[Companero]

Is there a good source of NPC statistics for Blood Mages (and Toxics, for that matter?). I'm putting together my first Shadowrun campaign which calls for one at the end and I'm looking for some inspiration on how to make him interesting and dangerous on his own - while he has allies, the way I've planned the adventure means that the 'runners might have dealt with them all before they find him, depending on their choices.

I'm afraid I don't really have enough intuitive sense of the magic rules to want to make one myself without seeing some baseline examples first. I do have Street Magic and its possible i'm missing something really obvious!

Thanks

[Mirikon]

Blood magic isn't limited to just allies, remember. You can use it on yourself, or on any hapless scrags who just happen to be bound next to you, as well as your enemies. Also, if it is likely that the guy's allies have all died before they get to the blood mage, have him keep one or two back, and use them to summon blood spirits.

[Mantis]

Hell, you can call Blood Spirits from animals as well as people. Give the guy a couple of Hell Hounds he can sacrifice to call up some blood spirits. Or dogs. Or bound kids if you want him to be really evil. Adds an element of urgency to defeating him.

[Mirikon]

Hell, you can call Blood Spirits from animals as well as people. Give the guy a couple of Hell Hounds he can sacrifice to call up some blood spirits. Or dogs. Or bound kids if you want him to be really evil. Adds an element of urgency to defeating him.

If you want to be REALLY evil, have a couple of the group's friends/family go 'missing' just before the final battle. And then have the bad guy send the group a picture with him next to their bound and gagged loved ones. THEN send blood spirits at them, starting with the mage's dog, and working your way up.

[Companero]

Oh yeah. Practically the entire point of including a blood mage in a game is so the players can burst in on him about to sacrifice someone they know, IMO! I do like the hellhound thing, as well.

But back to the OP, is there a source of NPC statistics for Blood Mages lying around somewhere?

[Mirikon]

Check Hazard Pay. There are some blood mages in there, I believe.

[Mantis]

There is also one in Season Two of Missions, the ones set in Denver. I believe it is Tunnel Vision.
As a note though, Blood Mages are basically regular magicians who follow a twisted path and take the Sacrifice meta-magic. Stat wise you can use any old magician and just add (or replace) a meta-magic. There isn't really a 'Blood Mage' template or anything beyond making sure they have at least the Sacrifice meta-magic and probably Invoking and Invoking Blood Spirits meta-magics which means they should be about grade 3 initiates (unless you allow the optional rule to buy meta-magics). Beyond those requirements, any path and any magician could be used as a Blood Mage.

[Mirikon]

Mantis is correct, but most blood mages would also have the Blades skill, since drawing blood is a prerequisite.

[Mithlas]

If you want to be REALLY evil, have a couple of the group's friends/family go 'missing' just before the final battle. And then have the bad guy send the group a picture with him next to their bound and gagged loved ones. THEN send blood spirits at them, starting with the mage's dog, and working your way up.

I thought being really evil was making the blood mage the group's friend or family...

So that's where John was disappearing to all those weekends and new moons...

Mantis is correct, but most blood mages would also have the Blades skill, since drawing blood is a prerequisite.

Unless they're not very good at it. That just makes the pain greater. Usually.

Also: might have to check hazard pay at some point. I wonder if it will have more opportunities for a group that's investing in parachuting.

[Companero]

Thanks! I was looking for an excuse to buy that book . Also for Mantis' advice which I think i'm going to use...

Unless they're not very good at it. That just makes the pain greater. Usually.

I'm playing with the idea that this guy might have learnt blood magic in a Ute prison, so perhaps he practiced using a sharpened plastic spork...

[Mantis]

Not to kill a budding idea, but learning blood magic in prison is pretty damn tough. Since the Draco Foundation offers a bounty on them I might even say impossible. Magicians tend to be watched veeeery closely in prison and blood magic is something most North American jurisdictions watch out for with Aztlan being the main exception.
He could have instead learned it on an astral quest gone wrong or through some sort of shadow spirit that wants to use the chaos he will cause to its own advantage. He could have learned it from an ancient text he dug up or from one of the Great Ghost Dancers who has grown disillusioned with the path the NAN has taken. He could even be a rogue Aztlan magician out to make his own mark on the world.
The best thing to do with the Twisted path magicians is take what they would normally be in their tradition and then ... twist it. Like if you had a Christian Theugerist who took the idea of sacrifice in his religion to horrifying, non-symbolic ends and starts seeing sin as only being expunged through blood or something. Get creative and delve into the darker parts of human psychology.

[Companero]

Yeah, I imagined it might be hard to legitimize. But like you said, there are tons of other good ideas and I do like the twisting thing alot.

...although I entirely forgot about the Draco Bounty. That's going to single-handedly make the adventure far more lucrative than I planned, unless... (*scribbles notes, has ideas, changes plan...*) Thanks for reminding me about that!

[Mirikon]

Also, the treatment of the Awakened in prison is... very not good. Things that can happen are MASSIVE chemical cocktails to keep them 'docile', constant sensory deprivation and being bound and gagged 24/7 to prevent spellcasting, including the use of magecuffs to prevent astral projection, and even giving them implants to kill their talent. And that's in the NICE prisons.

[Mithlas]

That's actually something I hope is dealt with in one of the supplement books in 5E - I don't think it's much dealt with in earlier editions. Granted, until we start seeing technological anti-magic-generators, we're probably not going to be seeing nice means of handling awakened in prisons.

[Mirikon]

I believe there's some discussion of how Awakened prisoners are treated in Street Magic, and before that in the Lone Star book from earlier editions.