[Greenknight001]

Here is the latest guy I've put together.  He's designed to be primarily an information gatherer and team support (I gave him very minimal combat skills).  In terms of his character background, I made him the son of one of my old rigger characters (who was a blast to play).

I did my best to keep him balanced, but let me know what you think.

_____________________________
Character Name: Armonde Whitefeather
Character Alias: Armonde Winterdark
Archtype: Occult Investigator

Appearance:
Half Sioux/ half Brazilian male elf. Dark black, waist-length hair, cut into a flowing mohawk with tribal symbols shaved along either side of his head. Bright silver irises.

Background:
Born into the shadows of Denver, Armonde Whitefeather is the son of the Sioux shamanese Rachael Whitefeather, and the elvan ex-combat biker-turned-shadowrunner Armonde DeLaRosa (you might remember him from his time with the Seattle Warhawks... until his little problem with the owner's wife... and daughter... and mother-in-law). Rachael Whitefeather ran the shadows in the Sioux sector of Denver, acting as an ecoterrorist and freelance magical gun for hire. The two met during a running firefight (despite being on different sides, Armonde pulled Rachael and her team out of the fight when corp security showed up and things went South for both teams), and they stayed close ever since.

When Armonde was born it was decided that he would stay with his mother in the wilds of the Sioux tribal lands while his father worked the shadows (you might remember him from his many inadvertent appearances on "COPS:Shadowbeat"). Learning at an early age that he shared both his mother's gift for magic and his father's gift for machines (give or take), Armonde knew that he was going to follow his father's path into the shadows. Unlike his father though, who never got beyond his desire to regain his corporate backing so he could get back into the Combat Biker circuit (you might remember his triumphant return in the cross-country "Autocannonball Run" event), Armonde acquired his mother's distrust of corporations; he learned to take their money, but to never trust them.

Upon passing his Rite of Adulthood, Armonde left Denver to start his new career in Seattle... both for a change of scenery and also to be closer to his father (you might remember his role as Armonde the poolboy in season 3 of "The Really Desperate Housewives of Seattle"). Now, working to build his Occult Investigating business, and make as much cash on the side as possible, Armonde Whitefeather is turning towards the shadows...

Race: 30 (Elf)
Attributes: 140
Spec. Attrib: 65 (Magic)
Skills: 118
Cash: 22 (110,000 ¥)
Contacts: 6
Spells: 27 (9 spells)
Foci: 2 (Force 2 power focus)
Merits: 25
Flaws: -35

Attributes/ Special Attributes: 140 + 65
10   Body 2
        Agility 2
       Reaction 1
      Strength 1
40 Charisma 7
40  Intuition 5
10  Logic 2
40  Willpower 5
65  Magic 6
      Edge 1

Magic Tradition
Kachina Shaman
Possesion tradition
Drain Attribute: Charisma + Willpower
Spirits:
Combat - Guardian
Health - Man
Detection - Guidance
Illusion - Fire
Manipulation - Task

Mentor Spirit:
Owl
+2 to Assessing Tests
+2 to summon Spirits of Guidance
-1 die for Combat Spells

Mystic Adept magic Split:4 points Mage
2 points Adept

Skills: 118
16     Perception 4
16     Assessing 4
20     Spellcasting 5
2          +2 Detection Spells
4       Counterspelling 1
20     Summoning 5
16     Binding 4
4       Enchanting 1
8       Leadership 2
2          +2 Persuasion
8       Negotiation 2
2          +2 Bargain

Knowledge Skills (21 free points):
Seattle Organized Crime 2
Corporate Fashion 2
Origami 3
Seattle Medical Clinics 3
Seattle Gangs 2
Street Fashion 2
Corporate Security 2
Seattle Night Clubs 2

Languages:
Sioux (native)
English 3(5)

Merits: +25
(elf)   Low-Light Vision
10     Mystic Adept
5       Linguist
5       Mentor Spirit (Owl)
5      Changling I
           10 Electrosense
            -5 Extravagant Eyes (Iridescent Silver Irises)

