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Mage Blade/Elemental Blades

by KYU (S.R.Bailleul@Acoustics.salford.ac.uk)

Mage Blades

History

Allegedly developed by the Order of CuChulainn (other sources hint at a certain corporate Magic Circle but as usually this has not been verified), this powerful spell creates a bladed weapon of variable length. The blade ranges in length from that of a hunting Knife to several metres. It sometimes even changes length in one combat. It seems to be made of Mana, which would make it a manifestation of the caster’s will, but there are reports which hint that they may be made of one of the four (six, see below) elements. The design of these swords varies wildly between different Cultures and even between individual mages. Varied as these Blades might look, their effects are quite the same though. Incidents involving this spell have been reported in Japan, UCAS, Tir Tairngire, several Native American Nations, The Chinese Kingdoms and several European countries including Tir na nOg. Taking into account the expertise of the Japanese Tsumukari-mages with casting this particular spell, it is to be doubted whether this spell was really developed by the Order of CuChulainn. They certainly have a different style concerning this spell and they seem to use it more fequently, but it seems more likely that they adapted rather than invented it.

Game Statistics


Type:	Mana
Range:	Limited
Target:	Willpower (R)
Duration:	Sustained
Drain:	[(F/2)+3] S
Damage Level M	0M
Sustained	1M
Bonus Game Effect: No Armor	1S
Bonus Game Effect: +Reach	3S

[GM Note: Not necessarily correct, but the Drain has to be relatively high to prevent players from learning this spell at extreme levels. (see Armor below)]

The Spell creates a Blade that does (Spellevel) M damage. This damage Code is not modified by successes, one net success and the spell works. The difference in length mentioned earlier relates to the casting test’s net successes. The Blade has a Reach of 0, but gets an additional +1 for every 2 net successes after the first.

Net Successes	Reach
0	spell fails
1	0
2	0
3	+1
4	+1
5	+2
7	+3
9	+4

Armor

The Blade ignores any armor except Cyberarmor (Essence has been invested into Cyberarmor, so it counts as “Living” armor). Barrier Spells, however, help against this spell. A Mana Barrier helps at 100% effectivity and a Blade Barrier helps at 150% effectivity, as it is meant to stop blades and the Mage Blade is the Essence of a Blade, so to speak.

Spirits with Immunity to Normal Weapons do not have this advantage against the Mage Blade, but if they have got other armor (e.g. True Form Bug Spirits), that armor applies.

Note: This is not a Weapon Focus! You still have to use your Willpower for the close combat test against Spirits and you don’t get any additional dice! Any Animal (Hardened) Armor counts as well, as it is part of the being.

Damage and Range

If the wielder takes up a fight against multiple opponents, the spell test is taken several times, with the same amount of dice, every time the wielder attacks or is attacked by a new enemy. Once the Blade is created, it acts just like any other blade with the exception that it doesn’t have any significant weight. Even if the blade is 3 meters long, it does not encumber the wielder. A standard close combat test gives the final damage. If the Blade causes Damage, the damage resistance test is rolled with Willpower + Combatpool dice because ducking or split second reaction does help against this Blade just as much as against any other Blade. The Blade itself does not do Damage against the physical part of the character, but against the spiritual part thusly requiring a Willpower rather than a Body test.

Appearance and Astral Presence

When cast, the Blade appears in the hands or the preferred hand of the intended wielder. It is visible to all living beings but not to technical devices (Mana Spell). The Design of a Mage Blade does not underlie any restrictions, but none of it’s features change the Damagecode or any other Game statistics. It can look like either of the Elemental Blades (see below) or like any other blade. The Blade is astrally present, but as it does not have a physical part, no spells can be grounded through it. It can be engaged in astral combat to disrupt the spell, but it can also be used to engage others in astral combat.

Elemental Blades

Elemental Adepts and any full mage who thinks in a way that allows for elemental magic (Almost everybody in Shadowrun except some Shamans and Shamanic Druids. Quite possibly the Asiatic, African, Australian and other ethnic group mages that do not follow the “Western Traditions” wouldn’t use these either, or possibly adaptions like Spears.) can opt to create their Blade as an Elemental Blade.

