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New to SR4 Help in Hermetic Mage

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nub5

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« on: <03-02-11/0132:37> »
So I'm joining a new SR4 campaign with three other players.  The group consist of an Ork Special Ops Merc, and Human Hacker Adept, and a human Rigger.  So my role is primary magic support with a second task of being the group's negotiator.  We are doing a 800 karma build and here is what I've done so far spending all 800 points (plus the maximum 40 from negative qualities).  Any advice would be appreciated  Thanks.

*Edit*
I should add that we don't have the usual restrictions on character creation and just treat it as buidling up a chracter from scratch with Karma.  This means we can buy up a skill group, and then stop buying it up to specialize or buy up specific active skills.  It means also we don't take any Magic loss from cyberware assuming it was put in before we "awakened" so it just caps your maximum.  The only cap we have on attributes and skills ratings is the hardcaps in the game (racial max) and how much karma we have to spend.

The GM mention to us our character will be travelling extensively around the globe with little downtime.  So our character need to be able to operate in many different cities and be able to travel without complications and then pull equipment at our destination.  He also recommend that all the PC have at least +1 IP
*End Edit*

Human Male
B - 4
A - 3
R - 3
S - 2
C - 4
I - 4
L - 3(5)
W - 5
M - 5
Edge - 4
Essence - 5.05

Qualities:
Magician
SINner
Spirit Bane: Insects

GROUP SKILLS   
Athlectics Group   2
Infiltration Group   1
Conjuring Group   2
Sorcery Group:   2
*-Stopped raising group and raised specific active skills   
   
ACTIVE SKILLS   
Arcana                  3
Assessing    3
Astral Combat    3
Automatics    2
Binding          4
Counterspelling    4
Etiquette      4
Negotiations [Bargain] 4+2
Perception    3
Spellcasting    5
Summoning    4
   
KNOWLEDGE SKILLS   
Magic Theory   3
Biology   3
Security Design   2
   
LANGUAGE SKILLS   
English   N
Spanish   2

Spells:
Lightingbolt
Stunbolt
Stunball
Increa Init 
Impr Multi invisi - all senses
Heal
Sterilize
Influence

Augmentation
Cybereyes Lev 3 (Flare, LowLight,Thermo, Vis Enh x2, Vison Mag, Smartgun)
Sleep Regulator
Trauma Damper
Cerebreal Booster Lev 2

Gear
Line Coat
Form Fit Lev 2 (4/1)
Health Sustaining Focus Lev 3
Fake ID lev 5
Fake License Lev 5 (Smartlink)
Fake License Lev 5 (Focus)
Sony Emperor w/ Ichi (Firewall Upgrade Lev 6)

Contacts
International Fixer Network (Group Fixer Contact 3/2)
International Talismonger Network (Group Talismonger Contact 3/3)
« Last Edit: <03-02-11/2006:16> by nub5 »

larskrygan

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« Reply #1 on: <03-02-11/0209:30> »
if you want to be the negociator, try an elf for the charisma bonus .

for the magician part,  drop the spirit bane or change the type of spirits, the insects spirits  are more than dangerous to deal with and you dont want to become their main target in a fight.

fo the skills take the conjuring skill group to 4, you cant stop and raise different skill at character creation, take  the skills spellcasting and counterspelling , not the skill group,  ritual sorcery isnt an obligation at creation
drop all cyber , as it reduces your magic at creation.

if you really want to min/max they are some good surge qualities for a negotiator
"stop bugging me or I will bug you"
insect spirits are the GM's friends

Charybdis

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« Reply #2 on: <03-02-11/0534:07> »
Hmmm, I think you're spread too thin here.

If you want to be the negotiator, I recommend moving over to be a shaman (Drain = Will + Cha), instead of the hermetic.
This way you can dump the logic Attribute back down (and the Cerebral Booster cash and essence resources) to spend on more Charisma (Pheromones?) and/or skills

Get a skill to 6, and specialise in it. If your GM is generous enough to allow it, TAKE IT! I recommend you bring up: Spellcasting to R6 (Spec: Combat Spells)
Note: Specialisation is cheap @2 karma, so use it for all your most common skill choices.
From your spell selection, I'm just guessing Combat spells is the obvious choice for most popular spellcasting option....
Also, Counterspelling(Spec: vs Combat Spells) is the most likely magic you'll be defending against... an extra 2 dice is pretty nice for 2 karma....
Specialise in whatever weapons you are most likely to carry. With Automatics, I'm assuming you're going for SMG's...

Also, Magic Rating. Push it to 6. You get an extra Dice to any Spellcasting, Conjuring etc, and can also push out the F6 spells with Stun drain only.

Basically, I think this mage as-built is a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none. SR rewards people who have chosen a particular focus and EXCEL at it. So, choose something for your PC (Combat spells, summoning, Negotiation etc) and be AMAZING at it. Everything else will follow on from there....
'Too much is never enough'

Current PC: Free Spirit (Norse Shamanic)
'Names are irrelevant. Which fake ID do you want me to quote from?'

