SR3 Chargen Advice: Hermetic Mages

So I decided to kick this little series off with Hermetic Mages.

I'll try to keep this somewhat simplified, but these may get a little in depth.

For starters: Priority is a given, since you either take Magic A or B, so that's settled. If you take Magic A, you're full. B you're a Conjurer, Sorcerer, or Elementalist. If you're an elementalist, you pick an element and you can cast spells and summon spirits associated with that element; Earth=Manipulation, Air=Detection, Fire=Combat, and Water=Illusion. (There is no Health Elemental. Kinda sucks.) Elementalists may NOT astrally project in 3e-in 2e they were actually able to(the more you know!) All aspected magicians may astrally perceive as normal(back in 2e, Sorcs/Conjurers could not even perceive. Also the more you know!)

Your Spell Points(used for purchasing spells, spirits, and binding foci) are tied to your Magic priority these days, and not Resources(though I'll get to that), like they used to be.


Metatype:

Any metatype can make a good magician in this. Yes, even Orks/Trolls, with their mental minuses. Neither takes a minus to Willpower, which is the major Drain stat. Troll lower Charisma might affect their conjuring somewhat(keep in mind if your GM uses Edges/Flaws, a Bonus Attribute Point to increase your Charisma max can work, and thanks to Exceptional Attribute, you can increase an attribute up to twice through Edges. It's minmaxy, but for those who really want that awesome Troll Conjurer-I can say as a GM I'd welcome something like this since you're stocking Edges to play 'against type.')

Elves make the best Conjurers(Charisma boost), and can make good combat mages too-their Charisma bonus means if you're not looking at Conjuring, you can drop that stat easier and boost everything else.

Dwarves are, IMO, pound for pound the 'best' mages from a mechanical standpoint. They have no stat minuses in 3e(they used to take a -1 Quickness in 2nd), they get a valuable Willpower bonus, and their Body/Strength bonuses gives them a bit of a sturdy build right out of the gate without having to devote a lot of points to it. All they have to do is pay a bit extra for dwarf-modded gear. Plus they're Priority D instead of the C Elves and Trolls are, if you're playing via Priority. So if you're doing absolute min-maxing, IMO, you can't go wrong with a Dwarf.

Of course, good ol' Humans don't have to give up the extra Priority, and they earn Karma pool faster, barring houserules.

At the end of the day, play what you'd like! I'd say that Metatype choice is going to affect your Priority picks a little bit, as you'll see in the next(a Troll will likely need a hefty helping of Attributes to get past the minuses, even though they don't need to devote much to Physical, even for a combat mage.)


Priorities:

IMHO-you can probably stand to go light on the Skills when it comes to Hermetic mage priority. Using the 3e Archetype of the Troll Combat Mage, he gets by with only 27 points, and he not only has two max Magic skills, but a very good Edged Weapons, some etiquette, intimidation and even a gun. He's specialized, but not one-trick.

Different combos of course might require different priorities: a face/mage will need more skills, IMO, than a combat mage(and will likely be a little more toward Conjuring if they're aspected.)

(Magical Theory is no longer an Active Skill in 3e like 2e-it's Knowledge.)

If your GM is using Point Buy or BeCKS, you can probably afford to go slightly lighter on the skill aspect. Take what you need, of course.

Attributes it depends, but I like to go higher here. With Trolls, those B attributes come in very handy. Elves too, though elves can get by with the 24 fairly well if necessary. Dwarves and Orks can get by with 24 rather easily, saving the B for Resources.

Resources for a Hermetic mage can trend higher. Their gear is more expensive than a shaman's(foci all costs the same, but Elemental Conjuring materials are 1k nuyen per level, and their libraries are Rating x Rating x 1000...and you need these for both Sorcery and Conjuring. Keep in mind you can buy extra spell points at 25k nuyen per point...so taking Resources B isn't always a bad plan. Combat Mages can rock lower resources, if you don't mind going a little lighter on the gear and getting it in game to solidify your Attributes. And yes, you can play a *very* pimped Sorcerer with max Resources.


