[RdMarquis]

I've been working on this build for quite a while. Basically, this is my first character, after being rebuilt several times over. Does he look any good?

== Info ==
Street Name: Mordred
Name: Riley Finn
Movement: 10/25, Swim: 5
Karma: 0
Street Cred: 0
Notoriety: 0
Public Awareness: 0
Human Male Age 25
Height 5'10'' Weight 168
Composure: 7
Judge Intentions: 7
Lift/Carry: 6 (45 kg/30 kg)
Memory: 7
Nuyen: 0

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

== Derived Attributes ==
Essence:                   6
Initiative:                7 (
IP:                        1 (2)
Astral Initiative:         8
Astral IP:                 3
Matrix Initiative:         8
Matrix IP:                 1
Physical Damage Track:     10
Stun Damage Track:         10

== Active Skills ==
Animal Handling            : 0                      Pool: 3
Animal Training            : 0                      Pool: 3
Archery                    : 0                      Pool: 4
Armorer                    : 0                      Pool: 2
Artisan                    : 1 [Violins]            Pool: 5 (7)
Assensing                  : 1                      Pool: 5
Automatics                 : 0                      Pool: 4
Blades                     : 0                      Pool: 4
Climbing                   : 1                      Pool: 4
Clubs                      : 0                      Pool: 4
Computer                   : 0                      Pool: 2
Con                        : 0                      Pool: 2
Cybercombat                : 0                      Pool: 2
Data Search                : 0                      Pool: 2
Demolitions                : 0                      Pool: 2
Disguise                   : 4                      Pool: 8
Diving                     : 0                      Pool: 2
Dodge                      : 5                      Pool: 9
Escape Artist              : 0                      Pool: 4
Etiquette                  : 1 [Corporate]          Pool: 4 (6)
First Aid                  : 1                      Pool: 4
Flight                     : 1                      Pool: 4
Forgery                    : 0                      Pool: 4
Gunnery                    : 0                      Pool: 4
Gymnastics                 : 1                      Pool: 6
Hacking                    : 0                      Pool: 2
Heavy Weapons              : 0                      Pool: 4
Infiltration               : 4                      Pool: 11
Instruction                : 0                      Pool: 2
Intimidation               : 0                      Pool: 2
Leadership                 : 0                      Pool: 2
Locksmith                  : 0                      Pool: 4
Longarms                   : 0                      Pool: 4
Navigation                 : 0                      Pool: 3
Negotiation                : 1                      Pool: 6
Palming                    : 4                      Pool: 9
Parachuting                : 0                      Pool: 2
Perception                 : 3                      Pool: 7
Pilot Ground Craft         : 0                      Pool: 3
Pilot Watercraft           : 0                      Pool: 3
Pistols                    : 4                      Pool: 9
Riding                     : 0                      Pool: 3
Running                    : 1                      Pool: 4
Shadowing                  : 4                      Pool: 9
Survival                   : 0                      Pool: 3
Swimming                   : 1                      Pool: 4
Throwing Weapons           : 0                      Pool: 4
Tracking                   : 0                      Pool: 3
Unarmed Combat             : 4 [Martial Arts]       Pool: 9 (11)

== Knowledge Skills ==
Ancient Mythology          : 3                      Pool: 6
Classic Literature         : 3                      Pool: 6
English                    : N                      Pool: 0
General Corporate Buisness Practices : 3                      Pool: 6
Local Fixers               : 3                      Pool: 6
Media from the Late 20th and Early 21st Centuries : 3                      Pool: 7
North American Martial Arts Schools : 3                      Pool: 6
The Pendragon and Related Information : 3                      Pool: 7

== Contacts ==
"Surt", shadowrunner, ascetic twisted adept (2, 1) (enemy)
Capt. Angela Fenwick, Knight Errant officer (5, 2) (enemy)
Morgan "LeFay" Senlis, technomancer, rookie white hat (3, 6)
Nicholas Lui, former shadowrunner, adept martial arts master (2, 6)

== Qualities ==
Adept
Bad Rep
Day Job (20 hrs/week)
Dependent (Nuisance)
Mentor Spirit (Dragon)
SINner (Standard) (Ares)
The Warrior's Way

