[MachineGunBallet]

This character is meant to be OK in a fight, nothing stellar.  He's an X police detective, and extremely good at 'perception'.  (Hero lab is showing 17 dice and that's without using software like Lie Detection, yet.)  Also when you combine his radar with Tacnet, he really can anchor the group.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.


Darryl Hammer aka The Brain (Human)
B 2, A 4/6, R 5/6, S 1, C 4, I 5, L 5/8, W 2, E 2, Ess 1.1, Init 10/11, IP 1/2
Condition Monitor boxes (Physical/Stun): 9/9
Fairlight Caliban Commlink (Cyber) Condition Monitor: 11
Some Fake Guy Disposible Comlink Condition Monitor: 9
Armor (Ballistic/Impact): 8/4
Skills: Biotech Group 1, Dodge 4, Gunnery 4, Influence Group 2, Perception 6, Pilot Ground Craft 4, Pistols 4, Stealth Group 4, Unarmed Combat 2
Knowledge Skills: Chinese 3, Corporate Politics 3, Criminal Finance 3, English N, Illegal Simsense Videos 3, Japanese 3, Lone Star Forensics 3, Lone Star Procedures 3, Prison Gangs 3, Renraku Security Procedures 3, Seattle Drug Dens 3
Qualities: Addiction (Moderate): SImsense, Big Regret, Poor Self Control - Combat Monster, Restricted Gear: Cerebral Booster, SINner (Criminal SIN)
Cyberware:
   Attention Coprocessor (3)
   Control Rig
   Cyberears (2) with Audio Enhancement (2), Damper, Ear Recording Unit, Increased Sensitivity, Select Sound Filter (2), Sound Link, Spatial Recognizer
   Cybereyes (3) with Eye Light System, Eye Recording Unit, Image Link, Low-Light Vision, Smartlink, Thermographic Vision, Vision Enhancement (3)
   Datajack
   Fairlight Caliban Commlink (Cyber) with Analyze (4), Browse (4), Command (2), Edit (4), Empathy (5), Facial Recognition (5), Firewall (6), Gait Analysis (4), Lie Detection (5), Noise Analysis (4), Novatech Navi Operating System, Pro User Suite, Response Upgrade (5), System (6), Tac Net Software (2), Vehicle Identification (3), Visual Spotter (5), Voice Recognition (4), Weapon Watcher (4)
   Radar Sensor (4)
   Wired Reflexes (1)
Bioware:
   Cerebral Booster (3)
   Muscle Toner (2)
   Reception Enhancer (3)
Gear:
   Chrysler-Nissan Patrol-1
   Darryl Hammer aka Brain with Middle Lifestyle
   Form-Fitting Full-Body Suit
   Joe Blow with Fake License: Gun, Fake SIN, Street Lifestyle
   Some Fake Guy
   Some Fake Guy Disposible Comlink
Weapons:
   Walther Secura [Pistols, DV 5P vs. B-1, SA, 12 (c)] with Smartgun System, Internal
   Attack of Will (vs. Spirits) [DV 4P vs. I]
   Unarmed Strike [Unarmed, DV 1S vs. I]
Ammunition & Resources:
   Walther Secura - unloaded
   - Independent - - 0/0
   Addiction (Moderate): SImsense - 0/0
   Big Regret - 0/0
   Dropped to Ground - 0/0
   Edge Pool - 0/2
   Mundane - 0/0
   Poor Self Control - Combat Monster - 0/0
   Restricted Gear: Cerebral Booster - 0/0
   SINner (Criminal SIN) - 0/0

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[killer_instinct03]

Well for me the Body of 2 just seems very low. Realize that with a body of two you will be getting sick every other week.
I would also take Analytical Mind as a positive quality. Strength is low but that happens a lot with noncombat characters. Personally I would have my dodge be a bit lower as unless you use full defense it doesn't help again gun fire.

[rasmusnicolaj]

Body 2 And Willpower 2 is really low. You will have few damage boxes and won’t be able to withstand much punishment. Also I think Strength 1 is kind of low in a trained policeman that has manage to get through the admission test and the basic training without getting just a little muscle.

