Magic: Spirits: Augmentation Spirits

Augmentation spirits are in a class all of their own, another mystery of the metaplanes that have only recently been discovered by a select few conjurers and enchanters.  Some theorize that these spirits are freed ally spirits, but no one really knows for sure.  For game purposes, assume that an augmentation spirit is a unique free spirit that is molded and changed by the summoning ritual so that it meets the summoner’s requirements.  Augmentation spirits are summoned and bound into weapons or armor to make the items more powerful.

Conjuring Requirements

To conjure an augmentation spirit, a conjurer must have the augmentation meta magic, the spirit’s formula, spirit’s true name, binding materials equal to the force of the spirit, and a previously prepared weapon or armor for the spirit to inhabit (see “Vessels,” below.)

Spirit Formula

As with ally spirits, an augmentation spirit’s formula may be written from scratch by making a Logic + Arcana (Force x 5, 1 day) Extended Test, or it may be granted by a metaplanar quest.  This formula must have a physical representation which must be the actual weapon or armor the spirit will be bound too.  This means that every weapon and armor must be custom-made, and unless a duplicate item is made, if the physical form is destroyed, the formula is destroyed, which means the spirit is destroyed.

Creating an Augmentation Spirit

The augmentation spirit’s formula incorporates a free spirit’s true name and modifies the spirit’s unique essence, statistics, abilities, and powers to meet the conjurer’s intentions. This formula also dictates how much Karma the conjurer must sacrifice during the binding ritual before the spirit is invested with these abilities. The following steps will help you calculate the spirit’s Karma cost (as well as its powers and skills).

1)      Choose Force: An augmentation spirit’s base cost equals 8 Karma times the desired rating.

2)      Learn the spirit’s true name (page 107, Street Magic.)  This doesn’t affect Karma cost, but may be based on the spirit’s Force, and is a requirement for the ritual.

3)      Choose Powers:  All augmentation spirits start with the Dual Natured, Banishing Resistance, Sentience, Inhabitation, Spirit Pact (Command,) Aura Masking, and Mind Link powers.  They also have one additional power per 3 full points of Force, chosen from the list below.  Conjurers may grant them additional powers from the list for 5 Karma per power.

• Animal Control
• Personal domain
• Regeneration
• Spirit Pact (other pacts)
• Concealment
• Guard
• Movement
• Mystic Armor
• Psychokinesis
• Search
• Elemental attack (specify type)
• energy aura (specify type)
• elemental immunity (specify type)
• endowment
• enhanced senses (choose sense)
• magic guard (counterspelling skill required)
• shadow cloak

4)      Choose Skills: augmentation spirits start with the Assensing and Spellcasting skills.  The conjurer may give the spirit additional skills for 5 Karma each.  All spirit skill ratings equal their Force.

5)      Choose Spells:  Augmentation spirits start with the Physical Mask (Vessel,) Fix (Vessel) and Custom Fit spells (see below for descriptions.)  The conjurer may teach the spirit any spell he knows for 3 Karma per spell.  If the conjurer doesn’t know the spell, it can still be taught with a spell formula for 5 Karma per spell.

6)      Calculate Rating: the spirit’s rating equals its Force+extra powers+extra skills+extra spells.  This rating multiplied by two dictates how much Karma is required for some one other than the summoner to enter into a Command pact with the spirit.

Summoning Ritual

Augmentation spirits are summoned as if they were ally spirits, as described on page 104, Street Magic. Once it is successfully summoned and inhabited into its vessel, the summoner has full command of the spirit and its services until the summoner dies or releases the spirit from service.

Personality

As a free spirit, augmentation spirits may have any personality described on pages 92-93, Street Magic, or any other personality the gamemaster desires.  As a guideline, these spirits tend to be animus/animae, shadows, or wardens.  The conjurer cannot dictate the spirit’s personality with the spirit formula.  Once freed of the original conjurer, an augmentation spirit will seek to enter Command pacts with individuals that match it’s personality and goals.

Augmentation Spirit Abilities

Armor/Weapon Augmentation: depending on the form of the physical vessel, an augmentation spirit grants various bonuses.

• Melee/Thrown/Projectile Weapons gain half the spirit’s Force (round up) to damage values, and may strike astral targets or other creatures immune to natural weapons.
• Firearms gain recoil compensation equal to the spirits Force, and if the actual firearm (not its bullets) is used as a weapon, it gains the same benefits as described above.
• Armor gains half the spirit’s Force (round up) to both ballistic and impact armor.  The armor becomes hardened with a rating equal to the spirit’s Force.  Unarmed damage or any melee weapon that is part of the armor gains the weapon benefits as described above.

