Shadowrun 4th: How High can I get a Spellcasting Pool

[chaosgirl]

Hello All.

I've been invited to a Shadowrun 4th ed game with a group that loves making insanely large dice pools.
Seems that Pools in the High Teens/Low 20s are common for the group at character creation.

I rather want to play a Spellcaster and without Adapt powers or Cyberware that affect it, I'm not sure if theres anyway to twink it.

The Highest I can see at character creation is Magic 5 + Spell-casting 6+ Specialty 2 + Mentor Spirit 2, so 15 or so for one spell category

I'd appreciate it if people could suggest a way to get a nice high Die Pool

[Eldest]

IIRC, a focus can add to that.

[golentan]

This comes from playing a 5e rather than 4e spellcaster, but my main tricks are Foci and using Bound Spirits to buff your pool beyond normals, both being things you can rely on fairly well to have available unless you've been completely ganked by the plot. Can bound spirits boost spells in 4e as well?

[Dimers]

Can bound spirits boost spells in 4e as well?

Using bound spirits for anything gets expensive fast in 4e. They're an "oh drek" button.

The Highest I can see at character creation is Magic 5 + Spell-casting 6+ Specialty 2 + Mentor Spirit 2, so 15 or so for one spell category

Not to be dense, but what's wrong with Magic 6?

As others said, foci help. If you're allowed the Restricted Gear quality from Runner's Companion, you can start with up to Rating 5, otherwise the max is 3.

I'd like to suggest against maxing spellcasting pool, though. It comes at a high opportunity cost, and a mage is usually better served by versatility than by extreme casting. If you spend all your resources on making that initial roll, you've got less for Drain, defense, sneaking, social skill, breadth of spell knowledge, Contacts, tasty gear, luck ...

Oh, which reminds me -- Edge of 3, 4 or 5 is really nice for any character, but it too can help boost your spellcasting pool when that's most needed.

[chaosgirl]

thank you :)