Attributes:

Willpower is your Drain stat. Intelligence, Will and your Magic Attribute are your Spell Pool, and your Charisma affects your damage if fighting in astral space(fully projecting, that is.) Charisma is your Conjuring stat.

As always, a good Body helps. If you're, say, a Sorcerer, you can, if you want, ditch Charisma for a heftier Strength for bigger guns/a non monowhip melee weapon. 27 Attributes lets you go pretty balanced, regardless. Basically I'd focus on Will, Int, and Body/Quickness and use Str/Cha as appropriate for the character.


Skills:

Magical attributes are Sorcery, Conjuring, Enchanting, and Aura Reading. The first two are probably your big focus. You can specialize; in things like Spellcasting(for Sorcery-this isn't a bad pick since Ritual Sorcery is more a specific character thing), or spirit types for Conjuring. Enchanting offers Artificing and Alchemy(the rules in Magic in the Shadows.) Aura Reading is for Astral work.

Astral Combat is actually a specialization of some various Melee combat, too(for weapons, you need a focus for this.)

Remembering back in the first part with basic skills that are good for everyone-you'll find magicians aren't necessarily too reliant on a ton of skills. Unless you want to play SuperMage and go for ALL of the magical skills-if you want to go 'basic' with just Sorcery and Conjuring, you will likely have enough points to make a pretty well rounded character or a variety of mage types, from kung-fu mages to melee mages to face/mages to gun mages to getaway driver mages(I wouldn't install a VCR though.)

Knowledge skill wise, Magic(which is basically also these days involving Magical Theory), Spell Design, and Talismongering are all magical-based skills to look into. Crafting skills associated with things if you want to really make your own foci helps. Otherwise, as always, Knowledge skills are very open.


Gear:

Fetishes if you have fetish-limited spells, foci of sorts help as well. Power Foci are the most powerful(but also most expensive). Spell Category Foci help some more specialized mages(particularly Elementalists, since they can only cast spells from a category.) Spirit Foci are good for Conjurers.

Hermetics need libraries, as said, though you can always get these in game. Also see back in part 1 for the 'general list' which is good for any archetype.


'Ware:

Mages and 'ware go together less in 3e than in the later years. It's generally heavier on your system, and they lose magic from both cyber and bio(though the bio loss isn't 'true' magic loss-it just 'dampens' it.) If you want to go 'cybermage'-I suggest Sorcerer with high Resources so you can buy into a Power Focus to offset the loss. Having a small amount of cyber/bio isn't TOO bad, though(I'd choose one or the other)-decent picks for cyber are boosted reflexes, cybereyes(with Optical vision mag if you get it-mages need natural magnification to cast spells through it), or a humble datajack. Bioware wise, the Enhanced Articulation and/or Cerebral Booster is nice(a L1 Enhanced and L1 Booster is 1 Bio Index.)

It's tough to deal with 'ware if you have anything less than Priority B Resources, however. Make it a character-specific thing rather than a 'go-to.'


Character Building Bits(Edges/Flaws, Contacts, etc):

I'm including this for fun. This is going to be a section for people who want a little advice for some extra 'personal' oomph to the characters.

If you're using Edges and Flaws, there are some neat little ones, like Astral Impressions(you're easier to find in the Astral, you can make this up for background reasons), Focused Concentration(makes it easier to sustain spells)-you can be pretty creative here and you don't even need to take Magical edges/flaws. Phobias, allergies or whatnot work totally fine for a mage.

Also look into some of the different 'belief systems' in Magic in the Shadows; are you into Black Magic, Norse Magic, or what? Shamans might have totems but hermetics can have things they believe as well(generally they have 'Hermetic magic is like the science of magic', but they can be religious or whatnot too.)

As for Contacts, keep a Talismonger in mind for magical goodies! After that it's pretty much free game.

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So that should cover most of the basics when it comes to creating a Hermetic mage. Again, I tried to keep this somewhat compact. If folks have questions or additions feel free to ask/poke me about them!