[Whiskeyjack]

I'd just drop the Mentor Spirit entirely. There isn't a one of them that's worth the cost on them.

Are you saying no mentor spirit is worth 5 karma?

If so...hahaha

[All4BigGuns]

You're welcome to disagree, but there's enough things to do with that karma that I'd rather do anything else other than blow 5 on a Mentor Spirit.

[Halinn]

If you go magician side, it's an extra specialization on spellcasting or summoning, on top of +2 to a relevant skill. Adept gets 0.5 extra PP on top of +2 skill

Admittedly, most of the +2 skills are social ones, but you can't convince me that +2 Perception (Eagle mentor spirit) isn't worth 5 karma, if you don't want one of the social mentors.

[Strange]

You have .25 of a power point to spend (you can't switch out free mentor powers) assuming you spent 30 karma on PP. MyAds must spend 5 karma (character gen only) for each PP (no partial karma can be bought), figure you know this, just a friendly reminder. You don't have danger sense listed, it is free and there is nothing you can do about it. Also, .25 left can pick up another rank of attribute boost (agility). Spell wise, you look good. Not sure on how much karma you actually spent. Gear wise, you have fake lisense, but no fake SIN, never use your real SIN while doing illegal stuff, otherwise you a criminal SIN and life becomes 100x worse on a good day.

I don't get danger sense, I got the +2 combat pool dice.

Attribute Boost (AGI) Rating: 1 =.25
Combat Sense Rating: 2 =1
Critical Strike (Blades) =.5
Enhanced Accuracy (skill) (Blades) =.25
Improved Ability (skill) (Blades) Rating: 3 =1.5
Improved Reflexes 2= 2.5
that all adds to 6

Looks like I forgot to get the fake SIN.  Hope I have enough cash!

I'd just drop the Mentor Spirit entirely. There isn't a one of them that's worth the cost on them.

From my mentor spirit, I get +2 dice combat and +2 dice etiquette.  That makes my etiquette 11 by investing only one point into it, and my combat dice 14, which is pretty decent.  Plus, from a roleplaying standpoint, I like mentor spirits.

[All4BigGuns]

Looks like I forgot to get the fake SIN.  Hope I have enough cash!

You'll need 10,000 for it.

Like I said, I just normally have better things to spend karma on than those. Personal preference and all that jazz, but I'll still advise against them for the reason I gave.

[Duellist_D]

No (fake) Sin = no sneaky approaches towards anything remotely corp related. Might work in a heavy pink Mohawk or streetscum setting, but normally this is a way to dangerous approach.

Regarding Mentor Spirits: Cheapest 0,5 PP ever. There is hardly a case where you shouldn't take one at Chargen

[Reaver]

The only big issue with Mentor spirits boils down to Player/GM expectations.

Some players see a mentor spirit as "free dice" then ignore everything else about the mentor.

Some GMs see mentors as a way to club players on the head as the slightest reason. (It's Tuesday, everyone knows Wolf hates doing shit on Tuesdays. You're -2 to magical skills.)

As always, talk to your GM and see what/how he handles them. You COULD be opening yourself up to a headache if he's the "club" type of GM...

[Facemage]

I typically do not take mentor spirit at char gen, if I play a mysad. In our table, the costs of the ways are always 20, and mysads can initiate to arts without the magician's way. I will take spiritual way later and get a free mentor spirit.

[Marcus]

I don't see a real issue with mentors numbers wise 5 pts for +2 to  a spell type ain't bad. Shark is a steal with +2 to unarmed.
The are plenty of others that are viable by the numbers alone, I'm not sure on the GM issue, I have never run across it, but I have no proof to offer ether way.

[Rift_0f_Bladz]

Sorry, forget MysAds get to pick which they want. I love free .5 PP and basically a skill specialization. Which mentor spirit I take depends on the character set up in question. Even for 10 karma mentors are generally decent, as long as you don't have a crapy GM. But that is true for most things, beyond just mentor spirits.

