From: lward@husc11.harvard.edu (Lester Ward)
Subject: FAQ: Shadowrun
Followup-To: rec.games.frp.misc
Originator: cwatters@magnusug.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
Reply-To: lward@husc11.harvard.edu
Organization: The Ohio State University
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1993 07:09:05 GMT

                ****************************************
                *              SHADOWFAQ               *
                *      Frequently Asked Questions      *
                *        for the Shadowrun RPG         *
                ****************************************

As of: January 23, 1993
Version: 2.0
Compiled by: Wordman (ward1@husc.harvard.edu)

This post is posted monthly and is meant to answer some FAQ (frequently 
asked  questions) about FASA's Shadowrun and to suggest some house rules 
which hope to fix some of Shadowrun's deficiencies.  These deficiencies 
have become much fewer in number since Shadowrun II was released, and 
most of the rules in here are meant to be used with SRII.  Some common 
fixes for SRII are still included for use with SRI, for those of you odd 
enough to be using it, and these will be tagged with <OLD>.

Entirely new rules systems and/or long, radically different rules are  
not included in these posts, for the sake of brevity, if nothing else.   
So, you will not find, for example, rules for martial arts or new types 
of spirits.

The house rules were put together from the posts of the people posting 
to rec.games.frp, rec.games.cyber and flashlife.  This post contains the 
entire FAQ, breaking from the past format of making each category a 
separate post.  The seperation was a bit more organized, but was 
somewhat of an administrative nightmare.  The categories are:
   general -- questions about real world stuff
   armor -- most of these are for SRI, as armor in SRII seems OK.
   combat -- guns, melee and initiative
   decking -- matrix, decking, deckers, decks
   magic  -- sorcery, phys ads, enchanting, conjuring
   mechanics -- dice, metahumanity, misc.

Generally, each entry in this post starts with a general FAQ,  then 
attempts to answer the question under vanilla Shadowrun rules, if  
applicable.  Following this are house rules relating to and/or answering  
the question or concern.

Many of the house rules go very well with other house rules. The intent 
of these posts is to modularize each house rule into simple components 
which may be mixed and matched.

CHOICES:
Where two very similar house rules existed, either the more complex of 
the two was used, or two sub-variants were listed.  Some subtleties were 
left out to cut down on the length of this post.

FEEDBACK:
The vanilla answers to some FAQs may be in error or dispute.  Usually an 
SR rule is specific as to meaning, so conflicting interpretations of a 
rule should be rare.  If you disagree with a vanilla answer, mail 
ward1@husc.harvard.edu and state your alternate case.  Please note that 
this is if you disagree with the listed vanilla INTERPRETATION of a 
rule, not the rule itself.  An attempt was made to give vanilla answers 
in the way which seemed to be consensus when disscussed on rec.games.frp

If you disagree with a posted house rule, please do NOT send mail to 
ward1@husc.harvard.edu.  Just don't use it.

If you have a house rule that seems reasonable, please post it to 
rec.games.frp.  If it is general enough, it will find its way onto these 
lists.

PERSONAL NOTE FROM THE COMPILER:
My apologies for not including the names of the authors of the house 
rules.  I feel that this had more cons than pros (not the least of which 
was, quite honestly, my having to keep track of who did what).

I do not necessarily agree with or use the house rules in these posts.  
I have attempted to take my opinions out of these posts all together, 
but I'm sure they seep in anyway.  Again, my apologies.

Enjoy,
Wordman
ward1@husc.harvard.edu

			**********************************
			*            OUTLINE             *
			**********************************
I. General
	A. Titling posts
	B. About NAGEE
	C. Internet Shadowrun resources
	D. Kage magazine
	E. Shadowrun Products
II. Armor
	A. Weakening Armor (for SRI)
	B. Layering Armor
III. Combat
	A. Initiative
		1. Slowing down mages
		2. ...and the rule of 6.
	B. Hit location.
	C. Grenades
	D. Modifiers
	E. Narcojet weapons
IV. Decking
	A. Starting decker's costs
	B. GMing Deckers
	C. Persona programs
	D. Hacking pool
	E. Examples
		1. Sleaze with auto-exec
		2. Sleaze without auto-exec
		3. Black IC
V. Magic
	A. Increase Initiative Spells
	B. Spell Locks
		1. Grounding spells
		2. Locking vs. Quickening
		3. Karma for locks
	C. Foci
		1. First Bonding
		2. Masking Foci
	D. Physical Adepts and metemagic
	E. Superiority
		1. Mages vs. Shaman
		2. Physical Adepts vs. Samurai
	F. Alienation
VI. Mechanics
	A. Dice
		1. The Rule of Six
		2. High rolling
	B. Stacking skillwires
	C. Concentrations and Specializations


