I had a request for this in a different thread so I thought I would start this one.

put down your best stupid mage tricks

example

Cast Mind Probe on a poster to wonder why they re-hash oft done topics?

stupid trick: cast a force 1 invisibility, what will happen? people will need umptiten successes to see you

The stupid way to fix it: let it be like that
The smart way to fix it: limit max successes with invisibility spells and the like to force, TADAH!

The rule certain spells have on the maximum number of successes equally the Force of the spell should be a standard rule with exceptions, not the other way around. I'll never figure out why they didn't do that to begin with, nor why they didn't do the whole "+1d6 per two successes" Increased Reflexes spell.

On one hand it eliminates "problems" with things like low-force Invisibility spells, while on the other it gives magicians a good reason beyond dispelling to take most spells at a higher Force.

Needless to say, it's a standard rule in our house rules.

A few I like all have to do with ally spirits. Get an ally spirit and then learn a bunch of touch based physical spells for it (fling and cripple limb are two of my favs). Then, you can instruct your ally spirit to go astral, move up behind the bad guys, go physical and fling their guns or cripple their legs, whatever you want, really. Good for trickster shamans because these things would even be in line with their Totem!

A little used but potentially valuable spell is Poltergeist. Especially in an office room or someplace with a lot of loose paper. Cast the spell and everyone in it gets a +2 to vision modifiers. Not the best if you have to fight through it, but not too bad if you're just trying to get away.

My all-time favourite is using 'shape earth' as an area of affect offensive spell.

force 5 shape earth vs troll = toothpaste effect.

Can't top it.

I like to encase magical opponents in an astral barrier. They're pretty much stuck unless they want to turn off all thier foci and go mundane, and it'll probably take more than one turn for them to break out. Magic through the barrier is hindered considerably, and if you trap them out in the open they can become a sitting duck for the sam. If they're not percieving they might not even notice the barrier, which can ruin his day if he's counting on sustained spells and foci.

Mana barriers in front of Lone Star/pursuit vehicles. It's useful but a gruesome way to go.

Don

I had a shaman try to cast an Acid Stream from INSIDE the escape van!!!! I quote.

"I raise my finger and call forth the keen of the mouse, unleashing a stream of acid at the Lone Star Patrol Car."

It streamed for onto the windshield, dash, O...lets not forget the driver and from seat passenger, and everything else in the front 25% of the van..

They did manage to escape...but that was the last escape for the mouse shaman..

Even if you use a mana barrier, it only works against motor cycle cops anyway. Guys in a car are within the cars "aura" and aren't effected.

Our Team bet me to it. Mana barrier is only good against motorcycles.

Using trid phatasm to "road runner" the bad guys.

You are being chased by the evil bad guys in their armored van of doom! You are whipping down the road on your skateboard and you turn the corner step into the 5 foot deep niche and cast a little phantasm action... They'll see that it's an alley going down and easily wide enough for their van... they'll start taking the turn and see the hapless monkey shaman skating down the alley at top speed but oooh! There's a tall fence there and he's trapped! STEP ON IT!!

Reality check. The mage as ducked into a doorway, there's no alley, no fence... just you, your van and this wall you just drove into at high speeds...

Buckle up campers!

Kong

Or they could just be smart in general and keep the damn things out of sight. Kind of hard for a mage to use a LOS spell on something they don't have LOS of.

My old mage character got his eyes gouged out while in an alleyway fight with some Sammies, so I had him cast a fireball spell at force of 8 deadly using all of his magic pool dice along with his sorcery, 10/8 respectively and threw it on himself and engulfed EVERY single Sammie there killing each of them and my mage in the process. It was worth it thought. =)

Is it a common house rule that grenades in 2063 still have pins? From the description in the BBB, I get no indication that the pin / spoon combination is still in operation. The trigger seems to be electronic, eleminating the need for a release spoon and hammer to start the fuse.

/\
To all the metal gear players.

REMEMBER JOHHNY SASAKI

"ugggh, ooh my stomach..."

I think SR grenades are like the ones in the last Aliens movie, the spoon acts as a remote detonator for the grenade.

I keep my grenades in the nice 6 shot launcher where they belong and use air burst. none of that taking damage from your own grenades for me.

A couple times I've had clever NPCs throw trick grenades at my players. They have a habit of always throwing back grenades, so these grenades are inert but give electric shocks when picked up.

That can help put the hesitation back into grabbing a live grenade.

Where'd you put the barrier? Because, y'know, those grenades don't arm until they go 5 meters

Pinned down bo heavy ganger assault, I used Trid Phantasm and Thunderclap to simulate a ganger throwing a grenade at a Doc Wagon HTR Team (there to pic up team mate who had gotten splattered) Which caused the Doc Wagon troops to open heavy fire on the gangers providing us with an escape distraction.

Oh, I can beat all of that. I once got into the most boring mage duel ever. My team was hired to kill another shadowrunning team who were threatning to leak some incriminating info. My mage encountered the enemy mage one on one, and we got into a magical duel in which both myself and the npc mage only cast one spell over and over again, which we both happened to have: control actions. We cast it at each other several times, failing because of our high willpowers and spell defense, before I finaly made him my bitch. Then, I got him to call up his team and tell them that he had captured the mage from the running team that was trying to kill them all, and to meet him at a safehouse of theirs that I knew about. So they all arrive to find their mage sitting on the couch, while I served him beer and a sandwich. His teammates ask what the hell is going on, and I make him say not to worry, he has me under a control actions spell. So they all sit down, and I mentally command him to verbally command me to go get them all some beer and sandwiches, conveniently taking me out of the living room. As soon as I am gone, I detonate the C4 I had strapped to his chest. Their troll samurai somehow survived the blast, so I had to finish him off with a manabolt. Then I hurriedly looted the place and ran off. Of course, I had taken the mage's fetishes and focus beforehand so they wouldn't get blown up.

Beast: How wonderfully...evil!

I've never played a mage before, but there are all some wonderful tricks I have to keep in mind for when I draw up one. I was thinking more of the manipulation school than direct damage spells. Seems like more fun to me.

Okay, I have a mage duel story for you...

My aforementioned mage gets into a battle royale with a hermetic. He opens with a fireball, I reply with a ball lightning, and it goes on from there. We're both initiates with Shielding, so our spells aren't having any effect. Thanks to Centering, neither of us are taking drain. (This was 2nd Ed, so I had all the metamagics.)

GM: (full of purple prose) "The enemy mage grins evilly from behind his mana barrier. He makes an eldritch gesture in the air, and spits out one word in a harsh, guttural language. A wave of sickly green ichor comes racing at you." (Rolls dice) "That's a force 6 toxic wave coming your way."

Me: (Rolls dice) "Blocked it all with my Shielding and Spell Pool."

GM: "How much spell pool do you have left?"

Me: "None. That was all of it."

GM: "Ha! I got you now! The enemy mage glares at you, then energy begins to crackle from his fingertips. It's your action, bub. What do you do?"

Me: "I pull out my shotgun and shoot him."

GM: "..."

Ah, the Indiana Jones maneuver. Classic.