== Powers ==
Astral Perception
Combat Sense Rating: 1
Critical Strike Rating: 3
Improved Ability (Non-Combat) (Infiltration) Rating: 2
Improved Ability (Non-Combat) (Shadowing) Rating: 1
Improved Physical Attribute (REA) Rating: 1
Improved Reflexes 1
Killing Hands
Penetrating Strike Rating: 1

== Lifestyles ==
Low  1 months

== Armor ==
Chameleon Suit            6/4
   +Fire Resistance 2
   +Insulation 2
   +Nonconductivity 2
Clothing                  0/0
Helmet                    1/2
Vashon Island: Synergist High-collar Shirt1/0
Vashon Island: Synergist Short Jacket (Ensemble)4/3
Vashon Island: Synergist Skirt/Slacks1/1

== Weapons ==
Colt Government 2066
   DV: 5P   AP: -1   RC: 1
Colt Government 2066
   +Flashlight, Infrared
   +Flashlight, Standard
   +Hidden Gun Arm Slide
   +Periscope
   +Silencer
   +Smartgun System, External
   DV: 5P   AP: -1   RC: 1
Monofilament Sword
   DV: 5P   AP: -1   RC: 0
Morrissey Élan
   DV: 4P   AP: -   RC: 0
Unarmed Attack
   DV: 5P   AP: -   RC: 0
Yamaha Pulsar
   DV: 6S(e)   AP: -half   RC: 0

== Martial Arts ==
Firefight
   ++1 die on melee dodge Defense Test
Krav Maga
   +Take Aim as Free Action

== Commlink ==
CMT Clip (1, 1, 1, 3)
   +Vector Xim
Transys Avalon (4, 3, 3, 4)
   +Iris Orb
   +AR Gloves
   +Suite: Basic+ [Analyze 3, Browse 3, Command 1, Edit 3]
   +VR Game

== Gear ==
Ammo: AV Rounds (Heavy Pistols) x10
Ammo: Explosive Rounds (Heavy Pistols) x20
Ammo: Regular Ammo (Heavy Pistols) x40
Ammo: Regular Ammo (Holdouts) x30
Ammo: Silver Bullets (Heavy Pistols) x10
Ammo: Silver Bullets (Holdouts) x10
Ammo: Stick-n-Shock (Holdouts) x20
Ammo: Taser Dart (Tasers) x30
Certified Credstick, Standard
Datasoft (Classic Novels) Rating 2
Fake License (Spencer Lovett, Pistols) Rating 4
Fake License (Spencer Lovett, Swords) Rating 4
Fake SIN (Spencer Lovett) Rating 4
Fake SIN (Roger Ellison) Rating 1
Gas Mask
Goggles Rating 5
   +Vision Enhancement Rating 2
   +Vision Magnification
   +Smartlink
   +Image Link
   +Thermographic
Headphones Rating 2
   +Spatial Recognizer
   +Audio Enhancement Rating 3
Medkit Rating 6
   +Medkit Supplies
Radio Signal Scanner Rating 6
Tag Eraser
Tranq Patch Rating 5
Trauma Patch
Water Purification Tablet x2

== Vehicles ==
Yamaha Growler (Off-Road Bike)
   +Off-Road Suspension
   +Vehicle Sensor

[UmaroVI]

I've seen worse first characters, but needs some work.

Do you not have augmentations because you want to pick them up later, because ROLE-playing not ROLL-playing reasons, or because you think they would make you less effective?

Are you human because you actually want to be a human? You're currently paying 10 points and a Body for the privilege.

You are spread far too thin in general. Can you clarify what you actually want to do ie what roles you intend to fill in a group? Right now you are subpar at punching people, subpar at shooting people, and can't do B&E at all because maglocks stop you cold.

[RdMarquis]

The lack of augmentations was for roleplaying purposes. His powers are something he defines himself by, and he would never do anything to diminish them. And yeah, being human was a choice.

I thought more than 9 dice meant you were pretty good at a skill. Hate to say it, but those three things that he's subpar at are exactly the rolls I hoped to have him fill.

What can you suggest I can change?

[UmaroVI]

There's not really a proper correspondance between dice and "how good you are," since different skills are differently hard to get amounts of dice for. For comparison, the sample character street samurai (one of the better of the not-very-optimized core book sample characters) has 15 dice to shoot people.

Okay, so:

Stay human

No augmentations

Good at shooting people, hitting people, and B&E.

That is totally doable, although you will be somewhat less good due to the first two choices, Way of the Adept and Martial Arts prevent you from actually being really bad.

