[John Shull]

Your character seems much more likely to have trained in a circus.  Maybe a big traveling job that you grew out of.  It hits almost all of your skill sets, including the languages. 

[JimJungle]

Hmmm. Circus. I like that. Maybe throw in some underground fighting on the side. Now i really need to rework it. Or just make an entirely new guy.

[Critias]

Get rid of the Dodge skill.

Against Ranged Combat, you use Gymnastics (which your character has).  Against Melee Combat, you use whatever melee skill you like (Unarmed, with this guy).  Dodge is a completely superfluous skill for this character to have, especially since his central theme/image is so tied up in those other two skills.

Ditching Dodge could free up some points for some Infiltration or Perception, both of which are basically must-haves.

[JimJungle]

OK, so i dropped Dodge, took Athletics group, picked up Perception and Ettiquete and Shadowing. Maxed out Crit Strike, dropped Gliding and Pen Strike, picked up Power Throw and QuickDraw, and Combat Sense. Couldnt afford Reflexes though. Still kicking around his backstory. I'm liking the circus idea more and more. I can only imagine what a circus in 2072 looks like, and it would make a great background for stories. Just think of what a Freak Show would look like in the Sixth World. Kind of like in Heroes, but with metahumans.

[Triggvi]

improved reflexes one the more important powers to pick up. Having only one IP will hurt you pretty bad in combat.

[Charybdis]

improved reflexes one the more important powers to pick up. Having only one IP will hurt you pretty bad in combat.

Seriously, cannot recommend highly enough to drop any combination of things to get Improved reflexes at Level 1 or higher.

A) Get another IP
B) Raises Reaction by 1 (which is better than a level of Combat sense anyway)

Everything else is just decoration.

[Nightwolf]

A single rank in Synaptic Boosters (While expensive in nuyen) is far better than the improved reflexes power from a numbers standpoint. You only lose .5 essense, (1 PP) but you get the same +1IP, +1 Reaction, and it leaves you with .5 essense for other bioware. Muscle Toner/Augmentation are personal favorites.

[JimJungle]

Bt dont i lose magic if i lose essence?

[Medicineman]

Bt dont i lose magic if i lose essence?

Ys yu do

Hough !
Medicineman

[Charybdis]

Bt dont i lose magic if i lose essence?

But what they're saying is that for:

Spending 1.5 points of magic, you can get 1 rank of Improved Reflexes
or
Spend 0.5 essence, and some cash, and get the same mechanical boost

[Walks Through Walls]

Bt dont i lose magic if i lose essence?

Yes you will loose 1 magic and therefore 1PP worth of adept abilities.
What they are saying is that from a min/max character creation stand point you are gaining .5 PP vs getting improved reflexes and the same game mechanics like Charybdis said.

The two questions I would ask are this:

1) What type of campaign are you playing in? I mean will most everybody else have multiple passes or will most everybody have 1. This makes a big difference in how important that second pass will be.

2) Do you want to get more passes in the future? While the synaptic booster is cheaper magic wise it doesn't have any upgrade ability. However if you spend the 1.5 PP now and get boosted reflexes 1 you can upgrade to level 2 when you raise your magic later.

Now I can hear the gears turning and your thinking why not just wait and get boosted reflexes when I raise my magic? Well the big problem is that you need 1.5 PP. This means raising your magic twice. That is a lot of karma, and once you raise it the first time you will be foregoing any advancement at that time.

Hope all of this helps. For my two nuyen I would go with the boosted reflexes. I like the additional growth potential. I like to look at not just now, but what can the character become. Often along the way as I play how I thought the character would advance and how it does are completely different, but that is half of the fun of it in my opinion.

[Medicineman]

I like the additional growth potential.
There is one with Bioware too
first You get  a Synaptic Booster 1 for 0.5 Essence than (During Play and with Lots of y190 ) You get Yourself Synaptic Booster 2 Alpha and 0.2 Essence Points of Bio or 0.4 of Cyberware

He who Dances with a lot of ¥
Medicineman

[Nightwolf]

Over the long run, the differences from a min/max standpoint actually become even more severe.
Synaptic Booster
R1 - .5 Essence and 80,000 Nuyen
R2 - 1.0 Essence and 160,000 Nuyen
and for the person willing to trade away some magic
R3 - 1.5 Essence and 240,000 Nuyen

So for 1 PP you can get up to rating 2, or for 2 you can get rating 3, whereas with Improved Reflexes
R1 - 1.5PP
R2 - 2.5PP
R3 - 4.0PP

At that point, you are looking at 1.5 times the cost for R1 in terms of PP, 2.5 times the cost for R2, and 2 times the cost for R3 while still allowing for more upgrade. This only gets worse for the magical boost when you factor in Alpha/Betaware for the Adept, who can then push even more bio/cyberware into the system without another point of magic loss.

Though there is something to be said of someone that wants to play a pure character.

[Accipiter]

If you want to go the purist route, you can always talk to your GM and see if they're willing to allow the rules tweak from Street Magic that allows the Adept to take a Gaesa on their power(s) - this would reduce the cost of the power by 25%.  Combine that with the +1 Power Point for initiation, and you've got a character that will be able to eventually squeeze out the needed points to eventually get all three ranks of Improved Reflexes.

Like Walls said, it's all about knowing the game you're playing - the GM, the Players, and the expectations for it.

[JimJungle]

Revamped with new game elements.


