Skill Tricks

Skill tricks are like bonus perks you can try to do with high enough skill ranks or by making other sacrifices to your skill. Learning a skill trick costs 1 point of good karma or build point, and each may (or may not) have a prerequisite to use. Blue skills are sustained.

Focused Skill
This skill trick is learned for a specific skill (though you may buy it multiple times for multiple skills). Before rolling and OPEN skill roll with the skill, you may sacrifice any number of available dice. (If these dice come from a pool, like spell pool or something, they are considered "used" during this check). For every 2 dice you sacrifice, gain +1 to the total of your open check. It's a gamble, but you might end up getting better this way than you would have otherwise.

Helpful Shout (Requires 6 ranks of leadership)
At the beginning of your turn, as a free action, you may make a leadership (4) test. Every 2 successes allows you to grant a bonus combat pool die to any one ally (not yourself) for the rest of the turn.

Aid Another (Requiers 6 ranks of relevant skill)
Purchased for various skills. This allows you to, when using an active skill, to divide dice. Any dice you don't use for yourself may be used towards an ally's use of the same skill, as a suppliment. So if you have 12 ranks of stealth with aid another: stealth, you can remove 4 ranks (for example), and use those 4 dice to suppliment an ally's stealth roll. You can use dice from specalizations as long as the trick is learned as the specialization (so you can get aid another: stealth or aid another: stealth(sneaking)).

Explosive Expert (requires 6 ranks of B/R structural)
You can roll a B/R structural(6) test. Every 2 successes adds +2 power to an explosive's blast against that structure (but not to other things in the blast radius). Alternately you can use 4 successes to increase the damage code by 1 step. Choose how you're using the trick before rolling.

Sexy Chatter (requires charisma of 6)
You may use your charisma as a suppliment to any social skill roll if the target and you are sexually compatable.

Sprinter (requires athletics of 6)
You may use your body rating as a suppliment to any athletics test. For every success your body test grants you, you must resist 1 box of stun damage (resist the total at once) as you stress yourself.

Angry Roar (requires intimate of 6 and an ork or troll race, or metatype thereof).
As a complex action you may bellow an insane roar. Roll intimidate, and use the bigger of your body or strength as a suppliment. Add +1 to bonus to your rolls if you have some intimidating form of equipment (hardened body armor, a light machine gun in your hands, etc) and +1 if you are large (-1 if you are small). Compare this result to the willpower of the people in the room. Every success gives the people within 20 meters of you a penalty to all combat skills equal to your successes against them (and may cause them to flee). This penalty lasts for 1 round per rank of intimidate, but resets every time YOU kill someone. The penalty ends immediately if you are dropped due to physical or stun damage. This encuorages everyone to shoot at you, of course.

Rally the Troops (requires 6 ranks of leadership)
As a complex action you can roll a leadership roll to allow your allies to overcome fear due to phobias, combat fear, or the angry roar ability (above). Each success on a leadership (4) test decreases the number of successes of the roar by 1, or grants them +1 die to resist their phobias or combat fear.

Trick Shot (requires 6 ranks of a specific firearm skill)
Buy this trick seperately for each weapon skill. You may sacrifice a number of dice before making a shot. Every 2 dice you sacrifice either allows you to ignore 1 point of the target's armor rating, or removes 1 success from the target's dodge roll (not damage resistance).

Explode Vehicle (requires 6 ranks from a specific firearm skill)
Buy this seperately for each weapon skill. When making a called shot against a vehicle's fuel tank, you may sacrifice a number of dice. The vehicle, upon taking damage, must make a body check against your net successes on your damage roll, the TN being the number of dice you sacrificed. If it generates no successes, it immediately explodes. If it generates less successes than the net successes on your shot, it is disabled and smoking, and will explode in a number of rounds equal to the the number of dice you sacrificed. Wound modifiers apply to this resistance test.

