[Ugh]

I'm making a pixie shaman for an upcomming game with some friends.  500 point build and all books we have (SR4A, Arsenal, Running Wild, Parazoology, Street Magic, Runner's Companion, Attitude, Vice, Seattle 2072, Unwired, Runer Havens, and Runners Black book when it arrives in the mail).  I took a lot of notes from UmaroVI's archtypes, but I'm looking for critique.  I'm hoping for a long term game so I wasn't looking to make the best starting character, but a good starting character with the best progression.  Some of the skills are for RP purposes (i.e outdoors group).

Thanks,

Ugh

NAME/ALIAS: Tylluan                   MOVEMENT: 1/4, Fly: 20/50
METATYPE: Pixie   
STREET CRED:  0     NOTORIETY:   0     PUBLIC AWARE:   0     COMPOSURE:   14     JUDGE INTENTIONS:   13     LIFT/CARRY:   3     LIFT/CARRY WEIGHT:   15kg / 10 kg     MEMORY:   10

BODY: 2     STR: 1     AGI: 7     REAC: 7     CHA: 7     LOG: 3     WIL: 7     INT: 6    EDGE: 2     MAG: 5     ESS: 6     INIT: 13

QUALITY NAME
Distinctive Style (Racial)
Gremlins (Rating 1)
Magician
Mentor Spirit (Owl)
Perceptive (+2 Bonus)
Poor Self Control (Thrill Seeker)
Prejudiced (Specific, Outspoken) (Wagemages)
Restricted Gear (Rating 1)
Sensitive System
Uneducated (Racial)

Skills
Influence Group  1
Outdoors Group  1
Stealth Group      1
Animal Handling  1
Assensing            1
Binding                 6
Counterspelling   4
Perception           1
Pistols                  1
Spellcasting         4
Summoning         4
Language: English   4
Language: French   2
Language: German   1
Language: Irish (Gaelic) 4
Language: Italian   1
Language: Japanese   1
Language: Russian   1
Language: Spanish   1
Language: Sperethiel   N
Language: Uphevu   2
Alcohol (Wines)   2 (4)
Area Knowledge: London  1
Area Knowledge: Paris  1
Area Knowledge: Seattle  4
Music        1

ARMOR   BALLISTIC/IMPACT (I should have Increased Attribute (Body) sustained when wearing armor)
TOTAL                                        10/7
Ballistic Mask                      2/1
Clothing ("Overcoat")                       0/0
Fire Resistance 5; Ruthenium Polymer Coating
Form-Fitting Full-Body Suit   6/2
Nonconductivity 6
SecureTech Forearm Guards   0/1
SecureTech Leg and Arm Casings   1/1
SecureTech Shin Guards   0/1
SecureTech Vitals Protector   1/1

Ares Light Fire 70:   Silencer, Ares Light Fire 70; Smartgun System, Internal; Gecko Grip; Metahuman Customization; Personalized Grip; Skinlink; Ammo: Regular Ammo-50; Stick-n-Shock-50; Spare Clip-3

SPELLS
Tradition: Shamanic Resist Drain with WIL + CHA (14)
Stunbolt (Combat)
Combat Sense (Detection)
Mindnet, Extended (Detection)
Heal (Health)
Increase [Attribute; Body] (Health)
Increase Reflexes (Health)

CONTACT NAME   TYPE   CONNECTION   LOYALTY/INCIDENCE
Dante      6   6

Gear
MetaLink with Vector Zim
Concealable Holster   -
Contact Lenses   3
Flare Compensation; Skinlink; Smartlink; Vision Magnification
Earbuds   3
Audio Enhancement 3; Skinlink; Spatial Recognizer
Glasscutter   -
Glasses   3
Image Link; Skinlink; Ultrasound; Vision Enhancement 3
Power Focus (bonded)    f4
Respirator   6
Sustaining Focus (Detection) (bonded) f3
Sustaining Focus (Health) (bonded) f3
Sustaining Focus (Health) (bonded) f3
Fake License (Pet (me))   3  (Im not sure how he's running sapient critter's. If I can be a pet, that's what my 6/6 rating contact is for (Dante of Dante's inferno.  If anyone could have a Pixie pet I think he could)
Fake License (Ruthenium Polymer Coating)3
Fake License (Ares Light Fire 70)3
Fake License (Power Focus)3
Fake License (Contact Lenses)3
Backpack
Camouflage Netting
Sleeping Bag
Tent
Lifestyle: Squatter

[Leevizer]

Fake License (Pet (me))   3

This seriously made my day. +1. Also, Do you really need all of those skills at 1? Shouldn't you drop some and specialize a bit?

[UmaroVI]

I think you look mostly good. A few notes:

You really aren't getting your money's worth out of Agility 7 - you only have 2 agility skills (Infiltration and Pistols). You'd be better off with less Agility and more skills - or more Edge.