One last question: I notice you carry a sword you don't know how to use. Do you want to be good at swords? Or at punching? You can do either, but not really do both.

[RdMarquis]

I'm okay with...well, being merely okay.

As for the sword, maybe later. For now, it's more of a sentimental trinket.

[UmaroVI]

Okay then, let me suggest some tweaks. The basic problems you need to solve are:

Be a bit better at fighting. You're not terrible, just a bit below par. The main thing that's hurting you here is inefficient power choices, which you can fix easily, and same for inefficient skill selections, which you can fix easily. Secondarily, you can get slightly better gear which is also not hard.

Be able to open locks. This is your biggest problem - being able to ninja around and being stumped by a closed door sucks. This is also harder to fix because you don't really use Logic for anything else, but Hardware is logic-based. It's also hard to boost without 'ware.

I'm going to suggest dropping Charisma to 2; you have only 2 social skills, and it's not really doing anything to help you. If you care, you can buy up the social skills for less - 8 bp for +1 to both, versus 10 bp for +1 to Charisma. I think you already have "spread too thin" problems and would be inclined to just have Charisma 2. (-10 points).

Drop Willpower to 3. Stun boxes round up, so you want an odd amount. (-10 points).

Drop Agility to 1, which will be explained later (-40 points).

Raise Logic to 5 (20 points).

Lose Dodge 5 (-20 points). You can use Unarmed for melee passive defense, and Gymnastics when you need active ranged dodge.

Raise First Aid to 4. If you're going to be using Logic skills, might as well be good at one of the most useful of the logic skills (12 points).

Raise Perception to 4. It's 4 bp now or 8 karma later (4 points).

Hardware 4 (16 points). You use this to bypass a whole lot of physical security.

Unarmed 6 (8 points). It's either 8 bp now, or 22 karma later.

Incidentally, buy an Autopicker for old-fashioned locks. Lockpicking is not really worth it, but Autopickers are very cheap and you might need it.

Drop both your specialiazations. The reason for this is specs cost only 2 karma, versus 2 bp. Generally, 1 bp is worth a bit less than 2 karma, and a bunch of the other stuff you want to buy has much worse ratios. You can rebuy them very quickly.

At this point, you have 24 bp free. I'm going to suggest 15 bp more for another 2 MA qualities, and 9 for more Manuevers.



OK, now onto adept powers. I'm going to suggest this starting power setup:

Mind Over Matter (Logic->Agility) (1.5)
This lets you use Logic in place of Agility for any tests. This is very important, as it lets you be able to handle Logic based things (like opening maglocks) at the same time as agility based things (like sneaking around, shooting people, and punching people).
Astral Perception (1)

Improved Reflexes 2 (2.5, discounted to 1.875)

IR 1 is a bad deal compared to IR 2, especially when you're getting a discount. .75 PP for +1 Reaction is as good as Improved Physical Ability on its own; +1 IP makes it a no-brainer.

Improved Combat Ability (Unarmed) 1 (.5, discounted to .375)
Helps you hit people and not get hit. You do want more of this, it's not the best use of the discount, but lack of room.

Improved Noncombat Ability (Hardware) 1 (.25)
Helps shore up one of the harder things to be good at (opening locks).

Back to Martial Arts: your choices are not working well, because they synergize really poorly with wanting to be good at both hitting people and shooting people. Firefight is not for that, it is for shooting people and also shooting people. Krav Maga is for shooting people, but not for hitting them. The ones you want are:

Pentjak-Silat for +1 to called shots for extra DV
Wildcat: Ditto
Any 3 things for +3 Unarmed DV (there are a variety of styles that give it, some stack, it doesn't matter and is ultimately fluff. Get whatever 3 you like most).

Manuevers: you want Manuevers. They are good. The ones you really, really want are Two-Weapon Style and Vicious Blow. I would then get either Finishing Blow or Riposte; both have totally legitimate reasons to use them. Finishing Blow is better against single tough enemies, Riposte is better against groups of weaker enemies.

Gear: There are a few things in need of fixing.

First, you want to be using Form Fitting Body Armor like everyone else. There's really no good reason not to at least own it; you can always wear the half-suit if you can't wear gloves or whatever. It goes under your other clothes/armor and stops you from dying.

