Shadowrun
Shadowrun Play => Character creation and critique => Topic started by: Haywire on <12-04-15/1656:03>
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Hello everyone!
I am an old player of SR. I played most SR3 but also I dabbled SR5, actually playing only 5-6 runs.
I have only the core rulebook.
I was thinking of making a charachter like a decker-rigger. As the title: is a viable choice? Which skills are a must have? Which should I avoid? On what attributes should I focus?
Thank you for your help! 8)
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Eeeeeehh, it depends on what you mean by effective.
Vehicle Rigger who mainly sits in his Ares Roadmaster/GMC Bulldog and uses a badass sensor array to lookout for threats and occasionally jumps into an MCT Fly-Spy for recon?
Totally doable.
Army of drones rigger? Kind of priced out.
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Money is very tight. Very. As a decker, you don't need a whole lot of 'ware, but that deck is expensive. You don't have to get the best you can, however, but it still costs a lot. As a rigger, you want a bit of 'ware, namely the vehicle control rig. A level 2 will run $97,000. Then the cost of the vehicles and/or drones. For attributes, you are lucky, they do overlap quite nicely. Some skills crossover.
What I suggest is start out as a decker with the best deck you can get, and maybe add in the rig at level 1, and get just one drone and a rigged van. Focus the majority of your skills on the decker, fill up on rigger type with what is left.
Skills needed: Decker needs hacking, Electronic Warfare, those are the most important. Most people advise against cybercombat, because IC just keeps replicating. There may be some times when you need to do combat, however. For character sake you might want stuff from the electronics skill group.
Rigger needs Piloting skills, and engineering skill group makes sense. Gunnery if you are using drones or vehicles with weapons. Armorer to a limited level, if it fits character.
Logic is your friend. Max. After that, willpower and intuition. The rest are not important. If you are doing priority or sum-to-10, you can afford to have less on attributes.
If you are doing priority, I might go A=Nuyen B=Skills C=Attributes D=Race and E=Magic. Depending on what race you wanted to be, you could probably swap C and D. Sum to ten I would go A=nuyen, A=Skills, C=Attributes and E for human mundane. Or something similar (ABBEE looks good to me, too.)
Others might have better ideas as well. Good luck.
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As a decker, you don't need a whole lot of 'ware, but that deck is expensive.
Thing is, the ware you want will be pricy. If you want to be effective at all in the meat, you need to be an adept or pay up for initiative ware.
Logic is your friend. Max. After that, willpower and intuition. The rest are not important.
Considering how combat hacking isn't viable, I would not say this.
Everyone should be able to shoot.
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As a decker, you don't need a whole lot of 'ware, but that deck is expensive.
Thing is, the ware you want will be pricy. If you want to be effective at all in the meat, you need to be an adept or pay up for initiative ware.
Logic is your friend. Max. After that, willpower and intuition. The rest are not important.
Considering how combat hacking isn't viable, I would not say this.
Everyone should be able to shoot.
I don't always subscribe to the idea that the decker needs to be 'wared out and use automatic weapons. It's a character thing. I was thinking he might want to use drones and such in combat, being riggerish. He could totally pull his weight that way.
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viable choice?
considering Riggers as they are now are sitting ducks to hackers its more like necessary considering the huge gaping logic hole that is how the drek do you get drones to run silent rigging by remote ops you pretty much need a cyber deck to hide its icon from would be hackers that would data spike it or place marks on it to take it over and convert it to their side or a stealth dongle that may or may not be able to be used on a rcc or the ambiguous rule of as soon as you slave anything to a cyberdeck you can no longer use said device directly via persona
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considering Riggers as they are now are sitting ducks to hackers its more like necessary considering the huge gaping logic hole that is how the drek do you get drones to run silent rigging by remote ops you pretty much need a cyber deck to hide its icon from would be hackers that would data spike it or place marks on it to take it over and convert it to their side or a stealth dongle that may or may not be able to be used on a rcc or the ambiguous rule of as soon as you slave anything to a cyberdeck you can no longer use said device directly via persona
o.O that is one LOOOOONG sentence. You didn't even take a breath, I'm impressed!
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Yeah it's perfectly viable. Perfect time and overclocker means you can easily get away with using a cheapo deck or you could mod your RCC for hacking work too seeing as it will run cyberprograms.
You can add sleaze mod, run stealth and smoke and mirrors and use spare program slots for noise reduction as well as Implanted noise reducers too. Only problem is encryption, you need an attack rating on occasion which is why a deck isn't w bad choice. You'll need to focus your funding well but it's totally viable if you go gear A
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My favoraite build is a Decker/Rigger/Mage. These characters come out very powerful and diverse. You can get quite a bit of decking done with low end deck or a modified RCC. Basically cheaper equipment there are drawbacks to any choice and I often use cheaper drones. (Doberman instead of rotodrone for example).
but essentially, it is doable and you will have a blast, there may be better equiped deckers and riggers out there but you have more tricks you can pull of and if you play to the limitations of the hardware you bring to the table (and your skills) you'll be very effective.
