[Uncle Vabka]

It occurs to me that we do not yet have a "face" type character, which would be essential for this type of team - even more so than an EOD specialist/generalist.

If Damnyankee and you others want, I will switch my character type - just yell. I have a concept for a young speakers way adept merc that I can run with if you want me too.

Love my demo guy, only thinking of team utility.

[Damnyankee]

A lot of the character creation talk is about making khaki colored runners.  You are not shadowrunners. You are Mercenaries who happen to be in the shadowrun universe.  Do some mercs end up as runners?  of course, but on a strictly headcount kind of thing thats rare. 

The organization that is hiring you is going to give you a lot of expensive equipment, train you and then give you missions they want you to accomplish.  They are not going to hire people who are going to be a liability.   They hire people for specific jobs. 
The driver/gunners should be either riggers and or pure soldiers.

DY.

[Uncle Vabka]

For a hearts and minds op, and for "firefighting" we will need a "talker". Want me to redo my character DY?

[Damnyankee]

It occurs to me that we do not yet have a "face" type character, which would be essential for this type of team - even more so than an EOD specialist/generalist.

If Damnyankee and you others want, I will switch my character type - just yell. I have a concept for a young speakers way adept merc that I can run with if you want me too.

Love my demo guy, only thinking of team utility.

Yes, a "face type" character would be better match for this team than a demo guy.  Think hostage negotiator or maybe some kind of trained diplomat. 5th element style negotiations will be frowned upon.  Though its up to you, your demo guy is acceptable.
I think the team also needs some kind of Law enforcement expert, though this need not be your negotiator character.

DY

[Sichr]

Character updatet. I`ll add Knowledges lately and bio, but it wont affect BP costs so you can consider it done for this moment.

[Bewilderbeast]

For a hearts and minds op, and for "firefighting" we will need a "talker". Want me to redo my character DY?

Uncle Vabka: if you want to keep your demo guy, I'd be more than happy to make the team's "talker" negotiator. I was just told that my medic character wasn't acceptable, and this is frankly the only other type of character I'm interested in playing. So if you want to keep your demo-man, I can make the face, and I think that would work out best for everybody, since I remember you mentioning that you really like your demolitions guy.

If you've decided you'd rather play a face instead, though, then please go ahead.
Name: Staff Sergeant David Harman
Nationality: UCAS
Appearance: David is a handsome Caucasian elf with short black hair and strong, masculine features. There's an earnest, "honest-looking" quality to him, the suspicious, sometimes-sickening aura of wholesomeness necessary for a career in politics. He has brown eyes, a slightly broad nose, and a scattering of birthmarks on the left side of his face.
Background: David Harman was a promising law student growing up in Detroit, planning to specialize in business transactions and minor in linguistics. After his schooling and the necessary stint as a lawyer, David planned to launch a career in politics (whether business or corporate, David still hadn't decided). It was during this time that David was approached by a professor impressed with his potential. This professor invited David to join The Gentlemen of Honor, a Freemason-like semi-secret society. It was basically a social club that held some promising possible contacts for the young David, though outsiders often thought of them as a sinister weavers of political conspiracies.
David's new mentors in The Gentlemen of Honor discovered the magical potential in him, and taught him the path of the silver-tongued adept. Once David had completed his magical studies (though before he completed his academic studies- David is a talented college dropout), the arrogant young elf decided to move on from Detroit to bigger game. Optimistic, possibly overconfident, and feeling full of the invulnerability of youth, David left his studies to join Conrad's Conquerors.
The Conrad Conqueror's recruiters decided a partial law degree was an asset, and they put him to work negotiating contracts on behalf of the company. It was cushy work, but David soon realized that his chance for promotion within the company was limited without at least a little bit of time spent in the line of fire. So, at the prodding of some his superiors, David volunteered for an actual soldier position. Most of David's martial training was handled "in-house," and he adapted well to the military lifestyle. With a knack for languages, David is often assigned to squads as a translator.
David still has big dreams and a passion for negotiation. David plans to advance through the ranks and one day have "Conrad's" job. He plans to achieve this through either A) merit or B) outliving all the old codgers currently in charge. True, Plan B will be tricky out on the battlefield, but David thinks his magical capabilities and worthy squad mates give him a good chance, and David is no coward.
Despite his ambitions, David is a company man through and through. He hopes that if he can someday take the reins of Conrad's Conquerors, he can help take it in the direction of a greater global good... and, of course, greater company profits.
Metatype: Elf (30 BP)