Example: You fire at a car's gas tank with a pistol. You sacrifice 4 dice. You damage the car. You rolled 4 successes against the car, it's damage resistance check generated 2 successes, giving you 2 net successes. It then makes a body check against a TN 4 (the number of dice you sacrificed). If it generates no successes, it immediately explodes. If it generates 1 success, it will explode in 4 rounds, but is disabled and smoking. If it generates 2 successes, it does not explode and just takes damage from the shot. The damage done to the car may apply wound penalties to its resistance check.

Buying Successes:
Buy this trick for a specific skill. In lieu of rolling, you may buy successes by sacrificing a number of dice equal to the TN. (So on a TN 4 test, you may sacrifice 4 dice to generate 1 success). On an open test, your roll is equal to the number of dice you sacrifice (Sacrificing 12 dice grants you a roll of 12).

Taking 20: (Requires buying successes)
Buy this trick for the same skill you have buying successes for. If you're taking 20x the normal amount of time to complete the task, you can spend 1 less die per success. (So at TN 4, every 3 dice takes 1 success, or for TN 2, every die is a success!). Only skills with no penalty for failure can utilize this. For open skill tests, you can take 1/3 of the dice you would normally roll (round down) and roll them. Add the biggest one as a result of the open test. (So if you have 12 dice for searching, you can "take 20" and roll 4 dice. Add 12 to the result of the largest die for your take 20 result).

Sexually Incompatable (Requires Cha 6)
You can use charisma as a suppliment to bluff and disguise checks when you're in a sexually incompatable situation. By careful flirting you can make someone feel socially awkward and uncomfortable and more willing to accept your story just to get you out of there.

I remember everything (Requires eiditic memory and/or mnomenic enhancer)
You can remember almost everything. You now can take ranks in knowledge: all kinds of stuff. This knowledge roll can be used to remember things, make logical conclusions from things you know, and act as a general bardic knowledge skill, though it doesn't provide very technical information, and the TN is generally 1 higher for this skill than for some other, better suited, skill. You can use intellignce as a suppliment to this skill to remember events you were present for.

Read it Later (requires eiditic memory and/or mnomenic enhancer and I remember everything)
You can glance through books and get a page worth of info in 1 simple action. You don't understand any of the info until you go back and "think about it", but you can get a clear enough mental image of a piece of paper that you can read your mental image at some later time. You may store a number of pages equal to your intelligence score. Using cyberware image storage can greatly increase the number of pages.

Sweeper (requires intellgence 6+ and perceptive edge and electronics 6)
You can sustain "sweeping" as if it were a spell. While sweeping, you can automatically attempt perception tests to notice cameras and other security equipment before you trigger them, even if concealed or out of view (like around a corner or on the other side of a door frame) The TN is 1 higher than normal, which is counteracted by your perception edge. You must be able to perceive the security device to detect it, so an invisible camera can't be spotted unless you have ultrasound vision or something.

Too Quiet (requires int 6+ and know: secruity procedures 6+)
You can sustain "too quiet" as if it were a spell. While sustaining, you can automatically attempt hearing perception tests to discover people or animals in your vincinity, either waiting in ambush or just regular guards. You gain penalties on other rolls (due to sustaining), but if you detect someone you will know their approximate number, position, and movement.

Ready for Anything (requires intelligence 4+)
You can sustain a "ready" state, which means that you can make a dodge check on any attack, even ones you are not aware of, and you can act in a "surprise" round of combat. Any checks outside of combat, including perception checks, suffer the TN penalty for sustaining this.

Just like a spell, an ability can be Sustained, meaning you're effectively entering a special character "mode". While sustaining an ability, you gain special perks for that ability, but take a TN penalty to any other action, much like sustaining a spell. Not being a spell, you cannot link sustained abilities to a focus.

Healing Stim (requires a healing spell and Biotech 4+)
You can throw a stim patch on someone to remove some stun damage, then use a healing spell on them to restore the rest of the damage. If you restore them to no damage, then the damage removed by the stim patch is permanent. You still suffer drain from the total number of damage boxes. This does not decrease the number of actions it takes to accomplish this.

