Adept Mimicry (Cost: 1)

This spell allows an adept to produce sound effects and imitate people and animels, in the manner of the Sasquatch. Unlike the tonal shift feature found in voice modulator cyberware (SRII, p. 249), this ability can fool voice scanners. The adept's Magic Attribute is the victim's base target number to identify a sound as false. An animal hearing imitated sounds of its own species gets a -2 modifier. The adept's familiarity with the sound or voice being imitated also modifies the target number.

Singing skill augments Adept Mimicry. An Adept receives a +1 modifier for every two levels of Singing skill.

The Oxford group reported that certain Physical Adepts have a heightened empathy with animals. A physad with this power may attempt to put his or her Charisma against the animal's Willpower in an Opposed Test. Only animals with an Intelligence (not Perception) of 3 or less are affected by Animal Control (excelpt for insects and other invertebrates, whose minds cannot be grasped by an Adept). Any creature derived from human or metahuman stock is immune (use Hypnotic Influence, below).

As soon as a success test is made, a controlled animal can be prevented from attacking, sounding an alarm, etc. After this, the physad may use a Complex Action to give an order to a controlled animal. Orders must be something the animal can understand and accomplish - orders that run contrary to an animal's instinctual or normal behavior require a new Opposed Success Test, with a +2 modifier in the animal's favor.

Skill in Animal Training or Animal Husbandry may apply a modifier to control attempts, at the Gamemaster's option.

The Physical Adept with this skill can consciously affect the speed of missiles approaching him, slowing them down to such an extent that he can easily knock them aside with his hands or weapons (Armed or Unarmed Combat Task of 4). If the Physical Adept is feeling especially cocky he can catch the missile in midflight (Unarmed Combat Task of 6).

Using this power, a Physical Adept can deflect knives, shurikens, and even arrows, although he can't deflect bullets (bullets travel too fast to be appreciably affected by this power).

This ability partially shields a physad against Detection spells. The Cloak acts as a passive Mana Barrier, adding the number of points purchased to the Target Number of of any hypersense or general detection spell targeted against the adept (gamemaster's discretion). If the Cloak rating negates (reduces to zero) the successes of a hypersense spell (Clairvoyance or Clairaudience), the adept is invisible/inaudible to the spell (otherwise the spell works normally).

This ability only works for the adept - he or she cannot extend the Cloak around others. In astral space the Cloak can be attacked like a Mana Barrier. If the Cloak falls, it is rebuilt at a rate of one point/six hours. Unless the player states otherwise, the Cloak is always considered to be "up".

EXAMPLE: Hideki Samoshita, physad assassin, is part of a four-member Yakuza hit team on an assignment. The target, a mage, casts a Detect Enemies 5 spell and rolls 7, 5, 4, 2 and 1. She would normally have three successes against the Yaks, who are not invisible and clearly intend to harm her. Samoshita's Astral Cloak, however, is equal to a Mana Barrier 4, and thus pushes the mage's Target Number up to 8. None of the mage's rolls were that high, so Hideki is not detected by the spell. The target relaxes, believing all three enemies have been identified - giving Samoshita the opening he needs.

EXAMPLE TWO: Three days after the assassination, a Dog shaman detective questions Samoshita about the murder. He casts Analyze Truth at Force 4. Using his Magic Pool and Totem advantages, the detective rolls 12 dice. Samoshita's Willpower is 5, and his 4 Cloaking points raise Dogboy's Target Number to 9. Hideki rolls to resist and scores three successes, one more than the shaman manages to score. The spell is unable to disprove the assassin's claim of innocence. The puzzled detective walks away, not seeing a slight smile play across Samoshita's lips.

By mixing innate magical power with meditative and "biofeedback" techniques dating back to the "New Age" movement of the 20th century, the physad can augment the natural healing process. The Enhanced Healing Ability induces a slow-acting regeneration similar in some ways to the power noted in victims of the Human-Metahuman Vampire Virus (HMHVV). Because this ability involves entering a state of dormancy, it is some times confused with the Suspended State ability from Grimoire II.

An Adept in dormancy recovers more quickly from Stun damage. She rolls a Body or Willpower test as usual, but doubles the number of successes. Similarly, by focusing concentration for an extended period, a Physical Adept in dormancy can enhance healing, removing one box of Physical damage per day in addition to that removed by any other forms of magical or medical healing.

Because dormancy reduces the "downtime" required between activities, many shadowrunning Adepts prefer it to normal sleep. It is not a replacement, however - after 48 hours, the Adept loses one Magic point per day until normal sleep habits are resumed (after which one point will be regained each day).