Qualities
Adept (5 BP)
Moderate Allergy to Gold (+10 BP)

Attributes (200 BP)

Body 3 (20 BP)
Agility 5 (30 BP)
Reaction 4(5) (30 BP)
Strength 3 (20 BP)

Charisma 7 (40 BP)
Intuition 3 (20 BP)
Logic 3 (20 BP)
Willpower 3 (20 BP)

Magic 5 (40 BP)
Edge 2 (10 BP)

Adept Powers (5 Power Points)
Improved Reflexes 1 (-1.5 PP)
Astral Perception (-1 PP)
Kinesics 3 (-1.5 PP)
Improved Ability 1- Negotiation (-.25 PP)
Improved Physical Attribute 1- Reaction (-.75 PP)

Skills (124 BP)
Negotiation 6(7) (24 BP)
Con 4 (Fast Talk +2) (18 BP)
Automatics 4 (16 BP)
Assensing 3 (12 BP)
Perception 3 (12 BP)
Navigation 2 (8 BP)
Etiquette 2 (Military +2) (10 BP)
Leadership 2 (8 BP)
Unarmed Combat 2 (8 BP)
Dodge 2 (8 BP)


Knowledge Skills (24 Free)
Business Law 4 (Academic-Logic)
World History 3 (Academic-Logic)
UCAS Pop Culture 2 (Interests-Intuiton)
UCAS Politics 2 (Professional-Logic)

Language Skills
English (N)
Local Language 4
Spanish 4
Japanese 4
Latin 1

Gear (1 BP, $5,000)
R3 Contact Lenses w/ Flare Compensation, Smartlink- $700
R3 Earbuds w/ Spatial Recognizer, Audio Enhancement 3- $430
Tooth Breakable Compartment w/ 1 dose of Nitro- $550
Holo Projector-$200
Actioneer's Business Suit w/ Chemical Protection 2, Fire Resistance 3, Nonconductivity 4- $3,700

[Uncle Vabka]

I am happy enough with my demo guy/generalist. You took some of the same ideas I had for my face as well... was going to be a speakers way adept too

[Damnyankee]

I'm going to update this thread, and try to make things clearer, however today is my girlfriends birthday, so it wont happen today.


Damnyankee.

[Damnyankee]

I was able to get to it.  Take a look at this,(this is the first post now) and see if it explains more.  I was trying not to tell you what the missions was going to be exactly, because I wanted some leeway in what that mission was depending on what the characters were.  I realized that I wasn't giving you enough direction.  I think the best way going forward is to figure out roles before making characters- not that if you made a character its garbage, just that if you haven't, don't - figure out the role THEN make character.  Right now there is some confusion over roles.  Ill add a post With a running tally of who is doing what.  But right now, because of the confusion, everyone repost what role your character is playing (or intend to play.) If your not sure, list the ones you would like to play.
Civilians: Ive decided the best way to handle some of the potential characters (mages and MD's come to mind) is as civilian advisors. As such they would not be in the chain of command, and would not need all the special stuff.  They would still need to be team players.   I'm willing to have one 'civilian' character for every two merc characters.