Phreak Commandment V:
If Thou Be In School, Strive To Get Thine Self Good Grades, For The Authorities Well Know That Scholars Never Break The Law

nub5

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« Reply #3 on: <03-02-11/1954:54> »
Thanks for the input but now I have more confusion.  One is I understand I need to specialize but what should I drop to compensate?  The other is I"m not sure how to specialize based upon my role.  So looking at the other PC's here is a summary.

Rigger:
Specialize in Air and Groundcraft (Reaction of 7) and any Matrix skills associated with drones are at levle 3.  He secondary is in Firearms (group at 4, Agility 4).  To round out his character concept he took the Influence Skill Group leve 1 w/ charisma at 3.  His initiative passes are at 2

Ork Special Ops
This ork is a combination of the black ops and weapon specialist.  He has Firearms 4, Archery(bows)4+2, Close Combat 3, Martial Arts, Infiltrate 3.  His secondary is building guns with armorer 3.  He is the most cybers w/ a B6, Str 9, Agility 8 with cyberarm,cyberleg(embedded shotgun) and move by wire level 1.  His initative passes are also at 2

Hacker Adept:
This character is really specialized in Hacking and has logic 8.  Normally using 15 dice when doing hacking.  His backup is a general grou of skills that are are based off logic,  Biotech Group 1, Mechanics Group 1, Demolitions 3, Chemistry 2.  His adept powers improve his hacking skills and give him one level of initative increase (having 2 passes also).

So with that I am thinking of major role is magical support protecting against spirits and doing astral stuff.  I thought I could do this both with spells and summoning.  Also since the group does not have any high negotiations nor high etiquette that would be my backup for the group.  Am I being too broad with PC on magical support?  Some other items to note is that my PC is the most perceptive in the party (Highest skill and intution) and second to the Ork in terms of stealth (not counting spells or spirit concealment). 

Also originally I had a 5 charisma and 4 logic w/ Negotians at 5.  However I found that if I go hermetic I could get the same level of drain and a more karma to spend elsewhere with Cha 4, logic 3(5).  I also thought it would be easier to up my drain stat with cyberware opposed to sustaining a Cha spell.  I do plan to ge Tailored phermones down the line.

So dropping Ritual Casting will net me 4 points to spend and it seems I should at least use 2 to specialize Counterspelling:Combatspells.  Unfortunatley I can't see getting a 6 magic because it would cost 43 karma (30 attribute + 5 to joint a group + 8 initation).

Charybdis

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« Reply #4 on: <03-02-11/2033:50> »
Thanks for the input but now I have more confusion.  One is I understand I need to specialize but what should I drop to compensate? 
.....
So with that I am thinking of major role is magical support protecting against spirits and doing astral stuff.  I thought I could do this both with spells and summoning.  Also since the group does not have any high negotiations nor high etiquette that would be my backup for the group.  Am I being too broad with PC on magical support?  Some other items to note is that my PC is the most perceptive in the party (Highest skill and intution) and second to the Ork in terms of stealth (not counting spells or spirit concealment). 

Also originally I had a 5 charisma and 4 logic w/ Negotians at 5.  However I found that if I go hermetic I could get the same level of drain and a more karma to spend elsewhere with Cha 4, logic 3(5).  I also thought it would be easier to up my drain stat with cyberware opposed to sustaining a Cha spell.  I do plan to ge Tailored phermones down the line.

So dropping Ritual Casting will net me 4 points to spend and it seems I should at least use 2 to specialize Counterspelling:Combatspells.  Unfortunatley I can't see getting a 6 magic because it would cost 43 karma (30 attribute + 5 to joint a group + 8 initation).
Emphasis mine

Magical support protecting against spirits and Astral stuff is a very broad field. Thta's like asking a street sam to know how to use every weapon (Close Combat, Firearms and Heavy), or a Rigger to drive every vehicle (Rotocraft, Drones etc)

Even in the world of magic, you need to choose your focus.
- Is it Spirits or Spells?
- Is it Offense or Defense?
- Is it Utility or Combat?

One day, you can master all of them. In fact, that's normally what Shadowrunning mages aspire to do. In the beginning though, choose something to be GREAT at, so you know that when fighting to your forte, you can really shine.

Also, what's wrong with Getting magic rating to 6 at character creation? No initiation required from memory, as it's the base maximum (unless you're a vampire or another of those essence-draining exceptions)

Note: Hell, even if Initiation IS required, the best defense you can actually get is the Metamagic Technique of MASKING so that Astral entyities don't automatically peg you as the mage in the group
'Geek the Mage first' is not a guideline, it's an imperative that all your enemies will follow...
'Too much is never enough'

Current PC: Free Spirit (Norse Shamanic)
'Names are irrelevant. Which fake ID do you want me to quote from?'

Phreak Commandment V:
If Thou Be In School, Strive To Get Thine Self Good Grades, For The Authorities Well Know That Scholars Never Break The Law