First Metamagic, Do most runners choose Masking first? Options

[Crimson Jack]

It seems that most initiates have Masking. The ones I write as NPCs do. My players all do. In fact, my players always take Masking as their first Metamagic technique. Is this true for everyone? I know there are some other nice "first technique" choices out there, but it does seem lucrative as the first one. Agree or no?

[Crimson Jack]

I'm glad there's at least one panda vote. :D

[Fortune]

Your fault ... you added it as an option! :P :D

[Synner]

In my experience 80% of Initiates take either Masking or Shielding before any of the other options (and in most cases these will be the first two metamagics taken).

[toturi]

The Panda metamagic is uber. You can turn all the people targeting you into Pandas.

Actually Centering would be my first choice.

[tisoz]

Play mostly shamen, so I snag Invoking. Then centering or channeling.

What's so great about masking at grade 1?

[Crusher Bob]

You can appear to be completely mundane to the average look over, an attempt to break masking requires 'targeting' somone specifically. In addition, non-initiates can't attempt to break masking (iirc).

[Luca]

CLEANSING!!!!!
Backlground COunt is so diffused in Shadowrun WOrld taht without Cleansing normal or low-level spelcasters cannot do anything useful!!!!

[Moirdryd]

Being as I currently soley GM for my group and i`ve never had a magic char in previous games that lasted long enough for me to initiate. I`ve had to base my answer off my groups actions. (which was a NO btw) . Centering seems to be their favorite, especially when it comes to our Gun Adept (who`s just hit Grade 2) and can now Center for his pistols..which is pretty nasty.

[Grinder]

I rarely have seen characters chosing anything else than centering at first grad of initiation. Only one chose masking first. Didn't make it to seond grade... grenades are not good for human mages ;)

[hahnsoo]

Depends on the character. One mage was a former Shasta gypsy, and chose Divination as her first metamagic. Masking is a popular one, but only to hide some of the big-ass foci that the mage lugs around. Centering is usually a 2nd grade choice, only because it takes Karma to build up a Centering skill.

[tisoz]

[Thistledown]

I've never seen a single person take masking. Why bother? If somebody sees you and you're not supposed to be there, it doesn't matter if you're a mage or not, they shoot you anyways.

Our physads tend to take centering first, although we also have a houserule that you can skip a metamagic and get astral perception as a metamagic on your next initiation. Some people go that route.

As for our mages, Anchoring and Quickening are the big ones. Followed by absorbtion and cleansing.

[JongWK]

Some players in the group I currently run have an initiatory group. Their first metamagics were:

JIS Gun-Fu adept: Masking.
TnO Phoenix shaman: Centering.
PCC Eagle shaman: ack, can't remember! It wasn't any of the above two, anyway.

Personally, it would depend on the character I was playing.

[Mr Cjelli]

My only awakened character at the moment is an obeyifa, and he's carrying around a ton of force 5+ gris-gris at any given time. Given the rules for masking, it doesn't afford him much protection at all, but I might take it for him later when he initiates just to make masking wards.

In general, though, he doesn't have too many options when it comes to metamagic. A great deal of them only work for people with sorcery. Anyone else wish there were more metamagical techniques centered around conjuring?

[mfb]

i'd imagine that most adepts go for Centering first, followed by Centering for a second skill area (if their focus is on something other than athletics and stealth).

[Lindt]

2 words. Channelling, invocation. Or, how your 115lb Unicorn shamen can drop Bubba the cyber troll like a ton of bricks.

[SentineloftheMou...]

I took masking for my hermatic mage in the game I am in right now, so I could use it in conjunction with the possession metamagic technique.

I'm waiting to use it to sneak in behind the enemy defenses and attack from behind on the physical world.

[Dizzo Dizzman]

I am surprised nobody mentioned quickening. It definitely seems to be a popular choice in the games I have played in.

[Garland]

The only Awakened character in my campaign that has expressed an interest in a metamagic mentioned Divination. And the otaku wants Info Sortilage. Guess they put a pretty high priority on information.

[tisoz]

[mfb]

quickening's okay. that and anchoring are generally more useful to magician's way adepts, though.

[Kanada Ten]

[mfb]

plus, it's not like the security mages at a given facility will necessarily know every aura of every worker there, unless they've taken the time to assense each and every worker--and all the delivery guys, and all the repair guys, and all the transfers, and so on. if you're a mage or physad, and you're sneaking into a facility in disguise, masking will be pretty damn useful.

[The White Dwarf]

Depends on the character. Due to the tn forumal for using masking, even if its going to be a mainstay ability its not always useful as the first technique; depending on what kind of opposition you typically face. Regardless, you get a panda vote.