[Dobyk]

    Greetings everyone! I'm Dobyk and I'm new to the forums and Shadowrun, but I'm an experienced roleplayer with other games such as WH40K, Vampire the Masquerade and D&D. Shadowrun, however... oh man, it's so good, I've ALWAYS been waiting to play a postmodern/futuristic fantasy, which is dark, gritty, AND includes both science and magic. So, one of my friends turned out to be a Shadowrun player (but not an experienced GM) and he said he is interested in doing a campaign and wanted to recuit me.

   Long story short, I dashed through the 4th edition Core book, Street Magic and the Runner Compendium to get a feel of what kind of character I want to play. I'll try to outline the base concept and background , but I wanted to consult more experienced players and GMs about what works, what doesn't, and to just make sure my concept does fit the universe well! I won't go deep into numbers, because I'm always about roleplay first and numbers second, so maybe some of you could recommend qualities that fit the concept? The GM said he was cooking a campaign set in New York, but hasn't given away further details....  Anyway, so here is the concept:

Name: Jaromir Banaszewski
Gender: Male
Metatype: Elf (Polish)
Metavariant: Night One
Concept: rebel; occult smuggler; visionary - pariah
Magical Tradition: Path of the Wheel - Path of the Bard (spirit mentor either Fire-Bringer or Adversary or Dark Goddess).

   The story of Jaromir begins when his elven mother, Katrina, emigrates to Tír na nÓg at the first opportunity, escaping Poland because of Political Unrest (lore-correct?). Katrina is well educated, ambitious and hard-working and feels fortunate enough to be an elf in this situation and attempts to climb the social ladder of Tír na nÓg's elite in her ability as a magistrate and a magician. Fate leads her to a romantic relationship with a human from the Fitzgerald Danaan family, and it turns out to be a passionate relationship indeed. Until, that is, she begets a child and is "recommended" to abort the fetus due to conflicts of interest and the very real threat of a scandal, and an extra-Fitzgerald coming into the world. Katrina, however, decides to keep the child, which definitely complicates her life to the point the receives threats and is eventually poisoned. This forces a premature birth, which results in the death of the poor elven lass, but the birth of a weirdling.

   Jaromir is raised in a strict foster family, which does its best to instill its elven virtues on the little freak. Although he is an elf, his "peculiar" appearance and sun allergy are seen as a predicament and an unnecessary complication by the family. This attitude was fostered even by his teachers in school, who have always said he needs to prove his elven qualities and always do his best. He is, essentially, treated as no better than a human for the most of his adolescence, until he is discovered to posses considerable magical talent. Young Jaromir is quickly pushed to become a magician, which he ambitiously accepts as a path to prove his elvenness. Despite the common derision of his peers, the scolding of his superiors, and the daily complications that his metavariant causes him, he is so enthralled by the spiritual ideals of the Path of the Wheel, and the elven culture as a whole, that he is absolutely dedicated to prove his worth. In time, his curiosity in magic and elven lore grows that much larger, to the point where he sees his journey as rather enjoyable.

   That is, until he is tasked with writing a dissertation on the Principles of Draesis ti Heron. His academic work, however, allows him to contemplate objectively not only on the Path, but how its superimposed on the whole of Tír na nÓg, orchestrated and controlled by the Tuatha De Danaan. In the months he takes to writing the piece, he realizes several truths which set the stage for the rest of his life: That the Path is needlessly rigid, restricted, does not allow for communion with more spirits, which is ultimately pointless as the expression of the elven soul, that is Draesis ti Heron, is much more complex an beautiful. That the Path compounds the mundane and the spiritual to such an extent, that society is ordered around it, without realizing the deeper spiritual implications - it is unacceptable to use something so beautiful to politically manipulate a whole nation. And last, but not least - that humanity's soul can perceive and understand the beauty of Draesis ti Heron, and that to say that all things elven are superior is inherently flawed, for we are different but equal in the Grand Path of Life. It is just that different souls require different path, and there are oh so many paths to walk.

   Needless to say, the academic publication caused quite the intellectual scandal to the point where he is kicked out of the University and threatened with imprisonment for inciting harmful propaganda. He is a mockery of elvenkind, they said, hairy like a beastman, nocturnal like a ghoul, and utterly twisted in his soul, perverting elven culture. Perhaps fate was kind to Jaromir, for his only punishment was to be relegated to the fringes of Tír na nÓg society. But that event only opened the door, for Jaromir made wonderful acquaintances with many humans in the IRA. His propaganda of "Liberal, Diverse Draesis ti Heron" to malcontent elves and curious humans eventually grew into collaboration on revolutionary plans to bring change to Tír na nÓg. Jaromir did not desire to see elven culture destroyed, for he genuinely believed the Path is a true reflection of the elven soul, but he saw mankind as equal as well. He was becoming a rebel of the regime and the unfair treatment of humans and the non-magical. His zeal was so intense that soon he colaborated on a terrorist act, and alas, there were casualties. No longer safe in beloved Tír na nÓg, Jaromir set off to the Americas....

Ok, this turned out way longer than expected, but I think the core of all of this is I'm trying to play the "Dark Elf" trope on him, even within an elven society, and a misguided visionary, pro-human. What do you guys think? Also, which spirit mentor do you recommend? It's pretty amateur, so I'm appreciating all feedback, as I'm still familiarizing myself with the aaamazing lore.

[McGuffin]

Ask your GM if you're allowed to use Karma generation instead of BP based.
You obviously need the Magician quality. It costs 30 Karma already. There are lots of nice qualities but I'd say put all remaining Karma into Attributes (Willpower and Charisma are you most important attributes.), skills (forget about astral combat, get it later if you want it. Any problem in the astral your fists want to solve, manabolt will do better) and spells. Don't forget you need some money for basic stuff and contacts, too. If you're inclined to spend more Karma on qualities look at "Focused Concentration".

Flaws like "Wanted" and/or "Enemy" and "Criminal SIN" would fit very well to your character's background.
Ask your GM about how he handles the Tir. In earlier editions it was stated that followers of the Path have mandatory rituals. In extreme cases even further initiation might be hindered outside the Bard's circles.

Prepare to be hunted. Followers of the Path aren't usually let go without any attempt at re-education, forcing your character to a public and humiliating apology. And should that not work out, there is always a bullet to the head. After all, you're a pawn in their organisation and those are expected to move when told!
Keep in mind that he belongs to a influential semi-secret society of surpremacists who can't afford to have their internal affairs and secrets shown to the public. I expect that not every familiy is friendly with each other, so there is lots of potential for roleplay, since your character could be used and helped by those who would benefit if the bard's reputation would be tarnished. Your character may rant about beauty and soul, but in the end the families are about money and power.
And who knows? Maybe even while he tries to keep his head down in Manhatten, his enemies simply forge trideo material of him ranting about the decadence of the Bards and post it online - forcing  your character into action.
True to the dystopian setting, in the end your character will be forced to decide to die for his beliefs or maybe keep is freedom but let go off his ties to the motherland.

Your character was raised and socialised his whole life in the Tir. He grew up believing the talk about the natural surpremacy of elvenkind. I wouldn't change his entire attitude from one extreme (elven surpremacist) to the other (true humanitarian) without roleplaying.
Maybe his current idea of equality is still influenced and twisted by his former life: all races should be equal - but of course this can only happen when gently guided by a benevolent parent. And who should guide and guard those in need?
Humans? Surely not! They had centuries to try and destroyed the planet and their very souls.
Orcs? Ha! They're a violent bunch, full of hormonic induced aggression. Of course, it's not their fault. But still ... they can't decide for themselves. They're more like mayflies, afterall.
Trolls? They're brutes and incapable of coherent speech. Guidance demands subtlety, which escapes their clumsy fingers.
Dwarves? They have potential, if they ever overcome their natural inferiority complex.
That leaves only elves. Nature created a natural hierarchy of things. And beauty is the scale and compass to navigate. Elves are beautiful, they have the perspective of centuries and magic comes easy to them. Clearly, Gaia has shown who shall be her champions!

