[Senko]

I'm just curious after some recent threads what are the best way's people have found to get around the geek the mage first trope. I'm not talking about convincing the GM to show a little compassion and not auto-target the mage player every game but way's in game for mage's/parties to divert fire away from the mage. Things like the mage having armour and a gun while relying on less obvious/pre-combat spells, casting armour on a phys adept to draw fire towards the combat monkey and away from the mage, relying on smoke grenades and the like to keep enemies from being able to clearly see just where those spells are coming from, summoning a spirit with the optional rule allowing it to swap a power out for spellcasting and having it pretend to be the parties mage. That sort of concept not relying on out of game actions but ingame choices and tactics to ensure when the gunfire starts the mage is not immediately obvious as a first priority target.

[ScytheKnight]

Indirect Combat spells are flat out the best way of getting yourself pegged as a mage... cast at your own risk.

Rather than casting Armor, which is a highly obvious spell that only enhances your soak rolls. Try Deflection, sure it only works against ranged attacks, but it's a lot more subtle and adds to the defense test to avoid getting hit in the first place.

I've no idea what this alternate ruling is regarding spirits and spells. But a Spirit of Man by default has the Spellcasting skill and can be given access to one spell per optional power.

[Rosa]

Well you cannot shoot what you can't see, so invisibility is always good. I've also had alot of success with using Trid Phantasm to create illusions to give the enemies more pressing dangers to think about, i've found a huge axe wielding charging troll to be a good distraction, but there are also several other illusion spells that can severely distract people from shooting at you, Things like agony, swarm and hot potato ...etc.

But really the best way is to forget about avoiding it and focus on surviving it. Wear the same kind of armor as the others in your team, stack up on armor, deflection and combat sense+ maybe increase Body and then annihilate any opposition before they know what hit them, and even if you do take a hit or two, you should be able to survive that and thats not even talking about the edge spirits can give you.

[Rosa]

+ also mental manipulations to make them start shooting at each other = Chaos on their side

[kasper]

have another member of your team be bigger scarier and more in the face of the enemy.

No matter how many times you are told geek the mage first. When there is a near cyber zombie elf chick, wielding a medium machine gun as a side arm; charging at you screaming that she intends  "to use your entrails as a belt!"

you are going to forget about the mage git in the corner.

[Mirikon]

First things first. Don't walk around with fancy robes and not carrying any kind of weapon. That screams magic. If you're on the job (or at least in certain parts of town), carry a weapon. In fact, carry more than one. Wear armor when you're working that actually looks like armor. The less you look like a stereotypical mage, the more likely the other side is to switch priorities to the heavy weapons troll on your team.

Second, hit hard and fast. Area of Effect is your friend. A fireball spell looks a lot like a grenade going off, if you're busy dodging bullets. Direct combat spells are stealthy, but not that damaging, and people are going to clue on you looking out from cover and very much not using a weapon.

Third, Debuff. Opium den, Shadow, Mob Mind, Trid Phantasm, and more. If the other side is having major troubles, they're not going to be able to hit you.

Fourth, Battlefield control. Ice Sheet, Physical Barrier, and more. Make getting to you more difficult, and funnel them to your team.

[farothel]

It depends on the party, but in my PbP game I play the mage and I'm almost never targeted first (even though I'm an Ork mage).  Most of the time the borderline psychotic phys adept is targeted first, not the mage sitting in a corner doing apparently nothing.  And the next turn it's mostly the three orks in full battle armour firing assault rifles that came around the corner (trid phantasm is my go-to spell).

[Hobbes]

Improved Invisibility and the Concealment power are your friends.  A mage really should be undetected by the "muggles" until you open up.  And you should open with something that essentially ends the combat.  Large AoE debuff if my favorite, but Mob Control or Ball Lightning have their places.  For smaller fights that the sami can likely handle just fine, take a pot shot from hiding and let the combat monsters do their thing.

[GloriousRuse]

In direct combat, I tend to agree with the current proposals. Don't be flashy, let someone else draw the attention, drop all sorts of chaos into them to keep them form thinking, and end the fight before they get a chance to pause, breathe, and figure it out. Or just don't wander in to the line of fire in the first place, since your spirits are generally better than the rest of your team at whatever it is you need done.

