[School Idol]

Hi Everyone!

So I never get to play Shadowrun (I'm always the one running it) so the closest I can get to actually playing is designing characters and running them through hypothetical situations. But I figured I might as well make a stockpile of characters ready-to-go in case an opportunity to play does happen. Here is one I made with the intention of making a Game Master sigh and throw the sheet at my face. Please help me tweak and improve it! Thanks!

Name: Merry Sioux
Concept: Gunbunny / Mage / Decker

== Priorities ==
A: Attributes (24)
B: Skills (36/5)
C: Magic (Mystic Adept, 3 Magic, 5 Spells)   
D: Metatype (Human, 3 Special Attributes)
E: Resources (6,000 Starting Nuyen)

== Attributes ==
Body: 4
Agility: 5
Reaction: 4(6)
Strength: 2
Willpower: 5
Logic: 6
Intuition: 5
Charisma: 2
Edge: 2 (Human)
Magic: 6
Initiative: 11 + 3D6

== Karma ==
30 Power Points x6
10 Strength +1
10 Money (+20,000 Starting Nuyen)
-1 In Debt (+5000 Starting Nuyen, 7500 Owed)
-4 Addiction: Betel Gum
-10 Allergy (Moderate: Silver)
-5 Distinctive Style (Feathers and trodes, but a non-Native-American Hermetic mage)
-5 Incompetent: Acting (Just like the sample Street Samurai)

== Adept Abilities ==
Improved Initiative 2 (2.5 Power Points)
Improved Ability 3: Automatics (1.5 Power Points)
Improved Ability 3: Hacking (1.5 Power Points)
Attribute Boost 1: Agility (0.25 Power Points)
Enhanced Accuracy: Automatics (0.25 Power Points)

== Spells ==
Ball Lightning (Combat)
Analyze Truth (Detection)
Heal (Health)
Improved Invisibility (Illusion)
Influence (Manipulation)

== Active Skills ==
6 Automatics (Specialization: Machine Pistols)
6 Spellcasting
6 Counterspelling
5 Electronics (Hardware/Software/Computer)
5 Electronic Warfare
5 Cybercombat
6 Hacking (Specialization: Hosts)

== Gear ==
11000  Evo Himitsu, ASDF Rating: 0 5(9) 1 2
500 Device Modification (Add Cyberdeck Module)
900 Program Carrier (Virtual Machine)
500 Cyberprogram, hacking (Smoke Screen(4), Signal Filter)
400 Receiver Dongle
250 Sim Module w/ Hot-Sim

10000 Fake SIN (Rating 4)
800 License: Firearms (Rating 4)
800 License: Magic (Rating 4)
800 License: Cyberdeck (Rating 4) --- Evo Himitsu is an "R" item
2000 Rent (Low) - 1 month

1000 Armored Jacket
100 Helmet
70 Trodes (Headband)
175 Quickdraw Holster
980 Steyr TMP (comes with free Laser Sight!) with Gas Vent 3 + Motorized Folding Stock

100 Ammo (Normal x20, Tracer x10)
300 Ammo (APDS x20, Tracer x10)
220 Ammo (EX x20, Tracer x10)
10 Spare Clip x2

75 Jazz x1
10 Betel x2 (Gives +1 Perception, too!)

A few things to note:

I hate the In Debt Negative Quality, but it helped me raise that starting SIN & Licenses from 2 to 4. Thankfully I only needed to take a single point. 4500 nuyen a month isn't the end of the world, I suppose. It is sleeping in coffin-sized tanks while paying for a Middle lifestyle. I also know that I need more guns, but I had to choose to either take a hit to SIN/License quality, or worry about additional guns later. Finally, if it is a Prime Runner game, then the only significant gear change would be: replacing the Evo Himitsu with Erika-MCD with a Vectored Signal Filter, with an Add Mod ASDF +1/-1. (Probably a Ares Alpha.) The extra +10 Karma would go to: Overclocker + Perfect Time.

[Stainless Steel Devil Rat]

I could easily be wrong and if I am just ignore me... but aren't mystic adepts supposed to split their magic attribute?  If you buy 3 power points for Physad abilities, then you only have 3 MAG for spellcasting purposes?

Magic stuff aside..the Himitsu isn't making you Hacking Ready.  (nor should a 11,000 device replicate the functionality of a for-real cyberdeck, I suppose)  With a DP1 you're slower in VR than you are in AR... although I suppose that may have been part of the plan (to hack without needing to go in to VR).  Still you've jacked up the Sleaze to a level your dice pool won't hit the cap on anyway, with no ability to swap stats around to get some Attack value.  You paid for the Cybercombat skill but didn't pay for gear to let you actually use it...  Between a Firewall 2 and no ability to remove hostile marks on your person other than rebooting... not sure you're more than a dedicated Hacker's assist-monkey... But with DP1 you barely can assist on so much as a Data Search.

