[Rockopolis]

Apparently I find character creation to be relaxing, so I've been working on a Mentat in my head.  It's actually an extension of a different, fairly Mary Sue-ish concept, "Sho-Chan", but I've stripped out and upgraded the Logic out the wazoo.

I've got the crazy logic after boosting, but that's about it.  I need a character to go with, and a motivation.  Or an idea of what the heck I'm going to do with 12 logic.  I guess some kind of hacker is the obvious choice.

Uh, I'll post this now and be right back, but I should drop the Dynomatin and Qualia if this is focusing on Logic alone.  And look into Nanotech.
161BP
120BP and 201500¥ (41BP) 200¥ for a shot of Psyche (25 hits/BP)...I think I did the math right.
11 Logic, +1 Logic from Psyche.  +1 to Logic linked Active Skills.  +1 to Cracking and Electronics.  +2 to MATH! and Electronic Warfare coding/decoding.  +1 to Logic linked skill tests.

35 BP of Qualities
Exceptional Logic
Genetic Heritage
Restricted Gear I

'ware: 201500¥, 2.775 Essence (might be able to toss in the Attention Coprocessor and Orientation System, might drop the Encephalon if BP are tight)
Genetic Optimization (Logic)
Cerebral Booster III
PuSHeD   12000
Qualia   20000
Dynomatin
Sleep Regulator
Encephalon II
Math SPU

85 points for 8 Logic

200 ¥ for a hit of Psyche (eight hours of +1 Logic and +1 Intuition)
Using the German Karma Creation System

Name: Ælfreda the Green, Ælfreda Haraldsdotter
Alias: Mint (irritating, familiar), Sho-Chan (irritating, familiar)
Race: Elf
Sex: Female
Lifestyle: Middle, Custom
Karma Spent: 750
Physical Description: Tall, skinny, green elf.  Green quiff, whenever it's not matted down under a helmet or hat.  Always wears a bandanna, of varying style.  Alternates between wearing a suit, camouflage fatigues, or chainmail as the mood takes her.
Her avatar is often something incredibly generic or off the rack, but when it's not, it's often a abstracted female face with glowing, pulsing veins running through it.
Personality/background She's somewhat arrogant, rather more ambitious, and although she's quite intelligent, she's actually kind of naive.  She's young, especially for an elf.  It's hard to tell if she's entirely sane, living in a fantasy, or just happens to dig the feudal lord chic.
For her Shadowrunning is an adventure, a means to self-improvement, and most importantly, lucrative.
Given how augmented she is, she must have been the daughter of someone important, but she left Tir under inadequately explained circumstances, and now runs, or at least manages, a commune out in the wilds/barrens; a very strange, very feudal commune.  Humoring her beats living in the rest of the barrens, though, and it seems to be surviving, if not exactly thriving.  Yet.
Her hobbies include weaving, world domination, and collecting information; datasofts, knowsofts, mapsofts, whatever.  She does have a very protective streak, amplified by the effects of her symbiosis.  Currently, her strongest desire is probably to fix the damn roof.

Attributes

Body	Agility	Reaction	Strength
2	29!	3	3
Charisma	Intuition	Logic	Willpower
3	4	9!	4
Edge	Magic	Essence	Initiative
2	4	4.6	7, 1 Pass

Positive Qualities
Low Light Vision (Elf)
Exceptional Logic
Adept
SURGE II

• Improved Logic
  Symbiosis

Negative Qualities
Third Eye
Day Job II (herding peasants, pushing the Wheel of Pain, guarding the truck, bossing people around)
Dependent I
Mild Psyche Addiction
In Debt I (always something else that needs to be paid for)

Active Skills

Electronics Skill Group	1
Cracking Skill Group	2
Influence Skill Group	1
Athletics Skill Group	1
Outdoors Skill Group	1
Mechanic Skill Group	1
Biotech Skill Group	1
Automatics	2
Blades	2
Pilot Groundcraft	1
Arcana	1
Enchanting	1
Artisan	1

Knowledge Skills

Genetic Engineering	1
Math	2
Ecopolitics	1
Area Knowledge Seattle	3
Headware	2
Local Gangs	2
The Ancients	1	Because every elf knows all about the Ancients
Elven Conspiracy Theories	1
Performance Enhancing Pharmaceuticals	1
Heraldry	1
Political Theory	1
Early Middle Ages European History	1
Tactics	1
Botany	1
Weaving	1
Apiculture	1