[Dobyk]

  Hi McGuffin! Thank you so much for the response!

  I will definitely ask my friend if I can do Karma-based PC generation. I was actually thinking of picking a handful of negative qualities just so I can get more positive ones, and yes, the Magician one is a must. Do you think "Nocturnal" might be a bit of an overkill for a Night One? I get the feeling the party might want to be a bit more active in daylight, so I'm scared that might be too many dice penalties.

   Actually before your response I downloaded the second edition Tír na nÓg sourcebook and I read a lot of it and damn - I think my concept might be a bit flightly at this point xD It really is a theocratic fascist regime, so penalties like Enemy and Wanted are deefinitely going to be chosen, because what is a pariah if he is not being chased? I actually read the Orders do take blood samples, so the threat is very real, which I would absolutely LOVE. I totally agree that the government/Order really can't afford to let any information slip into the wrong hands.

   After reading a bit more on the Paths and Orders, I actually decide to go with Path of the Druid, because it just sounds cooler and is a LOT more dangerous, because they really want to control their members. So my PC is basically put in foster care family in the West province. He looks so much unlike a normal elf that they think his nocturnal, weird being is best suited to the lore/magic order. He actually is going to become a proper Occult Investigator, his main specialty being supernatural phenomena and magic - the Doineann Draoidhell storm, the cairn lines, frenzied squirrels at midnight, everything creepy that is going on at night basically. Then he will slightly transition to magical counter-terrorism in the North Province, but I'm not sure exactly how he will get more friendly with the terrorists.

    My idea so far is that through his investigations/observation of phenomena, he actually acquaints with spirits that provide him with useful information, even on the mundane. Rare encounters with the Seelie and Unseelie court fae, spirits of departed elves who have witnessed the cruelty of the regime and everything inbetween. Basically, the first big shake on his brainwashed brain is through spirits, and his own mentor spirit, who plays a large role - a mystical and taciturn Owl, who also shows itself as a moon oracle woman and gives bits of info and leads. Then more discovery that his human father was a rebel and his elven mother was non-magical and raped and killed, then the terrorists.

Do you think this is legit? I'm just having a hard time figuring out how he will become even more involved with the terrorists, he needs to learn some nasty information on the Danaan and realize they are unworthy sh*tholes who don't even deserve to exist in Tír na nÓg.

   On the Paths - I actually first learned about the path system in Earthdawn's Name-giver compendium, and I was like "wow, they were able to "restore"the paths in Shadowrun as well!". We can make parallels like Warrior - Warrior, Traveler - Bard, Sage - Druid and Righ - Righ, with only the Steward Path left without a parallel. I think my character would be pretty insistent on his beliefs anyhow, but - with the small twist that he is more pro-human than probably 95% of the elves in Tír na nÓg. On the supremacy thing, I think you're right in that it's better to roleplay slow progression towards "humanism" than a drastic one, and it's more fun too! BUT, I think his views now, after exposing most of Danaan's corruption and fallacy, is that elves are superior, but pretty much only in things relating to magic-spirituality and nature. In terms of government and politics, even a long-lived and "wise" government just turns out to twist spiritual philosophies into fascism.

   So basically he thinks for the Paths to even survive and remain pure and good for elves, they need to be tied more to magic and be maximally removed from mundane life, except as "life philosophies". Reason being, the Danaan have screwed up so badly and are freaking manipulators, they don't deserve the beauty of Draesis ti Heron, let alone use it to subjugate. He will be prejudiced towards Orks and Trolls the most (so hopefully my friends will roleplay these so I can get more "tolerant"). So, in essence, magic and nature and awakening itself is elven responsibility, and it's natural that a land as mystic as Tír na nÓg would be elven. But Danaan are too corrupt to bring any "spirituality" to their brutal regime. That, and also the fact 98% of his elven acquaintances treat him with disdain or fear or reservation, thinking he is not "elf-proper". A hairy blue beast that looks more like a werecat than an elf is not exactly a good example of elven beauty and grace and wisdom.

So, what do you think? I want to keep him racist enough, but "redeemable", so that not every single encounter is like "go away human", but more like "stop playing with magic, human". Does this make sense? Also, he likes getting intimate with humans, fun times. Also, does the Red Branch want to eradicate the Wheel philosophy, or just return to good old Ireland?

Edit: What skills would you recommend for Occult Investigator? Sorry for the multitude of questions xD
   

[McGuffin]

I see you put a lot of effort and passion into your character concept. I'm very impressed. I do like your ideas about the path and think your choice regarding mentor spirit and druidic tradition sound pretty cool.

Most of your concept is dependant on how you define the Danaan families and their motivations and how the Tir in general is going to be in your shadowrun world. These things are typically going to be set by your GM, so at this point you should have a talk with him (or her) and explain what you love about this character and how his or her perception on the elven part of the world is. Find common ground and all will be good.

I'll do my best to answer your questions, or at least give you my opinion, but I'm far from a very good character optimizer (in terms of mechanics).

You determined that your character is gaining wisdom from spirits and his mentor spirit. Information about the mundane will be nebulous and vague, probably very cryptic. Also, Owl is very wise. She knows that people are better convinced and motivated if they discover ugly truths themselves. That could be the reason why your character came into contact with whomever you need to fit into your background and for future contacts - he simply followed up on the clues he gained about "foul minds at the heart of home" (as you see, I'm not a follower of Bard's way...). So, yeah - your idea sounds legit. This could be the first part of his development (he would prefer the word "path", I assume) - uncovering details and facts about the background to witness the complete and ugly truth. Second would be to do something about it.

This could also play very well with Initiation rituals. Either he gets more clues at the successful end by getting closer with Owl, or Owl grants the allowance to initiate for having successfully completed a step on his path.

For me this involvement with enemies of the state - aka terrorists - means that your character has probably already fallen out of grace with the Danaan families. You could still reason that he might be considered wanted and redeemable but only if he did not commit any serious acts. That's up to you. I'd say serious would be anything that reveals information about the inner workings of the Danaans, or details about the written codices. Simple acts of murder, can be overlooked.

So basically he thinks for the Paths to even survive and remain pure and good for elves, they need to be tied more to magic and be maximally removed from mundane life, except as "life philosophies".

This is a very nice idea for an idealistic character. But it also poses the most serious threat to the Danaan families, making your character a very wanted target in the long run. Consider their immense power, both mundane and magical. I'd suggest your character should stay hidden until he is really powerful and has equally powerful contacts. At that point your character can expect ritual sendings of nastiness, spirits and mundane assassins. If he ever goes public the Danaans won't have anything to loose and will go full throttle on him.

From what I read your game will start in Manhatten. So exile is the path your character has chosen for the time being.
Maybe he is still somewhat naivé regarding the mundane world, especially the criminal side. Since he knows that he needs more knowledge, he will have a good reason to not be too arrogant against his shadowrunner colleagues. He needs to learn how to navigate this slippery world.

Since arrogance and elves is quite the cliché, maybe he means to be friendly and complimenting, but he may be concieved as condescending. It's a special form of arrogance. He means well, but doesn't get it right.
Imagine a dog. You probably don't think it is equal to you, but still you can love it genuinely. Imagine now this beloved dog to do something utterly unexpected. Like opening the door or bringing your the phone when it rings. You will be stunned, amazed and proud. Simply because you never would have imagined it capable of doing such feats. Now, replace the word dog with orc and you know how your elf might react when he first spots an orc mage casting something powerful. This would also play well with your idea to interact with other races and be generally curious.
Maybe another way of depicting it would be to imitate the dysfunctional relationship between a guy and his gal, where he doesn't take her serious and treats her "sure, sure, honey, now off you go and let daddy take care of business". He just acts the same way around many humans - at least until they have shown him the error of his ways.


Now, a few more concrete suggestions for the actual character build.