Lots of skills at 1, while better than lots of skills at 2-3, is bad in the long-term for karma efficiency. It's up to you how much you want to prioritize starting with all those skills vs. defaulting on some for a while and then buying the others with karma, but if you plan to buy them up eventually, you should cut some and buy the rest to 4. However, if you plan to never raise them, it's OK to have them at 1 (this might well be a sensible move - mages often just want to put all their karma into initiation, magic, and foci).

Seeing as you have Stunbolt, I would be inclined to swap the Lightfire for a Ruger Super Warhawk and carry Ex-Ex (APDS or Anti-tank, when you can buy it) ammo. That will work better on drones and vehicles which can't be stunbolted.

I'm not a big fan of the "Mindnet" spell. It really just duplicates a set of cheap subvocal microphones, and it doesn't even duplicate them well because it has all sorts of limitations on it. Especially on a character with only a few spells, I would never take that. Physical Mask strikes me as a much more sensible choice so that you can disguise yourself as not-a-pixie.

[UmaroVI]

Also, on your armor - I would be inclined to wear 10/10 encumbrance armor, but be able to "strip" to 4/4 encumbrance quickly if needed. Background count can shut down or lower your spells, and you don't want to be caught with encumbering armor.

[Ugh]

Thanks for the info.  It's hard for me not to pick all the skills I can, but let's see if I can pair it down.  I'm not the face, but I'd like to have 1 skill in the influence group. With 4 skills it's hard to pass up.  I probably won't raise this any higher.  The outdoors group is for RP and backstory.  The stealth group is another 4 skill group. As a pixie, I probably don't need the infiltrate, but it doesn't hurt.  This is another group I probably won't raise past 1.
Animal handling:  this is another rp skill and it may come in useful vs guard animals or when squatting.  I won't raise it past 1.
Assensing:  I'll raise this skill to 4 or higher with karma
Perception: this is another skill I'll have to raise
Pistols: can stay at 1.  Heck if I keep my agi at 7 I could probably just default.
All the other 1 skills are knowledge or language.

Mindnet:  while this is a bad spell, the uneducated and gremlins negative qualities make me think it's necessary.  With uneducated, my gm could make me roll to talk into my com link.  Since it's a computer skill, I can't default.  Even if I get it working, there's a chance gremlins will take it out.  Mindnet solves this problem. Of course, slaving my com link to my hackers so he can Control it may also fix the problem.

Agility.  This attribute has more default able skills than any other.  I like that I can default 6 dice on them.  Of course I'll hardly ever need to default as many of the skills are combat so I'm willing to think about it.  Still, there's pistols and infiltration s you mentioned, plus palming,archery, escape artist, and gymnastics.

Armor.  I like your idea.  What sets would you recommend?

[UmaroVI]

If you plan to never raise the skill past 1, then buying it at 1 at chargen is reasonable. I would be inclined to drop a bunch of the skills at 1 that you do plan to eventually raise - especially default-able ones - and pool the points into single stuff.

Mindnet sucks really hard at replacing commlink. Gremlins and Uneducated makes commlinks a bit of a nuisance. Mindnet is always a nuisance - you have to sustain it, it has a (fairly short) maximum range, limited targets, limited stuff you can send.... I would just slave to your hacker.

Armor: it's time for Pretty Pretty Princess Shadowrun Dressup! Yatta!

Start with FFBA, since it is for winning. That's 3/1 of your encumbrance budget. Put on 1/3 PPP stuff - I think probably vitals protector, shin guards, and forearm guards, under that. That will put you at 4/4 encumbrance, 7/5 total. Now we want another 6/6 of stuff on top of that, and it should be things that you can strip off quickly if you get caught in a sudden BGC or have to drop Increase Body to get past a ward or something.

I'm going to suggest a Lined Coat (6/4) plus the PPP Helmet (0/2). You can substitute a Hard Hat if you want. This gets you the -2 concealability to items under your coat. You can also Ruthenium-coat your Lined Coat. This means you only have to chuck two items to get un-encumbered, and neither of them should be too hard to get off (you're taking off your hat and coat). An alternative would be just the Urban Explorer Jumpsuit (6/6), but I think that would be harder to get off. YMMV, there's not really rules for taking your clothes off, so it depends on what your GM thinks this stuff looks like.

[Ugh]

I may go with a ballistic shield (6/4) and helmet (0/2).  That way I don't have to worry about catching my wings when taking off the lined coat.  Plus I think we have a troll who could put my shield in his pocket when I'm not using it.  I can still have the ruthenium on my non armored overcoat.  I'll lose mind net and see which skill group I'm comfortable defaulting on.

Thanks again.

[UmaroVI]

One warning with the shield - remember it's -1 to all physical tests! That includes Initiative tests, Surprise tests, and it also includes the Reaction roll for defense. I'd be really hesitant about that.

[ArkangelWinter]

But unlike armor, the shield has other uses: weapon, wedge, ramp, lever, lean-to roof.