[Gnomercy]

I'm still pretty green at making characters, so if folks could give me some tips/critiques, that would be great!  (pardon the copypasta from Chummer...I tried to trim the extraneous)

Street name: Midori (ork street sam)
(character concept is really just a street sam with obvious 'ware...her backstory is still open enough to justify most any mods)

== Attributes ==
BOD: 5 (4)
AGI: 2 (1)
REA: 5 (7)
STR: 4 (3)
CHA: 3
INT: 5
LOG: 2
WIL: 5
EDG: 2

== Derived Attributes ==
Essence:                   2.005
Initiative:                10 (12)
IP:                        1 (3)
Matrix Initiative:         9
Matrix IP:                 1
Physical Damage Track:     12
Stun Damage Track:         11

== Active Skills ==
Automatics                 : 4                      Pool: 5
Climbing                   : 4                      Pool: 7
Con                        : 1                      Pool: 4
Disguise                   : 3                      Pool: 8
Etiquette                  : 1                      Pool: 4
Flight                     : 4                      Pool: 7
Gymnastics                 : 4                      Pool: 6
Infiltration               : 3                      Pool: 4
Intimidation               : 2                      Pool: 5
Leadership                 : 1                      Pool: 4
Negotiation                : 1                      Pool: 4
Palming                    : 3                      Pool: 4
Perception                 : 2                      Pool: 7
Pistols                    : 4                      Pool: 5
Running                    : 4                      Pool: 8
Shadowing                  : 3                      Pool: 8
Swimming                   : 4                      Pool: 7
Tracking                   : 1                      Pool: 6
Unarmed Combat             : 4                      Pool: 5

== Knowledge Skills ==
Area Knowledge: NeoTokyo : 5                      Pool: 10
Area Knowledge: San Francisco : 2                      Pool: 7
Bars and Clubs             : 3                      Pool: 8
English                    : N                      Pool: 0
Firearms                   : 4                      Pool: 6
Japanese                   : N                      Pool: 0
Or'zet                     : 2                      Pool: 7
Shadow Community           : 3                      Pool: 8
Trids                      : 2                      Pool: 7

== Contacts ==
Hacker (sister) (4, 4)
Street shaman (2, 2)
Yakuza smuggler (3, 3)

== Cyberware/Bioware ==
Cyberears Rating 1
   +Ear Recording Unit
   +Sound Link
Obvious Full Arm (BOD 3, AGI 3, STR 3) (Right)
   +Hand Blade
Orthoskin Rating 1
Smartlink
Wired Reflexes Rating 2

== Armor ==
Armor Jacket              8/6
Form-Fitting Full-Body Suit6/2

== Weapons ==
Ares Executive Protector w/ Smartlink
   +Stock
   +Sound Suppressor
   DV: 5P   AP: -   RC: (1)
Ares Predator IV
   +Gas-Vent 2 System
   +Silencer
   +Laser Sight
   +Smartgun System
   DV: 5P   AP: -1   RC: 2
Hand Blade
   DV: 4P   AP: -   RC: 0
Unarmed Attack
   DV: 2S   AP: -   RC: 0

== Commlink ==
Hermes Ikon (4, 0, 0, 3)
Renraku Sensei (2, 0, 0, 4)

== Gear ==
Ammo: Regular Ammo (Heavy Pistols) x100
Ammo: Regular Ammo (Submachine Guns) x100
Emergency Field Dressing
Fake SIN (Miyoko Sato (Japanese Imperial SIN)) Rating 4
Fake SIN (Kristy Yamaguchi (Cal Free SIN)) Rating 3
Gecko Tape Gloves
Grapple Gun
Miniwelder
Plasteel Restraints
Spare Clip x3
Standard Rope (100 m)
Wire Clippers

[Tecumseh]

Hey there,

You'll want a high Agility, which is key to a street samurai's success. It affects your most important skills, including Automatics, Pistols, Gymnastics, Infiltration, and Unarmed Combat. Even if you intend to boost the agility of your cyberarm for shooting and fighting purposes, you'll still want a high Agility for the full-body tests that involve more than just your arm (like Gymnastics and Infiltration).