Connections:
Everyone needs a fixer. Let his fixer be located in the UCAS. Maybe Manhatten, wherever your campaign will be set. This contact can be affiliated with the terrorists, like the former IRA.
Let him have a simple contact in the Tir, whose specialty would work via phone. Be it information or fluff (like a relative or a intimate friend).
Apart from that a Talismonger is very important. He will get you any magical items you need.
Since your character is going to be fraternizing with spirits, why not letting him have a free spirit connection? Something that can give unique insights into magical threats or exotic aspects. If your GM likes these ideas, it could be a nice source for clues that come in riddles.

Knowledge Skills:
He needs Eirean-Sperethiel and English, obviously.
Magical Theory and Magical Threats. I'd skip Magical Traditions, because the probably never learned much about the "lesser Art" anyway.
Everything else is optional. If you want to maximise his mundane naiveté, skip knowledge skills that is good for underworld and shadowrunning stuff.
Old languages, like Latin or Aramaic seem like a natural fit, but they won't be very useful for most of the time, so don't waste too many points.

Active Skills (in order of importance, in my opinion):
Spellcasting, Summoning, Binding, Counterspelling, Perception, Assensing, Infiltration, Shadowing

To save Karma in the beginning, I'd suggest you don't take Astral Combat. Take it later if you want to use your astral fists. If you need to fight in the netherworlds use a manabolt.
Ritual Spellcasting. In most games I've played in, this skill was used - zero times by players. Most put in 1-2 points sometime during their career for plausibility. I'd suggest you do the same.

Put at least 1 point into the Athletics group. I really don't feel comfortable if my characters aren't able to run or swim. Your physical attributes will most likely suck and defaulting a skill can be harsh if you plan on climbing or swimming.

With you natural charisma and your concept the influence group would synergise well. Take only 1 point if your group already has the Face part covered.

Mundane weapons can be quite handy. I'm not sure how you see this area. Your character can do fine without any mundane means, but I would advise to take a few points in at least one skill. Pistols are easy to conceal, cheap to buy and often legal to carry.

Pilot Groundcraft. It is not needed, most cars will drive by autopilot just fine. You don't even need the skill for basic maneuvering in the city.
Despite that, I feel more comfortable having the option, however slim the chance of success may be in case of danger, and often put 1-3 points into this skill.

Spells:
My all time favourites are Levitate (you can fly or move stuff, super awesome), Trideo Phantasm (your imagination is the limit for its usefulness) and Influence ("These aren't the droids you're looking for..."). Improved Invisibility is also very useful and a damaging spell that can be used astral and mundane: Stunbolt or Manabolt. Always keep in mind that your spirits can cause as much or greater destruction, so you don't really need too many combat spells.
Just read the spell's section in the core rules and street magic and pick what you like. You can take more later on for a minor Karma expenditure.

Attributes:
Willpower, Charisma are your most important stats (apart from Magic, obviously).
Intuition comes next.
Strength is the least important stat for you. I'd take 2 and keep it there. If you want to move something, either use Levitate or Influence someone stronger.


Hope that helps,
Cheers

[Dobyk]

McGuffin, you are awesome. Thanks for the help, man! And I'm glad you like the concepts I was so worried I would seem like a noob on the forums because I'm quite new to the setting. Every single character I've approached in roleplay, from my 40K Adepts and Psykers to my DnD heroes to my Vampire characters, I always try to create a story which I can relate to emotionally, but also make it fit right into the world and as plausible as possible. Idealistic characters in particular are so enthralling, because they usually end up being wrong about the world and they either crack or stay true to their beliefs. I especially like what you said about the well-meaning, "unintentional" racism and I think this would be a good roleplay attitude - inappropriate, but naive and curious. I am especially thankful for the skill heads-up, that was really helpful! And just generally on good ideas for the backstory overall.

Thanks so much for the response

~Dobyk

[McGuffin]

You are very welcome! I really hope your character has a very long life in the shadows and manages to shake up the crusted Danaan clans.
Maybe you'll consider writing about the dramatic moments of his career. Idealists make the best heroes - even in Dystopia - afterall 

Good Luck!

[Dobyk]

Hello everyone,

   I've been working on fleshing out my Night One with some proper character creation and application of the concepts I developed in the previous posts. I would find it really helpful if anyone interested in helping out and giving a critique can just look at the developed character and comment, especially in terms of how well the karma is spent, useful vs useless skills, spell choices etc. I would really appreciate any help that may be offered in number crunching! I've used the 4th edition Karma creation system, with 750 karma  to work with. So here we go! :

Character Name: Fáelán O'Byrne [Fey-lahn]
Gender: Male
Age: 27
Concept: Tír na nÓg pariah; Occult investigator
Metatype: Night One metavariant (Elf)- low-light vision, nocturnal, allergy (mild, sunlight), keen hearing;
Place of Origin: Tír na nÓg
Personality and quirks: weird, polite, outsider, nerdy, curious, naive, gay, "unintentional" racist, spirit-friendly, contemplative, kinky, idealistic, stubborn, averse to cyberware and bioware, freedom-loving

Short bio: Faelan is born to an elven, mundane mother and an Irish, human terrorist. Because of his magical ability he is given to foster care to a family in the West province of Connaught, the province of crazy magical shit happening all the time, and drunk people. Because of his bestial-like appearance and nocturnal lifestyle, he is often derided, feared and ridiculed as not being "elf proper". The majority of elves look down on him and expect him to prove his elvenness, and the majority of humans view him as a shifter or a changeling, but not an elf. He is walking the Path of the Druid and is part of the Order of Ogma, based in the West province. Faelan is very eager to prove how elven he is and how ambitious he can be. His University experience is very successful, he specializes in magical knowledge, languages and history. Then, because of his nocturnal life, he is ordered to investigate supernatural phenomena at night, like the Cairn lines or slighe roads, spirits, critters, magical storms, druid cults, and to evaluate how these can be dangerous to Tír na nÓg security. Basically, he is built around investigation and magical defense. He views spirits as equals, not to be worshipped or dominated, but respected cautiously. Although in time he becomes a bit too friendly with spirits and supernatural critters. His mentor spirit is particularly important, as she gives him vague messages about mundane events, which leads him to discover a lot of information on the Danaan families, including monopoly control, cartels, assasinations of rebels, laundered money, censorship, corruption and the like. After a while he is involved in magical counter-terrorism, but ends up joining the rebels in the North province. Shit goes down, many people die, he is forced to run away, his super-cool adept samurai Warrior boyfriend is tortured and killed, etc. Now in UCAS, isolated and mistrusted.

Qualities

Positive: Magician (- 30 karma), Mentor Spirit - Owl description + Moon Maiden bonuses, + 2 dice to Negotiation tests and Illusion spells, -1 die to Combat spells (- 10), Analytical Mind (- 10), Bilingual - English and Eirean-Sperethiel (- 10), College Education (- 10)
Other options: Linguist? Perceptive? Astral chameleon?? Speed reading?

Negative: Enemy - Danaan families (+ 40 karma), Wanted (+ 20), SINner - Tír na nÓg national (+ 10)(is that necessary?);
With GM approval -  additional: Prejudiced (Orks and Trolls), closeted racist
Other options: Big regret? Gremlin??

On the Mentor Spirit: Plays a large role for Faelan, usually providing clues and cryptic advice, often on the mundane. She appears as a snowy owl with large black eyes most of the time, but on full moons might be perceived as a beautiful Moon Goddess - draped in nebulous, transparent white robes and silver decorations, think Daeneris Targaryen in appearance. She appears as a goddess of oracles, dreams and mysticism. Mystical, taciturn, witty, benevolent, but with a concealed agenda, she is a Guidance Spirit who likes to direct through cryptic messages and "hunches", for she believes truth is best discovered individually. Her "secret" name is Lileath and provides not only clues, but sometimes emotional comfort as well. In magical training, she does take a more active role. Can be contacted in dreams and deep meditation, although she might provide intuitive "bursts" or "hunches" in more dire situations.

70 karma spent, 70 karma earned, no change.

