[iKill]

Hoi hoi there!

My chummers and I are starting up a new gang of runners soon, and fine trog will be my contribution to the fun! I am very new to SR, but not to RPGs, so I find myself in a limbo where I can sense that a character probably needs more work to do the jobs I want him to, but I can't seem to push him any further without help from someone who know the boons and the pitfalls of SR character creation better than myself. I have done some research already, and found a lot of clues in UmaroIV's replacement archetypes (Especially the Combat Hacker), as well as emsquared's BP and math thread, which has been a real eye-opener for me. Thanks guys!

Lets get started!

What I want the character to do:
My goal is to make a matrix user that can fulfil the gangs need for hacking and online support, while keeping the amount of real-time spent soloing the matrix while everyone else is bored to near zero. Ideally, I will sneak into the target or target areas network unnoticed, grab whatever data I need and if needed install backdoors into the system, so that on the night of the raid I can simply flick a kill-switch and shut down enemy surveillance and alarm systems and go in with the rest of the entry team. I know, I know, stuff will probably not go down so easily as I want it to, and I may need to deal with additional matrix threats in AR as I move along, but even then I will try to do it quick and dirty, without bogging down the gameplay with an army of agents and cybercombat and all that. For starters I can only afford very little combat focused ware, so I would hardly call my troll a true street sam at chargen, but I try to make a meaningful contribution to the fighting ability of the gang by taking combat drugs and bringing a bigger gun to the table than anyone else.

Metatype: Troll (40 BP)

Nuyen: 250.000 (50 BP)

Abilities (240 BP):
BOD: 7
AGI: 3(5)
REA: 5(7)
STR: 7
CHA: 1
INI: 4
LOG: 4 (6)
WIL: 5
EDG: 5

Qualities (0 BP):
+ Aptitude (Hacking)
+ Codeslinger (Hacking on the Fly)
+ Hight Pain Tolerance (Rating 3)
- Codeblock (Repair Icon)
- Day Job (10 hours/week)
- Nano Intolerance
- Albinism
- Wanted (By every voodoo practitioner in north america, as albino troll body parts make great fetiches)

Active skills (66 BP):
Hardware (group): 1
E-War: 1
Hacking: 6
Heavy Weapons: 4
Pilot Ground Craft: 1
Pistols: 1
Unarmed Combat: 1

Knowledge skills (0 BP):
English: N
Shadow Community: 4 (Street)
Security Tactics: 1 (Academic)
Security Design: 6 (Academic)
Combat Tactics: 4 (Academic)
Data Havens: 4 (Street)
Engeneering: 4 (Academic)
Area Knowledge (Seattle: 1) (Street)

Contacts (4 BP):
Mr. Fixer 2/2

Cyber- and Bioware:
Cyberware (1.08 ESS):
- Bone Lacing (Plastic) (Alphaware)
- Datajack (Aplhaware)
- Math SPU (Alphaware)
- Reaction Enhancers (Rating 2) (Alphaware)
Bioware (0.50 ESS):
- Cerebral Boosters (Rating 2) (Standard)
- PuShEd
- Muscle Toner (Rating 2) (Standard)
- Reflex Recorder (Heavy Weapons) (Standard)
Total ESS remaining: 4.42.

Equipment:

Lifestyle:
- Low

Armor:
- SecureTch PPP armour ensemble w. helmet
- Armor Jacket
-- Biomonitor
-- Auto-injector
-- Nonconductivity (Rating 6)

Weapons:
- Unarmed Strike (Plastic Bone Lacing) (DP: 6, DV: 5P, AP: 0)
- Shock Glove (DP: 6, DV: 5S(e), AP: -half)
- Ruger Super Warhawk (DP: 8, DV: 6P, AP: -2, RC: 1, SA)
-- Smartgun System, Internal
-- Metahuman Customization
-- Personalized Grip
-- Ammo Skip System
-- Skinlink
-- Extended Clip Cylinder
-- Firding Selection Change, Small, SA
- ArmTech MGL-6 (DP: 12, DV: Grenade, AP: -, RC: 1, SA)
-- Smartgun System, Internal
-- Airburst Link
-- Folding Stock
-- Skinlink
-- Metahuman Customization
- Ingram White Knight (DP: 12, DV: 6P, AP: -1, RC: 9, BF/FA)
-- Stock
-- Smartgun System, Internal
-- Foregrip
-- Personalized Grip
-- Metahuman Customization
-- Heavy Barrel

Ammo:
- Heavy Pistols:
100x Gel rounds
100x Ex-Ex rounds
- Minigrenades:
10x Smoke
10x Flash-Bang
- LMGs:
500x Regular ammo
100x Ex-Ex rounds