			**********************************
			*            GENERAL             *
			**********************************
*******
G1: How should I title my posts?
*******
Please, please, please put a header on your post identifying it as a 
Shadowrun post.  The most common way of doing this is by putting SRUN: 
or SRII: in front of the post name.  Of all the things in this post, 
this is the most important.  Just do it.  Everyone will be happier.

*******
G2: Where can I get the Neoanarchist's Guide to Everything Else?
*******
This net.book (not to be confused with the FASA product "The 
Neoanarchist's Guide to Real Life) is compiled by Jerry Stratton and 
contains SR articles of every description.  Available by anonymous ftp 
from teetot.acusd.edu in rpg/shadowrun. Submissions can be sent to 
jerry@teetot.acusd.edu.  The most current issue of NAGEE released was 
number 3.

*******
G3: What other SR resources exist on Internet?
*******
Flashlife: Send name and email address to flashlife-request@kpc.com
FTP Archive: ftp.umd.umich.edu  /pub/frp/srun  This is where to find the 
Equipment list and the character sheets that I did.  It is also a pretty 
good archive, so send stuff there if you need to.
CyberRPG: (mailing list of rec.games.cyber postings)
Bunch o' stuff: archive-server@vertas.com  Send a mail message with a
     body of "send help" on one line and "send index" on the next
Jayhawk: Mary Kuhner's fiction at ftp.white.toronto.edu
     /pub/frp/shadowrun/jayhawk
Discussion Group: shadowrn@hearn.bitnet


*******
G4: Where can I get Kage?
*******
Kage is a magazine licenced by FASA to provide new stuff at a constant 
rate of once every three months.  Subscriptions are $20 (add $4 for 
postage to Canada or Mexico, and $6 to overseas).  Checks payable to
	AWOL Productions
	2101 West Broadway #305
	POBox 6018
	Columbia, MO  65205-6018
	USA

*******
G5: What are all the Shaowrun products currently out?
*******
RULES & TECHBOOKS:
Shadowrun II
GM's screen for SRII
Grimore II
Paranatural Animals of North America
Rigger Black Book
Shadowbeat
Shadowtech
Street Samurai Catalog (note there is a version of this book with a 
    slightly different cover; don't be fooled, it is the same book.)
Virtual Realities

OUTDATED OR NO LONGER PRINTED BOOKS:
Shadowrun
Grimore
Sprawl Sites
GM's screen

SOURCEBOOKS:
Seattle Sourcebook
London Sourcebook
Neoanarchist's Guide to North America
Neoanarchist's Guide to Real Life
Native American Nations (volumes 1 & 2)

RUNS:
Bottled Demon
DNA/DOA
Dragon Hunt
Dreamchipper
Elven Fire
Harlequin
Imagico
Ivy and Chrome
Mercurial
Total Eclipse
Universal Brotherhood

FICTION:
2XS
Changling
Choose Your Enemies Carefully
Find Your Own Truth
Into the Shadows
Never Deal with a Dragon
Never Trust an Elf
Streets of Blood

RUMORS: (These have all been mentioned as being in production, but the 
validity of such claims is unknown).
Denver Sourcebook
Tir Tairngire Sourcebook
Harlequin II
map pack
Neoanarchist's Guide to Europe
Paranatural Animals of Europe
Germany In the Shadows (This is currently a real product, but so far it 
                            is only in German and only sold in Germany)

			**********************************
			*             ARMOR              *
			**********************************

******* <OLD>
A1:  Armor is too powerful.  What is to be done?
*******
HOUSE 1:  Treat the current autosuccesses from armor as auto-sixes.