Language Skills

Sperethiel	N
English	5
Latin	1

Adept Powers

Power	Cost	Notes
Astral Sight	1	Need to pick up Assensing
Multitasking	.5	Supernaturally good at multitasking
Sustenance	.25	Need three hours of sleep and one meal a day.  No discounted Lifestyle
Linguisitcs	.25	Learns languages quickly and cheaply
Eidetic Sense Memory	.5	Remembers everything, with perfect recall
Mind Over Matter	1.5	Analytical Motion

Cyber/Bioware

Cyberware/Nanoware	Essence	Cost	Notes
Math SPU	0.15	4500¥	+2 to MATH!
Attention CoProcessor III	0.3	9000¥	+3 Perception
Orientation System	0.2	1250¥	Never get lost.  +2 to Navigation
Bioware/Geneware	Essence	Cost	Notes
Genetic Optimization (Logic)	0.2	45000¥	XXXXX
Genewipe	0.2	45000¥	XXXXX
PuSheD	0.1	15000¥	XXXXX
Qualia	0.4	25000¥	XXXXX
Dynomatin	0.2	25000¥	XXXXX
Vegsin	0.1	15000¥	XXXXX
Digester Symbiont	0.2	2000¥	XXXXX
Chloroplast Skin	-	2000¥	XXXXX
Silky Skin	-	1500¥	XXXXX

Custom Lifestyle; Ælfreda's Fief (4500¥, though with lots of roomates serfs)

C2E2N3N1S3

Easy Going Landlord, Feng Shui, Friendly Neighbors, Homegrown Farming, Rad Pad, Workplace, Living By Committee, Network Bottleneck, Black Hole I, Poor Condition, Worse Neighbors, Security Conscious, Green Plan

It has a kicking rad mead hall.  The rest of it looks like a farm, or a ranch.  Reasonably self sufficient, they seem to make slightly more than they expend, and are thus solvent.  Always seems to be in need of repairs or additional backbreaking labor.

Gear (255000¥)
Psyche
Slab
G3
Oxygenated Fluorocarbons
Biomonitor
Medkit VI
Medkit Suppiles
Middle Lifestyle
Fake SIN IV
DocWagon Basic 1 Year

Contact Lenses III
Image Link
Flare Compensation
Glasses IV
Image Link
Smartlink
Vision Enhancement III
Vision Magnification
Earbuds II
Audio Enhancement III
Select Sound Filter III
Microphone I
Spatial Recognizer

Synergist Longcoat
Form Fitting Armor Half Body
Form Fitting Armor Shirt
Chain Shirt
Globetrotter Heavy Armor Clothing
Globetrotter Fatigues
Industrious Jumpsuit

Automotive Kit
Suzuki Mirage

Operations Cleanup Kit

Hermes Ikon
Novatech Navi
Customized Interface
Sim Module
Mapsoft VI
Skinlink
Nanopaste Trodes
Simrig
Tactical Software 2
FTL Matrixware Power Suite
Stealth IV

Monofilament Sword
Personalized Grip
Gecko Grip
Ingram Smartgun X
Personalized Grip
Gecko Grip

Vehicles
Suzuki Mirage

Handling	Accel	Speed	Pilot	Body	Armor	Sensor	Availability	Cost
+2	20/50	200	1	6	4	1	-	6500¥

Contacts Contact C/L Thanes and Churls! Group(S1/L1/M1/M1) 4+1/6 At this point, they range from being moderately useful, and freeloaders. ShadowSEA(S2/L2/M1/M1) 6+4/1 She has an account, and has posted a few times, but that's about it. Karma Totals:  750 = 30 + 70 -70 + 434 + 105 + 56 + 100 + 15

[Glyph]

I'm not sure how you feel about SURGE - it could either be cheesy, or it could help the concept, if you want to give him a bit of an alien/different/freakish feel.  But getting SURGE II and taking metagenetic improvement to Logic would save you 20 build points - 10 because SURGE II is 10 points cheaper than exceptional attribute, and 10 because the SURGE quality actually gives you a bonus point, so getting Logic: 8 would only cost 75 points, not 85 points.

