[Shane Granger]

This is my re-worked character sheet, This character is shaping up to be like a female James bond lots of gadgets, more geared towards fast resolution of combat or complete avoidance all together, but she can still kick her fair share of as if she has to. I plan on putting all my effort it to appearing like an innocent little girl until I get close enough to do some damage and get out fast.

Some gear is over the rating cap but my GM approved it anyway, so I get to have my pimped out Makeup Kit.

As the character progresses I want to focus more on disguise, buying facial sculpt and melanin control adept powers. and of course increasing my social skills further.

Personal Data

Name: Lindariel
Metatype: Dryad
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Age: 25
Sex: Female
Height: 6'0
Weight: 140

Attributes

Body: 3
Agility: 5
Reaction: (3) 5
Strength: 2
Charisma: 5
Intuition: 4
Logic: 2
Willpower: 3

Edge:1
Essence: 6
Magic: 5
Initiative: 9

Skills

Influence: 4
Acrobatics: 4
Pistols: 5 (Semi-Automatics)
Artisan: 5
Unarmed: 5 (Shock Gloves)
Perception: 4
Infiltration: 4
Disguise: 2 (Nano-paste Disguise)

Qualities

Adept
First Impression
Guts
Ambidextrous
Hung out to dry
Lost loved one
Bad Luck

Adept Powers

Kinesics 3
Improved ability (Artisan)
Enthralling Performance
Commanding Voice
Improved Reflexes 2
Voice Control

Gear

Dual Morrissey Altas
Arm Slide
Silencer
Smart Link
Stick-n-shock (2 mags)


Shock Gloves

Form fitting body armor (full suit)

Contact lenses 3 (Vision magnification, Thermographic, Smart link)

Earbuds 2 (Audio enhancement, Select sound filter)

Makeup Compact of Chemicals
Cyanide 10 doses
Gamma-Scopolamine 10 doses
LSD 10 doses

Perfume bottle of Nero-stun 100 doses

Laies Cigarette 25

2 cans of nano-paste disguises

[Makki]

Aptitude is not worth the cost. Drop it and the 7th skill level.
Get First Impression instead. Very good Social Bonus. You also need at least one level in Infiltration and Perception.
The Select Sound Filter and Vision Magnification you can get from contact lenses. I'd switch them for Kinesics 2 or Enhanced Perception 2. Improved Ability (Artisan) is also a very cheap power, if you plan on using EP a lot.

for a small tweak, you could also switch Dodge for Gymnastics. In melee combat, you can use your Unarmed skill for blocking, and in ranged combat, you can use Gymnastic Dodge in lieu of normal Full Dodge. And Gymnastics has several other uses that Dodge doesn't.

Otherwise, despite the Edge 1, which you you could improve with the first karma, it's a solid build.

[All4BigGuns]

Aptitude is not worth the cost. Drop it and the 7th skill level.
Get First Impression instead. Very good Social Bonus. You also need at least one level in Infiltration and Perception.
The Select Sound Filter and Vision Magnification you can get from contact lenses. I'd switch them for Kinesics 2 or Enhanced Perception 2. Improved Ability (Artisan) is also a very cheap power, if you plan on using EP a lot.

for a small tweak, you could also switch Dodge for Gymnastics. In melee combat, you can use your Unarmed skill for blocking, and in ranged combat, you can use Gymnastic Dodge in lieu of normal Full Dodge. And Gymnastics has several other uses that Dodge doesn't.

Otherwise, despite the Edge 1, which you you could improve with the first karma, it's a solid build.

I'll agree with Makki on the visual and hearing modification adept powers, but the rest smacks of "optimization over character depth" to me. That said, being a more social character, you might consider lowering the combative skills and taking the social skills separately, having two at 5 so that you're better at what your focus is--that is of course unless the concept requires being a world-class pistol shooter. On the note of the Edge, honestly, I feel that Edge is far too expensive to buy up for what you get out of it, so feel free--in my opinion--to leave it at the base for your metatype.

