mages with guns?, how do you play mages? Options

[BrandedBandit]

i have never really given my mages firearm skills. i have always relied on combat spells.
how about the rest of you? do you give your mages firearm skills or do you just sling spells?

[Shev]

Back in third, my mage was always handy with a pistol. Just grab a few sustaining foci with increased reflexes and aiming aids, and you're set.

As a mage, the fewer times you have to resist drain, the better.

[Nocturne]

I think you'd be pretty silly not to give a mage an alternate means of defending themselves outside of spells. Of course, the mage could have an ego the size of a planet, or just not like guns, so YMMV.

It doesn't cost much to throw in Pistols (pick-a-spec +2) 1 at chargen, and that at least gives you something to fall back on when magic isn't feasible, for whatever reason.

[Wasabi]

I usually sacrifice 1 magic point and get skillwires and an internal commlink.

[Ancient History]

"Magic is a gun, and I'm a mage." (ss.51)

Sorry, classic line.

[Eryk the Red]

I'm a GM, not a player, but I have never seen a player character without at least some points in Pistols (they only eschew Pistols if they focus on other firearms significantly). It's good backup for when you meet up with an enemy mage who's better at counterspelling, or if you end up somewhere with significant background count.

The mage in my group carries a Hammerli and hasn't fired it in months. But he would never leave home without it. For one, it's a dress pistol that looks good with his suit. For another, sometimes it's best not to sling spells first thing, lest you become the mage described in the battlecry, "Geek the mage!"

[Whipstitch]

My ork mage was one of the rare few that is all spells, all the time. He did carry around a gun just to look less mage-ish though in a firefight. If you're not centering and only use direct spells, there's no good reason why a bunch of grunts should neccessarily be able to tell between an ork mage and his samurai buddies before it's too late.

[knasser]

[Grinder]

Pistols at least. Most mages/shamans I play end up with also an assault rifle or a shotgun. It helps when the drain took a hard toll on you and you want to do something other than cast another spell.
And looking like an ordinary runner can be helpful sometimes. ;)

[Shev]

[nathanross]

My current mage has skillwires and will not use combat spells or any direct magic to hurt or kill others. He has Physical barrier, offensive mana barrier, and soon mob mind to avoid conflict.

He also has a Hammerli (that is just the sweetest light pistol, aint it?) if thing get rough.

[BrandedBandit]

thanks for the input. i think if a mage has taken drain, he would be more effective casting low-drain combat spells than firing a pistol (especially with limited skill). if you cast a force 5 stunbolt, you only have so soak 1 drain (right). so you wouldn't have to worry about taking more drain. once you factor in dice-pool modifiers, you would certainly get more successes with magic +spellcasting vs agility +pistol.

the point about counterspelling and backgroung count are convincing. last run i went on had a high background count and basically hamstrung the mage.

i can see the point about the "geek the mage" concept once the mage has been identified. but i would assume the character with the biggest gun would generally draw fire (at least during the first round of combat).

i just don't see wasting all those build points on a skill that i wouldn't really use.
but then again, i will probably want it if i don't have it. murphy's law, right?

[Glayvin34]

I just started playing a Hacker mage, so he's mostly defended by drones and spirits. A dobie with an Ares Alpha is great for the grenades and automatic qualities. I also keep a Force 6 Spirit of Man with Stunball and Levitate (for tossin' thugs) on hand, he's worth the ass-whooping during rebinding.

I'd probably pick up a few points in pistols, but all my extra BP and Karma goes toward hacking stuff.

[Thane36425]

My mages take pistol or automatics (SMG) skill, sometimes shotguns, for close range use. In a close range firefight, it helps just to be able to sling a lot of lead and not stand out too much by casting spells. As mentioned above, if you aren't centering and using direct spells, you can still be holding your gun in firing position and cast spells, making it a little harder to tell who is the mage.

For long range or surprise attacks, I'd use magic since it is not affected by range and you could still use optic scopes to see the target better. For surprise, hitting a guard with a stun or mind control spell is a lot quieter than shooting them.

Don't forget about spirits. If you direct one of them to attack, you can use your gun and save the drain of spellcasting. That also gives the enemy mage something to think about aside from counterspelling or looking for you. While they are busy with the spirit, they will stand out and your team can concentrate fire on them, taking them out quickly.

[Ravor]

>>>>> Well there are two things that every self respecting wizard or hippy flower power shawoman out there should do, first pluck out your own eyeballs in favor of a pair of fully tricked out Cybereyes (R3). Then buy yourself a pair of Smartshades that match the shiny new Predator that you are going to buy. And lastly, take some time to 'bond' with your team's gun bunny in order actually learn how to use your new toy.

Sure, 95% of the time I'll pick my mojo in a firefight, but when its life or death chummer, that 5% where magic isn't the better option looks awefully big to me. <<<<< -Bot

[Wasabi]

[Jaid]

[dog_xinu]

I have never played a mage (1st through 4th) that did not have firearms (aka Pistols) skill. Sometimes it is easier to use a pistol. None of my players have ever had a mage with non alternate fighting skill (like Pistols or blades, or something).

just my observation,
dog

[Cain]

Every mage I've ever played has had some sort of firearms skill. I learned the hard way that magis is best reserved for the things only magic can do. If you can achieve the same effect more readily through mundane means, then it's not worth buying the spell.

[BrandedBandit]

here's another strange thought: will platelet factory reduce boxes of drain suffered from overcasting spells?

[fistandantilus4....]

One of my favorite SR moments ever was a mage duel. I was playing a hermatic that was slinging spells back and forth with a voodoo man. This was second edition, so we were both throwing two spells at once, and relying on foci to saok the drain. I was tossing a firebolt (dart- I forget the name) and amanabolt each round, so he was sustaining a mana and phsyical barrier, and throwing spells right back.

We were bascially playing "let's see who takes heavy drain first". Unfortunately it was me, and it was Serious drain. I'd seen a animated movie IIRC called Wizards a while ago, and got an idea. I started throwing just the one manabolt per round, obsensibly becuase of the drain. After two more rounds, he dropped the phsyical barrier, so he could really concentrate on frying me.

I won initiative, drew my Viper Slivergun, and blew the unarmored SOB away.

Moral of the Story:Always care a sidearm.

[Eryk the Red]

By the rules as written, probably yes, the platelet factory works on drain. However, there's a lot of differing opinions on whether it should. In my game, I say no.

[DireRadiant]

Guns have no drain.

[Ancient History]

[DireRadiant]