ok, so unlike most newbs who are told to stick with character templates i do not want to do that cuase i like my individuality.

I'm looking for help regarding making a mage.

what skills are ideal for the role and what my character should have knowledge skills in.

Thanks for any help that people can offer

Priority A = full magician. Choose mage or shaman.

Priority B = skills or attribute, your choice. Skills lets you do more, Attributes make you more likely to survive. Attributes are harder to raise after the game starts than skills.

Primary Skills:
Sorcery (linked to Willpower)
Conjuring (linked to Willpower)

Secondary Skills:
Stealth (linked to Quickness)
Others of your choice that makes the mage useful in other areas.

Tertiary Skills:
Aura Reading (active)
An artistic skill that you will later use with Centering (magic in the shadows)

Primary Contact:
Talismonger (for buying magic items)

It will be your choice of Spells, and your choice of a second area to be good in that expresses your individuality. You can choose a second area of expertise however you like. Decking, electronics, driving, forensics, medicine, science, demolitions, you name it. If your magical powers are great in combat, then pick your second area of expertise to be outside of combat. If magical skills are great outside of combat, your second area could be combat (Pistols, etc.).

Often a magician has a high Charisma for conjuring. A second area for someone with high Charisma is often as a "Face" (negotiator, investigator). Typical skills for that are Etiquette and Negotiation, along with having several contacts.

/Edit: You've probably already done this, but you can check the Archetype characters from the book for their activie and knowledge skills to get some ideas.

I'd also reccomend taking the Enchanting skill. It is ifinitely cheaper to spend the down time to make your own foci.

I'd also reccomend taking the Knowledge skills of Magic Background, and Spell Design.

ok,

i want to play a human, male rat shaman.

any thing different i should do.
when i said mage at the beginning of the thread i meant magician
and now ive chosen rat shaman.

We use the Point system. I suggest you do too. A lot of players seem to complain that it makes Munchkining easier, which it does for Mundanes, but that is why the Story first, GM included, style of C creation is so important.

My suggestions are to start with a story. Read "And so it Came to Pass", and any other Source history stuff you have to determine where you want your Character to be from. Make an overly detailed story of who your Character is, then give him a personality profile. Write a list of 10 different situations that your Shadowrunning Mage might encounter (be diverse), and then write how he reacts, and why. This gives you a real feel of who you will be playing, and helps establish his individuality. Take your time, your GM will wait for you. Once you get to know your character, then it is time to build him or her. This is where you include your GM. Let him go over your story and profile, and work together on stats. Do not go back and change your character's story just to beef his stats, that is powergaming, not roleplaying...

Any skills that fits your story will work for your Character. As a Mage, obviously you need Conjuring and Sorcery, but how much, and the rest depends on your story. If you build a character like this, you will have way more fun, and unless your GM really blows, he will do fine in the Shadows...

I am sorry, I didn't know. The next book you should get by far is the Shadowrun Companion, you can find it on Amazon or Ebay. This book will explain the Point system I was Talking about, along with a lot of Other basics. A close second is Magic in the Shadows. This is a MUST if you want to play a Mage...

About my schpeel, It is still really important to build a story first, the rest is what you think fits your Rat...

ok then thanks for the help,
I'm preparing for a game run by Dashifen.

I may still just play a mage it depends.
I think it may be bad becuase with shamans you have beliefs with totems and crap you have to follow.

Funny thing, I was just looking at the other post by Dashifen, and was coming back to talk to you! I now Undersatnd you urgency. If you want an exact character I will help you, you probably don't need a story to play Dashi's game...

Let me know...

Mana Child, you don't need a completed character to play in Dashifen's game Beginner's Luck, as he says that in his first post. There is no urgency in completing a character.

Just decide what type of magician you are, your age, race and gender and that should be enough to get going. Dashifen indicates he'll help with everything after that.

it was from more of a practice point of view.
Practicing making characters isnt bad right?

You might want NSRCG which will take care of all the math for you. You might want to try starting out with a sorcer instead of a full mage so you can learn spell casting without needing to spend time figuring out astral stuff and conjuring. An Adept is also a pretty good starting player choice, since they don't have all the options and trade off that the street sams do.

If you go with the spellcaster:

Balance your spell list between combat and utility.

In general, every mage is going to want at least one combat spell (manabolt, stunbolt, or powerbolt), treat at at least force 4, and then other spells depending on what you want to do.

A beginner player might not want to do a mage.

The run he's in is specifically for green players. I'm in it b/c I've never played a decker before. Ditto for Shadow and his rigger.

I say if he wants to play a mage, he should play a mage. Between Shadow, Dashifen and myself he's got enough support in the game threads and there's an entire community of DSers that're usually are more than willing to help.

ive decided to play a gun bunny character anyway to save my self the trouble also so i dont have to ask as many questions (just for now)
I'll deal with a mage maybe in another game.
Right? Start small....

Good Idea mana, the combat rules are a lot easier without magic. Sorry, I didn't get back to you, been busy. Hope everything goes well for your first game, bye...