[Ympulse]

Basic character concept is a former Aztlan pit fighter that took on some debt and fled Aztlan. Melee Focused Street Sam Adept. Also, if someone has a better format template lying around, I'd be grateful.

Name: Gordo
Alias: Crunch
Race: Troll
Sex: Male
Nationality: Aztlan
Lifestyle: Low


Attributes

Body	Agility	Reaction	Strength
7	4	3(5)	7(11)
Charisma	Intuition	Logic	Willpower
2	4	3	3
Edge	Magic/Resonance	Essence	Initiative
1	5	5	7(9)

Positive Qualities
Sangre y Acero (1) (+1DV on Blade Attacks) {Blind Fighting+Break Weapon}
Tough As Nails (2) (+2 Physical Damage Track)
Adept
Negative Qualities
Codeblock: Hacking
In Debt: (Borrowed 20000¥, Owes 30000¥) (4)
SiNner (Criminal)

Active Skills

Automatics	4 (Assault Rifles+2)
Blades	6 (Swords+2)
Dodge	4
Perception	4

Knowledge Skills ( [Logic + Intuition] x 3 free points)

Aztlan Pop Culture	4
Aztlan-UCAS Smugglers	1
Aztlan Drug Cartels	4
Famous Trolls	6
Pit Fighting	4
Urban Brawl (Last Season)	2

Language Skills

English

N

Adept Powers

Power	Cost	Notes
Attribute Boost: Strength	1PP	Level 4
Combat Sense	0.5PP	Level 1
Enhanced Perception	0.5PP	Level 2
Improved Physical Attribute: Strength	3PP	Rating 4

Cyber/Bioware

Bioware	Essence	Cost	Notes
Synaptic Booster (2)	1	160000¥	Standard Rating 2

Gear

. . Form-Fitting Full-Body Suit with Auto-Injector, Fire Resistance (4), Nonconductivity (4) . . Glasses (4) with Flare Compensation, Low Light Vision, Vision Enhancement (3) . . Gordo Crunch with DocWagon Basic Contract, License: Nodachi, Low Lifestyle . . Greatcoat with Chemical Protection, Insulation . . Helmet . . Kamikaze x10 . . Maglock Passkey (4) . . Maglock Sequencer (2) . . Micro-Tranceiver (6) . . SecureTech Forearm Guards . . SecureTech Leg and Arm Casings . . SecureTech Shin  Guards . . SecureTech Vitals Protector . . Sim Module . . Sony Emperor Commlink with Iris Orb Operating System . . Stimulant Patch (1) x10 . . Tag Eraser . . 3 Sets of Street Clothes Contacts Contact C/L Big Sam (Troll Street Dealer) 2/3 Local Gang Leader 2/1 Build Point totals: 400

[UmaroVI]

The good news is that what you're trying to do is a good idea and just needs some tweaking. Before I start, is Way of the Adept allowed?

[Ympulse]

The good news is that what you're trying to do is a good idea and just needs some tweaking. Before I start, is Way of the Adept allowed?

Not currently. Apparently the GM had a bad experience regarding munchkins and something like +30 attack on character creation, to hear him tell it.

[UmaroVI]

Okay, so, no Ways.

I think you basically just need some tweaking. There's nothing conceptually wrong here; your main problem is that the adept powers you picked aren't really helping your core functionality much.

Going through:
Logic isn't helping you at all, and I see nothing in your character concept suggesting he's above-average. -1 logic (+10 bp)
Reaction is super important for fighting. You really want to softcap it. +2 Reaction (-20 bp)
Harcapping magic isn't worth it. Go down a point. -1 Magic (+25 bp)

Tough as Nails is godawful. You're paying 20 points for +2 Physical track; compare that to just buying 2 more body. It needs to go. +20 bp.
You really want a full +3 DV Blades from Martial Arts. Take your pick of another 2 MA qualities with +DV Blades. -10 bp

Blind fighting is fine. Break Weapon is not really a good idea; if you can break someone's weapon you can generally also kamurder them. I'm going to suggest Blind-Fighting, Two-Weapon Style, Offhand Training, and Iaijutsu as manuevers (-4 bp). There are other useful manuevers if you want another 2; I'd suggest either Riposte or Finishing Blow and Watchful Guard, but you don't need more.

Replace Dodge with Gymnastics. You can already use Blades for passive defense, and Gymnastics provides both active defense and other stuff.

I'd suggest holding off on the specializations for karma (+4 bp).

Powers: I'm going to start by explaining why your current power setup is bad and then suggest a replacement. Attribute Boost and Improved Physical Attribute are not good. Attribute Boost is not good because it costs you a simple action to use, and Attribute Boost 4 is especially not good because it's only marginally better than Attribute Boost 1 and hits you for 4 drain. IPA is just grossly overpriced; you also forgot that it is double cost above your natural max.

