[TheNarrator]

...Mind over Matter charisma-> strength...

As mentioned in other threads, this doesn't work.

MoM only substitutes the rating during tests, and the general consensus is that your damage isn't a test.

Not only that, but your Strength determines how much you can carry. A character with STR 1 would only be able to carry 10 kilograms, which probably isn't enough to carry the weight of their own armor and weapons.



EDIT:

Since others have put forth Mystic Adept builds, I figured I'd put forth a full Adept one, since the character concept seems to be all about the ghost-punching rather than spellcasting.

I was just going to build it as a human since no metatype was specified, but then I decided that the Strength and Body boosts of an ork would come too much in handy.


Ork (20 BP)

Attributes: (200) BP

BOD: 5
AGI: 5
REA: 4 (6)
STR: 5
CHA: 3
INT: 4
LOG: 3
WILL: 4


Special Attributes: (60 BP)

MAGIC: 5
EDGE: 3

Qualities: (-15 BP)

Adept (5 BP)
The Warrior's Way (10 BP)
Martial Arts (Karate) (5 BP)
SINner (-5 BP)
Pacificst (-5 BP)  (she hasn't entirely abandoned her principles in the shadows)
Gremlins Lvl 2 (-10 BP)  (the reason she does things the low tech way)
Hung Out to Dry (-10 BP)  (goblinization sucks when you're Japanese)
Distinctive Style (-5 BP) (tendency to add Shinto charms to gear)


Powers:

Improved Reflexes Lvl 2  (2 PP)*
Killing Hands (0.5 PP)
Critical Strike Lvl 5 (1 PP)*
Astral Perception (1 PP)
Elemental Strike (one element, your choice) (0.5 PP)

* = 25% discount for Warrior's Way quality


Skills: (114 BP)

Unarmed Combat  5 (Karate +2)
Archery 4 (Bows +2)
Athletics Group 3
Perception 4
Assensing 4 (Spirits +2)
Influence Group 1

Knowledge Skills: (21 Free)

Japanese N
English 3

Shinto Traditions 3
Comparative Religion 3
Martial Arts 3
Japanese Corporate Culture 3
Astral Threats 3
Local Temples & Dojos 3


Martial Arts: (2 BP)

Karate: +1 DV Unarmed Combat
-Maneuver: Disarm


Contacts: (9 BP)
Shinto Priest (Loyalty 4/Connections 1)
Fixer (Loyalty 1/Connections 3)


Resources: 50,000 nuyen (10 BP)

(It would take longer than I have at the moment to do a full gear listing, but here's a few good must-haves....)

Bow, Str Min 5 (500 nuyen)
Arrows x 30 (150 nuyen)
Hammerheads x 30 (150 nuyen)
Incendiary Heads x 5 (275 nuyen)

Pistol Crossbow (250 nuyen)
Bolts x 10 (30 nuyen)

(I confess that I don't really know all the archery must-haves)

Form-Fitting Body Armor, Full Body Suit  (1,600 nuyen)
Urban Explorer Jumpsuit  (500 nuyen)   (consider the Riot Armor as a possible alternate or future purchase)

Micro-Transceiver, Rating 4 (800 nuyen)
-Encryption, Rating 4 (400 nuyen)
Respirator Rating 6 (150 nuyen)
Survival Kit (100 nuyen)
Standard Rope, 100 meters (50 nuyen) (everybody needs rope!)

...and so on and so forth. You know the drill.

Jeez, I kind of want to play this character now. She seems like she'd be lots of fun!

[Kontact]

An attack of will is what a mundane is stuck with.  An adept is much better off using killing hands and a normal unarmed attack - much better dice pool, and with things like critical strike, much better damage as well.  The only problem with an adept spirit puncher is that they can only do this well against materialized spirits.  For astral spirits, they run into problems - they need astral sight to see them, then astral combat to fight them (typically a lower dice pool), and they are stuck in their meat body while their opponent can move in any direction, including up.

I recall dual natured types, like those assensing, using unarmed in the place of astral combat for swacking foes..

