Shadowrun
Shadowrun Play => Character creation and critique => Topic started by: Ajax on <02-15-19/0023:37>
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(https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/red_tide_noir_detective_by_steranko_6376.jpg)
"I needed a drink. I needed a lot of life insurance. I needed a vacation. I needed a home in the country. What I had was a coat, a hat, and a gun."
Character: Ide "Naisho" Ishida
Concept: Ex-Cop Private Dick
Priorities:
Metatype: C Human
Attributes: B 20
Magic: E Mundane
Skills: A 46/10
Resources: D ¥50,000
Attributes
Body: 2
Agility: 3
Reaction: 3
Strength: 3
Willpower: 3
Logic: 5
Intuition: 5
Charisma: 4
Edge: 7
Magic: 0
Essence: 6
Limits
Physical: 4
Mental: 6
Social: 6
Qualities
Analytical Mind (+5)
Friends in High Places (+8)
Home Ground: You Know a Guy (+10)
Jack of All Trades Master of None (+2)
Addiction (Mild, Alcohol) (-4)
Allergy (Uncommon, Moderate; Cats) (-10)
SINner (National) (-10)
Martial Arts
Style: Boxing, Classic Style
Techniques: Haymaker, Opposing Force (Block)
Active Skills
Etiquette*: 6
Leadership*: 6
Negotiation*: 6
Computer*: 4
Hardware*: 4
Software*: 4
Pistols: 5
Unarmed (Boxing): 5
Tracking (Urban): 3
Perception (Visual): 3
Palming (Legerdemain): 3
First Aid: 4
Con (Fast Talking): 6
Intimidate (Interrogate): 6
Chemistry (Analytical): 4
*Skill Group
Knowledge Skills
Police Procedures: 6
Business (Megacorp): 3
Literature (Poetry): 3
Sprawl Life: 2
Tokyo Street Gangs: 2
Contacts
* Fixer (Con 4, Loy 2)
* Go-Gang Leader (Con 4, Loy 2)
* Beat Cop (Con 2, Loy 4)
* Bartender (Con 2, Loy 2)
* Neo-Tokyo Police Commissioner (Con 8, Loy 2)
* Neo-Tokyo Retired Yakuza Leader (Con 8, Loy 2)
Karma Expenditure (26 Karma)
-14 added to Contacts
-12 to gain Martial Arts and additional Technique
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I like the character, it has a nice, organic feel to it like some of the archetypes in the book (Face, Sprawl Ganger, Bounty Hunter, etc.). Like them, though, the character is better in a low-powered game. Where you can out-talk the club bouncer but not Mr, Johnson. Where one mouth-breathing thug is a fight, two are a battle against the odds, and three means run or get beat down. This character works best with a GM and players who are on that same page.
He might be able to hang in a higher-powered game, though. Being a generalist means that whether a specialist covers a given area determines whether you fill a role, or are an emergency spare. Your effectiveness also depends on how often your skills come up; sometimes a GM will focus on one aspect of the game, such as combat, and gloss over other areas. Finally, how quickly Edge refreshes between sessions impacts your character a lot, since his high Edge can make him momentarily much more effective.
Nuts & Bolts:
The only thing that doesn't quite fit for a tough, hard-bitten PI is his low Body, which makes me cringe a bit. Possible fix, if your GM allows Sum-To-Ten, and if you don't have your heart set on some B&E gear or similarly expensive stuff, Then raise Attributes to A and drop Resources to E. Raise Charisma to 6 and Body to 4 (or just to 3 if you want another stat of 3 to be raised to 4). Contacts stay the same but don't cost the 14 Karma any longer. 10 of that Karma goes to raising Starting Nuyen to 26,000 Nuyen, enough for starting runner essentials. Look at my Starting Runner PACK (https://forums.shadowruntabletop.com/index.php?topic=21877.0) (3rd post down) for an example. 4 Karma remains for adding to contacts or skills (maybe escape artist: 1 and locksmith: 1).
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I just double-checked the Missions FAQ, Sum-10 is off the table and so is the ‘Friends in High Places’ quality... Which is a bit of a bummer. On the other hand, that’s 14 Karma back (8 for the Quality and 4 that was spent on improving those two contacts). Dropping one of my other Conacts by one point would get me 15 Karma, which could then raise me to Body 3... No match for a Street Samurai in a stand-up fight, but good enough to throw a beating on a street punk.