Inducing dormancy takes two consecutive Complex Actions, during which the Adept can do nothing else. Any action taken forces the Adept to restart the process. Outside distractions can be resisted by Willpower. The target number depends on the distraction. Being jostled in the trunk of a moving car might rate a Willpower (4) test; getting shot might push the Target Number to 9 or higher. The dormant state can be sustained indefinitely, but the physad has only minimal awareness (+3 to all Perception tests). The Adept can voluntarily return to awareness; this requires two Complex Actions. The Adept may use Willpower to resist being brought back involuntarily; the Target Number varies based on the method of distraction used.

A normal human or metahuman can run a number of meters equal to Quickness x3 (x2 for dwarfs and trolls) in one Combat Phase. A physad with Enhanced Movement can run faster and maintain that high speed for a number of Turns equal to the adept's Magic Attribute. Bonuses gained from a Running skill test are added to Quickness as usual. Collisions are covered under the Blast against Barrier and Break Trhough rules. Power is computed as in SRII, p. 109. On the chart, the number after the slash is the multiplier for dwarfs and trolls.

EXAMPLE: Karl Louis, troll sprinter, has spent 3 Magic Points to boost his Quickness to 7, another 2.5 points to increase his running multiplier to 4, and his last .5 on two extra dice in Athletics (Running). The go-ganger who snatched Karl's girlfriend is shocked to see a troll keeping pace with him on foot. Karl has one chance to stop the motorcycle before it accelerates beyond his enhanced ability - but it is one more chance than he ever would have had.

EXAMPLE TWO: The go-ganger ducks into a garage, sliding the door down and bolting it. Karl sees this, puts his head down and charges the Barrier 3 cheap metal door. Using his Karma Pool to achieve the maximum number of Running successes, Karl rams his 200 kilos into the door at a speed of (7+6)*4, or 52 meters per Combat Turn. There is a shrieking explosion of metal and flesh, a jagged hole is ripped in the door, and Karl enters, bleeding and angry. The ganger's jaw drops in amazement.

This power mystically clouds the memory of anyone who views the Physical Adept's face. Upon later recollection, the viewer will be unable to remember what the Physical Adept looked like.

Although people affected by this power cannot consciously remember the Physical Adept's appearance, the image remains in their subconscious, and can be detected by mind-probing magic, including the Mesmerize power (see below).

Hypnotic Influence allows a Physical Adept to mesmerize others, much like the Influence power of certain paranormal animals. With a voluntary subject the Adept can access deep memories, plant minor posthypnotic suggestions, release inhibitions while in the trance state, etc. The actual effects are up to the gamemaster. Unwilling victims require an Opposed Test matching the Adept's Charisma against the target's Willpower. The number of net successes in the Adept's favor indicates how effective (or ineffective) the hypnosis is.

This power allows the Physical Adept to enter a trance. In this dormant state, the Adept's metabolic rate decreases to such an extent that even modern medicine cannot detect that he is still alive.

The only problem with this power is that the Physical Adept must decide before he enters the trance how long the trance is to last. Once this decision is made, the Physical Adept will not wake from the trance until this time has passed, regardless of any outside stimuli. It is possible for a Physical Adept to remain in the trance too long and wake up in pieces in the mortuary, having just had an autopsy performed on him.

Unlike other abilities covered here, a so-called "luck" ability continues to defy scientific analysis. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that some folks are just plain lucky. In fact, noted shadow journalist Domingo Higuera devoted his 2051 prize-winning simsense documentary, Born Lucky: The "Teela Brown" Factor in Shadowrunning, to the exploits of a runner for whom things always fell into place.

The most useful (and perhaps most dangerous) skill an Adept can possess, Luck directly increases the Adept's Karma Pool by one point per 2.5 Magic points spent. This is good for any situation where the Karma Pool can be used, but Luck points are not permanently exhausted by buying successes (for this reason, Luck points should be recorded separately from the earned Karma Pool). Luck points can never be contributed to Team Karma, nor may they be used as "good" Karma. In other words, an Adept with this ability cannot use Luck to increase Attributes or Skills, bond magic items, become an Initiate, or do anything else that requires actual Karma points.

NOTE: Luck can unbalance a campaign, and should be introduced with caution.

This power allows a Physical Adept to impose his will on anybody with whom he can make eye contact. This is done as an Opposed Success test. Both the Physical Adept and the intended victim roll a number of dice equal to their respective Willpower stats. Each combatant's Target Number is the opponent's Willpower, and the one who scores the most successes wins.

