Shadowrun

Shadowrun Play => Character creation and critique => Topic started by: CobraCommander on <09-04-11/0521:23>

Title: Megacorp Character. Need Knowledge Skills (Now with Character Sheet!)
Post by: CobraCommander on <09-04-11/0521:23>
So, I'm putting together a character concept that revolves around also working for a Megacorp. She works as a secretary for a mid/high level corperate exec. Think Iron Mans Pepper, crossed with X-Men 2 Lady Deathstrike clone. Everythings basically done. I just want to flesh her out with some good knowledge skills. Here's what I have so far.

English N
Japanese N (bilingual Quality. I figure a megacorp secratary should know the language of some of the big main megacorps.)
Business (Megacorp) (Again, following the idea that she should know how they run)
Security Procedures (Megacorp) (I'd imagine she'd learn this from having to deal with various security departments within the organization)
Megacorp Rivalries (Good to know your enemies and friends)
Megacorp Politics (How they would go about doing business with outside organizations)

And that's where I'm stuck. I have 27 points to spend, and I've spent 17 points so far. Any suggestions on what else she'd probably know, or at least pick up while working in an enviornment like this?

Thanks
COOOBBBRRRAAA!!!
Title: Re: Megacorp Character. Need Knowledge Skills
Post by: Phylos Fett on <09-04-11/0526:40>
Do you want all the Knowledge Skills to be Corp related, or is she going to have some personal ones?

Something like Fashion (Megacorp) might be interesting. If the corp has a sporting team, a skill in that. Wines, Restaurants, and some other foodie type skills wouldn't hurt.
Title: Re: Megacorp Character. Need Knowledge Skills
Post by: CanRay on <09-04-11/0528:30>
Disposal ("Garbage"), for when the boss is too busy to get rid of last night's "Business".  :P
Title: Re: Megacorp Character. Need Knowledge Skills
Post by: Makki on <09-04-11/0532:24>
Megacorp Sportsteam, really important!
Accounting
Travel Organizing
Coffee Brands


and not a knowledge skill, but also obvious: Etiquette (Megacorps)
Title: Re: Megacorp Character. Need Knowledge Skills
Post by: CobraCommander on <09-04-11/0535:33>
Wow, such quick responces. I was actually considering taking some "Fine Dining" knowledge skills. It's good to know what to recommend when asked, and it plays into my characters Allergy to Soy. Good call. Anything else?

COOOBBBRRRAAA!!!
Title: Re: Megacorp Character. Need Knowledge Skills
Post by: Phylos Fett on <09-04-11/0542:33>
Office Rumors might come in handy.
Title: Re: Megacorp Character. Need Knowledge Skills
Post by: wylie on <09-04-11/0931:05>
corp safe houses
corp vacation spots
corp enclaves
Johnsons
econmics
fine resturants
corp fixers
corp whos who (as in you have knowledge of corp movers & shakers)
corp R&D
contracts
security companies
corp small talk or rumors
street rumors (as in, on the street some corp is looking for something/someone, or hiring certain talent)
corp sportsteam players

or bump up your skills higher, so you may know fewer skills, but the ones you do you know very well
Title: Re: Megacorp Character. Need Knowledge Skills
Post by: kirk on <09-04-11/1014:36>
corp safe houses
corp vacation spots
corp enclaves
Johnsons
econmics
fine resturants
corp fixers
corp whos who (as in you have knowledge of corp movers & shakers)
corp R&D
contracts
security companies
corp small talk or rumors
street rumors (as in, on the street some corp is looking for something/someone, or hiring certain talent)
corp sportsteam players

or bump up your skills higher, so you may know fewer skills, but the ones you do you know very well
The "or" I thought of was more contacts. Lots and lots of contacts.
Title: Re: Megacorp Character. Need Knowledge Skills
Post by: wylie on <09-04-11/1031:47>
corp safe houses
corp vacation spots
corp enclaves
Johnsons
econmics
fine resturants
corp fixers
corp whos who (as in you have knowledge of corp movers & shakers)
corp R&D
contracts
security companies
corp small talk or rumors
street rumors (as in, on the street some corp is looking for something/someone, or hiring certain talent)
corp sportsteam players

or bump up your skills higher, so you may know fewer skills, but the ones you do you know very well
The "or" I thought of was more contacts. Lots and lots of contacts.

