Shoot the mage first?, Did it ever make sense in SR? Options Track this topic Email this topic Print this topic Download this topic Subscribe to this forum Display Modes Outline Switch to: Standard Switch to: Linear+

[Rasumichin]

Recently, somewhere on this forum, the question came up wether security personell is still advised to "shoot the mage first", as was the case since SR2's Awakenings came out.

I'm not certain wether this doctrine appears anywhere within SR4, but it certainly is prevalent in the minds of many GMs who suppose it to be a choice for sec-guards both plausible from an ingame perspective and strategically feasible on the mechanic side.

I must admit that, after reading Awakenings back in the mid-90s, i found the whole concept to just make sense.
"Yeah, guards would act like that", i thought, "and it would make fights more challenging for the group".

Recently, though, i am more and more coming to the point of discarding the whole concept, at least from a mechanics-inspired metagamey point of view.

While within the setting, many possible opponents -those whose knowledge of magic is derived from watching Karl Combatmage- might actually fall for it, any opposition with serious training, all enemies able to keep a level head in a fight against a runner team, might actually not decide to target the spellcaster first.

See, in other RPGs, those where magical healing is something happening on the instant, not taking time to be upheld until it comes into effect, the most feasible choice would be to take out the healer first.
Otherwise, he will be able to foil or at least seriously hinder any attempt to eleminate other teammembers by instantly healing the damage done to them, buying his team the time to hack the opposition into pieces.
So, in D&D, the best advice for a group of enemies would be to go for the cleric.
Or, in RPGs such as DSA/TDE, where healing is also the mage's job, actually shooting -or slashing, or rending, or whatever- the mage first actually is the way to go.

In SR, the mage usually also functions as the group's healer, but will rarely be able to do so in mid-combat, as heal spells have to build up over several rounds.
Shooting the mage can also lead to one or more spirits going free, with completely unforeseeable consequences best dealt with under more controlled conditions.

So, if we do not target the mage, the next logical choice would be to target the group member with the highest damage output, as without the hindering factor of instant healing, he would pose the greatest threat.
And with a sufficiently optimized sam or with a well-prepared drone rigger, i have doubts that this group member will be the mage.

Another aspect to be taken into consideration is the importance of initiative in SR combat.
Would it be the most feasible option to shoot the party member first who...well, shot first?

These are just some ideas i speculated about during the last days.
What is your opinion on the issue?
Of course, there will be situations where one will not be able to apply textbook tactics for a group of sec-guards.
Where greatly varying, situational aspects mandate a certain mode of operation.

But in general, is there a reason to stick to the old motto of shooting the mage first?
Or do we have to replace it with another modus operandi?