[Chalkarts]

I create characters for fun,its a sad thing i know, lol.

I was curious about making a character that wasn't cyber, or magical in any way, just ultra normal, all skills and attributes.
Anyone ever played one?  I just wonder how viable it would be at all.  Just a normal human, would he be roadkill?

[Bewilderbeast]

The problem with such a concept is that there's really 0 incentive to not take at least some 'ware. Being strictly mundane gives you no benefit, and a central theme of SR is that runners need to eke out every advantage to survive.

That said, you can definitely have a character that starts out completely normal, then gains cyberware over the course of play (you can't really Awaken during play except for GM fiat, I guess).

To actually create such a "future street sam" character, I'd make a human and load up in Edge. Being able to add 7 or 8 dice to any pool on a character that's already going to have very good skills and attributes (because what else are you going to spend your chargen resources on?) should make your character effective enough to survive long enough to eventually desecrate his body with cyber spurs and bone lacing and junk.

[firebug]

No real reason, yeah, but there is a way.

High Edge, and lots of drugs.

See the "Pharmapunk." thread for what I mean when I say, drugs are incredibly potent in 5e and can easily take the place of magic or cyber.

[Bewilderbeast]

No real reason, yeah, but there is a way.

High Edge, and lots of drugs.

See the "Pharmapunk." thread for what I mean when I say, drugs are incredibly potent in 5e and can easily take the place of magic or cyber.

Even Pharmapunks benefit immensely from Narco and Nephritic Screens. Doable, but again... no real incentive. Not even much of an RP incentive, especially in a world where data jacks, Nephritic screens and cybereyes are explicitly considered common, normal consumer goods.

[firebug]

Absolutely.  The kind of holistic hippie that would refuse any and all cyber would probably ALSO refuse drugs, so that's off the table.  And that sort of character would be best done with a mage or adept anyways.

[Chalkarts]

No real reason, yeah, but there is a way.

High Edge, and lots of drugs.

See the "Pharmapunk." thread for what I mean when I say, drugs are incredibly potent in 5e and can easily take the place of magic or cyber.

JUICERS!!!!!!
I hadn't even considered this.  Now I'm going to have to explore further.

[DragginSPADE]

First, if you're not having fun when creating your character, you're not doing it right. 

Second, although they may not be the most "optimized" there is plenty of room in SR for unaugmented characters.  Folks like Dirk Montgomery from 2XS, the Weapons Specialist archetype from SR4 or The Investigator from SR3..  Not needing priorities for magic or lots of cyberware leaves you plenty to put into attributes and skills.  Even more if you're human.

Suggested roles might be an investigator, with good skills in perception, stealth and social areas along with a wide knowledge of surveillance techniques.  Or a sniper, with stealth to get into position, a good rifle and surprise you don't need wired reflexes.  Or whatever else you can think of.  Could any of these roles be a little better with some augmentations?  Sure.  But if you don't want to take any as a RP choice, well this is a Role Playing game, go for it!

[Chalkarts]

I was thinking of going with a gimmiky fully armored guy with armor, tactical helmet, riot shield, Roomsweeper, and vibro-sword if possible. 

Kind of a modern knight instead of Steel he wears kevlar but the principle is the same.

A human purist who doesn't believe in tainting the body.

[firebug]

You could do that as an Adept though, without any loss of style or substance.  It'd make more sense, too, as many Awakened tend to go a little "neo-archaic" with their methods.

[Glyph]

A mundane character is certainly doable.  Using sum-to-ten, you can take A: Attributes and skills, C: metatype for a human with 7 Edge, and E: magic and resources (spending 10 Karma on extra money lets you start out with 26,000 Nuyen, enough for the basic necessities).  So you will have great stats, ample skills, and a high Edge when you get in trouble or are making an important roll.

Long-term viability depends on two things: one, how quickly the runners advance, money-wise (so you can start adding augmentations); and two, how important skills are outside of combat.  In a stingy campaign where the main focus is on combat dice pools, this guy still won't be bad, but he will probably be behind the power curve.  In a campaign with large cash rewards where a well-rounded skill set is rewarded, this might even be an optimal choice to take - have higher Attributes and more skills instead of augmentations you will quickly be replacing with better stuff shortly.

[Chalkarts]

Is there a cost associated with customizing a set of armor for appearance purposes?

I was thinking the character could get away with wearing a suit of full armor if it was something he could just explain away as cosplay.  It could be a modern functioning replica of Saurons armor or something else well known. 

[firebug]

No written cost, I could see it being up to the GM.  However, it'd take a very specific skillset to rework actual armor into looking cosplay without hindering its protective ability.  Also you'd stand out incredibly so, attracting a lot of attention from everyone, cops included.  And that'd be just the armor, let alone sword and shield.  "They're just for looks, I didn't plan on stabbing anyone!" isn't an excuse that'll stand half a second.  Overall, likely wouldn't be able to get away with it more than once, and that'd still be a hassle where you'd be too likely to be examined and searched or put in detainment.

[farothel]

One of the main advantages I see a character like this having is that he will always be able to function at a decent level, no matter what the GM throws at him.
-high background count: who cares
-a lot of noise: who cares
-someone tries to shut down your 'ware: not really a problem.
-no weapons: if you take a decent score in unarmed combat, you might still be able to get out of that fight.

and the fact that his attributes and skills will generally be higher makes this type of character ideal for the above situations.  It's situational, but in those situations it can be a huge help.

[Jack_Spade]

It's a hard concept, but it can be done - especially if you play a face:
A: Attributes
B: Skills
B: Metatype: Elf
E: Money
E: Magic

Maximize CHA, get to pretty to hit
Specialize in Leadership, Negotiation and Con, take Stealth Group, Pistols&Automatics + Unarmed (any Martial Arts - Disarm)

Get Lightning Reflexes , Hawk Eye and Jack of all Trades Qualities

Add that nice Executive Suit with 12 Armor, a decent commlink with trodes and you should be good to go as face. If you need to fight you go full defense and use your Leadership skills to augment your team. If you are alone, just blitz and take someone else's weapon.

[Kiirnodel]

Personally, I wouldn't go E money. Starting out with only 6k nuyen is way lower than necessary. Most times people go E Resources they end up trying to find some way to scrimp by with No gear, and that isn't really what you want with a complete unaugmented mundane. You need to have some guns, good armor, and some other decent support gear. Could easily suffice with D money if you want to have some decent gear but nothing fancy.

The Executive Suite is 2k, a decent commlink is another 1k for a rating 3 (which is only decent). Add in a Lifestyle and a Fake SIN and you've already hit cap.
Not only that, but Priority B Elf is 6 Special Attribute points which is completely wasted on a mundane character. Much better off taking Priority C Metatype and bumping Resources to D. Or if you prefer playing a Human, you can easily get by with Priority D Human and either up Skills to A (using Sum to Ten), or have even more cash and splurge on a nice car and even more gear to back up whatever you need to do.