Your cyberarm is less powerful than your other arm. Unless (or even if) it's there for roleplaying reasons or backstory, you'll want to increase its attributes so that it's not a liability. Note how you're losing a point in both Body and Strength. That's because your cyberarm is at a lower level than the rest of you.

Your armor encumbrance exceeds your carrying capacity, which is costing you a point of Agility and Reaction. Your encumbrance is 8 from the Armor Jacket plus 3 from the form-fitting body suit, so 11 total, which is more than your Body x 2 = 10 threshold.

Do you have any qualities? It looks like you have Bilingual, since both English and Japanese are listed as N, but there's no qualities section to your sheet. Did you delete them by accident when you were trimming the excess material from the Chummer export?

Your commlinks politely request operating systems.

It looks like you took the Athletics group, which in Chummer includes Flight. That skill is for actually flying, with flapping wings, so unless one of your hidden qualities is Drake then you probably don't need to list it. (Flying planes is the Pilot Aircraft skill.) And, speaking of skills, you're allowed to have one at rating 6 or two at level 5. Unless you're involved in a low-power campaign you might want to move some points around to boost one or two of your fighting skills that are at rating 4.

I'll let the others chime in so that you can get a variety of opinions. I'm sure you'll receive a lot of suggestions about how to make an optimized killing machine built to harvest fields of hapless punks and security guards. Just make sure that you like your character at the end of the day! That's far more important than the opinion of the forums. Take or leave the advice as best suits you and your game. Have fun!

[rasmusnicolaj]

Skills should be 1, 4 or 6. 2 & 3 are not karma efficient. You have a lot of skills you are not very good at doue to lowish attributes (for example dicepool 5 in intimidation isn't impressive and 5 in automatics is defenitely not enough for a fighter type (shouldn't that 5 be a 6?)). Get one skill at 6 to maximice your potential.

You can't gas-vent a pistol and don't want to. SA is -1 on second shot fired so you don't need a lot of recoil compnesation. I don't think smartlink and lasersight can be combined.

Your cyberarm should be optimized. Right now you would be better of without it. Look at Umaru's archtypes for hints. The Ronin is a fine all-round razorboy that would fit your concept fine.

Cyberears (and cybereyes) are not good. The cost a lot of nuyen and some essence and you can get the same sensory gear as earbuds (and glasses/lenses).
And you need a sensor package for your eyes. Get some glasses so you can use that smartlink in your weapons.

You have more armor than your body allows. Drop the Armor Jacket, get some SecureTech PPP parts and top that of with a smaller armored vest or some Vashon punk outfit. Maybe use softweave from War.

You need a operative system for your commlinks and some basic programs.

Rasmus

[UmaroVI]

Your cyberarm should be optimized. Right now you would be better of without it. Look at Umaru's archtypes for hints. The Ronin is a fine all-round razorboy that would fit your concept fine.

This is excellent advice  This character seems pretty similar to the Ronin.

[Gnomercy]

Thanks folks.  When I looked at her again today, I saw those glaring issues that you all pointed out (funny how hindsight is 20/20).  I started using the Ronin as my initial basis, then tried to run on my own....apparently I goofed somewhere along the way.  I'll post an update soon.

I did accidentally trim the qualities...
== Qualities ==
Big Regret
Bilingual
Biocompatability (Cyberware)
Hallucinations <this is still up in the air....my friend running the game and I have a weird back & forth with what we call "gm toys">
Natural Athlete
Prejudiced (Specific, Outspoken) (Humanis Policlub)
Tough as Nails (Rating 1)

[Joush]

Your comlinks need an OS to run. Any would do, but you typically want to match system to response.

You have Pistols and Automatics at 4 each, for 32 points. For 8 points more, you could have Firearms skill group at 4 instead, and get Long arms too.