ARIES MP HEAVY LASER!!!?
Yes, the Appaloosa is armed with a laser, I decided that it makes sense as its a very powerful defensive weapon (when added with the missile defense system) and it does not cost anything (dollar wise) to shoot; both are important factors for mercenary accountants.  It does however take away the ability to put on a show of force, lasers are SA and are quiet.  If you think the group needs the ability to 'Rock-and-Roll' a LMG oriented merc would work.
The equipment List is "Basic"  mercenaries are professionals, so you have two options if you want something not on the list.  A: ask for it.  If you can make a compelling argument why you should have it, chances are the company will give it to you.
B: Buy it your self.  Strictly speaking, bringing your own toys to the field is against the rules, but everyone does it, so as long as its not crazy, (personal Great dragon ATMs = right out,) then you should get away with it.

Damnyankee.

Campaign details (Improved)

This game will revolve around a unit of mercenaries whose job is to interface with the local population in a recently conquered nation.  They will be tasked with trying to provide services that have been removed due to the change of government, such has investigations and solutions to major criminal complaints or providing an alternative method to dispute resolution.   
They will also interface with the population for the mercenary company, though not as representatives of the employers of the mercenaries. For example, they will not be directly involved with setting up a new government, however, they will attempt to provide compensation for property damaged during military operations. 
The mercenary company as a whole is tasked with providing security in the region, which includes setting up and maintain road blocks, security patrols, and route clearance. 

The team will include 6 to 8 members, most of whom should be licensed mercenaries, and not civilian advisors.  The team must be capable of operating independently, and must be capable of defending it self, and civilians from hostles.  The team should include between four and six operators who's specialty is in line with the mission.  For example, detectives, mediators, medical personnel, technical and/or thaumitergical experts.  The team will be assigned an APC from the company motor pool.  As per company procedures, the APC will have a crew of two, either a driver and gunner, or a driver and assistant driver, or a driver and gunner/commander, depending on the personnel.

Standard issue equipment
Singularity Battle Buddy Basic R5, S5, S5, F5.
Simlink,Biometric reader:Fingerprint, Skinlink

HK XM30 standard version. + carbine kit. Smartlink mark 74, advanced safety mod. (immobilizer) Skinlink. Smartlink camera upgraded with LL and flare compensation.
Six rifle magazines, 180 rounds RFID tagged regular rounds
2 Grenade launcher magazines, 16 RFID tagged mini grenades. (choose)
Walther PB-120 Smartlink mark 74, advanced safety mod. (immobilizer) Skinlink.
2 Magazines. 20 rounds RFID tagged regular rounds.

Light military armor
Mobility upgrade 1, Chemical Protection level 4,Quick release ,Thermal damping 3,Fire resistance 3, Helmet

The vehicle
CC Modified Appoloosa Type III
Upgrades: Amenities (Squatter), Off Road Tires, Extra Entry/Exit Points, ECM 3, ECCM 3, Weapon Mount (Reinforced, external, turret, remote w/ Aries MP Heavy Laser) w/ Gyro link, Rigger adaptation, Manual control over ride, Retrans 8,Satellite communications, lock on countermeasures. Improved Sensor array, missile defense system.

[Bewilderbeast]

You mentioned earlier in the thread about certain specific skill/capability requirements each particular character must meet. Being able to hit a target a certain number of times with Automatics, for instance, plus a Navigation compass course. Can we get more information on that? I'm new to the Shadowrun system, so some idea of what "expected" or "recommended" dice pools are for these tasks would be very helpful for me.

[Damnyankee]

Things players can do, besides make characters
I haven't fleshed out the software on the Military comlinks yet, if some one would like to do that, go ahead, just understand that this is the standard issue comlink, so it doesnt have to hack, it has to work.

Common drones.  I haven't selected this yet either.  Most of the basic drone niches need filled, so come up with a suggested list, and ill look it over.  Mercenaries love standardization because it saves newyen - remember that.

Damnyankee

[Damnyankee]

Required Competencies:
Automatics: Must be able to reliably get  1 success five times in a row, for three different positions, shooting  at a bullseye for a penalty of -4.  Characters shoot an assault rifle in SA mode, without laser or smart link.
Position   Penalty   Time       notes
Prone      -5      1 minute   Bulseye, Medium range, May brace
Supported   -6      1 minute   Bulseye, Long  range, may brace
Sitting      -4      1 minute   Bulseye, short range
Characters may qualify for other types of weapons using the same rules above, but are only Required to qualify for Automatics (assault rifle).

you need to reliably get 1 success after taking as much as a -6 to your pool.  But you can aim p to three times.  so, if you had a total pool of say 8,  take 6 away and add back in 3, 5 dice should be enough.  I did it this way incase some one wanted to get through everything on Edge.