Attributes:

Body:       Agility:      Strength:    Reaction:
    4              4                 3                  4

Charisma:     Intuition:    Logic:    Willpower:
     5                    5              4               5

Initiative:      Magic:    Edge:    Essence:
     9                  6            4             6

Karma spent on attributes: 318 karma

SKILLS:

*Spellcasting : Rank 5  Specialization??
*Counterspelling: Rank 4
*Ritual Casting: Rank 0
*Summoning: Rank 5
*Binding: Rank 3
*Banishing: Rank 2
*Assensing: Rank 3
*Arcana: Rank 0
*Infiltration:  Rank 3
*Shadowing: Rank 2
*Perception: Rank 4
*Computers: Rank 1
*Data search: Rank 1
*First Aid: Rank 1
*Pilot Groundcraft: Rank 0
*Influence Group: Rank 3
*Athletics Group: Rank 1
*Tracking: Rank 2

Knowledge skills:


History: Rank 2, Specialization (Ancient)
Magical Theory: Rank 4;
Magical Phenomenon: Rank 4;
Magical Traditions: Rank 1
Parazoology: Rank 3, Specialization: Sapient critters
Counter Terrorism: Rank 3
Magical Threats: Rank 3
Tír na nÓg Politics: Rank 4; Specialization: Danaan secrets;

Languages:

English: N
Eirean-Sperethiel: N
Latin: Rank 2
Ancient Hebrew: Rank 2

Karma spent on skills: 354

*Note: I think I have spent too much karma just to acquire some skills at rating 0, which may be a waste of karma. Although Faelan is a mage, I deliberately kept his Binding up to 3 instead of 4 or 5, because he is averse to binding spirits - he thinks its torture and enslavement. I also kept Assensing slightly lower, because he is not that proficient with it, yet. I assumed that if I have Irish Sperethiel I would most likely understand Sperethiel as if it was native, similarly to how British and American English speakers can understand each other (I hope). And finally, I don't know if I have too many knowledge skills. Some of them might be better off being put together maybe? Like magical phenomenon and magical threats? I consider these to be a mix of academics and first-hand experience. And yes, he knows about sapient critters - he has met plenty. The only odd one out is the Tír na nÓg politics, but it's the main reason for him running away to UCAS.

Also, I wanted to specialize in Negotiation - Diplomacy and Etiquette - Spirits and critters, but I can't break the skill group. I think influence skill group is good to improve together, because they are so useful and so varied. I think I'll have to break them to increase Negotiation and Etiquette, though, and become a secondary Face/Negotiator. Is that a good idea?

Contacts

* IRA-affiliated Fixer: Loyalty 3, Contacts 4. Used for gear finding, coordination with the larger anti-Tír na nÓg group.
* Talismonger: Loyalty 2, Contacts 3. Elven hermetic mage, artifact collector, also provides magical knowledge for favors
* Tír na nÓg friend: Loyalty 3, contact 2. Just a fluff contact for what is going on in Tír na nÓg.
OR
* Free Spirit: Loyalty 3, contact 2. Another fluff and clue contact, for supernatural phenomenon and astral stuff. The Giggling Fox, a free anima with an unusual interest in metahuman affairs.

Karma spent: 36

Money: 5 karma for 12,500 nuyen

Gear: Colt America light pistol (fake license), Commlink (Meta Link with Vector Xim system), datachips, Fake SIN (rating 2), Datasoft (rating 3, books and literature), sim chip, glasses with Image link, Wall space AR (celtic wallpapers and Tír na nÓg pastoral landscapes), Force 5 magical lodge (books on the Path of the Druid, ritual dagger, a collection of stones and gems with celtic knots and Sperethiel engravings, a small ritual cauldron), 2 months low lifestyle.

Spells - 7 spells, 35 karma total

*Manaball
*Stunbolt
*Heal
*Improved Invisibility
*Trid Phantasm
*Levitate
*Analyze Truth


So, this is it. Sorry that it is a bit long, but it's all the info and stats. I would really love to hear opinions on any of the sections - what is redundant, what could be better, what makes sense, what is over or underpowered. And which other spells would you recommend??Do I need foci? I'm worried that I might be trying to create a character that should be good at too many things, like being a face and magical support, AND investigator at the same time. The way I see it, I want to be good specifically with interactions with mages and magical stuff, but I don't want to be over-specialized either. But I guess this is the kind of character I created xD Despite his magical knowledge, he has a very strong political agenda and wants to see Tír na nÓg reformed and re-imagined, while still keeping in tact his tradition.

So, what do you think?

[McGuffin]

Hey Dobyk,


Nice to see your character fleshed out.

After re-reading your posts there are two minor things that I noticed in the background . Nothing serious at all.
The first one (founded on your very first post. If you haven't changed the part about the poisoned mother) is that Faelan shouldn't have been born, according to a certain family, but why should they take the child into foster care and afterwards allow him to get a formal (and costly) education and also allow him to walk the Paths?
It may be thematically a better fit for Faelan to have grown up in a real foster home (with lots of difficult kids and less than caring staff) and having had (oh my god, now I'm surfing the english tenses) a very difficult rise to adolescence. Maybe the shady connections of his father helped to disappear the child. Since he probably blames his usual enemies for the death of his love, he might see a childhood in a foster home a very good thing:  It will be an essential lesson into learning to hate and fight, the foundation for a true Freedom Fighter. That might give his father an agenda, that might reach well into the running episodes.
He would have been on the opposition his whole life - true to a rebel. Not formally applying for university, but sneaking in under false pretense. Then, before graduation, he was discovered and kicked out.

The second, and again minor, issue is with his dissertation. Faelan has not a very high logic attribute and his academic knowledge skills are not very high either. I'm sure there are no Danaan secrets in universitarian libraries. And the "public" knowledge about the philosophy of the Wheel could be percieved by Faelan simply by living in that society, reading about other country's cultures and of course, communing with Owl.

These are minor things, that might achieve one thing: It saves karma, since Faeland doesn't need the College Education quality anymore. Keep in mind, apart from the rules mechanic, this quality only is meant for the academic degree (bachelor or master). The extent of his knowledge is determined by his skills. It takes nothing away from Faelan. He could still be brilliant and educated if you want him to be.


I've played around with Chummer and noticed a few things about Faelan's stats.

1. Qualities. He has too many of them just for fluff reasons.
Analytical Mind reads very nice, but has only benefitted hackers in my gaming experience. Regular clue hunting and puzzle solving had to be achieved by the players, while difficult data searched were done either by agents of hackers. It would help if Faelan often searches for clues in old tomes, but how often will that happen? Not enough to justify 10 Karma, I think.
I'd also suggest you drop College Education (see above for possible explanations). I agree, better knowledge skills are a good fit for the concept. But still, knowledge skills are relatively cheap to raise later on. From all the academic skills, Faelan will roll most often on magical theory and rarely on magical threats. That is just two skills. Not enough to justify 10 Karma.


2. Negative Qualities. 70 Karma from negative qualities is your limit.
40 Karma for Enemies in combination with Wanted and a valid SIN would kill your character pretty soon. Think Osama bin Laden if you want to imagine the amount of pressure a government or very influencal political group (like the Danaan families) can create. They have vast magical resources at their disposal and thanks to the SIN all they need to track and destroy Faelan is already at their disposal.
Here is my suggestion: Enemy for 10 Karma (3/2. Just one individual from one Danaan family. He or she keeps the pressure going. It also puts a face on the enemy.)
Wanted - thanks to his enemy he has a bounty on his head is been actively hunted. 20 Karma.
Distinctive Style 1. You've described Faelan as bestial like. 20 Karma I think this neg. quality might fit him well. It also does not help with astral and matrix searches, and thus reduces the global threat for him.
Prejudiced - Biased, Common: Troggs - meaning: Orcs and Trolls. Self-explanatory, I mean: just look at them! He is smart enough to keep his mouth shut, but his mouth will sour everytime he sees or smells on of these creatures.
= 70 Karma in total.