I'm assuming you want one gear set for breaking into places and one for formal occasions. For the breaking in, you want FFBA (6/2, counts as 3/1 for encumbrance), you want something with Ruthenium Coating (you can just get a poncho or whatever, that's ordinary clothing and 0/0 armor, and apply Ruthenium), and you want another 3/5 worth of armor. The easiest way to get that is going to be something like a leather jacket and some PPP.

For going around town not looking like a criminal, I'm going to recommend Form Fitting Body Armor again, plus Holo-wear (from Attitude), plus some PPP as needed to fill out the armor total. This is acceptable attire basically anywhere (you can set the Holo-wear to a fancy suit, and it will get you into fancy places; note Holo-wear is totally acceptable to wear even if people notice it is holowear), and will stop you from getting killed.

There are various other options for Pretty Pretty Princess Shadowrun Dressup but the above will work and is straightforward.

Next, guns. You want better guns. Unfortunately, there are a few good guns and a lot of bad guns. The Pulsar and the Elan are good guns. The Colts are not good guns; the options for good guns include the Yamaha Sakura Fubuki with Stick-n-Shock for taking people alive, and either the Ruger Thunderbolt or the Ruger Super Warhawk with Ex-explosive for killing people/destroying drones and vehicles. Check out my sig and the "Gunslinger" archetype for some fully modded pistols that are good.

You also want a Shock Glove with personalized grip, and a Hardliner Glove with personalized grip.

OK, at this point, let me explain how you fight.
Melee:
You use the Two-Weapon Style to attack and defend at the same time. Your defense is at -2 but it's still 5 (reaction)+6(unarmed)+6(unarmed)-2 for 15, which is good enough that a lot of people can't touch you. You can punch people with the shock glove for 8S (due to Martial Arts) with a not-half-bad pool of 13 (5 logic, 6 skill, 1 personalized grip, 1 Improved Ability), which becomes 15 after 2 karma when you buy a spec. It gets better, though - you call shots for extra DV, and then get +2 to hit. So you take a -1 to -4 penalty, for +1 to +4 DV, so you actually punch for anywhere from  9S with a pool of 14 up through 12S with a pool of 11, depending on what you're fighting.

If you took Riposte, you can Riposte attacks you block, which is nice against lots of weak people. If you took Finishing Blow, you can chain attacks to quickly one-round even very tough people; it's quite possible to destroy a tank in a single complex action using this.

What if you either want to kill someone (and don't want to just KO them and then put a pillow over their face), or are fighting someone with a Pain Editor, a drone, or a Vehicle? In this case, you use Vicious Blow, which gives you -2 to hit, but converts you to Physical damage.

Even vs. people with Nonconductivity, you usually just punch them in the face. If you really don't want electrical damage, use the Hardliner Glove, which does less damage but it's not electrical.

Also, when you can, get yourself a bonded Weapon Focus shock glove (save up for a nice one), and you will be very good at facepunching.

Shooting people is simpler: call shots for extra DV (as above), and shoot people. Bang.

[UmaroVI]

Oops, I miscounted, you have 3 specializations. I'm assuming you keep the Violins thing.

[All4BigGuns]

Oops, I miscounted, you have 3 specializations. I'm assuming you keep the Violins thing.

What book are the Hardliner Gloves in? I've looked in Arsenal and the SR4A core and haven't found them. Maybe I'm overlooking them, but I've looked multiple times...

[UmaroVI]

Arsenal 39. They're under exotic weapons for some reason, but specify they use Unarmed.

[All4BigGuns]

Arsenal 39. They're under exotic weapons for some reason, but specify they use Unarmed.

Ahh. That was the problem. I've been looking under 'unarmed weapons' where shock gloves and stuff are. Thanks Umaro. +1

[RdMarquis]

Yeah, I will. Also, those are some pretty drastic changes. Though I do understand why I need them. The higher willpower was because of his mentor spirit. Does he need to make that test if he's not a magician? And is there anyway I can meet you halfway on this? Really, my main points of contention are...

Dropping Agility. At least all the way down to one. It just doesn't sit right with me that his concept involves being mentally powerful to make up for being physically pathetic.

Raising Perception. Couldn't visual and audio enhancements make up for that?

Trading Dodge for Gymnastics. I'm not against this, I'm just unsure about the rules. This means martial arts that boost Dodge don't help anymore, right?

I'd rather have Killing Hands and Critical Strike than a shock glove.

