[cutlass]

Here is my first character a Troll mage of the Voodoo tradition.
I wanted a mage that can dish out serious hand to hand combat and withstand lots of punishment.

Any and all comment is greatly appreciated.

WIP background:

SR character. Papa Jambo aka Jericho Blackwater
tool used= http://www.365discoveries.com/2009/07/shadowrun-character-generator-2/
personality faq:
What are his gender and metatype?
Male Troll
What are his names?
Papa Jambo, real name Jericho Blackwater, Jambo of the Petwo Family, PapaJ
How old is he?
Quite young, human equivalent of 23
Does he have family?
Yes, a twin brother, a younger brother, two sisters, father, mother, grandfather all still living in
various places around the world
Does he possess Magic or Resonance?
PapaJ is a Voodoo Magician*
Since when does he shadowrun?
Only just, he started after a failed act of eco-terrorism in Haiti. He ran to the US to go
undercover.
Why did he start to shadowrun?
See above, him and his (evil) twin brother used to provide the income of the large family of
Trolls, since both are wanted men in Haiti, PapaJ works as a ‘runner to send money home to
provide for his family. His twin dissapeared so he has to work for two.
What did he do before?
Work as a minor soothsayer, conjurer of spirits, exorcist of house gnomes and the like.
How does he live?
He keeps minimum money for himself, lives as a squatter/traveller.
Does he have a SIN, or many, or none?
He has one real SIN and two fakes, one as a janitor and one as a travelling priest (which is
partially true).
How does he look?
Scruffy overalls with a long leather coat, western style. a worn out high top hat, skull face paint,
large horns, dreadlocks and many fetishes/Gris-gris/Bottles of booze & cigars all over his body.
What are his interests?
Voodoo & spirits in all their forms, slightly obsessed with the dead.
Eco terrorism, member of Nova Gaia.
What does he think about other metatypes?
Orcs are pitifull, misformed trolls and should be helped. Elves are pansies. everything else is ok.
What does he think about the opposite sex?
A potential mate is very rare indeed and should be bewitched if needed once she is found.
What does he think about friends?
Friens are unreliable and they can die easy, lucky one can still talk to them when they are dead
What does he think about wetwork?
Poison of the soul, will never consider using it

Stats in attachement

[Lysanderz]

Your negative qualities are capped at -35. You have like -85 which is a no-no.

[cutlass]

Your negative qualities are capped at -35. You have like -85 which is a no-no.

Damn, that means the program I used is broken, any suggestions to rebuild him?

[Lysanderz]

Microsoft Excel. It does all your math for you if you have any basic talent at it.

[FastJack]

Here's what I came up with using Hero Labs (brought the Negative Qualities to -35; decreased/dropped skills to compensate):

Papa Jambo (Troll Magician)
B 10, A 2, R 2, S 5, C 2, I 2, L 2, W 5, E 4, Ess 6, M 5, Init 4, IP 1
Condition Monitor boxes (Physical/Stun): 13/11
Armor (Ballistic/Impact): 16/16
Skills: Arcana 1, Astral Combat 1, Automatics 1, Conjuring Group 4, Counterspelling 2, Dodge 1, Enchanting 1, Ritual Spellcasting 1, Spellcasting 5, Stealth Group 1, Unarmed Combat 1
Knowledge Skills: Biology 2, Chemistry 1, English N, French Creole 2, History 2, Literature 2, Paranormal Crittters 3
Qualities: Addiction (Mild): Alcohol, Astral Chameleon, Magician, Mentor Spirit: Dark King, SINner (Criminal SIN), Uncouth
Spells: Clairvoyance, Death Touch, Heal, Mob Control, Poltergeist, Spirit Barrier, Stealth
Gear:
. . Armor Vest
. . Janitor with Fake SIN (4)
. . Jericho Blackwater
. . Spellcasting Focus: Manipulation Spells (2)
. . Travelling Priest with Fake SIN (4)
. . Urban Explorer Jumpsuit
Weapons:
. . Ingram Smartgun X [Submachine Guns, DV 5P vs. B, BF/BF-L/FA, RC 3, 32 (c)] with Folding Stock, Gas-Vent 2 System, Laser Sight, Regular Ammo x75, Smartgun System, Internal, Sound Suppressor
. . Attack of Will (vs. Spirits) [DV 2P vs. I]
. . Unarmed Strike [Unarmed, DV 3S vs. I, Reach 1]

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[ArkangelWinter]

Drop Counterspelling, up Unarmed Combat to 3 to use Death Touch, or buy powerbolt and up Astral Combat 2. May want to drop Dodge. With just one IP, you'll never use it.

[UmaroVI]

Probably the simplest way to roll as a Voodoo melee character is going to be to self-possess with a spirit that has Energy Aura and hit people. The main thing is "make sure you actually understand how Possession works."

Note that Troll+Voodoo is not the best mix; Troll would do better with an Intuition or Logic possession tradition. It's not OMG terrible though.

The basics: don't invest too heavily in physical attributes; you add Force when possessed and they can't go over augmented max. I would probably have a decent Body (so you can wear good armor), don't go crazy on Strength but maybe be OK there, I would have 1-2 Agility and 3-4 Reaction. You don't care about mental stats that aren't Charisma or Willpower (you use the spirit's while possessed except for defense ie Willpower, which you want anyways for drain soak).

Do not buy skills that you can get from spirits unless you are really sure you want it even while not possessed and are willing to pay extra. In particular keep Task and Guardian spirits in mind since they are dial-a-skill.

Remember that being possessed is super obvious. You should probably be good at spellcasting and ready with that, since you don't want to have to start fights waiting to get possessed - Illusions to hide the possession might be a good purchase.

[cutlass]

Okay,

Thanks for all your insights.

One last question: when my dude punches somebody, does this count as "touch" for activating his death touch spell? In other words, does his unarmed combat damage add to the spell effect?

[JustADude]

One last question: when my dude punches somebody, does this count as "touch" for activating his death touch spell? In other words, does his unarmed combat damage add to the spell effect?

Noooot exactly.

Problem is, you have to take a Complex Action to throw the punch and another Complex Action to cast the spell. Of course, you could possibly go with a Split Dicepool situation. As a GM, I'd let you do it if you wanted to go that route, but it's just not worth it, IMO. For what you'd add with an Unarmed Punch, you're be better off just cranking the Death Touch up another few notches.

(F÷2)-2 means that, if you make contact on the test to touch the guy (which is Unarmed Combat anyway) and overcast Death Touch at Force 12 (max for a Magic 6 Magician), and they don't resist the spell, then you've got to deal with a whopping 4 Drain to deal a minimum of 13P damage (12P from Force, +1 net hit minimum) that can't be resisted, since it's a Mana spell.


Oh, and one last thing... take a look at the Channeling metamagic from Street Magic, p54. Lets you maintain physical and mental control while being Possessed by one of your own Spirits. You still have to spend a Service to get them to use any specific powers, though.

[Glyph]

It's a grey area of the rules, but SR4 tends to disallow "double-dipping" damage.  Shock gloves, for example, don't do any punching damage in addition to the electrical damage.  Touch spells do have some advantages, though.  "Touch only" gives you a +2 dice pool modifier to your attacks, and you also benefit if the GM uses the rule for grazing hits (you successfully touch an opponent on a tie, instead of needing a net hit).