Ultrasilent (requires electronics 6 and stealth 6)
You can attempt to sneak up on an ultrasound detector or similar device and disable it without triggering it. You roll an opposed stealth check using your stealth ranks against the rating of the device. If successful, you can get up to the device without triggering it, if you fail you set off the device. Sometimes this is the only way to get close enough to tamper with it.

He's smarter than I am (req: Int 6+, common sense edge)
Roll a number of dice equal to your intelligence against a TN set by the GM. If sucessful, the GM should tell you if something youre proposing has a chance of working or if there is some huge flaw in your plan. Surely he can't account for everything, and multiple successes can help- but if your plan is "We drive a jeep full of explosives into it" the GM might bring up the electric fence you're driving through and how it might trigger the jeep to blow early. Of course, the character must be aware of the electric fence.

Master Plan (req int 6+, knowledge: tactics 6+, leadership 6+)
Before going into a place, you can roll an Intelligence(4) test. Each success grants your entire team a bonus to stealth and perception tests for as long as you sustain this mode. The plan takes 1/2 hour to come up with and requires some basic knowledge of the facility (such as a map).

Giant Target (req intimidate 6+)
You can attempt to move in such a way as to force enemies to shoot at you (instead of your teammates). Make an intimated check opposed by targets willpower. If you succeed, they must direct attacks against you instead of your teammates, until you either drop, or they discover that (if) their attacks against you cannot be effective (such as if you have hardened armor or are channeling a greaterform spirit). You must sustain this, meaning you're taking a penalty to combat skills, but if you're a good damage soaker, it's worth it.

Distracting (requires charisma 6+ and either dance or some other performance skill 6+)
You can attempt to distract someone outside of combat situations. Maybe you're a pretty girl who just keeps dropping things, or a bumbling oaf that people can't look away from, or maybe you've got a great story to tell on the phone... regardless, make a performance check (using your performance skill) against the target's intelligence. If you succeed he takes a penalty on perception checks and any checks involving concentration while you continue doing this. If he's already engaged in a task (like filing paperwork or talking on the phone) this penalty applies to this, though he may stop what he's doing to watch. This can be useful to distract security guards also by playing it up for the camera (though you won't know if you're successful if you can't see him).

Master Cook (requires thrown weapons 4 and demolitions 4)
You can throw a grenade and have it detonate immediately (instead of end of round) if you make a Thrown Weapons (4) test. Basically you pull the pin as an earlier part of the throwing action. If you fail the thrown weapons test, the grenade explodes in your hand instead.

Bullet Deflection (requires edged weapons 6 and quickness 6)
You can use a wielded edged weapon to deflect bullets at you, using your edged weapons skill as a suppliment to your dodge. You must still be aware of the attack and have the weapon drawn. If you sustain bullet deflection as a sustained ability, you can use your full edged weapon skill as your dodge test, even if you use no combat pool towards it.

Master Teacher (requires instruction 6)
You are better at instructing people to learn discounted skills. When using instruction to decrease the karma cost of learning a skill, you automatically generate 1 extra success (as long as you've generated any).

SNAAAAKE! (requires electronics 6)
When someone goes unconscious or dies on your team, and you can't see them, but are in radio contact, you just get the strange feeling that something has happened. (You can yell their voice into the radio to confirm this). This can alert you that something is amiss. You must be on a mission and in radio contact to use this, though the communication line need not be open at the time. GM call.

Enrage (requires body 6 and intimidation 6)
The character can pump himself up into a berserker rage, spending a complex action pissing himself off. Once the rage begins he sustaines it, but does not take the sustaining penalty to combat skills (athletics and weapoon skills), he get a -1 TN bonus to damage resistance tests and may use strength to suppliment any damage resistance or melee weapon skill, and may use quickness to suppliment any ranged weapon skill. He may not benefit from scopes or aiming actions and must make a willpower(6) test to break off of combat. He also has a +1 TN penalty to any dodge tests and ignores wound penalties during this.