If (read: when) the drek hits the fan so badly that the assault rifles and monofilament katanas get whipped out, this guy runs the hell away.
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(https://cbssanfran.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/private-detective.jpg?w=507)
He snorted and hit me in the solar plexus. I bent over and took hold of the room with both hands and spun it. When I had it nicely spinning I gave it a full swing and hit myself on the back of the head with the floor.
Character: Ide "Naisho" Ishida
Concept: Ex-Cop Private Dick
Priorities:
Metatype: C Human
Attributes: B 20
Magic: E Mundane
Skills: A 46/10
Resources: D ¥50,000
Attributes
Body: 3
Agility: 3
Reaction: 3
Strength: 3
Willpower: 3
Logic: 5
Intuition: 5
Charisma: 4
Edge: 7
Magic: 0
Essence: 6
Limits
Physical: 5
Mental: 6
Social: 6
Qualities
Analytical Mind (+5)
Home Ground: You Know a Guy (+10)
Jack of All Trades Master of None (+2)
Addiction (Mild, Alcohol) (-4)
Allergy (Uncommon, Moderate; Cats) (-10)
SINner (National) (-10)
Martial Arts
Style: Boxing (Classic)
Techniques: Haymaker
Active Skills
Etiquette*: 6
Leadership*: 6
Negotiation*: 6
Computer*: 4
Hardware*: 4
Software*: 4
Pistols: 5
Unarmed (Boxing): 5
Tracking (Urban): 3
Perception (Visual): 3
Palming (Legerdemain): 3
First Aid: 4
Con (Fast Talking): 6
Intimidate (Interrogate): 6
Chemistry (Analytical): 4
*Skill Group
Knowledge Skills
Police Procedures: 6
Business (Megacorp): 3
Literature (Poetry): 3
Sprawl Life: 2
Tokyo Street Gangs: 2
Contacts
* Fixer (Con 4, Loy 2)
* Go-Gang Leader (Con 4, Loy 2)
* Beat Cop (Con 2, Loy 4)
* Bartender (Con 2, Loy 2)
Karma Expenditure (32 Karma)
-10 added to Contacts
-15 raising Body 2 to 3
-7 to gain Martial Arts
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Okay, so digging deeper into the ‘Missions’ rules, it looks like Sum to 10 might actually be kosher at the discretion of the GM. Guiding principle seems to be that as long as you’re not abusing the system to make a min/max’d munchkin it’s allowed... and I don’t see too many GMs objecting to an unaugmented, mundane, combat-lite investigator.
Metatype: C Human (2 Points)
Attributes: A 24 (4 Points)
Magic: E Mundane (0 Points)
Skills: A 46/10 (4 Points)
Resources: D ¥6,000 (0 Points)
This will certainly give me a nicer spread of Attributes... and honestly, having less cash to spend on gear kinda works for me, conceptually. All I really need is a commlink, a hip flask, a dirty trench-coat, an I’ll fitting suit, and a throwaway Streetline Special.
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I'm generally a firm believer in a shadowrunner needing either magic, drugs, or augmentations, but going 7 edge just might work as a fourth avenue to success.
You shouldn't be seeing more than 2, or 3 tops, initiative rolls in a standard Mission. 7 Edge lets you perma-blitz AND still have plenty left over for critical skill tests... even if the GM never refreshes your EDG.
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I think the concept is great, but I'm not sure how well the mechanics will back you up in the modules for Neo-Tokyo.
Some concerns:
* Jack of all Trades is great for adding even more skills...but one of the reasons to go with Skills A is to have several skills at or near max. As you gain Karma, your skill-based character has to pay more to improve high-level skills, which is your biggest advantage over other characters. Over time, I think you'll be less and less effective compared to characters who took a lower Skill priority.
* My personal rule is to never create a character that can't get 2 actions on a minimum initiative roll (or close to minimum, if you're adding more than 1d6). Even completely unaugmented characters have ways to get two actions every round, such as Lightning Reflexes. Sure, you can use Edge, but not having to spend Edge every combat round leaves more for noncombat stuff. Another possible suggestion is to take Adrenaline Surge, which frees up Edge to be used on Blitz, while ensuring you go first. Regardless, I would suggest improving your Reaction + Intuition. Intuition in particularly should be maxed for a private eye...