Name:Jim JungleAlias: Jungle JimRace:Human(Changeling)Sex: MaleNationality: UCASLifestyle: Low(Two Months Paid)Karma Spent: 7 Physical Description: Has the appearance of a mix between a human and a monkey. He has short brown fur and a tail ending in a sharp spike of bone.
Personality/background Jim Jungle grew up as an aspiring athlete. Top in his dojo (Buddha's Palm), for five years.
 Athletic scholarship to estemed college. Undefeated record of 20-0 in school matches.
His Adept Powers manifested during high school, although He didnt recognize or understand his
magical abilities. Average grades in school, and Active in almost all sports throughout
 his school life. He won numerous awards, ribbons, and trophies. Earned a blackbelt
3rd degree. His life took a 180 during his college years. He was fighting in the top division for
the west coast. During the final bout, his opponent was better than him at every turn, every attack was easily
blocked, and every defense was easily defeated. Jim had never had to fight as hard as he did with this man, and
he was still coming up short. Jim was on his last legs and decided to put the last of his strenght into one final
attack. He focused his mind and body and he could feel the power in his hands. But so focused was he
that he didnt notice his hands glowing a bluish/white, and the temperature around him dropping
dramaticaly. And in a sudden fury he launched at his opponent who was caught off gaurd by Jim's glowing hands.
His opponent attempted to block but Jim got past it and landed a solid hit right on his chest, freezing his heart and shattering
his ribcage, killing him instantly. And with that realization came the shock and horror at what he'd done.

 With that obvious display of magic he was accussed of cheating and
was kicked out of the School  league, stripped of his titles and belts, and banned from professional
competition for life. His school took away his scholarship and kicked him out of school. His family severed all
ties with him for shameing the family name.
He was then expelled from his dojo as well. Suffering from depression for several years,
He then worked as muscle for hire but disliked killing people and couldnt handle that lifestyle.
He then moved back to his home area of Alki to start over. He now works as a courier.
He still fights in underground tournaments, though now He fights for the thrill of the challenge, and for the money.
He is against killing. Considers himself a thrill seeker, and pushes his body and adept
 powers to the limits. He was recently introduced to a group of runners through the organization that puts on the
underground fights (Black Lung Society). He is now making runs as the extra muscle and speed when its needed.

After several lucrative runs with some local runners he came in contact with a deeply disturbed woman/girl with amazing
 and unusual powers. Hew saw that his runner friends who cam in contact with this woman were altered dramatically in physical
and mental ways. Unkown to Jim, was that ust being in the presence of her aura would alter him on the genetic level.
After meeting the woman that would undenyably change his life forever, he went home and went to bed as a human. He awoke to find himself covered
in short brown fur, feet that looked like and that could grab objects like hands. A prehinsile tail
that could also grab objects, but had a spiked bone protrusion on the end. His facial features now resembled that of
a monkey; wide flat nose furry face, big ears. His posture became more hunched, and he begain showing animalistic traits.
 He found that he much preffered going out at night, and sleeping during the day. And to his embarassement, while out at night, he now glowed dull
blue, emanating from his fur.

 The sudden change in his life brought him back to the last time his life took a 180. His easygoing nature is slowly being
replaced by a bitter and angry temperment. He blames the mysterious woman who did this to him, and some blame to the runner
friends. He is now consumed with the goal of getting enough money to try gene thereapy to reverse or repair the alterations done
to him. He is also looking for answers as to what the hell happened. And he will do what it takes to get him there.
Attributes

Body	Agility	Reaction	Strength
4	5	4(5)	4
Charisma	Intuition	Logic	Willpower
2	3	2	4
Edge	Magic/Resonance	Essence	Initiative
2	6	6	8

Positive Qualities
Night Vision 5
 *Received In Game*
Camoflauge Fur(brown) 5
Thagomizer 10
Monkey Paws 5
Nocturnal -10
Negative Qualities
SINner -5
Poor Self Control(Thrill Seeker) -5
Day Job(small) (quit) -5
Gremlins -5
Big Regret(man he killed) -5
 *Received In Game*
Nocturnal -10
Bioluminescence -5
Active Skills

Athletics Skill Group	4
Perception 3 Unarmed Combat (Martial Arts) 6 Etiquette 3 Throwing Weapons (Throwing Knives) 4 Shadowing 3 Firstaid(Combat Wounds) 4 Exotic Melee: Thagomizer 2
Knowledge Skills ( [Logic + Intuition] x 3 free points) Seattle Street Gangs 3 Martial Arts 4 Sports 4 Language Skills English N Japanese Hebrew 2 2 Adept Powers Power Cost Notes Critical Strike Great Leap Freefall Killing Hands Power Throw Combat Sense Elemental Strike Improved Reflexes 1.5 .5 .5 .5 .5 .5 .5 1.5 XXXXX Cyber/Bioware Cyberware Essence Cost Notes XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX¥ XXXXX Spells/Complex Forms/Programs Cyberware Cost Notes XXXXX XXXXX¥ XXXXX Gear (13300¥) Low Lifestyle(Months) 2 Climbing Gear Bike Racing Armor Butt Pack Standard Rope(100m) Rappeling Gloves Bike Racing Helmet Biometric Reader Goggles Microwire(100m) Durable Clothing Urban Explorer (Fire Resistance 6, Nonconductivity 6) Plus Helmet Novatech Airwave(Response3, Signal 3) Mage Sight Goggles Medkit 6 (2x) Shock Glove Hardliner Gloves (Equiped) Throwing Knife (12x) 4000¥ 200 500 80 100 70 200 200 50 150 1000 500,600,1200 1250 1200 VehiclesXXXXX Handling Accel Speed Pilot Body Armor Sensor Availability Cost XXXXX XXXXX/XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX¥ Contacts Contact C/L Chauncey Kefka Farooq Dr. Spaceman 3/2 2/3 1/4 2/2 Build Point totals:  XXXXX = XXXXX + XXXXX - XXXXX