Sir, you are incisive in your deductions. I approve.

I'm surprised no one mentions genemods.
Okay, they aren't available in anything but standard grade, which might make it a tad bit difficult to squeeze them in 1 point of essence, depending on what kind of other ware you're packing, but still, genetic optimization and daredrenaline are the only way to augment drain attributes besides logic.
And their essence costs aren't that high to begin with.
So, for any non-logic-dependant mage looking for some enhancement, they're definitely worth considering.

I can't believe I missed this, my adepts usually all get some gen opt and always get Reakt...

Semi-canon: Under tweaking the rules there is an optional rule that symbionts have 0 essence cost. That's always worth trying to talk your GM into.

I see no edition tags, so if we're talking SR3 then every character needs trauma damper, mnemonic enhancer, and enhanced articulation, no exceptions. Cybereyes are always a good choice for the mage.
For SR4, it's pretty much been said. Cybereyes, Cerebral Booster for logic traditions, a level of synaptic accelerator is great for some initiative boost that you can actually sneak through a ward. Pain Editor is a good one.

That's true.

Not true! You are saying you hate cybermages, and that anyone that creates or plays one is a bad roleplayer.

That is true.....I am an asshat.....but only in this instance and only towards cyber, I said i was more lenient towards bio hehehe.

At least asshat's as much fun to type as it to say. Though I recall a great deal of consternation on the boards many moons ago about a similar issue (I believe it was cyberadepts) with numerous folks in both camps...

...a bit pricey at 25,000 (or is it 30,000?). When you're talking that much in resources, Id be more apt to look at Enhanced Articulation (+1 to all physical and combat skills) or a Skill Group Reflex Recorder.

Of course if you are going for Genetech, the best route is taking the Genetric Heritage quality. You get one free Genetech treatment (Hint: Genetic Optimisation) which will also give you a 20% break on the cost of all Transgneic enhancements both at chargen and afterwards. Also keep in mind that Genetic Optimisation stacks with the Exceptional Attribute quality. I almost considered this in the re-engineered version of the Short One (her father after all was an eminent genetic engineer), but there were no Transgenic treatments that made sense for her which didn't push her over the 1 Essence/PP limit when combined with her Synaptic Booster 1 Bioware.

Enhanced Articulation kinda got hit with the ol' nerf bat in the edition change KK. It's just Physical Skills linked to Physical Attributes. So your Enhanced Articulation helps Gymnastics (Physical Skill, Physical Attribute) but not Perception (Physical Skill, Mental Attribute) or Pistols (Combat Skill, Physical Attribute).

My personal favorite 'ware for mages are as follows: SkillWires, Cerebral Boosters, Trauma Damper, Cybereyes, Sleep Editor, Pain Editor and the Skin Pocket. I think the Skin Pocket in particular is underrated; a small Focus should easily fit in there and it's certainly something you don't want to lose in a search.

As far as the thematic issue goes, I vastly prefer the Hermetic and technology friendly paradigms over the more ecstatic traditions. I simply relate better to characters that approach things from a more regimented, practical point of view than I do with say, a Houngan, and I'm a firm supporter of cybered Awakened, both thematically and mechanically.

Genetic Heritage is a nice option, allthough it would not get much use if you only spend one point. Note that Enhanced Articulation no longer gives a bonus to combat skills! Only physical skills linked to physical attributes.

Is it acceptable to suggest options for two magic points?

If I dip to 2 points of magic loss it's usually for things like Muscle Toners, Reaction Enhancers (goes well with Increase Reflexes) and SkillWires. Generally, I avoid dipping down that low at chargen however, since even a 1 or 2 background count is pretty crippling for a Magic 3 magician and taking the 6 magic required to be higher than that is rather expensive. Such a character can work fine, but at that point I'd strongly consider ditching Spell Casting altogether and concentrate on being a Conjurer/Counterspeller instead, since a lot of spirit wrangling can be done in relatively safe enviroments and all the points you save on not having to buy any spells can be put towards talents that aren't so dependent on your middling Magic attribute. Works rather nicely with Elven Conjurer/Faces in particular.

Enhanced Articulation doesn't give a +1 to combat skills. It only gives +1 to Physical skills.

