[Scottys72]

So I first off would like to apologize because I am REALLY new to 5e.  I played Shadowrun back in the days and I loved it.  The more I read about the game the more excited I get to play, but the game is very daunting.  So our group needed a decker and I made one and I think he was built well, but the more I read about technomancers the more I thought of a cool backstory for him.  Basically he was sold off to a AA at a young age so they could experiment on him.  So not the best childhood, constantly being prodded and probed and drugged as to make sure he couldn’t escape or worse…  The book makes it sound as though Technomancers are very much a mystery and the “unknown”.  I have a lot more thought up for the backstory, on how he escapes and becomes a shadowrunner, but that’s the very basic idea.

So now I get into my real questions.   How to create one.  I read this nice write up (https://www.reddit.com/r/Shadowrun/comments/3aq8zb/technomancer_hacks_aka_how_to_play_a_technomancer/)  and it answered a lot of questions, but it also raised a lot of questions.  So here is what I have so far (and please give me your feedback)!  I am hoping to create the mysterious hacker who thinks about the door, or the gun and the shit happens!

A – Stats
B- Magic
C- Skills
D- Race
E- $$

A -
Stats: 
               Base     Attribute   Karma   Total
Logic                1                   5              6
Willpower           1             4              5
Intuition                1             4              5
Charisma           1             4              5
Body                 1                   4              5
Agility               1              3              4
Reaction      1                          10   2
Strength           1                          10       2

In the guide that I mentioned above the author mentioned bumping up his strength more for armor purposes.  What would that be?  I have read about if you want to “combine” armor, but if I’m wearing a lined coat why would I need a 3 or higher strength?

C –
Skills:

Groups:
Athletics   1
Stealth    1
   
Compiling   6
Registering   6
Hacking    6
Software   6
Perception   2
Firearms   2

Am I missing anything or would you suggest anything different?

D-
Race:
Edge   2   1   3
Resonance   4   2   6
Essence   6      6
         
Human 3      3   
         

E-
Cash

I have not gotten this far but I would use the remaining 5 Karma (out of 25 (20 being used for stats)) for cash.  So I should have 16k.

I know I need at least one fake SIN and a few licenses, a pistol and a lines coat  but what should I get?  Do I need a comm link since I am a technomancer?


Random question:  So the 4 complex forms I was thinking of are:

Puppeteer
TranscendentGrid
Resonance Spike
Editor

Any suggestions?

Also how many spirits can you have summoned at once?  I have read the decking section and I really did not see any mention of this. 

Qualities:  The qualities I am think of are: 

Quick Healer
Analytical Mind
Code Slinger
Natural Hardening

I know I have a few to many, so what would you drop?  Also based on the limited info that I listed on my background what negative qualities would you take?

I am 100% open to new ideas and I would love some feedback 

[Imladir]

In the guide that I mentioned above the author mentioned bumping up his strength more for armor purposes.  What would that be?  I have read about if you want to “combine” armor, but if I’m wearing a lined coat why would I need a 3 or higher strength?

If you want to add an helmet or an armored suit, you are limited to twice your strength as a bonus. So more strength allows for more armour. Two should be enough I think.

Am I missing anything or would you suggest anything different?

You need the Computer skill (Edit files, erase matrix signature, format & reboot device, trace icon and above all, Matrix Perception & Search) as well as Electronic Warfare (mainly for Hide, but there are other uses).
      

I know I need at least one fake SIN and a few licenses, a pistol and a lines coat  but what should I get?

Don't forget ammo.
I like contacts with some vision enhancements, you can take earbuds with the same thing.
Don't forget to pay for a lifestyle too.

Do I need a comm link since I am a technomancer?

You don't need it as much as you  can't do without ^^
If you don't have a 'link, it is very easy to know that you are a TM. And given what you said about the BG of the character, not being flagged as such would be a high priority I think.
Don't forget the trodes to go with it, gives plausibility to your presence in VR.

Any suggestions?

Editor is not that useful (depends on the GM, some will allow edition of protected files, some won't).
Resonance Spike is not bad, but TranscendantGrid is not that good (hoping from one grid to another is easy, and you're not vulnerable from an attack on all grids).
One CF you want is Resonance Veil: with it activated on a compiled sprite, it won't gain OS over time.
Cleaner is interesting too, it removes OS, so that's good too. You need to thread it multiple times given the Fade, so it can be better to just reboot. But in some cases, you want to keep your marks so you can't reboot. So not a "priority one" CF, but still a useful one.
There are more in Data Trails but none that good to  begin with (I like Misread Marks myself but it's not that useful and a bit expensive).

Also how many spirits can you have summoned at once?  I have read the decking section and I really did not see any mention of this. 