Flaws: -35
-10       Allergy (Mistletoe (rare), moderate)
-10       Prejudiced (Corps, Biased)
-15       Sensitive System

Contacts: 6 points
6      Doc Sally, street doctor (2 Loyalty / 4 Connection)

Spells:
(F/2) Fashion
(F/2) Makeover
(F/2 + 2) Demolish Guns (area)
(F/2 + 1) Slaughter Spirit
(F/2 + 2) Increase Reflexes
(F/2) Analyze Truth
(F/2 + 2) Alter Memory
(F/2 + 2) Mind Probe
(F/2 + 1) Levitate

Adept Powers:
1.0     Astral Perception
0.5     Enhance Perception (2)
0.25   Commanding Voice
0.25   Linguistics

Gear: 110,000 NuYen
50,000    Power Focus (2), Moonstone and silver armband
3,000      Magical Lodge (6)
1,200      2x Wooden Mannequin (natural wood, female shaped, not enchanted, can be used as vessels for possessive spirits)
400         2x Biker Leathers (2/2), for mannequins
400         2x Biker helmets (+1/+2), for mannequins
11,000   Summoning materials (22 units)
5,000     Chemistry shop
10           Sheaf of natural fiber paper (for Origami folding)

4,000     Fake ID (4), "Armonde Winterdark"
400        Fake License (4), Motorcycle
400        Fake License (4), Generic Drug Sales license
400        Fake License (4), Private Investigator license
400        Fake License (4), licensed magic user

3,000     Hermer Ikon comlink (response 4, signal 3)
1,500     Novatech Navi OS (system 4, firewall 3)
2,000     Sensor software- Empathy (4)
2,000     Sensor software- Lie detector (4)
600        Sensor software, Face recognition (3)
600        Sensor software, Voice recognition (3)

150        Contact Lenses (3)
25               w/ Image Link
100            w/ Thermographic vision
300            w/ Vision Enhance (3)

20           Ear Buds (2)
300            w/ Audio Enhance (3)
600            w/ Select Sound Filter (3)

900         Form-fit Body Armor (half-suit, 4/1)
200         Leather long coat (2/2)

4,300      2x P93 Praetorr SMG (2,150¥ each)
                        5P -- SA/BF/FA 7(8)RC (50c)x2 <base 650¥>
                          Std Options: 1pt. recoil chamber, Folding Stock, Electronic Firing (+200¥)
                          Modifications: Auto-adjusting weight (4 slots, 150¥), Additional Clip (2 slots, 650¥)
                          Mounted: Gas vent-3 (barrel, 400¥), laser sight (top, 100¥)
400          200 rounds regular ammo (SMG)
2,600      200 rounds capsule ammo (SMG) w/ 200 doses KE-IV pesticide (anti-bug spirit rounds... you never know)

50            2x Certified credsticks
5              Plastic restraints (50)
25           5x Lightsticks
25           Flashlight
500         Voicemask
80           Smart Buttpack
50           Smart Ration pack w/ 3-day ration supply
10           2x Smart Canteen (1 liter)
50           2x Smart Ammo packs

5,000     Thundercloud Contrail motorcycle
3,000          w/ 2x smuggling compartments (2 upgrade slots used)

5,000       Middle Lifestyle, 1 month prepaid (15 LP, 5,000/month)
                      Comforts- low (2)
                      Entertainment- low (2)
                      Necessities- high (4)
                      Neighborhood- squatter (1)
                     Security- middle (3)
                      Feng Shui +5
                      Inconspicuous Housing +2
                      Network Bottleneck -1
                      Living by Committee -2
                      Defective CHN -1

Leftover cash = -0- ¥
Starting cash (middle lifestyle) = 4d6x 100 ¥

[All4BigGuns]

I'd personally suggest dropping Magic down to 5 and Charisma to 6 to get Body up to 3 and get some more Reaction and Agility. With a Reaction of 1, even that 5 Intuition isn't going to help much with your initiative, and that 2 Agility is gonna hurt in a lot of situations. Would also be a good idea to pick up some skill with Pistols along with higher Agility so that you have something that doesn't bring that drain check down on your head (though with that Willpower, drain won't be quite so bad and you are gonna be harder to stun).

