You know what's funny? I have.


Mmm-hmm. But again, as I said before, "there are a variety of less extreme means of restraining a magic user which might grant the player a more interactive experience." Now, if you're really concerned about only using exactly what's written in a third edition book and nothing more and nothing less, then by all means, your magician is in for a difficult roleplaying challenge, although personally I think it sounds compelling. For my part, I would be interested in exploring more interactive experiences: perhaps the character would simply find themselves unable to use magic in any way, and with an inexplicable (wound/tattoo/injection site). This offers opportunities for roleplaying ["Is this permanent?"], story ["What can I do to fix this?"], and adventures ["You can stop looking. There is a client: me."].

Maybe they've been given a chemical that temporarily reduces Magic...but the side-effects are unfortunate. Maybe there's an experimental device suppressing access to astral space, but if the characters can find a way to turn it off... Maybe they've been seared with an enchanted brand, and the only way to regain their abilities is to remove the brand...and the skin along with it. Whatever! Whatever the flavor of the game, whatever the goal of the players and GM, there's a way to make it happen, but no, you're right, you can't do any of that if all you use is "RAW." But that seems like a waste of a good game to me.

Sure didn't seem like you have read the book, considering your comment "I'm not certain where this scenario comes from...". Making SR games kinder and gentler is just wrong. What's next a Lonestar that respects runners' rights?

Yeah, I didn't mean I'd never heard of a magemask. I meant that your scenario is a narrowly chosen absolute worst-case selection of the possibilities available, and that as such it didn't correctly represent the possibilities inherent in the situation.


So imprisoning the PCs is no good because it'll be too hard [for one character class], but alternatives that aren't as hard [and are more interesting] are too kind and gentle for your liking.