[FlynnTheAvatar]

This character is loosely based on the ShadowRun Second Edition Combat Mage. I tried to select skills and qualities that would fit an Ares Desert Wars veteran; after some near-death experiences he deserted this company. Therefore the Records On File and SINer negative quality.


Eighty (Human Magician)
B 3, A 4, R 4, S 2, C 3, I 3, L 5, W 4, E 2, Ess 5.4, M 3, Init 7, IP 1
Condition Monitor boxes (Physical/Stun): 10/10
Erika Elite Commlink Condition Monitor: 10
Erika Elite Commlink Condition Monitor: 10
Armor (Ballistic/Impact): 10/7
Skills: Assensing 2, Automatics 5, Blades 3, Computer 2, Counterspelling 2, First Aid 2, Heavy Weapons 1, Influence Group 2, Outdoors Group 1, Perception 2, Spellcasting 5, Summoning 4, Unarmed Combat 2
Knowledge Skills: Ares Macrotechnology 3, Desert Wars 2, English 3, German N, Japanese 2, Magic Background 3, Security Procedures 5 (Ares +2), Small Group Tactics 5
Qualities: Bad Luck, Magician, Records on File: Ares, SINner
Spells: Armor, Heal, Increase Reflexes, Levitate, Lightning Bolt, Stunball, Stunbolt
Cyberware:
. . Cybereyes (4) with Eye Recording Unit, Flare Compensation, Image Link, Low-Light Vision, Protective Covers, Smartlink, Thermographic Vision, Vision Enhancement (3), Vision Magnification
. . Datajack
Gear:
. . AR Gloves
. . Desert Goggles
. . Desert Suit
. . Desert Survival Kit
. . Desert Tent
. . Eighty with Fake License: Firearms (3), Fake License: Magic (3), Fake SIN (3), Low Lifestyle
. . Erika Elite Commlink with Analyze (2), Basic User Suite, Browse (2), Command (1), Edit (2), Iris Orb Operating System
. . Erika Elite Commlink with Analyze (4), Browse (4), Command (2), Edit (4), Encrypt (4), Iris Orb Operating System, Pro User Suite, Sim Module, Modified for Hot Sim
. . FlynnTaggart
. . Form-Fitting Full-Body Suit
. . Helmet
. . Magical Lodge (5)
. . Medkit (6)
. . Mercury Comet
. . Snake Mesh Socks
. . Solar Still
. . Thermal Air Bag
Weapons:
. . Ares Alpha [Assault Rifles, DV 7P vs. B-2, SA/BF/BF-L/FA, RC 2, 42 (c)] with EX-Explosive Rounds x70, Grenade Launcher, Smartgun System, Internal
. . . . Ares Alpha Grenade Launcher [Grenade Launchers, DV 6S, 10m R vs. I-3, SS, 6 (c)] with Flash-Bang Minigrenade x2, Fragmentation Minigrenade x1, High Explosive Minigrenade x1, Smartgun System, Internal
. . Ares Alpha Grenade Launcher [Grenade Launchers, DV 6S, 10m R vs. I-3, SS, 6 (c)] with Flash-Bang Minigrenade x2, Fragmentation Minigrenade x1, High Explosive Minigrenade x1, Smartgun System, Internal
. . Ares Crusader [Machine Pistols, DV 5P vs. B-1, SA/BF, RC 2, 40 (c)] with EX-Explosive Rounds x80, Gas-Vent 2 System, Gel Rounds x80
. . Attack of Will (vs. Spirits) [DV 3P vs. I]
. . Katana [Blades, DV 4P vs. I-1, Reach 1]
. . Survival Knife [Blades, DV 2P vs. I-1]
. . Unarmed Strike [Unarmed, DV 1S vs. I]

Hero Lab® and the Hero Lab logo are Registered Trademarks of LWD Technology, Inc. Free download at http://www.wolflair.com
Shadowrun © 2005-2012 The Topps Company, Inc. All rights reserved. Shadowrun is a registered trademark of The Topps Company, Inc.


Any input would be nice.

Thanks!

[rasmusnicolaj]

You have kind of average attributes and spend points on attributes you don’t need that much. For example Agility 4 isn’t doing you that much good but still cost you 30 BP. Willpower should be odd so either 3 or preferably 5 for that extra stun condition track and drain resistance. I suppose he is Hermetic with the Logic on 5.
Get more Magic 5 or maybe 6 if you have 25 BP for it.

Get one good commlink and one cheap.

For karma efficiency get one skill at 6 (=Spellcasting). Other important skills at 4 and the one you can’t live without at one. Drop Computer, lower Influence Group to 1. Lower Assensing, First Aid and Perception to 1. You have 4 skills for dealing out damage with weapons and fists. That’s is really to much. You want to focus on building a combat mage, not a mediocre combat guy. You don’t have the (cybered) attributes to support those skills, so you will just miss most targets anyway. My advice is drop blades and unarmed combat and lower automatics to 4. You are not that good with weapons but you can do suppressive fire and make a little grenade spam.
I would raise Counterspelling to 4 and get binding 4 (maybe lowering summoning to 1 for that).

