[Lethal Joke]

Ok. Another character who probably won't see use outside the first run - the players will be headed somewhere remote with some haste - but I saw the VTOL and I just wanted to have it appear somehow. Gave her a full backstory that will likely never be heard or seen because I'm obsessive like that.

So here it is...

Kelly Campbell a.k.a. “Fly Baby,” Elf VTOL Rigger/Smuggler Prime Runner

Priorities:
Metatype D – Elf (0)
Attributes B – 20
Magic/Resonance E – None
Skills C – 28/2
Resources A – 450,000 Nuyen

Attributes:
Body 3
Agility 5
Reaction 6
Strength 3 (Increased from 2 with 15 karma)
Willpower 3
Logic 4
Intuition 5
Charisma 3
Edge 2
Essence 4.45

Limits:
Physical: 5
Mental: 6
Social: 5

Qualities:
Bilingual -5
Lucky -12
Quick Healer -3
Allergy (Common: Pollutants, Mild) +10
SINner (National) +5
Weak Immune System +10

Skills:
Athletics Skill Group 2
Automatics (Machine Pistol) 3 (+2)
Unarmed Combat (Cyber Weapons) 2 (+2)
Perception 3
Sneaking 2
Etiquette 2
Aeronautics Mechanic 4
Hardware 2 (Increased from 1 with 4 Karma)
Gunnery 4
Pilot Aircraft (Vectored Thrust) 4 (+2)

Knowledge Skills:
Language (English) N
Language (Spetheriel) N
Tir Tairngire 4
Smuggling Routes (North America) 5 (+2)
VTOL Breakthroughs 5
Mystery Novels 3
Vehicle Chop Shops 1 (Bought with 1 Karma)

10 Karma into 20,000 nuyen

Gear – Lifestyle:
Low Lifestyle (4 months, small rented hanger)
Fake SIN 3 (Fake Pilot 3, Fake Cyber 3, Fake Gun 3)
Tir Tairngire SIN (w/ appropriate licenses)
Renraku Sensei Commlink (rating 3)
Flashlight
Datachip
Gold Credstick
Aerospace Tool Shop

Augmentations:
Control Rig 1 (Used)
Hand Blade (Used: Acc 5, Dam 5P, AP -2)

Combat Gear:
Steyr TMP [Machine Pistol: Acc 4(5), Dam 7P, Mode SA/BF/FA, Ammo 30(c)] (Laser Sight, Silencer, 4x Spare Clips, Concealable Holster, 200 Regular Ammo, 150 Gel Ammo)
Lined Coat [Rating 9]

Gear – The Ride
Ares Venture [Handl 5, Speed 7, Accel 4, Body 16, Armor14, Pilot 4, Sensor 4, Seats 6] (w/ Rigger Interface, Standard Weapon Mount)
In Mount: FN HAR [Assault Rifle: Acc 5(6), Dam 10P, AP -2, Mode SA/BF/FA, RC 2, Ammo 35(c)] (500 Regular Ammo, 250 Gel Ammo)

Contacts:
Street Doc (Loyalty 2, Connection 1)
Fixer (Loyalty 1, Connection 3)
Tir Tairngire Embassy Clerk (Loyalty 1, Connection 1)

[Solarious]

Your ride has 3 times the ammo you can load.
How do you plan on changing it?
And what kind of targets require 500 rounds to take out anyway?

Since you can't pickup a heavy weapon mount, I would personally mount an Alamo Burst Fire Sniper Rifle and 250 rounds APDS and drop the gel rounds.

Also, since the whole purpose of the character is to be a pilot I would up points in Pilot Air, Gunnery, and Air Mechanic

[jim1701]

You might consider using an Ares Dragon as your ride.  Yes, it not quite all that a Venture is but it is cheaper and it is not illegal.  It gives you a few more options if you ever need to fly into public airspace and, you know, not get shot down.   

The difference in price should allow you to upgrade to a level 2 control rig which will help offset the slightly lesser capabilities of the Dragon vs. the Venture. 

[Lethal Joke]

You might consider using an Ares Dragon as your ride.  Yes, it not quite all that a Venture is but it is cheaper and it is not illegal.  It gives you a few more options if you ever need to fly into public airspace and, you know, not get shot down.   

The difference in price should allow you to upgrade to a level 2 control rig which will help offset the slightly lesser capabilities of the Dragon vs. the Venture.

