[markelphoenix]

Tanith (Elf Magician)
B 5, A 2, R 2, S 2, C 7, I 2, L 2, W 5, E 1, Ess 6, M 5, Init 5 (7), IP 1 (3)

Condition Monitor boxes (Physical/Stun): 10/11

Meta Link Commlink Condition Monitor: 9
Armor (Ballistic/Impact): 12/11

Skills: Arcana 1, Binding 1, Influence Group 1, Ritual Spellcasting 1,
Spellcasting 7 (Illusion Spells +2), Summoning 4, Unarmed combat 1, Counter Spelling 1

Knowledge Skills: Economics 1 [Macro-Economics], English N, German 1, Japanese 5, Sperethiel 5
Metatype Abilities: Enhanced Senses: Low-Light Vision

Qualities: Enemy[5,5 John Snow - Yakuza Wet Work Operative], Magician, Wanted [Yakuza],
Restricted Gear: Power Foci 4, Amnesia 1, SINner, Aptitude Spell Casting, Mentor Spirit (Trickster: +2 Illusion, +2 Con, Must Resist Pranking Wil+Cha(3))


Spells: Acid Stream, Analyze Truth, Heal, Improved Invisibility, Increase Reflexes, Levitate, Metal Wall, Orgy, Slaughter Human, Stunbolt, Trid Entertainment, Trid Phantasm
Gear:
. . Assaying Kit
. . SecureTech Helmet [Image Link, Flare Compensation, Vision Magnification Electronic]
. . Form-Fitting Half-Body Suit
. . Health (Increased Reflexes) (F: 2)
. . Leather Duster with Gel Packs
. . Meta Link Commlink with Firewall (1), System (1)
. . Power Foci (F: 4)
. . Tanith with Low Lifestyle, Spellcasting (Fake License 3)
Weapons:
. . Attack of Will (vs. Spirits) [DV 7P vs. I]
. . Unarmed Strike [Unarmed, DV 1S vs. I]

Membership:
. . Illuminates of the New Dawn


Contacts:
Hermetic Academic (Illuminates of the New Dawn)
C:5 L:5

Talismonger
C:3 L:3

[Hawke]

Here is my two cents, so take it for what it is worth.

Charisma at 7 is a high price to pay for 25 BP.  The 3 points could be easily spent anywhere like Reaction and or Intuition.  Having a 3 initiative is screaming bad juju.

Never have just 1 point in edge. It is just too good of a renewable resource to ignore.  I would put a minimum of 2 points for a total of 3 dice.  I prefer starting with a total of 4-5 edge.

I have to assume your GM authorized restricted item quality and Form Fitting gear?  If so , good for you.  I am also assuming your Power Foci is level 4.  Which is good.

Folks will say conjuring group is not worth it, as the quickest way to banish a spirit is to blow it up.  This will save you some BP.

You really should spend 4BP on some kind of weapon system training.  Anything.  I know people will say you are a mage... but there might be situations where you cannot cast.  What are you going to do?  Run away?  Just 1 point so you can do something... I just hope you raise your agility or your strength depending on the weapon system you go with.

Trust Fund... hmmm never like this type of quality.  You could spend it on anything.. or nothing and use the 10 BP elsewhere. You will make cash in game.  That you wont have to worry about too much.

Your spells... you need 12 spells.  The BP to Karma ratio is too good to not do this.  With what you have now and what you will need to spend in karma to get to 12 is 24 BP.  Karma to get to 12 spells will be 40 Karma.  That is raising a stat... initiating, and well darn near anything else.. 

Never never never start off with a summons.  It is far too easy to get one in game.. take the stun damage, rest and then bind him.  And it is free of karma and bp.



I know this is all simple and definitely biased, but I hope it helps you.  Oh and I would have Sperethiel be my natural language.  Just for elven flavor.. or have Or'Zet be his natural language

[Henzington]

elf hard cap is 8 so its only 10 BP for 7

[TheNarrator]

I have to assume your GM authorized restricted item quality and Form Fitting gear?

Why would his GM have to authorize Form Fitting Body Armor? It's only availability 8.

A better question might be "How is he wearing that much armor?" Even with Form-Fitting, he's still way over Body x 2.


I have to say, this character could use some work. Your attributes, other than the ones that resist Drain, are positively dreadful. You only spent 140 BP on mental & physical attribues out of a possible 200. That Reaction 1 means that you're never going to succeed in dodging any attack against you. The low Inutition and lack of Perception means that you're never going to see the attacker coming, and the pathetic Initiative score you'll have from both of those combined means that you can expect to go last, so they will get the chance to shoot at you.