Only one compiled at a time, up to your logic in registered ones.

Quick Healer
Analytical Mind
Code Slinger
Natural Hardening

As far as qualities go, Focused Concentration 1 is probably the only one really interesting, since it allows you to sustain your Resonance Veil on your sprite without the -2d.
Quick Healer is nice, but cheap enough that you can take it quickly once the game has started, which allows you to use your karma elsewhere at creation.
Code Slinger is not that good: it costs a lot for little gain (only improves by 2d a single action).
Same thing for Natural Hardening. You would be better of taking Exceptional Attribute (Willpower).
And Analytical Mind costs less than Code Slinger but is a lot more restrictive too so might not be a good choice.

I know I have a few to many, so what would you drop?  Also based on the limited info that I listed on my background what negative qualities would you take?

In Debt for a few points can be nice, it helps at the beginning and is not that hard to pay back.
You can take a code block too (on data bomb for example, but I find this a bit "cheap").

If you want more, you can read this guide too: http://forums.shadowruntabletop.com/index.php?topic=20066.0

[Scottys72]

First off thank you for the response!  It really helps as this game and the matrix can be challenging to understand.

As far as skills would you add Computer and electronic warfare and lower my other skills?  Or are any of my skills “non-essential”?

In regards to the commlink, you mentioned trodes?  What are they?

Qualities – Great info.  I will definitely take focused concentration 1.  What other positive qualities would you take?  Also lets say I only took FC1 and I took a few negative qualities, would I have extra Karma (outside the 25) to spend during creation? 

Again thank you.  This is great!

[Imladir]

Trodes can be found p439 of SR5. It allows someone to go to VR without a datajack.
One of the problems of a TM is that there are 9 skills (or 8 since Decompile is just bad) si I'm afraid that in what you put, there are no useless skills... Karma will help a bit, but you will have to be careful at the beginning.

For positive qualities, apart from Focused Concentration and Exceptional Attribute (Willpower) (Going to 7 in willpower will help a lot in defense and fade resistance), there are not that you *must* have. And if you are low in skills, spending karma there might be better.
You might want to consider switching to Magic C and Skills B. While you will have less CF (but you can spend some creation karma there) and loose one edge point, the points you gain in skills (and mainly in skill groups, spend the 5 in Cracking group) will more than compensate for it. As soon as you have 15 karma, you will be able to get your edge to 3, whereas improving a bunch of skills will be harder, longer and more expensive.

[Bushw4cker]

Your Attributes are 4 points over limit.

I disagree with Scottys about Codeslinger, especially for Hack on the  Fly, which you will be using more than any other action.

I would consider looking at Karma gen for making Technomancer.

[Scottys72]

Thank you for the feedback.

As far as my attributes I think I am in line.  I have spent 24

A -
Stats: 
               Base     Attribute   Karma   Total
Logic                1          5                   6
Willpower          1          4                   5
Intuition            1          4                   5
Charisma          1          4                   5
Body                1          4                   5
Agility               1          3                  4
Reaction           1                     10      2
Strength           1                     10      2

So if you add up the attribute column it adds up to 24.  I bumped my reaction and strength with 20 out of my 25 Karma.

In regards to my skills I did not realize that I received 2 rating 4 Resonce skills, so that helps out a lot!

Qualities:  I am thinking of taking Focused concentration 1, Code Slinger, and exceptional attribute. My question is if I do that should I switch my logic and willpower score?   What negative traits should I take?

Thanks again!!

[Imladir]

If you want a +2 on Hack on the Fly, take the specialty, its cheaper by 3 karma. Sure, you could take both, but still...

[Scottys72]

Thank you again for all of your help! 

I was doing some comparison last night of decker vs technomancer and i understand that a decker straight out of the box will be better in a lot of ways and not as unique in other ways, buti just wnat to make sure I ma not missing anything.

Lets say a decker attacks an IC.  He rolls his attack rating from his deck, plus his logic, plus his cybercombat and plus any specific program he might have up?  So if he has the Sony deck with lets say a rating of attack of 6 at that time, with a 6 logic and a 6 cyber combat and hammer running he would roll 20 dice? 

Vs

The technomnacer with a 6 charisma and a 6 cybercombat.  So 12? 

Am I missing anything?  I understand that technomacer does a lot with his Sprites, but am i missing something?  And the above example could be used for firewall, sleaze and data processing.



My next question is on sprites.  When they list a sprite and they give the sprite a skill, what rating is that at?  Is it at whatever level is was summoned at?  I just did not see that part explained? 

Also lets say you have 3 registered sprites and one compiled sprite.  If you take the actions in your initiative to send them doing their task can you then perform your owm matrix moves in addition to theirs in the matrix as well?  So in essence you could have a little army going at once.

