[Baphomet]

This is my first game of SR3 (well, first game in SR at all).  I’ve got a character, but I’m not sure how good he is.  Any feedback/suggestions would be appreciated.
Priority: cash 1, stat 2, skill 3, race 4 (dwarf), magic 5
Body 6 (5)
Quick 7 (6)
Strength 7 (6)         Combat pool 10d6
Charisma 2 (2)         Control pool 11d6
Intelligence 8 (6)         Hacking pool 7d6
Willpower 6 (6)         Task pool 3d6
Essence 1.36
Reaction 8
Initiative 3d6
No edges or flaws

Skills
SMG 6
HTH w Spur 3/5
Computer 6
Rotor aircraft 4
Car 4
Fixed Wing Aircraft 1
Athletics 2
Electronics 3
B/R Electronics 2
Etiquette 1
Negotiations 1
**Note: I wanted etiquette 3 instead of fixed wing & negotiations 1, but the program will not let me raise my etiquette up.  Go figure.

Cyberware
Smartlink (alpha)
Eyes (display link, flare comp, low light, vis mag elect 1) – is this a good idea, I’m losing my racial vision?
Datajack
Encephalon 2 (alpha)
Retractable spur (alpha)
Vehical Cntrl Rig 2 (alpha)

Bioware
Cerebral Booster 2
Syaptic Accel 2
Reflex Recorder (x2)
Mnemonic Enhancer 3
Suprathyroid gland

Is it worth it to get the eyes?
Should I have more/different cyber to make me a competent decker?  For instance, do I need memory, and if so, how much?  Should I have gotten a built in com or radio?
I’m not happy with the skills (I didn’t want a skill at 1, but the damn program will not let me improve my skills beyond 1 now.

Gear:
H&K MP7-SL2 w gas vent 2 (comes w retract stock & smartlink), 3 clips of ammo (20)
Secure long coat
Pocket computer 250 mp
Computer toolkit
Electronics toolkit
Remote control deck rating 10 (is this overkill?)
Drone: Nissan Roto-drone
Drone: DLK MK6 (armed)
GMC Bulldog Step-Van w rigger adaptation and anti theft 7

Decking stuff
Deck CMT Avatar with casing 6
Microwave dish
Standard locator 3
Satellite dish electronics
Touchpad w mouse adapter
Transceiver 6
Vidlink transmitter 6
Cellular interface 6
Browsing 4
Commlink 4
Crash 4
Deception 4
Decrypt 4
Encrypt 4
Read/write 4
Scanner 4
Snooper 4
Triangulation 4
Program Suite 4 (what does this include?)
Cellular link 4
Satellite link 4
Sleaze 4
Shield 5
Attack light 5

I’ve got $2926 left

I think I have a lot of stuff I don’t need/duplicated function.  I also figure I should have bought stuff I don’t have.

The plan for the character is he lives in a cheep apartment most of the time, but does stay in his van when he needs to travel.

[BreederofPuppets]

I'm not the best here to give you the all the advice you want, but here is a few things I see:

You have only two piloting/drive skills, but went in for the rigger adaption 2.  Are you the dedicated rigger then? Just noticed you do have Car, so three is good for a rigger.
I'm not a big fan of putting anything inside yer body that you can easily carry outside, so I would change out the spur and the cyber eyes for a set of forearm snap-blades and good set of glasses/goggles
You don't have any mechanical skills.  Was that on purpose?
What are your reflex recorders for?  Which skills?
You also have a lot of decking gear, giving me the idea you want to do both areas.  I'm just commenting, as I know little of dual purpose rigger/deckers.
For a drone, have you looked into getting the Steel Lynx?  Its 12 armor rating counts as hardened (page 132 in the SR 3e book), and that will stop almost everything short of an assault cannon.  A pair of medium machine guns on turrets mounted with Smartlink II (provided yer GM rules it that way) would do wonders in heavy combat.

And that's about l I got

[Baphomet]

Good point about wearing instead of installing, I removed the cyber eyes & saved quite a bit of $$.
The program will not let me change my skills, so I'm stuck with the spur for now (unless I figure out how to alter skills to change my hth skill to a held weapon).
I found myself divided among a bunch of skills, so I figure mechanics is one of the skills I'll pick up as soon as possible.  I also need to increase my B/R skills.
The reflex recorders are for SMG & the cyber-hth.
I'm planning on mixing the archetypes: combat hacker / rigger.
My rigging is mostly backdrop spying with drones, with occasional combat with them (they are expensive to fix/replace - so I'm hoping to protect my investment).
Decking is his intended primary function
I'll check out the steel lynx to see if I can afford it. - Ach, not listed as an option on the program I'm using.