HOUSE 2:  Armor does not give auto successes.  It gives it's rating in 
dice (used as body dice) to damage resistance.
   VARIANT 1:  Light armor gives 1 autosuccess in addition to dice.  
Heavy armor gives 2 autosuccesses in addition to dice.  Form-fitting 
just gives dice.

HOUSE 3:  Armor as vanilla, but impact of attack can bruise.  Resist 
damage with Body and dodge.  If this does not get rid of the damage, 
then armor reduces damage.  If any real damage gets through armor, the 
person takes that wound as normal, but if the armor absorbs all 
remaining damage, the character takes a STUN wound equal to one wound 
category less than the damage that the armor cancelled.

HOUSE 4:  Armor gives no autosuccesses or dice. Instead it subtracts its 
rating from the Power of the attack.  Zero power attacks do no damage.

HOUSE 5:  Armor degrades one point (permanently) if a) a weapon hits 
with a deadly damage code (regardless of whether the character resists 
the damage or not) or if b) the character inside the armor takes any 
damage at all.  Note that both conditions can be satisfied from a single 
hit, degrading the armor by 2 points.  This is the most that armor can 
be degraded by a single weapon hit.

HOUSE 6:  Roll a number of dice equal to armor rating. Add them together 
and divide power level of the attack (dropping all fractions).  The 
result becomes the number of autosuccesses.

*******
A2:  If I wear a lined coat over a secure jacket, do I get the benefits 
of both?
*******
VANILLA: Almost.  You can layer armor, getting the rating of the 
highest, plus one-half (round-down) the rating of the next highest.  
Usuyally, you can only layer a jacket or coat over clothing style armor, 
so the lined coat/secure jacket ensamble is out. [This rule is on pg. 94 
of the Neoanarchist's Guide to Real Life.]

VANILLA <OLD>:  No.  Only the highest rating is valid.  Armor is not 
cumulative.  (Many feel that even though this rule has some logical 
holes, armor is already too powerful to warrant changing it.)

HOUSE 1:  Each additional suit adds 1 to the rating of the toughest 
armor.  If the additional armor has no rating in the category it is 
resisting, it gives no bonuses.

			**********************************
			*             COMBAT             *
			**********************************

*******
C1: How do I stop magicians with Increase Initiative Spell Locks from 
riding circles around cybered people?
*******
VANILLA:  Since you are limited to a maximum of four actions, characters 
with very high initiative scores will likely run out of actions, dodge 
dice and defence dice very early on in combat, leaving them open to 
multiple attacks resisted without aid.

PSEUDO-VANILLA:  While not actually in the rulebooks, the following has 
been mentioned by Paul Hume and Tom Dowd: when "stacking" spells over 
cyberware, only the highest rating holds.  Reaction enhancements are not 
cumulative.

HOUSE 1:  Disallow Increase Reaction spells.

HOUSE 2 <OLD>:  Change Increase Reaction spells to only gain one die for 
every TWO levels of the spell.  Thus Inc. Reac. 2 is equivalent to Wired 
1, Inc. Reac. 4 is equiv to Wired 2.

HOUSE 3:  Change the number of phases between a character's actions from 
10 (7 in SRI) to a variable number, based on cyberware/spells.  Everyone 
gets only one die for Initiative.  The value of the roll is added to 
Reaction (cyber/spell adjusted).  Normal characters get an action every 
7 phases, other characters by this table (for SRI, subtract 3 from each 
of these values:
              wired      boosted     Increase   Physical
_level_______reflexes____reflexes____Reaction____Adepts__
   1            7           8           9          8
   2            6           7           8          6
   3            5           6           7          5
   4            -           -           6          4
   VARIANT 1:   This same idea, but limiting the Reaction bonuses of the 
types of cyberware and/or spells as well (+1 per level of wired, for 
example, instead of +2).
   VARIANT 2:   Don't use the table, but say that each extra die acts as 
a -1 decrement from the 10 base cycle rate.  The extra dice are not 
rolled for initiative.

*******
C2:  Does the rule of 6 apply to initiative?
*******
VANILLA: No.  Initiative is not a test and the rule of 6 applies only to
tests. [This can be found in the eratta sheets].

