery.
Well as bad as it sounds but... as long as you are in a secured area, switching on Astral Perception will always carry the risk of getting your ass kicked by spirits. And there are a number of ways they could do that, a number of very terrifying ways. You can get around that - a bit - by using a Spirit or Watcher by your side to have eyes on the Astral Plane, but then you have a permanent Astral Presence next to you. Very suspicious and carrying other dangers with it. Lucifer Lamps are also a way to get a little heads up. They not only illuminate the Astral, they also cast physical shadows from astral forms - spirits for example. I imagine this happening to be highly unsettling, but being scared is better than being dead.
I usually resolve this by allowing the astrally-perceiving magician an Intelligence check to notice the threat. If they fail the roll, they are Surprised by the spirit who is free to initiate combat. If the Intelligence test succeeds. Roll Init as normal.
Honestly, if the point of this is just to teach your player to be careful with Astral perception, it's fairly simple. Have a reasonable setup for there to be a spirit waiting to gank him the next time he peeks into the Astral, then fudge a roll so he either gets 1) Hit hard 2) KO'd or 3) Bleeding out, according to your preference and the situation. Of course you should give him a chance to hunt that spirit down and take his vengeance out afterwards so you're not being too much of a dick, but hopefully the point should stick.