Laser Mage TW Rifle

[Aermas]

Could a Techno Wizard conspire with a Laser Mage to give a laser rifle the ability to shoot "hard light" using the Material Light spell?

I think it'd be a pretty fun way to bypass Energy Immunity if your laser gun could punch the target with an equivalent physical attack.

[Curbludgeon]

Here are some of the arguable hangups which come to mind, in rough order of increasing relevance.

Laser Mage is an "optional" class. So what?

Some of the descriptive text mentions that the abilities are learned and can be taught, but the class progresses as an intuitive caster and is described as a priest. RUE doesn't specifically list a technowizard gem option for divine magic, but has options for intuitive magics like Biomancy and Cloud Magic and granted magics like that of the Elemental Warlock, so that shouldn't be an issue.

The Laser Mage is a pretty limited caster, with low PPE, and their light effects are all pretty expensive, so this is really horning in on their niche. All specialty casters have this concern in the face of generalists and technowizards wanting to pick their pockets, and a better solution might start with incentivizing LLW\TW deliberately limiting their spell list.

The Material Light spell doesn't impart force. It isn't so much a situation like the X-Man Cyclops, whose eyes are a portal to the punch dimension, as an effect which can make a flashlight beam into a bridge. It would be a great effect on a projector, or in conjunction with magics like Crystal or Cloud which can provide things to reflect light, but would in that situation still be useful for temporary construction.

To have a reactionless hard light emitter in a TW device, I might lift the Material Light spell, and tack on some effects in a spellchain like Sub-Particle Acceleration, Sheltering Force, maybe Mystic Fulcrum, etc. I'd perhaps just fold it, alongside much of the Laser Mage's shtick, into Crystal Magic.

[Aermas]

Crystal Mage with Laser Mage's Light Spells would be nice. Crystal Magic feels like it lacks just a little bit of something & Light Magic would round it out nicely. I might do that at my table & fold them together somehow.

Yes the Techno-Wizard has the reputation of pillaging other OCC's of their spells, but that's what makes them so awesome.

[Curbludgeon]

Crystal Mage is in that boat with the other casters with a vaguely defined item creation system like Woodland Druids, Biomancers, and Soulmancers, where that's seemingly expected to do more narrative heavy lifting than a mechanics-forward player might appreciate. The Laser Mage spells can help with that. I'd just add a crystal requirement to a few effects, and consider adding some spells from elsewhere. The Combat Magic spell Laser Blast already even requires a crystal, for instance. Some of the close range effects from Star Magic (Rifter 50) like Spinning Stars could work.

One thing I think which bears emphasizing for the Crystal Mage is how they are hands down the best class at creating short term PPE batteries. With the 3rd level Turn Rock into Crystal spell, a 1st level Crystal Mage with access to a ley line and a pile of rocks can spend a couple of hours to quickly whip up a Crystal Arch, or fund most any other high cost ritual shy of those Demon Planet ones. By around 4th level the battery duration is long enough to accommodate the ritual time to make Crystal Towers and Palaces.

[ShadowLogan]

NOTE: Full Disclosure I'm not familiar with the Laser Mage, I'm guessing it is from a Rifter I don't have. So my contribution here is a bit limited.

Could a TW conspire with a non-TW to impart a spell to a TW device? Theoretically speaking... Yes. The Main hang up will be if the magic is actually compatible, not all branches of magic are compatible with TW if we compare the TW gem list for non-Wizard Invocations on pg 134 of RUE (12, plus Invocation for 13 total) vs the Summary of Known Magic Types circa 109PA list in the BoM pg24 (37 fti, technically a bit shorter since some of the examples can be folded in plus 1x is TW itself, though looking over the OCC/RCC list on pg22-4, I can notice at least 1x that technically create a new branch not on the other list, then there is the magics introduced post BoM, and some magics might have been clumped that could be "separated" like Elemental into in its own sub-branches). The secondary hang up will then be what GEM or GEMs are applicable to the Laser Mage brand of magic IF it is deemed compatible.

Unfortunately it would all come down to GM fiat. Could a case be made for or against this specific scenario? Sure, though which would have the stronger argument is likely to also be subjective.

Ignoring that to answer your other question, would the "hard light" work to bypass Immune to Energy? I think it could be done and would work, even based on the (rough) description a previous poster provided for the spell HOWEVER you'd be looking at a more complicated spell chain than the other TW-Laser weapons, and will likely require it to be combined with the TW-TK weapon spells (or similar) in order to get it to work. At which point it might just be easier to make a laser/energy weapon into a TK-gun with an "illusionary secondary effect" (think TW Fire Demon flamethrower pg328 BoM, only a different illusion to mask a different type of attack). No specialist magic needed, you just need a laser/energy type that would produce noticeable "recoil" of some kind (either directly or indirectly, and given we're talking energy weapons here likely indirectly I'd go with a Chemical Laser to get the "recoil" since its operation mixes chemicals that have to be exhausted, so recoil).

[Aermas]

Yes it's from a rifter. The Material Light spell can even "trap" someone in a light beam. I guess I can add to the spellchecker easily enough, might as well add the x10 laser damage multiplier & the double light damage debuff to it too to really tune it up

[Curbludgeon]

Curse of Piercing Light is the x2 debuff. What's the x10 multiplier?

Spoiler:

Material Light
Range: Can be cast up to 5 feet (1.5 m) away per level of expe­rience.
Duration: Five minutes per level of experience.
Saving Throw: None.
P.P.E.: 50 One of the most powerful spells dealing with light, this one has the ability to turn light into solid matter. The light's touch must be within the range of the spell caster for him to affect it. Once cast, the light in its strongest range (i.e. the column from a flashlight, a sphere of light from a light bulb, etc .), will tum into solid matter. The new matter will have no weight but will have mass and volume matching its size. In its most practical form, this solid light can be used to capture an enemy and hold him with a spotlight, use a flashlight to create a bridge, or a make a tightrope with a laser.
Solid light has an M.D.C. of 5 per level of experience regardless of size.