Except that the Venture is the point.

Your ride has 3 times the ammo you can load.
How do you plan on changing it?
And what kind of targets require 500 rounds to take out anyway?

Since you can't pickup a heavy weapon mount, I would personally mount an Alamo Burst Fire Sniper Rifle and 250 rounds APDS and drop the gel rounds.

Also, since the whole purpose of the character is to be a pilot I would up points in Pilot Air, Gunnery, and Air Mechanic

Reloads. When I build, I plan ahead. Even if there is no ahead.

You're probably right where the skills are concerned. But where should I pull them from?

[Bewilderbeast]

You saw this thread, right?

http://forums.shadowruntabletop.com/index.php?topic=15829.0

Seems germane.

[BlackJaw]

Laughing Vulture, the Cascade Or T-Bird Smuggler is a character I've been working on.

A couple of points:

T-Bird Pilots don't just fly around, they flow low, fast, and avoiding sensors.
According to page 184, avoiding sensors is actually a complicated vehicle test.  You roll Sneaking + Reflex [Handling], but the dice from Sneaking are limited by your appropriate vehicle skill.
I'd recommend upping Pilot Aircraft and Sneak so you can fly well and avoid sensors.
For points, consider dropping the Aircraft Mechanic (maybe get a Mechanic contact?)
Also, consider dropping Lucky, as the character only has Edge 2.  Use that Karma to buy low ranking skills and/or Specializations to get a few more points.

You may be limited from using Heavy Weapon Mounts at character creation, but you can still get a little extra firepower by using an Ares Alpha Assault Rifle.  The under barrel grenade launcher can be loaded with 6 HE grenades. Not exactly a missile launcher, but it's useful.

[Lethal Joke]

Laughing Vulture, the Cascade Or T-Bird Smuggler is a character I've been working on.

A couple of points:

T-Bird Pilots don't just fly around, they flow low, fast, and avoiding sensors.
According to page 184, avoiding sensors is actually a complicated vehicle test.  You roll Sneaking + Reflex [Handling], but the dice from Sneaking are limited by your appropriate vehicle skill.
I'd recommend upping Pilot Aircraft and Sneak so you can fly well and avoid sensors.
For points, consider dropping the Aircraft Mechanic (maybe get a Mechanic contact?)
Also, consider dropping Lucky, as the character only has Edge 2.  Use that Karma to buy low ranking skills and/or Specializations to get a few more points.

You may be limited from using Heavy Weapon Mounts at character creation, but you can still get a little extra firepower by using an Ares Alpha Assault Rifle.  The under barrel grenade launcher can be loaded with 6 HE grenades. Not exactly a missile launcher, but it's useful.

Actually, I didn't see that. Should've figured I wouldn't be the only one to notice the 400k T-bird. Though you have the T-bird rigger figured out as a shadowrunner better than I do - which is fine. This is a contact, not a runner, really.

Noted. I'll probably drop 'Lucky' and use the spare karma, like you suggest. I also suppose by lowering, if not eliminating the Aerospace Mechanic skill, I could up the Pilot Aircraft and sneak skills. That would also mean I could drop the tool shop to a tool kit and afford a few more bells and whistles. For one thing, manual controls, and either another standard mount or an upgrade to the Ares Alpha as suggested.

Thanks for the (educated) input.

[BlackJaw]

I did notice you were trying to make a contact instead of a full PC, but I figured you'd still want the NPC to be good at flying low under the radar.

Did you see the Human-Technomancer-T-Bird-Pilot NPC in Coyotes? p. 23 "GLORIA “CONTRAIL” BLITZER, TECHNOMANCER"
They didn't give her any ranks in Sneak.  I guess she gets by on hacking.

I considered making my character a Technomancer and taking the Echo for a control Rig ASAP, but I couldn't get the build to work while still being an Ork, and the low attributes really hurt as a technomancer.

[Lethal Joke]

Somewhat good at flying under the radar, but part of the character background that'll never see the light is about this particular character not being terribly good at the smuggling part Instead, she has some form of diplomatic immunity (child of an ambassador or something, also explains how she gets away with the illegal ride) - she does it for the thrill, not the paycheck. Still, the idea that she should be better at it is not incorrect

O.K. Here are the modifications thus far (not tackling the cash changes just yet.)

