[Marthem the Mute Minstrel]

One of the guys in my roleplaying group (we've been playing DnD 5e) wants to try Shadowrun5. This presents me with the problem of having to make a character in a more complex system than I am used to. I have been looking through the book some but seeing that I do not own a copy myself that adds another layer of complication to my dilemma. I know I want to play a character that uses a lot of potions for buffing/debuffing and I'm not sure how well that would work within the system. Besides the potions I feel like I would be open to using either magic or hand to hand combat would be cool. I also feel like in this particular group my character should be the Face. I have a decent idea of how I want my character to look aesthetically but I'm definitely having trouble with the character making process. My friend did share with me the Chummer program but it is a bit overwhelming. Does anyone have any tips for first time player/character creation for this type of character?

[Triskavanski]

Some of the best things to start off with is like an Adept or Street Sam. There currently isn't any real potions in the game, but somethings that are kinda like them are called Preperations, which a Mage could make via Alchemy. The thing is, the effects they produce are pretty weak for the amount of effort you've got put into making them.

With a Hand to hand adept, picking up Unarmed Attack and a fighting style w, along with the adept powers that focus around unarmed strikes would greatly assist you. (Killing Hands, Penetrating Strike, etc.)  You could still even pick up some of the face based powers then too.

[JmOz01]

First, buffer: Cool idea...working on one myself....

HOWEVER: You will be warned away from alchemy for good reason, it is a very weak form of spells in the system.

Mage/Face works well if you go with what is called a charisma tradition (Shaman in the main book is an example of one)

I would suggest (and will be ridiculed for it )

Skills A (there is no love for Skills A around here IMO)
Attributes B
Magic C
Race D (Human...pump all of your special points in magic)
Wealth E

High Willpower (5) and max Charisma (6)
Max Spellcasting/Counterspelling (If you really want the potions replace spellcasting with alchemy specialization in Prepared triggers)
choose a mentor that will help you (Bear will help the most with buffing, a couple will be good for the Face side)

Max out your con, high etiquette and negotiation

[Marthem the Mute Minstrel]

Hmm... It's sad that most of the time concepts that I want to try are gimped mechanically. Perhaps, I could make the potion thing more of a roleplay aspect instead of an actual mechanical thing. I was initially thinking of playing an adept but a lot of their powers seem sort of monk-like and I think now I'm leaning more towards the magic side of doing things. This is going to be the first time for playing Shadowrun for all of the people in my group so it's definitely going to be a learning process.

[JmOz01]

The potions could be just a habit type thing, as a GM I  might allow it as some form of fetish (The fetish would be the "Alchemy lab" and potions to justify the cost)

[Marthem the Mute Minstrel]

The potions could be just a habit type thing, as a GM I  might allow it as some form of fetish (The fetish would be the "Alchemy lab" and potions to justify the cost)

Is a "fetish" a mechanical thing? I haven't read anything about that.

[JmOz01]

Yes.  There is a concept in magic called drain.  It makes it so that because of something you hold your spells cost 2 less drain, but at the cost of without said item you cannot cast at all.  Each fetish costs 2k IIRC, however as a GM I would not call the potions themselves the Nuyen expense (so you would not have to pay it for each potion) but rather the "lab" you make it in, then the potions become the physical aspect.  I would then balance it by borrowing a bit from the alchemy rules and make you "Preload" your spells but this is a lot of house ruling at this point...

[Marthem the Mute Minstrel]

Oh okay, cool. I think that's really awesome. My GM might be lenient about something like that if it added to the game in a cool way. I'll try running it by him and see what he thinks.

[JmOz01]

Also it should be noted that real alchemy DOES have some advantages for this character.  While the effects are not going to be as powerful as real spells you do take the drain before you cast them (when you prepare them instead) and they are automatically sustained (Normally to sustain a spell is a -2 penalty).  So you might want to keep with the alchemy idea. 

If you look at the math you will normally throw 12-14 dice of effect for a spell.  Assuming a well built alchemist it will be 10-11 dice of effect.  So spell casting is +2-3 dice while you gain the sustaining and early drain on alchemy

[Whiskeyjack]

Taking the drain early doesn't mean much when the preparation might expire before the meat of the run actually happens.

Honestly for a first character I suggest a Sam/face. It's straightforward, can be fun to play, and minimally dicks with some of the more complicated subsystems like magic and hacking.

[JmOz01]

I would agree for a new player in an older group.

However if I read it write the whole group is new, as such I feel some people should try out those more complicated parts

[Top Dog]

Mechanical downfalls aside, Alchemy also seems a lot more complicated than regular spellcasting to me. You have to roll more and keep track of all the preparations.

I agree with the others; Sam is usually a lot easier to play compared to magic, but if the whole group is new, you should probably have someone bite the bullet and make a mage.

As to how to actually get through your first build, that's a different question...
The best way, if you have the time for it, would be to just sit down and make a character. The chapter on character generation isn't that big, and you usually only really need one or two chapter besides that, depending on archetype (and not too deeply). That way you get a good feel of how the build system works and what kind of tradeoffs there are. Your first character is probably going to be terrible (everyone's is) but once you know a bit what you're doing, you can ask more directed questions, post an idea of what you'd like here and ask for comments, and start reading the relevant chapters in context.

[Leevizer]

Nothing's stopping you from playing the archetype you use from DnD. You can build a proficient swordsman wearing full-plate and a shield, or a stealthy archer. Or a sword-wielding mage, healer and so on. And you'll still be able to pull your weight for the team!

[Overbyte]

I'm going to add my voice to those saying to play Adepts, Street Sams, etc.
We play(ed) a lot without any Mages or Deckers to simplify things and it really helps. At least to start.
If you stick with just Adepts, Faces, Sams.. depending on how many players you have you can make many types of chars that don't overlap too much, and can just ignore the whole set of Magic and Decking rules which add more levels of complexity.
I would also say.. if you really want to get into Shadowrun.. throw away your DnD ideas of characters. Make former Doc Wagon Medics. Maybe a Corporate Secretary that went to the shadows. A rich kid that's in it for the thrills and has a lot of cash.
Maybe even have your GM allow you to play one (non magey) char.. and then switch to a Mage later and "transfer" your Karma to them.

[Glyph]

Shadowrun is a lot different than games with character levels.  Instead of a class, you start out with finite resources and pick out things that you are good at.  As you gain experience, you get better in specific areas rather than improving in an overall sense.  Because you only have so many points to spend, you will spread yourself too thin if you try to do too many things at once.  Sure, it would be cool to be a mage who uses potions and a face and a close combat specialist.  Two of those things are feasible, but all three have too much of an opportunity cost to be very good.