[UmaroVI]

You have three basic problems to overcome:

1) Punching spirits isn't very good, because they tend to have very high melee defense.

2) Spirits generally have no reason to get into punch range.

3) Unaugmented adepts aren't very good.

TheNarrator's build is a good example of this problem - that character will lose a fistfight to a medium-force spirit almost every time. They have 12 dice to hit, 13 dice melee defense, 9 DV + elemental effect punches, and you could probably fix the armor to be 13/11. Take a Force 6 Fire Spirit as an example opponent: it has 14 dice melee attack, 15 dice melee defense, and it hits you with Engulf+Energy Aura for 10 DV fire + immobilization and continuing damage. That's not good odds at all.

There are three basic ways to solve this that I can see.

One is to make a punchy adept who is good at punching things in general and who has spirit-punching as an option. They might not be that great at fighting spirits but if you don't overspecialize at least they won't be bad at other things. You really need to be augmented, though, or you aren't going to stand much of a chance.

Another is to make a punchy adept who is actually specialized in facepunching spirits and good at it. You can do this, but you have to buy expensive things and it will leave you kinda meh at other things. You still want to be augmented though. The core thing you need is a way to actually hit spirits, which means pumping your attack roll and more importantly using Distance Strike because that prevents spirits from using their melee defense pool (they just defend with Reaction, not Reaction+Melee Skill).

Another option is to make a punchy mystic adept. You can pick up things that make you better at dealing with spirits like Mana Static and having spirits of your own to back you up. This is the way to actually be good at fighting spirits, but it does run into the problem that the actual punchy part of it is somewhat superfluous and generally less good than just shooting them. Or stunbolting them, really. But you can do it and it will work, and you'll also not be bad at other things, like punching tanks in half.

[Herr Novak]

Do Bonuses from different Martial Arts stack? When I have Boxing (+1 DV) and Karate (+1 DV) can I use +2DV? And can I use it in any case, even if not using that Martial Art like can I use the bonus form Boxing when doing a kick attack?

[JustADude]

Do Bonuses from different Martial Arts stack? When I have Boxing (+1 DV) and Karate (+1 DV) can I use +2DV? And can I use it in any case, even if not using that Martial Art like can I use the bonus form Boxing when doing a kick attack?

They do indeed stack and, by RAW, yes even Boxing would add to Kick Attack, despite the fact that Boxing has no leg strikes at all.

The only limit is a hard-cap of +3 DV from Martial Arts, period.

[Jackleg Rooster]

You have three basic problems to overcome:

1) Punching spirits isn't very good, because they tend to have very high melee defense.

2) Spirits generally have no reason to get into punch range.

3) Unaugmented adepts aren't very good.

TheNarrator's build is a good example of this problem - that character will lose a fistfight to a medium-force spirit almost every time. They have 12 dice to hit, 13 dice melee defense, 9 DV + elemental effect punches, and you could probably fix the armor to be 13/11. Take a Force 6 Fire Spirit as an example opponent: it has 14 dice melee attack, 15 dice melee defense, and it hits you with Engulf+Energy Aura for 10 DV fire + immobilization and continuing damage. That's not good odds at all.

There are three basic ways to solve this that I can see.

One is to make a punchy adept who is good at punching things in general and who has spirit-punching as an option. They might not be that great at fighting spirits but if you don't overspecialize at least they won't be bad at other things. You really need to be augmented, though, or you aren't going to stand much of a chance.

Another is to make a punchy adept who is actually specialized in facepunching spirits and good at it. You can do this, but you have to buy expensive things and it will leave you kinda meh at other things. You still want to be augmented though. The core thing you need is a way to actually hit spirits, which means pumping your attack roll and more importantly using Distance Strike because that prevents spirits from using their melee defense pool (they just defend with Reaction, not Reaction+Melee Skill).