Elemental Blade (Air, Fire, Water)(+Light and Wood)


Type:	Mana
Range:	Limited
Target:	Willpower (R)
Duration:	Sustained
Drain:	([F/2]+4) S


Damage M	0M
Sustained	1M
Bonus Game Effect (No Armor)	1S
Bonus Game Effect (+ Range)	3S
Bonus Game Effect (Elemental Advantage)	4S

[GM Note: Again, not necessarily correct, but these can be even more dangerous than the Mage Blade.]

Elemental Blade (Earth)


Type:	Physical / Mana
Range:	Limited
Target:	6 / Willpower (R)
Duration:	Sustained
Drain:	([F/2]+3) S


Damage M	0M
Sustained	1M
Bonus Game Effect(+ Range)	3M
If Physical:
Physical	3S
If Mana:
Bonus Game Effect(No Armor)	3S

Elemental Earth Blades can either be learned as a Physical spell, in which case the created Blade is a completely normal if somewhat elaborately designed Blade with no magical Boni; or it can be learned as a Mana spell, in which case it has the No Armor Advantage, but no additional feature like the rest of the Blades. Damage from the physical Earth Blade is resisted with Body + Combatpool Dice.

Fire Blade

A Fire Blade either looks like a normal sword, with the notable exception that the whole blade is covered in Flames, or like a hilt from which erupts a blade made entirely of Fire.

This Sword does:

[F] S damage against Water Elementals,
[F/2] L damage against Fire Elementals and
[F] M damage against any other being with an additional
[F/2] L “Flame Aura”-damage against living beings.

Water Blade

A Water Blade either looks like a blade made of Ice with a slight mist of condensing water around the blade or like a blade made of shimmering, slightly shifting and flowing water.

This Sword does:

[F] S damage against Fire Elementals,
[F/2] L damage against Water Elementals and
[F] M damage against any other being.

In addition this Blade makes it difficult for an oponent to hit the wielder, who seems to shimmer in and out of focus, add +1 to the TN# for the close combat test of the opponent.

Air Blade

An Air Blade either looks like a blade made of swirling mist or smoke or like a clear crystal blade with the colours of dawn ranging from the hilt to the tip of the sword.

This Sword does:

[F] S damage against Earth Elementals,
[F/2] L damage against Air Elementals and
[F] M damage against any other being.

In addition, this Blade makes it easier for the wielder to analyse his oponent’s fighting style and will give the wielder a -1 TN# modifier in close combat.

Earth Blade

An Earth Blade either looks like a stone blade, mostly with runes or other symbols carved into the blade, or like a blade made of interwoven strands of multicoloured metals (Gold, Silver, Bronze).

This Sword does:

[F] S damage against Air Elementals,
[F/2] L damage against Earth Elementals and
[F] M damage against any other being.

In addition this Blade can either cause Spiritual or Physical damage (i.e. against Willpower or Body). If it does Physical damage, the spell changes to Physical instead of Mana. The Blade effectively becomes a normal Blade (no magic attributes) except that it is obviously absolutely undetectable before it is cast. It does (Str+Initiate Grade) M damage, Range like the other Blades. All armor applies for the physical version.

If Air/Earth or Fire/Water Swords clash, they will disrupt automatically. If during a multiple combat one of the Willpower(R) tests fails, the Blade disappears leaving the caster without a weapon.

[GM Note: These next two entries should be considered carefully. Not all Cultures accept the “normal” set of four Elements. If you decide to accept these two Blades, your perception of magic should change accordingly. There is a lot between heaven and earth…]

The Order of the Sun, the Moon and the Stars has developed a fifth Elemental Sword which they call the Sword of Light. It looks somewhat like a “Laser Sword” from a Trid with an exceptionally ornate hilt.

This Sword does:

[F] S damage against Invae (Bug Spirits) and Horrors (“The Enemy”, see Harlequin’s Back, House of the Rising Sun or Earthdawn),
[F/2] L damage against Spirits of the Great Fiery Firmament and
[F] M damage against any other being.

Scattered Reports of a sixth Blade among Shamans, a “Wood Blade”, can safely be discarded as untrue.

(Yeah, right. It looks either like a wooden club studded with thorns or like a carven staff with runes or feathers etc… according to local culture. [North America is not the only area with Shamanic Traditions!] This is the preferred Elemental “Blade” Shamans use.)

