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Old 11-25-2016, 11:23 AM   #1
Kfireblade
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Default How to fight mages as a TL 7 character?

I have TL 7 character going into a high magic TL 5 world where battle mages are not uncommon. the power level of the campaign is 450pts. I was making him a snatcher who had a weight limit that would allow him to grab vehicles, but I then realized that magic lightning is going to completely wreck my vehicles. Throw in all the defensive spells available and I'm really not sure how to handle the situation.
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Old 11-25-2016, 11:34 AM   #2
thulben
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: SF Bay Area, CA
Default Re: How to fight mages as a TL 7 character?

Shoot them in the head from a really long distance with a Dragunov.
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Old 11-25-2016, 11:34 AM   #3
Nereidalbel
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Ellicott City, MD
Default Re: How to fight mages as a TL 7 character?

Let the natives deal with the mages, while you stomp the mundane troops.
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Old 11-25-2016, 11:53 AM   #4
Kfireblade
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Default Re: How to fight mages as a TL 7 character?

I thought about long distance rifles but reverse missiles worriers me. One of my goals in this world is to assassinate it's arch-mage.
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Old 11-25-2016, 11:56 AM   #5
Nereidalbel
 
Join Date: May 2013
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Default Re: How to fight mages as a TL 7 character?

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Originally Posted by Kfireblade View Post
I thought about long distance rifles but reverse missiles worriers me. One of my goals in this world is to assassinate it's arch-mage.
Shoot him in his sleep. You have to be conscious to maintain spells, after all. Or, just fire an RPG at his house. Chlorine Triflouride is within TL7 tech, and delivering that at long range is incredibly lethal. In case you don't know what that is, it's a more powerful oxidizer than oxygen, and can even set asbestos on fire.
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Old 11-25-2016, 11:58 AM   #6
Michael Cule
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Default Re: How to fight mages as a TL 7 character?

The best way to kill a mage is from a long, long way away it's true. If you can't manage ranged fire (preferably with a bullet made out of something magic penetrating) try explosive booby traps and poisons unknown to TL 5 science. (Perhaps binary poisons?) Radiation might work. If you're not in a hurry there are diseases that the mages might not know how to cure.

But really this is a question that cannot be answered except by knowing enough about the world and the options the GM is allowing the wizards to have.
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Old 11-25-2016, 11:58 AM   #7
mlangsdorf
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Austin, TX
Default Re: How to fight mages as a TL 7 character?

Grenades are your best friend here. Throw a grenade at a mage's feet and he can't avoid the blast with Deflect Missiles or Missile Shield, nor hit you back using Reverse Missiles. 9d concussion from a M67 should drop most human mages in any magically reinforced TL5 armor pretty easily. A flash-bang stuns anyone in a 10 yard radius - HT-5 to resist - so it's easy fairly effective against low-flying mages and again, the standard protection spells do little to stop it. In a pinch, even an improvised grenade (High-Tech p 191) will do some damage, though you may need a couple to take out the wizard.

If you have access to special abilities (I assume you do because Snatcher), then an innate attack like the following might be appropriate:

Personal Deathbolt: Innate Crushing Attack 4 (Accurate +2 10%; Increased 1/2 damage Range x5 +10%; Cosmic: Ignores Protection and Warning spells +50%; Fragmentation 2d +30%) [40]. You have an Acc 5 attack that hits out to 100 yards for 4d cr damage, can't be prevented by magic, and causes extra fragmentation on hits. I probably wouldn't let you take it as a GM, but who knows what you can get away with?

But if you can't use that kind of supernatural power, a lot of grenades will do nearly as well.
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Old 11-25-2016, 12:09 PM   #8
johndallman
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Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Cambridge, UK
Default Re: How to fight mages as a TL 7 character?

Take a good sniper rifle, plenty of Armoury skill, a full tool kit for it and supplies and tools for hand-loading ammunition (See High-Tech, p174). Find out what the locals use to make missiles that spells can't touch, such a meteoric iron in DF, and make bullets out of it.
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Old 11-25-2016, 12:18 PM   #9
thrash
 
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Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: traveller
Default Re: How to fight mages as a TL 7 character?

Quote:
Originally Posted by thulben View Post
Shoot them in the head from a really long distance with a Dragunov.
This is vulnerable to a Missile Shield or (particularly) Reverse Missiles spell -- which would be fairly common in a fight, especially at TL5.

In general, though, you should exploit your superior range and suppress the mage with area effects that stun or otherwise incapacitate: explosives, flash-bangs, CS gas, WP, or just regular smoke. There are magical defenses against all of these effects, but a mage who is adjusting his spells isn't fighting back.

Indirect fire with grenade launchers or small (e.g., 60mm) mortars should be effective if you use "shoot and scoot" tactics and/or air-burst munitions. Land mines (including claymores) are another good way to achieve sufficient standoff distance. Fuel-Air Explosive mines are a nasty surprise for fire mages.
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Old 11-25-2016, 12:26 PM   #10
Kelly Pedersen
 
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Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Saskatoon, SK, Canada
Default Re: How to fight mages as a TL 7 character?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kfireblade View Post
I was making him a snatcher who had a weight limit that would allow him to grab vehicles, but I then realized that magic lightning is going to completely wreck my vehicles.
I wouldn't go quite so far as to say that magical lightning will always wreck your vehicles. Certainly, the tendency to ignore almost all metal armor does suck for vehicles, but remember that a lot of military vehicles from TL 7 or later may have hardened systems that give them a degree of resistance to surge attacks. I'd guess that most military vehicles would have Resistant to Surge Attacks +3, and some particularly-good ones could have Resistant to Surge Attacks +8.
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