Agility is the basis for many, many skills, from stealth to combat, that you use. I'd suggest seeing about getting more points there. As a suggestion, free up points elsewhere to get more, possibly by reducing your STR as your build is ranged-centric and you could boost just your cyber-arm STR for damage on your hand blade.

Add to your cyberlimb at least Body, Strength and Agility boost up to your natural level. You can customize it or use Enhancements, the former being more expensive and the latter using up the arm's capacity. I'd suggest customizing the arm to your natural attributes, adding a couple points of Armor and maybe installing your primary comlink inside it where it will be nice and safe.

You have Cyber-Ears with no attachments, at the very least get Audio Enhancement at Rating 3 and Damper so they are giving you a benefit over natural.

You need Image Link before you can get Smart Link. I'd almost suggest just getting cyber-eyes and loading them with all kinds of goodies, but you could also drop this and get a pair of glasses or contacts. I really like cyber-eyes, so I'm not objective.. but they are the only way to get all the visual enhancements you want on a single device.

You are currently over-armored. You have 5 body, but your armor encumbers as 11 because of it's ballistic value. I'd suggest swapping out your form fit full body suit for a partial body suit, something that is easer to conceal and will only have you encumbered as 10.

http://forums.shadowrun4.com/index.php?topic=4923.msg76827#msg76827 Has some suggestions for a street samarui you might want to check out.

[jonathanc]

There are good reasons to take cybereyes over glasses/goggles/contacts, but very few to take cyberears over earbuds/headphones, and the cost savings is pretty staggering.

Skill-wise, I don't think taking Automatics and Pistols is that great of an idea; both are generally used for "personal firearm" use. If concealability is important to you, then focus on Pistols and carry a holdout/light for undercover, and a nice big heavy pistol with ex-ex rounds for when you're getting serious. If you don't care about concealability, go with Automatics and go with machine pistols for portability, and a nice SMG/Assault Rifle for when things get real.

If you just want to have two different gun skills, I'd recommend taking Longarms (for sniping) or Heavy Weapons (for machinegun goodness) as your secondary.

Of course, if this is a character thing for you, I totally understand. I spent some points that weren't all that optimized on my last street sam, just because it fit the character.

Armor-wise, I'd look into some of the Securetech PPP items from Arsenal to fill out your impact armor. There are a lot of attack types that go against half-Impact, so pumping that number up isn't wasted money.

I'd also reconsider the social skill group; I'm not sure if a Con or Negotiation pool of 4 dice is going to do you any favors. It might be better to pick one or two social skills to focus on instead.

[Joush]

Devil's advocate on interaction skill group, but you sometimes don't get a choice about what social skill to use, and 1 point in the skill group can be the difference between 4 dice and a likely hit and 2 dice and almost always failing if you have to default.

As far as cyber-ears, your point is pretty much correct, but I tend to prefer cyber ears despite the cost for two reasons.

1) Damper is flat not available as a non-cyber option, and my characters tend to set off firearms in enclosed spaces. Without some kind of hearing protection the rest of the session should sound like a scene in Saving Private Ryan after doing that once.

2) Rating 1 cyberears can be loaded with damper and max rating audio enhancement, then I can just ignore it for the rest of the game.

[jonathanc]

Both points are solid; I tend to think that most situations a non-face is going to be in can be resolved with Etiquette or Con, though. Negotiation is mostly for haggling. Of course, you're only save 2 points per skill rank at that point.

[UmaroVI]

The sources of your problems are:

You have both Automatics and Pistols, and that's kind of redundant. Lose Pistols, take more Palming.

Stealth 3 is bad for karma efficiency; try to get 4.

Perception 1 rather than 2 for karma efficiency.

Cyberears and Orthoskin are both bad. Don't get them. Also, don't implant a smartlink; wear it.

Your cyberarm is not customized properly! This is the source of 80% of the suck. You can't get away with being cheap on the cyberarm.

Hand Blade is Blades, not Unarmed. Luckily Hand Blade is also bad, and you should be using a Shock Hand (or wearing a Shock Glove) instead anyways.