Operationally - don't flaunt it. If you run the stats, there's about 3 "natural magic 6"  mages per 1M of the population.  The number of them who elect to be disposable criminal mercenaries as opposed to those take 6 or 7 figure salaries, careers of academic prestige, etc.  is probably not terribly large.  Every time you flash high level magic around, you are slashing the available suspect pool while at the same time driving up the case priority due to the extreme threat a loose cannon high end mage represents. And that level of threat is the type of thing you take to your superiors and say "yep, we need permission to go lethal on this one" and then splash their brains over a wall without warning rather than arrest them or try to storm their building.

So, short term, yeah, tactics count. long term, every time you use magic, be aware that the stronger it is, you are calling on not just security guards but the very immutable gods of law and corporate profit themselves to mercilessly target you.

[farothel]

that's why you have to scrub your signatures as much as possible.  The least information you can give them, the better it is.  And also don't always cast a spell at it's full force just becuase you can.  If you have for instance a force 3 sustaining focus, the maximum force spell you can put in there is 3, so there's no need to cast it any higher.  Then people will not necessarily know your full potential.  It also makes the perception roll to find out who's been casting more difficult, so it also has tactical advantages.

[SichoPhiend]

My mage is rarely targeted first, might have something to do with sporting a Full chrome cyberarm.  Most people don't think mage when they see that.  For those less inclined to get the actual ware, the Physical Mask spell is a great way to look like any other wannabe sam, if you have a real sam on your team, odds are they will draw the fire first. 

The key is to look like less of a threat without looking like no threat (No threat screams mage)... I say this because there was one time where my cybermage looked like the biggest threat...

[Reaver]

For me, its simple: "Don't be a target"

Improved invisibility for hiding from sensors, drones, and eyeballs.

Levitate for situational advantage.

Keep combat spells small, unnoticable and direct. Keep the AoE for mop up.... as you'll generally only get one shot before everything lights you up....

Keep spirits AWAY from combat! As counter intuative as that sounds..... A spirit is a dead give away there is a mage close by, so that spirit COULD be the deciding factor between lots of lead or lots of grenades, cause chunky salsa hurts spirits too (and any runners caught in it too).

And some times, its best to just let the Gun Bunnies do their job while you sit back and do nothing. (Not every combat needs magic....)

[Beta]

And some times, its best to just let the Gun Bunnies do their job while you sit back and do nothing. (Not every combat needs magic....)

But don't forget buffing said gun-bunny.  If you can give them, for example, three or four points of intuition to buff their initiative, dodge, and perception, they are going to be that much more effective.

The shaman in my game has Cat mentor spirit so generally can't jump into combat right away anyway, and has become quite the fan of holding actions to deal with surprises or to intervene at just the right moment (and meanwhile providing counterspelling).  As for spirits, he often has them come in astral form only, to deal with any opposing spirits and/or drive off astral mages.  They can manifest in a pinch, but generally amongst opponents (barring wards), so that grenades won't provide much help (although shock batons can be frightfully effective on spirits at melee range).

[Hibiki54]

If we go by the rules, noticing magic is a Perception + Inutition [Mental] test vs Caster Skill Rating - Force or 6 - Force if no skill is involved (pg 280 CRB). It's also a simple action to observe in detail. I have heard arguments from players that use direct combat spells, illusions and mental manipulation spells that they could be sitting down drinking soy cafe while casting spells and no one would think otherwise. The rule on Perceiving Magic disagrees.

How I prevent "Geek the Mage" depends on the concept of my character.

In a home campaign, I played a mage that didn't give a drek and laughs manically killing everyone in his way. He was a possession mage with Channeling, Quickening and both Masking Metamagics. Spirit of Man cast and sustains Deflection on him combined with bonus to stats from Possession/Channeling and Combat Sense, he had 25 dice on average (depending on Deflection roll) for dodging. It's very pink mohawk for combat, even though he is legitimate University Professor at one of the main schools for magic in the UK making him an occult investigator based on skills alone.

In Shadowrun Missions, since you don't know who will be on your team unless you have a group, you need to be versatile. Wearing heavier armor and using the Analyze Device sustained on a weapon will make you highly proficient with it and seen more as a shooter than spell slinger. There is also sitting back and getting into a position that would prevent you from being in danger. Summon a Spirit, pick up a gun and suppress. If you have high charisma, buff you team before hand and use leadership to increase their initiative. Pick up a pistol and shoot.

[Senko]

I'm aware of that perception rule, I'm also aware a lot of people disagree with it.

Thanks for the suggestions.