From: [f--h--e] at [netcom.com] Reply-To: [f--h--e] at [netcom.com] Errors-To: [flashlife request] at [netcom.com] Subject: Flashlife V3 #2 To: [f--h--e] at [netcom.com] From: Carl Rigney (moderator) <[flashlife request] at [netcom.com]> Flashlife Wed, 13 Nov, 1991 Volume 3 : Issue 2 Today's topics: Two questions (Reinlieb) Shamanism (Scratch) Seattle's Shadows (Jester) Ow, my brain _HURTS_ (Jaycee) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 6 Jul 91 00:52 EDT From: Subject: Two questions How are physical skills used, they are mentioned in the text, you can buy auto-successes with them, but no guidelines are anywhere presented. There is a conc. in running , but running is detailed in the combat section and has nothing to do with a skill roll. In the grimore we discover that picking pockets is a stealth activity, something not mentioned under stealth. What attack codes do physicaly manifested spirits use in melee combat? In the main book desert spirits only can attack but no code in listed. The Grimore removes the attack 'power' from the description of desert spirits and implies (gives details of how humans can hit in melee combat) that any spirit can manifest and physically slug somebody. -Andrew Shadowalker [Look in the chapters for "Behind the Scenes" or "After the Shadowrun" for more on skill use. I don't allow spirits to melee, but if you want to allow them then FASA probably expects you to use the corresponding elemental type. --CDR] -------------------------- Date: Sat, 5 Oct 91 03:52:28 -0400 From: [s c rat c h] at [hpb.cis.pitt.edu] Subject: Shamanism [Note: I am sending this to Carl Rigney for inclusion in the Flashlife digest, wherein lots of Shadowrunners hang out, and to the Cyberrpg mailing list] I stopped by a used bookstore a few days ago and stumbled upon an interesting book. Why post about it here? Well, it may be quite useful to players and GMs in Shadowrun games that make extensive use of the Shaman archetype. The title of the book is _Shamanism_, compiled by Shirley Nicholson. It's a compilation of interviews, essays, etc, about the general subject of shamanism. The cover is black with red trim and the title and author in light blue. A color picture of a Kwakiutl transformational mask is on the cover. Amusingly enough, the appearance of the book gave me the brief impression that it was some sort of FASA supplement - the same perfect-bound, slick production values, and color. Despite the fact that it has new-agish overtones, the book is chock full o' interesting information about various shamanic cultures and theories about shamanism that the enterprising Shadowrun GM could use to enhance the game and complicate the shaman player's life, or the player could use to expand the role-playing potential of his character. I found it in the New Age section of a used bookstore for $4, nearly new. It's an oversized paperback, about 8" x 5", 300 pages. The cover price is $7.50, ISBN: 0-8356-0617-1. The publishers are: The Theosophical Publishing House Wheaton, Illinois, USA Madras, India/London, England and you can order from: QUEST BOOKS 306 West Geneva Road Wheaton, Illinois, 60187 The books contents include: Foreword: The Mind and Soul of the Shaman [Jean Houston] The Shaman's Alternate Reality The Ancient Wisdom in Shamanic Cultures [Michael Harner/Gary Doore] Shamanism and Cosmology [Mircea Eliade] The Presence of Spirits in Magic and Madness [Richard Noll] Crazy Wisdom: The Shaman as Mediator of Realities [Mary Schmidt] Shamanism: An Archaic and/or Recent Belief System [Mihaly Hoppal] Shamanic States of Consciousness The Shaman: Master Healer in the Imaginary Realm [Jeanne Achterberg] Dreams and Shamanism [Stanley Krippner] Shamanism, ESP and the Paranormal [D. Scott Rogo] Rolling Thunder at Work [Jim Swan] Shamanic Traditions The Tamang Shamanism of Nepal [Larry G. Peters] Shamanism in the Jewish Tradition [Rabbi Yonassan Gershom] The Way of the Adventurer [Serge King] The Native American Prayer Pipe [John Redtail Freesoul] Shamanism and the Perennial Philosophy Shamanism, Mind, and No-Self [Joan Halifax] The Dreamtime, Mysticism and Liberation: Shamanism in Australia [Ven. E. Nandisvara Nayake Thero] Transformation Process in Shamanism, Alchemy, and Yoga [Ralph Metzner] Shamanism and Theosophy [Robert Ellwood] Shamanism in a Changing World The Shaman WIthin [David Feinstein] Lineage of the Sun [Brooke Medicine Eagle] Black Elk: Then and Now [William Lyon] Steven J. Owens [s c rat c h] at [hpb.cis.pitt.edu] -------------------------- Date: Thu, 24 Oct 91 11:21:07 EDT From: The Jester <[r--sh--n] at [cs.ulowell.edu]> Subject: Seattle's Shadows... I was thinking the other day about all of the wonderful sourcebooks that FASA has heaped upon us, and all the ones that they plan to give us as well. But then something occurred to me: not once have they REALLY given any detail to the shadows of the world. Sure, the Seattle and London Sourcebooks give some blurbs about the shadows, but there is no real hard source material about, say, the Fixers, important personalities, and whatnot of Seattle's underworld, the world of the shadowrunner. Thoughts? Or does it seem like I'm just whining? Brett Cashman (The Jester) [r--sh--n] at [cs.ulowell.edu] -------------------------- Date: Fri, 25 Oct 91 14:30:22 BST From: Jaycee <[D T M Gladding] at [loughborough.ac.uk]> Subject: Ow, my brain _HURTS_ Having been reading up on my copy of VR, it comes to mind that riggers and deckers both work in a similar manner - a simsense link, with the autocutoffs either removed totally, or shifted to allow a better 'feel' of what's coming through on the link. This is then said to be the cause of deckers getting headaches (ie: the willpoer test against damage taken) when thier MPCP's get burned. So why not apply the same to riggers ? One guy, Shield, got a PV blown to bits by several highly armoured pillboxes that it drove in between - other than fiancial worries this caused no problems. However - if a decker goes in and has his MPCP fried, he then probably has several light stuns - depending on willpower of course. If this principle had been applied in last nights firefight, the poor rigger wouldn't have been quite so happy about firing missiles into the area... On a lighter side point, the GM has to be applauded for a brilliant trick he used - a dummy ultrasound sight, left in the rubble. I _knew_ that there was someone in there - I couldn't see him on lowlight, and as we were currently in Hell's Kitchen, Thermo wasn't very hot either. The burning PV and pillboxes didn't help. So, I switched on my ultrasound sight, and started scanning. Picking up the emmision of the other sight, I fired several bursts down the line at it - the other guys going to be just behind there... The mage who was hunting me said somehing along the lines of "there she is" and hit me with a stunbolt. I bounced it, but that's another story. The moral of this is - even clever chrome guys (and gals) can be confused easily if you think about it. Just wait till i get my revenge.... Bye for now, Razors. [d t m gladding] at [uk.ac.lut] "Listen... is there any rule which says Shadowrunners can't go on holiday? So don't complain - I'll be back. " - JayCee -------------------------- End of Flashlife **************************