A few people have already pointed out your armor problems; that's easily fixable.

You are using guns that are El Cheapo but not El Goodo. This is in fairness not unreasonable, assuming you know this and plan to get better guns once the game starts.

You're paying for commlinks with no OS and no programs. This is the equivalent of paying for a top-end desktop, not installing an OS, and running Norton Antivirus on it. Either get cheap commlinks, or cough up for programs and an agent to run it for you (see the Spook for an example no-skills-required setup).

[jonathanc]

Shock hand makes sense if he wants non-lethal. If he's more interested in blade/lethal damage, he could always go for a spur instead of the hand blade.

[Joush]

Hand blade is 1 point off a Spur, so it's not as if you can't pick what you like on style and eat a slight loss in damage, especaly when it's a backup weapon for this PC.

Me and UmaroVI have a philosophical difference in optimization. You didn't mention if you wanted advice on maximizing your effectiveness or wanted general suggestions to fix problems. Umaro's suggestions are good ones if you were aiming for the former.

I'd agree that, in most cases, you will want to get armor on your cyberlimb before investing in orthoskin, and for the same enhancement to survivability orthoskin offers at it's cost in essence and cash, you could have other better options. I'm a fan of the platelet factories, but you will hear other opinions.

Shock hand / shock glove is better then a blade in that it ignores half of the Impact armor value and has a chance to  incapacitate via the special rules for electricity damage, as well as the rules being somewhat ambiguous but suggesting that you also get a bonus to hit with them as they are a "touch only" attack.. From a pure optimization standpoint, it's better to use a shock hand then a blade even if you want to kill.

I've already said why I like cyberears despite their flaws.

Oh, if you are going for high optimization, you want to stick with full Form Fit body armor, as no other armor in the game encumbers as 3 while offering 6 armor. Instead, find other armor that brings your Ballistic value to 7, then add your Form Fit armor while tweaking with the Piecemeal Personal Protection system to get your Impact value as close to 10 as you can.

[Gnomercy]

Ok, I've made a lot of the suggestions folks have made.  Kept athletics despite flight because it was cheaper.  I'm keeping the hand blade, partly for flavor and partly because the friend that's running the game is a newbie GM, so I don't want her to have to deal with the shock glove rules.  We should be able to pick up loot, so I'm not too concerned about the "el cheapo" guns (suggestions are welcome though).  I have some rooting around in books for more armor options, so I just have the body suit on at the moment.  I still have a bit over 6k nuyen to spend, so feel free to help me spend it!

== Info ==
Street Name:
Name: Midori
Karma: 0
Street Cred: 0
Notoriety: 0
Public Awareness: 0
Ork female Age 25
Height 1.8m (5'10") Weight 80 (176lbs)
Composure: 7
Judge Intentions: 7
Lift/Carry: 7 (45 kg/30 kg)
Memory: 7
Nuyen: 0

== Attributes ==
BOD: 5 (4)
AGI: 5
REA: 5 (7)
STR: 3
CHA: 2
INT: 5
LOG: 2
WIL: 5
EDG: 2

== Derived Attributes ==
Essence:                   2.31
Initiative:                10 (12)
IP:                        1 (3)
Matrix Initiative:         9
Matrix IP:                 1
Physical Damage Track:     12
Stun Damage Track:         11

== Active Skills ==
Armorer                    : 1                      Pool: 3
Automatics                 : 6                      Pool: 11
Blades                     : 1                      Pool: 6
Climbing                   : 4                      Pool: 7
Con                        : 1                      Pool: 3
Cybertechnology            : 1                      Pool: 3
Disguise                   : 4                      Pool: 9
Etiquette                  : 1                      Pool: 3
First Aid                  : 1                      Pool: 3
Flight                     : 4                      Pool: 7
Gymnastics                 : 4                      Pool: 10
Infiltration               : 4                      Pool: 9
Intimidation               : 2                      Pool: 4
Palming                    : 4                      Pool: 9
Perception                 : 1                      Pool: 6
Pistols                    : 1                      Pool: 6
Running                    : 4                      Pool: 8
Shadowing                  : 4                      Pool: 9
Swimming                   : 4                      Pool: 7
Tracking                   : 1                      Pool: 6