very true. secatary, headhunter, lawyer, guard, fixer, driver, medic, just about anyoe who could work for that corp. almost need to buy group contact for the corp
never thought of doing that
thanx for jogging my memory
Title: Re: Megacorp Character. Need Knowledge Skills
Post by: kirk on <09-04-11/1113:49>
very true. secatary, headhunter, lawyer, guard, fixer, driver, medic, just about anyoe who could work for that corp. almost need to buy group contact for the corp
never thought of doing that
thanx for jogging my memory
Don't forget the contacts with the OTHER executive assistants/secretaries. That's the real contact power she's got. Several of her contacts have high contact ratings (low to medium loyalty of course).
Title: Re: Megacorp Character. Need Knowledge Skills
Post by: baronspam on <09-04-11/1146:38>
very true. secatary, headhunter, lawyer, guard, fixer, driver, medic, just about anyoe who could work for that corp. almost need to buy group contact for the corp
never thought of doing that
thanx for jogging my memory
Don't forget the contacts with the OTHER executive assistants/secretaries. That's the real contact power she's got. Several of her contacts have high contact ratings (low to medium loyalty of course).

This is it exactly.  If all the secretaries and admins at Ares didn't show up on the same day Lofwyr would be eating Damian Knights roasted corpse by sundown.  Admins run the world.

Also, while I am sure you thought of it, be sure you took the day job negative quality.  Its both worth points and gives you money.  For a character like this is a no-brainer.
Title: Re: Megacorp Character. Need Knowledge Skills
Post by: CobraCommander on <09-04-11/1844:57>
I indeed took Day Job, since it does go well with my character concept. Plus it pays for almost all of my lifestyle which is also cool. Would it be better if I took some contacts from other corporations? I'm almost finished, so I think I may post her here afterwards. Get some better feedback.

COOOBBBRRRAAA!!!
Title: Re: Megacorp Character. Need Knowledge Skills (Now with character posted!)
Post by: CobraCommander on <09-04-11/2031:43>
So I just finished her, and would now like some feedback. I'm... Unsure what I would classify her archtype as, but this is what I got.

Street Name: Mrs. White
Real Name: Jillian Hearthchild
Metatype: Human
Age: 26
Height: 5'8
Weight: 123 (148)
Sex: Female
Ethnicity: Cacausian
Lifestyle: Medium ($6,050)

Attributes (210)
Body: 4 (9)
Agility: 4 (9)
Reaction: 4 (5)
Strength: 2 (3)
Charisma: 3 (6)
Intuition: 4
Logic: 3 (5)
Willpower: 3
Edge: 3
Init: 9
Init Passes: 1

Skills (116)
Dodge: 4
Automatics: 4
Pistols: 3
Blades: 2
Infiltration: 3
Perception: 3
Electronics Group 2
Influence Group 2
Knowledge Skills (27)
English: N
Japanese: N
Business (Megacorp): 4
Security Procedures (Megacorp): 4
Megacorp Rivalries: 4
Megacorp Politics: 4
Fashion (Megacorps): 3
Classie Restaurants: 4
Office Rumors: 3

Qualities (-35)+(+45)=10
Bilingual
Toughness
Restricted x2
Born Rich
Common Moderate Allergy (Soy)
Day Job
Compulsive (tidy)
Uncommon Moderate Allergy (Gold)
SINner

Contacts (30)
Johnson: William Fredrickson (Boss) C:5/L:4
Corporate Docter: Frank Larson C:4/L:3
Information Fixer (Security Guard): Dillian Cosdale C:2/L:2
Information Fixer (Secratary Circle): C:4/L:2
Information Fixer (Bartender): Bethany Harfield C:2/L:2

Bioware
Suprathyroid Gland
Bone Density Augmentaition(4)
Muscle Toner (4)
Platelet Factory
Cerebral Booster (2)
Tailored Pheromones (3)
Sleep Regulator