If you want playability advice, I would say that absolutely hard-maxing Logic is great for a dice pool exercise, but not so great for creating a character that is actually fun to play.  Especially if you plan on playing a hacker - a good commlink and utilities are a hefty chunk of your resources at char-gen.  Hackers are good, though.  Keep in mind, your Logic will only really come into play for things like programming or tinkering with electronics.  Hacking is skill plus program (unless your GM house rules otherwise).  The other main roles that I can think of are tinkerer (armorer, chemistry, etc.), or street doc - or maybe even both, if you really concentrate on Logic skills.

Another thing to contemplate would be making him an adept.  That's what I do for most mentat-type builds.  There are so many good powers - analytics, eidetic sense memory, enhanced perception, linguistics, and multi-tasking are all good for making a character with a superhuman intellect.  And the best part is that these powers are comparatively cheap, so you can still get an optimal assortment of 'ware to go with it.

[Rockopolis]

Hmm...didn't really think about SURGE.  It does have that cheesy taint to it, but it could be helpful.  Might be a (weak) way to explain why they're Shadowrunning instead of sitting in a palace making megabucks (or gigabucks).
A cephalopoidal skull would kick ass, though.  Hopefully the kind with the big clear tank for the brain sticking out of their head.  Maybe a third eye, too, for extra symbolism.  I suppose Astral Hazing would be a reason to keep moving, if rather disruptive to a game.  Can you imagine trying to get past a check point?  "Person, magician, person, person, ARGH!"

Adept+Augmentation always seemed kinda cheesy to me...made me feel like a Munchkin.  I'll look into Adept though, maybe put together an Adept or Mystic Adept (Logic drain attribute, totally)...I guess it just feels like picking up some nifty (though not really related) tricks on the cheap, you know, for a magician who's ~46% manufacutred.  Latent Awakening, is a possibility, I suppose, though I'm not sure anything would surprise this character "Interesting, I appear to have acquired magical abilities.  Unusual, but within parameters.".
I'd have a max Magic of three, though, plus Initiation...it just seems, if you're going to do this, why have you Awakened?
Multitasking and Analytics are obvious little bonii.  Eidetic Sense Memory is cool, if not as necessary with a Sim Module and Knowsofts.  I love Sustenance, and Nerve Strike sounds cool.
...Now I've segued into the idea for a Way of the Tree SURGE adept, with Photometabolism and Rooting.

I could see leaving the potential but not spending the last fifteen or twenty-five points on Logic, maybe picking it up later...leave out the Exceptional Attribute and pick it up later if I want to hardmax her later.  That seems like a bit of a stubborn waste, I guess.

The only reason I could think of for adventuring is to dig out the cliche Amnesia.  That gets used to explain everything.  Only I'm not sure it'd work on someone like this.

EDIT:  Hmm...testing out an Adept build, don't really have enough points (BP or maximum Magic) for a Mystic Adept, I think.

[Makki]

in case of Adept, you NEED Mind over Matter from War! Let's you replace all Agi tests with your Logic attribute.

[Ten-Hex]

Seconding Makki, if you're looking to get the most out of Logic and aren't losing too much essence from augmentations, pick the Mind Over Matter (Logic) power. It costs 1.5 power points but you can dumpstat Agility to 1 and link all agility skills to logic.

I didn't notice anyone mention it yet, but neocortical neural amps give you +3 dice pool to Logic-linked skills unless you're in a stressful situation or distracted. That cost 15,000 of hard nanites, and can be maintained with a rating 1 nanohive for 0.75 ssence and 10,000 additional nuyen.

[Rockopolis]

Don't have War, unfortunately.  Mind-Over-Matter does sound hilarious, though.  And totally useful for a "There is nothing that my cold, hard logic cannot achieve." kinda person.

The original concept was an elf.  Guess I should switch, if I want optimal efficiency if I get Mind-Over-Matter.

Might get a Personal Mobility Vehicle, or a Segway, if my physical stats or going to be dumped that far.  Though if I'm going that far, it'd probably make more sense to buy a full immersion lifestyle and hand the infiltrator a tin of nanomachines.

