The use of magnetically enhanced plasma etch systems (MERIE) is widespread in semiconductor manufacturing. A primary concern with such systems is the risk of plasma process induced damage. In this paper, we discuss several of the candidate mechanisms in which magnetic fields may affect plasma damage associated with the electron shading effect (ESE). In particular, we consider for the case of a permanent magnet MERIE reactor the effects of guiding center drifts (e.g., gradient drift and curvature drift) on charged particle fluxes, of magnetic field effects on individual trajectories, and of non-uniformity in a typical magnetic field map. These effects are calculated in a two-step fashion. In the first step, an experimentally measured magnetic field map of a commercial plasma reactor is input into a computer program that calculates the various drift velocities and non-uniformity for typical plasma parameters. In the second step, the results of these calculations are used to affect incoming charged particle fluxes in local scale Monte Carlo simulations including the magnetic field and local topography. Charge accumulation and the resulting Fowler-Nordheim injection current are accounted for in the Monte Carlo simulations.