* No amount of Martial Arts is going to make up for a 3 Strength unarmed strike - you'll bounce off most enemies. If you have to hit someone, skip Martial Arts and buy a Shock Glove. Or adjust stats to make Strength more of a priority. Given that you're limited to 20 points in stats, about your only option to free up points is dropping a stat to 1 then buying it back up to 2 with chargen Karma (or 3 if you're somehow flush with Karma to spend).
* Likewise, 3 Agility is going to be whiff-tastic against most foes unless you max your combat skills and hunt for every possible bonus die. Pistols 6 with a specialty based on your gun (semi-auto or revolver) is highly recommended.
* Are you opposed to ware, or just don't have a lot to spend on it? A smartlink mod for the eye would help, and is pretty cheap. There's other low-cost ware you could add that would give the character a decent boost.
* Don't have the FAQ handy, but I'm not sure Alcohol is allowed as an Addiction for Missions.
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(https://www.hancinema.net/photos/fullsizephoto724039.jpg)
”My buddies travel light, and they're fun to have around. One travels in a holster, and the other in a hip flask.”
Character: Ide "Naisho" Ishida
Concept: Ex-Cop Private Dick
Priorities (Sum to 10):
Metatype: Human (2 Points)
Attributes: 24 (4 Points)
Magic: Mundane (0 Points)
Skills: 46/10 (4 Points)
Resources: ¥6,000 (0 Points)
Attributes
Body: 3
Agility: 3
Reaction: 4
Strength: 3
Willpower: 3
Logic: 5
Intuition: 5
Charisma: 6
Edge: 7
Magic: 0
Essence: 6
Qualities
Analytical Mind (+5)
Home Ground: You Know a Guy (+10)
Jack of All Trades Master of None (+2)
School of Hard Knocks (+4)
Addiction (Mild, Alcohol) (-4)
Allergy (Uncommon, Moderate; Cats) (-10)
SINner (National) (-10)
Martial Arts
Style: Boxing (Classic)
Techniques: Haymaker
Active Skills
Etiquette*: 6
Leadership*: 6
Negotiation*: 6
Computer*: 4
Hardware*: 4
Software*: 4
Pistols: 5
Unarmed (Boxing): 5
Tracking (Urban): 3
Perception (Visual): 3
Palming (Legerdemain): 3
First Aid: 4
Con (Fast Talking): 6
Intimidate (Interrogate): 6
Chemistry (Analytical): 4
Pilot Ground-Craft: 1**
Swimming: 1**
Locksmith: 1**
Escape Artist: 1**
Disguise: 1**
*Skill Group
**Karma Purchases
Knowledge Skills
Police Procedures: 6
Business (Megacorp): 3
Literature (Poetry): 3
Sprawl Life: 2*
Neo-Tokyo Street Gangs: 2*
Japanese Politics: 2*
Japanese Yakuza: 2*
Security Companies: 2* **
Neo-Tokyo Triads: 2* **
Renraku Holdings: 2* **
Mitsuhama Computer Technologies: 2* **
*Street Knowledge Skills purchased at 2:1 Rate.
**Karma Purchases
Contacts (18+10)
-Fixer (Con 4, Loy 2)
-Go-Gang Leader (Con 4, Loy 2)
-Beat Cop (Con 2, Loy 4)
-Bartender (Con 2, Loy 2)
-Yakuza Boss (Con 5, Loy 1)
Karma Expenditure (28 Karma)
-10 added to Contacts
-7 to gain Martial Arts Style
-2 to gain ¥4,000 more Resources
-9 to gain additional Skills
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I’m not expecting this guy to be great in combat. I’ve got an absolutely vicious Street Samurai / Marksman going in the Chicago Missions, I’m looking for a change of pace. Since there’s already a lot of people playing magicians, adepts, deckers, and riggers... Well, I felt like a Face would be fun. But I didn’t just want to be the typical charming confidence artist.