[Irian]

Honestly, I am the only one who thinks that this whole Dryad-Face thing is a) pretty boring min-maxing and b) not going to work ingame? Yes, I know that the rules "only" give a huge bonus, but how many people like to be manipulated by magic? People WILL notice that there's something strange and sooner or later people will stop wanting to talk to the team because of this. Johnsons will start breaking of talks, as soon as their askenning mage informs them that the girl is a dryad. Also, a face needs the ability to "blend in" and not be the center of everyone's attention all the time. If you want to be THE hit on a party and get laid every day - twice - go for a dryad. But if you want a face that is more than a min-maxed charisma stat...

[All4BigGuns]

Honestly, I am the only one who thinks that this whole Dryad-Face thing is a) pretty boring min-maxing and b) not going to work ingame? Yes, I know that the rules "only" give a huge bonus, but how many people like to be manipulated by magic? People WILL notice that there's something strange and sooner or later people will stop wanting to talk to the team because of this. Johnsons will start breaking of talks, as soon as their askenning mage informs them that the girl is a dryad. Also, a face needs the ability to "blend in" and not be the center of everyone's attention all the time. If you want to be THE hit on a party and get laid every day - twice - go for a dryad. But if you want a face that is more than a min-maxed charisma stat...

Honestly, the first point is just an opinion, and someone can possibly come up with a fine backstory for such a character especially given the fact that they're naturally predisposed toward social interaction. As to your second point, my opinion on the matter is that it will only not work in game if the GM so dislikes the character combination that he intentionally contrives such things to occur just to prevent the Dryad-Face from being effective, in which case he should have simply disallowed in the first place rather than contriving circumstances to frag over the character's player, in my opinion.  As to the 'manipulated by magic', the same would apply to a human, ork, dwarf or troll social adept.

[UmaroVI]

Body 2 is asking for it. It's really not a good idea to have less than 3, and more is better.

Harcapping reaction isn't worth it. Aptitude isn't worth it. (Actually, now I'm not sure - do you have 6( reaction or 4(6) reaction?)

Softcapping Charisma is definitely worth it.

As pointed out, Dodge+Unarmed is not quite as good as Gymnastics+Unarmed. I'm not sure you actually would ever want to use unarmed, though - I might just drop down to only Dodge and spend the 16 bp elsewhere.

Lightning Reflexes is terrible.

You have too many sketchy adept powers.

Kinesics 1 [this should be 3]
Traceless Walk [fluff]
Enthralling Performance [this is good]
Commanding Voice [this is good]
Improved Scent [fluff]
Select Sound Filter [put it in your earbuds]
Vision Magnification [put it in your glasses]
Nerve Strike [crap]
Combat Sense 1 [overpriced]
Voice Control [this is OK]

Drop the crap and some of the fluff for Improved Reflexes 1.

Can you use Way of the Adept?

Get a better gun. For that I will direct you to my sig and the Gunslinger for various useful pistols.

Wear proper armor (that means Form-Fitting Body Armor plus one piece of "normal" armor plus enough PPP to bring you up to your cap).

[Irian]

As to the 'manipulated by magic', the same would apply to a human, ork, dwarf or troll social adept.

Good point, never thought about that much, but now I feel like this is a point that gets ignored too easily... Hmhm... How DO people react to being manipulated by magic? Or just the danger of it, when the person you're talking to is a known social adept?

[Shane Granger]

Honestly, I am the only one who thinks that this whole Dryad-Face thing is a) pretty boring min-maxing and b) not going to work ingame? Yes, I know that the rules "only" give a huge bonus, but how many people like to be manipulated by magic? People WILL notice that there's something strange and sooner or later people will stop wanting to talk to the team because of this. Johnsons will start breaking of talks, as soon as their askenning mage informs them that the girl is a dryad. Also, a face needs the ability to "blend in" and not be the center of everyone's attention all the time. If you want to be THE hit on a party and get laid every day - twice - go for a dryad. But if you want a face that is more than a min-maxed charisma stat...

