[gradivus]

There is no Way that gives a discount on Improved Reflexes.

[Hobbes]

Also consider Way of the Beast.  Its 15 Karma net, since its a free Mentor spirit.  You'd pick up a full power point.  0.75 from Improved Reflexes and 0.25 from Combat Sense. 

With both changes you pick up 3 levels of Combat Sense.  Or another level of Improved Reflexes and Combat Sense.  Whichever floats your boat.

Way of the Beast has been hit with errata that doesn't give it the any other power.

Really?  Was unaware, thank you.  In that case for 15 Karma (net) you'd pick up 0.75 or .5 Power points.  One of the other ways may offer greater Power point return but the free mentor spirit is a nice feature. 

And the more I think about it, the more convinced I become that Physical Adepts in 5th edition are better off with Magic Sense over Astral Perception.  Minimal benefit gained for the extra half a power point and a very real liability of being vulnerable to Astral entities attacks.  Do the math on a force 5 spirit hanging out with a held action.  Leave Astral space to the spirits and mages.

[Tarislar]

Gotta say that I think it's awesome that you chose Lactose Intolerance for your character's Allergy.

I have a character that choose Milk, not the same, but similar.
I find some of the allergies to just be really out there.
More fun to pick something that is commonly seen in the world.  Like Peanuts or something.


As for Magic v/s Perception. 
I don't know, Perception can tell you a lot more than just if something Magical is in the area.
I mean you can do the reverse & use it to see how much Cyber someone has which IMHO can tell you a lot about what you dealing with.

[Hobbes]

As for Magic v/s Perception. 
I don't know, Perception can tell you a lot more than just if something Magical is in the area.
I mean you can do the reverse & use it to see how much Cyber someone has which IMHO can tell you a lot about what you dealing with.

Astral Perception gives you more info, yes.  But it should, it costs double the power points plus a bunch of skill points.  Precious skill points....  Especially if you're looking to get the 4 hits you need to spot Bioware on a regular basis.

And Magic Sense uses the the detection Spell table.  If four hits on a Detect life can tell you Joe is coming around the corner.  Specifically, Joe.  Then 4 hits on Magic sense should reveal a lot of info about anything magic in the area.  The major drawback to Magic Sense is that it doesn't help directly with "spot the mage".  But it does spot foci, reagents and sustained spells so its a fair leg up.

 *shrug*  YMMV and all that.  I've played with a GM who had a very mean free spirit go all three stooges on someone when they decided to take a peek.  That was under much friendlier rule set, under 5th edition you could get half your face ripped off pretty quick.  If your GM plays spirits as not too bright then no worries!     

[Top Dog]

Don't forget though that Magic Sense is an opposed test. Paradoxically, that Force 5 spirit will have a decent 10 defense pool against your... okay it doesn't actually state what you roll. Something that's quite likely less then 10.

With a single point of Assensing - assuming that, like most adepts, you have a decent Intuition - you're likely to get at least one hit on assensing, and then you have, well, a hit, and you see the spirit. The only real defense is Masking, which spirits almost never have (and most mages won't either).

[FST_Gemstar]

Hello again. I started toying with this character again (probably too much), and will come out of chargen as listed below. I used 30 karma to buy a point of Edge, Strength, and $20k nuyen.

Meta: C, (Elf)
Attributes: A (24)
Magic: D, (Adept)
Skills: B (5/36)
Resources: E (6k)

Attributes:
Body: 3
Agility: 6
Reaction: 5 (7)
Strength: 2
Charisma: 8
Logic: 2
Willpower: 5
Edge: 2
Magic: 5

Positive Qualities (18 Karma):
First Impression
Mentor Spirit (Raven)
Jack of All Trades, Master of None

Negative Qualities (-24 Karma):
Allergy, (Uncommon, MIld) - Lactose
Astral Beacon
Consummate Professional
In Debt I
Prejudiced (Specific, Outspoken): Humanis Members

Adept Powers (5):
Traceless Walk (Mentor Spirit)
Voice Control 1 (Mentor Spirit)
Authoritative Tone 1 - .5pp
Combat Sense 1 - .5pp
Cool Resolve 1 - 1pp
Improved Reflexes 2 - 2.5pp
Linguistics - .25pp
Nimble Fingers - .25pp

Skills:
Automatics (Machine PIstols) - 6 (
Con (Fast Talk) - 6 (
Locksmith (Maglock) - 6 (
Negotiation (Bargaining) - 6 (
Perception (Searching) - 6(
Impersonation - 1
Stealth Group - 5

Key Gear:
Armor:
Actioneer Business Clothes (w/ Electrochromic Clothing)
Armor Jacket

Weapon:
Ares Crusader II (Machine Pistol)
Remington Suppressor (Machine Pistol)
Survival Knife (Blades)

Hermes Ikon Commlink (Rating 5) w/ subvocal mic and other accessories.
Fake Sin and liscenses (Rating 4)
Contacts (Rating 3) w/ Smartlink, Image Link, and Vision Magnification
Tool Kit (Disguise)
Lockpick Set
Climbing Gear
Rating 6: Bug Scanner, White Noise Generator, Autopicker
Cellular Gove Molder (Rating 4)
Other B&E gear
Ammo
Drugs
Credsticks


Lifestyle for the month: Low


This character has a backstory that I won't get too into here, but functionally, this character is intended to be a primary face, but also a social infiltrator and be proficient with a gun. I tried not to spread this character too thin at generation and hopefully this character is hireable at generation with a lot of room to grow where needed.

