[Tyrs13]

Ok me and my friends are relatively new to shadow run ... and i have alot of questions about my Mage and my Friends Adept.

1) What is considered a Material Link for finding someone? Street magic was listing tables of items they "Owned".  Is this just an Astral Tracking check?
2) Reading the Warding/mana barrier rules it only tells me what i need to do to create a ward ... how do i create a mana barrier?
3) Ritual magic ... what is it?
4) Summoning? .... you can include the Search power in there as well.
5) What can spirits do?
6) Astral Signatures: What can one do with one?
7) Overall what to watch out for as being a mage.
Masking + Flexible signature = You cant tell i am a Mage?
9) Camouflaged individuals and Astral Perceiving. There was some assassin with some crazy camouflaged armor in a dark room. Can i use Astral Sight to see him (Life Forms Glow) and cast spells at him (In same room starring at him just Astrally). Based on what me and my GM read we went with it but was it right?
10) How does casting on multiple Initiative passes work? Post are confusing me by splitting dice pool ... how does that work?

Over i am pretty much over looked which is cool but i would like a challenge. I guess i am 2 careful being a mage ... but i think that we just dont know what to do with mages in general compared to the rest of the party.

Ready for the Adept
1) We read somewhere in street magic about a rule to substute Meta Magic for Power points. Is this 2 ... i will say Dangerous by mean OP?
2) Elemental attack + killing hands + smoke = Lethal Damage that bypasses Armor?

[Chaemera]

1) What is considered a Material Link for finding someone? Street magic was listing tables of items they "Owned".  Is this just an Astral Tracking check?
2) Reading the Warding/mana barrier rules it only tells me what i need to do to create a ward ... how do i create a mana barrier?
3) Ritual magic ... what is it?
4) Summoning? .... you can include the Search power in there as well.
5) What can spirits do?
6) Astral Signatures: What can one do with one?
7) Overall what to watch out for as being a mage.
Masking + Flexible signature = You cant tell i am a Mage?
9) Camouflaged individuals and Astral Perceiving. There was some assassin with some crazy camouflaged armor in a dark room. Can i use Astral Sight to see him (Life Forms Glow) and cast spells at him (In same room starring at him just Astrally). Based on what me and my GM read we went with it but was it right?
10) How does casting on multiple Initiative passes work? Post are confusing me by splitting dice pool ... how does that work?

Order of operations in the below is important, do not skip steps or attempt this in a different order. This is the basics, understand this, then, if you have specific questions, ask away.

1. Street Magic, pg. 28 and 29.
2. SR4A, pg. 194, 211
3. SR4A, pg. 185, Street Magic, pg. 28, 29
4. SR4A, pg. 186 - 188, 297
5. SR4A, pg. 186 - 190, 302, 303, Street Magic pg. 89 - 110
6. SR4A, pg. 192 - 194
7. SR4A, Street Magic, Running Wild
8. Yeah, pretty much. SR4A, pg. 198, Street Magic, pg. 60, item 6, again.
9. No. Item 6. SR4A, pg. 183 (Step 3)
10. Casting a spell is a complex action, each Initiative Pass (IP) on which you have a Pass, you can cast a spell. You only split your Dice Pool (DP) if you want to cast multiple spells with a single complex action, on a single IP. SR4A, pg. 192 - 183.

Adept will be adressed later.

[voydangel]

What Chaemera said^^. He's spot on. I would like to provide a few short notes on the adept bits.

...
Ready for the Adept
1) We read somewhere in street magic about a rule to substute Meta Magic for Power points. Is this 2 ... i will say Dangerous by mean OP?
2) Elemental attack + killing hands + smoke = Lethal Damage that bypasses Armor?

1. Many many people use this optional rule, I wouldn't say it is Overpowered, however, it is very dependent on your particular game and power curve of your gaming table. I would say either A) give it a try, and if it doesn't work out - either retire the character, or do some math and back pedal a bit on the power points he gained; or B) dont allow it, and if/when the adept is trailing far behind the power curve and feels useless, grant him however many extra power points he would have gotten if you were using the rule; or C) try 0.5 Power points per initiation rank. In my experience, it is not OP.