Attributes: An augmentation spirit’s astral and physical attributes equal its Force. The spirit begins play with an Edge attribute equal to the conjuring character’s Edge, rather than its Force as normal for spirits.

Tireless guardian: The spirit can be ordered to continually be on the lookout for astral mundane activity.  Regardless of its vessel’s shape, it may perceive the physical world with the standard five meta-human senses, plus any extras senses it may have due to powers or spells.

Unlimited service: The spirits’ controller (The summoner, or anyone who has entered into a Command Pact with the spirit,) may command it to use any of its powers or spells an unlimited number of times.  Via the mind link, commanding the spirit is a free action.  The spirit may only use powers or spells it possesses as services.  It cannot use any of the other services normally attributed to spirits (aid study, sustain spell, resist drain, etc.)  Note that, if the spirit has the Endow power, it cannot be commanded to grant one of its abilities to it’s controller unless another pact is struck.

Vessel Autonomy: As described under “Vessels,” below, augmented armor is always a full suit of connected pieces.  This allows the spirit to move about on its own as a homunculus and acting on its controller’s wishes.  Similarly, an augmented weapon may also move about, assuming the spirit has psychokinesis, a levitation spell, or other means of magical movement.

Commanding an Augmentation Spirit

Once summoned and bound to a vessel, an augmentation spirit is obligated to follow all commands issued by the conjurer and to serve him to the best of the spirit’s ability until the conjurer dies or relinquishes control of the spirit.  Once the spirit is free of its original conjurer, it may enter into a Command Pact with anyone else it chooses, effectively making the new person its controller. The spirit can make no other pacts, unless it has the Spirit Pact power twice, in which case it may make other pacts, but only with its controller.  The Command Pact involves the following conditions:

1. The controller may not be in any other pacts with any other spirit and may not make another pact while controlling the augmentation spirit.
2. The controller summon and bind other spirits, but may not be willingly possessed by any spirit, (and gains dice equal to the augmentation spirit's force to resist unwilling possession or inhabitation.)
3. The controller must pay the spirit Karma equal to 2 times its Rating:  2x(Force+extra powers+extra skills+extra spells,) with the expectation that extra Karma will be paid from time to time to ensure the spirit remains happy (game master’s discretion.)
4. The pact lasts for the lifetime of the controller, or 50 years, whichever is sooner.
5. The spirit must obey the controller’s commands and may not use any skill, power, or spell to directly or intentionally harm the controller for the duration of the pact.

Ideally, the spirit and the controller are like-minded and have similar goals, but this is not essential.  The spirit should be treated like a contact and should have a well-defined personality of its own.  Relationships can evolve and change over time, such that the spirit and controller may become close friends and confidants where the spirit is respected and treated like an equal despite the inherent servitude implied by the Command Pact. Alternately, they may remain purely professional counterparts, or even devolve into a true master/slave relationship where the spirit seeks to be free of its controller by any means available to it.

The weapon or armor will have a unique name which is never the true name of the spirit, but the spirit may refer to it’s self by a nickname, often based on the weapon/armor’s name.  For instance, if a dagger were named “Diablo’s Toothpick,” the spirit may call itself  “Pick” or “Devil.”

Vessels

Whether it’s a weapon or armor, an augmentation spirit’s vessel is a very special thing.  It is the physical representation of the spirit’s formula and incorporates the spirit’s true name.  It serves as a true vessel for the spirit.  Copies of a spirit’s vessel are rarely made due to construction cost and also due to the power the vessel has over the spirit.  This means that destruction of the vessel usually results in the utter destruction of the spirit as well.

Due to their unique requirements and nature, vessels for augmentation spirits must be custom made and may not incorporate any electronic or electrical components.  Firearms do exist as vessels, but they are very rare and do not incorporate any smart links, range finders, laser sights, or other electronics.  There are no suits of military armor with spirits inside them, and while one might try to build a vibroblade from scratch, the binding process would short-circuit the electronics required to make the blade function.

Vessels must be purely mechanical in nature.  For instance, armor could be built with a retractable blade in the forearm, but it would only work if the mechanism employed springs and mechanical manual controls.  Firearms will only work if they can be mechanically fired (no electronic or remote-control firing.)

