a guy in our group decided he wants to get into the mage fighting rings described in sota 2063. i don't have the book, but from what he described to me, i don't see a problem, (aside from the guy getting his jollies from his uber badass character)

but i was wondering what type of guidelines would be laid down for these things. i apologize if they are already listed in the book, i am clueless there.

he states he wants to enter non-lethal matches where physical combat is allowed.

so i was thinking of having a "division" if you will for the folowing:

1. mages - hermetic, use of only sorcery and related skills, such as aura reading. no conjured spirits. fight types both including astral combat and not. options for initiated mages to use metamagic or not. fights allowing foci and not.

2. shamans - obviously shamans. pretty much the same as above, only allowing summoned spirits, fights may take place in various places for various domains. warded after summoning.

3. physical mages - POM adepts, as well as any big tough mages that would prefer this class as it suits their strengths. would allow sorcery (possibly conjuring) and combat skills.

the above would be "pure" classes in that no cyberware would be allowed, participants should have full essence. aspected magicians would likewise need to choose the non astral combat options, unless metamagic is allowed and they have limited projection.

4. open class - this is where i would put cybered mages. i would leave it as anything goes, with the options to lock down certain things. disabling certain cyber, lethal/non lethal, unlimited use of non magical skills, etc.

5. team matches - similar structures to the open class, but allowing a number of opponents per side to duel it out. restrictions of only magicians, no bringing in the troll sammies.

so give me some help here!

thanks!

I don't recall anything about physical combat matches between magicians at all in that book.
Basically there 4 ways magicians can do a duel arcane with each other.
1. Astral combat - Both contestants fight one another on the astral (choose from either percepting or projecting) and duke it out using the Sorcery skill as the combat skill as described in the BBB.
2. Spell Duels - Basically the most common type of arena/combat pit fighting between magicians, as it gives the mundanes something to actually see (unlike astral combat or supremacy duels). Opponents throw spells at the other trying to drop their opponent.
3. Supremacy Duel aka Scorching - New method of dueling presented in SOTA 2063, basically it works like Banishing except the opponents are rolling their Sorcery skill vs the other's Magic Rating, first one that gets their Magic attribute reduced to 0 takes immediate Deadly stun damage and passes out and must make a check for Magic loss (hence the 'scorching' nick name). Check out SOTA 2063 for the full write up and details.
4. Conjuring Duel - Opponents are allowed to summon a predetermined number of spirits and pit them against one another in combat. Basically it boils down to spirit-cockfighting.

The generally accepted rules, methods and ettiquette for arcane dueling in the SR universe are in SOTA 2063.

Oh, there's more than this. Just a few ideas off of my head:

• Shapechange Duels - Fairly traditional, the opponents change into different forms, trying to gain an advantage over one another as they go at it tooth and claw.
• Proxy Duels - Generally the province of houngans and mambos, each magician uses the Possessing metamagic to control an assistant, servant or apprentice as a proxy. Serviteurs would probably be favored, but a bocor would undoubtably drug some cybered-up street sam or powerful adept with deepweed and take their form.
• Astral Combat - In the physical, two magicians may be ascetic weaklings. But in the astral, it's an entirely different game.
• Zombie Duel - The province of the Petro rite, this is a variant on the Conjurer's Duel that depends not only on the magician's skill at conjuring spirits, but their ability to collect suitable bodies.
• Contest of Power - Going back to the 1st Edition for a moment, magicians draw on their resources - and friends - to protect and aid them while they take turns using ritual sorcery against one another.

It's in more fiction than just that, but that is the only case (yet) where the victorious shapechange was a bacteria.

I agree it's a rare spell...and some of the uses for it have been, er, interesting to say the least.

now why didn't i think of that!

i used shapechange for my very first mage who was a bull shaman, and somewhere along the lines, he shapechanged into a bull and impaled an ork in the barrens who was roughing up a hooker. i am pretty sure i stopped playing that character afterwards, but it was rather fun at the time.

Only when they're bound free spirits held in special ball-shaped foci.

............

Dude. Whichever corp inherited whatever it was that owned whichever guys put out Pokemon are gonna be hitting it rich when they figure this out.

Forget the animation. Live-action Pokemon fighting.

Just an idea, with the new sr4 rules for chosing the force at which you caste the spell, instead of having to learn a spell at a set force. *If the resistance rules are anything like 3rd edition* you could have a nice "duel" seeing who could nuke/stand up/last the longest trying to firebolt( or some other flashy spell for the crowd) either a fire resistant target or a moving one. That would put on a good show for the crowd with lots of "fireworks" and be a good test of a mage's sorcery skill and his endurance (willpower). Just a thought for a non-lethal duel, a kind of "horse" game with spells:) Although i don't think anyone would want to try it blindfolded:)

Pokemon is owned by Nintendo, which, in itself is over a century old so it could be a AAA or AA Corp by the 2060s.