Strength 3 and boxing isn’t an optimal combination, but in a setting like Neo-Tokyo where mêlée is a lot more prevalent than Seattle or Chicago it seems prudent to have some sort of close quarters combat skill. Brass knuckles are easy to palm and cheap enough to drop down a sewer grate if I need to ditch them.
This guy’s main role in a Shadowrunner team will be legwork, legwork, legwork. Between his already pretty wide net of Contacts, his “I know a guy” and Analytical Mind Qualities, and wide array of Street Knowledge he has a very high likelihood of knowing someone who knows something about anything.
I’m not opposed to Augmentation for this guy, per se, but I do think it would be best to keep it very limited... A datajack or cyber-eyes wouldn’t be out of place, but I’m not sure if a smartlink would be kosher. Firearms are strictly verboten in Japan, although a well placed bribe and some favor trading can let you get away with a discrete pistol without too much trouble... Permanently implanted milspec murder enhancing cybernetics probably won’t fly.
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FWIW, I've never seen a Missions GM allow a sum to 10 character no matter how Organic. I'm also pretty sure addiction Alcohol isn't allowed, you'd have to double check the FAQ. Generally it needs to be something that'll kill you dead or bankrupt you over a weekend. Alcohol takes a while generally.
Things that require GM approval are fine if you've got one GM for your Missions character. I wouldn't recommend it if you're bringing a character to a Con as different GMs may say something else. It's not worth the headache, IMO anyway. Change the Addiction for whatever, use standard Priority, welcome to any Missions table no questions asked. Edgelord performance also varies quite a bit GM to GM as some GMs are better than others at handing out Edge.
If a purpose built social character shows up to your table you could get overshadowed mechanically. Be aware if that will be an issue for you.
Your non-social skills are single digit dice pools, so without Edge, they're not going to be reliable. Again, be aware if your character failing at stuff bothers you. There are often skill checks where 4 or more hits are needed.
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Addictions: The sorts of things you're not allowed to have addictions to are things that fall into one of two buckets: things that you get for "free" (a Mage having addiction to Foci, Deckers being addicted to VR, etc. ) and things that are cheap and universally available (examples being cigarettes and caffeine).
Alcohol probably falls into the latter category as Neo-Tokyo doesn't have a prohibition against it. Still, it's a thematically appropriate addiction. The general rule of thumb for Missions is if your addiction doesn't have a set price you pay 500¥. Personally, if I were your GM I wouldn't have a problem with it if you were suffering a sufficiently large "lifestyle tax" to represent your addiction. But of course, Your Table May Vary.
Sum To Ten: Speaking of Table Variation... I wish Sum To Ten were just flat out banned rather than "well, MAYBE, if your GM says ok...". Personally I'm very skeptical of any human or elf build that uses Sum To Ten. So maybe it's a good thing I'm not your SRM GM :D My most objective advice is to avoid Sum To Ten if at all possible... question whether what you get is worth the risk you take getting a GM who could end up saying "Nope, not at my table."
Potential Augmentations: Obviously Tailored Pheremones are supremely useful. You'd have to have an excellent reason for a face to not take them (like not having the resources...) Since you want to shine in the legwork phases of the run, you might even consider a cheap Skilljack rating 1. My Covert Ops char uses that, coupled with a Skillsoft subscription. Give it 3 seconds, and you always have a relevant knowledge skill for the question at hand! The Mnemonic Enhancer should stack, allowing your big mental stats to turn even a rank 1 knowledge skill into a viable dice pool!
Spoilery advice for your knowledge skill selections: At least one of your "factional" knowledge skills will absolutely not be relevant in any of the season 9 missions, nor in the 2018 CMPs. Should be obvious which one. Unless you're attached to it for background reasons, you'd be mechanically better off swapping those 2 ranks out to other street knowledge skills or to a replacement street knowledge skill.
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I can always swap out his Addiction for something else if the GM objects to it, but let’s face it “alcoholic private dick” is about as iconic for the cyberpunk genre as you can get. If I need to swap it out for something like Longhaul or BTLs I will... But, yeah, I like the idea of the up-and-coming police detective with the promising future who had one nasty case that saw him crawling into a bottle and not coming out.
