From:	mbroadwa@*******.glenayre.com (Mike Broadwater)
Subject:	Re: PHIBERSPACE SUPPORT, & TAKE THIS!
Date:	Thu, 16 May 1996 16:31:30 -0500

I wasn't paying much attention to this thread until Paolo's response to
Topcat's last message sparked my interest, so I thought I'd throw in a few
comments.

>What I mean is that if you really need to discuss about that, why
>don't you point out the fact that you can BECOME a sam while you can't
>become a mage? Mages are born, Sams are MADE (literally). And that while
>mages are 1%, THE MAJORITY of them are hairdressers
HUH? When was the last time you saw a fragging magical hairdresser?

>healers,
Some do healing work in hospitals, that is true.

>they work for entertainment,
A magical special effects guy? I don't think so.

>are relatively low-powered, or
>are astral patrollers in security agencies and such.
Says who? Why do you think a corp is going to let their pet mage be a
weakling to be stomped on.


>That leaves you with
>very few true combat mages.
Almost every mage/shaman/etc. I've ever seen FASA mention was combat in some
way. Corps/gov't most likely employ the largest number of magically active.
Do you think they don't train them, make them learn new stuff, sit around
and say "oh, I'm not really good for combat"?

>On the contrary, have you ever seen a non-combat
>samurai?
Ever seen a non combat gun? A samurai, by definition, is going to be combat
oriented.

>There are philosophical differences between a sam and a mage. Being
>a mage is, a calling, is like being a poet. Being a Sam is like going out
and buying a
>gun.
No, that's being a ganger. A "true" samurai has a sense of honor. That is
where the term comes from. It is a philisophical state. Otherwise your a thug.

>You just hurt more the others. Yeah, I know about the ART of fighting.
>Still, you went out and bought that MBW, didn't you, no matter for what
>reson?

>I hope you get my point. I think there should be more depth to a
>campaign. What if a mage assenses some other mage and kills him just because
>he is dangerous "even when just starting out"? Maybe the nastiest spell the
>other guy had was "Healthy Glow"! Don't sterotype mages. IF you really need
>to stereotype, stereotyping sams is much easier. After all, who is gonna
>trust somebody with more metal than blood inside, somebody who grunts like a
>locomotive and moves like a hyperactive maniac skitzo?
I'll trust him as much as I trust the guy who talks about weird shit like
"meta planes" and "astral space" and can make my head explode from 50m
away
by waving his arms around, and on top of all that, just scanned my brain to
see what I was going to do next.

Mike Broadwater
http://www.olemiss.edu/~neon
"An object at rest cannot be stopped! YEAH, BABY! YEAH!" - The Evil Midnight
Bomber What Bombs at Midnight.