Construction: Vessel construction requires the base cost of the mundane counterpart, plus modification costs, multiplied by 2.  It also requires one unit of radical reagents per point of spirit Force, and one exotic reagent per 3 points (or portion thereof) of spirit Force.  The construction test is an Extended (Armorer+Intuition, Force, 1 week) test.

Armor

Armor inhabited by an augmentation spirit is commonly called “ghost armor.”  It is always constructed as a full suit of interconnected pieces, which does not usually include a helmet so that a separate mundane helmet (full of electronics and gadgets) can be used instead.  A suit may be made to interface with a specific helmet type so that the suit can be sealed against chemical or airborne attack vectors.  A suit may also be built with any armor modification that does not require the use of electronics, but these modifications cannot be added or removed later.

Even if modern materials and fabrication techniques are used, ghost armor is often crafted to resemble medieval armors.  Even when it is made in a more contemporary style, it is often difficult to disguise as mundane armor due to the runes and other archaic writings that must be inscribed on the armor, although these inscriptions can be made on the underside of the armor if desired.  Ultimately, the final appearance and modification of the armor is up to the designer of the spirit formula.

The type of armor dictates the initial Force of the spirit that may inhabit it, but these limits may be ignored once the spirit is in play and gaining Karma on its own.

• Grade 1 Ghost Armor uses bike racing armor stats.  It can accommodate a Force 1 or 2 spirit and may appear as a modern custom leather outfit, medieval leather armor, or actual bike racing armor (or the equivalent.)
• Grade 2 Ghost Armor uses riot control armor stats.  It can accommodate a Force 3 or 4 spirit and may appear as a modern leather suit with metal strips and spikes, chain mail, or actual riot control armor (or the equivalent.)
• Grade 3 Ghost Armor uses swat armor stats.  It can accommodate a Force 5 or 6 spirit and may appear as dragon-scale armor, a composite of chain mail and steel plates, samurai armor, or actual swat armor (or the equivalent.  Think of Halo or Gears of War.)
• Grade 4 Ghost Armor uses medium military armor stats.  It can accommodate a Force 7 or 8 spirit and may appear as a full suit of medieval plate armor, or a modern equivalent (Think of the heavy armors used in Warhammer 40K.)

Regardless of grade, ghost armor is animated, and controllers will soon learn to appreciate the armor that puts itself on.  The wearer needs only to stand still and let the armor fasten itself to his body.

Weapons

Weapons inhabited by an augmentation spirit are often called “rune sword/hammers/daggers/pistols/monofilament whips,” due to the arcane writings that typically cover the weapon’s exterior.  Melee weapons are the most common, but thrown weapons, projectile weapons (i.e. crossbows, compound bows, etc,) and even firearms have been made as vessels for augmentation spirits.

A weapon may serve as a vessel for any Force of spirit and use the stats for the given weapon type.  The weapon type and final appearance of the weapon are determined by the designer of the spell formula.

Weapons Built into Armor

A suit of armor may have weapons built into it.  Forearm spurs, finger razors, and bolt launchers are popular choices, but other options exist.  These weapons may or may not require an Exotic Weapon skill for the controller or spirit to use the weapon (game master discretion,) and the spirit may or may not have the appropriate skill to use the weapons if it is acting autonomously.  The presence of the weapon in the armor does not guarantee the spirit knows how to use it.

Custom Spells

Augmentation Spirits always know the Physical Mask (Vessel,) Custom Fit and Fix (Vessel) spells.  Both are manipulation spells.

Custom Fit

Type: P   Range: Self   Duration: P   Drain: (F/2)+2

A variation of the shapechange spell, this spell allows the spirit to make it’s vessel change in shape to accommodate its current controller.  This removes penalties for using weapons of the wrong size, and ensures armor is custom-fitted to the user.  A threshold must be met, equal to 2 for every size category between the current size and the desired size.  So a custom fit from micro to giant would require a threshold of 10! (it may be easier to cast the spell multiple times, staging the size a little at a time.)  This is not a fast process, requiring the spirit to maintain the spell for a full hour before it becomes permanent.  It cannot be used to change the overall shape or form of the weapon or armor, as these are dictated by the spirit formula.

Micro / Small / Dwarf / Human, Elf, Orc / Troll / Giant

Fix (Vessel)

Type: P   Range: Self   Duration: P   Drain: (F/2)-1

A special version of the Fix spell, this magic allows the spirit to “heal” damage to itself.  Any damage not repaired in this way must be fixed by an armorer and an enchanter (triple the repair costs and double the time required.)

