[gerzel]

What are your thoughts on how to start characters out?  The pros and cons of changing the various rules for starting characters?

Mainly I'm interested in changes to:

• The Build Points Given
• Negative Quality Limits
• Limits to BP Assigned to Gear
• The Max Availability of Gear
• The Max Rating of Gear

[Sliver]

1. I like to do the standard 400BP, but you can do more or less if you want weak or powerful characters. 400 is cool with me, everyone seems pretty evened out.
2. I haven't seen a limit in the book, but just limit them when they start to get unreasonable (Like getting Incompetent on all skills they don't have). I kind of wing it, I guess.
3. 50BP maximum, lets them have 250,000 nuyen as a starting character. I find it's a fine limit, no one seems to have too much money.
4. 12, from book. I find that a lot of the book is tailored to this, as certain weapons are 12 or 13 specifically to limit starting characters.
5. This mostly depends on the availability limit, most things increase in availability when they do in rating. But again, I'd like my players to be reasonable. If they get too out of hand, I'll put a stop to it.

[Canticle]

1. 400BP sets the bar at a nice point for growth while allowing the characters to start out competent in the areas they want to be good in.
2. The limit I use is -35 BP (which is in the book). I do tack on negative qualities after the game starts if the PCs are deserving them (like a Mental Disorder Pyromaniac for someone who likes setting things on fire).
3. I don't have an issue with people spending a bit more than 50BP on nuyen, but after Attributes, Contacts, and Skills most people only have around 40BP.
4. I've set mine at 12F. 13 and higher gear is not accessible.
5. The rating is set by the availability. As long as it is not over 12F I'm cool with it.

[Denver Doc]

I actually like the book gen.  They didn't think of everything and it can be a little restricting or inflexible at times but I would rather have my players just come to me and ask for a minor exception for a good reason.

1. I like the BP at 400 but no reason that you can't lower it or raise it a little to fit the situation. I played in a campaign that was 300 points... kinda rough after being used to 400 but the GM did a great job scaling everything back. 
2. Again I default to the book but if the player has a good reason I make little exceptions.  Had some really cool concepts come up over the years that weren't simply excuses to try and break something.
3.  There is a positive quality that allows them to take 60 BP for resources. I feel that is an good mechanism that basically makes them pay a little extra for going over. 
4. 12 as per the book but I do allow some exceptions. Again there is a positive quality that allows players to pick one item over this limit so I think that covers it for most situations I encounter.
6. I might allow a higher rating on something up to 6 for example on something like a Fake SIN, IF the player has a good reason for it.  Say he is a hacker and this is what he does for a living.  Of course he still has to pay for it and possibly take that quality if I feel he is trying to get tricky.

 

[Cass100199]

1. Standard
2-5. I'll be reasonable if you do. Mostly, I expect a reasonable explanation other than "it's in the book and I want it".

[James McMurray]

We did character generation completely by RAW.

Pros:
- Everyone gets the same thing, same limits, etc.

Cons
- This in no way, shape, or form ensures that they're be balanced against one another. The rules themselves have balance issues, so no character generation system can ensure balance.
- The BP system encourages massive amounts of min-maxing since the 5th rank of a skill or attribute costs the same BP as the 4th, but a lot more karma. For instance, 10BP increases your Cracking group to 4 or your Electronics group to 2. Assuming you want a character with Cracking 4 and Electronics 2 but don't have the BP for it, you're much better off starting with 4/1 and spending 10 karma than you are starting at 3/2 and spending 20.

The next time I run I'll be using the karma generation rules from RC. It gets rid of the second con.

[Glyph]

I'll add my voice to the chorus that likes default char-gen.  I like karmagen (the German errata version, where Attributes cost x5 and you pay the metatype cost in karma).  But I would say you should either use build points or karmagen - the two character creation systems are not close enough to be interchangeable.

Now - I consider that the default level, for runners that are starting out (note that "starting" runners are not first-level characters; first-level was when you were working your way up to becoming a runner).  Potentially powerful, but not prime runner level yet.

For a high-powered campaign, I would go with 500 BP or 1,000 Karma, with no Availability limits, although I would still cap gear at rating, say, 8 or so, 20 more points you can spend on resources, and up to two levels of initiation.

For a low-powered campaign, I would go with 320 BP or 600 Karma, with lower Availability (8 or 9), lower starting skill levels by 1 (one 5 or two 4's, skill groups at 3), and limit both starting cash and Magic/Resonance rating by half (125,000 Nuyen, rating: 3).

One note:  The characters should be able to hang with each other, but it is an open build system - they will all have strengths and flaws, but they will NOT be comparable, power-wise.  With specialists vs. generalists, and adding awakening and augmentation to the mix, PCs will range all up and down the scale.  Worry more about how they mesh together, and be sure to give them each some "spotlight time", and you'll be fine.