Good point about the Neuroamps.  Need a Nanohive too, though.
Hmm...if I had Restricted Gear, I could get a Focus Reality Amplifier, so all situations are nonstressful.  And with no downside whatsoever. _{Results not typical or guaranteed.}

Need to recalculate costs.  I can drop the Cerebral Boosters (if I'm going to Augment, I want the best damn ones there are), and switch Restricted Gear for Adept.  No direct Mental Attribute powers, available, it seems.  I suppose I could see a Mental Adept positively driven to force more boosters into their brain, no matter the cost.  Augmentation Addict?  What do they do when there's nothing left to add?
"What do you mean, you figured out how to emulate Magic?"

...I don't think I'm going to be able to play this, but is it bad that I want to keep working on this character?  Seems like it might be off-topic?

EDIT: Hmm...with any crazy smart character, almost seems like you should just be asking the entire forum what to do when any major decision comes up.  Might be smarter than one of us, but all of us?  (probably)

[Canticle]

I like the mundane+ware Mentat build, but mind over matter does offer hilarity.

[Ten-Hex]

Just remember, if you do make a mentat adept tying all his combat skills to logic you have to hire Guy Ritchie to work out the fight scenes a la Sherlock Holmes.

[Rockopolis]

You know, I wasn't really interested in War (when am I ever going to be using full military gear?), but I may have to get it, just for that ability.

Also, though a counterproductive net loss, I have the horrible, horrible temptation to give them an allergy to Psyche.

EDIT: Whoa, SURGE stacks with Genetic Optimization and Exceptional Attribute.  Looks like I could push it to 13.

EDITEDIT: Would taking Nocturnal SURGE and the Adept power of Sustenance be too cheesy?

[Ten-Hex]

Sustenance would mean you require less sleep, but it would have zero effects on the negative modifiers you gain from the SURGE negative quality.

[Rockopolis]

If I Awaken and SURGE up, I've got to juggle points between SURGE (Minimum 10BP), Genetic Heritage (which is mostly a way to save money and maybe be a backstory, but is not vital; roughly, it pays for itself in  ¥ savings), Exceptional Attribute (20BP), and the Awakened quality (5 to 15 BP, and I think the low essence, around three or four, will hurt a Mage worse than an Adept).

And more importantly, I've got to come up with some kind of story that makes some kind of sense for this character, and the more I throw in, the more I get stumped.  Augmentation seems to indicate a pretty affluent background, just the kind of person who doesn't go on Shadowruns.

I'm also considering giving them strong potential, with SURGE and Exceptional Attribute, but not maxing out Logic, and building it up higher with karma later.
So, I guess the Shadowruns are painful and dangerous mental exercises?

Heh, my only combat skill so far is unarmed, but I picked out Commanding Voice (not a very good choice, I think; don't have enough social skills), so I'm wondering if this should be titled "Mentat" or "Bene Gesserit"

[Xzylvador]

Easy way to start looking for "why is this character running the shadows" is to start choosing its Negative Qualities; that's what sometimes helps me when stuck.
There's a lot of stuff that once you take a look at them and see how they might fit in your character, can start writing a background by itself, always leading to the next piece of the puzzle.

Like others said in other threads you started about this char; it's very likely that a person with that high an IQ has pretty lousy social skills. Maybe Uncouth? Plenty of ways an uncouth person who thinks he's much smarter and better than everyone else (and actually is) can get spit out by society.
Or maybe he's that smart because of some neurological "dysfunction" (compared to average people that is) and he's paraplegic/quadriplegic? Turning to crime to prove that just because he's a cripple, he's far from useless.
Or he's a thrill seeker, braggart, prejudiced(everyone who's dumber... so everyone!). A person so smart must find everyday wageslave life so incredibly boring, shadowrunning's the only way to get some sort of a challenge. Besides, he's confident he's smart enough to always come up with a plan that turns any job into a cakewalk.

[Glyph]

Ten-Hex brought up Sherlock Holmes.  In the books and short stories, Holmes was a super-genius who took on exotic, mysterious cases because he was incredibly bored.  This was also a big factor in his developing a heroin addiction.  His hyper-active intellect craved stimulation.

You could play a mentat the same way, someone who commits crimes and risks his life because it gives his overactive mind some exercise.  Good flaws to take would be Bi-Polar and some of the Poor Self Control ones, such as Thrillseeker or some kind of Compulsion.  If you see him as a bit arrogant about his mental capabilities, negative qualities such as Distinctive Style or Signature could also fit.