Whatever you decide, stay away from Gremlins. It's either useless (meaning no flaw ingame and thus pointless) or could kill your character pretty easily. A wanted, hunted person does not want to stick out of the crowd. Imagine a routine police check and Faelan is unable to use his commlink to send out his (fake) SIN. If he's lucky they beat him up. Otherwise he gets arrested and is now in the system. A system that might send an alert to his enemies. Or the cops might be interested in cashing in the bounty.

3. Attributes. You're allowed to spend a max. of 435 Karma on attributes (according to Chummer). You have spent more than this amount.
Do you guys use a special house rule? I know that Chummer has one where special Attributes (Edge and Magic) don't count toward this limit.
If that is not the case, and if I didn't make any mistake, you have overspent. This is the sad part of creation where any cool concept hits reality, where we all realise that our characters can't be all pretty, tough and smart.

You most important stats - in order of importance - are (my recommended rank in parenthesis) : Magic(5), Willpower(5), Charisma(7), Intuition(5), Edge(2), Reaction(3), Body(3), Agility(3), Logic(3), Strength(2).
I realise some of these suggestions might seem drastic. But keep in mind that Faelan is first and foremost a magician. Spellcasting and conjuring is is bread and butter ability and he needs to do it well. That is why everything else has to suffer so he can cast good and resist drain even better. It doesn't really matter if he has agility 4 or 3. He will suck at shooting and always be an average athlete at best.
If it really matters, like his life depends on it, he shouldn't trust his physical abilities either way and use his magic: levitate instead of climbing and movement, or spirit powers like movement (works also on cars).


4. Skills.
Drop Banishing. At rank 2 it is useless. Just use a combat spell instead.
Drop First Aid. Again, at rank 1 it is useless. Using first aid to heal will prevent that character from recieving better care. And you're limited to 1 success.
You have two better options for healing: The spell and medkits.
Drop Tracking. Following mystical clues should involve reading, sifting through data and looking into the astra. None will use the tracking skill. If playing trapper joe is
not essential for your concept from the beginning, I would save these points.
Drop Computer and Data Search. Every point costs 4 Karma, meaning you put 8 Karma here for fluff skills. If you spend 4 Karma into money you can buy a rating 4 agent,
who will search through any kind of data much better than you will (and he doesn't sleep). Faelan is a child of 2040+ afterall, computers will be everywhere. Just imagine the agent to be a digital spirit and have it coded to appear as your mentor spirit.

If you have the points left, specialise spellcasting and pick Illusions since that is your mentor spirits bonus.

I like that you don't have any points in mundane weapons. Keep in mind that there will be times and places when casting spells will be impossible (background count, astral patrols). If you're okay with having not much to do in those times keep it that way. Otherwise, I'd put at least one point into pistols.

I don't think magical phenonmena is a valid knowledge skill. The topic should be covered by magical theory and - threats. So drop it, I suggest.
I also don't see much use for rank 1 in magical traditions. If you need to know about very exotic traditions your dice roll will probably fail anyway. So,
either search the matrix, ask contacts or your mentor spirit instead - and save two karma by dropping the skill.

Also, I'd suggest to switch ancient hebrew with gaelic. Faelan was raised in former ireland afterall, and I'm pretty sure that language is still popular. Especially with rebellious natures.

Your ideas for influence specialisations are best done during his career. It will only cost 2 karma and can be done after the first run.


5. Contacts.
I like your contacts. They're pretty solid considering a magician's need for karma. Keep in mind that low loyality ratings make excellent leverage points for your GM to play the wanted card (your character has a bounty on his head). But there is nothing to be done about it. Just be paranoid
I prefer the Free Spirit contact, just because it's thematically fitting and brings something special to the play.


6. Gear.
This whole section I consider optional. A rating 2 SIN is pretty useless. Faelan can only use it to enter public transportations, check into low-sec motels and so forth. Anything crucial, like a security check by the police has a very high chance of burning it. Buy a rating 4-6 SIN with your first earned money.
Since licenses are bound to SINs (that's how my GM played it), I'd drop the fake pistol license. Just don't get searched.
Buy only 1 month of lifestyle. You don't get a discount and you don't know where your game will take your team. Later in game Faelan will probably need a second lifestyle where his magical stuff will happen.
Buy a disposable commlink. Faelan is wanted, has enemies and going to become a career criminal (aka shadowrunner). Surveillance is everywhere and his knowledge about this topic is zero. Use this commlink for a single run, then destroy it. Make it a permanent cost for every run and give out the number to people he won't meet again, like a Johnson or a temporary contact.
Get a micro transciever rating 6. It's basically a miniature walkie-talkie with a subvokal microphone. This is the usual way runners communicate with each other over short distance while on the job.
The Colt America is an inferior choice. Take a Fichetti Security 600 instead. It has one recoil for zero recoil if you fire two times, nearly thrice the ammo capacity and with the laser sight provides +1 dice for your attack roll. Get a concealed holster for it and buy some ammunition.
Faelan also needs armor. I suggest a form fitting shirt in combination with an actioneer business suit for movement in places with high security or more formal occasions. For the scum flavoured enviroment runners usually live in, I recommend the classical lined coat (it also provides -2 concealment for you gun).

Having earned some money, Faelan might want to upgrade his armor with mods like nonconductivity. Just because tasers are a bitch!


7. Spells.
You can have 10 spells maximum (2x spellcasting skill). I strongly recommend to take any saved karma and take three more spells. Aside from social interaction, Faelan sucks at pretty every other mundane task. He can talk and cast. More spells means more options for him to be useful. Shave off more karma from knowledge skills and gear if needed.

Here are your choices sorted by school: Combat (2), Illusion (2), Health (1), Detection (1), Manipulation (1).
Since his mentor spirit gives a penalty to combat spells, why does Faelan need two? Manaball isn't worth it in my opinion. If you want to kill many foes, let your mundane helpers throw in some grenades. Faelan is not a broadsword or a crude club, but a scalpell. Elegance and precision should reflect his choice of spells.
For starters, I'd suggest to drop Manaball and just stick with Stunbolt or Manabolt. Later on there he could take a specialised spell for fighting spirits, slaying lesser races (orcs) and something elemental for drones and vehicles. But that is for much later in his career.

Read up the option to make spells limited. In gives you another means to better resist drain.

You would have 4 more spells to take (if you have enough karma, at this point, I lost track).
Here are my suggestions:
1. Stench. Great area effect with the option to take out enemies with one stroke. And it's an illusion. Alternative: Silence. Also an illusion and pretty self-explanatory.
2. Influence. Your lack of SIN and other things won't matter that much. Alternative: Control Thoughts. Take over one enemy and let him shoot his buddies. Given the right circumstance
this can be a quite effective spell, dropping or binding several hostiles at once. And it's not a combat spell.
casually walk over to his buddies.
3. Manabarrier. This is a useful defense against spells. It works both in the astral and the physical realm. Also two overlooked abilties: It obscures line of sight in the astral realm and it can be used to trap astral and dual natured creatures. So cast in on yourself and astral creatures won't be able to see you well (penalty = force of barrier for assensing and spellcasting). The caster can see clearly through his own barrier. Or entrap a creature who needs to destroy the barrier to move or flee. Regular Spirits for example only have physical ranged attacks. They can only use them while manifested. In the astral they would need to hit the barrier first (wasting actions doing so).
If you're not afraid of drain take a look at the Offensive Mana Barrier. Everytime someone hits your barrier you can say: stop hitting yourself. Make this one limited.
4. Increase Reflexes. Sadly, this spell is a must-have for casters. Not only are combat passes incredible important, but  also it fights personal boredom. In my experience everyone has at least two combat passes per round. Drugs are everywhere. In a typical fight you can only act once while all others act 2-4 times. A combat turn with 4 passes can take a long time, since all involved must make their moves. This can get pretty boring for the one player who only has one pass. I tried it once without this spell and cannot recommend doing it. This spell is also an excellent candidate for a sustaining focus.

If for some reason there is karma left, try to grab a sustaining focus for increase reflexes. If it's not enough, put the other points into skills or buy
services for a bound spirit.
 