Another option is to make a punchy mystic adept. You can pick up things that make you better at dealing with spirits like Mana Static and having spirits of your own to back you up. This is the way to actually be good at fighting spirits, but it does run into the problem that the actual punchy part of it is somewhat superfluous and generally less good than just shooting them. Or stunbolting them, really. But you can do it and it will work, and you'll also not be bad at other things, like punching tanks in half.

This is all what I was worried about. :/ Basically the spirit medium type would be better at this task?

I think as long as I'm meeting the criteria of:

A: Evil Spirit fighter

and

B:Shinto

then the player will be happy especially if I explain that punching burning ghosts is a recipe for burning death. Probably better as this team has a cybered martial artist already, and a technomancer so ranged spell support would be good. Still a bummer though.

[UmaroVI]

Probably the single best way to beat spirits is:

1) Other spirits

2) Mana Static. Mana Static is very nasty, because there's no real defense against it and it works on both the Astral and Physical, regardless of which plane you cast it on.

Shinto is a perfectly good tradition. If you want to be Shinto, specialize in fighting spirits, and aren't pick about exactly how, the best way overall is probably going to be an Elf Charisma mage (probably a lot like the Spirit Medium archetype), but specialize in Manipulation (and of course have Mana Static).

There are various other ways to go but ultimately they boil down to "be good at killing things, spirits are things" whereas this at least gives you a fairly unique anti-spirit weapon.

[TheNarrator]

You can also take mana combat spells like Stunball (great for any magician as a way to easily mass-K.O. multiple enemies), and the "Slay [Metatype/Species]" spell as "Slay Spirit". Low Drain, effective on both physical and astral planes, only resisted by Willpower + Counterspelling. (Which, admittedly, would be better for many spirits than it's likely to be for most other enemies, since they'll often have 2 x Force.)

What book is Mana Static in?

[Glyph]

I recall dual natured types, like those assensing, using unarmed in the place of astral combat for swacking foes..

You're thinking of natural weapons, like drakes have.  When assensing, the skill is astral combat.  I prefer the old SR3 rule, where you did use your meatbody skill when only astrally perceiving, myself.  The way the current rules are, an adept is actually better off fighting only materialized spirits, and leaving the astral stuff to mages.

[TheNarrator]

I just checked the book, and it seems like you're right. That's unfortunate, in my opinion. Somebody who's only astrally perceiving is still in their physical body, and should use the skills they would use in their physical body.

Well, that's a bit of a nail in the coffin for the spirit-puncher idea, if they can't use their martial arts skills to attack spirits that might be hiding in the astral. Might as well go full on magician for an exorcist.

[TheNarrator]

A straight magician build for a Shinto priestess character who can trash spirits and provide good mage support to a group, as well as be a decent face.

The Slaughter Spirits spell will let her waste all the spirits in a room while leaving the metahumans untouched, while Stunball will neutralize anything living non-lethally. Heal, Detox and Cure Disease will help restore teammates to full health and keep them alive. Levitate is handy for anyone, and Increase Reflexes will let the character go three times a round. Assensing with a specialization in spirits will let her identify her spirit adversaries. I passed on Binding... I figured Shinto would be one of those traditions that would consider it unethical.

Gremlins provided a good excuse to keep the equipment pretty simple. The other qualities should provide good roleplaying opportunities as well.

EDIT: Decided that the two extra dice for drain wasn't worth the BP cost of being an elf when there were more skills and spells needed, and honestly this concept works better for a human anyway.



Attributes:    (200 BP)

BOD: 3    (20 BP)
AGI: 3        (20 BP)
REA: 3        (20 BP)
STR: 3        (20 BP)
CHA: 5    (40 BP)
LOG: 3    (20 BP)
INT: 3        (20 BP)
WILL: 5    (40 BP)


Special Attributes:    (50 BP)

MAGIC: 5    (40 BP)
EDGE: 3    (10 BP)


Qualities: (-20 BP)

Magician (15 BP)
SINner (-5 BP)
Pacifist (-5 BP) (she hasn't entirely abandoned her principles in the shadows)
Gremlins Lvl 2 (-10 BP) (the reason she does things the low tech way)
Distinctive Style (-5 BP) (tendency to add Shinto charms to gear)
Prejudiced (Orks/Trolls, Biased) (-10 BP) (standard Japanese dislike of the goblinized)