Possible future include initiating and taking the Speakers Way for Masking, Flexible Signature and Presence Metamagics and also providing another power point ( perhaps kinesics, enhanced perception, and attribute boost: agility).  Character might also bond an Astral Perception Qi Focus. Being able to hide/forge aura/signature may be useful for being sneaky, intentionally drawing astral attention, or increase impersonation (even on the astral). Character will also likely pick up some low rating active (particularly to expand social skills repertoire) and language skills to round out character to help meet team needs. Might also try to increase Edge. Will probably early on pick up an assault rifle for longer range weapon needs. 

Please let me know if there are any suggestions to make this character make more useful, more fun, or is missing anything critical! Thanks so much!

[ZeldaBravo]

Linguistics is a fun power but Agility Boost is just more useful for you now.

[Whiskeyjack]

I would go with a spec in SMGs. They're still kind of concealable and largely street legal, hit harder than MPs and have bigger magazines. The Ares Sigma-III is my go to

This is also a character who will be defined in some ways by their contacts. All faces are. You want a good variety of them in different circles. You want someone plugged into gangs, someone plugged into corps, and a fixer at the least. I also like to have a shark lawyer on my side and a bartender - they can be usefully connected to different scenes and provide good info. As an elf, being plugged in with the Ancients is a no brainer, if not actually being a gang member yourself.

I might also just trade out the Cool Resolve for 2 more levels of Authoritative Tone. This guy could be a great Commanding Voice guy too but you don't have the Leadership for it. Still...8 dice might be plenty against most mooks.

Wait, hold on, you have no Etiquette. Remedy that! Drop that Locksmith specialty and get Etiquette at 2 or free up some karma for it (I know buying low level skills with skill points sucks but you will benefit greatly from this).

[FST_Gemstar]

Thanks for the tips, Zelda and Whiskeyjack. Especially on contacts, as the ones I was picking were pretty fluff. They made for some fun, but they were of more limited use, and there are ways to make contacts both fun and useful. I was planning on keeping Cool Resolve so that I can use The Speaker's Way to at least reduce one 1pp adept power to .5. This will free up one of level Authoritative Tone for the future. I have trouble with the idea of roleplaying commanding voice, but having Commanding Voice/Silver Tongue Devil enhancement combo could make some runs a lot smoother. I wonder if a GM would allow Commanding Voice onto the Speaker's Way PP reduction list. I'd consider it then.  I'm also considering dropping combat sense, as the character I think is pretty difficult to surprise as is, and there are lots of other ways to get an extra defense die. This would free up some more power points too. This may be too much speculation, but I also considered biowaring the character up a bit later down the road --tailored pheromones, mnemonic enhancers, Muscle Toners, data jack perhaps--, by that point I could probably afford to lose combat sense and linguistics (as I would hope I would have learned a lot of languages by then), so I wouldn't be losing any essential power points and the boosts to social tests, language tests, and combat/agility skills (probably two dice each) seem substantial. All just possibilities until this character gets into a campaign.

I know the character doesn't have Etiquette or Leadership at character generation, but I was thinking that I could buy a few ranks after just a few runs. The default on these tests aren't awful as is (I think), and with Jack of All Trades quality, it only takes 4 Karma to boost them to two ranks. I figure two ranks in a lot of skills post generation will get me pretty far and not take all that much karma to accumulate (Etiquette, more Impersonation, Gymnastics, Freefall, Escape Artist, maybe Leadership, maybe Computer, maybe Assensing later on, etc.). 

I will work on some contacts!

[Whiskeyjack]

Don't drop Combat Sense. It allows you to even make the surprise test when otherwise you may not be allowed to. That is huge. Extra defense dice are great (I often rock Combat Sense 6 and never regret it) but just being able to make the surprise test is a life saver sometimes.

I might try to fit in Motion Sense though. Seems good for a B&E guy.

Yeah do not think of contacts as purely fluff. That would be a critical mistake. Your contacts are how you do legwork, just like a decker doing data searches and a Mage doing astral scouting. Don't discount it. I currently play a mystic adept face and my contacts have returned actionable intel on a time sensitive job after one phone call or a few minutes of text exchange where the decker's search might take hours. That is a HUGE deal.

Call up an Ancients lieutenant buddy to have him and his boys start a distracting bar fight or tell them about the actions of their rivals that you're running against and you might get a useful screen of gangers covering you. Bartenders are supremely connected in club and drug culture. I have a contact in Tamanous...can't beat that for disposing of bodies. Etc.

Having an aggressive defense attorney puff out his chest at Lone Star is not something to take lightly either. A corporate head hunter might know all about any of a number of extraction targets and their habits. Etc. More than anything else contacts are what make a face, a face. Compare them to a sam's ware, a decker's deck, or a mage's spell list. They're that big of a deal even if they don't initially look like it!