I'm going to be suggesting another point of essence loss, so you'll have 3 magic and thus 3 PP. I would recommend Improved Ability (Blades) 2, Combat Sense 3, and Enhanced Perception 2.

Cyber/bio-ware: Throw in Reflex Recorder (Blades), Muscle Toner 2, and Muscle Augmentation 2. This is why you don't want IPA. Later, buy yourself Alphaware Muscle Toner 3 (which will just fit, and will leave you at your racial augmented max). (-8 bp for cost)

Gear: I think you are under-armored. With 7 Body, you should be at 17/15 total armor with FFBA. Check the first link in my sig and the Bad Enough Trog for an example of how to do this.

Weapons, what you want are 2 each of Vibro Blade Sword (for illegal murder), Monofilament Sword (for restricted murder), Ceramic Knife (for non-metallic murder), all with Personalized Grip. You dual-wield with Two-Weapon Style. Also, slap Bayonets on every gun you use so that you are always carrying a melee weapon.

Gun-wise, I suggest checking the Combat Hacker in the first link in my sig for some good Automatics.

[Lethe]

Improved Attribute costs double after natural maximum (1.5 PP for increasing strength from 10 to 11)
I don't think attribute boost is worth it, even considering the compatibility with improved attribute, activation takes important time, and on average you get only 3 hits = +1DV

I'd take Improved Reflexes 2 for 2.5 PP and muscle augmentation 4 for 0.8 essence, instead of synaptic booster and improved attribute and attribute boost.
Giving you same stats for an extra 5 BP for restricted gear, but you save 1.5 PP, 0.2 essence and 128k nuyen (~26BP).

That you can invest in 3 extra level of combat sense, muscle toner 1 and still have 19 BP left to spend.

[Ympulse]

Made the changes suggested by Umaro (had to Finnagle a third Martial Art with + to blades, as there are only two in Arsenal, Arnis De Mano and Sangre y Acero) and ended up with 16BP left over.

Thinking about buying a car with the 16BP worth of Nuyen.

Or a Panther XXL. Gordo IS a troll. He needs a man-portable Panther...

[UmaroVI]

Panthers are Heavy Weapons. If you want a big gun, I would go for a Battle Rifle (probably an Ares HVBR from WAR!).

Oops, you are right about the MA qualities. I always forget which ones have 2 and which have 3 or more.

[Ympulse]

Done and done. Gordo now has a Wiz Harley to ride around on, and other minor tweaks. due to Herolab's functionality, the extra +1DV to Blades is not showing, but it's going to be penned in on the printed version, provided there aren't any more holes for people to poke.

