[Double Down]

Hey folks! I'd love some feedback on this bad boy that I whipped up a few years ago. Haven't played him yet, so any feedback would be welcome and incorporated!

Ronin

Ronin was the son of a corp VP in Japan. At puberty he goblinized into an ork. Despite the accepted practice at the time, his father opted instead to discretely have him made human looking via the corps body mod r & d division. Unable to explain the massive physical shift in his son, even with the plastic surgery, his father had no choice but to hide him away and keep him hidden. Ronin was sent to a series of teachers where he learned the bulk of his combat, security, and stealth skills. When he was old enough, his father brought him back to live with him as his personal bodyguard and security director. It was at this time that his father had the bioware installed for him.

Four years after this, a powerful rival in the corp set a trap for Ronin, with the intent of eliminating him and thereby exposing his father for an assassination attempt. Ronin survived the ambush he was led into. His father was not so lucky. Fortunately, a close ally of his father in the corp (another VP) was able to get Ronin to a street clinic where he spent a month before the damage he had sustained had healed enough for him to leave. His father's friend was able to arrange for Ronin to leave Japan. His ultimate destination ended up being Los Angeles, where a Yakuza lieutenant connection waited.

The Yak was able to provide Ronin with the equipment he needed for his new career in the shadows, but none of it was free, and he is now indebted to the man to the sum of 30K.

Ronin is all but fresh off the boat. He has what he needs to start running the shadows, but not enough to survive long without work. Moreover, being brand new to town he's not very connected. He has both a powerful ally back in Japan, and a powerful enemy (who as of yet is unaware of his location or even for sure whether he is alive or dead).

Ronin wields dual Savalette Guardians in a firefight, however he doesn't shoot them simultaneously (avoiding the penalty for firing two weapons at a time). This allows him a much greater versatility in picking targets and also means he runs out of bullets half as often). He dresses simply, but is equally comfortable in street gear or a suit. Tattoos poke out from the collar of his shirt, but the perceptive will notice that they change regularly.

Ronin works a job with calm professionalism, and he will not hesitate to call out a team-mate that is compromising the team's success or reputation. Building a good reputation for himself in the shadows is of great importance to him. That being said, he's neither a psychopath nor a murder. He will kill when necessary, but never needlessly. Having been a corp sec man, he knows that the risk of death is part of the deal, and thus will not hesitate to pull the trigger on a run.

Physically Ronin appears to be an extremely large human Japanese male. He keeps his hair cropped very short and other than the shifting tattoos and his size, there seems little to distinguish him from other Japanese men.

Alias: Ronin
Name: Ono Edo
Human (Ork) Male
Age: 21
Lifestyle: Low

Attributes:
Body              4/7
Agility      5/7
Reaction      4/6
Strength      2/4
Charisma      3
Intuition      4
Logic         3
Willpower      3
Edge         1

Initiative      8/10
Initiative Pass   1/3
Essence      3.75   
     

Positive Qualities:
Human Looking
Ambidexterous

Negative Qualities:
In Debt (to Yakuza) 30
Enemy 5

Skills:
Firearms (Group)   4
Stealth (Group)      4
Influence (Group)   1
Electronics (Group)   2
Athletics (Group)   1
Perception         3
Unarmed Combat   2

Knowledge Skills:
IN:Japanese Society      2
IN:Japanese Culture      2           
SW:Megacorporate Security 4
IN:Bushido Philosophy   2           
SW:Megacorporate Operations   2
Greater Los Angeles Area   1
SW:Miltech Manufacturers   2

Language Skills:
Japanese N
English 6

Gear:

Armor:
Form Fitting Body Armour (6/2)
Synergist Business Line (suit jacket, shirt, slacks) (5/3)
Armour Jacket (8/6)

Weapons:
Savalette Gaurdian x 2
   - concealed hoster x 2
   - silencer x 1
Ares Desert Fox
   - external smartlink
Nitama Optimum II
   - sling
50 EX rnds (Desert Fox)
150 EX rnds (Guardians)
200 EX rnds (Optimum)