I’m pretty sure I can guess the Knowledge Skill that you are hinting at, but it just seems like the kind of thing an ex-cop in Neo-Tokyo would know... and I’m only paying one Karma for it.
I’ve got to play around with the budget, but I’m thinking a Datajack, Skilljack, Mnemonic Enhancer, and other such “desk job” enhancements might be quite useful.
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Metatype: C Human (2 Points)
Attributes: A 24 (4 Points)
Magic: E Mundane (0 Points)
Skills: A 46/10 (4 Points)
Resources: D ¥6,000 (0 Points)
Resources should read 'E' :)
But if going priority, to reduce the chance of trouble at the table, going attribute A skills B should still give you a good range of skills, and the nuyen for a few useful item.
Other advice is to read the cyberpunk classic novel "When Gravity Fails" to give some inspiration for moving from an alcohol addiction to a drug one (although granted that there may not be quite the ideal drug out there for this character)
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If you make the addiction to a specific high end line of liquor (or perhaps something that has to be specially imported) and you're paying 500¥ per bottle, it's close enough to the SRM party line that it's probably gonna pass any reasonable GM's scrutiny.
And yeah being a former detective is pretty much the perfect explanation for why a character would have Mnemonic Enhancers. "Hey Taki, do you recall back at the crime scene if we saw X...."
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I’ve always seen the Withdrawl symptoms (and test to resist it) as far more important than the specifics of the substance or activity the character is addicted to. After all, people can be addicted to MMORPGs and internet pornography and be just as crippled socially and psychologically as if they were addicted black-tar heroin.
I probably will specify that Ide’s drink of choice is an appropriately hard to find single-malt scotch. That’s both characterful and appropriately speedy for any GMs who want the Addiction to be a “resource tax” too.
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just wanted to chime and say that I would approve the character and think it would be just fine for neo tokyo ... but I am no longer in charge of Missions since I stepped own to devote time to my day job again.
are you planning on playing at cons primarily?
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Weekly Missions night at my FLGS.
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Weekly Missions night at my FLGS.
then it will matter most to the GM at the FLGS then
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Hmm... I wonder what the going rate for bribery is in Portland these days.
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Portland huh ... you part of Tony's group?
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I'll confess to not remembering anyone's actual names, I've only joined them twice so far. It's the group that meets Tuesday night's at Guardian Games (http://www.ggportland.com/).
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(http://picayune.uclick.com/comics/ch/1990/ch900207.gif)
Resources E doesn't give much to work with, even with a little extra Karma thrown towards it. On the other hand, this character is meant to travel pretty light. The gun is small enough to conceal well, accurate enough to put rounds where they need to go, and cheap enough that I can just drop it and walk away if the heat is around the corner. Likewise, the Meta Link commlink exists purely to be a "burner" for taking one or two calls from Mr. Johnson or my Fixer, before getting stomped on and tossed into Tokyo Bay.
On my "short list" of things to pick up with my first few runs' payments: Fake SINs, a Sleaze Dongle for the Hermes Ikon, and some Shock Gloves. On the "long list" that will probably take a few runs to save up for: a lower tier cyberdeck, Skilljack and Skillwires, and some nicer armor.
Augmentations
Commlink ¥2000
>Hermes Ikon ¥3000
>Sim Module w/ Hot-Sim ¥250
Datajack ¥1000
Weapons, Armor, and So Forth
Colt New Model Revolver ¥ 180
>Regular Ammo (Hold Out, x10) ¥ 20
>Speed Loader ¥ 25
>Concealable Holster ¥ 150
Knucks ¥ 100
Lined Coat ¥ 900
Everything Else
AR Gloves ¥ 150
Backpack (Cheap) ¥ 20
Camera (Capacity 2) ¥ 200
>Vision Magnification [Cap 1] ¥ 250
>Low-Light Vision [Cap 1] ¥ 500
Cigars (Cheap; x4) ¥ 4
Contacts (Capacity 2) ¥ 400
>Image Link [Cap 1] ¥ 25
>Low-Light Vision [Cap 1] ¥ 500
Earbuds (Capacity 1) ¥ 100
Hat ¥ 20
Ink Pen (Good) ¥ 20
Lighter (Good) ¥ 5
Meta Link Commlink ¥ 100
Pocket Notebook ¥ 1
Restraints, Metal ¥ 20
Roll of Duct Tape ¥ 5
Subvocal Mic ¥ 50
Standard Credstick ¥ 5
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I strongly advise a fake SIN out of the gate for NT. Even a crappy one, just for walking around in areas where a SIN is required.