[Rockopolis]

You know, what I've wanted to create has changed somewhat, but now I'm kinda going nuts trying to make a decision over what to do.
Do I drop Exceptional Attribute, as it's extremely unlikely I'll ever scrape up that much Karma?  Do I drop SURGE?  Do I want a Mystic Adept instead of a plain Adept?

I don't know, a comment I heard elsewhere reminded me I always wanted to create a modern feudal lord...I could make a very intelligent one, I suppose.  But I don't really have a unifying archetype any more, and that's making me think I should try to force it back to being a hacker or something.

[Rockopolis]

Okay, so, it's strayed somewhat from my original concept, to half of my next concept, but it's still got the core; soft-maxed Logic!
I haven't really done any optimization or anything yet.  I think my big issue is that I'd like to be at least a Mystic Adept, but then I'd drop either SURGE or Exceptional Attribute.  I'd also like to take Bushido Code, but again, not enough points.
I know I need to juggle some points around to get Assensing.
Artisan would be nice.  I think the biggest thing I might want to spend extra karma on is more knowledge skills.
And I need to optimize for hacking, I think.

I'm saving the Encephalon and Nanomachines for later; theoretically I can save up get them at Alphaware, as they would knock me under 3 magic.  Similar for the Cerebral Boosters, though there I'd prefer to take them at III rather than II.

Hmm...I need some info on the rough areas, around Seattle or around the world.  Maybe I should look into getting Running Wild, or is there a different book that's better?

Also, does the Adept Power of Melanin control cancel out the notability of Chloroplast Skin (yet another one of those 'coolest largely gameplay useless augmentations')

Man, it's fun to just cut loose and do something absurd every once in a while.  What can I say, I've always dug the 'modern feudal'.  I await a torrent of smiting.
...perhaps I should have a great fiery eye as her avatar.
Using the German Karma Creation System

Name: Ælfreda the Green, Ælfreda Haraldsdotter
Alias: Mint (irritating, familiar), Sho-Chan (irritating, familiar)
Race: Elf
Sex: Female
Lifestyle: Middle, Custom
Karma Spent: 750
Physical Description: Tall, skinny, green elf.  Green quiff, whenever it's not matted down under a helmet or hat.  Always wears a bandanna, of varying style.  Alternates between wearing a suit, camouflage fatigues, or chainmail as the mood takes her.
Her avatar is often something incredibly generic or off the rack, but when it's not, it's often a abstracted female face with glowing, pulsing veins running through it.
Personality/background She's somewhat arrogant, rather more ambitious, and although she's quite intelligent, she's actually kind of naive.  She's young, especially for an elf.  It's hard to tell if she's entirely sane, living in a fantasy, or just happens to dig the feudal lord chic.
For her Shadowrunning is an adventure, a means to self-improvement, and most importantly, lucrative.
Given how augmented she is, she must have been the daughter of someone important, but she left Tir under inadequately explained circumstances, and now runs, or at least manages, a commune out in the wilds/barrens; a very strange, very feudal commune.  Humoring her beats living in the rest of the barrens, though, and it seems to be surviving, if not exactly thriving.  Yet.
Her hobbies include weaving, world domination, and collecting information; datasofts, knowsofts, mapsofts, whatever.  She does have a very protective streak, amplified by the effects of her symbiosis.  Currently, her strongest desire is probably to fix the damn roof.

Attributes

Body	Agility	Reaction	Strength
2	3	3	3
Charisma	Intuition	Logic	Willpower
3	4	9	4
Edge	Magic	Essence	Initiative
2	3	4.6	7, 1 Pass

Positive Qualities
Low Light Vision (Elf)
Exceptional Logic
Adept
SURGE II

• Improved Logic
  Symbiosis

Negative Qualities
Third Eye
Day Job II (herding peasants, pushing the Wheel of Pain, guarding the truck, bossing people around)
Dependent I
Mild Psyche Addiction
In Debt I (always something else that needs to be paid for)

Active Skills

Electronics Skill Group	1
Cracking Skill Group	2
Influence Skill Group	1
Athletics Skill Group	1
Outdoors Skill Group	1
Mechanic Skill Group	1
Automatics	2
Blades	2
First Aid	1
Medicine	1
Cybertechnology	1
Pilot Groundcraft	1
Arcana	1
Enchanting	1
Artisan	1