That Assensing 1 isn't going to accomplish much paired with an Intuition 2... on average you'll barely be able to assense anything. Enchanting and Arcana will be equally dubious when paried with that low Logic. Your Counterspelling isn't high enough to give you or your teammates any meaningful protection; remember that you only get to add the skill's rating to their resistance rolls against magic.

You don't know very many spells, limiting your versatility.

I agree with Hawke that it's not worth the cost to start off with bound spirits. Why spend your limited build points on something so temporary? It's easy enough to buy some binding materials and do the summoning once play starts.

I'm honestly not sure where all your build points went. Did you go all the way to 50 BP on resources? Because if so, I'm not sure what you spent it all on, even if you did get a whopping huge Power Focus. (And what is "Illuminates of the New Dawn" doing in gear? Did you buy the whole secret society?)

No contacts. Everybody needs to know somebody.

[Henzington]

i didnt notice the amount on attributes but you should always spend 200 BP on them

[markelphoenix]

i didnt notice the amount on attributes but you should always spend 200 BP on them

Modified the build. I am constantly hitting the 400 BP cap. Finding it difficult to include the other suggestions with the limitations. If I could take more than 35 points of negative traits, it'd help. I figured the Increased Reflexes 2 would help with the IP and Reaction ratings. Have that tied to my Sustained Focus (Health). Modified my original post with updates, give it a look over again, if you would.

[markelphoenix]

Also, Hero Labs is saying I can only have 2 Foci Active at a time. Am I missing something? From my understanding, you could have Magx2 of Force active in Foci without having to worry about negative side-effects

[Netzgeist]

Also, Hero Labs is saying I can only have 2 Foci Active at a time. Am I missing something? From my understanding, you could have Magx2 of Force active in Foci without having to worry about negative side-effects

The max number of Foci you may have active at any given time is equal to your Logic attribute (SR4A, pg. 199). Magic x 2 is the number you may have bound to you.

[markelphoenix]

Also, Hero Labs is saying I can only have 2 Foci Active at a time. Am I missing something? From my understanding, you could have Magx2 of Force active in Foci without having to worry about negative side-effects

The max number of Foci you may have active at any given time is equal to your Logic attribute (SR4A, pg. 199). Magic x 2 is the number you may have bound to you.

Thanks:-) Updated My Int to Log to allow for 3 Foci active.

[markelphoenix]

I have to assume your GM authorized restricted item quality and Form Fitting gear?

Why would his GM have to authorize Form Fitting Body Armor? It's only availability 8.

A better question might be "How is he wearing that much armor?" Even with Form-Fitting, he's still way over Body x 2.


I have to say, this character could use some work. Your attributes, other than the ones that resist Drain, are positively dreadful. You only spent 140 BP on mental & physical attribues out of a possible 200. That Reaction 1 means that you're never going to succeed in dodging any attack against you. The low Inutition and lack of Perception means that you're never going to see the attacker coming, and the pathetic Initiative score you'll have from both of those combined means that you can expect to go last, so they will get the chance to shoot at you.

That Assensing 1 isn't going to accomplish much paired with an Intuition 2... on average you'll barely be able to assense anything. Enchanting and Arcana will be equally dubious when paried with that low Logic. Your Counterspelling isn't high enough to give you or your teammates any meaningful protection; remember that you only get to add the skill's rating to their resistance rolls against magic.

You don't know very many spells, limiting your versatility.

I agree with Hawke that it's not worth the cost to start off with bound spirits. Why spend your limited build points on something so temporary? It's easy enough to buy some binding materials and do the summoning once play starts.

I'm honestly not sure where all your build points went. Did you go all the way to 50 BP on resources? Because if so, I'm not sure what you spent it all on, even if you did get a whopping huge Power Focus. (And what is "Illuminates of the New Dawn" doing in gear? Did you buy the whole secret society?)

No contacts. Everybody needs to know somebody.

Yeah, my bad on not noticing Contacts didn't swap over. I was planning on him being group dependent, never having to rely solely on his own awareness. I figure paired up with a good street sam, he would get tipped off that drek is about to go down. With the Increased reflexes 2 and the stacking of Form Fitting with the Overcoat, he has decent ballistic protection. Really coming up against the BP wall.

[Hawke]

Bah, you are right about the elf cap. 

Form Fitting Body Armor, some GMs dont like because it adds a lot more defense as it modifies the base rule of body x2.

AKA it's a cheap workaround, and I dont mean inexpensive.  But talking on that.. get a Securetech Helmet.. it will give you +2 impact and you can add visual enhancements stuff.

I personally like it, but if you are using it, so are the bad guys.

Your new spells, while I don't agree with all of them, you still have the baseline, except a protection spell... armor or deflection or increase attribute is important. 