Attributes:
Body 3
Agility 5
Reaction 6
Strength 3 (Increased from 2 with 15 karma)
Willpower 3
Logic 4
Intuition 5
Charisma 3
Edge 1
Essence 4.75

Qualities:
Bilingual -5
Quick Healer -3
Allergy (Common: Pollutants, Mild) +10
SINner (National) +5
Weak Immune System +10

Skills:
Athletics Skill Group 2
Automatics (Machine Pistol) 2 (+2)
Blades 3
Perception 3
Sneaking 4
Etiquette 2
Aeronautics Mechanic (VTOL) 1 (+2)
Hardware 2 (Increased from 1 with 4 Karma)
Gunnery 5 (Increased from 4 with 10 Karma)
Pilot Aircraft (Vectored Thrust) 5 (+2)

Knowledge Skills:
Language (English) N
Language (Spetheriel) N
Tir Tairngire 4
Smuggling Routes (North America) 5 (+2)
VTOL Breakthroughs 5
Mystery Novels 3
Local Chop Shops 2 (Bought with 3 Karma)

Thoughts?

[BlackJaw]

T-Birding:
Using page 199 as a guide, let's assume that flying low requires regular uses of Average Maneuvers: "Avoiding an obstacle, maneuvering through a narrow spot, tight turn (75-130 degrees)" This is a base target number of 2, but could be made more complicated by what terrain is present.  "Restricted Terrain" probably covers most T-Bird flying with "low altitude flying over heavy terrain."  That's another 2 points for the target number, making it 4.  However, her rating 1 control rig reduces this to a target number of 3.

So it looks like she gets:
4 Sneak (under the cap from Pilot Aircraft) + 6 Reflex +2 Hot VR = 12 dice, or enough to hit the target number of 3 when buying hits at 4 to 1.

Let's say she doesn't want subtle.  Let's say she wants speeds:
5 pilot aircraft + 2 VTOL specialty + 6 Reflex +2 Hot VR -2 "running" = 13 dice, which is enough to buy the target 3 hits.

So, she can either consistently t-bird stealthy or t-bird fast, but not both.  I think that fits what you are looking for.

[Lethal Joke]

It is. I may actually be getting better at building characters.

As to the Ares Alpha: the minigrenades would be more flexible, but part of me likes the idea of just tacking on another FN HAR to the Venture, and using some of the spare nuyen to get some autosofts (now that I know their price from the errata I just found.)
Opinions?

[BlackJaw]

As to the Ares Alpha: the minigrenades would be more flexible, but part of me likes the idea of just tacking on another FN HAR to the Venture, and using some of the spare nuyen to get some autosofts (now that I know their price from the errata I just found.)
Opinions?

That depends on what you are doing with the 2nd gun.  There are no linked weapon rules, so you can't exactly shoot both guns at the same time, or at least you can't without splitting your dice pool.
It might make a nice tail gun or door gun.  If you define the door as being in the back of the VTOL, it might be both.  I'd recommend the manual controls add-on for a door gun, so in the event of a hot drop or pickup, a street sam or other character can take over shooting while she handles the piloting.

My usual advice for Autosofts, for PCs, is to only get rating 6 autosofts as anything less is a stop-gap until you can afford a better one.
Make sure you guns, if you get more than one, are the same model, otherwise they will each need their own autosoft.  A drone/vehicle autopilot can not use a weapon at all without a proper autosoft.
As a contact instead of a PC, the character is likely to remain with the ride most of the time, so I'm unsure which autosofts are most useful.  I suspect a Targeting Autosoft might be helpful in case she needs to have it shooting while she's on the ground?  A Maneuvering Autosoft or Stealth Autosoft might also be helpful.

I'm not sure why you're going with FN HAR.  If you want a cheap Assault Rifle the AK 97 will work just fine.  It lacks a Laser sight and 2 points of recoil comp, but is otherwise about the same.  Vehicle mounted weapons already get to use the body of the drone or vehicle they are attached to as Recoil comp (16! for Venture,) and a laser sight is just $125.
That means an AK97 + laser sight is $1075 vs FN HAR $1500 and the main difference is 18 vs 16 recoil comp.

[martinchaen]

Also, note that Aerospace is for space ships; you'll want an Aeronautics tool shop/kit. I see you've changed it to "Vehicle chop shops" in the second, not sure this is actually a thing.

