Magic Legality Options

[Omar the Falcon]

Yet again my gaming hobby and my real life are crossing over a bit. I have been working on getting hired as a deputy sheriff locally, and to that effect I have spent this weekend doing tests, patrol ride-alongs, and a tour of the county lock-up.

So, while out last night (this morning? ugh.. I knew I forgot to do something... like sleep) I started to talk to the officer I was riding along with about exactly how the law works in certain situations. That got me to thinking about Shadowrun, and what sort of hoops the corp and security mages have to go through to use magic.

In this situation, my players are going to be DocWagon HTR. One is likely to be a mage. While all of the 'standard' security types are forced to use non-lethal force (tazers, narcoject weapons, gel rounds, etc), what would they do with the mage?

One of my players seemed to think that there was no real way to PROVE that magic had been used. I didnt think that was accurate. I was under the impression that when you cast a spell, there is a 'finterprint' left on the target that can be traced to you. Not traced back to you, but some sort of energy that can be used to prove that you cast that spell. Problem is, nothing in any of my books seems to back this up.

Being the GM, I am just going to say that DocWagon prohibits the use of physical damage spells except for the same circumstances that also allow lethal force with the others. But, just like with real weapons... if they use a direct damage spell to someone, they have to take that person back to the clinic with them, willing or not.


I guess my question is... how is magic handled from a legal standpoint? I know spells and foci over a certain level are 'illegal' but how do they prove it? I mean, how can you be convicted of knowing too powerful of a spell? How can they know how potent a focus is? I mean for sure.. I know you can sense the power, but how well would something like that hold up in court?


Anyone else think about this? How do the powers that be enforce magic related 'laws'? How about adepts and their powers? How do you license and regulate such a thing?