...You guys aren't even reading posts anymore; it's the third time it's been brought up now.

What about a smuggling compartment for the less efficiency-inclined? Never loose that focus again.

About the two lost points: I´d start real weak magically by buying magic 4(2) and only buying Spellcasting, Counterspelling and Summoning 4, Binding 1. Then I buy a rating 2 power focus, and get used to constantly overcasting.

...oopsie (IMG:style_emoticons/default/embarrassed.gif) got it mixed up with the Reflex Recorder. That works with both Physical & Combat skills.

...now 2 points for an adept, that could work, especially if she has the Type O or Genetic Heritage quality.

...yeah yeah yeah, I know what I said before...then I reworked the Short One...hey, at least I was willing to give it a try...

from augmentation- a rating 4 radar sensor. fairly cheap, sees the invisible, and can penetrate 20 cumulative structure. and since you can target what you can see... that makes casting through concrete as simple as casting through very reinforced glass.

and its not in any book, but the idea of awakened symbionts should be part of someones research....

...I am not sure it would work for spellcasting through walls as it is essentially not "true visual" sight. That's what Mage Sight Goggles and Fibre Optic visual systems are for.

However I do like the 'ware for the opposite reason so I can spot that invisible mage & shoot him in his radar mapped face. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/grinbig.gif)

As the old saw goes, "If you paid for it with Essence, it counts for Magic."

...we don't need to give mages any more advantages over mundanes than they already have.

The price of all Manatech in my campaigns has been slashed by 75% (IMG:style_emoticons/default/grinbig.gif)

Has to be an optic sight aug for it to work with casting. Radar is not remotely optic in nature.

Chris

...thanks, I knew I was right on that.

Otherwise I would be handing out area jammers to all un-awakened citizens. Hey, we could then go back to Cyberdecks and jacking into the matrix as well too.

...hmmmm...not a bad idea. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/grinbig.gif)

Somehow I missed the first part of that sentence; probably because the character I was interested in using it for has full limbs. Thanks for the correction.



I always found that weird. "You may cast spells at targets clearly illuminated by wavelengths between ~10^-5m and ~4x10^-7m, if you have natural or essence-bought photon receptors in physical contact with your aura." Dropping the photon power down another 3 orders of magnitude, even with an associated increase in the number of those photons from an active radar illuminator, just isn't sufficient for magic. Even if it makes exactly as much sense as casting through optically clear barriers does.

I wonder if perhaps it's just the manner of focusing? Antennas and the like don't count as "focused" light? That'd make for a great plot hook. Some crazy techno-minded mage in his basement makes an exotic nanomaterial lens that allows him to optically focus radar waves... and goes around blasting people through walls.

It's not a matter of detecting the target; otherwise you could target someone who was shouting at you from around a corner. Magic is all about Ling of Sight, so much so that there has to be something more to it than photons moving from the target to you. It's not specifically stated in canon, but I consider LoS itself to be a link with the target. It's more than just seeing the person's image; you can do that by looking at a photograph. There's something inherently magical about having a clear line from you to the target; that's also why things that provide soft cover provide modifiers for spellcasting.

Yes, but what is a "clear line of sight" if not a path through material with a low absorption at wavelengths detectable with your eyes? You can even replace your eyes with a digital receptor, and still have it count -- but only if that digital receptor is in the infrared. If that receptor is at some other wavelength (radar, just below infrared) then it doesn't count for some reason, despite being the same physical phenomenon.

Imagine a material transparent in the infrared, but opaque to normal light (e.g. the front plastic bit on your TV remote, but thicker.) By getting the infra-red photon receptors in your head you can cast through that, when normally you wouldn't. Now imagine a surface opaque to visual and infra-red, but translucent to radio waves (e.g. drywall.) Implant radio-wave receptors in your head and... you still can't cast through it. It doesn't make physical sense. The only thing that changed in the two examples was that the wavelength dropped by two orders of magnitude (close to the same drop between visual and infrared too)

My only real answer is that because most people believe windows, air, and water are clear, magic works through them. Infra-red transparent material that is opaque in the optic is rare enough not to come up, and has never (to my memory) been discussed in the fluff.