Sorry for the wall of text :=)

[Dobyk]

Heey McGuffin, thank you so much for taking the time to read all of my ramble!!!! I really appreciate the help, you're the only one who pays attention to my hairy elf on the forums xD

I really love your feedback, it's very detailed and offers good advice, so I'll try to respond to it in sections, because there's a lot to cover. I just want to clarify some of my design decisions and ask just one or two more questions, if you don't mind xD I really, really appreciate your attention, it's so nice for a noob to have someone help him out with these type of stuff, since my GM friend is unavailable and I want to give him my best shot.

Character Story

   Ok, so in the first few points about Faelan's character's background - I actually decided to basically ignore my first post and its story xD What I should have clarified is that Faelan doesn't learn about his parents until he joins the rebels, which is much later on. Basically, he gets to know people who knew his father very well, who were his best friends. In the same vein, he learns who his mother was, a mundane Seeker on the Bard path, an elven woman of beauty and grace and gentleness, who falls in love with the wrong guy. Basically, the "new" story is that after Faelan is born, his mother is very weak and ill, and threatened by some elves for her association with the terrorists. Things go the wrong way and he is given in a foster home. There he has a rather tough time growing up, until he is noticed to possess a strong magical ability - at which point a very rigid and stern family adopts him, and he is "promised" to the Order of Ogma in the West province.

  I really like your ideas about a character who is a rebel from the beginning, but with Faelan I want to exemplify a character who is so indoctrinated by the system, that it takes him a couple of years interacting with Spirits, magic, clues, for him to finally say "fuck that" and to an extent free himself from the influence. A character who has lived in the shadows since day one would have a hard time even believing in the Path of the Wheel, let alone be initiated into the Order (they are very strict on new initiates). Now, the Danaan families who control the West are linked to the Order of Ogma and fund it, so if he is a promising elven mage we can make a case for him to "rise up" and be given an opportunity to prove himself. This is his main motivation to ignore the majority of jokes and taunts by his peers about his appearance, and really give his best to prove his skill and his elvenness. In a way, I want him to be a good boy while growing up, learning to be patient and bide his time when he will shine. He goes to University eventually and is very successful, but doesn't write a dissertation on the Danaan. He just studies history, law and above all - magic (which he also learns in the Order). When they see his skills, then they decide to make him a magical defense specialist. Since Tír na nÓg is quite dangerous at night, with all manner of supernatural stuff happening, and Faelan is nocturnal in nature, he seems to be a perfect fit.

  It is at this point that he becomes closer to Owl. He leaves university (having finished a Masters degree) at 22, and then until he is 26 or 27 he basically works as a magical defense specialist and investigator. It is in this period that he slowly begins to accummulate more "accurate" knowledge about the world, he meets with Spirits, members of the Seelie and Unseelie court, sapient critters, human druids, ghosts of elves and humans, and he receives a lot of guidance from Owl. He observes phenomena and writes down strategies to best defend against them, but at the same time he ends up learning clues about the real world. In the end, the Order of Ogma decides to send him in the North to investigate how to best counter the terrorists' magical attacks. At this point all the clues he has been receiving start making sense, he meets with some rebels who knew his father, he learns a lot about himself and his family, and realizes that he doesn't need to prove anything to anyone - he knows who he is, what he is capable of, and what he believes in. When he gets more in-depth info on the Danaan families, he actually gets angry and disgusted with the whole social system of Tír na nÓg and how the Wheel is used to control it. He still believes in his magical tradition, and instead focuses his anger on the Danaan families. A lot of his outlook on life changes, but not all of it. You can take the elf from Tír na nÓg, but you can't take Tír na nÓg out of the elf.

  In the end he ends up helping the terrorists, hoping that they have a plan to establish a new social order, while keeping the Wheel and modifying it a bit. Things go wrong, however, many people die, his order finds out about his involvement and the Danaan families in the West get very angry. So he flees. I don't want him to be a rebel from day one, because I want him to realize the painful truth that all this ambition to impress others and to prove how good he is and how elven he is was all for nothing, that it was a wrong approach. Because of his education and desire to impress, he speaks in a posh, elaborate way, being hyper-polite and all, but now he is more direct and ready to defend his personal desires. It's like, good boy gone "bad" sort of thing.

Qualities

With your comment on Analytical mind, I can see how it might not be as useful as I thought it would be. And I thought I would be the main clue-hunter besides the hacker xD  So in that regard I can go away with that quality. As for College Education, I don't even think that I need to prove my character is super-educated with 10 karma. Although I love the fluff of it, I can understand why you would not like it as much. Maybe I can compensate the lack of this quality with raising my knowledges higher. What do you think about Astral Chameleon and Linguist then? Or Photographic memory? Or maybe something related to spirits or magic?

Negative Qualities

I understand how such a hight value on Enemy can kill me very, very soon xD. But even if I choose just one Danaan family (based in Faelan's home province), who is charged with "dealing" with their own failure, I still think the maximum I can reduce it to is 20 karma. I used the special tables for calculating, in BP, what is the overall rating of the enemy. Even if it is only one family, they are still powerful, so I can't see it reduced to lower than 10 BP (which is still pretty low), or 20 karma. So 20 karma on Enemy and 20 on Wanted, we have 30 karma left for negatives. Technically, since Faelan was part of the Order of Ogma and worked for it, he is a Tir national. So SINner does make sense, and increases the sense of paranoia. What else would you recommend? We can add in the Troggs Prejudice as well. As for Distinctive Style, what I meant by "beast-like" is just that because he is an elf metavariant, he just looks more like an animal. He automatically gets Unusual Hair(Fur) as a negative quality simply for being a Night One - short, violet-blue fur covering his whole body. Tir elves probably are aware of this metavariant, as it is most seen in Europe, although purists might see it as a genetic corruption. Humans might view it more like a Changeling or Shifter. In any case, it just looks weird compared to "normal" elves, and hence why people talk to him as if he is a beast. So distincitve style wouldn't add much to that, because he already looks naturally like an elven yeti. Slender and fragile build, but hair all over, weird combination. Other suggestions for negative qualities that might suit?

Attributes

I actually spent 318 karma on attributes! I was trying to be really careful not to spend too much on attributes, because I wanted to get skills as well. As a Night Elf, I can spend a maximum of 445 karma on attributes, so I think I'm within the limits. Half of 750 + 35x2. As for the attribute allocation, I feel slightly uncomfortable with Charisma being higher than my Magic xD I know it's important for Drain, but still, Faelan is still not that charismatic. He is memorable and leaves an impression when he talks to people, and he can sweet-talk to them, but I wouldn't say he is that good yet. How about Magic 6 and Charisma 6? Leaves room for improvement as well for Charisma. As for your other recommendations, I can live with Strength at 2, but I will need Logic at rank 4 at least. Is edge useful in higher numbers? Maybe at least 3 edge? And 4 Agility, just so he can shoot something successfully xD But the rest, I agree that 3 is pretty average for physical, and it fits Faelan. Do pistols use reaction or agility? But overall, the only stat I'm comfortable with maxing out is Magic, it just feels weird to be more charismatic than magical in his case xD I dunno, maybe you're right but it just doesn't feel as good for him in the beginning. Maxing charisma early in the adventure, however, is totally an option, no?

Skills

Yup, I think I can safely drop banishing, first aid and even tracking. What about Arcana or Enchanting? Are these useful skills to get points into? I got Arcana rank 0 simply to show he has some knowledge of formulae, but I don't know how useful this will be. The reason I put in Computers and Data search is just because he likes to browse the Matrix for info on magical traditions, spells, to connect with other mages etc. Now that he is out of the Tir, he can freely roam and get more accurate knowledge of the world around him. Or maybe he can do that without even rolling for these skills? Ideally, I want him to learn exotic, ancient lore from NPCs through quests (oh, how much I want to meet Ehran the Scribe) and the like. Plus I can use his magical contact for getting rarer info, so I think I can live without computers, as long as I don't look like an idiot who can't use technology xD What do agents do? I didn't see this option, maybe I overlooked it. Is it useful??