The main attributes,,, all the points are not used up.  That could bite you in the butt.  Specializing in combat spells makes absolutely no sense with how you are set up.  You have a power focus 4 item, 6 magic, 6 spellcasting  and specialized in combat spells for a +2 which adds up to18 dice for 2 spells... Well 3 if you include the slaughter spell and I will touch on that later.  18 dice is ridiculous for those spells.  But, ok.. you want that, why not 3 extra BP (total of 5) to get a mentor spirit quality?  Then if you get one like Bull, +2 combat and +2 leadership tests... there are others out there.

You are obviously trying to be a face... at least a little bit.  But I gotta touch on the edge and how important it is.  1 edge  mean you only get one reroll, one chance to explode your dice on something big, or resist drain.  Maybe bind that giant spirit you have.  Plus you only get one dice to roll for that.  Where if you had 4 edge, you get 4 extra dice to roll plus you can explode them.  But it is your decision.

I think you should go illusion or manipulation but hey, it's your dime.

I am about to go another way completely... The RP aspect of your character... pretty 1 dimensional. You are obviously trying to get the most out of your character in a power build.  Frankly he is boring.

Your negative qualities, Enemy, Nano Intolerance, Sensitive System, SINner. 

Enemy.. meh.  The way you have this is the enemy is 10 BP.  Try Wanted.  Then you have all kinds of people after you for something.  Sleeping with the mafia boss' daughter or something. 

Nano Intolerance.  Come on.  On a mage that is ... cheap.

Sensitive System.  Again, on a mage?

Try these on for size, as they can add more depth and plot hooks and may be able to help flesh out your character.

Amnesia, Partial 10 BP -  You still have your skills, but something happened, something bad but you cannot recall the events of the night.  (you can buy that back with karma later)
Cursed- 5BP, you could use gremlins or something similar. It just adds some risk to the die rolls.
Lost Loved One.  5BP.  Someone was kidnapped, killed, or whatever. You could tie this in with Amnesia.
SiNer- 5BP this one is good, says you are on the grid, but also bad.. cause you are on the grid.
Wanted - 10BP. by whoever, or you dont know.  The contract was put out when you had amnesia when your wife went missing.  Turns out she was a drug kingpin and tried to kill you.  Spoiler alert LOL

Your knowledge skills... 1 point in economics... thats it?  What about fun stuff, like dancing, sports, playing video games?  Knowledge skills are there to help solve problems, but also show, "hey I have some personality.


You asked to blow holes, and I am hoping I am helping you think about your character a little bit more.  He should be something more than numbers on the paper, you should be able to visualize him/or her and imagining how they would handle problems... not you, them.  It's like acting.  But if they dont have the stuff on the paper, it does not exist.

[Hawke]

You could drop the sustaining focus on the improved invisibility (illusion).  This will free up 9BP. And just take the -2 dice hit while it is on.

You can still be seen while using improved invisibility. A mage could astrally see you, then cast an AoE spell... slaughter elves...

Improved invisibility could be used to get to point A and point B.  You are under fire.. You pop it, move to another location, Cast cast, new initiative.  This way they dont get a bead on you, and wondering how the hell he is doing that?  Teleportation??

[markelphoenix]

Bah, you are right about the elf cap. 

Form Fitting Body Armor, some GMs dont like because it adds a lot more defense as it modifies the base rule of body x2.

AKA it's a cheap workaround, and I dont mean inexpensive.  But talking on that.. get a Securetech Helmet.. it will give you +2 impact and you can add visual enhancements stuff.

I personally like it, but if you are using it, so are the bad guys.

Your new spells, while I don't agree with all of them, you still have the baseline, except a protection spell... armor or deflection or increase attribute is important. 

The main attributes,,, all the points are not used up.  That could bite you in the butt.  Specializing in combat spells makes absolutely no sense with how you are set up.  You have a power focus 4 item, 6 magic, 6 spellcasting  and specialized in combat spells for a +2 which adds up to18 dice for 2 spells... Well 3 if you include the slaughter spell and I will touch on that later.  18 dice is ridiculous for those spells.  But, ok.. you want that, why not 3 extra BP (total of 5) to get a mentor spirit quality?  Then if you get one like Bull, +2 combat and +2 leadership tests... there are others out there.

You are obviously trying to be a face... at least a little bit.  But I gotta touch on the edge and how important it is.  1 edge  mean you only get one reroll, one chance to explode your dice on something big, or resist drain.  Maybe bind that giant spirit you have.  Plus you only get one dice to roll for that.  Where if you had 4 edge, you get 4 extra dice to roll plus you can explode them.  But it is your decision.

I think you should go illusion or manipulation but hey, it's your dime.

I am about to go another way completely... The RP aspect of your character... pretty 1 dimensional. You are obviously trying to get the most out of your character in a power build.  Frankly he is boring.