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

Baphomet, talk to me (TWO or Micronaut) on HC.  Going off what Epithet spoke of with me, though, I don't believe he wants a decker in the group -- and the neural bioware is usually off-limits starting out.

I will, however, sketch this out and perhaps get back to you pretty soon ...

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

... which apparently means tonight.  Here's the .sr3 (for the NSRCG) file on it.  I used a more complicated but more organic development system (BeCKS), so it's somewhat more intricate, but ...

I present to you Lord Byron.

Vital Statistics
Metatype: Dwarf (Caucasian?  CAS?)
Height: 118.25 cm (3' 10.5")
Weight: 57.7 kg (127 lbs)
Hair: Brown, military cut
Eyes: Brown

Lifestyle:
   Area: D-Rating.  Boise, (Auburn District) or Lowell, Keeler's Corner, or Pinehurst (Everett District).  I recommend Boise, as both your contacts are on that side (the south) of the Metroplex.  Cops drive around, but they don't get out of their armored cars much.  Gangs tend to run the area.
   Comforts: Middle.  You splurge once or twice a week on real food, and your nutrisoy processor makes the stuff taste like real food most of the time.  You rarely have brown-outs on your heat, water, and electricity -- mostly because your illegal taps are hooked into main trunk lines.
   Entertainment: Low.  Local 'broadcast' cable channels, nothing fancy, but at least you get the Seattle Combat Biker games -- either here or at the 'local' bar.
   Furnishings: Low.  Ikea's lower-scale stuff would be normal, if you had a normal-sized place, but you don't, which means except for your personal space (more on that later), you have a lot of durable but, er, crude furniture.
   Security:  Middle.  People aren't gonna bust in and rob you, but that's mostly because they kind of already live there ...
   Space:  High.  Though not huge, you've converted an old light industrial space into a combination workshop and living area.  Unfortunately, this means ... other things.  Ahem.

          You picked the place very carefully, and with judicious bribes to the right officials, technicians, and gang members, your house is now quite weather-proof, with reliable utilities so that even during brown-outs, you aren't likely to go dark.  The house is especially pest-repellent, which may be more because of one of your quirks below.  Because nobody else lives in the area, and most of the businesses are dead, nobody's going to mind if you play the Urban Brawl game at 240db, but if you do, it'll probably spoil the effect of how difficult it normally is to figure out exactly how to get to 'your place' -- or even which one is yours.
           Unfortunately, the gang that is your de facto security likes your place, which means that at any given time, there's two or five of them sleeping off a binge, playing your X-Box 20k, or making out in the corner.  In turn, this means that every few days, something goes missing.  Oh, it'll turn up again (probably), but the constant in-and-out of the gang members tends to make things get lost.  Because of the foreclosed and abandoned nature of the area, the way into your place is tough to accomplish, which could be an issue if you're being chased.  What's more, if they ARE right on your tail, there are ample opportunities for them to shoot at you as you go through your place.  As well, all of the standard alert facilities -- you know, fire alarms and all that -- have been gutted, and even when you put them up, the gangers tend to enjoy taking pot-shots at them.  As well, because of the run-down nature of the area, your 'local bar' is actually more than a mile away.

In game terms: Pest Repellent, Watertight, Reliable Utilities, No More Neighbors, Inconspicuous Housing;
Crashpad, Gnomes Under The Floorboard (1), Difficult Access, Middle Of Nowhere, No Hazard Alarm, Ambush Friendly.
Cost: 3290.  2 months pre-paid.


Edges and Flaws:
Edges: Night Vision, Spike Resistance 2, Sense of Direction, Attentiveness, Blandness, Good Reputation 1.
Flaws: Compulsive Moderate (Mild drug use: stimulants, such as caffeine, amphetamines, and Long Haul.), Focused Obliviousness, Phobia (Common/Mild: bugs/insects), Intolerance 1 (Humanis Policlub), Vindictive 1 (serious real slights/offenses), Day Job (10 hrs/week, courier).

Edges and Flaws balance out.