Spells: (30 BP)

Stunball
Slaughter Spirit
Cure Disease
Mana Barrier
Levitate
Increased Reflexes
Heal
Detox
Improved Invisibility
Physical Mask


Skills:     (118 BP)

Spellcasting 5
Counterspelling 5
Summoning 4
Assensing 4 (Spirits +2)
Influence Group 1
Pistols 1 (Semi-Auto +2)
Perception 3 (Astral +2)
Infiltration 3 (Urban +2)


Knowledge Skills: (18 Free)

Japanese N
English 3

Shinto Traditions 3
Comparative Religion 3
Japanese Corporate Culture 3
Astral Threats 3
Local Temples & Lodges 3


Contacts: (9 BP)

Shinto Priest (Loyalty 4/Connections 1)
Fixer (Loyalty 1/Connections 3)


Resources: 50,000 nuyen (10 BP)

Form-Fitting Body Armor, Full Body Suit (1,600 nuyen)
Lined Coat, Soft-Weave (770 nuyen)
Shin Guards (150 nuyen)

Colt M1991 (300 nuyen) (old enough to be unaffected by Gremlins; an heirloom of some sort, I assume)
Spare Magazines x 3 (15 nuyen)
Regular Ammo x 30 (60 nuyen)
Survival Knife (50 nuyen)

Micro-Transceiver, Rating 3 (600 nuyen)
-Encryption, Rating 3 (300 nuyen)
Respirator Rating 6 (150 nuyen)
Survival Kit (100 nuyen)
Standard Rope, 100 meters (50 nuyen)
Medkit, Rating 6 (600 nuyen)
Endoscope (250 nuyen)
Flashlight (25 nuyen)
Lightstick x 4 (20 nuyen)
Backpack (250 nuyen)

Dodge Scoot (3,000 nuyen)
Spoof Chip (500 nuyen)

Medium Lifestyle (5,000 nuyen)
Fake SIN, Rating 3 (3,000 nuyen)
Fake License (handgun), Rating 3 (300 nuyen)
Fake License (magic), Rating 3 (300 nuyen)

Novatech Airware with Iris Orb OS (2,250 nuyen)
Monocle, Rating 1, w/ Image Link (50 nuyen)
Basic User Program Suite (300 nuyen)
Earbuds, Rating 1 (10 nuyen)

Sustaining Focus (Health), Force 3 (30,000 nuyen)



Bonded Foci: (3 BP)

Sustaining Foci, Force 3

[Jackleg Rooster]

Took a lot of the ideas here back to the player and we worked out some ideas and some heavy character hooks (ie the wanted and big regret qualities)

Some of the spells i think are iffy (I'm looking at you spirit zapper) but i think its pretty solid.

Thoughts?

== Info ==
Street Name: Starchild
Name: Courtney Takahashi
Movement: 10/25
Karma: 0
Street Cred: 0
Notoriety: 1
Public Awareness: 0
Human Female Age 23
Height 5'9" Weight 153
Composure: 10
Judge Intentions: 10
Lift/Carry: 6 (15 kg/10 kg)
Memory: 7
Nuyen: 0

== Attributes ==
BOD: 5
AGI: 2
REA: 3
STR: 1
CHA: 5
INT: 5
LOG: 2
WIL: 5
EDG: 2
MAG: 5

== Derived Attributes ==
Essence:                   6
Initiative:                8
IP:                        1
Astral Initiative:         10
Astral IP:                 3
Matrix Initiative:         6
Matrix IP:                 1
Physical Damage Track:     11
Stun Damage Track:         11