HOUSE 1: Yes.

HOUSE 2: Yes, but only to the natural die (the 'free' die that everyone
gets for initiative; extra dice from cyber are as normal.)

*******
C3:  Shouldn't there be a hit location system?
*******
VANILLA:  The amount of damage done by shooting someone in SR is based 
on a skill roll.  The more skill you have, the more damage you are 
likely to do.  Since the amount of skill you possess does not change how 
hard the bullet hits, the only way to explain this is by saying that the 
more skill someone has, the more likely they are to shoot someone in a 
vital and/or exposed location.

HOUSE 1: Use DMZ-like hit location system.  Mark two damage tracks (one 
mental, one physical) as follows:
              +1          +2       +3    +4
     12 11 10  9  8  7  6  5  4  3  2  1  0  D
When a character is injured, roll 2d6 to determine where on the track
the damage is applied.  Wounds do the same number of "boxes" as in
Shadowrun.  For example, a Moderate wound with a 2d6 roll of 6 fills in
boxes 6, 5 and 4, giving a +2 modifier to all the character's die rolls
thereafter.  Skip any boxes that are already filled in.  At 0 the
character is just unconscious; at D, comatose (mental) or dead 
(physical).  Additional boxes on the Mental track wrap onto the Physical 
track.

*******
C4: Why are grenades so wimpy?
*******
VANILLA: In real life, grenades are not as lethal as depicted on TV and 
in movies.  It is very possible to fall onto a grenade and live through 
the explosion.

HOUSE 1: Increase the base damage of grenades to D.

*******
C5: Where are the more obscure combat modifiers found?
*******
Most of the modifiers to combat are on page 89 of SRII.  Others are:
Reactive trigger  <OLD> extra shot for single shot weapons (Street Sam 
                  pg18,20) 
Ultrasound Sight negates visiblity mods (Street Sam, pg 36)
Image Magnification (SRII pg 90, 240)

*******
C6: How to narcoject weapons work?
*******
HOUSE 1: Attacker A rolls firearms dice normally.  Target T rolls combat 
pool against A's firearms rating.  T's sucesses are subtracted from A's.  
If the net sucesses are greater than one-half (round-down) T's impact 
armor, the dart penetrates and T must resist the effects of the drug 
with Body dice (not-including Dermal Armor, but some toxin fighting 
cyberware way apply).

			**********************************
			*             COMBAT             *
			**********************************

*******
D1. Using Virtual Realities rules, how does a starting decker use Tech 
to get a deck?  Does he pay street costs?  What about programs?
*******
VANILLA: Continue to use the prices in the original rules for purposes 
of beginning equipment.

HOUSE 1: Use street costs in Virtual Realities for decks and programs.  
Remember street decks do not come with MPCP chips.

HOUSE 2: Use tech money to buy hours of deck-making/programming time.  
300Y will give you one day of time.  There are no skill rolls to cut the 
time nor can time overlap (i.e. no saving days by designing one 
component while another's chips are cooking).

*******
D2. How to you keep non-decking players from being bored while decking 
is happening and vice-versa?
*******
VANILLA:  Use the quick and dirty resolution system from Virtual 
Realities.

HOUSE 1: The Practical Approach:  Create deckers that have combat or 
other skills.  This keeps them in the action.

HOUSE 2: The Practical But More Limiting To Your Players Approach:  Use 
only NPC deckers.  Have all decking happen behind the scenes.

HOUSE 3: The Theatric Approach:  Handle decking as a role-playing 
encounter, rolling dice only occasionally.  A creative GM can keep all 
the players interested in the description of the place (use lots of 
sculpted systems) as well as have the decker interact with the Matrix 
the way it is intended to be -- on a human level.

HOUSE 4: The Intellectually Unsatisfying but Very Effective Approach:  
Have the decker character run by himself.  Literally.  Give the player 
the node map (or make him make one up using the random tables in SR) and 
let him make all rolls for himself as well as IC.  This requires trust-
worthy players, but works well for many campaigns.

HOUSE 5: The Multi-tasking Approach: Shift between Matrix and real 
action.  This takes practice, but once the time is down, it can be good.