Attributes and Pools:

Bod	6
Qkn	7
Str	7
Cha	2
Int	6
Will	6
Reaction	7
Phys Init	7 + 1d6
Rigged Init	10 + 3d6
Combat Pool	9
Control Pool	10
Essence	2.60
Body Index	1.5

[/spoiler]

Skills:
5         Submachine Guns
4         Shotguns
3         MA:Pitfighting
4         Gunnery
5         Car
4         Rotor Aircraft
2         Fixed-Wing Aircraft
2         Motorboat
3/4       Electronics/Electronic Warfare
2         Car B/R
1         Motorboat B/R
1/2       Demolitions/Improvised Explosives
1/2       Legerdemain/Card Tricks
1/2       Etiquette/Street
6/7       English/Cityspeak
3             English R/W
3         Chinese
1             Chinese R/W
3         German
1             German R/W
4         AK:Downtown Seattle
3         AK:Greater Seattle
3         AK:Ork Underground
2         AC:Economics
2         AC:Accounting
3         SW:Corporate Finance
3         SW:Humanis Policlub
2         BK:Demolitions
3/5       IN:Gambling Card Games/Poker
4         IN:Combat Biking
5         IN:Tourist Trivia

Implants: All Cyberware is Alpha-Grade.
Cyberware: Vehicle Control Rig 2; Datajack (4); Smartlink II Processor, Induction Pad, Limited Simsense Rig; Image Link; Vision Magnification (Electronic 3); Ears, Cyber Replacement (Hearing Amplification, Ear Dampener, Select Sound Filter 2.).

Bioware: Nictitating Membrane, Suprathyroid Gland.

Note that as the image link and vision mag are both retinal modifications, the nictitating membrane does not clash with them.  You also have innate thermographic and low-light vision.


Gear:
All firearms are caseless.  All items are dwarf-modified unless obviously unnecessary.

2 x Survival Knife
Vashon Island Weighted Shock Gloves:  (STR+1)M Stun + Shock (7S Stun), wt. 0.75, 1250¥.
Ares Executive Protector (Briefcase SMG), w/ Sound Suppressor, Folding Stock (1 RC), Underbarrel Weight (1 RC).
   Ammo: 2 clips EX-Explosive, 3 clips regular.
2 x HK 227 w/ Gas Vent II, Retractable Stock, and Smartlink 2
   Ammo: 3 clips EX-Explosive, 5 clips regular.
Enfield AS7, w/ Smartlink 2.  You should get a sling or something for this...
  Ammo: 3 clips regular, 10 shock lock rounds, 10 flare rounds.  1 drum stun rounds, 1 drum flechette, 1 drum explosive , 3 drums regular.
3 x radio detonators, 3 x timer detonators.  Because you never know.
Claymore mine.  Face towards enemy.
2 x flash paks.  Recoverable.
2 x smoke grenades.
IPE Concussion Grenade.
Victory "Industrious" Line: Jumpsuit, Winterized Overcoat, Hard Hat.
Form-Fitting Full-Body Suit.
Vashon Island: Full "Actioneer" Set.  (Armored chic!)
Fine Suit (Mr. J Special: Suits and such, power colours and all.  Cosmo Nut: Vashon Island, Mortimer of London's.)
Secure Jacket.
Secure Long Coat.
15 x 'Rack Strack Grunge Plunge'.  Normal every-day wear.  Grunge Plunge: Every-day wear. Jeans, t-shirts, windbreakers.  Rack Strack: Sears, Target, JC Penny's, Consignment Stores
2 x Forearm Guards.
Mortimer of London's: "Ulysses" Greatcoat.
Small military rucksack.
Vehicle and General shops, as well as a general toolkit.
500 Mp memory.
Pueblo PSILock pad-style private secretary.  Think IPad.
3 x earplug cell phones.
Video playback unit and screen.  (At home.)
Savior Advanced Medkit.
2 x OXSYS Artificial Gill, one probably kept on the boat.
Ration Bars (10 days).  Because you tend to get hungry.
Survival Kit.
Spray Tank, holds 2 of 6 liters of insecticide.  Die bugs, die!!
2 doses Long Haul, 50 tablets amphetamines, 100 tablets caffeine.  ... do you have PTSD?
Nav-Dat GPS, so you know where you are.


Vehicles:
GMC Bulldog Step-Van, w/ folding bench seat, rigger adaptation, anti-theft 6 w/ shock system and proximity warning, morphing license plate w/ library chip (5), drone racks (2) for MCT-Nissan roto-drones.

Ares Felix the SynthCat, w/ remote-control and rigger interfaces, robotic pilot, improved neural network 1, adaptation pool 2, anti-theft 3 with electric shock, intercom systems, coat made out of ruthenium polymer strands, and 8 scanners.  Dogbrain has performance profile (+1 to dogbrain piloting), and 200 Mp memory.

