The Meat Market

Ninja Revisited

by Brian Ward & Michael Scott <[G--c--s] at [aol.com]>

For those of you who have read my >>>OUR archetype dammit-WAR MAGE<<< Ninja archetype (shameless plug) out of NAGEE 5, I went back and improved him by making him a full mage. This adds the ability to fight on the astral plane, which he does very well. For those looking for the right mindset to make him unstoppable, read the Destroyer books, by Richard Sapir and Warren Murphy. The above is as close as I>>>we<<< could get to Chiun. You still strike from surprise and darkness, passing through as though truly a ghost, which can be done with the spells he has.

>>>We<<< tend to use weird spells, new ideas, and reverse engineering, so the Magic Theory is high, but he really should be run like a Physical Adept, the class he was intended to replace. When initiated, he appears to be mundane, if you ever see him at all, which is unlikely. Additionally, the electronics makes him a great surveillance asset, and he can place those grenades on timers for the distraction the team needs.

NOTE for GM’s, this class can also be done shamanically, making him a wolf warrior, or eagle, or whatever, but DO NOT EVER allow a bat shaman, or anything else that is initiated at creation. Those locks are masked from day one and this makes him a bit too powerful for other creation level runners.

Priorities

A) magic , B) tech, C) skills, D) attr, E) race

Quotes

“Samurai are such blundering oxen”

“Of course you lost, you are not Korean”

“With the soy you are eating, I should kill you now, and spare you the pain.”

Attributes

Body           2
Quickness      3
Strength       2
Charisma       2
Intelligence   3
Willpower      5
Essence        6
Magic          6
Reaction       3
Initiative    +4d6

Skills

Sorcery               5
  Spell casting       7
Magic Theory          1
  Design              3
    Hermetic          5
Conjuring             3
Unarmed Combat        5
  Martial Art Style   7
Stealth               3
Athletics             3

Spells

Armor 1 locked
Inc Reflexes (+3) 1 locked
Heal 3
Personal Combat Sense 1 locked
Paralyzing touch 4
  (Man) touch only f/2+1 M, acts as touch-only Bind spell
Ghost 3 locked
  Improved Invisibility with special bonus effect
  acts also against olfactory and audio perceptions and
  equipment
Passwall 6
  Maj Phys Mani  f/2+2 M, sustained, physical, touch req.
  subject can pass through objects on an Object
  Resistance test
Striking Hand 6
  power bolt with blast effects, touch only  f/2S
Subduing Hand 6
  stun touch with blast effects, touch only  f/2-2M
  (damage starts at serious)

Contacts

Gang boss      Mr Johnson
Squatter       Yak Boss

Gear

4 spell locks
Sorcery Library 6, 4 optichips
Magic Theory Library 6, 4 optichips
5 GP table top PC, turtle configuration
2 shock gloves, right and left (non magical HTH surprise)
combat knife, survival style
Signal locator 6
10 tracking signal 6
Laser microphone 6
Shotgun mike 6
Dataline tap 6
Jammer 6
Bug Scanner 6
Lowlight Goggles x20 mag
AZT Micro25 Microcybercam
pocket secretary
hand held laser designator
Level 3 Body armor
Secure Ultravest
Forearm guards
Urban gray Gi
Really crappy military surplus longcoat
  no armor value, but a great squatter disguise
Backpack
6 IPE Offensive grenades
6 IPE Defensive grenades
10 IPE concussion grenades
10 IR Smoke grenades

Other

4 months low lifestyle, prepaid
  palmprint 6 security inside
Basic DocWagon (tm) contract

Thieves in the Shadows

by Mike Weber <[w--be--m] at [freenet3.scri.fsu.edu]>

I was wondering if anyone had ever made a thief like character before. I’ve got two versions, a cybered and a PhysAd type.

The thief derides the more obvious and unsubtle methods of the more violent archetypes, preferring stealth and cunning to force. His motto is, “violence is the last refugee of the incompetent”.

(Cybered version, from Challenge #71)

[I can’t run this one… Since its directly out of a real magazine, I could get my but shot off for copyright infringement. Okay, so it probably won’t happen. Challenge will probably never see this. But hey, why take chances. I mean, look at the fit TSR had a while back about BBS’s and info archives. If anyone wants to see this version, email me and I’ll send it along. Aroooo]

(PhysAd version, mine)

Attributes

Body           3
Quickness      4
Strength       3
Charisma       2
Intelligence   4
Willpower      4
Essence        6
Magic          6
Reaction       4 (6)

PhysAd Abilities

Improved ability (athletics) 4
Improved ability (stealth) 4, 
Increased reaction 1, 
Increased reflexes 1, 
Improved senses: lowlight vision, thermographic vision, hearing amp, optics 1

Skills

Etiquette (street)    6
Negotiation           5
Firearms              5
Unarmed               4
Stealth (urban)       5(7)
Electronics           5
Athletics             5
Appraisal             4

Gear

Resources “D” was chosen
I’d recommend street lifestyle
Vest w/plates
Narcojet pistol

Contacts

Fixer          Mage detective

Anyone have any ideas to make the PhysAd version better, or how to best spend the resources allocated?