Gordo Crunch (Troll Adept)
B 7, A 4/6, R 5/7, S 7/9, C 2, I 4, L 2, W 3, E 1, Ess 4.1, M 3, Init 9/11, IP 1/3
Condition Monitor boxes (Physical/Stun): 12/10
Sony Emperor Commlink Condition Monitor: 10
Armor (Ballistic/Impact): 24/22
Skills: Automatics 4, Blades 9, Gymnastics 4, Intimidation 1 (Physical +2), Perception 4
Knowledge Skills: Aztlan Pop Culture 4, Aztlan-UCAS Smugglers 1, Drug Cartels (Aztlan) 3, English N, Famous Trolls 4, Pit Fighting 4, Urban Brawl (Last Season) 2
Metatype Abilities: Armor (+1/+1), Enhanced Senses: Thermographic Vision
Qualities: +1 DV to Blades attacks, Adept, Arnis De Mano (1), Codeblock: Hack, In Debt (Borrowed 20000¥, Owes 30000¥) (4), Sangre y Acero (1), SINner (Criminal SIN), Toughness
Adept Powers: Combat Sense (3), Enhanced Perception (2), Improved Ability (2): Blades
Bioware:
. . Muscle Augmentation (2)
. . Muscle Toner (2)
. . Reflex Recorder: Blades
. . Synaptic Booster (2)
Gear:
. . Street Clothes x3
. . Form-Fitting Full-Body Suit with Auto-Injector, Fire Resistance (4), Nonconductivity (4)
. . Glasses (4) with Flare Compensation, Low Light Vision, Vision Enhancement (3)
. . Gordo Crunch with DocWagon Basic Contract, License: AK-97, License: Monofilament Sword, Low Lifestyle
. . Greatcoat with Chemical Protection, Insulation
. . Harley-Davidson Scorpion
. . Helmet
. . Kamikaze x10
. . Maglock Passkey (4)
. . Maglock Sequencer (2)
. . Metal Restraints
. . Micro-Tranceiver (6)
. . SecureTech Forearm Guards
. . SecureTech Leg and Arm Casings
. . SecureTech Shin  Guards
. . SecureTech Vitals Protector
. . Sim Module
. . Sony Emperor Commlink with Iris Orb Operating System
. . Stimulant Patch (1) x10
. . Tag Eraser
Weapons:
. . AK-97 [Assault Rifles, DV 7P vs. B-2, SA/BF/BF-L/FA, RC 2, 38 (c)] with Bayonet, Bayonet Mount, EX-Explosive Rounds x100, Foregrip, Sling
. . . . Bayonet [Blades, DV 8P vs. I, Reach 3]
. . Ares Alpha [Assault Rifles, DV 7P vs. B-2, SA/BF/BF-L/FA, RC 5, 100 (d)] with Bayonet, Bayonet Mount, EX-Explosive Rounds x304, Foregrip, Grenade Launcher, Personalized Grip, Sling, Smartgun System, Internal, Stick-n-Shock x300
. . . . Ares Alpha Grenade Launcher [Grenade Launchers, DV 12P(f), -1/m vs. I+5, SS, RC 1, 6 (c)] with Fragmentation Minigrenade x6, High Explosive Minigrenade x6, Smartgun System, Internal
. . . . Bayonet [Blades, DV 8P vs. I, Reach 3]
. . Ares Alpha Grenade Launcher [Grenade Launchers, DV 12P(f), -1/m vs. I+5, SS, RC 1, 6 (c)] with Fragmentation Minigrenade x6, High Explosive Minigrenade x6, Smartgun System, Internal
. . Attack of Will (vs. Spirits) [DV 2P vs. I]
. . Bayonet [Blades, DV 8P vs. I, Reach 3]
. . Bayonet [Blades, DV 8P vs. I, Reach 3]
. . Ceramic Knife [Blades, DV 8P vs. I, Reach 1] with Ceramic/Plasteel Components (Level 1), Lanyard, Personalized Grip
. . Ceramic Knife [Blades, DV 8P vs. I, Reach 1] with Ceramic/Plasteel Components (Level 1), Lanyard, Personalized Grip
. . Monofilament Sword [Blades, DV 10P vs. I-1, Reach 2] with Lanyard, Personalized Grip
. . Monofilament Sword [Blades, DV 10P vs. I-1, Reach 2] with Lanyard, Personalized Grip
. . Unarmed Strike [Unarmed, DV 5S vs. I, Reach 1]
. . Vibro Sword [Blades, DV 11P vs. I-2, Reach 2] with Lanyard, Personalized Grip
. . Vibro Sword [Blades, DV 11P vs. I-2, Reach 2] with Lanyard, Personalized Grip

[Glyph]

With blades, you can only (normally) get up to +2 to damage value, but Arnis De Mano also has an advantage that lets you do damage on a disarm.  I would not recommend it for this particular character, though - it is too good.  If your GM doesn't like adept Ways, I am sure he wouldn't like for your character to not only get full defense for free (with two-weapon style), but also to be able to deal damage to the people you are defending against (and when you get a level in the Counterstrike power, it gets even more cheesy - now you can take all of those successes you have just whaled on someone with, and use them as a bonus to your subsequent attack roll).

[Snaryl]

Noticed you don't have a smartlink, you could add a smartlink and imagelink to a pair of contacts, your Alpha already has an internal smartgun system. Always nice to get 2 more dice to automatics.

For Martial Arts, you should be able to take Kali or Ars Cybertechnica in addition to Arnis de Mano and Sangre y Acero, though I think in HeroLab they might not have them. Chummer definitely has them listed separately, allowing you to take a +3 DV to Blades.

[JustADude]

For Martial Arts, you should be able to take Kali or Ars Cybertechnica in addition to Arnis de Mano and Sangre y Acero, though I think in HeroLab they might not have them. Chummer definitely has them listed separately, allowing you to take a +3 DV to Blades.

In Arsenal they're all alternate names for the same set of bonuses. Think of them as a "family" of styles that have identical, non-stacking in game effects.

[Snaryl]

I'm not sure if that's correct, I went back to Arsenal to check, it doesn't say anywhere that different styles that are similar can't be used together, and their bonuses don't stack. Has this been errata'd or updated somewhere else?

What Arsenal does say is:

The following martial arts styles are purchased in conjunction with the Martial Arts Quality (p.156). Each martial arts entry gives the name of the style and the names of technically similar but distinct styles in parentheses, followed by a short description or history of the style and the advantages the character can choose from (only one advantage is gained per 5 bp of quality). The gamemaster should modify these styles or create new ones as he sees fit.

[Snaryl]

Also on P.156 in Arsenal, inside the Martial Arts (Positive Quality) box:

A character gains the advantages of all martial arts styles she know; should they overlap, these dice modifiers stack.

[UmaroVI]

If your GM will let it fly, go for it, but I don't see it being too likely.

[Ympulse]

If your GM will let it fly, go for it, but I don't see it being too likely.

I'd hazard a guess at no for (theoretically) infinitely stacking +DV for a weapon type.

This is my second character for the game so far, the first was a Face/Facepuncher with 24 DV for unarmed. It got vetoed.