Commlinks:
- CMT Clip (1/3/1/1) (Broadcasting fake SIN, not used for shadowrunning)
-- Fake SIN (Rating 4)
-- Fake License (Rating 4) (Drivers License)
-- Vector Xim
--- Browse (Rating 1)
--- Edit (Rating 1)
- Transys Avalon (4/4/6/6) (RunLink, operates in hidden mode)
-- Customized Interface
-- Optimization (Exploit)
-- Armor Case (Rating 10)
-- Subvocal Microphone
-- Sim Module (Hot)
-- Novatech Navi
--- System 6 upgrade
--- Firewall 6 upgrade
--- Analyze (Rating 6, Ergonomic)
--- Browse (Rating 6)
--- Command (Rating 6)
--- Edit (Rating 6)
--- Scan (Rating 6)
--- Exploit (Rating 6, Mute)
--- Decrypt (Rating 6)
--- Encrypt (Rating 6)
--- Spoof (Rating 6)
--- Track (Rating 6)
--- Sniffer (Rating 6)
--- Defuse (Rating 6)
--- Disarm (Rating 6)
--- ECCM (Rating 6)
--- Stealth (Rating 6, Ergonomic)

Other Gear:
- Backpack
- Contact Lenses (Rating 2)
-- Image Link
-- Smartlink
-- Skinlink
- Goggles (Rating 4)
-- Image Lnk
-- Smartlink
-- Vision Enhancement (Rating 3)
-- Skinlink
- Earbuds (Rating 2)
-- Audio Enhancement (Rating 3)
-- Select Sound Filter (Rating 3)
-- Skinlink
- Medkit (Rating 6)
-- 5 Medkit supplies
-- 3 Trauma Patch
-- 3 Stimulant Patch
-- 4 Long Haul
-- 27 Cram
- Micro Sensor
-- Radio Signal Scanner (Rating 6)
-- Tag Eraser

Vehicle:
- Harley-Davidson Scorpion
-- Vehicle Sensor
-- Turbocharger (Ration 1)
-- Metahuman Adjustment, Troll
-- 2x Run-flat tires
-- Morphing License Plate
-- Spoof Chip
-- Firewall 6 upgrade

BP used: 400
Nuyen used: 250.000

Urgent in-game purchases:
Nuyen:
- Response 6 comlink upgrade (8.000 Y)
- Simsense Accelerator comlink upgrade (14.000 Y)
- Weapon mount for HD Scorpion (Normal, concealed, fixed, remote) (6.000 Y)
- Cerebral Boosters R2->R3 (10.000 Y)
- Muscle Toner R2->R4 (16.000 Y)
- Encephalon R2, alphaware (150.000 Y)
- Synaptic Booster R2, standard (160.000 Y)
- Simsense Booster, alphaware (130.000 Y)
Karma:
- Specializations for every individual skill (2 karma/each)
- Electronics Group R1-R4 (40 karma)
- Karate (Rating 1) (14 karma)
-- +1DV unarmed
-- Maneuver (Iaijutsu)
-- Maneuver (Finishing Move)

So, have I made any glaring mistakes in my build? Or am I ready to enter the 6th world with this guy?

[gradivus]

I want you explain to me the concept of an 'extended' chamber....

Either the chamber stays the same size in which case the only way to fit in more bullets is to use smaller ones thus reducing DV and AP. This would also require substituting a barrel that accommodates the bullets as it is not a good idea to fire a bullet too small for the barrel.

Or you can make a chamber that is larger. In this case, you have to overhaul the revolver so much to fit this larger chamber that basically you no longer have  a Warhawk.

Seriously- the accessory is called extended clip for a reason.

[bdyer]

A couple of notes:

First, unless you can get the gm to agree on boosting machine guns, they are not more powerful than standard assault rifles and have huge negatives to go with them. Grenade launchers can be nice but not sure if it's worth it.

Second, your hurting Bad on skills.  No perception and ewar 1 will hurt for your hacking.

If you are set on unarmed (as shown in your urgent in game purchases). You might consider going archery instead.  You get extremely high hit damage.  I don't know backstory wise, how a strong unarmed guy also went hacking.


In my experience, hacking is a unique beast.  Since only one/2 characters can do it, it's a isolated skill for everyone else.  So what usually happens is that the gm will raise his dice pool to make it a challenge for you.  So going completely crazy stacking hacking bonuses actually hurts you ( I had a hacker start with a dp of 22 for hacking and it was a breeze for him to break into anything so everything started having military and above systems)

Alphaware on that much to start can be painful.  You have to cut something

You can also consider type o system quality and going all bioware mostly

[bdyer]

I think a good skill spread would be

(138 bp)
Cracking group 4
Electronics group 3
Long range weapon choice 4
Unarmed 4
Perception 4
Inflitration 4
Pilot ground 1


By dropping logic from 4 (6) to 1(3), edge from 5 to 3 and body from 7 to 5 this could be accomplished ( if war is allowed look into YNT soft weave).

[iKill]

Thank you for your replies 

Seriously- the accessory is called extended clip for a reason.