== Active Skills ==
Assensing: 4                      Pool: 9
Con  (group): 1                      Pool: 6
Counterspelling: 4                      Pool: 9
Etiquette (group): 1                      Pool: 6
Infiltration: 1                      Pool: 3
Leadership (group): 1                      Pool: 6
Negotiation (group): 1                      Pool: 6
Perception: 4                      Pool: 9
Spellcasting: 6 [Manipulation]       Pool: 11 (13)
Summoning: 1 [Fire]               Pool: 6 (

== Knowledge Skills ==
Astronomy: 4 [Deep Space Observation] Pool: 6 (
Cooking: 1 [Japanese]           Pool: 6 (
English: 6 [Speak]              Pool: 11 (13)
Japanese: N                      Pool: 0
Japanese Corporate Culture: 2                      Pool: 4
Shinto Traditions: 4 [Kami History]       Pool: 6 (

== Contacts ==
Fixer (4, 1)
Shinto Priest (1, 4)

== Qualities ==
Big Regret
Magician
Mentor Spirit: Amaterasu (Fire-Bringer)
Pacifist (Minor)
Records on File (Renraku)
Restricted Gear (Rating 1)
SINner (Standard) (UCAS)
Wanted (UCAS)

== Spells ==
(Tradition: Shinto, Resist Drain with WIL + CHA (10))
Critter Form [Critter] (White Wolf) DV: (F÷2)+1
Fashion                    DV: (F÷2)
Heal                       DV: (Damage Value)-2
Increase Reflexes          DV: (F÷2)+2
Laser                      DV: (F÷2)+3
Levitate                   DV: (F÷2)+1
Mana Static (Limited)      DV: (F÷2)+4
Mob Mind (Limited)         DV: (F÷2)+4
Slaughter [Metatype/Species] (Spirit) DV: (F÷2)+1
Spirit Zapper              DV: (F÷2)+2
Stunball                   DV: (F÷2)+1
Stunbolt                   DV: (F÷2)-1

== Lifestyles ==
Low  1 months

== Armor ==
Form-Fitting Full-Body Suit6/2
   +Chemical Protection 6
   +Nonconductivity 6
Vashon Island: Steampunk Corset/Vest (Ensemble)7/7
   +AR Enhanced

== Commlink ==
CMT Clip (1, 1, 1, 3)
   +Vector Xim
Meta Link (1, 1, 1, 2)
   +Vector Xim

== Gear ==
AR Makeup
Betel x10
Contact Lenses Rating 2
   +Flare Compensation
   +Vision Magnification
Earbuds Rating 2
   +Skinlink
   +Audio Enhancement Rating 3
   +Spatial Recognizer
Fake License (Carry Foci) Rating 3
Fake License (Driver's) Rating 3
Fake License (Practice Magic) Rating 3
Fake SIN (Laura St. John) Rating 3
Glasses Rating 4
   +Vision Enhancement Rating 3
   +Ultrasound
   +Image Link
Manipulation Fetish x2
Medkit Rating 6
Power Focus (bonded) Rating 4
Psyche
Red Mescaline x2
Simrig
Steampunk Accessories
Sustaining Focus (Health) (bonded) Rating 3

== Vehicles ==
Mercury Comet (Sedan)
   +GridLink
   +GridLink Override
   +Vehicle Sensor

[All4BigGuns]

Took a lot of the ideas here back to the player and we worked out some ideas and some heavy character hooks (ie the wanted and big regret qualities)

Some of the spells i think are iffy (I'm looking at you spirit zapper) but i think its pretty solid.

Thoughts?

== Info ==
Street Name: Starchild
Name: Courtney Takahashi
Movement: 10/25
Karma: 0
Street Cred: 0
Notoriety: 1
Public Awareness: 0
Human Female Age 23
Height 5'9" Weight 153
Composure: 10
Judge Intentions: 10
Lift/Carry: 6 (15 kg/10 kg)
Memory: 7
Nuyen: 0

== Attributes ==
BOD: 5
AGI: 2
REA: 3
STR: 1
CHA: 5
INT: 5
LOG: 2
WIL: 5
EDG: 2
MAG: 5