I was actually blanning or getting rank 2 or 3 at pistols, and maaybe blades or clubs. Hehe, beating people with decorated staves, how fun! I just don't know whether to stick with pistols, or go with pistols + clubs or blades.

I agree on your comment on knowledge skills. It's just that from several sample characters in the books I saw things like "Magical Background", "Magical Threats" and "Magical Phenomenon", which all seemed awfully synonymous to me. Ideally I just want to lump them together into theory and threats, to keep it clean. I consider rank 4 to be the maximum for knowledge skills, because the maximum can be two skills at 5 and the rest at 4 or lower, right? Or that doesn't apply to knowledge? Do you think the parazoology thing is useful? Maybe I can just make it "Sapient Critters" and keep it without specializing.

If I have 0 at Magical Traditions, will I still know the most popular ones, worldwide? Ideally, I would like Faelan to "rethink" his vision of the Wheel and to basically compare it to other religions and traditions, and thus figure out how to "make it better". Something like "Well, Qabalah is similar, but they don't spend their whole lives on one path. How about we allow mages to change Paths back home?" sort of thing. Just fluff, roleplay stuff really. If I can do it without paying karma for it, I would be happy xD

I will definitely pick Irish Gaelic, yes. Although he still will be fluent in Sperethiel. And do you think that Influence Group at rank 3 is enough? Maybe I should go for 4, but that might be overkill. Ideally, I just want Etiquette and Negotiation, since I also got bonus dice for negotiation as well, hehe. Yes, I will specialize after I gather some karma in-game.

And lastly, what is a good rank  for Perception, Assensing, Shadowrunning and Infiltration? The way I see it, it should be Perception > Assensing > Infiltration > Shadowrunning, so I think I'll keep them at 4s for Perception and Infiltration and 3s for Assensing and Shadowrunning, since you recommended earlier that Assensing could be a skill he still is developing. Thats why I kept Binding at 3, because you suggested he might not look kindly to binding spirits. But would it beuseful at 3? Maybe I can upgrade it later, or get it at 4.

Also, is it worth getting some "fluff" knowledges under interests and hobbies? Just to flesh out a character?

Contacts

Glad to hear you like the contacts. I tried to keep it as simple as possible, because a lot of contacts end up costing a lot of karma. I just tried to make them more functional, being able to perform more than one service. So the hermetic mage really is a rogue in hiding, and for the right payment and maybe an intellectual conversation over some elven wine, he can give you the right materials, or books. The fixer really is affiliated with the larger IRA-initiative, a collection of groups, exiled from Tír na nÓg. So he can provide coordinated info as well as goods, and might require Faelan to prove his loyalty. And of course the giggling fox... oh, I love the giggling fox.... She used to be a Shinto Kitsune bound spirit, but now she is free... and she loves it. She is witty, sarcastic, a bit crazy, a bit slutty, and loves to toy with people.

Gear

Maybe I should spent a bit more karma, so I can more safely buy stuff. I agree with you on the fake SIN part. He will just have to lie low and be patient, sneaking around. And I'll drop the licence for the gun. How much do disposable commlinks cost? I bought the cheapest commlink with the cheapest program, so I don't know if I can get any lower than that?

The micro transcriever is a good call, will look into it, I was wondering where the walkie-talkie option is! I will try to get the more expensive gun you recommended, but what is a holster? Do I need the concealer?

I understand that the game might change, but other characters I've seen get a lifestyle of 2 to 4 months in advance, so I'm a bit scared. His lodge will be a part of his home anyway. Also, do I really need a high-force Magical Lodge? I made it Force 5, but I can drop it a bit to save money.

And lastly, do you recommend I buy both armor options you mentioned, or just one of the two? They sound expensive, I haven't looked up the price.

Spells

I will try to get 10 spells at least, even if my magic is 6. 12 is a bit of an overkill, but 10 might be managaeble, although it's a whole 50 karma as well. I will get only 1 combat spell then, for now, if you recommend. I'll try for at least 2 or 3 illusion spells and some manipulation ones, and it's good you gave me heads up to the reflex spell! This is exactly what I needed to know - what actually works and is useful in the game vs what is  just fluff but is ineffective. Influence sounds cool as well. Which Illusion spells do you recommend, apart from stench?

I'll try to play around with this Chummer software you mentioned, maybe it will make my life easier xD I spent so much time calculating numebers again, and again, and again.... oh God, it's good to know someone has a solution!

McGuffin, thanks A LOT for the detailed and informative posts! I am so, so grateful for the help. I really hate to enter a game without a well-distributed character. Not that I want to min-max, but some mechanics are simply better, and only experienced players know the difference   Thanks again!

Edit: Yup, you're right about the Karma spent on attributes, I just started using Chummer. God, is it hard to make a character. Now I'm divided between Logic 3 and Edge 3 vs Logic 4 and Edge 2

[McGuffin]

Hi Dobyk,

The others here are probably scared by our enormous walls of text

Thanks for sharing your revised background. I always like to read those (and shamelessly steal any good ideas that inspire me).
Anyway, I think storywise you're good to go.


Qualities
The only reason that I suggested to drop so many qualities was because I'm convinced you need all karma for the rest of the generation.
If you happen to have karma left (but does that ever happen?) you can of course pick something for fluff reasons. Spirit Affinity might be a good fit for your concept. A very strong quality for any magician is Focused Concentration. It gives you extra dice for drain tests.


Negative Qualities
Distinctive Style is not about adding something new to how your character looks. It's a reflexion of the fact that he looks strange, different
and memorable (which is not a good thing in the shadows, hence a negative quality). So because he looks the way you described him, I thought that it might make a good fit.
Forgo the SIN. Seriously, it's a trap. I know that it might sound plausible, but you can as easily reason why your character wouldn't have a SIN. Just declare that he had his SIN erased - his terrorist connections should make that possible - before he started his violent path. Kind of like a ritual severance from this symbol of a society he does not agree with and wants to change. Aside from the fluff it will bring your character a lot of pain and suffering. Everytime someone gets access to dna, fingerprints or his true face, there is a slight chance that somewhere far away on a green island an alert is issued. And the other neg. qualities will ensure that there will be a drastic response.

Big Regret might be an interesting option if you haven't considered it. His terrorist act that went terribly wrong could involve something very nasty. Like dead children.


Attributes
Read up on the charisma attribute definition in the SR4A corebook. It mustn't be about looks, but can also be about force of personality or simply ego. And wouldn't you attribute a person who attempts to change a society all alone, against its will, out from the criminal shadows with a giant ego? My recommendation of charisma 7 still stands.
There are other good reasons as well. I already mentioned that it's your 2nd drain stat. Also, it is the base for all your influence skills (which you don't need too high from the get-go with high charisma). It also is the limit for how many spirits Faelan can have bound to his service (or allied with, in his case). And finally it costs much less to increase magic from 5 to 6 than to raise charisma from 5 to 7. Basically Faelan could live with charisma 7 his entire career and never raise it to 8. Because karma is such a rare ressource very point of it will go into magic, initiation, skills and additional spells anyway. And even if not, there are still worthy attributes like edge and willpower.

If you cap Magic at 6 you don't have enough room for a good balance. Otherwise it would be preferable to have it capped.

All (mundane) weapon skills use agility. It is the most used physical stat, but less useful for a magician.


Skills
As far as I know knowledge skills are not bound by the one skill at 6 or two at 5 rule. You could raise all to rank 6 if you want to (but don't).
From what I saw about your choice of knowledge skills, Faelan will be utterly unaware about all things criminal and shadowrunning. He will rely on his team to provide information about gangs, cartels, corporations and all the other things. His specialty are academic things and the arcane lore.
Parazoology will not come into play often, but when it does, it may have a drastic impact, because critters can be a huge wildcard. I would suggest you leave it.

In general, all specialisations are open for reduction if you need karma. As is counter-terrorism.

Faelan will be able to understand Sperethiel of the Forsaken (the other Tir) perfectly. In fact, most people will speak Sperethiel much worse than him. So he has to live with people stumbling around with his beautiful language. Others have to live with his weird accent. I assume it's fair to say the relationship is the same between american english and irish english. If both parties want to they can understand each other, but if one doesn't feel polite he will sound like a martian.