And finally, no RCC? The combination of RCC and VCR can be pretty potent, adding up to 6 dice with a Rating 3 Control Rig (though this alone costs 208k standard grade).

[Lethal Joke]

It might make a nice tail gun or door gun.  If you define the door as being in the back of the VTOL, it might be both.  I'd recommend the manual controls add-on for a door gun, so in the event of a hot drop or pickup, a street sam or other character can take over shooting while she handles the piloting.

That's the idea.

My usual advice for Autosofts, for PCs, is to only get rating 6 autosofts as anything less is a stop-gap until you can afford a better one.
Make sure you guns, if you get more than one, are the same model, otherwise they will each need their own autosoft.  A drone/vehicle autopilot can not use a weapon at all without a proper autosoft.
As a contact instead of a PC, the character is likely to remain with the ride most of the time, so I'm unsure which autosofts are most useful.  I suspect a Targeting Autosoft might be helpful in case she needs to have it shooting while she's on the ground?  A Maneuvering Autosoft or Stealth Autosoft might also be helpful.

The two guns were always going to be the same one - I did figure out the same gun = one autosoft thing.
Was going to go for the stealth autosoft.

I'm not sure why you're going with FN HAR.  If you want a cheap Assault Rifle the AK 97 will work just fine.  It lacks a Laser sight and 2 points of recoil comp, but is otherwise about the same.  Vehicle mounted weapons already get to use the body of the drone or vehicle they are attached to as Recoil comp (16! for Venture,) and a laser sight is just $125.
That means an AK97 + laser sight is $1075 vs FN HAR $1500 and the main difference is 18 vs 16 recoil comp.

Hm. Didn't notice that. Another change I'll have to make. Thanks for noticing.

Also, note that Aerospace is for space ships; you'll want an Aeronautics tool shop/kit. I see you've changed it to "Vehicle chop shops" in the second, not sure this is actually a thing.

And finally, no RCC? The combination of RCC and VCR can be pretty potent, adding up to 6 dice with a Rating 3 Control Rig (though this alone costs 208k standard grade).

It is supposed to be Aeronautics, thank you, but I don't think I'll get confused. They're seperate piloting skills, but there is only one mechanic skill for both, at least as far as I can tell.
It's a knowledge skill. It represents knowledge of chop shops in the area around the contact's home. It's true that 'Vehicle' is redundant, though.
I really couldn't afford an RCC after buying the control rig, the lifestyle, and (of course) the VTOL itself. Not without forgoing nearly all of the equipment and the like.

[Lethal Joke]

O.K. it's time for the material changes.

It's also notable that I changed Unarmed Combat (Cyberweapons) to Blades and removed the hand blade in exchange for the far cheaper combat knife.

10 Karma into 20,000 nuyen

Gear – Lifestyle:
Low Lifestyle (4 months, small rented hanger)
Fake SIN 3 (Fake Pilot 3, Fake Cyber 3, Fake Gun 3)
Tir Tairngire SIN (w/ appropriate licenses)
Erika Elite Commlink (rating 4)
3x Clothes (40 Nuyen each)
Flashlight
Datachip
Gold Credstick
Aeronaughtics Tool Kit

Augmentations:
Control Rig 1 (Used)

Combat Gear:
Steyr TMP [Machine Pistol: Acc 4(5), Dam 7P, Mode SA/BF/FA, Ammo 30(c)] (Laser Sight, Silencer, 4x Spare Clips, Concealable Holster, 200 Regular Ammo, 150 Gel Ammo)
Combat Knife (Blade: Acc 6, Dam 5P, AP -3)
Armor Vest [Rating 9]

Gear – The Ride
Ares Venture [Handl 5, Speed 7, Accel 4, Body 16, Armor14, Pilot 4, Sensor 4, Seats 6] (w/ Rigger Interface, 2x Standard Weapon Mount, Manual Operation on rear mount, Stealth Autosoft 6, Encryption program)
In Mount: 2x AK-97 [Assault Rifle: Acc 5(6), Dam 10P, AP -2, Mode SA/BF/FA, RC 2, Ammo 35(c)] (Laser sight each, 500 Regular Ammo, 250 Gel Ammo) - One mounted in the nose, the other on the rear door.

Thoughts?