[Strange]

In the 1st edition I was really drawn to the burnout mage, but never played one.  Was messing around with point buy on Chummer, and came up with the following:  A former corp mage for Renraku who was part of a security team that got decimated.  Lost an arm and his eyes melted in the explosion, so they replaced those.  Was depressed for a few years, still working for Renraku who trained him to be more physical.  Quite despondent and unable to perform day to day, he was deemed unfit for service.  A company man who had worked with him before took pity on him and, knowing some of the less desireables who could make it happen, made the mage disappear and burned his SIN.  The mage has recovered mentally and is ready to get back into action. 


Name: Corp mage-burnout
Movement: 6/12
Karma: 0
Street Cred: 0
Notoriety: 0
Public Awareness: 0
Human
Composure: 7
Judge Intentions: 8
Lift/Carry: 5 (30 kg/20 kg)
Memory: 8
Nuyen: 600

== Attributes ==
BOD: 3
AGI: 3(right arm 6)
REA: 5 (
STR: 2(right arm 6)
CHA: 2
INT: 6
LOG: 3
WIL: 5
EDG: 3
MAG: 4

== Derived Attributes ==
Essence:                   4.16
Initiative:                11 (14) + 1d6
Rigger Initiative:         14 + 1d6
Astral Initiative:         12 + 2d6
Matrix AR Initiative:      14 + 1d6
Matrix Cold Initiative:    6 + DP + 3d6
Matrix Hot Initiative:     6 + DP + 4d6
Physical Damage Track:     11
Stun Damage Track:         11

== Limits ==
Physical:                  5
Mental:                    6
Social:                    5
Astral:                    6

== Active Skills ==
Animal Handling            : 0                      Pool: 1
Archery                    : 0                      Pool: 2
Armorer                    : 0                      Pool: 2
Assensing                  : 4                      Pool: 10
Automatics                 : 6                      Pool: 9
Blades                     : 6 [Swords]             Pool: 9 (11)
Clubs                      : 0                      Pool: 2
Computer                   : 0                      Pool: 2
Con                        : 0                      Pool: 1
Counterspelling            : 4                      Pool: 8
Cybercombat                : 0                      Pool: 2
Demolitions                : 0                      Pool: 2
Disguise                   : 0                      Pool: 5
Diving                     : 0                      Pool: 2
Escape Artist              : 0                      Pool: 2
Etiquette                  : 1                      Pool: 5
First Aid                  : 0                      Pool: 2
Forgery                    : 0                      Pool: 2
Free-Fall                  : 0                      Pool: 2
Gunnery                    : 0                      Pool: 2
Gymnastics                 : 3                      Pool: 6
Hacking                    : 0                      Pool: 2
Heavy Weapons              : 0                      Pool: 2
Impersonation              : 0                      Pool: 1
Instruction                : 0                      Pool: 1
Intimidation               : 0                      Pool: 1
Leadership                 : 0                      Pool: 1
Longarms                   : 0                      Pool: 2
Navigation                 : 0                      Pool: 5
Negotiation                : 0                      Pool: 1
Perception                 : 3                      Pool: 9
Performance                : 0                      Pool: 1
Pilot Ground Craft         : 1                      Pool: 9
Pilot Watercraft           : 0                      Pool: 7
Pistols                    : 0                      Pool: 2
Running                    : 2                      Pool: 4
Sneaking                   : 2                      Pool: 5
Spellcasting               : 6                      Pool: 12
Survival                   : 0                      Pool: 4
Swimming                   : 0                      Pool: 1
Throwing Weapons           : 0                      Pool: 2
Tracking                   : 0                      Pool: 5
Unarmed Combat             : 1                      Pool: 4

== Knowledge Skills ==

== Contacts ==
; Company Man (3, 3)

== Qualities ==
Addiction (Moderate) (Foci)
Astral Beacon
Magician
Mentor Spirit (Dragonslayer)
The Burnout's Way

== Spells ==
(Tradition: Chaos Magic, Resist Drain with WIL + INT (11))
Heal                       DV: F-4
Improved Invisibility      DV: F-1
Levitate                   DV: F-2
Physical Barrier           DV: F-1
Stunbolt                   DV: F-3

