[Squid]

So I'm fairly new to Shadowrun...
But I'd love to hear what people think about a face that focuses on projecting himself...
I'd like more protection spells and I'd also like to have it very hard for people to track my projection...
Any thoughts...?

[Xzylvador]

Remember that you can only project for a limited amount of time before you have to return to your body.
Besides that, you'll be completely useless in combat unless there are spirits or dual natured being involved (or mages, but they have little reason to be assensing/projecting while hurling fireballs at your team). You won't be around to counterspell either.
Whether your GM allows all social skills to be preformed while manifesting is up to him, but I could see why vs. a lot of people such or would give some penalties, finding it either weird, showing off or just not-done for other reasons.
In addition, you lose one of the major benefits if being a mage face: the ability to use mind/mood reading/altering spells to maximise your potential.
And, the way I see it, in a lot of situations where a face would otherwise shine, you might cause an opposite reaction. For example: your group tries to talk their way out of a security check. A 'face' just *poof*ing in to fasttalk the guards will just raise a lot of questions and suspicion. Your hyper speed will also be pointless, since you'll need to be in the vicinity of your group to play your part...

I may be missing something though, can you explain what you were hoping for?

[Squid]

I don't want to project all the time...
Just for meetings and such, and I will be with my team most of the time...
I was thinking of using mainly protection spells as sort of a support character...
What spells were you talking about? The ones good for a face/Mage...?

[UmaroVI]

I think you want to make a magician/face, and then just use Astral Projection. There's not really any special astral-projection-only things you can get to help you with this. Take a look at the Spirit Medium in my sig [first link] for an example.

[Xzylvador]

What spells were you talking about? The ones good for a face/Mage...?

Analyse Truth can certainly make negotiations or interrogations easier.
"Okay, I can raise it to 5000 nuyen but that's all I can afford, I swear!" BEEP, that's a lie!

Illusions require a bit more fantasy to use but are incredibly more versatile if you can come up with good things. Easy examples are using the Mask spells to be more easily liked: Yakuza tend to be predjudiced vs non-Japanese, metahumans and/or females. So Mask yourself to look like a Japanese gentleman! Need to be intimidating: don't mask yourself as a giant troll, it'll make you a target! Instead, create the illusion of 10 more trolls with big pointy sticks standing right behind you!

And, of course, manipulation spells. Alter Memory to make the guy believe you've been his best friend for years! If you're a good enough face you can make it work long enough. Control Emotions to make a target feel love, lust, hate, fear, make him lonely and in need of the special attention only you can offer or make him feel so confident he'll tell you his secret plan because no one can stop him anyway! Influence to get the guy to take a step outside for some fresh air or a trip to the bathroom, great moments to have a nice little chat away from all those people around him!

The list is endless, there's a lot of ways magic can make a face a lot better. Even just assensing a target can tell you his emotions and make your job a bit easier. Just make sure you're not caught, that could give the opposite effect!