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If since he's trying hard to have no illegal drek, there's no reason he can't use his real SIN. So long as you're willing to risk accruing a lil Public Awareness before you can afford a quality fake!
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Yep, you don't need a fake SIN when you're not doing anything illegal. It's actually riskier to be walking around with a low rating Fake SIN in secure neighborhoods (when doing legit business) than it is to be doing the same with your actual SIN, especially in a panopticon like Japan.
I wouldn't want to risk walking around with anything less than Rating 4 false identifications and licenses. Which, on average, I should be able to pick up after only one run.
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Also bear in mind that a real SIN is assumed to give you real licenses for any "R" coded gear you have. They're kind of an upside to having to pay taxes even on your illegal income :D
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I love this character. I'd love to see it in one of my games.
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Flipping through Chrome Flesh the other day, it occurs to me that Ide could save himself some cash by switching the cyberware I bought him (above) for a Shiawase Kacho Bundle and gain an image link and sound link system. It would cost an extra 0.15 Essence, but that's not much of a concern... I'd be even better off if I could scrape together ¥16,000 and get him an S-K Cyberlogician Bundle.
Currently, he's got ¥6250 in cyberware and approximately ¥1,000-2,000 in other gear (contacts, earbuds, camera) that these bundles could replace... Maybe I could drop all of his `ware and try to survive a `run or two without any chrome? That would let me start with a Fake SIN and then I could use my first payday to buy a Cyberlogician Bundle... Availability 12 isn't too hard to find and since it's perfectly legal and I have a valid SIN, I wouldn't even need to go to a back-alley Street Doc. I could literally walk into a Saeder-Krupp storefront...
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(https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/ofghaIIJ9UM3fob8UFwUtpz03Bd.jpg)
"Experience has taught me never to trust a policeman. Just when you think one's all right, he turns legit."
Character: Ide Ishida
Concept: Ex-Cop Private Dick
Priorities (Sum to 10):
Metatype: Human (2 Points)
Attributes: 24 (4 Points)
Magic: Mundane (0 Points)
Skills: 46/10 (4 Points)
Resources: ¥6,000 (0 Points)
Attributes
Body: 3
Agility: 3
Reaction: 4
Strength: 3
Willpower: 3
Logic: 5
Intuition: 5
Charisma: 6
Edge: 7
Magic: 0
Essence: 5.55
Qualities
Analytical Mind (+5)
Home Ground [You Know a Guy] (+10)
Jack of All Trades Master of None (+2)
School of Hard Knocks (+4)
Solid Rep [NTMP] (+2)
Addiction (Mild, Alcohol) (-4)
Allergy (Uncommon, Moderate; Cats) (-10)
SINner (National) (-10)
Active Skills
Chemistry (Analytical): 3 (Pool: 8 / 10)
Computer*: 4 (Pool: 9)
Con (Fast Talking): 6 (Pool: 12 / 14)
Disguise: 1** (Pool: 6)
Escape Artist: 1** (Pool: 4)
Etiquette*: 6 (Pool: 12)
First Aid: 3 (Pool: 8 )
Hardware*: 4 (Pool: 9)
Intimidate (Interrogate): 6 (Pool: 12 / 14)
Leadership*: 6 (Pool: 12)
Locksmith: 1** (Pool: 4)
Negotiation*: 6 (Pool: 12)
Palming (Legerdemain): 4 (Pool: 10 / 12)
Perception (Visual): 3 (Pool: 8 / 10)
Pilot Ground-Craft: 1** (Pool: 5)
Pistols: 5 (Pool: 8 )
Running: 1 (Pool: 4)
Swimming: 1** (Pool: 4)
Software*: 4 (Pool: 9)
Tracking (Urban): 3 (Pool: 8 / 10)
Unarmed (Boxing): 5 (Pool: 8 / 10)
*Skill Group
**Karma Purchases
Knowledge Skills
Business (Finance): 1 (Professional; Pool: 6 / 8 )
Japanese Yakuza: 3* (Street; Pool: 8 )
Literature (Poetry): 3 (Academic; Pool: 8 / 10)
Police Procedures: 5 (Professional; Pool: 10)
Renraku Holdings: 3* ** (Street; Pool: 8 )
Security Companies: 5* ** (Street; Pool: 10)
Small Unit Tactics (Urban): 3 (Professional; Pool: 8 / 10)
Sprawl Life: 5* (Street; Pool: 10)
*Street Knowledge Skills purchased at 2:1 Rate.