[Imladir]

If the Decker goes for a Data Spike attack, it's Cybercombat + Logic [Attack] vs Intuition + Firewall.
So that means 12d (+2d if in Hot Sim), can not have more successes than the current Attack rating of the deck (so between 4 and 7) against Host Rating x 2.
If the attack connects, the DV is Attack + net hits + 2 x number of marks you have on the IC + 2 from the Hammer program.
The IC will resist damages with Host Rating x 2.

For  the TM, you have to take the hot sim bonus into account, so that's a +2 for a total of 14d.

So just on dice pool here, they are not that different. It's a bit easier to have good pools at the beginning for the decker though. As far as I know (and note that I'm pretty new at this Matrix stuff), the two main advantages of the decker is that she can reconfigure her deck attributes and the deck takes the damages (as long as there is no biofeedback that is).

The rating of the skills of a sprite is always at the level of the sprite.
And yes, once you gave an order to your sprites, you are free to do as you please.

[Scottys72]

Thank you again!  I did not realize that the decks rating was it's limiting factor.  I thought it added to the dice pool. 

[Bushw4cker]

Thank you again for all of your help! 

I was doing some comparison last night of decker vs technomancer and i understand that a decker straight out of the box will be better in a lot of ways and not as unique in other ways, buti just wnat to make sure I ma not missing anything.

Lets say a decker attacks an IC.  He rolls his attack rating from his deck, plus his logic, plus his cybercombat and plus any specific program he might have up?  So if he has the Sony deck with lets say a rating of attack of 6 at that time, with a 6 logic and a 6 cyber combat and hammer running he would roll 20 dice? 

Vs

The technomnacer with a 6 charisma and a 6 cybercombat.  So 12? 

Am I missing anything?  I understand that technomacer does a lot with his Sprites, but am i missing something?  And the above example could be used for firewall, sleaze and data processing.



My next question is on sprites.  When they list a sprite and they give the sprite a skill, what rating is that at?  Is it at whatever level is was summoned at?  I just did not see that part explained? 

Also lets say you have 3 registered sprites and one compiled sprite.  If you take the actions in your initiative to send them doing their task can you then perform your owm matrix moves in addition to theirs in the matrix as well?  So in essence you could have a little army going at once.

Attack, Sleaze, and Data Processing are the Limits whether you are a Decker or Technomancer (Limits is the number of successes you are Limited to when you roll dice.  Example: Hacking + Logic (Sleaze) test, if your Sleaze attribute is 6, and you roll 8 hits, you only count 6.) Firewall is a limit for a few actions (Disarm Databomb), but is usually rolled for defense. There are few actions where Data Processing and Sleaze are rolled along with a Skill, but 95% of the time they are going to be your Limits.

Attack Rating, along with being a Limit, also determines how much Damage you do with Data Spike Attack. You roll Cybercombat + Logic (Attack) vs Intuition + Firwall. If your Attack Rating is 6, you do 6 Damage plus 1 for every net hit you get, up to 12 Damage.

Hammer Program adds 2DV to your attack. It doesn't change your limit, but you do 8 Damage, plus 1 for every net hit up to 14, using the last example.

Sprites skills equal Rating, yes you could have army of Sprites, but registering is harder than Compiling.

[Scottys72]

I have read and re-read the decking section and I do not remember seeing that !  i will go read it again!  LOL

So as a technomancer with a Charisma of 5 and cybercombat of 6 and if I was hot.   I would roll 13 dice with a limit of 5 dice?  So 5 DV plus 1 per net hit and they would resist with the host rating x2 (not the firewall?)

Thanks!!! 

[Imladir]

Yep.
Only the host resists with its firewall, the IC have all their dice pools at Host Rating x 2.

[adzling]

Imho dump exceptional attribute: willpower as it's VERY costly for only +1 dice to resist fade.

Instead consider Otaku positive quality for +2 dice to fade resistance at a lower cost.

Also consider Specializations.
They cost 1 skill rank in chargen (or 7 karma) and confer +2 dice to specialization.
For example specialize in Hosts for Hacking in order to pump your HotF against hosts (the hardest targets) by +2.
You should consider a specialization for each of your skills (example: Pistols 1 with Specialization: Semi-Automatics would confer 3 ranks in semi auto pistols vs. for the same cost as a general 2 ranks in pistols).

[Imladir]

You don't only resist Fade with the willpower point. You gain one dice in a whole lot of rolls (and two on biofeedback since it's firewall + willpower).

And I agree on specialisations. For hacking, specializing on a Complex Form (Resonance Veil or Pupeteer mainly) might ne better though.