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Trying to come up with a good mage for my group

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ShinigamiWolf

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« on: <04-24-12/1846:40> »
So my group has two explosion happy gun bunnies, a doctor/face (No real combat skills), a hacker afraid to be out in his meat (go figure), and then me with a melee mage (That I feel I have partially wasted my bp because of the two gun bunnies). So I've been throwing up little ideas here and there to stimulate my mind for a new character concept. I am a believer in Mages only have one element they can learn (Because this is a decent RP group and not just combat lovers, so some limits are in place in my head.) With all that in mind...here's concept number three for critque, slam me with your constructive criticism please ^^.

Code Name Salamander (Draco Valinci)
Elf Mage (Shamanic)
Attributes

Body 4
Agi 4
Rea 2/4
Str 2
Cha 7
Int 5
Log 2
Wil 5

Edge 3
Magic 5

Qualities
Pos: Lightning Reflexes (+2 Rea), Magician, Mentor Spirit: Wolf (+2 Combat, +2 Spirit of Beasts)
Neg: Addiction: Cram, Debt 30k

Active Skills
4 Binding
4 Counterspelling
1 Perception
1 Pistols
4 Spellcasting
6 Summoning

Knowledge Skills
2 Bars
4 Magical Theory
2 Russian Mafia (Members/Style)
2 Triads (Members/Style)
2 Triads (Security)
2 Yakuza (Members/Style)
2 Yakuza (Security)

Languages
2 Chinese
N English
2 Japanese
1 Russian

Spells
Flamethrower
Fireball
Heal
Increase Charisma
Increase Reflexes

Weapons
Ruger Super Warhawk
Fire selector SA, Increased Cylinder, Laser Sight
Ammo: 25x regular, 25x Stick n Shock, 25x Explosive Rounds
5x Speed loaders

Armor
Armor Jacket 8/6
Fire Resistance, Insulation, Non-conductivity (all x3)

Gear
Contact Lenses (+3 Sight, Vision Magnification)
Earbuds (+3 hearing)
Medkit Rating 6
Respirator Rating 6
Sub-vocal Microphone
Emerald Ring (Health Sustaining Foci Rating 3)
Ruby Ring (Health Sustaining Foci Rating 3)

Contacts (Three Freebies at 3/3, Thank You GM)
Dr. Razer (Doc Wagon Informant)
Lone Wolf (Shamanic Mentor)
Santa (Fixer)

Advanced Lifestyle 2k a month
Comforts 3
Entertainment 0
Necessities 3
Neighborhood 2
Security 3

AI in Residence -3 (What Mage is tech savy, you know)
Aspected Domain 5 (Living in a Shamanic Neighborhood)
Black Hole (Temp, Physical....seriously who doesn't lose their keys occasionally)
Homegrown Farming (Everyone has to have a hobby)
Lax Security (Who would be crazy enough to attack a bunch of Mages...at least that's what I would think)

Fake SIN Rating 3 Demetri Valentine

Alright, that's the most of it. Slap me, beat me, roll me down a hill. Help me see the light if you can, I'm feeling fairly good about this one. Stuff to build on, and a decent proper mage. Got magic to use for attacking, a fallback if he takes too much stun/physical, and not completely slow as hell.

Henzington

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« Reply #1 on: <04-24-12/1909:21> »
instead of all those gang knowledge skills you want seattle street gangs or other city if your not in seattle.  You can always pick up a specialization for one gang.  Also I asume your addiction is mild as you have the max rating of the In Debt quality.

Also I am curious as to why you included Health in your foci as they can sustain whatever spell casted into them.
« Last Edit: <04-24-12/1917:39> by Henzington »
Whenever I am at a loss for I should do, I ask myself what would Michael Weston do?

ShinigamiWolf

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« Reply #2 on: <04-24-12/1917:02> »
You are correct on the addiction, as for the street gangs of Seattle....while I do want my character to have useful skills, I am trying to think of those he would have acquired from freelancing before he went blacker and joined a shadowrun group. The knowledge skills were from a more of an RP standpoint, but I do get what your saying....Though I believe all those gangs still are prevalent in Seattle, yes?

Henzington

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« Reply #3 on: <04-24-12/1918:53> »
yeah but the whole idea of knowledge skills is to be a broad category where as knowledge on a specific thing ie one gang is a specialization.
Whenever I am at a loss for I should do, I ask myself what would Michael Weston do?

All4BigGuns

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« Reply #4 on: <04-24-12/2023:26> »
Also I am curious as to why you included Health in your foci as they can sustain whatever spell casted into them.

When buying sustaining foci, one must specify which type of spell it sustains. The same goes for spellcasting foci. Not sure on summoning foci.
(SR5) Homebrew Archetypes

Tangled Currents (Persistent): 33 Karma, 60,000 nuyen

Henzington

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  • Stun rounds+Edge=Lethal
« Reply #5 on: <04-24-12/2026:07> »
well i have been doing that wrong for a long time what page mentions that?
Whenever I am at a loss for I should do, I ask myself what would Michael Weston do?

All4BigGuns

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« Reply #6 on: <04-24-12/2035:44> »
Quote from: SR4A page 199
Spell Foci
Spell foci empower a magician’s Sorcery skills. There are three types
of spell foci: Spellcasting foci, Counterspelling foci, and Sustaining
foci. Each spell focus must be attuned to a specific category of spells
(Combat, Detection, Health, etc.) when it is created, and this cannot
be changed.
(SR5) Homebrew Archetypes

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Henzington

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« Reply #7 on: <04-24-12/2041:49> »
thanks been playing since 3rd edition totally missed that paragraph thankfully i just used my foci for increased reflexes
Whenever I am at a loss for I should do, I ask myself what would Michael Weston do?