Navigation:  Complete compass course.  Seven roles with two or more successes in a row.

a 2 or so in the skill, unless your linked attribute is High.

Physical: Run must run two miles in less than 15 minutes.  See running rules in the main rule book.

Don't worry about it, this is the requirement that excludes body 2 strength 2 types.  Everyone should have atleast body 3 agility 3 or the armor starts giving them issues.

Etiquette:  While not tested, anyone who doesn't have Etiquette (military) will stand out, in a bad way.

Self explanitory

Unarmed Combat:  must be able to pin a person with a 6 dice pool in unarmed combat.

Beat some one with six dice.  You could do it with 6 dice if you are lucky.  7-8 is reasonable.

Specialty skills:  assume that if you are a driver, they will test you on driving, etc.

Case by case.  This is just so some one cant say "Im the Driver!' and then only put one level in Pilot Ground.

Damnyankee

[Bewilderbeast]

Thanks, DY, that helps me a lot. I've adjusted my face character here. I didn't see your note about civilian advisors until after I was finishing updating and writing the background. If you think this guy would make more sense as a civlian advisor, that's okay, I can adjust him. I'd probably drop the skill in Automatics for something more reasonable like Pistols, and change out more military-flavored skills for points in some decent contacts. I can rewrite the background no problem; I got kind of into writing this guy's background, but that's okay. I find writing backgrounds fun, and don't mind revising or rewriting them.

I reserved 4 knowledge skill points for "Local Language." I know you want to keep that a secret, so I'm fine with adopting whatever the Local Language is for our first mission. If further missions take this guy out of his comfort zone, that's fine, but I just figured if this mission was all about interfacing with the local population, then the brass would probably see fit to send somebody who at least spoke the language adequately.

[Damnyankee]

Thanks, DY, that helps me a lot. I've adjusted my face character here. I didn't see your note about civilian advisors until after I was finishing updating and writing the background. If you think this guy would make more sense as a civlian advisor, that's okay, I can adjust him. I'd probably drop the skill in Automatics for something more reasonable like Pistols, and change out more military-flavored skills for points in some decent contacts. I can rewrite the background no problem; I got kind of into writing this guy's background, but that's okay. I find writing backgrounds fun, and don't mind revising or rewriting them.

I reserved 4 knowledge skill points for "Local Language." I know you want to keep that a secret, so I'm fine with adopting whatever the Local Language is for our first mission. If further missions take this guy out of his comfort zone, that's fine, but I just figured if this mission was all about interfacing with the local population, then the brass would probably see fit to send somebody who at least spoke the language adequately.

It could go either way, BUT I think the company would want one of their own negotiating for them.  With the fact he didn't finish collage he looks like the senior sergeant type.  A couple of ideas come to my mind for more depth (use if you like, or come up with your own.)  Was How long has he been with CC?  Perhaps he used to be a "Front office" type, and negotiated on contracts for CC, but when this role came up they asked/told/conned you into going into the field.  Or perhaps you have been in the field, but in some kind of support unit.   As for wanting to be Conrad...  Merc companies are exactly that, companies.  Conrad's name is on it, but he answers to a board like anyone else.  I also feel that merc companies are like general contractors.  If you are a good loyal employee, and want to start your own company, they would hate to see you go,but wish you luck, especially if you are going to be in a different niche than CC.

DY

[Sichr]

OK. My character is completed, knowledges, background storry, all of it.

My role in the team: Driver, commo boy, mounted weapons operator.

As for special equipement I should use...
We should need sensor aerial drone, and, for the case we would have to investigate the crimescene, ground drone with good sensors and analytical tools. That would be all for me.