[ShadowcatX]

A couple of house rules on this one, Sum to 10 build, E for resources is 18,000 nuyen, and starting characters receive 30 karma rather than 25. I haven't finished with the qualities, so don't worry about that portion (they are likely going to equal out, or positive may get cut a smidge in favor of nuyen) or equipment (beyond having a rating 4 sustaining foci for increased intuition (which is factored into the stats). I decided I wanted to go with longarms rather than automatics for kicks.

A: Magic, B: Attributes, B: Skills, E: Resources, E: Meta

Bod    3
Agi    3
Rea 4 (6)
Str    2
Wil    6
Log    3
Int    4 (
Cha 3

Init: 14 + 3d6
Edge:    3
Mag:   6

Skills:
Spellcasting 6 (manipulation), Counterspelling 6 (combat), Summoning 6 (guardian), Binding 6 (guardian), Long Arms 6 (shotguns), Perception 6, Assensing 1 (auras),  Arcana 1, armorer 1, pilot ground craft 1 (bikes)

Skill Groups:
Acting 1, Athletics 1, Influence 1, Outdoors 1, Stealth 1,

Knowledge Skills:
Small Unit Tactics 6 (urban), Japanese 1, Cherokee 1, English N, Magical Threats 3, Military Conflicts 2

Adept Powers 6 (30 karma):
Improved Reflexes 2 (2.5), Astral Perception (1), Combat Sense 1 (0.5), Improved ability: longarms 3 (1.5), enhanced accuracy: longarms (0.25), attribute boost: agility 1 (0.25)

Spells: Ball Lightning, Clout, Clairvoyance, Mind Probe, Heal, Increase Intuition, Trid Phantasm, Levitate, Mob Control, Physical Barrier

[Tecumseh]

Personally, I would be concerned about the minimal amount of stealth/sneaking. Currently the default pool is 4 dice, maybe 6 with Agility boost active.

I'd be tempted to siphon off some attribute points from Logic and Charisma to boost Agility. This would make him/her a better shot, and improve stealth at the same time.

Similarly, I would consider cashing in 2 points of Improved Ability in favor of 1 point in Improved Physical Attribute. That costs 1 die for shooting but improves everything else connected to Agility, including sneaking and movement rate. Given that the character has a couple combat spells, subtracting a die out of Longarms doesn't seem too consequential.

The skill group points are very spread out. Maybe that's a function of the campaign, or for backstory reasons, but I would consolidate some of those rather than sticking so strictly to the "skills at 6 or 1" maxim.

I know qualities aren't done yet but a mentor spirit would be a good way to add some skill points and either some bonus dice to casting or more adept powers. Dragonslayer (for Combat spells) or Oracle (free Astral Perception) seem like decent choices.

[ShadowcatX]

I really like the 3 logic, though I admit it isn't optimal, charisma I can cut down 1 on easy enough. Do you think cutting reaction to 3 (5) would be insane?

Skill groups were meant to just show a bit of breadth on skills, I can drop outdoors easy enough, and maybe acting or influence, I definitely want to keep athletics.

I always end up taking a mentor spirit, I hadn't put much thought into it for this character yet, but Oracle sounds mechanically powerful (though the skill boost is the essence of meh) and it would give me a bit more focus as an information gatherer / intelligence person (which reinforces not dropping logic).

[Marcus]

Drop str to 1 and buy it two with karma, free's up 1 point very easily.

[ShadowcatX]

I've considered that, the problem is, with karma being taken up by mystic adept powers, I'm pretty tight on karma, I'd have to pull it away from positive qualities. Do you think that would be worth it? It probably would be mechanically, agility 5 is 25 karma, 10 positive qualities post doubling is 20 karma...

[Marcus]

I think your gesture at filling in the gap are little too light (Most run in the 4 die area,) i'd accept failure on half, move that half to boost the other half, get those to 6 and you should functional. There are other ways to increase stealth the simplest answer is swap out mob control for some variant of invisibility, yes that isn't prefect but it's a basic step in the right direction.

I do think a character without qualities is very incomplete. Qualities tell you lot about character what the player wants it to do.  I'm assuming this character is running chaos magic or another int tradition. 

Beyond that and the need for a bunch basic gear, I think this will work fine.

[Tecumseh]

I buy an attribute to 2 with 10 karma on almost every character, but I didn't suggest it here because of the karma constraints on a mystic adept. It's certainly viable, especially here with the house rule for increased chargen karma, but the question is more about opportunity cost: what positive qualities are you giving up, and what would they add either mechanically or in terms of flavor.

Reaction 3 (5) would be fine. Presuming you're running around with Intuition 8, your base Initiative is currently 3d6+14, for an average of 24.5. Dropping 1 point from that is a minimal loss. Your odds of a third pass drop from 91% to 84%, but getting a third pass five times out of six is still great. Your odds of getting Initiative 26 - three passes plus a -5 interrupt action - drop from 38% to 26%. You don't have the skillset to take advantage of dodge/block/parry, but Hit the Dirt and Run For Your Life are still hugely valuable.

Similarly, it would change your average dodge pool from (Reaction 6 + Intuition 8 + Combat Sense 1) 15 dice to 14 dice, which is still excellent and better than 98% of the competition.

If you want to maximize the odds of getting a third pass, or a third pass plus an interrupt, then pick up Adrenaline Boost for 0.25 PP. You can use it situationally when the +2 Initiative will take you over the desired threshold. Even with Reaction 3 (5), that would boost your odds of Initiative 21 to 95% and Initiative 26 to 50%.

Your Pilot Groundcraft pool would drop from 7 (9) to 6 (8). That's a larger drop, percentage-wise, but how frequently that test will occur depends on your campaign and GM. I don't get into many car/bike chases so it wouldn't affect me much, but maybe your group likes the rolling shootouts.

[ShadowcatX]

Sioux tradition, reflavored as Cherokee. And I get what you're saying, and I think you're right. I hoped B skills would do more, but I guess I should be more realistic about what's going on with dice pools rather than just being excited to have the skill in general.

For stealth, he can always summon a spirit and have it use concealment.

For the piloting rolls, I doubt it will come up often, the group has a rigger, hopefully if an important driving roll comes up he'll be making it, I'm just a fan of providing my own transportation when I can.