*******
D3: Do Persona programs take up storage space?
*******
No. They are hard-coded into optical chips in the deck.  The size 
ratings given in the rules are useful only when you are writing one of 
these programs.

*******
D4: What, exactly, makes up the hacking pool?
*******
Hacking Pool = Natural React + Skill + (2*Response Increase Level).  
Cyberware (except for some of the new goodies in Shadowtech like the 
Math SPU) has NO effect on hacking pool. This includes cyberware which 
increases reaction unless otherwise stated (e.g. Wired and Boosted 
reflexes don't help at all).

*******
D5: How the hell does decking work?
*******
This example uses full Virtual Realities rules, inc. modes and load.
Decker with Reaction: 5, Computer: 6, Intelligence: 6, Hacking Pool: 11
Deck:
 MPCP:      6   Attack: 6 (72Mp)
 Bod:       6   Auto-Execute: 4 (16Mp)
 Evasion:   6   Deception: 4 (32Mp)
 Masking:   6   Sleaze: 4 (48Mp)
 Sensors:   6   Hardening: 3    Response: 0
[Note, this deck is actually illegal. The sum of the persona ratings 
can't exceed 3 times the MPCP (in this case, 18). This error will not be 
fixed to keep the numbers a bit more managable.]

NOTE: Whenever pool is mentioned, remember that the number of dice from 
the pool cannot exceed the rating of the utility being run. (SRII, pg 
85.)

Decker loads all utils to start with.  Enters in Masking Mode with MPCP 
set at 6.  This gives effective ratings of:
Bod/Eva/Msk/Sen: 3/3/9/3      Load: 5 (MPCP/2 + (Mp in active mem)/100))

Decker tries to sleaze into a Green-4 SAN with an Access-4.
SAN       Green: 2 Threshold     Rating: 4
          Max Load: 8            IC Load: 2
Decker enters node to contact range, Load goes to 7 which is 'normal 
load'.
  SLEAZE with Auto-exec:
     Execution Test: none.  SAN Rating - Auto-exec rating = 0.  No T#
         penalty.
     Opposed Success Test            Decker                  IC
         # of Dice            4 (Sleaze Rtg) + pool       4 (IC Rtg)
         Target Number             4 (Node Rtg)      9 (Deckers Masking)
     Decker wins if Her Succ - Node Succ > 2
     The node wins if the same value is < 0
     All other results (difference being 0,1 or 2) are 'ties'.

  SLEAZE without Auto-exec:
     Execution Test:                  Decker                 Node
         # of Dice            4 (Sleaze Rtg) + pool    4 (Node Rtg)
         Target Number             4 (Node Rtg)      9 (Deckers Masking)
     Decker wins if Her Succ - Node Succ > 2
     The node wins if the same value is < 0
     All other results (difference being 0,1 or 2) are 'ties'.
     Then as Opposed Success Test above. Pool does not refresh.


Next situation: Datastore with Black IC:4.  Black IC swarms out and 
attacks.

This situation will almost never happen.  The Black IC needs a trigger, 
like Access or Barrier or it will either a) never activate, or b) always 
activate when anyone -- even legitimate users -- enter the node.  It 
could also come in, activated by an alert.  If activated by alert, the 
Black IC acts as Probe IC, and would interrogate the decker when it 
found  her.  For the sake of the argument, let's say the decker failed 
to sleaze or deceive the Black IC.  Since she was in a datastore 
scanning for data, she was probably in Sensor Mode. All utilities are 
still in active memory, giving her a load of 7.

Let's say the Black IC has Shifting Defence (VR pg.22)

When the IC activates, its load gets added to the node's. Assuming that 
its load rating is 2*rating, its load is 8; however, it also has 
Shifting Defence which increases the rating (ONLY for the purpose of 
determining load) by one, making the rating 5, giving a 10 load. When 
the IC activates, this 10 load is added to the 7 of the decker. 17 is  2 
more than the Maximum Load of the node (see below). This sends the node 
into overload. This triggers a passive alert (but since the decker is 
being attacked, this is somewhat academic). IC behaves as if it were 2 
rating points lower than normal, as do utilities. For simplicity (too 
late!), the events of this paragrph will be ignored in the following 
example.

