Shadowrun
Shadowrun Play => Character creation and critique => Topic started by: theKernel on <01-02-12/2039:36>
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So if a person isn't in a mage mood or is tired of hacking, has no desire to be a face, knows adepts are boring, rigging isn't appealing and doesn't want to be a gun bunny what could they do?
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So if a person isn't in a mage mood or is tired of hacking, has no desire to be a face, knows adepts are boring, rigging isn't appealing and doesn't want to be a gun bunny what could they do?
Play cards.
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Detective? PI for hire? Could be well connected, good picking up clues, making connections? An old school gum shoe? a CSI? An occult detective?
Hmm.. Infiltration expert, with all the gadgets and gear? A James Bond or modern day Shinobi?
Joe Normal, a poor schmoe who stubled into Running and keeps getting dragged into runs. Provides a more human perspective on what the runners do, lots of edge to stay alive, refuses to kill (use stick n shock), still thinks magic is like the Trid says, but knows corporate wageslave speak like a natural (which they are).
The Enforcer. All muscle, but all natural. Works with intimidation and raw grit, not cyberware or magic. Skills and Edge and raw stats are the focus.
The Underworld Fixer/Boss. Running is a way to gain connections and nuyen to make a move in the Shadows. Either an ex-org crime figure or just a newbe, sees each run from the perspective of making alliances, or gaining the knowledge edge. Makes copies, notes connections, sells their services for 'favours'. Kind of a Face varient.
Actually the issue outlined is not the 'types'; its the perspective. A character is not a 'mage', they are an ex-corp researcher, a lone star dectective, an occult PI, a magical ninja, a triad enforcer, am explorer of the mysteriers of the Sixth World, a pawn of a Dragon, or more! Sounds like you are playing boring stereotypes (boring for me anyways), not actual characters. I find characters/themes etc interesting, otherwise I would be bored of the types as well. Types are for MMOs, not table top RPGs were you can explore any concept.
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Thats a good point Mr.Black, I can make up nice characters but I just can't imagine what else you could do but I love playing games and this is my favorite. Pretty much in a rut with creating lol thanks for the help.
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Hobo with a Shotgun. (http://youtu.be/NzmpTG1CZzI)
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While one of the axioms of Shadowrun character design is that the system does not support generalists, but if you are not playing in an overly specialized campaign you can buck the trend and look at a generalist. I was tweaking with Chummer today and came up with a sort of generalist/utility/face character. He had 14 dice with semi-auto pistols, 12 dice in all his influence skill group skills (before emotion software, which I would only plan for with GM permission), he was a decent meatspace wheel man, was somewhat stealthy, and had a fair gymnastic dodge (maybe 13 dice), and some training in first aid. He was a human with an edge of 6 and a bit over 30 points in contacts.
A character who had deeply specialized in any of those areas would be better, probably by 3-6 dice depending on the skill. In a group with a hyper specialized face, a full blown rigger, a gunbunny ninja with 19 dice in pistol, etc, a character like this can feel a bit behind the curve. But it all depends on the campaign. In a smaller group, or in a less optimized campaign, a character like this can become your "sweeper", filling in skill gaps that you might not have covered by a full specialist. Although I don't have any immediate opportunity to play this character, I am going to keep him in the files. At the right table he would be playable.
Edit: he only has a 5 edge. Not that anyone cares, but it was bugging me I got it wrong.
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I like the sound of him!
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While one of the axioms of Shadowrun character design is that the system does not support generalists, but if you are not playing in an overly specialized campaign you can buck the trend and look at a generalist. I was tweaking with Chummer today and came up with a sort of generalist/utility/face character. He had 14 dice with semi-auto pistols, 12 dice in all his influence skill group skills (before emotion software, which I would only plan for with GM permission), he was a decent meatspace wheel man, was somewhat stealthy, and had a fair gymnastic dodge (maybe 13 dice), and some training in first aid. He was a human with an edge of 6 and a bit over 30 points in contacts.
A character who had deeply specialized in any of those areas would be better, probably by 3-6 dice depending on the skill. In a group with a hyper specialized face, a full blown rigger, a gunbunny ninja with 19 dice in pistol, etc, a character like this can feel a bit behind the curve. But it all depends on the campaign. In a smaller group, or in a less optimized campaign, a character like this can become your "sweeper", filling in skill gaps that you might not have covered by a full specialist. Although I don't have any immediate opportunity to play this character, I am going to keep him in the files. At the right table he would be playable.
Even in a game with all of those already, he could still be useful in helping the ones specialized in various activities get the job done even better, and in the case of the rigger, he could drive the van while the full rigger is bailing out the street sam with his drones.
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B&E specialist?
Mundane melee specialist is not the dumbest thing ever IF martial arts exist. If not they are super bad. Grappling is potentially neat; you can make a grappler who can rip most people in half with
What kind of adepts have you played? Are you talking only punchy or shooty adepts? You might try a throwing adept like the one in my sig (Former Neoprimitive), boomerangs are funny and so are throwing nets.