IWS DLK Mk 6, w/ remote control and rigger interfaces, mechanical arm (STR 6), external fixed firmpoint w/ up to 10,000 rounds ammo holding a Frenchi SPAS-22 w/ Smartlink II and 2000 rounds of regular ammo.  Sharpshooter (+1 for drone dogbrain to use gun).

2 x Sikorsky-Bell Microskimmer IIs w/ remote rigger interfaces, ballast tanks, engine enviroseal, and auxiliary battery backup.  Clearsignt (+1 for dogbrain to see things).

2 x MCT Nissan Rotodrone, w/ remote rigger interfaces and external hardpoints loading Ingram Valiants (Gas Vent II, Smartlink II) and 2000 regular rounds each.  Sharpshooter 1 and Performance Profile 1.

Steel Lynx ground combat drone, w/ remote rigger adaptation, remote mini-turret w/ Ingram Valiant w/ 2000 regular rounds and Sharpshooter 1.

8 x Gaz-Niki GNRD-71 BIS Snoopers w/ remote rigger interface.  Because you can send these things anywhere, and half the time people won't look twice, especially if you have kids playing with fake controllers.  Swarm of finding!!

AeroSpace Condor LDSD-41 drone blimp, w/ remote rigger interface and sun-cell power.  Equipped w/ anti-air remote mini turret and a Walther MA-2100 sniper rifle w/ Smartlink II, silencer, and 200 rounds of EX-Explosive ammo.  Will usually 'hang down' and look like a fat antenna.  Drone dogbrain has Clearsight 4 for snooping and Sharpshooter 3 for the killin' stuff.  Fly at 800m up, cover in ruthenium polymers as soon as you can.  Your sneaky spy save-your-ass if you're out in the open.  Or, y'know, your assassination tool.

Aztech Nightrunner.  A cool quiet speedboat.

Remote Control Deck (r. 10) w/ biofeedback filter 1 (protect your brain), ECCM 3, Encryption 4, Signal Amp 6, Rigger Decrypt 3, Protocol Emulation 3, A/V Screen display, an intercom system, 200 Mp storage memory, and 2 hitcher jacks.


Contacts:
Brutus at the 410 Twin, and Billy "The Kid" Kidman, from the Wounded Duck.


Of all the stuff, I think Felix the SynthCat is my favorite. "Oh, look, nice kitty.  *pet pet ZAP*  Arrrrggghhh ... bloody kill that ... where the hell did it go??"

[Baphomet]

Ah, I didn't think about this post, as I've built a wizard for the game.  I had stopped looking at this post since I was no longer working on the same character.  I'll post him here...

Rooster / Ursula / Rodger Ulke, Combat Shaman (Polecat)
Body   4            
Quickness   6            
Strength   1            
Charisma   4            
Intelligence   6            
Willpower   6            
Essense   6            
Magic   6
Reaction 1d6 / 6
Human            
Male*            
5' 6"            
130 lb            
Green            
Black            
March 7th            
Pisces
Karma  1d6
Combat  9d6
Spell  6d6
Astral  8d6
Sorcery 6
Conjuring 5
Pistols 6
Etiquette 4
Stealth 6
Bike 3
Aura Reading 4
Spell Design 6
Magic 6
Para Animals 4
Crossdressing 6
English 4
French 3
German 2
Russian 2
Edges
College Education: TN +1 default skill, +2 specialization, +3 attribute
Focused Concentration: TN +1 ea sustained spell
Good looking & knows it: TN -2/-1 social w/ other/same sex
Flaws
Sensitive System: x2 essense from implants
Astral Impressions: TN -2 for ascanning my astral sig
Ares Predator with silencer, 2 clips explo, 1 clip flechette, 1 regular
X:Secure Jacket, Fire Resist 5
Goggles - Low Light & Thermo
Wrist Phone w/Flip Screen
Ally Conjuring Materials 3
Shamanic Lodge Materials 3
Combat Fetish - Reusable
Healing Fetish - Reusable
Illusion Fetish - Reusable
3 Sets of Fine Clothing
Cash: 1223
Tres Chic Clothing
Video Chip, Video Playback Unit, Video Screen
Dodge Scoot
1 mo low lifestyle (1000)

[Baphomet]

Spells

Manabolt 6
Manaball 6
Combat Sense 4
Invisiblity 4
Heal 5

[Baphomet]