You should get a mentor spirit.

For spells Armor make you glow and that makes you a target. You also need a spell like Soundwave to hit groups of people around corners. Metal Wall would also function well for a combat mage.

Drop your cyberware! You don’t need to loose a point of magic just to get cybereyes – you can get the same package deal in glasses and contacts cheaper and without the essence loss. You really don’t need the datajack either.

I’m not sure I would want a hot-sim modified commlink for my mage. You are not going to hack anything so why do you want to include an option to get your brain melted?

You want to supplement the Form Fitting Body Armor so you reach the maximum armor. For example a leather jacket and some SecureTech PPP stuff to fill out.

The ArmTech MGL-6 is a nice small heavy weapon.

You should really consider getting a Power Foci Rating 4 with restricted gear. It is a great investment. Also a Sustaining Foci rating 3. for you increased reflexes spell would be good.

Regards
Rasmus

[Zephraim]

You should get a mentor spirit.

Hermetics going by fluff and older editions don't have mentor spirits.

Drop your cyberware! You don’t need to loose a point of magic just to get cybereyes – you can get the same package deal in glasses and contacts cheaper and without the essence loss. You really don’t need the datajack either.

Except for the fact that glasses/contacts messes with magic. Being able to not just see, but also cast spells in the dark is actually pretty good. If he's already losing essence due to eyes (I agree about the datajack though) it would be a good idea to fill it out with muscle toner to help with the shooting part.

Aside from that I mostly agree.

[All4BigGuns]

You should get a mentor spirit.

Hermetics going by fluff and older editions don't have mentor spirits.

This I agree with, as the mentor spirits don't really impress me that much. At least not for their BP cost.

Drop your cyberware! You don’t need to loose a point of magic just to get cybereyes – you can get the same package deal in glasses and contacts cheaper and without the essence loss. You really don’t need the datajack either.

Except for the fact that glasses/contacts messes with magic. Being able to not just see, but also cast spells in the dark is actually pretty good. If he's already losing essence due to eyes (I agree about the datajack though) it would be a good idea to fill it out with muscle toner to help with the shooting part.

Rasmus is correct. You are Awakened, ditch the implants down a deep dark hole, as all they do is FUBAR your Magic. (Don't listen to these people who try to claim that it is worth it. It isn't.)

[UmaroVI]

Not everyone means the same thing by combat mage. Some people mean a Combat mage, as in, a mage focused on Combat spells. This is a totally worthwhile way to go so long as you don't over-specialize. Check the first link in my sig and the Burnout Combat Mage for an example of a character like that who uses cyberware effectively.

Some people mean a mage who does physical combat. This is fine but you have to get synergy. Sucking at guns and sucking at magical attacks is not good. Being good with guns and having spells that synergize with guns is good. I think this might be what Flynn was going for but I'm not sure.

As for cybereyes - they are defensible choices for a magician but you should have higher priorities. Also, getting high-rating ones isn't really worth it. Thermo, low-light, and eye-light systems are the only things that really pay off to have in your eyes; everything else should go in contacts/goggles.

[FlynnTheAvatar]

Thanks very much for the feedback so far. Especially the input from Rasmus on Skills and Attributes was very helpful.

To answer the question from Umaro - the char is going to focus more on guns and use spells that synergize with guns. Well, I guess I did not made a good job with the spell selection yet.

Also, I am experimenting with Cybereyes (low-light, thermographic and smartlink), Muscle Toner and Muscle Augmentation to boost agility for automatics.

[rasmusnicolaj]

Remember that you only need 1 or maybe 2 ways of shooting people. Blades and Unarmed are still a waste of good BP 

Look at spells that enhance your physical combat like Combat Sense and the spells that gives a bonus to firefight. Just remember to focus because you will propably use the same few best spells again and again and you have to be selective because you else will suffer a to big sustaining foci. Get as many sustaining foci as possible.

If you want ware with you mage a cyberarm of awesomeness that gives a huge boost to agility is probably worth it.

Rasmus

[rasmusnicolaj]

And maybe consider a Mystic Adept for the bonus that can give to skills and combat powers.

Rasmus

[FlynnTheAvatar]

Well that is funny, I happen to play a Mage with a cyberarm in 2nd Edition.

My char had a way to close encounter with an Insect Spirit. Luckily, Armor was giving a bonus to Body back then, so I survived the 18D or so attack. Well, technically, I did not; I still took a deadly wound; but we played with a optional (house?) rule that if you are hit with an attack > 2x your body (after subtracting armor) then you are toast, no roll necessary. After another unsuccessful role the char lost one point of magic - not a big problem because he had not the money for a vat-grown replacement anyway.