Which is not to say I'm not deeply appreciative of your advice. Thank you, really.

[UmaroVI]

You do have to make the test if you aren't a magician; mentor spirits are very meh for adepts for that reason (I am assuming you know that it's bad, and took it for roleplay reasons, or I would have told you to drop that too). 5 willpower wouldn't be unreasonable, it's just that even amounts are bad and I don't see how you can afford 5.

You can skip the Mind over Matter; you just can't afford high Logic and high Agility without being willing to drop other stats. You could probably get away with less Logic, and instead get Improved Ability (Hardware) and some different adept powers.

Enhancements add to it and everyone should use them, yes. It's not so much that you need 4, as that 3 is wasting points down the road. You could go with 1 and buy more later (or buy Enhanced Perception, which is one of the more efficient adept powers if you have Astral Perception).

Right, they don't help, but those martial arts are also not as good as other ones.

While you can use Killing Hands and Critical Strike, they aren't a good choice on this character - they're only really effective on troll or ork augmented adepts who can stack a bunch of damage increase. If you do decide to go this route, though, make sure you have Critical Strike maxed at least; the buy-in of getting Killing Hands means you either want no critical strike, or 5. It does, however, pay off in the very very long run.

An alternate option would be to drop Mind over Matter, and have Increased Reflexes 2, Killing Hands, Critical Strike 5, Astral Perception, and .5 of other powers. In this case I would be getting Improved Ability Hardware 2.

You'll need to get back Agility 5, drop Logic to probably 3, and scrape up 20 bp from somewhere. I would probably cut down to Perception 1, and cut the other 8 bp out of...something. Probably a stat has to go down by a point, or maybe drop the social skills you have at 1 and buy them up later, or something.

Do note a few things, if you decide to go without using fist weapons, that some people argue you cannot use Two-Weapon Style with unarmed attacks. I am of the opinion that this is dumb and that "my fist" qualifies, since it is a reach 0 weapon. You can definitely use it with Hardliner Gloves/Shock Gloves/etc, but those are incompatible with critical strike.

[JustADude]

Dropping Agility. At least all the way down to one. It just doesn't sit right with me that his concept involves being mentally powerful to make up for being physically pathetic.

Think of Mind Over Matter as more of the whole Zen Monk thing, rather than being "physically pathetic".

Your Adept's mind and body are so in-tune that, instead of relying on subconscious reflexes (aka "muscle memory"), which is what Agility represents, they can consciously control their body's actions at the same speed as a reflexive twitch, allowing them to control their actions with a machine-like smoothness and grace that is under their full conscious direction.

Basically, Mind Over Matter is why the Ancient, White-Haired Kung-Fu Master types will beat you like a drum if you try to attack them.

[RdMarquis]

Ok, I just spent about an hour moving around points. And I have to admit, keying my most important skills off Logic saved me around 40 points.

Before I finish this build, though, I have to ask. How many dice am I shooting for in each category?

Also, I'm considering keeping Killing Hands and Critical Strike instead of getting Vicious Blow. Should I do that, or save my power points for boosting skills?

Dropping Agility. At least all the way down to one. It just doesn't sit right with me that his concept involves being mentally powerful to make up for being physically pathetic.

Think of Mind Over Matter as more of the whole Zen Monk thing, rather than being "physically pathetic".

Your Adept's mind and body are so in-tune that, instead of relying on subconscious reflexes (aka "muscle memory"), which is what Agility represents, they can consciously control their body's actions at the same speed as a reflexive twitch, allowing them to control their actions with a machine-like smoothness and grace that is under their full conscious direction.

Basically, Mind Over Matter is why the Ancient, White-Haired Kung-Fu Master types will beat you like a drum if you try to attack them.

I suppose I could work a debilitating injury into his background. This could be followed by his Awakening, which got him back on his feet, better than ever.

[UmaroVI]

As many as you can get. A good test for melee characters: check the link in my sig, and look at the Ronin. If you lose to him in a fistfight, you are probably bad, because he's a street samurai who wanted to be good at ranged combat, and then spent 16 bp and a shock glove on being passable at melee as a side thing.

The reason to use Vicious Blow is if you are using shock gloves. If you aren't, it isn't useful and I would take Kick Attack instead.

You want to either be using a Shock Glove, or be using Killing Hands and Critical Strike. If you try to hit people with neither, they will laugh at your wimpy punches.