Sure, it wont keep up as your main weapon array. But that wont be your intention when you give only 1 point of Magic to the Mage aspect. There are lots of supportive spells that can really tip the odds to your favor. And with Magic(Spellsplinging) 1 + Spellcasting 5 + Specialisation (favored sort of spells) + 2 ( + maybe a mentor bonus, or foci), thats gonna rain some serious trouble on your opposition.

Same goes for Conjouring, you wont be pumping out Force 6 spirits like a pro, but Force 3 spirits are pretty realistic to get without much of a headache and those little buggers can cause some serious damage/confusion if used right.

Well, the FAQ says differently... http://www.shadowrun4.com/resources/faq.shtml#6

Cue derisive comments about FAQ and anyone who even reads it… Heh.

In blatant contradiction of RAW where it says, "for other purposes, such as the maximum rank of adept powers, a mystic adept uses their full magic rating."

I'm AFB, but I'm 90% sure that the underlined section is the example they use in the book.



This is the problem I'm having in a game I'm in now I have 3/2 magic for spell/powers ranked magic and can only reliably pull off a F2 Improved Reflexes spell (which is ok, I didn't have enough money for a F3 sustaining focus, but it does hamper uses occasionally). I did just drop a bunch of karma getting spellcasting up to 6 though.

this is why I wanted dedicated spellslinging.....but the problem now is, I don't have the points left to get spells.

400bp
-25 for oni
-15 magic
-5 Ninjutsu
-200 for attributes
-10 edge
-40 magic
105bps
+5 aspected
+20 uncouth
+10 vindictive (negative qualities not set in stone, just showing max points)
140bps

now i need:

athletics SG
close combat SG
throwing weapons
spellcasting
counterspelling
infiltration
shadowing
perception

Spells

Gear

Contacts

Lifestyle

*sigh*

I'm embarrassed to say I've seen that movie

Tracy Jordan in...Who Dat Ninja?

Drop a single attribute by 1 point, should give you 10 BP which is good for three spells.

(My drake infiltrator has Imp.Reflexes, Camouflage, and Borrow Sense--haven't had a use for that third one yet, but...)

ok, I can't fight it, I'm going mystic adept, but I'd like to put all of my starting points to spellcasting. I don't have the points for assensing or astral combat, and at -4 I'm giving up the ghost.

Do you need the Close Combat skill group?
I'd stick just to Unarmed and Blades, Clubs aren't that ninjariffic, in spite of what TMNT would make you want to believe.
That would save you 2 points per rank.

Aspected is a really painful flaw. For the same points, you could be addicted to harmless chewing gum -- or to stimulants, which could prove quite useful in your early career.

You could also pick Incompetent for magic skills you don't want to use.
This would completely prohibit you using them instead of dumping points into them to do nothing, but it would not interfere with nearly as much skills as Aspected does.

shoot, I guess the munchy thing to do is, drop aspected, and take 15 bp of incompetence in magic skills I'm not gonna use. why is aspected quality so cheap?

close combat SG, i think I should be able to use a staff/ tonfa/ lead pipe, but if it comes down to it I might drop clubs.

how many spells do you think i need, i think i got 5.

levitate
control thoughts(to replace social skills)
acid stream(for doors and drones)
stunball
improved reflexes

Camouflage? Though I suspect you'll just be wearing a steal suit of some kind.

Those are nice if you're a Magician.

For a Ninja, you might want to go all Illusion or Manipulation.

Illusion:
- Improved Invisibility
- Stealth
- Physical Mask
- Chaotic World (for Drones)

Manipulation:
- Shadow
- Magic Fingers
- Shapechange
- Control Thoughts

If you concentrate on spells from one school, you can make the most of a Mentor Spirit & Specialization to economize on BPs.

If I may be frank, the new FAQ is full of shit and directly contradicts itself, and the 4th Anniversary book in several places. (I'm looking at you, Hardy. Your Errata files and FAQs can -definitely- use some work to clean up this fine mess. Give us Aug errata! why wasn't the second printing of street magic Corrected like arsenal and unwired. Bah. A fine mess that people discuss every week, it seems.)

As I've said before, that -particular- post about the Mystic Adept was written in the 2006 FAQ, for Shadowrun 4th Edition, in which Adepts DID INDEED get fucked on the split, and the FAQ clarified that.

Then along came 4th Anniversary, and its glorious backdoored rule changes (scatter, mysadepts, attribute costs, and more.) And the FAQ now contained rulings for rules that weren't true anymore.

Then along came the new FAQ, in 2009, which slapped a bunch of dumb shit in the exact same FAQ page, with no way to tell what was Old and New. It really should have been in a seperate file for Clarity's sake, or at least datestamped - and, as near as I can tell, didn't even bother to check if some FAQs were out of date.

So, basically, the people who wrote the new faq threw the game back half an edition because they didn't bother to double check their junk against the new edition.

Yeah, The timeline of errata and rules changes is rather important to keep in mind. As far as I'm concerned, the FAQ for -fourth- edition is superceded by -anniversary- edition where appropriate. I did save a copy of the old faq, if anyone wants it to cross-reference old rules off the list.