[Lagernoggin]

A tribal orc plucked from the backwoods of Borneo and put in the fighting pits of Singapore where he blossomed as an adept. Later sold to a pirate crew as muscle. Things with that crew went sideways and now he's on his own for the first time in his young life.


A 24 stats B Orc  C Magic D 22/0 skills E 6k

Body       7   
Agility      5 (7)   
Strength      8    
Reaction       5 (7)         
Intuition      5      
Willpower   5      
Logic      2     10karma   
Charisma    2     10karma   
Edge       3
Magic      6      
Essence       6
Phys 10   Ment 5   Soci 5   Ini 12(13)+3d6
Composure 7  Judge Intentions 7  Carry 15  Memory 7
Defense: 12


Qualities                    Karma
Mentor Spirit (Dog)                       -5
Quick Healer                          -3
Poor Self Control (Thrillseeker)   +4
Poor Self Control (Vindictive)      +5
Vendetta (Tribal)                       +7
Uneducated                         +8
Debt 5k                            +1

Skills              Dice
Perception (Scent) 4         9 (11)
Unarmed Combat (Akido) 6      13 (15)
     Counterstrike
Automatics (Assault Rifles) 6      13 (15)
Sneaking 4 (Jungle)         11 (13)
Heavy Weapons 1                 8  2karma
Gunnery 1                         8  2karma
Con 1                            3  2karma
Assensing 1                         6  2karma
Arcana 1                                 6  2karma
Athletics Group 1                                 5karma
   Gymastics                8/9
   Running                         9
   Swimming                9
Outdoors Group 1                                5karma
   Navigation                8
   Survival                        6
   Tracking                        8

Powers                                  PP
Astral Perception                    1
Improved Reflexes 2           2.5
Improved Ability Agility 2                 2
Linguistics                     0.25
Attribute Boost Agility 1               0.25
(Dog)Scent                             0.25
(Dog)Direction Sense                  0.25

Languages 
Iban                           N
Mandarin                          1
Cantonese                  1

Knowledges 
Hidden Harbors and Safe Houses      2
SE Asian Underworld (Pirates)      2
Underground Gambling/Fighting      3
SE Asia Parabiology                 1
Iban Customs, Culture and Politics           3

Contacts 
Talismonger/Mentor              2/2
Fixer                                 2/2  2karma

Equipment          
Lifestyle (Street)                         0
Armored Jacket                     1,000
AK-97 (2 magazines; 120rd ball)       1,200
Knucks                                  100
Glasses (image link)                125
Earbuds (sound link)                 50
Subvocal Mic                                 50
Commlink (hermes icon R5)           3,000
Fake SIN  2                              5,000
Machete                                   100
Betel Nut 3pks                                  15
2 pks Marlboros, lighter                       10
Go-Bag (duct tape; flashlight; thick trash    150
     bags; 10 plastic restraints; towel; bottled
     water; snacks; cord; lighter; poncho;
     insect repellent; survival knife)


Don't concern yourselves with SIN and lifestyle (campaign specifics).

Would like comments or opinions.

Primarily interested in blind spots that I missed, boneheaded mistakes, or simple tweaks to optimize.

[Tecumseh]

Uneducated certainly makes sense from a backstory perspective, but the effects are brutal once gameplay starts.

Is there a story or character purpose for Astral Perception? It's expensive and the character only has 6 dice to roll for it. If there's not an immediate need for it then it is a good candidate for a qi focus down the road.

If you drop Astral Perception, you can pick up things that would be valuable for a (former) pit fighter, like Combat Sense and Critical Strike (Unarmed). I would strongly recommend those.

Magic Sense is also fantastic and might replicate some of what you were looking for from Astral Perception.

You might not need Gunnery. Consider Thrown Weapons instead, which might also replace the need for Heavy Weapons (which is usually for grenade launchers, but you could just throw them instead).

If you drop Assensing, you could pick up Etiquette or Intimidation. Lobby your GM to let you use Body or Strength or Physical Limit instead of Charisma on your Intimidation rolls.

[Lagernoggin]

The way I read it, Astral Perception obviates Magic Sense and Detect Magic. Am I missing something?

I chose Astral Perception for two reasons:

First, it lets him do unarmed DV to unmaterialized spirits.
Second, the group I'm with tends to forget to have the characters that have the power, actually use it.

I may follow your advice and let AP be his first qi focus--his "coming of age as a spirit warrior"

Strength + Intimidation would be a good option. I'll put it to my judge.

Thanks for your thoughts.

[Glyph]

The problem with the first reason for having astral perception, is that you need the astral combat skill to fight astral beings (core rules, page 315).

[Lagernoggin]

These are exactly the kind of comments I was looking for.

Thanks.

[Tecumseh]

There is some overlap between Astral Perception and Magic Sense but there are significant differences too:

1) Astral Perception has to be activated. Magic Sense is always on.
2) Your dice pool would be significantly better for Magic Sense. (Street Grimoire is unclear on what dice pool adepts should use but I use Intuition+Perception.)
3) Astral Perception is dependent on line-of-sight. Magic Sense works through walls and obstacles (except wards and magical barriers, etc.)

I love Astral Perception - don't get me wrong - but it eats up a whole power point and demands separate skills to leverage it, namely Assensing and Astral Combat (per Glyph's comments). Given that you're tight on skill points at Priority D, it just seems like a lower priority that can wait until you have some nuyen and karma under your belt.