Yeah, and that is why I used its name, so people would know that I used the extend clip mod on the revolver. So, to answer your question, neither of the above. The chamber still hold 1 round each, and it still shoots standard Warhawk-caliber ammo, the drum just has two more chambers than in the standard configuation.

First, unless you can get the gm to agree on boosting machine guns, they are not more powerful than standard assault rifles and have huge negatives to go with them. Grenade launchers can be nice but not sure if it's worth it.

How so? The DVs of assault rifles and LMGs are the same, but the LMG has the option of feeding from a belt, and it is reasonable to assume that they will suffer less from overheating than rifles when used to put out large volumes of fire. On top of that, they are used with the heavy weapon skill, which allows me to use rocket launchers, assault cannons and heavier MGs when I need the extra punch, while the automatics skill does not allow me to use heavier weapons ('War!' is not used at this table). Is there any downsides to using LMGs that I am not aware of?

Second, your hurting Bad on skills.  No perception and ewar 1 will hurt for your hacking.

I know I got the impression from other posts on this forum that skills were a horrible investment at chargen, and that one should minimize the number of BP spent on skills as much as possible? Is there different views on that in the SR metagame? For the record, this character is to be used for a long campaign with a slow start, so I need a character that can make good use of karma to become better.

If you are set on unarmed (as shown in your urgent in game purchases). You might consider going archery instead.  You get extremely high hit damage.  I don't know backstory wise, how a strong unarmed guy also went hacking.

I never intended unarmed combat to be a primary strategy for this character, but more in the lines of a plan B if I ever ran out of ammo, were caught unarmed, or as a silent alternative to my loud guns. Also, the iaijutsu maneuver seems all kinds of useful. Is it considered unwise to invest karma in martial arts and the unarmed combat, when melee is not the characters primary area of expertise?

And as for why, why not? Being able to throw a punch is a useful life skill for anyone, and especially so if you happen to be a hardened criminal who is killing and stealing for a living.

In my experience, hacking is a unique beast.  Since only one/2 characters can do it, it's a isolated skill for everyone else.  So what usually happens is that the gm will raise his dice pool to make it a challenge for you.  So going completely crazy stacking hacking bonuses actually hurts you ( I had a hacker start with a dp of 22 for hacking and it was a breeze for him to break into anything so everything started having military and above systems)

A very good point. When we play D&D, we use to joke that traps don't appear before someone is dumb enough to play a rogue, and that seems to be the same problem. But what can I do about it? Have I overspecialised my character in hacking? And if so, which of my hacking boosters should I drop?

[bdyer]

Please note that all my advice is based on what mechanically works better.  If you want a heavy weapons character for fun/background, they are still quite viable.

For heavy weapons:
A) uncompensated recoil is doubled- I know you have the full recoil compensation on it, but it might be a consideration for future weapons
B) they are large and hard to hide, means you won't always be able to have your goodies
C) they are totally illegal which means that cops are going to shoot first and try to ask questions when your dead ( or them hehe)
D) see page 162 in arsenal

carrying heavy Weapons
Heavy weapons are so large and potentially damaging to the user that they cannot be carried and fired without the help of a gyrostabilizationunit.Trollsandotherunusuallylargeandstrong metahumans may be an exception to this rule. Any character with a Body of 8 or higher and Strength of 8 or higher can carry and use a heavy weapon without benefit of a stabilizer. However, whenever a character fires a heavy weapon he is carrying, he must resist Stun damage equal to half the Power (round down) of the weapon, and may be knocked down (see p. 161, SR4A)

Meaning you have to have the gun strapped to you chest.

Lmg vs assault rifle the only change is -3 armor on the lmg vs -1 on the assault or aprox .67 dmg.

For comparison, a bow will do 12dv per shot with a str 10 character

For unarmed:
Unless you seriously spec into it, a holdout pistol would be better.  A holdout pistol will shoot twice a round for 4p each.  While unarmed with 7 str and bone lacing only does 5dv once a round.  Don't get me wrong, unarmed spec builds are awesome but they don't work partways

For skills:
Hacking in sr4 does not utilize attributes so skills are better while combat characters rely more on attributes but some skills are still required

For hacking:
I would drop the hacking qualities.  Pushed is fine.  This will free up qualities

[gradivus]

Thank you for your replies 

Seriously- the accessory is called extended clip for a reason.

Yeah, and that is why I used its name, so people would know that I used the extend clip mod on the revolver. So, to answer your question, neither of the above. The chamber still hold 1 round each, and it still shoots standard Warhawk-caliber ammo, the drum just has two more chambers than in the standard configuation.

Let me reiterate my point since I evidently didn't explain myself properly.
I goofed and used 'chamber' instead of cylinder.

If you have a cylinder, it has a circumference.

If you want the cylinder to hold two additional chambers (and the caliber of bullet doesn't change), the cylinder has a greater circumference than the original one.

This new cylinder with it's greater circumference can not fit back into the original gun.

An extended clip works in a Baretta because the clip extends down beyond the handle. The clip itself doesn't have a change to width or depth, just length.