Jillian was born into a megacorp family (Born Rich, SINner). Both parents worked as middle management within the organization. For the most part she had a normal life(Allergies Soy, Gold).  With her parents moderate connections she was able to get into a highclass educational facility where she followed in her parents footsteps and began studying megacorp business management (Knowledge skills & Bilingual). After four years of schooling she was moved into an internship within her families megacorp (Day Job), After three years of that, she was promoted under a higher up corporate exec by the name of William Fredrickson. After an attempt on Fredricksons life, thankfully thworted by the actions of Jillian though badly injured. William saw totential in her, and had a vast majority of her body bioengineered (Restrictedx2, Toughness). Sadly the procudure didn't go completely without a hitch (Compulsive (tidy))

Thoughts?
COOOBBBRRRAAA!!!
Title: Re: Megacorp Character. Need Knowledge Skills (Now with Character Sheet!)
Post by: UmaroVI on <09-04-11/2102:06>
Bone Density Augmentation gives you bonus dice to some body tests; it doesn't actually increase your body. Ditto with Tailored Pheremones.

That is a whooooooole lot of money sunk into making someone more effective at combat without giving them more than 1 IP. That strikes me as very odd.

Toughness is absolute crap. +1 body for damage resistance tests: 10 points. +1 body: 10 points. Drop it, buy another point of Body.

Why does she use Blades instead of Unarmed for melee combat? With Bone Density Augmentation, she already does STR/2+3 P... unless she plans on hauling a Nodachi around, she'll do less damage with bladed weapons.
Title: Re: Megacorp Character. Need Knowledge Skills (Now with Character Sheet!)
Post by: CobraCommander on <09-04-11/2207:26>
The bone density thing was pointed out to me by a friend, which I understand. I just write it in so I remember. I mean, a part from like... Parachuting, what else is Body used for other then bodying down stuff? I also have the correct amount of Physical Damage boxes written out on my character sheet.

By the end of it, I really wanted to have another Initiative pass, but other then Wire Reflexes, which would bring me to .1 Essense, I can't come up with the funds. I figure it'll be something my character will strive for during game play. But looking at the bonuses... 9+3/4+2 I'm throwing quite a few dice to shoot a gun. I imagine whatever I'm shooting at, will probably go down after a volley.

Thanks for the tip on Toughness. It makes sense really... I may just use the 10 points on something else.

I dunno why blades. I just thought it would have looked cool. I was going to purchase a forearm snap blade, or that one that doesn't solidify until it's pulled out of its sheath. Unarmed was going to be a skill I would be purchasing somewhere down the road. I was planning on using all the Karma I got after the first game to specialize most of my skills. So it would be like Automatics (SMG) Pistols (Light), Dodge (Ranged) kinda thing. And then picking up Unarmed or something later. Plus I imagine someone swinging around a sword as apposed to their fist is a little more scarier.

I will drop Toughness though, any suggestions on where to use it?

COOOBBBRRRAAA!!!
Title: Re: Megacorp Character. Need Knowledge Skills (Now with Character Sheet!)
Post by: CanRay on <09-04-11/2318:10>
Well, if she's working for Cobra, Parachuting is going to be damned useful with those Auto-Eject systems they have in all their craft that keep people from dying.  :P
Title: Re: Megacorp Character. Need Knowledge Skills (Now with Character Sheet!)
Post by: UmaroVI on <09-05-11/0640:06>
Are you remembering that whichever you have less of (cyberware or bioware) gets its essence cost halved? I think you could fit Wired Reflexes 2 and Reaction Enhancers 2 into there, and that would be a huge boost to how effective you are at fighting. I would cut the Platelet Factory and scrape a bit to try to afford at least the wired reflexes - getting the Reaction boost means you're less likely to be shot and thus need the platelet factories, plus the extra IPs are very important if you plan to be effective in combat.
Title: Re: Megacorp Character. Need Knowledge Skills (Now with Character Sheet!)
Post by: Phylos Fett on <09-05-11/0744:30>
I didn't see all those augmentations coming - I thought she'd be more of a Face!
Title: Re: Megacorp Character. Need Knowledge Skills (Now with Character Sheet!)
Post by: Frankie the Fomori on <09-05-11/1233:24>
Couple of ideas, not sure if they are solid though.

You could get a couple Bio-ware as used: they are fairly ESS friendly so the increase will not hurt to much and you could save a ton of money.