[Katrex]

yes the most obious thing was you spend 25 bp to get magic up to six and then spend 1 pp on astral perception, when you could instead just take the astral perceptuon quality for 5bp, which saves you 20 bp

[rasmusnicolaj]

yes the most obious thing was you spend 25 bp to get magic up to six and then spend 1 pp on astral perception, when you could instead just take the astral perceptuon quality for 5bp, which saves you 20 bp

No, that is not an option:

Astral Sight grants mundane characters the ability to perceive into the astral plane. This quality is not available to characters who possess the Adept, Latent Awakening, Magician, Mystic Adept, or Technomancer qualities.

I agree that you need more body and more reaction.
Drop some or all of your social skills and all specializations. They are nice to have so get them with karma points.
Maybe drop a point in intuition also.
Don't use 11.000 on summoning materials. You can get by with summoned spirits instead of binding them as a start.
Maybe drop a spell or two if you need the points.
If you can find the points then get a Force 4 Power foci with restricted gear.
I personally love starting with magic 6, but you are really short on points so it could be a idea to just softcap it.

Why are you not a magician? Looking at your character you have focused almost exclusively at being a slightly below average mage because you have a few adept powers.

Rasmus

[Katrex]

Going pure magician i think would be better, you get astral perception as standard you can project which is nice, and you could easily do it with 5 magic saving you bp.

Also he's an "investigator" of course he needs social skills. Negotiate and ettiquet.
 Don't forget with high nogotiate you don't need a fence or a weapons dealer, you can do the extended test to find gear yourself. And similar extended tests to find people to sell to.
That said I'd be tempted to narowdown you magic focus, you are an investigator, you want ascensing and perception which you have, and sumoning is good, But i'd drop binding And the enchanting, there are a lot of skills you could get that would make you better at being an investigator. Like ettiquet and tracking (if you can use that to track astral beings)

[rasmusnicolaj]

Also he's an "investigator" of course he needs social skills. Negotiate and ettiquet.
That said I'd be tempted to narowdown you magic focus, you are an investigator, you want ascensing and perception which you have, and sumoning is good, But i'd drop binding And the enchanting, there are a lot of skills you could get that would make you better at being an investigator. Like ettiquet and tracking (if you can use that to track astral beings)

Agreed 
Maybe shadowing for stakeouts.

Rasmus

[Greenknight001]

Thanks for all the input.

When I designed this character there were several roleplaying angles I was aiming for, rather than optimizing him for combat (I used to play a front-line magical fighter a few games back, and wanted to avoid that this time around).  What I was aiming for for this guy was:

1. Since I was coming into an established group I didn't want to step on any toes, so I geared this guy specifically not to be combat oriented.  He is good at de-fanging his opponents (with his Destroy Guns and Slaughter Spirit spells), but uses his spirits as his only offensive attacks.  His low body is something I will prioritize fixing with karma, but until then he's hiding behind the group's troll.

2. With his high charisma I wanted him to double as the group's face, which they needed.

3. I'm grooming him for the Psychometry metamagic so he can "Johnny Smith" any crime scenes.

4. I took Mystic Adept over full mage because it opens up a lot of roleplaying options that regular mages don't get.  The combination of Linguistics and Linguist means that he can learn any language at an effective rating of 3 by listening to it for 2-1/2 hours, so he'll be renting a lot of international Netflix during the first month.  Commanding voice is a great ace-in-the-hole both for questioning people and getting out of tight spots.  Having to spend a full magic point on astral sight bites, but it's the cost of doing business.

5. I took a possession tradition because I love the idea of little origami spirits running around (although this didn't go over too well with my GM (see "Yet Another Possession Question" for details).

6. For between-run extra cash, Task Spirit + Chemistry Lab + medical contacts = generic drug business   

7. He looks good.  And has the fashion sense to always look good wherever he goes (with both street and corporate fashion sense).

Greenknight

[Argent]

I'd keep him as a Mystic Adept. IMO the flexibility you get is worth the trade off vs. a full magician.