Is it possable to play a character who isnt magically active when he starts being used but then later on DOES become active??

Again i read alot of SR novels and you always hear some stories about how some mages had lives and stuff before they became magically active. That would be cool to try and role play during some adventures.

Like maybe a character has lead a pretty normal life for most of their life but then some part of their world gets turned upside down, they get thrust into a whole other world which causes lots of stress and fatigue and then eventually end up facing some life threatening event and in that moment they finally unlock the ability to use their magic

The point between some part of their world being turned upside down and the point where they face a life threatening event could take place over lots of missions.

I suppose you could have it so that the character has magic, but doesn't understand how to use it. He goes along their life in a nice mundane manner, with the odd unexplicable accidents occuring. (This sounds like the first Harry Potter book!).

You could also twist some missions around this guy getting info about his "condition". Most mages out there will just scoff at the idea that the character doesn't know about his magical ability, and asking the wrong mage could get the corps interested in a fresh "virgin" spellslinger, for testing, conditional training or worse. Maybe other mages become scared, angry or peeved at your character, that they spent most of their lives with a head in a book, studying like good lil D&D wizards, while your character (once he has accepted the 'condition') can sling fireballs without the mumbo-jumbo.

Pay the BP, but don't get any skills. Make it an agreed upon point with the GM that you will awaken to a pre-specified tradition under conditions that he deems fitting.

Then just pick one of the totems that goes berserk and get in a fight.

The problem is, you have to build them without much cyberware to have any hope of being a decent mage later...and a shadowrunner with neither of 'ware or magic is in pretty deep shit.
It's a lot easier in SR4, where one can lean on Edge, but in SR3 it's pretty much unfeasible.

It would be tough to do in a group, since buying magic but no magical skills seriously gimps a character. I would suggest at least avoiding front-line combat and taking on one of the roles a mundane can be at least functional in. Medic, face, sniper, etc. And only do it if you seriously don't mind playing a character who will be significantly weaker than the other characters.

Like everyone else said, you *can* do it, but you can expect to be seriously gimped in relation to everyone else. Still, if you're determined, there are several options.

One way of doing it would be to buy Magic and the skills, then buy Incompetences in them. This represents the fact that you haven't really learned that you have the abilities just yet. You can arrange to buy off these disads at a certain point in the game, for a value as agreed upon by yourself and the GM. This means that when you Awaken, you'll be closer in ability to the rest of the group.

Another way would be to buy Magic and Skills, and simply roleplay not knowing that you have them. You might want to even look into the Psionic tradition, and be actively performing magic; you just don't realize that what's happening *is* magic. You'll need to pick your spells out extremely carefully, though; everything should be able to be passed off as a "coincidence". Personal detection spells, Deflection, and personal Increase Attribute spells are all perfect for this type of character. The advantage of this character is that you will stay more in par with the rest of the party, although they may not know it. The disadvantage is that you'll have to initiate right off the bat, and buy Masking, preferably before the game begins. This will help convince others that you're mundane. Also, the rest of the team will need some persuading that your character is actually contributing.

The thing to remember is this: in most of the fiction, the potential mage starts showing signs well before he fully Awakens. That being the case, you don't want to go from zero magic to full magic; you want to go from low magic to higher magic. Look at ways of powering down your abilities, instead of going from zero-to-sixty all at once.

Yeah, this may be the biggest thing that could possibly turn me onto Sr4, is the step up with magic.
How to do it in sr3 though... funny, Im relizing that it could work better in a lower power game(85-100 bp) then a normal 123 bp game.

You could start as a support charcter, electronics spec, or maybe a decker? Both are low skill and high equipment dependent. Its a hard thing to pull off, but its just a really great way to build a charcter.

Well there's another way in 3rd ed, but it's going to be expensive.

You could play an Adept(since adepts are more likely to develop their abilities through their own means of exercise and experience), but also have the Magican's Way, but no points in it beyond the minimum necessary(I think it's one)

This way, you aren't totally screwed at creation, as you can say that your adept powers have come as your character grew up on their own(I'd self impose a maximum of two levels on any power taken, meaning you'll have to really spread yourself out adept power-wise. And no Geas on any powers) And you cna spend Karma later on to raise either your Adept abilities, or your magical abilities.

The downside however is that you will be rather well screwed for a LONG time. Magician's way adepts are effectively two archetypes at the same time. And you'll have to pay for both sides as well. Moreover, you will have to do both combat and casting well in the long run, or you're bound to feel shortchanged by the experience.

As far as playing it out, you could say that you are someone who doesn't realize what they do is actually magical. Adepts themselves don't give off any public image when they use their powers, and the effects mainly enhance their bodies. So you would be able to pass it off solely as just being lucky, or maybe having good training.

Another vote here for "spend the points up front, but take it later during game, talk the story idea over with your GM".

Getting it for free is a bit much, unless the sam gets a millions nuyen windfall and access to a delta clinic, the rigger is bequeathed a Banshee, etc. Spending the points up front keeps you on par for the course.

Yeah i wasnt expecting to get anything for free.

I am thinking that the other shadowrunners would actually be hierd to kidnap me or do something that would let our paths cross and then they would take me hostage just out of convenience. Then at some point I escape(maybe by unconsciencly using my powers like invisability. Then I would be running around on the streets and by the then wherever i was taken from has assumed i was in on the shadowrun and maybe has people after me which is why i couldnt go home. And while trying to survive on the streets something really bad happens that finally makes awaken.

It would be kool to play out with a fresh group of runners although It would probably be a pain in the butt of the GM because he has to build a story round it or something.

Then after the character awakens the other runners would finally find him wide eyed and scared to death and they would take him in and get him straightened out and thats how he became part of the team.

I'm usually kind of resistant to characters coming together as a team because of an immediate conflict. Sometimes, it leads to the players being real jerks with how they present their characters.

"Yer a wizard, Harry."

It's great for story and this is why the device is used (Read: vastly overused) in the novels.

Gameplay, yeah, if you can swing it, go for it. Play the wide-eyed mage with not much idea - A shaman is FAR more likely to, ahem, "blossom" during a stressful situations though. (Many canon references to this.)

Just don't stand up, wave a broken board and shout, "By the Power of Greyskull!" and everything will be fine.

-Tir

Oh, there's another option, if your GM is up for it.

Assuming you're using the standard BP system, being a full mage costs 30 points. You can theoretically subdivide that, so you're purchasing each point of Magic separately, for 5 points apiece. You could use this to buy yourself a low Magic rating, and raise it later through initiation. This method will also leave you more on par with the party, although it might not quite fit your concept.