Other Gear:
Micro-Tranceiver (6)
Sub-vocal mic
Pro User Suite
Transys Avalon
Isis Orb
SIN Rt 4
SIN Rt 2
1 month low lifestyle (doss)
1 month low lifestyle (safe house)
2 x license: concealed carry Rt 4
2 x Nanotattoo Rt 3 (torso + face)

Cyberware:
Commlink
Cybereyes:
   - Flare comp
   - Smartlink
   - Thermographic
   - Low Light
   - Vision Enhancement (3)

Bioware:
Enhanced Articulation
Synaptic Booster (2)
Muscle Toner (2)
Bone Density Augmentation (1)

Contacts:
Yakuza Lieutenant         L:1   C:4                 
Corp Exec               L:5   C:5

[JmOz01]

In play what is the difference between culrture and Society?  I think the two could be merged...

[Critias]

1)  Folks are probably going to mention how inefficient most skill groups are (like taking the whole Firearms group when you mostly plan on only using Pistols).  Really, though, it comes down to your game table and how often the other skills in a group are likely to come up.

2)  Just an FYI, but be aware that "Ronin" is a pretty popular idea as street names go, and there's at least one canon guy (who had a novel and showed up in some adventures) who shares the name.  Depending on your GM, this may or may not be a problem, but be prepared for hilarity to ensue if NPCs get confused. 

[UmaroVI]

Firearms and Close Combat are the only really bad ones (besides Conjuring and Tasking, and those are because Decompiling and Banishing are traps). The main reason is that you have a lot more control about what weapons you carry than you do over, say, what kind of terrain you need to chase someone over or the like.

My main advice is:

6 Automatics is better and cheaper than 4 Firearms. Carry a variety of automatics for different situations. 4/6 or 6/4 Pistols/Heavy Weapons is another good way to go that costs the same but is also generally better. If you really really want to be a sniper and have to use a sniper rifle, Pistols/Longarms is also better than Firearms.

On the whole, given how many skills you're trying to cover and that you have Ambidextrous, I'd go with Automatics 6 and use the 16 bp to get Perception 4 and Unarmed Combat 4.

You can do much better with weapons if you are using Arsenal. Are you?

What's with your stats? You can't have 2(4) strength as an ork, because they have minimum of 3 strength.

Reaction and Intuition are both extremely important for you; they set initiative which is more important than rolling one or two extra dice to shoot someone, Reaction sets your defense, and Intuition is used in Perception (and Shadowing/Disguise). You should have Intuition 5 for sure, and as a street samurai planning to use synaptic boosters you should have Reaction 5 too.

Enhanced Articulation is not nearly as good as most people think it is, because Physical Skills means the physical skill group, not all skills linked to physical attributes. For you, it's giving you +1 Athletics, Infiltration, and Palming. This isn't worth the 40000; you could get Synthacardium 1 and Reflex Recorder (Stealth), pay less money, and get strictly better bonuses. I'd actually avoid Synthacardium 1 (better to get something like that at 3 or just get it later), but drop Enhanced Articulation.

Bone Density Augmentation is bad for everyone except very specific types of adepts which you aren't. The bonuses it gives are just not cost-efficient for the high price.

You might want to consider ditching the cybereyes and just wearing less expensive and essence-cost-free goggles that do the same thing. For starters, your eyes are Restricted which is kind of sad because otherwise you'd have no easily detected R or F implants.

Implanting your commlink is also an essence/nuyen sink that doesn't really do anything to help this character, but at least you aren't paying too much and aren't short on essence so it's not that bad.

You can probably pick up some better ware by dropping Enh. Articulation and Bone Density Augmentation, and maybe the commlink/cybereyes. Do you have Augmentation? If yes, I'd look at Trauma Damper and Attention Coprocessor in particular, as well as some geneware: Reakt, Qualia, and Synch are all solid and help you. If not, I'd probably load up on some Reflex Recorders and maybe Synthacardium 3.