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A starting decker-rigger is tough to get out of the gate, and is often weaker in the meat (but per concept, they are usually in VR or jumped into something anyway). For any high willpower/logic characters, I almost always end up having them be psychologically addictive drug users, as they can usually beat an addiction test with flying colors. the Narco genemod helps get some extra bonuses out of the drug use, limit negative effects, and gives your character a reason to take addiction negative qualities at character generation ( +2 addiction test with Narco for drugs your character takes all the time anyway). Decker-Riggers can save on initiative boosting 'ware by being more drug focused. (Wired Reflexes 2 costs $150k and 3 essence, and gives Reaction +2 and +2d6 Initiative dice. Narco costs $16.5k, a cram/psych combo costs $.21k, and will give +2 Reaction, +2 Intuition, (+2 Logic,) and +1d6 initiative dice, and probably last for a lot of hours due to a decker-rigger not having high Body.) Drugs can be way to focus nuyen priorities elsewhere than initiative, and get perks to initiative both in meat and matrix.
Have you thought of being a technomancer rigger? Technoriggers save money by not needing a deck or control rig, and can machine sprite up their rides/drones for added dice bonuses. It does take a few submersions to get the real useful echoes (the resonance control rig, skinlink, etc.) and the character probably starts with less edge. With drugs and some key 'ware, it is another way of getting a similar kind of character.
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It's possible. Decker have gotten a solid buff in 5th but they are paying for it in cash. As most have said it's gonna be heavy money build, i'd try hard to keep it focused and simple, don't wander down to many path, pick your drone type, pick hacking focus and don't wander off from it. You may want to consider Decker/Sam as it is a much easier situation, depending on how sam ya wanna go.
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Thank you all for your opinions and ideas! I'll try to make a rough draft and post it for your critique. Thank you again ;)
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How do I find out how much does an autosoft cost? I do not find it anywhere in the core rulebook...
Thank you in advance!
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How do I find out how much does an autosoft cost? I do not find it anywhere in the core rulebook...
Thank you in advance!
rating x500NY
its in the errata, missed it in the first print run!
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Do drones get recoil compensation asidefrom gun modification? Maybe equal to Body? Or am I completely wrong as I remember 3rd edition?
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Yeah, they get body as RC. I would really only look at the FB-BUMBLEBEE combat drone as everything else goes down too quickly to be worth the money
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Or vehicles or steel lynx
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Do drones get recoil compensation asidefrom gun modification? Maybe equal to Body? Or am I completely wrong as I remember 3rd edition?
Equal to Body it is.
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Or vehicles or steel lynx
Unless you've got a troll Street Sam who loves weight lifting on the team, they're gonna get really pissy about having to lug your drones up and down stairs all the time. Take the bumblebee every time. It flies!!
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Or vehicles or steel lynx
Unless you've got a troll Street Sam who loves weight lifting on the team, they're gonna get really pissy about having to lug your drones up and down stairs all the time. Take the bumblebee every time. It flies!!
Levitate, bro, levitate.
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In what book is bumblebee? I only have core.
Thank you!
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"nothing personal"
the stat pages are free to download so should save you some cash.
Here's a decker/rigger i'm currently playing. feel free to peruse for inspiration!
Priorities:
A-Skills (46/10)
B-Resources (275k)
C-Attribs (16)
D-Meta (human, 3)
E-Mag (0)
Attribs:
BOD 3 (+2)
STR 2 (+1)
AGI 3 (+2)
REA{4}(+2) 16/16
CHA 2 (+10 karma)
INT 4 (+3)
LOG 5 (+4)
WIL 3 (+2)
EDG 5 (+3)
ESS
3.13 (-2.87)
Qualities + Karma use:
+25 starting
-10 Perceptive
-10 Gear
-10 CHA->2
-04 R1 skills x2
+05 distinctive style (neck tattoos)
+05 Electronic Witness
+05 Day job
-05 skill group 1
-01 contact improvement
=00 Net
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Skills:
