I also wouldn't predict the inclusion of paracritters, except possibly as some examples of non-metahuman spellcasters. Street Magic
might include a piece on the magical traditions of Naga and the like - and that section
might have a couple of spellcasting paracritters in it. However, I would put the odds on either of those happening at "pretty low", just because most players honestly don't care what the magical traditions of centaurs are like.
At this point, we've already seen
three Shadowrun Magic Books (one for each edition), so the format is actually pretty familiar:
What you probably will see, is a write-up of every summonable spirit. That means that there are almost certainly going to be revised stat lines for the basic six, as well as all the additional spirits that are needed to create the traditions from that book. By my calculations, that could be as little as
four new spirits. Speaking of adding traditions, I would bet money that the traditions that were playable in previous editions will get write-ups. That means that we'll see a fully playable version of Houngans, Wu Jen, and (perhaps unfortunately) the Tir Path Magicians, you might even see Psionics have a return from Awakenings (maybe this time they won't be so terrible in SR4). In keeping with previous editions, I would expect to see a brand new tradition as well.
You will see Magical Threats, just like in every other edition. At the very least you will see Blood, Bugs, and Toxics. If we're lucky, this will come with a Magical Threat Design system similar to the Magical Tradition Design System, with the old stand-bys being used as examples. They will probably describe a new threat as well, possibly one based on using evil geomancy to steal life force (there's never been a toxic Wu Jen description, now there will be).
You will see Free Spirit rules. This will probably either allow you to construct Shedim and Imps or have a bunch of hanging mechanics in which Shedim and Imps have their own unique write-ups. There may be a section on fancy special spirits which in turn might include fairies, wraiths, corpse-light, and/or The Wild Hunt. This section will include some sort of rules for how Banishement affects spirits that are on the loose.
You will see new Metamagic. I wouldn't be shocked by Anchoring, Sympathetic Magic, Divning, Reflecting, or Blood Sacrifice.
You will see Ally Spirits. Ally Spirit creation may be classified as a metamagic.
You will see Enchanting. Expect that to be a new active skill that is based on Magic to appear for this purpose. This section will include the rules to collect ritual components on your own time, expect this to be at least nearly as generous as previous editions contrasted with paying thousands of yens to a talismonger to get the materials over the counter.
Expect to see a pile of new (old) mentor spirits. Expect a few token new ones that weren't in previous editions. I would bet 20 nuyen that one of them is going to be Toaster since they mention it so often.
Expect to see a pile of new spells. Most of these are going to be old spells, I suspect about 20% original content in this list. Also a spell design system, which in turn is going to be a whole lot easier to handle than those of previous editions .
Finally, we'll see the conversion of some of the old Adept Powers. Some of them aren't coming back (I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for the power where you know all languages, for instance). There will also be some new ones based on the new machanics. I could see some Adept powers that modify the uses of Edge, for instance (something to cancel other people using Edge against you, perhaps?)
-Frank