Physical Mask (Vessel)

Type: P   Range: Self   Duration: P   Drain: (F/2)-1

A special version of the Physical Mask spell, this magic allows the spirit to make it's form appear in any shape/color/style that it or its controller desires.  Combined with it's aura masking ability, this spell can allow a controller to be protected by substantial armor while appearing to wear only a business suit or a bikini.

Karma

Besides the initial Karma that’s invested in the binding or Command Pact, a controller would be wise to supply the spirit with additional Karma as often as possible.  This may be Karma the controller contributes personally, or may be Karma that’s negotiated as payment for a run or other service.

Gamemasters should be careful if they allow characters to negotiate for Karma “payments” to be made to the spirit.  As a general guide, the Karma should still be factored as part of the character’s cut of the profits, with one point of Karma equaling at least 25,000 nuyen.  This Karma can come from any source that the Mr. Johnson arranges, but will often entail some poor slob “willingly” sacrificing some of his life force to avoid more dire repercussions at the hands of Johnson’s employers.  Additionally, considering how rare and valuable these items are, it may not be in the PC’s best interest to let a Johnson know that they possess augmented weapons or armor.

Also note that the spirit may have principles or ethics that dictate when, where, how, and from whom it may receive Karma.  A shadow spirit may be fine with beating a bum within a millimeter of his life and bargaining for Karma to refrain from killing him.  A trickster may barter with the bum and exchange booze for Karma, laughing at the irony of it.  An animus may save the bum’s life from gangers and not even accept Karma if it was offered as a reward.

Regardless of the Karma source, the spirit controller cannot dictate how a spirit uses its Karma.  Those choices are entirely up to the spirit, but it may choose any improvement options available to a PC, at the listed costs (page 270, SR4):

1. It may raise its attributes separately (which all begin at the Force it had when it went free).
2. It may raise or purchase additional skills.
3. It may initiate as a magician does, though the process grants one additional free spirit power per grade rather than a metamagic technique.
4. It may raise its Force by 1 point at a time at the cost of new Force rating x 10. Raising Force raises all of the spirit’s attributes and powers that are based on Force.

Magical Nuances

Game masters and players should keep in mind that there are subtle differences in the way certain spells and powers affect the game world, based on the target and effect of the magic.  For instance, if a spirit inhabiting armor were to use an energy aura (fire) power while it was being worn, the controller would have no protection from the spell and would need to resist damage every combat turn.  Likewise, if the spirit or another magician cast an elemental aura (fire) spell on the armor, the wearer would likewise be subject to damage.  However, if the spell were cast on the controller while he was wearing the armor, the controller, the armor, and anything in his hands would be enshrouded by the spell and protected from its effects.

Suppose a set of ghost armor can cast levitate on itself or its controller.  Regardless of the target, the spirit will direct the movement, as commanded by the controller, but, by the nature of the way the spell works, the controller will not be able to directly control the levitation spell unless he casts it himself.

As a general rule, it will work out better for the controller if the spell or ability is used on him instead of the spirit’s vessel, whenever possible.

Game masters and players must remember that augmented weapons and armor are dual natured, and while the armor/weapon is equipped, the player is subject to all rules and limitations of dual natured creatures.

Augmented weapons and armor may not be enchanted to serve as any kind of focus.

Acquiring Ghost Armor and Rune Weaponry

Spirit augmented armor and weaponry are extremely rare.  The availability and cost is designed to make less powerful items available at character creation, but if a character starts the game with such an item, there should be a good reason within the backstory to explain where the item came from and why the character has it.

Once the game has begun, augmented items should always entail a significant effort and cost for the characters, and should never be obtained by simply calling a fixer, paying some cash, and waiting for the item to fall off a truck.  Finding or creating the items should be the subject of a run (or series of runs) and the danger involved should equal the reward.  At the very minimum, a PC must find an NPC with the resources to craft the items and summon/bind the spirit.  The PC may be required to aid in any aspect of the process (gathering reagents, learning the spirit’s true name, acquiring spell formulae, etc.)  The following cost and availability listing are intended to be guidelines only.  Individual games may allow for less (or more) restrictive access to these powerful items.

Melee/Thrown/Projectile Weapons

Availability: (Spirit Ratingx3)F     Cost: Spirit Rating x 25,000

Firearms

Availability: (Spirit Ratingx6)F     Cost: Spirit Rating x 50,000

Armor

Availability: (Spirit Rating+Armor Grade) x 2 F

Cost: (Spirit Rating+Armor Grade) x 30,000