If a Physical Adept mesmerizes someone, he can command that being to do anything, including killing itself and attacking its comrades. However, the Physical Adept must maintain eye contact with his victim at all times or his control is broken.

This power can also be used to interrogate someone. The victim will obey the order to answer. Because of the magical nature of the compulsion to talk, the person being interrogated will remember even things he has consciously forgotten or only knows subconsciously.

Magicians can protect against magical attacks, and extent that protection to others, by "shunting" incoming magical energy back to the astral plane from whence it came. Over the years there have been documented cases of untrained mages unconsciously using Spell Defense in times of stress. Such individuals were ignorantly called "negamages" in popular books like Peter Isaac's Reality of Magic.

Guilbeaux and the Renraku team determined that some of these cases actually involved Physical Adepts, despide their limited access to the astral plane. Typical is Guilbeaux's case history of "Hector", who exhibited both Spell Defense and Astral Perception as a child, but could neither conjure nor cast spells despite years of teaching in both magical traditions. This and other examples show that certain adepts can focus their will as Spell Defense. The negamage adept has a Spell Defense Magic Pool equal to either her Willpower or her skill level in Sorcery or Spellcasting (whichever is higher).

NOTE: The Astral Perception and Negamage abilities may work together, i.e. physads who have both abilities gain an additional two dice to Spell Defense attempts, but only if they are astrally perceiving when the spell is cast.

The Physical Adept using this ability has exceptional resistance to bacterial and viral infections. Each level purchased adds an extra die to any roll to resist damage from diseases (including VITAS and HMHVV). Dwarf Adepts add this to their natural resistance to disease.

This is a self-imposed healing trance. While in this trance a Physical Adept heals one box on the Wound Condition Chart for every 10 minutes in the trance. (Thus, every half hour he heals one wound category.) If attacked while in the healing trance, the Physical Adept requires a full round to regain consciousness and may make no actions until that round is over.

(I would not include this power in my campaign. It is far too high-powered for my taste, at least.)

With a Sonic Scream, a physad can shatter glass and crystals with resonant frequencies or affect multiple enemies with a blast of focused sound waves. The scream can be heard as great distances (several kilometers from a hilltop in open terrain, for example).

Sonic Screams fully affect individuals within a radius of the Adept's Willpower in meters (the Power of the attack decreases by one per additional meter), and adds +2 to all target modifiers penalties. Any solid barrier between Adept and listener reduces the damage by one or more categories, while any form of hearing protection - security helmet, cyberears with hearing dampers, etc. - reduces the attack's Power by the Impact Armor or damper rating (earplugs or headphones reduce the Power rating by four).

Resonant frequencies can break small objects (champagne glasses, test tubes, camera lenses), but are next to useless against any glass with a Barrier rating (add triple the Barrier rating to the Target Number). Crystals used in such things as optical chips and cyberware are vulnerable if lying around loose - when mounted normally in equipment they have partial or total insulation (raising the Target Number by two or more).

As with Adept Mimicry, Sonic Scream is augmented by the Singing skill. Skilled singers gain +1 to attack power and -1 on resonant frequency target numbers for every three levels of Singing.

Using this power a Physical Adept may magically prolong the amount of time he can hold his breath. A Physical Adept with this power can ignore the need for oxygen for a number of minutes equal to his Magic stat. This time is halved if the Physical Adept exerts himself. After this period is over the Physical Adept's body starts using oxygen again.

This power is very useful for fighting in gas-filled rooms or swimming huge distances under water.

Level 1: This power causes the shadows to thicken wherever the Physical Adept passes, cloaking him from observers.

While an Adept maintains this power, an observer must roll a number of dice equal to his Intelligence stat (against a Target Number of 6) to spot the Physical Adept.

This power has no effect on thermographic vision but does work against video cameras and low-light vision.

Level 2: This level allows the Physical Adept to weave a web of darkness around him, which follows him wherever he goes.

An observer must roll a number of dice equal to his Intelligence stat (Target Number of 8, or 5 if the observer has thermographic vision) to detect the Physical Adept.

Level 3: This level enables the user to render himself invisible at will. He cannot be seen by video cameras or thermographic vision. He can only be detected by Astral viewing or ultrasound sensors.

Note: To obtain a level the Physical Adept must first buy the level(s) below it.

Taken from the pages of Jens-Arthur Leirbakk