**Karma Purchases
Contacts (18+11 = 29)
- Bartender (Con 2, Loy 2)
- Fixer (Con 4, Loy 2)
- NTMP Dispatch Supervisor (Connection 4, Loyalty 3)
- NTMP Beat Cop (Con 2, Loy 4)
- Yakuza Boss (Con 5, Loy 1)
Karma Expenditure (26 Karma)
-11 added to Contacts
-6 to gain ¥12,000 more Resources
-9 to gain additional Skills
Augmentations[/u]
Shiawase Kacho Bundle ¥ 6000
> Datajack
> Commlink [Renraku Sensei]
> Image Link
> Sound Link
Sim Module w/ Hot-Sim ¥ 250
Weapons, Armor, and So Forth[/u]
Colt New Model Revolver ¥ 180
>Regular Ammo (Hold Out, x5) ¥ 10
>Stick-N-Shock (Hold Out, x5) ¥ 40
>Speed Loader ¥ 25
>Concealable Holster ¥ 150
Knucks ¥ 100
Lined Coat ¥ 900
Securetech PPP Arms Kit ¥ 250
Securetech PPP Legs Kit ¥ 300
Everything Else[/u]
Camera (Capacity 2) ¥ 200
>Vision Magnification [Cap 1] ¥ 250
>Low-Light Vision [Cap 1] ¥ 500
Cigars (Cheap; x4) ¥ 4
Contacts (Capacity 1) ¥ 200
>Low-Light Vision [Cap 1] ¥ 500
Fake SIN (Rating 3) ¥ 7500 [Ryo Saeba, Japanese Citizen]
Fake License (Rating 3) ¥ 600 [Press Credentials]
Hat ¥ 20
Lighter (Good) ¥ 5
Pocket Notebook ¥ 1
Restraints, Metal ¥ 20
Roll of Duct Tape ¥ 5
Build Notes:
Okay, here's my latest revision of this character. I think I'm closing in on a final build here. The emphasis is firmly on his ability to excel at legwork, but I've tossed in the Small Unit Tactics Knowledge Skill to give him a more active supporting role if we have time to plan before fight.
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First off, I love the character concept.
I tried to design something very similar in the past when I wanted to see if a No-Magic, No-Tech character would work.
Edge-7 certainly gives you the ability to blitz often in a typical 4 hour gaming session.
That all said, I think I would push him a little closer to an actual Face with Charisima-6 but w/o all the tech or adept magic that other Faces use.
A-Attributes-32
B-Skills-36+G5
C-Human-5
D-Resources-$50K
E-Magic-Mundane
Body-3
Agility-5
Reaction-5
Strength-2
Will-3
Logic-3
Intuition-5
Charisma-6
Skills:
Group-Stealth-5
Con-6
Etiquette-6
Forgery-6 (Because I feel he needed a little something special, but Computer, Lockpicking, First Aid, or Tracking could also work)
Negotiation-6
Perception-6
Unarmed Combat-6 (Shock Gloves or switch to Clubs for Stun Batons) From what I hear Neo-Tokyo has a major NO-NO for guns.... so I went with stun weapons instead.
Some Positive Qualities to consider in addition to the ones you've listed.
Bilingual, Blandness, Catlike, & High Pain Tolerance-1.
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Some Positive Qualities to consider in addition to the ones you've listed.
Bilingual, Blandness, Catlike, & High Pain Tolerance-1.
I've got 23 Positive Qualities already, so I couldn't really fit Blandness, Catlike, or High Pain Tolerance, and Bilingual just strikes me as really inefficient.