I'd think Mr Johnson would be glad to see that the team they're hiring has a dryad for a face, I didn't really think about the blending in part though, I might swap out a power for facial sculpting. Might seem contradictory but can a dryad have the bland quality? I think it will be plenty interesting being a dryad, I think symbioses adds an interesting role play element to the character, and I'm looking forward to getting into it, being all mystical and crap, good times.

Aptitude is not worth the cost. Drop it and the 7th skill level.
Get First Impression instead. Very good Social Bonus. You also need at least one level in Infiltration and Perception.
The Select Sound Filter and Vision Magnification you can get from contact lenses. I'd switch them for Kinesics 2 or Enhanced Perception 2. Improved Ability (Artisan) is also a very cheap power, if you plan on using EP a lot.

for a small tweak, you could also switch Dodge for Gymnastics. In melee combat, you can use your Unarmed skill for blocking, and in ranged combat, you can use Gymnastic Dodge in lieu of normal Full Dodge. And Gymnastics has several other uses that Dodge doesn't.

Otherwise, despite the Edge 1, which you you could improve with the first karma, it's a solid build.

I completely forgot you could get vision enhancement in contact lenses, and wow i totally blanked on perception and infiltration. I like the gymnastics idea, kinda fits the character I was going for too.

That said, being a more social character, you might consider lowering the combative skills and taking the social skills separately, having two at 5 so that you're better at what your focus is--that is of course unless the concept requires being a world-class pistol shooter.

I guess I'm too used to going for combat efficiency over all else, doesn't really fit with the character i had in mind now that I think about it,.

You have too many sketchy adept powers.

Kinesics 1 [this should be 3]
Traceless Walk [fluff]
Enthralling Performance [this is good]
Commanding Voice [this is good]
Improved Scent [fluff]
Select Sound Filter [put it in your earbuds]
Vision Magnification [put it in your glasses]
Nerve Strike [crap]
Combat Sense 1 [overpriced]
Voice Control [this is OK]

I see your point on the crap, but I love the fluff. maybe I'll get rid of the super sniffer though.

Thanks a lot for the replies everyone I'll spend a little more time on this one then I think I'll be ready to run, it should be interesting to not solve all my problems with bullets.

[UmaroVI]

You can probably cut all the crap and just a little bit of the fluff and still come out fine.

[All4BigGuns]

As to the 'manipulated by magic', the same would apply to a human, ork, dwarf or troll social adept.

Good point, never thought about that much, but now I feel like this is a point that gets ignored too easily... Hmhm... How DO people react to being manipulated by magic? Or just the danger of it, when the person you're talking to is a known social adept?

The thing is, even if they know it's an adept they're dealing with, they don't know where the magic stops and the skill begins, so to have them walk out just because it's an adept is pure metagame on the GM's part just to screw the player of that character, in my opinion, and as I've said before, the GM should be held to the same standard as his players on that issue.

[Shane Granger]

Did some re working, I think I got it.

I took 1 point from reaction and put it in body, replaced dodge with acrobatics, got rid of lightning reflexes and aptitude for first impression plus ambidextrous. I also added three negative qualities I thought looked like fun, Hung out to dry, lost loved one, and bad luck (not that fun i just rarely use edge). I reduced pistols to four and raised artisan and influence to five. with the extra BP I added perception and infiltration at rating four and disguise at two specializing with nano-paste. I actually managed to let go all of the fluff as well as the crap adept powers and bumped kinesics to 3 and added improved reflexes 2 and improved ability 1 (hand to hand). I ditched the colt for some nifty dual Alta action. got some for fitting armor and with loads of money left over I bought a bunch of toys. Like some contacts and ear buds to replace my lost sense powers plus some I didn't have. A couple cans of nano-paste disguises and last but most definitely not least a makeup compact full of assorted chemicals: truth serum (can't remember what its called) Cyanide, and some acid just for fun. as well as a perfume bottle full of Nero-stun and some memory erasing cigarettes. ( i love the super spy items in arsenal, I would pay for a whole book of these!)