The Biotech Group isn’t worth the points. Cybertechnology is kind of a fringe skill really and that makes the groups as a whole to pricey. Just take First Aid or get it done with a Medkit. Dodge isn’t that great a skill either because you sacrifice an action to Dodge and I don’t think that is worth it compared to just taking out the opposition. But if you want Dodge I don’t think 4 is too much so you at least get as much benefit as possible from the action spend on full defense. Why Gunnery 4 when I don’t see any combat drones and with Command 2 you are definitely not a rigger. Influence Skill Group at 2 isn’t karma efficient. Personally I wouldn’t spend 16 BP on driving but instead I would boost my reaction to max and then just default or maybe get by with 1 in the skill. Why Unarmed Combat 2? It is Karma inefficient and with Strength 1 it is a waste of points unless you at least get a shock glove. Maybe get some Demolitions as it is linked to Logic (and Chemistry for being the perfect little terrorist).

Control Rig isn’t that great in my opinion. You could just get a better command program and control drones etc. from AR/VR. You don’t need a Control Rig to rig as in earlier editions. Cyberears and Cybereyes are kind of expensive and cost your Essence. You can get almost the same in ordinarily worn gear for a lot less. You don’t really need a Datajack for anything. Cerebral Boosters isn’t really that expensive so I’m not sure Rank 3 is worth Restricted Gear. You could benefit from some genetech to your Logic skills. A cyberarm or partial cyberarm with a nanite hive would also be nice. It would also boost your shooting dice pool. Reflex Recorder is nice and cheap too. I would go for Wired Reflexes 2 and some Reaction Enhancers.

Rasmus

[Scarecrow71]

While I agree that you should put some of the things from the cyber-eyes and -ears into buds and glasses (Audio Enhancement and Vision Enhancement, for example), you can't really put everything into one pair of either due to increased availability.  So I'd recommend:

1.  A pair of Glasses 4, with Image Link, Low Light Vision, Smartlink, and Vision Enhancement 3.  Total cost here is 1,025 Y, availability is 12, and you save yourself not only .4 in Essence but ~6,500 Y.  No, you won't have Thermographic Vision or the Eye Recording Unit, but are those really critical for the character?

2.  A pair of Earbuds 3, with Audio Enhancement 3.  Total cost here is a paltry 330 Y, saving yourself .3 in Essence and ~6,900 Y.  The other stuff you added to your cyber-ears - it may just be me, but I don't see the need to have any of those for your character.  I get that your going for the perceptive detective, but none of the other enhancements will help your overall character.

As far as skills go, I have to agree that Biotech is not good for your character, especially with only 1 point dropped into it.  It's costing you 10 BP to get 1 point of First Aid, which is really all you need as a detective, and that skill would cost you 12 to put it up to 3.

I also don't understand where the need for Gunnery is coming from.  Gunnery is for mounted weapons, like a 50 caliber assault cannon mounted in the bed of a truck.  I'm not sure why you think you need this skill, and unless you plan on doing a lot of ship to ship or vehicle to vehicle combat, this skill isn't needed (especially based on your concept).  I'd drop this skill altogether.

I'm also recommending that you take the Firearms skill group at 4, which gives you access to Automatics, Longarms, and Pistols.  As an ex-cop, you would know and be able to use several different types of weapons, and not just pistols.

Dodge is an ok skill, but you're better off using those 16 points elsewhere.  You should also consider dropping Perception to 5 and then softcapping another skill.

I did all the math based on what you originally had for skills, and what advice I'm giving you above, and the totals are 166 for you (70 on Skill Groups, 96 on Skills) vs. 160 me (100 on Skill Groups, 60 on Skills).  Here's what the skills would look like based on what I've done:

Firearms 4, Influence 2, Stealth 4
First Aid 3, Perception 5, Pilot Ground Craft 5, Unarmed Combat 3

Saved 6 BP doing this.  Which now leaves you with 40 BP to drop into Y for gear and ware.

NOTE:  I'm not a great character creationist for SR4 at this point, so take all of my advice with a few grains of salt.  Some of my advice may be sound, and some of it may suck worse than b-rated zombie movies on Encore at 3 in the morning.  This is just my take/opinion on the questions you asked. 

[Henzington]

Vision enchancement is 1 mod slot per rating so you can have it at 3 and one other mod.  Honestly a high logic isnt necessary as it only affects your biotech.  Intuition is the skill for perception and common sense where as Logic is more acadmenic.  Also I would consider making this guy an ork as it will not limited your Charmisa but will give a few points in Body and Strength.