Second: if you drop toughness then you could take blackmarket pipeline (wares) to get another 10k-20k back....

Just a couple thoughts, hope you enjoy your PC
Title: Re: Megacorp Character. Need Knowledge Skills (Now with Character Sheet!)
Post by: CobraCommander on <09-05-11/2009:45>
Yeah, I imagine the concept sounds more like a pretty solid Face build, but I really enjoyed the idea of a combat secratary. At the most she could be more megacorp specialist Face if it comes to that. Sadly I am sitting at 2.1 Essence with everything I have right now, But the Pipeline could definately do the trick. How does that work in game terms? I kind of imagined her getting most of her bioware from her megacorp employers. Like she became some kind of "Weapon X" program subject.

I could drop the platelet factory yes, but I don't think I'd want to be so far down the essence scale to the point one fatal accident put her into technozombie mode. I would be quite content with just one more Initiative pass though. I'll go over her once more, see where I can't squeeze out some more money/essence.

What do you mean by "essence cost halved" UmaroVI? Could you point me to a rules reference for that? It would definately be helpful if I could get an "essence discount" on most of my bioware though.

Thanks for the info guys! Any other glaring things jump out at anyone?
COOOBBBRRRAAA!!!
Title: Re: Megacorp Character. Need Knowledge Skills (Now with Character Sheet!)
Post by: Frankie the Fomori on <09-05-11/2048:14>
"Second-hand Bioware
Also called “clearance” bioware so as not to disgust the
bargain hunters, second-hand bioware is a growth market. While
second-hand organs and implants are sometimes available from
the original owners, this is less common than cyberware and
bioware acquired from corpses or through other nefarious means.
Specialized underworld operations such as Tamanous and the
Body Bank deal as much in natural organs as in bioware. Only
basic bioware can be found second-hand—alpha or better grade
and cultured bioware are by definition protein-matched and
cannot be implanted in another body. Apply the Essence Cost,
Availability, and Cost modifiers to the second-hand implant as
noted on the table below"

Page 61 Augmentation
They do not have the table though, but I have read that it is the same as used Cyber ware ESS cost: 1.2/ cost: half

Edit: I found the Grades table in runner's tool kit compiled tables: page 31

IMPLANT GRADES
Grade               Essence Cost Multiplier: Availability Modifier: Cost Multiplier: Page
Standard                          1                                    —                          1                     313, SR4A
Second-hand                 1.2                                –1                           0.5                   32, AU
Alphaware                       0.8                                —                             2                    313, SR4A
Betaware                         0.7                                 —                            4                     313, SR4A
Deltaware                        0.5                                —                           10                    313, SR4A
Title: Re: Megacorp Character. Need Knowledge Skills (Now with Character Sheet!)
Post by: UmaroVI on <09-05-11/2137:13>
"Essence losses from cyberware and bioware are tracked separately.
Only the higher of the two totals deducts from Essence in full, with
the other deducting at half. For example, if a character has an Essence
loss of 1.5 from cyberware and 2.5 from bioware, then the character’s
Essence  is  6  –  2.5  (full  bioware)  –  0.75  (half  cyberware),  or  2.75.
Players should keep track of both, as it’s possible one can outpace the
other as the character implants more cyber or bio into his body." SR4A p86

You generally want to drop your essence down to "just above 0" unless you are awakened or a technomancer.
Title: Re: Megacorp Character. Need Knowledge Skills (Now with Character Sheet!)
Post by: CobraCommander on <09-05-11/2145:30>
So what you're telling me is if I take Wired Reflexes 1 the essence cost will only be 1 because I have more Bioware then Cyberware? That's amazing.
Title: Re: Megacorp Character. Need Knowledge Skills (Now with Character Sheet!)
Post by: UmaroVI on <09-05-11/2200:12>
Yep. For this reason you typically want to "mix and match" with the two types rather than stick to one. For example, if you want lots of straight stat-enhancement - like your character - you want to get that from Bioware's very efficient Muscle Toner/Augmentation and Suprathyroid, then get Wired Reflexes+Reaction Enhancer. If you want to go robocop with cyberlimbs, that's when you get Synaptic Boosters.