Crystal Mages don't specify they may learn spells at any time. It says they select spells, which I think is used for multiple modalities. If they're limited to spells upon leveling they lose a bit as ritualists, the crystal guardian creation notwithstanding.

The napkin math on them ends up with a 1st level character spending 2.5 hours making 1200 crystals out of rocks @2\round, then charging each with 10 PPE @ 1 per round for 5 hours. Each one loses 2 PPE\hour, so with 5 hours charging a starting Crystal Mage can fund a 7200 PPE ritual in under 8 hours. The 1200 crystals total stays static regardless of level, and they're rechargeable once created. If the Crystal Mage has to break up their own rocks tack on another hour. Being golf ball sized 1200 crystal batteries could, at a guess, almost fit within a large duffle. At subsequent levels they can still only charge 2400 PPE\hour via leyline but at 10xlevel capacity\battery such that 5 additional hours spent charging increases the total PPE available by 6000. At 2nd level 10 hours of charging gets one 13200PPE, at 3rd it's 19200 for 15 hours charging, and at 4th 25200 after 22.5 total hours. The final summoning of Cormal, Destroyer of Worlds is possible at 6th level. Perhaps the Crystal Mage spends an action on a Sustain spell before they get started.

[taalismn]

Damn it, I've got to really delve into my copy of Atlanteans ; Crystal Mages sound fun for the sort of industrial magic I like.
Time to abuse the magic schools!

[Aermas]

Curse of Piercing Light is the x2 debuff. What's the x10 multiplier?

Control Light Intensitity: Major

It makes ANY laser weapon do x10 damage (JA-12s get a bit bonkers). Makes a Globe of Daylight do 1d6x10, flashlights turn into mini laser pistols. They can even magnify natural sunlight on a sunny day to do 4d6x10 but the range is very limited.

I was gonna add sunlight damage conversion from another Rifter so it would be a sun laser doing xyz damage that would be a strong vampire killer, but there's ways to ignore or mitigate laser damage so I was looking to add a "hard light" mode to do surprise kinetic damage when needed

[ShadowLogan]

Potentially found the Ultimate TW Gem to use, though sourcing the Gem in question is probably going to be very difficult (even the Splugorth have trouble)...

the Zaayr Crystal Dragon (WB12 pg135) in the fluff states: "Zaayr Crystal can be substituted for quartz, diamond or virtually any gemstone required as a magical component for Techno-Wizardry and Bio-Wizard devices to Alchemical creations. Furthermore, the innate magical substitute increases the power of the device and magic", they go onto list the (respectable amount, IMHO) % boost and the various stats that will be influenced.

So if there are "questionable" magic branches that need a Gem(s) to work in TW, this might be a potential solution. Mass market device is likely out, but for prototype/proof-of-concepts it might be a go to solution.

[Aermas]

I figure the only viable gem for something like this would be a Sunstone

But the dragon crystal looks cool & if it offers additional bonuses that's gravy

[Curbludgeon]

I put together a list in this thread of magic types without a specified TW stone. Some of these aren't necessarily applicable, or would require a lot of hoop jumping to be accessible. This list doesn't include things not labeled "official" in a Rifter, like Light and Song Magic.

Spoiler:

African Ceremonial Magic: Rifts World Book 4: Africa (note there is considerable overlap between these and Tribal Shaman Chants in Palladium Fantasy RPG Book 3: Adventures on the High Seas)
African Witch: Rifts World Book 4: Africa
Blue Flame: Rifts World Book 9:South America 2
Chi: Mystic China
Chaos: Chaos Earth Sourcebook 2: Rise of Magic
Conjuring: Rifts World Book 16: Federation of Magic (also found in Palladium Fantasy RPG 10: Mount Nimro)
Crystal: Rifts Dimension Book 15: Secrets of the Atlanteans
Combat: Rifts: Mercenary Adventures
Demon: Rifts Dimension Book 12: Phase World: Dimensional Outbreak
Diabolism: Palladium Fantasy RPG
Dolphin: Rifts World Book 7: Underseas
Fleshsculptor: Nightbane World Book 3: Through the Glass Darkly
Frost: Rifter 70
Hunting: Rifts Vampire Sourcebook
Korallyte Shaping: Rifts World Book 7: Underseas
Life Force: Palladium Fantasy RPG 10: Mount Nimro
Mirror: Nightbane World Book 3: Through the Glass Darkly
Mortificant Arts: Rifter 50
Nazca Line: Rifts World Book 9:South America 2
Pyromancy: Rifter 82
Rainmaker: Rifts World Book 4: Africa
Shamanic/Shamanistic: Rifts World Book 15: Spirit West
Shadow: Rifts Dimension Book 15: Secrets of the Atlanteans (with several spells originally found in Palladium Fantasy RPG 12: Library of Bletherad)
Soulmancy: Rifts World Book 35: Megaverse in Flames
Space: Rifts Dimension Book 13: Phase World: Fleets of the Three Galaxies Sourcebook
Star: Rifter 50
Summoning: Palladium Fantasy RPG
Whalesong: Rifts World Book 7: Underseas

[ShadowLogan]

It's also possible that in a few cases like Diabolism (and/or Nazca Line) they might not need gems to function as part of TW due to their nature (NA Fetishes might also qualify). Though in some of these special cases it might only be viable to for single use items.