Knowledge Skills

Genetic Engineering	1
Math	1
Ecopolitics	1
Area Knowledge Seattle	3
Headware	2
Local Gangs	2
The Ancients	1	Because every elf knows all about the Ancients
Performance Enhancing Pharmaceuticals	1
Heraldry	1
Political Theory	1
Early Middle Ages European History	1
Tactics	1
Botany	1
Weaving	1
Apiculture	1

Language Skills

Sperethiel	N
English	5
Latin	1

Adept Powers

Power	Cost	Notes
Astral Sight	1	Need to pick up Assensing
Multitasking	.5	Supernaturally good at multitasking
Sustenance	.25	Need three hours of sleep and one meal a day.  No discounted Lifestyle
Linguisitcs	.25	Learns languages quickly and cheaply
Eidetic Sense Memory	.5	Remembers everything, with perfect recall
Nimble Fingers	.25	Weapon of choice
Analytics I	.25	Mentat abilities

Cyber/Bioware

Cyberware/Nanoware	Essence	Cost	Notes
Math SPU	0.15	4500¥	+2 to MATH!
Attention CoProcessor III	0.3	9000¥	+3 Perception
Orientation System	0.2	1250¥	Never get lost.  +2 to Navigation
Bioware/Geneware	Essence	Cost	Notes
Genetic Optimization (Logic)	0.2	45000¥	XXXXX
Genewipe	0.2	45000¥	XXXXX
PuSheD	0.1	15000¥	XXXXX
Qualia	0.4	25000¥	XXXXX
Dynomatin	0.2	25000¥	XXXXX
Vegsin	0.1	15000¥	XXXXX
Digester Symbiont	0.2	2000¥	XXXXX
Chloroplast Skin	-	2000¥	XXXXX
Silky Skin	-	1500¥	XXXXX

Custom Lifestyle; Ælfreda's Fief (4500¥, though with lots of roomates serfs)

C2E2N3N1S3

Easy Going Landlord, Feng Shui, Friendly Neighbors, Homegrown Farming, Rad Pad, Workplace, Living By Committee, Network Bottleneck, Black Hole I, Poor Condition, Worse Neighbors, Security Conscious, Green Plan

It has a kicking rad mead hall.  The rest of it looks like a farm, or a ranch.  Reasonably self sufficient, they seem to make slightly more than they expend, and are thus solvent.  Always seems to be in need of repairs or additional backbreaking labor.

Gear (255000¥)
Psyche
Slab
G3
Oxygenated Fluorocarbons
Biomonitor
Medkit VI
Medkit Suppiles
Middle Lifestyle
Fake SIN IV
DocWagon Basic 1 Year

Contact Lenses III
Image Link
Flare Compensation
Glasses IV
Image Link
Smartlink
Vision Enhancement III
Vision Magnification
Earbuds II
Audio Enhancement III
Select Sound Filter III
Microphone I
Spatial Recognizer

Synergist Longcoat
Form Fitting Armor Half Body
Form Fitting Armor Shirt
Chain Shirt
Globetrotter Heavy Armor Clothing
Globetrotter Fatigues
Industrious Jumpsuit

Automotive Kit
Suzuki Mirage

Operations Cleanup Kit

Hermes Ikon
Novatech Navi
Customized Interface
Sim Module
Mapsoft VI
Skinlink
Nanopaste Trodes
Simrig
Tactical Software 2
FTL Matrixware Power Suite
Stealth IV

Monofilament Sword
Personalized Grip
Gecko Grip
Ingram Smartgun X
Personalized Grip
Gecko Grip

Vehicles
Suzuki Mirage

Handling	Accel	Speed	Pilot	Body	Armor	Sensor	Availability	Cost
+2	20/50	200	1	6	4	1	-	6500¥

Contacts Contact C/L Thanes and Churls! Group(S1/L1/M1/M1) 4+1/6 At this point, they range from being moderately useful, and freeloaders. ShadowSEA(S2/L2/M1/M1) 6+4/1 She has an account, and has posted a few times, but that's about it. Karma Totals:  750 = 30 + 70 -70 + 434 + 105 + 56 + 100 + 15