== Cyberware/Bioware ==
Cybereyes Basic System Rating 2
   +Image Link
   +Low-Light Vision
   +Smartlink
   +Thermographic Vision
Datajack
Obvious Full Arm (AGI 6, STR 6, Physical (Right)
   +Customized Agility Rating 6
   +Customized Strength Rating 6
   +Armor Rating 3
   +Commlink
   +Shock Hand
Reaction Enhancers Rating 3

== Armor ==
Armor Jacket                        12
Forearm Guards                      1
Helmet                              2

== Weapons ==
Cyberarm
   Pool: 4   Accuracy: 0   DV: 6P   AP: -   RC: 2
HK Urban Combat
   +Smartgun System, Internal
   +Sound Suppressor
   Pool: 9   Accuracy: 9   DV: 8P   AP: -   RC: 4
Katana
   +Personalized Grip
   Pool: 9 (11)   Accuracy: 8   DV: 5P   AP: -3   RC: 2
Shock Hand
   Pool: 4   Accuracy: 5   DV: 9S(e)   AP: -5   RC: 2
Unarmed Attack
   Pool: 4   Accuracy: 5   DV: 2S   AP: -   RC: 2

== Commlink ==
Transys Avalon (ATT: 0, SLZ: 0, DP: 6, FWL: 6)

== Gear ==
Fake SIN (Fake SIN) Rating 4
Power Focus (Bonded Foci) Rating 2
Weapon Focus (Bonded Foci) (Katana) Rating 3

== Vehicles ==
Suzuki Mirage (Racing Bike)
   +Sensor Array Rating 2

So with sword he gets 8 (sword skill) + 3 (focus) and + 5 ( 3 agi left arm, 6 agi right arm, average 4.5 so 5)=16?  Is that right? and damage would be 5p?
and with HK he gets 6 (automatics skill) + 6 (right arm agility) + 2 (smartlink)=14?
and with combat spells he is at 6 (spellcasting) + 4 (magic) + 2 (power focus) +2 (if combat casting) = 12 or 14?
How does this semi-burnout look? 

[halflingmage]

You're welcome to disagree, but there's enough things to do with that karma that I'd rather do anything else other than blow 5 on a Mentor Spirit.

From a mechanical point of view I actually find this a bargain.  +2 to a spell category, plus another bonus, for only 5 karma is amazing.    They do come with a disadvantage, but if you choose wisely those are very manageable.  I put a mentor spirit on almost every caster that I build.

[Rift_0f_Bladz]

Burnouts Way is only for Adepts and MyAds, as are all the Ways. Better to use one-handed swords and don't average anything. That way you have dice pool of 17 and 6+weapon damage for your DV value. R&G has the Horizon Flynn Rapier that is actually pretty good or the mono-sword which is also not bad. And use machine pistols or just pistols so that way you don't have to average your pool for that. You can't start with the HK Urban Combat unless you have the PQ that let's you get gear above the normal availability limit of 12, which I don't remember the name of.

[Strange]

I only lose one point with going two handed, so that isn't so bad.  Alternatively, I could raise the str on the arm....  My limit is reduced by 2 by using the Ares monosword, and my damage would be the same with the rapier.  I kinda like the idea of the monosword, but a limit of 6 (when customized with the grip) seems a little low.  16 dice with a limit of 8 seems a bit high, though...Doesn't seem I'd hit that limit a whole lot.  Average hits with 17 dice (assuming 1/3) would be 5 2/3, with 16 it is 5 1/3, so the Monosword loses on potential but wins on average

I already removed the burnouts way.  I caught that when reading another thread about burnouts.  I think overall with the power focus and such he comes off quite good, yeah?  Decent enough spellcaster, and decent with the focus sword.  I changed him up a bit, mentor spirit is now chaos, different spells and such, and changed him from a full magician to an aspected one.

I totally missed the availability on that gun.  I didn't know that SMG's are considered two handed....  I guess I will be using firearms as a backup if my casting is still working, yeah?

Mechanics-wise, is having a power focus basically the same thing as having those points like regular?  Meaning, does a magic score of 4 with a power focus 2 = magic score of 6 in all areas that matter?

Thanks again for the help.

[ZeldaBravo]

Armor 3 in your cyberarm has availability 15.