== Derived Attributes ==
Essence:                   6
Initiative:                8
IP:                        1
Astral Initiative:         10
Astral IP:                 3
Matrix Initiative:         6
Matrix IP:                 1
Physical Damage Track:     11
Stun Damage Track:         11

== Active Skills ==
Assensing: 4                      Pool: 9
Con  (group): 1                      Pool: 6
Counterspelling: 4                      Pool: 9
Etiquette (group): 1                      Pool: 6
Infiltration: 1                      Pool: 3
Leadership (group): 1                      Pool: 6
Negotiation (group): 1                      Pool: 6
Perception: 4                      Pool: 9
Spellcasting: 6 [Manipulation]       Pool: 11 (13)
Summoning: 1 [Fire]               Pool: 6 (

== Knowledge Skills ==
Astronomy: 4 [Deep Space Observation] Pool: 6 (
Cooking: 1 [Japanese]           Pool: 6 (
English: 6 [Speak]              Pool: 11 (13)
Japanese: N                      Pool: 0
Japanese Corporate Culture: 2                      Pool: 4
Shinto Traditions: 4 [Kami History]       Pool: 6 (

== Contacts ==
Fixer (4, 1)
Shinto Priest (1, 4)

== Qualities ==
Big Regret
Magician
Mentor Spirit: Amaterasu (Fire-Bringer)
Pacifist (Minor)
Records on File (Renraku)
Restricted Gear (Rating 1)
SINner (Standard) (UCAS)
Wanted (UCAS)

== Spells ==
(Tradition: Shinto, Resist Drain with WIL + CHA (10))
Critter Form [Critter] (White Wolf) DV: (F÷2)+1
Fashion                    DV: (F÷2)
Heal                       DV: (Damage Value)-2
Increase Reflexes          DV: (F÷2)+2
Laser                      DV: (F÷2)+3
Levitate                   DV: (F÷2)+1
Mana Static (Limited)      DV: (F÷2)+4
Mob Mind (Limited)         DV: (F÷2)+4
Slaughter [Metatype/Species] (Spirit) DV: (F÷2)+1
Spirit Zapper              DV: (F÷2)+2
Stunball                   DV: (F÷2)+1
Stunbolt                   DV: (F÷2)-1

== Lifestyles ==
Low  1 months

== Armor ==
Form-Fitting Full-Body Suit6/2
   +Chemical Protection 6
   +Nonconductivity 6
Vashon Island: Steampunk Corset/Vest (Ensemble)7/7
   +AR Enhanced

== Commlink ==
CMT Clip (1, 1, 1, 3)
   +Vector Xim
Meta Link (1, 1, 1, 2)
   +Vector Xim

== Gear ==
AR Makeup
Betel x10
Contact Lenses Rating 2
   +Flare Compensation
   +Vision Magnification
Earbuds Rating 2
   +Skinlink
   +Audio Enhancement Rating 3
   +Spatial Recognizer
Fake License (Carry Foci) Rating 3
Fake License (Driver's) Rating 3
Fake License (Practice Magic) Rating 3
Fake SIN (Laura St. John) Rating 3
Glasses Rating 4
   +Vision Enhancement Rating 3
   +Ultrasound
   +Image Link
Manipulation Fetish x2
Medkit Rating 6
Power Focus (bonded) Rating 4
Psyche
Red Mescaline x2
Simrig
Steampunk Accessories
Sustaining Focus (Health) (bonded) Rating 3

== Vehicles ==
Mercury Comet (Sedan)
   +GridLink
   +GridLink Override
   +Vehicle Sensor

I'd lower Body to 3 and put 1 into Logic so the character is at least average intelligence and 1 into Strength to avoid the GM aggro a 1 stat can draw.

[UmaroVI]

Some of the spells i think are iffy (I'm looking at you spirit zapper) but i think its pretty solid.