Datastore    Orange: 3 Threshold     Rating: 5
             Max Load: 15            IC Load: 10
COMBAT

   Initiative:
      Decker gets 1d6 + Reaction.  No pool.
      IC gets 7 (Orange Node) + 4 (IC's rating) = 11  (IC probably wins)

   IC Attack (The VR Black IC says "once the Black IC scores a hit the
        decker may Hang Tough or Jack Out."  I take this to mean that
        the IC needs to score a hit in normal combat before it gets 
        nasty; like having to touch someone for Poison Touch to work.  
        This is not explicit in the rules, but my guess is the IC needs 
        one net to start its process and DOES, incidentally, damage the 
        DECK when it does so):
      Resisted Success Test:
          IC Attack:  T# = 3 (Deck's current Bod (in Sensor Mode))
                      dice = 4 (IC Rating)
          Decker Resist: T# = 5 (Node Rtg)
                      dice = MPCP + pool.  Deck's hardening gives 3
                             auto-successes.
          If Decker gets more successes, no damage, Black IC hasn't got 
            hold of her.  Decker gets to attack.
          If the IC gets more successes, net successes apply to the 
            damage track of the deck, Black IC gets hold.  Black IC 
            Effects (see below).

   Decker Attacks (w/ Auto-exec)
      Decker's pool refreshes
      Execution Test: none.  Node Rating - Auto-exec = 1, so +1 to all 
        Decker's T#s with the attack utility.
      Opposed Success Test
          Decker Attack:              Decker                  IC
         # of Dice            6 (Attack Rtg) + pool     4 (IC Rtg)
         Target Number        8 (5(Node Rtg) + 2 due    3 (Deckers Bod)
                            to IC's Shifting Defence
                             + 1 due to Auto-exec)

      Side with greater number of successes damages the other.  Decker 
      must overcome threshold, IC must overcome hardening.  If the 
      attack program had a staging and Decker did damage, the damage 
      would be the staging plus the net successes.  If the Black IC 
      hits, it gives the net successes in damage to the deck.  Black IC
      Effects (see below).

   Decker Attacks (without Auto-exec)
      Decker's Pool refreshes
      Execution Test (aka Aiming): 
            T#: 5 (Node Rating)
            dice: pool
      Total successes - 3 (for Node Threshold) add to the Attack 
        Program's Rating for next step.  If 0 net successes, attack 
        misses.
      Resisted Success Test for Damage
         Decker: T# = 5 (Node rating)
             dice = 6 (Attack rtg) + # successes from Execution test
                    + remaining pool.
         IC: T# = 6 (Decker's Computer skill)
             dice = 4 (IC Rating)
      Net successes apply to IC.  If the Utility had a staging, the 
        damage would be base staging plus net successes.

   Black IC Effects
      Decker's pool doesn't refresh
      Hang Tough
         Resisted Success Test
            IC: T# = Decker's Body (not Int in Virtual Realities)
                dice = 4 (Rating)
            Decker Resist: T# = 4 (IC Rating)
                dice = Her Body + remaining pool, Hardening Auto-succ.
         IC net successes do damage (one box/succes) to Decker.
      Jack Out
         Unresisted Test
            Decker: T# = 4 (IC Rtg)
                dice = willpower
         Any successes and she's out, but must use Body to resist 4M2 
           stun damage.  Then she must resist Dump Shock (SR 102).


			**********************************
			*             MAGIC             *
			**********************************

*******
M1: How do Increase Initiative spells work?
*******
VANILLA:  Each level of the spell adds to the casters Reaction and gives 
him an extra die for initiative.  The number of successes scored is 
irrelevant.

HOUSE:  For ways to control this spell, see the Reaction section of the 
Combat section.

*******
M2: How does grounding spells into a spell lock work?
*******
VANILLA:  Spells and spell locks behave like living things on the astral 
plane.  When the come in contact, they fight.  If the spell wins, it 
grounds into the lock.  Spell locks fight with a rating of 1 (regardless 
of what force the spell they are locking was cast at or how many 
successes were made during the casting.)  If the attacking spell was a 
mana spell, the astral portion of the lock is destroyed, and the spell 
it was locking dissapates; the lock itself will have to be rebonded, but 
is intact.  If the attacking spell was a physical spell, it grounds into 
the lock (in real space), destroying it.  If the attacking spell was (in 
addition to being a physical spell) an area spell, the spell effects 
those around the lock in a normal way.