Thanks again you guys have helped me improve this character ten fold, plus in the process I've flushed out her back story and personality...

[Irian]

The thing is, even if they know it's an adept they're dealing with, they don't know where the magic stops and the skill begins, so to have them walk out just because it's an adept is pure metagame on the GM's part just to screw the player of that character, in my opinion, and as I've said before, the GM should be held to the same standard as his players on that issue.

Honestly, I somehow don't get it. It's not metagaming if an NPC doesn't like to be influenced via magic. This may include adepts or may not, depending on the NPC. Hey, the world should be full of prejudices against mages - even more, if it's true and the person DOES influence you with magic. Of course, it depends on many, many factors - what does the adept really do (trying to talk you into giving him your car or just make you feel a little bit optimistic?), what education have you got (do you know, what the adept can do or do you just think that magic could do everything to you), do you have an assensing mage on your side, do you know it's a (social) adept, etc? And yes, of course they can't really know where the magic stops, so some people may consider it an insult if the adept even starts talking. Other people may never notice, what the adept does - totally depending on the situation and person.

I don't really see a problem with bringing that into game - nobody said, that using your abilities always has to have only positive results (shooting at people may be successfull, but they don't have to like you for it - same with social interactions: You may persuade the Johnson to give you 200% - but that doesn't mean that he will hire you again next time). It simply adds another layer of thinking into game. Instead of people just using their powers to get the immediate benefit, they have to think about what results this will have - besides of "X net hits = x*5% more money". Will the Johnson like it? Does he see it as a prove of capability? Or will he become afraid, not judging his own thoughts anymore? Should you perhaps not try to get more money, but use your abilities to persuade the Johnson that you're really the people he wants? And Johnsons will think about it, too. Wouldn't you? When hiring someone like this, wouldn't you meet in VR, to minimize the adept's chances of influencing you?

Somehow I'm missing why this has to be metagame? There's magic and people will react to it. Completely InGame. And, of course, sorry, but Glamour is not a predisposition torwards social interactions, it's the magical equivalent to a sledgehammer. If the Johnson notices it, I wouldn't be suprised if he was pissed because you took advantage of him that way and took his personal Neil the Orc Barbarian sim as a bonus. Why shouldn't he?

[UmaroVI]

Yeah, I think probably a good idea would be for using Glamour to give -3 to social interactions, and using Kinesics to give -1 per level. People probably don't like Tailored Pheremones either, so that should also give -1 per level. Also, people probably don't like being manipulated, so using the Influence group skills should probably be another -1 per level (nobody said that using your skills always has to have beneficial results, am I right)? And we don't even need to get into emotitoys or empathy software.

[All4BigGuns]

Yeah, I think probably a good idea would be for using Glamour to give -3 to social interactions, and using Kinesics to give -1 per level. People probably don't like Tailored Pheremones either, so that should also give -1 per level. Also, people probably don't like being manipulated, so using the Influence group skills should probably be another -1 per level (nobody said that using your skills always has to have beneficial results, am I right)? And we don't even need to get into emotitoys or empathy software.

I hope that's sarcasm, Umaro. 

Though, either way this is a very good example of what NOT to do as a GM.

[Irian]

Yeah, I think probably a good idea would be for using Glamour to give -3 to social interactions[..]

I know, it is much more easy to argue against statements only you made, but I'm afraid that's not the same as a discussion. It was never about removing these advantages, but simply accepting, that sometimes and advantage can also be negative. Normally, it's positive to be an elf, but if your Johnson is a racist - bad luck. In most cases, it's positive to be pretty - but if the squatter you need information from hates pretty people because he's ugly and knows it: Bad Luck. If you blend into any crowd - good, but only if you don't want to be picked for something from a crowd. Etc. In most cases you will not have any problems with an advantage, but if you idea, that no advantage may ever be a bad thing, the whole Emergence campaign would have been pretty boring for every PC Technomancer.