Blade Flurry (requires edged weapon 6, quickness>= strength)
By being fast rather than strong, the character is able to do more damage using edged weapons. If he wields a small edged weapon in each hand, he can perform a flurry, and add 1/2 his quickness to the overall power of the attack, representing more landed blows. This is a complex action against one person.

Sharing Karma

Sometimes team members wants spells quickened on them. Why would another PC mage want to waste his good karma boosting his teammate instead of himself? Hence, the sharing karma system.

Karma can be spent by one PC and given to another PC for the purposes of learning spells, enchanting, quickening, etc. Karma does not always transfer on a 1:1 basis. See the following chart. Karma must always be freely given- it cannot be "stolen".

Giver Is:
Of essence 3 or lower, it costs 4 karma for 1 gained.
Not awakened, but essence above 3: Costs 3 karma for 1 gained.
Awakened: Costs 2 karma for 1 gained
Has a special metamagic technique*: Costs 1 karma for 1 gained.

A metamagic technique may be possessed by either the giver or reciever to properly transmit karma.

Spending "Free Karma"
The mage may use the bonus karma to quicken spells, learn spells, give to an ally spirit, or perform other magical tests that cost karma, but not improve skills, gain karma pool, etc, though the spells need not directly benefit the giver.

For example, a thief might give a mage karma to learn the invisibility spell, with the hopes that the mage will sustain it on him later, or even to bond to sustaining spell foci, or quicken spells on the mage himself. The negotiations for this are up to the PCs. Surely, the mage can "lie" to the giver, claiming he'll use the karma to quicken a spell on the giver and really use the karma for something else, but that's a dick move with it's own consequences.

Removing Flaws and Buying Edges

Some edges make little sense (or have little to no benefit) at character creation, and sometimes you want to be able to remove a flaw. (For example: aptitude: centering does nothing until you initiate).

By the current system, removing a flaw typically replaces it with a similar (or worse!) flaw instead. This usually does not make sense.

So here's a mechanical system for replacing flaws and getting additional edges.

Losing Flaws:
Certainly flaws should be removable through in-story events (such as character driven missions). Otherwise, a PC should be able to remove his flaw by paying twice the karma cost that the flaw provided in build points.

A caveat to this (which makes it harder to lose larger flaws) is that flaws that are RANKED must be bought down, much like skill ranks are bought up.

So, if you have hunted:6. It takes 12 points to buy this down to hunted:4, then 8 points to buy down to hunted:2, then 4 points to remove: 24 points in general. Expensive, but worth it!

Gaining Edges:
In the same way, edges should be purchasable for twice their build point cost in good karma, and like flaws, should be bought up from 0.

Example: High Pain tolerance would be insanely expensive (2*1 for 1 box, 2*2 for 2nd box, 2*3 for 3rd box, etc).

Certainly edges and flaws are MUCH better to take at character creation, cost-wise, but then, so are skills and ability scores!

Mission Success and Game Balance

Missions given by johnsons can have various degrees of "success".

Mission Disaster- The mission was not only failed, but the specifics have made things worse for the johnson or the party. Perhaps they alerted the opposing company that the johnson hired them, got captured, or otherwise royally screwed up. Not only do johnsons not pay for this, they may get pissed at you and there may be deeper consequences. Game mechanics wise, you may get less karma for this mission.

Mission Failed- The mission was failed. This may be for a variety of reasons. Someone who hires you to steal something may get mission failed if the theft was successful, but the enemy became aware of who you are working for, of if some other facet of the mission (either specifically mentioned or implied) was failed. Johnsons typically do not pay for this. Missions you quit midway might qualify for this ending. You might still get karma for this mission (unless you just didn't go on it).

Mission Finished- The mission was technically a success, but you did not perform up to the johnson's expectations. Perhaps you stole the prototype, but didn't get the access codes, or you made a PR nightmare by blowing up the entire building before you left. In any case, johnsons may pay you a reduced amount for the mission (though karma is probably unaffected)

Mission Successful- The mission was a success. You did exactly as was expected of you, and the johnson will typically pay you the agreed amount (depending on the trustworthiness of the johnson).