Rodger Ulke burned his bridge with his highly religious family when he stole from them to pay for his drug use.  Before this he had a strained relationship with them, they didn’t approve of his sexual orientation – a bisexual polyamorous cross-dresser.  His parents had put him through college and paid for him to see a therapist, hoping he would literally straighten out his life.  His father took him to the gun range to try and make him manlier, and they bought him a motorcycle to encourage it.  Despite attending the college to learn magic the hermetic way, he instead developed into a Pole-Cat shaman, an oddity that the family felt reflected poorly on him.  Dropping out of college, Rodger started a double life as Ursula, his cross-dressing persona.  He did drag shows and mingled in the alternative lifestyle community.  Here, he began dabbling in the drugs that eventually cost him his family.
   Rodger wanted more from life, so he began to do side jobs in the shadows.  He felt truly alive living in the shadows.  Cross-dressing became a hobby; rather then a job, and he fell full into the shadow world, becoming a shadow runner. 

On a recent mission, he crashed his motorcycle and had to leave it behind.  Low on funds, he wasn’t able to replace it with a motorcycle, instead he could barely afford a used motorscooter.  Now, with some experience under his belt, he has taken on the shadow name of Rooster, kicked the drug habit due to lack of funds, and is looking for work again.  He talks to his parents occasionally, though the reception is cold.  He is thinking that if he gets the chance, he’ll repay the $3000 he stole from them.  Then again, Rooster is fairly flighty.

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

Attributes: Body is perhaps a bit high; Strength, exceedingly low.  Charisma is one of the two top attributes for any mage, but especially for a shaman; a 4 basically knee-caps you.  Also, for someone who's meant to be 'good looking and knows it' (which I suppose is possible, but considering the specific bonuses it gives, I don't think it's appropriate - perhaps 'Good Reputation Lvl 1'?), 4 is nice, but low.  Ideally, take a point from Body, put it on Strength; a point from Quickness, put it on Charisma.

Skills: I got the impression that he had neither an 'oooo, a GUN!!!' or 'a motorcycle, GREAT!!!' reaction.  Motorcycle at 3 means competent in combat; Pistols at 6 comes from spending a large amount of time at the range and/or in combat; likewise with Stealth.  Considering you have some on-stage activity in your background, putting a point or three into the Acting active skill would not be a bad thing.

Gear, Magic: Since you have reusable fetishes, when you buy your skills you should apply those as requirements to at least some of the spells; you get a -1 point cost break when you do.  Best reason to have them at game start.  I would also trim two of your extra languages; in SR3 terms, right now you speak like a somewhat dim person.  (Normal person speaks their Native Language at INT + 2.)  As well, you might consider lowering some of your knowledge skills to 3- or 4-point levels, and spread them out; right now you're a person who spent almost all his/her/its time either in their college Magic courses or else in bars as one gender or the other.

Edges and Flaws: As said above, I am very dubious about 'Good Looking and Knows It' - especially coming from a bisexual polyamorous cross-dresser.  I know I wouldn't allow it.  Better to get something like Good Reputation.  Going from the rest of your background and skills, and if the GM allows E&F up to 10 points, I might suggest adding the Edges of Double-Jointed (1), Voice (2), Animal Empathy (2), and Friendly Face (1). For balance, Compassionate (-2), Impulsive (-2), and Lecherous (-2).

Overall, not bad, and an interesting character background.

[Baphomet]

I lowered his body to 3 and raised his charisma to 5.  I didn't want to lower quickness unless absolutely necessary, so I left my strength at 1 (he's 5'6" and has a slight build - I'll raise it to 2 with experience).

I dropped my languages to english 6, french 3

I forgot to list frindge cults 6 skill.

The trick with lowered cost for spells using my existing fetishes - I'm not sure how to do that.  Would I be inable to cast my spells w/out them if I did do this?

Edge/Flaw: I added friendly face and good rep2, as well as a moderate allergy to silver.
I kept the good looking and knows it.  I figure it can either be based on my current gender role, or a permanent bonus to men/women no matter the gender role I play.  What ever the GM wants me to do.
I didn't find voice, compassionate or lecherous.  If I drop college educated, I can replace silver allergy with impulsive.  Do you think that it's worth doing?
Also - what does voice do?

Are the spell choices ok?

[Baphomet]

Info was a bit premature.

I dropped college educated (still went to college, just not w/that edge), dropped allergy to silver, and took impulsive (seems like a better fit for the PC.