2. That seems to be the consensus - yes. However, I'll wait for someone else to confirm or deny that one, because I doubt that is the intent of said rules, but by RAW it seems valid.

[Chaemera]

Onward to the adept!

1) We read somewhere in street magic about a rule to substute Meta Magic for Power points. Is this 2 ... i will say Dangerous by mean OP?
2) Elemental attack + killing hands + smoke = Lethal Damage that bypasses Armor?

1. You'll find the optional rule you're talking about in Street Magic, pg. 31, "Tweaking the Rules" sidebar. I've played with this as a thought experiment b/c I looked at the metamagics and said "meh". If I were a player with an adept and didn't have this optional rule, I'd probably wonder why I didn't go cyber/bio and play a street sam instead. That being said, I've not had a heavily initiated adept in a party sporting more power points than he has magic, so maybe it ends up getting top heavy the 3rd or 4th time he initiates.

2. Um. . . . looks that way, sadly. If you chose smoke as your "element". I'll re-iterate what I said here, smoke is not an element, don't make me hurt you. Then again, like many GM's, I often take the approach of "sure, you can use the cheese, just remember, I know the cheese, too". I find it brings the amount of cheese down to an acceptable level, even if I disagree with the very idea of smoke = element.

[The_Gun_Nut]

At least it's not as bad as old AD&D.

Vacuum elementals.  I kid you not.

[JohnQ]

At least it's not as bad as old AD&D.

Vacuum elementals.  I kid you not.

Were they in the Fiend Folio? MM2? LOL! I don't remember them, but that doesn't mean they weren't there!

[The_Gun_Nut]

I think they popped up in one of the Dragon or Dungeon magazines, but honestly I couldn't say.  I didn't run the critter, I just stared agape at it.

[JohnQ]

Oh okay. I played back in the AD&D days, still have most of those books in a box somewhere I think too. Along with some old Dragon magazines and modules. Was wracking my brain trying to remember that one and why I didn't use it! 

[The_Gun_Nut]

Vacuum elemental.

Seriously?  Seriously!

A guy used one to destroy the planet his group was on (no, he wasn't the DM).

[Dakka]

I think they popped up in one of the Dragon or Dungeon magazines, but honestly I couldn't say.  I didn't run the critter, I just stared agape at it.

Back in the days where Dragon and Dungeon magazines were third party rather than owned by the D&D IP owners.  Stuff out of those magazines had a rather large tendency to be crazy OP.  Now that both magazines are online publications of WoTC its a LITTLE better, no earth destroying elementals, but still the occasional "what the hell were they thinking" moment.

[Kot]

Want Vacuum Elementals? Wait for Equinox. ;P

[FastJack]

I think they popped up in one of the Dragon or Dungeon magazines, but honestly I couldn't say.  I didn't run the critter, I just stared agape at it.

Back in the days where Dragon and Dungeon magazines were third party rather than owned by the D&D IP owners.  Stuff out of those magazines had a rather large tendency to be crazy OP.  Now that both magazines are online publications of WoTC its a LITTLE better, no earth destroying elementals, but still the occasional "what the hell were they thinking" moment.

Wait. What?

Dungeon & Dragon were always owned by TSR/WotC. Paizo only took over publication for the magazines from 2002 to 2007 after WotC let the Periodicals department go from the company, allowing them to form Paizo as an outside company. They still had to answer to WotC on articles and material printed since they were only leasing the IP from WotC.

[The_Gun_Nut]

I think he's referring to the 3rd party contributors. (I hope he's referring to the 3rd party contributors.)

[FastJack]

Still, even the third party contributors were hired to write the articles for the magazines. They weren't in the habit of publishing anything without looking at it. Everything was reviewed by the hire ups prior to publishing because the magazines MADE the subject of the article official in the D&D rules/content.

[Dakka]

If that's true of world crushing elementals then someone dropped the ball somewhere.  And it seemed to happen much more back in the day.