== Spells ==
(Tradition: Shinto, Resist Drain with WIL + CHA (10))
Critter Form [Critter] (White Wolf) DV: (F÷2)+1
Fashion                    DV: (F÷2)
Heal                       DV: (Damage Value)-2
Increase Reflexes          DV: (F÷2)+2
Laser                      DV: (F÷2)+3
Levitate                   DV: (F÷2)+1
Mana Static (Limited)      DV: (F÷2)+4
Mob Mind (Limited)         DV: (F÷2)+4
Slaughter [Metatype/Species] (Spirit) DV: (F÷2)+1
Spirit Zapper              DV: (F÷2)+2
Stunball                   DV: (F÷2)+1
Stunbolt                   DV: (F÷2)-1

Critter Form and Spirit Zapper are both for silly. Shapechange is not a bad spell but I'm having a hard time seeing when turning into a wolf is going to help this character. Spirit Zapper is a bad spell.

My only major complaints are:
1) You are a Charisma mage who isn't an elf and isn't getting anything in particular out of not being an elf. Cut 10 points, change to Elf, keep your Agility at 2, and lose an Edge. I would probably lose Critter Form, Spirit Zapper, Fashion, and see if you can cut 5000 in gear (maybe a less fancy vehicle), or cut Perception to 1 and then specialize it in Sight. Not being an elf is long-term sadness as a Charisma-tradition mage, and not being an elf so you can be a 2 edge human is double sadness. It's worth some short-term losses to change that.

2) You are specialized in summoning Fire spirits. This is a rather serious problem because the Shinto tradition can't summon Fire spirits, and a minor problem because you can do better; Fire is only an OK spirit type (in that they are second best at murder and not really good at anything else). Air (best at murder, good at some other things) and Man (most flexible in general, because you can give it innate spells) are probably your best choices for spirit type.

Of your mentor spirit options (+Manipulation is really important), Raven is far and away the best choice (granting +2 Air). Adversary (+2 CS) is a slightly less good choice but not unreasonable. Sky Father and Spider give bonuses to useful schools you don't currently know much of (Detection and Illusion) but you could easily retool the spells list to make better use of them. Dragon gives a very meh Negotiation bonus but it isn't useless to you.

I know Okami is pretty rad but I don't think any of those mentors fit Amateratsu at all (really, Amateratsu should be either Sun or Great Mother anyways; Fire-bringer is a real stretch).

While I am not super knowledgeable about Shinto, I think Raven can probably be Fujin, since he's a god of wind and creation and also kind of a dick. Dragon should be Ryujin. Spider could be Omoikane. Sky Father is probably Izanagi. Adversary I think is best fit by Mikaboshi.

[TheNarrator]

Street Magic seems to feel that Fire-Bringer is a good choice for Amaterasu.

Well-known kami include: Amaterasu, the sun goddess
(Fire-bringer, Phoenix, or Sun); Izanagi, the creator god (Dark
King); Izanami, the dead goddess (Dark Goddess); Tsukuyomi,
the moon god (a male version of Moon Maiden); Susanoo, god
of sea and storms (Sea or Shark); Maneki-neko, the beckoning
cat (Cat); Hachiman, divine protector of Japan (Wise Warrior).

As for whether or not to be an elf, I would assume that the player did not wish to play an elf. Especially if they're playing a character from Japan, a virulently anti-meta nation. And honestly, having made something similar earlier in the thread, I wound up feeling that the two extra dice for drain from being an elf weren't worth the 30 build points that could otherwise be used to expand the repetoire of skills and spells.

I have to agree with you in thinking that Fashion and Spirit Zapper don't seem like particularly useful choices, just based on their names. (What book are those in?) If Spirit Zapper is for zapping spirits, then wouldn't Slaughter Spirit already do the job better for less drain? And if changing the appearance of her clothes is important, then what does Fashion do that Physical Mask wouldn't do better? And Shapechange is more versatile than Critter Form for only one more point of drain.

As for Mana Static, now that I've read it I can definitely see why it would ruin a spirit's day, but it's a bit of a double edged sword: the caster's magic would be reduced by the same amount. I suppose against a particularly powerful spirit, it might be worth disabling her own magic to weaken it enough that the other runners could finish it off non-magically.