[F] S damage against Toxic Spirits,
[F/2] L damage against any Shamanic Spirits and
[F] M damage against any other being.

In addition, a Shaman wielding this “Blade” gains a bonus of +1 die for any combat test he takes while being in his home Domain.

Mage/Elemental Blade Design

To create a Mage Blade the mage has to make a Magical Theory test against the level of the Blade Spell. The amount of successes gives the detail the sword is going to have. For every success the test scores the mage can give the Blade one attribute. The final version looks either like a short, elongated or true scale version of the design. Optionally, if the player can provide a drawing or a picture of the Blade: that’s how it looks.

Initiate Boni

Every Initiate who uses this kind of Blade gets three Boni.

The Grade of the Initiate is added to the Blade’s Damage. i.e.([F] + Initiate Grade) M So even a relatively minor Blade can become rather Powerful with the magical prowess of the Mage.
Barrier Negation. Initiates can try to lower the effect of Barriers against the Mageblade by making an opposed test with their Initiate Grade against the Barrier. Net successes by the Initiate subtract from the Barrier level, but net successes by the Barrier increase it’s level against the Blade. This is a two edged sword!
Initiates have the possibility to get a Blade Tattoo.

Blade Tattoo

The Blade Tattoo is a large Tattoo applied to the back of the wearer, usually between the shoulderblades, reaching from the neck to the bottom. It depicts the wearers favourite Blade design and acts as a specific Spell Lock. When this Tattoo is applied, Orichalcum or Elemental Conjuring Material is used. This (and the expense of one point of good Karma on behalf of the wearer) makes the Tattoo magically active. The wearer then casts a Mage Blade or Elemental Blade Spell on the Tattoo, which will keep this Blade handy until it is needed. The wearer then only has to reach over his shoulder and the Blade appears in his hand. This is a connection to astral space and makes the wearer vulnerable to astral grounding, but most Blade Tattoo wearers are too far initiated not to have taken precautions for that anyway. Within the Order of CuChulainn, taking the Tattoo is part of an Initiation Ritual that marks the acceptance into the upper Hierarchy (usually Grade 7-8). The Japanese Tsumukari-“Guild” allegedly uses Blade Tattoos extensively. It is possible to cast this spell onto a normal Spell Lock as well, normally these Spell Locks take on the form of rings, gloves or anything that the wearer can hold in his Swordhand.

A few additional remarks

This spell is very powerful. It is no substitute for a weaponfocus, but in certain circumstances it is even better suited for the purpose. Being undetectable, (except as a Tattoo) this spell let’s players get a weapon into areas where Gamemasters would prefer no weapons to be. The whole concept has a lot of advantages and disadvantages and I am not quite sure whether they are balanced or not. I have used one of these Blades (a Mage Blade 5) in my Bug City campaign. The Mage kicked arse — excuse my French, but then again she’s a 5th Grade Initiate with a Willpower of 9 (6+3 Quickened). Even without the Blade she would have given most of the Bugs she encountered a good seeing to. These encounters made it very obvious for me that it is very important to keep the Power of the spell low, because with a Blade like her’s (10 M, usually Range +2) nothing much short of a Dragon or Juggernaut poses a threat for the wielder, at least in close combat. I tried a short “Reality Check” with straight average values (Will 3, M-Blade 3, Armed Combat 3, etc.) against various Spirits, Critters and levels of Chrome. The Blade gives an average mage a definite edge in close combat, but any “extraordinary” mage is a killer if she get’s one of these into her hands. I would advise to restrict access to this spell, either by disallowing it, (sorry for wasting your time) having your players develop the spell themselves with half their Magical Theory as Maximum (the whole concept of the spell is new, so they have to work it out for themselves. Decide whether you want to give them the Library Bonus.) or by only offering to sell them the spell formula at relatively low levels for relatively much money. Not many people know this spell, so it’s going to be hard to find a teacher or someone who might be willing to sell them the formula. A different but very appealing approach would be to change the Elemental Blades into Elemental Weapon Foci. It would bring a little variety into the comparatively small area of Foci. I would like to get a bit of feedback on this theme, so if you have any constructive criticism about this, let me know.

Written by KYU February 20th, 1996, after an idea by Wigs of Oz. HTML-Coded April 1st, 1997 by KYU.