Groups:
Stealth 5
10/10
Cracking 5
Individual:
Pilot ground 5 (wheeled +2)
Pilot air 6 (remote ops +2)
Gunnery 6 (ballistic +2) 46/46
Pistols 4 (semi auto +2)
Computer 5 (matrix perception +2)
Software 1 (data bombs +2)
Hardware 2
Perception 3
Con 3 (fast talk +2)
Etiquette 1 (street +2)
Navigation 1 (Urban +2)
Karma: (9)
Automotive Mechanic 1
Aeronautic Mechanic 1
Athletics group 1
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Gear: 295k
Augs:
Control rig R1 {used; 1.25ESS} 32,250
Partial Cyberskull {used; 0.93ESS} CAP4 6,000 9,375
+Orientation system (1) 375
+Attention Co-Processor (1) 2250
+Antennae R2 (2) 750
Cybereyes R1 {used; 0.32ESS} CAP4 3,000
+Smartlink (3) 3,000
+Flare comp (1) 750 6,750
{integral camera + image link}
Reaction Enhancers R1 {used; 0.37} 9,750
58,125/2.87 ESS
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Weaps + armour:
Savelette Guardian 870
{integral RC, smartgun, BF mode}
2,020
+Camera upgrade; vision mag 250
+Personalised grip 100
+Gas Vent 3 600
+Powered folding stock 50
+Concealable holster 125
+Flashlight 25
Ace of Cups Jacket (ARM 9) 1,600 2,600
+Chem protect 2 500
+Non conduct 2 500
Ares Rapid transit (ARM 9) 400
Helmet (ARM +2) 100 350
+Microtransceiver 100
+Motion sensor 100
+Image link 25
+Flashlight 25
Clothing (smart) 200
Clothing (casual) 50
5620
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Electronics:
Maersk Spider RCC (DR4//SL1//DP4//FW5) 34,000
+Add Sleaze rating 500
+Hot sim mod 350
+Trid Projector 200
35,050
Microdeck summit deck (DR1, 4331, prog1) 58,000
+Program carrier; Virtual Machine (slot) 980
+Encryption (+1FW) 80
+Toolbox (+1DP) 80
+Program carrier; Virtual Machine (hardwired) 1,230
+Stealth (+1SL) 250
+Exploit (+2SL;HOTF) 250
{integral hotsim mod}
60,870
Transys Avalon Comm (DR6//DP6//FW7) 5,000
+Sim mod (cold) 250
+Program carrier; Virtual Machine 1,230
+Browse 80
+Encryption 80 6,640
Metalink Comm (DR1//FW1//DP1) 100
Earbuds R2 100
175
+Soundlink 25
+Microphone (micro) 50
102,835
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Vehicles + Drones:
GMC Endurance (van) (8 seats, accel3, Speed 4, hand 3/3, sens 2) 35k
+Rigger interface 1000
+Spoof chips 500
+Morphing plate 1500
+Smuggling compartment (troll) 7000
Sensor suite:
Camera (f)
//Flare comp 250/Vision enhance 1 500//
Camera (r)
LRF (f)
LRF (r)
Motion sensor
Laser mic (f)
Directional mic (f) //SSF 250//
Omni mic 46,000
FB-Bumblebee drone 24k
{Integral M202/mount/R3 targeting}
Stoner M202 MMG
+External smartgun (top) 200
+Gas vent 3 (barrel) 600
+Under-barrel GL (under) 3000
+Airburst link 400
Sensor suite R3
+Camera (f) //Smartlink 2000/Flare comp 250/Thermo 500//
+Omni Mic //Spatial recogniser 1000//
+Olfactory
+Ultrasound
+Motion sensor
+LRF
+Atmosphere sensor
+Directional mic
31,950
Lockheed Optic X-2 Drone 21k
Sensor Suite R3
-Camera
///Image link 25/Low light 500/Flare comp 250//
-Camera //Vision Mag 250/Image enhance R3 1500//
-Laser Mic //SSF 250//
-Directional Mic //SSF 250//
-LRF
-Atmosphere sensor
-Motion Sensor 24,025
-Omni Mic
SB-Microskimmer 1k
Sensor R3
+Camera //Low light 500/Image enhance 1 500//Flare comp 250//
+Omni Mic
+Directional Mic //SSF 250//
+Laser Mic //SSF 250//
+Olfactory
+LRF
+Ultrasound 2,750
+Cyberware scanner
104,725
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ID, Lifestyle + Misc:
Fake SiN R3 7,500 10,700
+Fake Cyber License R4 800
+Fake Weapon License R4 800
+Fake Rigger License R4 800
+Fake Decker License R4 800
Low Lifestyle (1 month) 2,000 2,150
(comforts 2, security 2, neighbourhood 2)
+Large garage (2) 100
+Grid subscription (1) 50
Toolkit; Automotive 500
Toolkit; Aeronautic 500
R3 Medkit 600
+Supplies 50
Directional Jammer R6 1200
Area Jammer R4 800
Tag Eraser 450
Legal Software: 480
Toolbox
Virtual Machine
Signal Scrub
Edit
Encryption
Configurator
Hacking Software: 2,750
Smoke and mirrors
Armour (+2 MD resist)
Biofeedback Filter (+2 BF resist)
Defuse (+4 DB resist)
Decryption (+1AT)
Hammer (+2DV)
Shell (+1 MD resist +1 BF resist)
Sneak (+2 TU resist)
Stealth (+1SL)
Track (+2 TU)
Wrapper (change iconography)
20,180 spent. 291,485 total
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Ammo:
500 rounds reg MMG 1000
60 rounds reg HP 120
20 rounds stick n shock 160
x5 Spare HP clips 25
Respirator R6 300 {1.64k loaded}
Gecko gloves 250
Credstik 20 1875
293,360 total spend
1640 loaded on credstik + starting cash
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Contacts: 6pts +1 karma
Fixer (Mule, Heavy-set lad, newish on the scene) 3,1
Street Doc (Big John-Troll. Irish born.) 2,1
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Knowledge skills: 18pts
English N Vehicle Design 3
Spanish 2 Local area knowledge 3 (roads +2)
Chinese 2 Off-roading 2
Drone Design 3 Combat bike racing 2