Your negative qualities, Enemy, Nano Intolerance, Sensitive System, SINner. 

Enemy.. meh.  The way you have this is the enemy is 10 BP.  Try Wanted.  Then you have all kinds of people after you for something.  Sleeping with the mafia boss' daughter or something. 

Nano Intolerance.  Come on.  On a mage that is ... cheap.

Sensitive System.  Again, on a mage?

Try these on for size, as they can add more depth and plot hooks and may be able to help flesh out your character.

Amnesia, Partial 10 BP -  You still have your skills, but something happened, something bad but you cannot recall the events of the night.  (you can buy that back with karma later)
Cursed- 5BP, you could use gremlins or something similar. It just adds some risk to the die rolls.
Lost Loved One.  5BP.  Someone was kidnapped, killed, or whatever. You could tie this in with Amnesia.
SiNer- 5BP this one is good, says you are on the grid, but also bad.. cause you are on the grid.
Wanted - 10BP. by whoever, or you dont know.  The contract was put out when you had amnesia when your wife went missing.  Turns out she was a drug kingpin and tried to kill you.  Spoiler alert LOL

Your knowledge skills... 1 point in economics... thats it?  What about fun stuff, like dancing, sports, playing video games?  Knowledge skills are there to help solve problems, but also show, "hey I have some personality.


You asked to blow holes, and I am hoping I am helping you think about your character a little bit more.  He should be something more than numbers on the paper, you should be able to visualize him/or her and imagining how they would handle problems... not you, them.  It's like acting.  But if they dont have the stuff on the paper, it does not exist.

Totally appreciate the feedback. I think the holes in this build are largely due to me learning as I go. My mindset behind the really high Dice on the Combat Spells was so I could blow something out of the water that was a major threat. If I need to do a Hail Mary, I figured I could do a F:10 Stunbolt into a major player and take him out of the equation. Of course, with the ensuing Physical Drain, I probably will not be much good afterwards either.

Your suggestion on going Illusionist as a specialist does sound interesting to me. I like the flexibility illusion seems to provide. Was thinking of potentially doing side jobs on down time (thus the entertainment, also figured would be good if I wanted to have something distracting in a positive way [crowd of people gathering around the Entertainment Illusion, tip hat out, colleague goes through the crowd to plant a bomb, or team is rigging explosives under-neath the street. Run is to incriminate a specific social group/stir up race violence]

I do figure I have enough Dice to drop the impr. invis focus. I am just worried about drain tests, which is why I am hesitant to have too much sustained, but you're right. Improved Invisibility is one of those things where if you're noticed, may as well drop it and go to plan B.

[Hawke]

No problem.

The drain tests are not as bad as you think they are.  I thought so too until I started playing.

Here is an example with a Magic 5 character with 10 drain dice and power focus 2.  Total dice for spell , 13.

Stunbolt cast at a force 5 (maximum non physical casting level) You will normally get 4 hits on average with 13 dice.  So that is 5 stun damage base, +4 for the hits. 

Most NPCs will only have average 9-10 boxes for stun damage. So you could take them out with one hit.  You will at least drop them down to -2 dice penalty, which is good.

The drain will be (my GM does not count net hits in drain FYI which is both good and bad.. but the big boys with the big guns do more damage than me heh) Force divided by 2 minus 1.  So the target number you need to hit is 1.    I have 10 dice to get a single 5 or 6.  If I cannot hit that, then I deserve the brain freeze headache that follows.

Now keep in mind stunbolt is like your staple attack.  And with 3 initiative passes, you can cause a lot of damage.

Using the attack numbers for other spells, with a drain of +3... then it gets tricky.  Now I would need to get 5 hits for stun damage... Average I have gotten was 3 hits.  So you take 2 stun damage.. And that is fine, until you hit the third stun box.. Then you are negative 1 for all dice rolls. 

This is when you use a stimpatch.  I recommend a stun 2 or 3... you dont want to be awake more than you need to be ( cannot recover while under the effects of stimpatches) but they allow you to ignore the negative effects of stun damage, i,e, the negative on dice rolls.


Hope this helps.

[Hawke]

Oh.. when casting spells... and the drain is Force divided by 2 it is always rounded down for drain.  So if you have 5 magic, your base drain number will always be 2.  Then you get the modifier of +1 or -1 or +5 ,etc.   Use this to your advantage... always go odd number if you are worried about drain.  It's like a bonus 1 to force.  Why go 4 force when you could go 5 and it is the same base drain number of 2?


Oh and kudos on the negative qualities.. I am seeing a trend.. plus the high Japanese language points makes more sense.  Good job.  Now just get more stuff in the knowledge and he might have personality aside from being suave with a 7 charisma