*******
M3: What is the difference between spell locks and Quickening?
*******
VANILLA:  Only Initiates can use Quickening; any full magician can bond 
a lock.  Locks have and astral rating of 1; quickened spells have a 
rating equal to the force they were cast at (actual force, not how many 
die were used).  Quickened spells have no physical component.

*******
M4: Can anyone pay the karma for bonding a spell lock?
*******
VANILLA:  No.  The same magician must a) cast the spell to be locked, b) 
lock the spell, and c) pay the karma.  The magician does not have to 
lock the spell TO himself, however.  There is an astral link between the 
caster and the lock.

*******
M5: The rules for First Bonding in the Grimore II (pg. 26) allow PCs to 
bond powerful foci for nearly no karma if enough Arcana and Orichalcum 
is used.  How can that be stopped?
*******
VANILLA:  Remember First bonding only applies to foci that have never 
before been bonded by anyone: foci just produced, generally specifically 
by and/or for the bonder.  Second, Arcana and Orichalcum are really 
expensive (wether the cost is measured in nuyen or time).  Making foci 
can take a long time.

HOUSE 1:  Apply the modifiers to final cost of the foci, not to the base 
cost.  That is ((base*rating)-modifiers), not ((base-modifiers)*rating).  
In other words, bonding a power foci rating 3 using 4 units of 
orichalcum would cost
(7*3)-4 = 17, not (7-4)*3 = 9.

HOUSE 2:  Keep the rules as is, but make the First Bonding mean bonding 
the magic to the focus, not the focus to the magician.  In other words, 
the First Bonding makes the focus a focus (gives it it's astral presence 
and abilities), then the focus needs to be bonded to the magician as per 
the tables on the next page (pg49).

******
M6: Can foci be masked?
******
VANILLA: Yes.  An Initiate can mask a number of rating points in foci up 
to his grade/  (GrimII, pg 46)

******
M7: Can Physical Adepts use metamagic?
******
VANILLA: The Grimore II finally answered parts of this one.
	Centering: Yes, for Physical Skills (Grim II, pg 43)

HOUSE 1:
	Quickening: No.  Can't cast spells.
	Dispelling: No.  Cannot use sorcery skill in that way.
	Sheilding: No.  PAs have no magic pool.
	Masking: Yes.
	Anchoring: No.  Can't cast spells.

HOUSE 2:
	Masking: Yes, but only if the PA has Astral Perception.

*******
M8: Which are better, Shamans or Mages?
*******
VANILLA: Just the facts:
_category_______________________Shaman_______________________Mages_____
Spells Cast                                 identical
Sorcery Bonuses       Totem dice, always avail         elemental service
  Category                  By totem only             by elemental type
Sorcery Penalties              by totem                      none
Conjure                    Nature Spirits                 Elementals
  Time of summoning          One action                 Force * hours
  Length of service    Until sun rises or sets         continuously
                       or until services used     or until services used
  Abilities                  Limited                     Extensive
  Range          Limited to domain summoned in           no limits
  Types               restricted by domain           by materials used
Initiation Extras   Grade added to totem dice
                  Great Forms can cross domains
Astral Quests            to totem plane          to all elemental planes

*******
M9: Physical Adepts vs. Samurai
*******
[This argument comes up about four times a year, it seems like.  Usually 
all the different opinions are expressed within the first four or five 
posts, then the net degenerates into extended point/counterpoint for a 
long time for no apparent reason. The following is a list of some of the 
opinions expressed during the last time this topic was discussed.]

PhysAds can beat up on samurai.
No they can't.
Yes they can.
No they can't.
Yes they can.
Physical Adepts have trouble competing in a high-combat, high-tech 
    campaign or in a power escalation situation.
Physical Adepts are much harder to abuse than street samurai.
No they aren't
PA's are cool if played in the right way.
It is very difficult to make a survivable PA using the current rules.
No it isn't.
Yes it is.
PAs have more style.
Look, I'm telling you, PAs can kick sammy ass.
No they can't.
Yes they can.
No they can't.
Yes they can!
NO!
YES!
NO!
Well, this particular samurai can beat any PA ever.
No he can't.
Yes he can.
No he can't.
Yes he can.
[Etc.]
This is getting old.
No it isn't.