I'd need to squeeze 5 Karma into the build, somehow, to get Bilingual. That would give me one language at native-level fluency... or I could spend those same 5 Karma buying one rank in five separate tongues. With my Intuition 5 I'd be throwing six dice any time I needed to try to understand something, and Language Tests are both pretty rare and generally low threshold. (Unless you're dealing with an encrypted code or some sort of ancient text from a long lost civilization... In which case you're probably not using a Language Skill at all.)
I figure I'll just rely on the culturally chauvinistic (and slightly xenophobic) nature of 2080's Japanese society and assume most of the people I interact with speak nihnogo or aren't worth speaking too. When Ide was with the NTMP he'd have had access to translators, now that he's a private dick he'll have to make do without. (Although his "You Know a Guy" Quality can probably find me a translator for anything that isn't too exotic. If I gotta sweat a Seoulpa Ring thug, I can probably call in a favor from a Korean shopkeeper in the neighborhood.)
Really wish that Skilljacks weren't so stupidly expensive. ¥20,000 per Rating!? WTF!
Skills:
Group-Stealth-5
Con-6
Etiquette-6
Forgery-6 (Because I feel he needed a little something special, but Computer, Lockpicking, First Aid, or Tracking could also work)
Negotiation-6
Perception-6
Unarmed Combat-6 (Shock Gloves or switch to Clubs for Stun Batons) From what I hear Neo-Tokyo has a major NO-NO for guns.... so I went with stun weapons instead.
As far as the Stealth Group goes, I've got Palming (Legerdemain) 4 and Disguise 1. No Sneaking though... I figure Palming should be good enough to stuff a hold-out pistol or a set of brass knuckles into a coat, but Disguise at such low ranks won't do me much good as an Active Skill... But it might be useful as a Knowledge Skill. Stealth is definitely on my "to do" list as I start earning experience.
Con, Etiquette, and Negotiation are all in my build already. Sixes for all three of them, plus the Fast Talking Specialization attached to Con. I also have Intimidate (Interrogate) 6 So I can get my answers Columbo-style or Jack Bauer-style. Leadership 6 rounds out my social skills. So I'm actually a pretty damn good "Face" for a mundane character. Throwing 12-14 Dice, base, before you account for any modifiers for reputation, attitude, and the like. He's not going to out a dedicated "Pornomancer" Social-focused Mystic Adept out of work, but he's also doing it without any magical entanglements.
Unarmed Combat I don't have a six here, merely a five with a specialization in Boxing. Shock Gloves are probably something I'll buy immediately after getting paid on my first `run, assuming I don't pick up a set during the first run once the randomly generated starting cash dice get rolled.
2080's Japan has very tight restrictions on firearms and Neo-Tokyo is pretty much a panopticon. Use anything heavier than a pistol and either the NTMP or the Yakuza will respond in force. Use a pistol in a way that is too messy or too noisy, same thing. Walk around with a concealed weapon in a neighborhood that's above your pay grade, same thing. The good news is, this applies to the opposition almost as much as it does to the `runners... So whilst security guards on the job site might be packing heat, they're usually not as heavily armed as guards you'd see in Seattle and they are much less willing to chase you.
Also, if you have appropriate Contacts in the NTMP and/or Yakuza, you can usually get any "misunderstandings" about illegal firearms cleared up with a comm call, some favor trading, and a few bribes. They probably won't take even your call if you whipped out an Uzi IV in the middle of Harajuku on a busy shopping weekend, but if you had to pull a pistol to defend yourself from some hired goons in a Chiba City back alley? Well, they can help with that easily enough for someone with Ide's Contacts and Reputation.
Ide doesn't have Forgery, but I had strongly considered it. In the end I decided to go with First Aid instead. I don't know how often I'll need to forge my own documents (usually any `run that requires them will have them provided by Tanaka-san or your Fixer), but I can reasonably expect that someone on the team is going to catch a bullet eventually. Throwing eight dice at First Aid (before any equipment bonuses) isn't exactly stellar, but it should keep someone alive long enough to drag them to the van.
Ide also has the Electronics Skill Group at four, giving him decent dice pools for non-hacking Matrix activity. I can see him growing into a pretty good Decker once the money starts flowing in (to buy a `deck) and he's got some more Karma built up to start learning Cracking Skills.