[JoeNapalm]

Still revising my Street Merc.

In the spirit of my core concept...that he be "last man standing" tough, I'm giving him Platelet Factories.

My current pondering is - Trauma Dampers or Enhanced Articulation? Trauma Dampers seem like a great addition to my tough guy factor...but Enhanced Articulation is serious bang for your buck in terms of general usefulness.

Hrm. Decisions.

-Jn-
Ifriti Sophist

[Critias]

For a guy out to be tough?  Trauma Damper is the way to go.  Enhanced Articulation is primarily a non-combat mod, and Trauma Damper is purely injury/defensive in nature.  It sounds a good bit more "right up your alley."

[Charybdis]

For a guy out to be tough?  Trauma Damper is the way to go.  Enhanced Articulation is primarily a non-combat mod, and Trauma Damper is purely injury/defensive in nature.  It sounds a good bit more "right up your alley."

Hang on, what? 

How is something that gives +1 dice to all physically linked skills (Close Combat Group, Firearms, Athletics, Dodge etc) a non-combat mod?

[Critias]

Read Enhanced Articulation again, a little more carefully.  It's "Physical Skills that are linked to Physical attributes," very specifically.  Those are Climbing, Diving, Escape Artist, Gymnastics, Infiltration, Palming, Parachuting, Running, and Swimming, as listed in SR4A p. 124.  The ones you mention -- all the fun shooting and stabbing and whatnot -- are Combat Active Skills.  Different skill category.

So while it does give you a bonus to Gymnastics (if you use that for your dodging), it's still much more of a general utility than a combat mod.  It's a +1 dice pool modifier to a whole bunch of skills, and is very, very, nice to have...but it's not very combat oriented, as opposed to earlier editions when it very much was.

[JoeNapalm]

Read Enhanced Articulation again, a little more carefully.  It's "Physical Skills that are linked to Physical attributes," very specifically.  Those are Climbing, Diving, Escape Artist, Gymnastics, Infiltration, Palming, Parachuting, Running, and Swimming, as listed in SR4A p. 124.  The ones you mention -- all the fun shooting and stabbing and whatnot -- are Combat Active Skills.  Different skill category.

So while it does give you a bonus to Gymnastics (if you use that for your dodging), it's still much more of a general utility than a combat mod.  It's a +1 dice pool modifier to a whole bunch of skills, and is very, very, nice to have...but it's not very combat oriented, as opposed to earlier editions when it very much was.

Wow. Nice catch!

-Jn-
City of Brass Expatriate

[Teknodragon]

I played a satyr secondary-combatant a while ago with Platelet Factories and Trauma damper. With no armor bonuses (didn't want to make some guards/cops suspicious), she did surprisingly well when caught by surprise by an opposing group of Shadowrunners. She did quite well, resisting damage. A later mission put her up against the individual attention of an insane cyber-sammie with a monowhip. That did not end so well, but the only reason she survived was, again, trauma dampers plus platelet factories.

Plus, when you don't soak damage converted to stun, you take a little less with trauma dampers-- very important when trying to be a tough and on your feet.