[farothel]

How''d you get ten dice if you don't mind me asking since i doubt your mages agility was 6.

This was 4th edition, so Smartlink.  I had 8 dice for the pistol, 10 for the shotgun, 4 agility (str, edge and the mental one I didn't need for drain were my weak stats I think, it's been a long time).

You make it sound like the average former civilian runner in the 2070s can't buy an MP and go to a gun range to justify having the Automatics skill. Why do you think people IRL today go for semiautomatic pistols or more, ranging from gang members to civilians wanting a home defense or carried sidearm? The answer is: more shots are typically better in life-or-death situations.

Now, obviously there's a difference since I don't think MPs are generally civilian legal today (correct me if I'm wrong; I mean, a certain particular group of people openly carry ARs into Target these days just because they can, so maybe carrying an MP isn't out of the question), but the point still bears out in a more consumerist world with generally fewer restrictions like the 2070s.

They can have it, but they will have to explain where they got it from.  Also, me and my group live in Europe, where the weapon's laws are much more stringent and most people never handle a gun in their entire life.  This gets reflected in the way we do shadowrun.

Like I said, what gun you want to give him depends on concept and I would like to add, setting.  If your runners are for instance in Brittain, they probably have at maximum heavy pistols, if you are in Lagos, you don't want to be seen without automatic weapons.

[Senko]

Ah keep forgetting the smartlink when tallying these things that'd add another 2 dice I suppose so 3 + 3 + 2 = 8 dice pool.

Personally I'd like to run in Japan but I doubt that's going to happen.

[Mirikon]

How do you think you can sneak a bow?

Well, considering that bows are Legal, not even Restricted, there are actually quite a few places you can take them openly. Unlike, say, most automatics. When you really need to sneak a bow into a place that you couldn't just walk in with it, well, you'd be doing that with the rifle anyways, and the ability to walk with your weapon openly past the Knights to and from the job isn't something to take lightly.

[MijRai]

There's a nice weapon modification in Hard Targets to sneak a bow around; a manual break-down would basically be unstringing it than taking the arms off.  Only works on certain modern designs, but that's probably what you're going for at that point.

[Whiskeyjack]

How do you think you can sneak a bow?

Well, considering that bows are Legal, not even Restricted, there are actually quite a few places you can take them openly. Unlike, say, most automatics. When you really need to sneak a bow into a place that you couldn't just walk in with it, well, you'd be doing that with the rifle anyways, and the ability to walk with your weapon openly past the Knights to and from the job isn't something to take lightly.

Most automatics are R, meaning, have a license, and are eminently more concealable than bows.

[Rooks]

all guns save tasers are R

[Facemage]

My current face/mage has automatics with machine pistols specialization. Previously I thought that the only suitable weapon skill for a face is pistols, because even heavy pistols and thus machine pistols are difficult to hide. But with adequate palming skill hiding is possible. My character has 9 dices in palming pool which means on average 3 successes. To notice the weapon, the enemy has to get more net hits and it is easily possible to reduce his pool by 2 or 3 dices. Even 5 dices is possible depending how your gm allows stacking hiding bonuses. And in extreme cases you can use spirits' concealment powers.

Do not underestimate palming skill, it is very useful.

[Whiskeyjack]

There's also the fact that being openly armed isn't really that big a deal in most cases, long as you're not packing a rifle.

[Darzil]

Do not underestimate palming skill, it is very useful.

And always take it, as you can't default !

[Moonshine Fox]

Don't know if anyone has mentioned it, but a guy over on Reddit wrote a nice piece compairing all the various guns in the game though could help you get a nice solid firearm for your mage that fits your style. It can be found at http://www.carpeomnis.com/2015/06/10/shadowrun-armory/

My own opinion, I go with either pistol or shotgun for my mages. Both offer a good backup when I don't want to risk drain (or want some special ammo) with skills that also offer other options. Which one I take varies on the character.

[Rift_0f_Bladz]

I am also a big arguer for either automatics with specialization in Machine Pistols or Pistols with specialization in one of the various pistol categories. Really, it depends on how you see your mage as weapon backup. Hell, I will even argue for using either the Room Sweaper or La Mat (Spelling?) which are both heavy pistols with shotgun style options over carrying an actual shotgun.

[Rooks]

food for thought most mass shootings are with machine pistols most gun used in crimes as advertised is the tec-9 irl which the ares crusader would be the equalivant of

[MijRai]

Uh, no.  At least, not in most countries. 

[Senko]

Well after the advice here and in the linked thread I'm going to go back to using pistols and the Ares V. If I'm calculating correctly this gets me Agility (3) + Skill (3) + semi-auto specialization (2) + smartlink (2) + personalized grip (1) = 11 dice which isn't bad for a secondary skill and if I add in improve abilty agility I can bump that up to a potential 15 dice.

[Jack_Spade]

Almost. You only get +1 from smartlink if you haven't an implant.

Also, may I suggest you get the Savalette Guardian - with a double sized magazine and a custom grip.
A Defiance-Ex with laser sight and custom grip won't hurt either, since this completely legal combo can be carried around with impunity.