Mission Complete- Not only was the mission a success, you did better than the johnson expected. Perhaps you got extra data, got someone else blamed for the theft, or just did such a good job that the johnson provides you with some bonus money (and the GM gives bonus karma)

Dark/Light Ending- Some missions have multiple paths to victory. Perhaps you need to get someone in the governor's spot. Running a great campaign might get light side ending, while killing all other applicants would be a dark side ending. This may affect reputation or fame.

Side Mission- Some missions have extra things that might come up during them. Perhaps during a stakeout you find a witness to save, or see an unrelated opportunity come up during the mission. Side missions may get extra pay (from johnsons or other interested parties), and karma is usually increased for particpating in them.

Game Balance
While shadowrun comes somewhat pre-balanced, based on the limited nature of improving characters, some missions will be harder than others, and some missions can be made MUCH easier by some pre-work by the PCs, including careful planning, information gathering, and teamwork.

In the absense of these things, a mission will be much harder. This will not necessarily increase karma or other benefits of the mission. Just like in D&D, a trap has the same CR whether you spring it or pass it. Failing checks or making things more difficult for yourself does not increase the rewards of the mission.

Likewise, not participating in a mission may not involve payment or karma for your character. (Sometimes this is decied by the other PCs, sometimes by the GM, but usually this relates to your player not being present during a session or actively sitting out during missions- so should be a rare, if ever, occurance). Rest assured, there are usually ways to "catch up" available- just ask.

Also note, in some (probably rare) circumstanes, different PCs may get different ratings for mission success.

Karma Pool Usage

More uses for Karma Pool:

Escape: Like hand of god, this allows you to get away from a situation that might be impossible to escape from- being chased by police, surrounded by enemies, etc. The GM provides the specific method for escape. This use costs all your existing karma pool (use, not burn) and you must have at least 2 karma pool to use. This does not guarantee escape for your allies, but might (maybe you're driving a car they're in and use this).

Forget About It: By "laying low" for 1 month and burning 1 point of karma pool, the character may ensure that heat dies down on him and the police stop searching for him. Maybe a similar looking person gets arrested instead or the police have a bigger problem- the exact nature is up to the GM. Especially ridiculous cases (as decided by GM), may require 2 points to be burned.

More Money: By spending 1 karma pool, the character can gain +10% to his monthly income (day job, side income, etc) for 1 month. This must be used at the time the income is paid (not in advance at the end of another session). Multiple uses do not stack. This does not increase runner income or other kinds of income. Alternately, the karma pool may be used for a 5% discount to ALL lifestyle costs for the month, used at the time the rent is due. Both uses may be used together at a cost of 2 KP.

Fast Healing: By burning 1 karma pool, the character can make an extreme recovery in almost no time. After 1d6 days of hospitalization, the character makes a miraculous full recovery. This still requires that the character get proper medical attention (and pay for it as normal), but greatly reduces the time in the hospital for major wounds, guarantees no magic loss or cyberware malfunction, and guarantees recovery. This is spent before the roll is made. If it's after the roll, you may need to use hand of god instead.

Hand of God: Instead of being used once per character, this is usable provided that the character has at least 3 karma pool available after the first use- after a while, (30-60 good karma later) you've probably earned a new use.

Calvary: By burning 1 karma point you can call in the calvary to come save you- you must have relevant contacts (and may need to reimburse them) for their help, and this may affect your mission pay depending on the circumstances, but the calvary will attempt to come help you out of a jam.

Exploder: By burning 1 karma pool before a roll, you can roll 1d6 and add that to all the dice you explode for a given skill, as if you've exploded an extra time. For open tests, this basically adds 1d6 to your total roll. Instead of burning a karma point, you can spend one for +1 to all exploded dice rolls. This counts as the first modification to a die roll- any rerolls of failures on this die roll starts at 2 karma and doubles from there.

Angry Moment: By spending 1 karma pool at the beginning of an initiative round, you may ignore all wound penalties for the entire round.