[Tarislar]

That is the old Magic Adept that had to split.   5E doesn't do that, you buy the adept powers w/ PP for 30K.


To the OP.   

I applaud your attempt at a rather extreme concept & the fact that short of the money/deck aspect you've managed to almost pull it off.


A few things I'd suggest.

1.  Swap that STR-2 Karma in for a Mentor Spirit & Heightened Concentration to be able to sustain Invis or anything else w/o the +2 to Target #s.  (Or more spells)

2.  Drop Cyber Combat for Perception so you don't get smoked by surprise the first time someone gets the jump on you.

3.  Move 1 point of Body around to either Reaction or Charisma for the Dodging or Contacts.

4.  This is questionable, but possibly redo your priorities for more Cash/Magic for less Human/Skills.  At a glance I haven't seen the obvious fix there but I feel like its worth a shot to try it.  Possibly even drop 4 attributes, 1 each, BARC to boost magic & cash while dumping human to E.

[Stainless Steel Devil Rat]

That is the old Magic Adept that had to split.   5E doesn't do that, you buy the adept powers w/ PP for 30K.

Ah, you're right.  Thanks for the correction.

Also to the OP:  I totally didn't get the name first read thru.  Heh.  Not sure you're quite "up" to that benchmark to be honest... I'd agree that maybe some priority swaps could improve the overall situation.  With decking being such an intensive focus, not sure you can be competent at it AND two other fields as well.  You might find yourself having to lower your sights, or at the least accept a supporting role level of competency in one or more of your selected fields.

Still I commend you on that smoke-n-mirrors thing.  I hadn't really ever noticed that it does indeed say it increases the attribute as opposed to increasing it for the purposes of specific test(s).  That's pretty OP on a real cyberdeck!  Put your worst stat in Sleaze, crank up the Smoke-n-Mirrors as high as your NR allows, and get away with not having a worst ASDF array stat to worry about...

[FST_Gemstar]

Honestly, this feels pretty workable for a tough concept, and priority tweaks are going to come with their own drawbacks. I'd echo what Tarislar said for the smaller tweaks.   

If trying to flip priorities:

An option would be to flip Skills/Magic. You lose 3 skill electronics skillpoints (basically only going to hinder your Computer rolls, but those can be mitigated), for some more spells and and an extra point of Magic. 

This could also allow you to flip Resources/Human here for some more starting cash (you end up with Magic 5 Edge 2 and 3 less electronics , but more spells, money, etc.) 

I should know this, but does Jazz work with Improved Reflexes?

If you wanted to burn a point of magic for an essence of 'ware (and Narco!) and a nicer deck (and other gear, foci, positive qualities, etc.), you could go DEBCA. 

[Tarislar]

After thinking about it, try the following for set up.


A-Magic - 6,  10 Skills, 10 Spells
B-Attributes - 20
C-Skills - 28/2G
D-Cash - $50K
E-Human - 1


Bod-3, Agi-4, Rea-3(5), Str-1, Wil-5, Log-6, Itn-5, Cha-1, Mag-6, Edg-3


38 Points / 2 Groups
Group-Electronics-2
Automatics-6
Counterspelling-6
Electronic Warfare-6
Hacking-6  (Hosts+2)
Perception-6  (+2 Mentor/Eagle)
Spellcasting-6 (Type+2)


Power Points - 6 (+.5 Mentor)
Reflexes 2 -2.5
Automatics 2 -1.0
Hacking 3 -1.5
Heightened Concentration -.5
Agility Boost 1 -.25
Sustenance -.25    (for those long hacks when you just can't stop & snack........ or find something else for 1/4 point but automatics accuracy is a waste, get a better gun instead.)
Combat Sense 1 -0.5 - Free w/ Mentor/Eagle

You've got plenty of Karma for some L1 skills &/or Positive Qualities to flesh out this character, or, you have quite a bit more cash to get a somewhat better Deck.

[Marcus]

I'm not a big fan of Mysads. But this is very nice. Given your constraints i think it comes together very well.
Other then having an odd number for body, and raising cha to 3, i wouldn't do anything to it.
You will need get a fair number of skill very quickly starting but I wouldn't move any skill points around. I think that about as optimal a setup as could be achieved.