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The game does support some generalization. I think generalists get a bad rap because usually, they are mundane characters with little augmentation. When you combine that with low Attributes and a lot of low to middling skills, of course the character will be behind the power curve.
If you judiciously utilize augmentations and/or adept powers, or play a mage with a wide selection of spells, then you will find that you can be good in more than one specialty, with dice pools in the low to mid teens for a good number of skills. Think of less specialized kinds of characters - instead of martial artists, marksmen, or hackers, think about detectives, bounty hunters, mercenaries and such.
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Hobo with a Shotgun. (http://youtu.be/NzmpTG1CZzI)
I Raise that by a She-Werewolf-Nazi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVth4XCauRo&feature=related
....oO( now we need a Pirate-Ninja-Zombie....)
and btT
Wildlife Protector/Beatsmaster ( Adept or Cybered up don't matter :) )
with a Genre-Mix-Dance
Medicineman
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If you judiciously utilize augmentations and/or adept powers, or play a mage with a wide selection of spells, then you will find that you can be good in more than one specialty, with dice pools in the low to mid teens for a good number of skills. Think of less specialized kinds of characters - instead of martial artists, marksmen, or hackers, think about detectives, bounty hunters, mercenaries and such.
I really like this school of thought in character creation. It tends to overcome the flaws that occur in hyperspecialization, and also creates characters with a variety of skills in case the party composition is sub-par.
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Hobo with a Shotgun. (http://youtu.be/NzmpTG1CZzI)
I Raise that by a She-Werewolf-Nazihttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVth4XCauRo&feature=related
with a Genre-Mix-Dance
Medicineman
Unlike WWotSS, Hobo with a Shotgun is actually a movie available on DVD. A fine example of Canadian cinema.
...
Which tells you something about Canadian filmmakers.
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While I agree that some specialization is necessary for you to be effective, that doesn't mean you should have only one role. What happens if the face is out, and you have to negotiate something? What happens when the hacker's down, and you gotta get through a door? Having one area that's your main focus, and one or two areas where you've got some skill allows you to diversify and back up teammates, while still being effective.
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Heck, you can try mixing specializations with characters you wouldn't expect. A mage with task spirits as a demolitions and mechanics expert, or an Infected adept healer who uses his regen to ignore the damage he transfers. One of my favorites was low-charisma face who just had a huge, loyal contact list and lots of Edge to justify meeting them through luck. He never talked his way into anything, he always had a powerful best friend who could just order someone to do it. Granted, I spent more time returning favors than running.
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The game does support some generalization. I think generalists get a bad rap because usually, they are mundane characters with little augmentation. When you combine that with low Attributes and a lot of low to middling skills, of course the character will be behind the power curve.
If you judiciously utilize augmentations and/or adept powers, or play a mage with a wide selection of spells, then you will find that you can be good in more than one specialty, with dice pools in the low to mid teens for a good number of skills. Think of less specialized kinds of characters - instead of martial artists, marksmen, or hackers, think about detectives, bounty hunters, mercenaries and such.
Yeah, generalists are perfectly good, in that past a certain point, stuff costs more. So you can be 100% good at one thing, or 80% good at three things. The trick is that SR doesn't really make it easy or obvious how to build generalists - people who try tend to buy the most expensive stuff (skills) rather than the least expensive stuff (augmentations). My sig has a few generalist characters, if you want to take a look: the generalist (hacker/face/street samurai), the mercenary rigger (hacker/rigger/B&E specialist/street samurai), the spook (face/B&E specialist/street samurai), the combat hacker (hacker/b&e specialist/street samurai), transhuman mystic (mystic adept B&E specialist/street samurai)
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And then you can always play around with metavariants and other unusual character types. I'm putting a Naga Face/Shaman together right now, because I think it'd be HILLARIOUS for a 9m long snake to be the face of the party.
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I made a Norse Magician/Face... But, like all of my games, it fell apart.
The Accountant From Hell is a Money Launderer by trade, but does Shadowruns in between as well.
Nas is a Hillbilly Elf that drives really, really good. :P
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And then you can always play around with metavariants and other unusual character types. I'm putting a Naga Face/Shaman together right now, because I think it'd be HILLARIOUS for a 9m long snake to be the face of the party.
One of my friends contemplated that. "My googly eyes say you should pay us more money!"
Some of the wierder PC races are character defining in themselves, like Nosferatu or Free Spirit. Those might be an interesting change of pace if you are burnt out.
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I'll check em out
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Even some of the more common types of rare Metahumans would be interesting.
A Night One's allergy to sunlight makes for surprising instances of how to deal with things that happen during the day...
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One of my players made a TM Surgeling thats pretty general. A weak TM except for Compiling, but.a decent face, pilot, and poisons expert (which fit into her snake-like SURGE.) Then add in a few personality complications like venomous spit on a character that falls in love like other people change underwear and mood hair to boot. She's the world's most awkward face.