== Knowledge Skills ==
Area Knowledge: Japanese City! : 5                      Pool: 10
Area Knowledge: San Francisco : 2                      Pool: 7
Bars and Clubs             : 3                      Pool: 8
English                    : N                      Pool: 0
Firearms                   : 4                      Pool: 6
Japanese                   : N                      Pool: 0
Or'zet                     : 2                      Pool: 7
Shadow Community           : 3                      Pool: 8
Trids                      : 2                      Pool: 7

== Contacts ==
Hacker (sister) (4, 4)
Street shaman (1, 1)  <planning to rp to get this higher IG>
Yakuza smuggler (3, 3)

== Qualities ==
Big Regret
Bilingual
Biocompatability (Cyberware)
Hallucinations
Natural Athlete
Prejudiced (Specific, Outspoken) (Humanis Policlub)
Tough as Nails (Rating 1)

== Cyberware/Bioware ==
Obvious Full Arm (BOD 3, AGI 7, STR 7) (Right)
   +Hand Blade
   +Armor Rating 4
   +Enhanced Agility Rating 4
   +Enhanced Strength Rating 4
Smartlink
Wired Reflexes Rating 2

== Armor ==
Form-Fitting Full-Body Suit6/2

== Weapons ==
Ares Executive Protector w/ Smartlink
   +Stock
   +Sound Suppressor
   DV: 5P   AP: -   RC: (1)
Ares Predator IV
   +Silencer
   +Smartgun System
   DV: 5P   AP: -1   RC: 0
Hand Blade
   DV: 4P   AP: -   RC: 0
Unarmed Attack
   DV: 2S   AP: -   RC: 0

== Commlink ==
Hermes Ikon (4, 4, 3, 3)
   +Novatech Navi
   +AR Gloves
   +Subvocal Microphone
Renraku Sensei (2, 2, 1, 4)
   +Disposable Commlink OS

== Gear ==
Ammo: Regular Ammo (Heavy Pistols) x100
Ammo: Regular Ammo (Submachine Guns) x100
Earbuds Rating 1
   +Audio Enhancement Rating 1
   +Select Sound Filter Rating 1
Emergency Field Dressing
Fake SIN (Miyoko Sato (Japanese Imperial SIN)) Rating 4
Fake SIN (Kristy Yamaguchi (Cal Free SIN)) Rating 3
Gecko Tape Gloves
Goggles Rating 1
   +Smartlink
   +Camera Rating 1
Grapple Gun
Miniwelder
Plasteel Restraints
Spare Clip x3
Standard Rope (100 m)
Wire Clippers

[jonathanc]

I can't wait to find out what her "Big Regret" is.

[Joush]

Suggestions for your cash: Customize your cyber limb to Body 5, to avoid any weirdness with averaging it with your body. That will cost 3000, but use no capacity on the limb.

The bad news: Your cyberlimb isn't currently legal

You have 15 capacity to use on an obvious cyberlimb.

Armor cost rating x 2 in capacity, other enhancements have capacity cost equal to their rating. Your hand-blade uses 3 capacity.

So right now you are at 8 capacity for armor, 8 for ability enhancements and 3 for the blade, a total of 19 and 4 over.

Rating 4 cyber-armor is also availability 20, and unavailable to starting characters without the Restricted Gear quality.

You can however get rating 2 cyber armor on your limb and be at 15 capacity, perfectly legal and ready to go. That also saves 600 cash.

A good choice for you might be a Chameleon Suit, giving you 1 less Ballistic armor then you might hope for but offering a stealth advantage and a quite respectable 15  Ballistic and 8 Impact armor with your FF full suit, orthoskin and rating 2 cyber limb.The bad news is that it cost 8000, so you'd need to free up some cash to afford it.

You still need an imaglink to go with your smart link. That's cheap though.