*******
M10: Can an alienation victim move?
*******
VANILLA: Not specified.  In a novel, however, a character to cross the 
street while alienated.

HOUSE 1: The person can only move if the spirit allows him to.

HOUSE 2: No.  You cannot move while alienated.

HOUSE 3: Yes, but only at walking pace, and even to do that requires a 
Willpower roll against half the spirit's Essence (round-down).


			**********************************
			*            MECHANICS           *
			**********************************

*******
Q1A: Are a six and seven (or 12 and 13, etc.) Target number the same?
*******
VANILA:  For the most part, yes; howvever, if someone has, say a +2 
modifier to do something, six and seven become 8 and 9, which is quite a 
differece.  This works both ways -- with target number of 4, a +2 
modifer is effectively the same as a +3 modifier.  Six and seven are can 
be different in opposed success tests, as well (rating 7 IC is different 
from Rating 6 IC).

HOUSE 1:  The rule of six is altered.  When 'rerolling' sixes, the value 
added is the face value minus one.  A six on the reroll adds 5 + a new 
die under the same rules.  Thus (with one die) rolling a 6 then 4 yeilds 
6 + (4-1) = 9.  Rolling a 6 then 6 then 4 yields 6 + (6-1) + (4-1) = 14.

*******
Q1B: When your target number is 4, but you roll an 18, do you get any 
bonuses?
*******
VANILLA: No.  Only the number of successes matters, not the highest 
number rolled.

HOUSE 1:  You gain an extra success for every multiple of six over the 
target numer.  Thus T# + 6 is two successes, T# + 12 is three successes.

HOUSE 2:  Multiples of the target number are extra successes.  With a T# 
of 4, an 8 gives two successes, a 12 would give three total.
   VARIANT: Only applies to target numbers 5 or greater.

*******
Q3: If I have level 3 skillwires with a rating 3 firearms skillsoft as 
well as a firearms skill of 5, when I slot the chip is my firearms skill 
5 (normal skill level) or 8 (the sum of the chip and normal level)? 
*******
VANILLA:  Neither.  Your skill is 3, the level of the skillsoft.  
Skillwires override existing skills.  The normal Shadowrun guideline is 
when two skills/systems are operating at once, use the highest of the 
two, do not sum the ratings.  For example, a samurai with Wired Reflexes 
2 and a Increase Reaction +1 spell on him only gets 2 extra dice (from 
the higher of the two systems), not three.  Note that Skillwires are an 
exception to this rule as they always use the skillsoft rating.

*******
Q5: How do concentrations and specializations work?
*******
VANILLA:  The mechanics of concentrations and specializations (c/s) 
differ widely depending on when in a characters life they are used, 
either during character creation or after character creation.
   During character creation one concentration can be chosen per skill 
(if desired).  This gives the character what amounts to two skills.  For 
example, Bob spends 6 skill points to buy Firearms 6.  He then decides 
to concentrate in Pistols.  Bob now has a Firearms 5 skill and a Pistols 
7 skill.  A character can also take one specialization per 
concentration.  Bob chooses to specialize in the Preditor II, giving him 
Firearms 4, Pistols 6 and Preditor II 8.  Note the no extra skill points 
were spent.
   After character generation, the only difference between normal skills 
and c/s (apart from the narrowness of focus, of course) is karma cost to 
improve them .  Treat the normal skill, the concentration and the 
specialization as different skills.  Bob has some karma points.  He 
could increase any and/or all of his normal or c/s skills.  To increase 
his Firearms to 5, he'd have to spend 8 karma (current rating (5) x 2 
(normal skill)).  Bumping his Pistol skill to 7 would cost 9 points 
(current rating (6) x 1.5 (concentration)).  Moving Preditor II to 9 
would take 8 points (current rating (8) X 1 (specialization)).  Note the 
increasing any one of these skills has _no_ effect on the other two.