Double post.

Guys, this is NOT a Corp job. And it's not going to be in a manawarp or something.

I just need a way to kick it up a notch on the magical challenge, so the mage dosen't run shod-rough over them. I still want him to be capable of winning relatively easily, but not a complete slaughter.

You need line of sight to cast most offensive spells. Even for a non-corp, smoke grenades are cheap enough to give one or two to all your guards. As has been mentioned before, if the guards spread themselves out a bit they won't all die to a single well-placed Manaball. Or if you really want to be mean, the camp might have FAB-3 (or whatever the bacteria that got thrown at Chicago was) on hand... that's certainly one way to de-magick someone.

What about paracritters? Are there any good ones in Core that I can use?

If you want to be really mean, use mage guards. Trick is, these mage guards are recruited out of the kids—whether the ones who have been successfully convinced that their talent is evil but have been convinced to use it to help eliminate it in others for the moment, or the ones who are desperately striking a deal with the guards to try to either hold on to their abilities for a bit longer or secure better treatment. The latter kind could help the runners, but may betray them if it looks like they're not going to succeed/they're not going to help the guard out/they're going to help out someone the guard despises/fears/etc.

~J

Barghests are standard fare, but located in Critters (as are all other paracritters to my knowledge).

Pretty much. SR3 has… Spirits and Dragons? Metahumans?

~J

Metahumans are scary ....

Another possible source of inspiration

The first couple of pages concern rules adjustments that may not interest you, but there are several examples of effective anti-magic tactics included deeper in the thread.

Tear gas could work... Yesss....

Is tear gas statted out in the core book, or do I need to come up with something?

It is in M&M. But I think you can substitute neurostun if you want.

You should ask yourself a question though, plausibly why would a camp like this have any real security at all, much less tear gas or an actual security team?

Why wouldn't they just truck the kids off to a secure, walled-in facility in Hell's Kitchen (Pullyup). The area's toxic enough (emotionally and pollution-wise) to add a good 3 points (or more, depending on the GM) of background count, and the camp could have paid off the local trog gangs for additional security.

Neurostun > Teargas.

You could subsitute it, but damn that is evil.

The idea is to brainwash them, not kill them...