But I found that a single cyberarm did not work out in the end. RPing wise it was nice: "Oh, you are looking for a Mage? Can't be me - do you see that cyberarm?" or "Nice to meet you, Mr. Cybered Gargoyle. Let's shake hands - please take the right one". But the 2nd editions rules were not very clear on how do deal with cyberlimbs with different STR, AGL and BDY values and whether boni of health spells also applied to cyberlimbs (Increased Initiative) or not. In the end I rolled one dice for the cyberarm and three dice for the rest of the body as initiative.

Update: Latest version of Eighty with changed spell selection, more sustaining foci and specialized skill selection.

Eighty (Human Magician)
B 4, A 3/5, R 3, S 1/3, C 3, I 3, L 5, W 5, E 2, Ess 5.05, M 4, Init 6, IP 1
Condition Monitor boxes (Physical/Stun): 10/11
Fairlight Caliban Commlink Condition Monitor: 10
Meta Link Commlink Condition Monitor: 9
Armor (Ballistic/Impact): 12/12
Skills: Assensing 1, Automatics 4, Binding 4, Counterspelling 4, First Aid 1, Heavy Weapons 1, Influence Group 1, Outdoors Group 1, Perception 1, Spellcasting 6, Summoning 4
Knowledge Skills: Ares Macrotechnology 3, Desert Wars 2, English 3, German N, Japanese 2, Magic Background 3, Security Procedures 5 (Ares +2), Small Group Tactics 5
Qualities: Bad Luck, Magician, Records on File: Ares, SINner
Spells: Combat Sense, Deflection, Enhance Aim, Heal, Increase Reflexes, Levitate, Lightning Bolt, Stunball
Cyberware:
. . Cybereyes (2) with Eye Recording Unit, Flare Compensation, Image Link, Low-Light Vision, Smartlink, Thermographic Vision
Bioware:
. . Muscle Augmentation (2)
. . Muscle Toner (2)
Gear:
. . AR Gloves
. . Backpack
. . Camouflage Suit
. . Desert Goggles
. . Desert Suit
. . Desert Survival Kit
. . Desert Tent
. . Eighty with Fake License: Firearms (3), Fake License: Magic (3), Fake SIN (3), Low Lifestyle
. . Fairlight Caliban Commlink with Analyze (4), Browse (4), Command (2), Edit (4), Novatech Navi Operating System, Pro User Suite
. . FlynnTaggart
. . Magical Lodge (5)
. . Medkit (6)
. . Meta Link Commlink with Analyze (2), Basic User Suite, Browse (2), Command (1), Edit (2), Vector Xim Operating System
. . SecureTech Forearm Guards
. . SecureTech Shin  Guards
. . Smart Pack
. . Snake Mesh Socks
. . Solar Still
. . Sustaining Focus: Detection Spells (2)
. . Sustaining Focus: Health Spells (3)
. . Sustaining Focus: Manipulation Spells (2)
. . Thermal Air Bag
Weapons:
. . Ares Alpha [Assault Rifles, DV 7P vs. B-2, SA/BF/BF-L/FA, RC 2, 42 (c)] with EX-Explosive Rounds x70, Grenade Launcher, Smartgun System, Internal
. . . . Ares Alpha Grenade Launcher [Grenade Launchers, DV 6S, 10m R vs. I-3, SS, 6 (c)] with Flash-Bang Minigrenade x2, Fragmentation Minigrenade x1, High Explosive Minigrenade x1, Smartgun System, Internal
. . Ares Alpha Grenade Launcher [Grenade Launchers, DV 6S, 10m R vs. I-3, SS, 6 (c)] with Flash-Bang Minigrenade x2, Fragmentation Minigrenade x1, High Explosive Minigrenade x1, Smartgun System, Internal
. . Ares Crusader [Machine Pistols, DV 5P vs. B-1, SA/BF, RC 2, 40 (c)] with EX-Explosive Rounds x80, Gas-Vent 2 System, Gel Rounds x80
. . ArmTech MGL-6 [Grenade Launchers, DV 6S, 10m R vs. I-3, SA, 6 (c)] with Flash-Bang Minigrenade x10, Fragmentation Minigrenade x10
. . Attack of Will (vs. Spirits) [DV 3P vs. I]
. . Survival Knife [Blades, DV 3P vs. I-1]
. . Unarmed Strike [Unarmed, DV 2S vs. I]

Hero Lab® and the Hero Lab logo are Registered Trademarks of LWD Technology, Inc. Free download at http://www.wolflair.com
Shadowrun © 2005-2012 The Topps Company, Inc. All rights reserved. Shadowrun is a registered trademark of The Topps Company, Inc.