ShinigamiWolf

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« Reply #8 on: <04-24-12/2158:33> »
Yes, I specified both of my sustaining foci as Health spell sustaining foci, one to sustain Improved Charisma (keeping my Charisma at a augmented 10), and the other to sustain Improved Reflexes (Giving me +2 to initiative and +2 IPs, giving me an augmented 11 for initiative..12 and 3 if you count using cram as well)

rasmusnicolaj

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« Reply #9 on: <04-25-12/0112:23> »
To increase your Charisma you would need to cast the spell at Force 7.
You can't hold a foce 7 spell in a rating 3 foci though.
Quote
This spell increases an attribute (natural or augmented) on a voluntary subject. A version of this spell exists for each Physical and Mental attribute, but not for Special attributes (Initiative, Edge, Essence, Magic, or Resonance). The Force of the spell must equal or exceed the (augmented) value of the attribute being affected. The attribute is increased by an amount equal to the hits scored. Each attribute can only be affected by a single Increase Attribute spell at a time.
SR4A p. 208.
Quote
Sustaining foci are unusual in that they do not add any dice to a test. Instead, a magician may cast a spell through a sustaining focus and the focus will sustain the spell for him. A spell sustained by such a focus does not inflict a dice pool modifier for sustaining the spell. A spell sustained by a sustaining focus cannot have a Force greater than that of the focus.
SR4A p. 199.

I will look at the rest later  ;)

Rasmus
Deplore killings made in the name of religion. Can't it just be for fun?

All4BigGuns

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« Reply #10 on: <04-25-12/0115:21> »
To increase your Charisma you would need to cast the spell at Force 7.
You can't hold a foce 7 spell in a rating 3 foci though.
Quote
This spell increases an attribute (natural or augmented) on a voluntary subject. A version of this spell exists for each Physical and Mental attribute, but not for Special attributes (Initiative, Edge, Essence, Magic, or Resonance). The Force of the spell must equal or exceed the (augmented) value of the attribute being affected. The attribute is increased by an amount equal to the hits scored. Each attribute can only be affected by a single Increase Attribute spell at a time.
SR4A p. 208.
Quote
Sustaining foci are unusual in that they do not add any dice to a test. Instead, a magician may cast a spell through a sustaining focus and the focus will sustain the spell for him. A spell sustained by such a focus does not inflict a dice pool modifier for sustaining the spell. A spell sustained by a sustaining focus cannot have a Force greater than that of the focus.
SR4A p. 199.

I will look at the rest later  ;)

Rasmus

Since you can't run a high enough Force spell through your second sustaining focus, you could see about finding points somewhere to get Restricted Gear and a Force 4 Power Focus. Stack that with a Force 2 Spellcasting or Summoning Focus.
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rasmusnicolaj

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« Reply #11 on: <04-25-12/0134:51> »
You could lower Body to 3 or better increase it to 5. Condition track increase on uneven numbers. You could lower your agility for that +1 body.
Lightning Reflexes is crap! It can’t be combined with your magic to increase reaction or initiative. So it is 15 BP that doesn’t work with your Increase Reflex Spell.
Get Spellcasting 6 and lower summoning. Summoning isn’t hard to get the needed successes as you roll a larger pool than the spirits force. The limitor in summoning is your drain resistance.
For group initiation you need Arcana 1. It may be worth to start with that.
As mentioned earlier in the thread I would also suggest you broaden your knowledge skills.
Your spell selection isn’t optimal. Fire isn’t the best element and I think you could do better. Stunbolt or powerbolt is a must for basic damage dealing. Maybe a [Metal] Wall spell. Boom and Soundwave for elemental effects to target groups and armoured drones and vehicles.
I would consider dropping pistols and just deal death with spells or switch to heavy weapons and get the pistol sized grenade launcher (MGL-6 or something like that). Or you could go for Automatics for the option of suppressive fire with a rifle or smg.
You should love better armor because armor keeps you alive. Form Fitting from Arsenal and some SecureTech stuff combined with an armor With 5 Body you should be able to reach 13/11 in total armor.
You should really be getting a rating 4 power foci with restricted gear. That is +4 to all magic rolls and that is definitely worth an investment.
Get some licenses to go with that fake SIN. You don't want a spellcasting or summoning foci. You can only use one foci for a roll so you would never use the other foci.
You need a basic commlink. Or two actually. A cheap crappy one for the fake SIN and a better one for your shadow bizz.

Regards
Rasmus
Deplore killings made in the name of religion. Can't it just be for fun?

Tecumseh

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« Reply #12 on: <04-25-12/0235:39> »
To increase your Charisma you would need to cast the spell at Force 7.

Wish I had known this six months ago! I had one of my players doing exactly this, making the character very unbalanced.

As for a critique, Rasmus beat me to most of my comments. I would definitely echo his thoughts on Lightning Reflexes and saving a point for Agility, especially if you decide to ditch Pistols.

Why only five spells?

I know your team already has a face but it seems such a pity to have Charisma 7 and no social skills. Oh well.

Dracain

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« Reply #13 on: <04-29-12/1408:34> »
If you're only going to have one single and one AOE combat spell, I suggest it be stunbolt+ball, because it is cheap and generally very effective. 

CitizenJoe

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« Reply #14 on: <04-29-12/1459:48> »
Chinese is a language family not a language.  Mandarin is by far the most spoken in China, in fact a standardized version was put in place by the Communists.  However, there's like 13 dialects many completely unintelligible from one another.  If you are looking for the language of the local triads outside of mainland China, then that's probably Cantonese.  If you're looking for the language around Shanghai, that's Wu.

Explain to your GM what your intent is with the language and get the appropriate version.

I think you need optical magnification if you're using spells through it.  Optical magnification via contact lenses makes my brain hurt.  Verify with GM.