Even with zero ranks in Magical Traditions, Faelan will know of the existance of the most popular traditions like Hermeticism and Shamanism. He won't know about rituals, or dates with mystical relevance, but would that help him ingame later on? I doubt it. In my experience I encountered only three traditions: spell-casters, toxic and insect casters. It's that general. And if you happen to come across one of the two latter, pay good money for information from specialists and you're good. That's what connections are for.

Binding at three will not be very useful. It's more of an investment for the future. With such a low rank Faelan should bind low force spirits in between runs and spend edge if your GM approves. Consider it a fluff ressource for the moment. Keep the skill and increase it later or drop it completely, but in the latter case never raise it again until he is set on all other things. Never enslaving spirits will be fitting for Faelan but mechanics wise it is a massive(!) drawback.

Don't take any melee skills. Faelan will not be able to last in any melee encounter. He don't have enough dice to hit, he can't soak the response and he doesn't deal any kind of damage. And in the astral a different skill is used (Astral Combat).

Fluff skills are always good. But only after the necessary skills to perform your designated role are set.


Contacts
I noticed something I initially overlooked. Drop the connection rating of your fixer one rank to three and increase the rank of your Talismonger by one to four.
The reason is that Faelan will need less mundane stuff, but he will be in constant need of arcane supplies. That need will raise in difficulty the better Faelan gets. And magic items have a generally higher availability than mundane ones.


Gear
Disposable commlinks can be found the Unwired book. They cost 300 per item. Like a modern day cheap smartphone without any apps.
With your commlink(s) you also need a few basic software programs. Stuff like Browse, Edit, ect. The chummer software has nice bundles for low prices (basic user suite for 300).
Agents are semiautonomous programs capable of using other software (p. 234 SR4A). Think autopilot. Just equip them with a software like Browse and Analyse and they can quite effectively do stuff for you. Agents will play an enormous role in 2070 society for many people (that can afford the steep price).

Talk to your GM about the lifestyle thing. Usually it has no drawback to pay in single month increments. Heck, I don't pay my landlord months in advance. I don't know anyone who does that. That way Faelan always has the option to simply grab his stuff and walk away and doesn't loose any deposits (remember: it's a shitty low quality lifestyle, not the Ritz).

The armor options would cost 2000 (for the suit+custom fitted shirt) and 700 for the lined coat (regular clothing is included in your lifestyle cost). Without special modification, save that for your first earned money. If it has to be one or the other, go with the coat.

Buy a simple mask to hide your face when you do criminal stuff. Cheap and effective for now.

Look into visual helpers like contacts and get up to +3 extra dice for visual perception rolls (in the gear section of the SR4A).


Spells
Apart from the already mentioned spells, I like Physical Mask (very useful in many situations), Swarm and Hot Potatoe.
In general I look out for stuff that cannot be emulated by mundane means and helps out the team. The manipulation spell Fix is a good example. Smashing in a window can be done by everyone, but fixing the broken glass so nobody notices you were there: that is what magicians are for. In reality the use is a bit limited since the object resistance for technological stuff is severe. A buddy of mine once tried to repair a broken engine and needed 6 hits (if I recall correctly) - only achievable with edge.
From the detection group, I can recommend Mindprobe and Manawindow.
Also a very strong canditate is Alter Memory.
Magic Fingers can be used very creatively. Punish anyone who carry grenades open by pulling all pins from a distance. Have your commlink ready, because that look will be priceless!

There are many good spells. Sadly, you're limited to 10 at the beginning. So make a wise choice.


Career advise
It's about fun, not about perfect numbers. Don't worry about the many things to skill, enjoy the ride.
Read up on these things after you played Faelan.

Be careful and paranoid.

Create a Ward (p. 194, SR4A) in your home and bind a spirit to protect it (fight off weak oponnents, flee to get you if too strong).
Buy the best fake SIN you can afford as soon as possible. Don't buy only 6er SINs, you will burn some and sometimes when the chances are high that a job will leave too much collateral, it's good to have a less expensive one to burn. But don't go lower than 4. Always have one 5 or 6 SIN for emergencies that Faelan won't touch. That is going to become his escape card.

Drill your team to protect you, especially when you use astral projection.
There is a proverb in the shadows (and security circles): geek the mage first. Don't look like a mage. Have a weapon in your hand, use it sometimes too. Always mind that high powered spells will be visible and lots of people are experienced enough to realise what is going on and switch targets.

Invisibility does not equal invulnerability. Nasty technology shit can pierce that spell easily, like motion sensors, ultrasound and radar.

Stay away from Cyber- and Bioware. Period.

Buy Magical Compounds like Immortal Flower and Little Smoke (both found in the Arsenal) and use them when the jobs pays out well.
Also the awakened drug Láes (elven origin) is very nice tool to make people forget.

Always keep in mind that spells you cast have your astral fingerprint. Erase that before you flee the scene (or pray they don't have their own magician).

Initiate quickly and grab the technique Masking (p. 198, SR4A). Considering your wanted status and the geek-the-mage-first thing, it will be a life saver.

[Dobyk]

Hey McGuffin,

   Thank you for the well thought-out reply As far as the walls of text, you know, some of us like to go deep and detailed

Actually I'm thinking of dropping as many positive qualities as possible, like you recommended. The only useful Quality left that I could potentially take is Astral Chameleon, although as you mentioned I could simply erase my astral signature so I'm not sure if it's worth it the 10 karma. I was playing around with Chummer last night to set things into numbers. I can definitely see why you recommended a Enemy with value 10. I will try playing around with group enemy once again, but on a smaller scale, just one Danaan family. Actually I'm really considering Big Regret, precisely because a lot of civilians died I will try out your attribute recommendation as well, and see where that goes. At the moment in my sheet I have 9 spells, I had to free up some karma. Maybe if I reduce the Positive qualities to a minimum I might be able to grab the 10th spell. I definitely won't have any karma left for spell foci or bound spirits, though. But I think I might have plenty of nuyen to buy everything you recommended, with just 4 karma for a cost! Or was it 5. Got, I'm so HUNGRY for karma right now. I still managed to grab Assensing at rating 2 though, which for now is just fluff, similarly to Biding 3. I will just roleplay the " enslavement"  idea in the beginning, in time I will let him bind spirits and will eventually raise Binding so don't worry - I know it can be very advantageous to have a bound spirit. I just won't start the game with one xD Does SR4A stand for the Augmentation book? And what force should my lodge materials correspond to?

Haha, the " geek the mage"  advice is probably quite logical xD I don't want to be the first one dead, although I won't be able to successfully roleplay a " non-mage" in the beginning. I'm not sure if a Mask to cover my face will be enough, though. If the cameras and recording devices are HD they might pick up some furry hands or something of the like, which will be a trouble. As for Distinctive Style, actually when I choose a Night One in Chummer it already lists it as one of my qualities, although this is not the case in the book. Maybe they wanted to prevent people from getting more karma with qualities that don't add too much to the character, but the program is like "nope" .  Also, isn't 2 edge too low? Or it doesn't matter that much? Also, do I need both Infiltration and Shadowing? At the moment in Chummer my Infiltration is 3, and my Shadowing is 2.

Other than that, I don't know what else to say except a big " THANK YOU"  for the time and attention given. Hopefully we actually begin our session, because I know how my friends get excited and then they give up because they're busy xD But I think overall Faelan turned out pretty well. Now all I can hope for is some super interesting NPCs to meet, hopefully immortal elves, so I can be like "Soo, how was it in the 4th World?" I hope you're ready for tomorrow's day of drinking and partying, and thanks again for all the useful advice!!!!

[McGuffin]

Hey,

I know that some of the Metavariants automatically come with the Distinctive Style quality. Chummer is not always right, but in most case it knows what it's  talking about.

SR4A stands for the anniversary edition of the core rule book. It has a fantastic master index at the end and superseded the old core rule book.

Keep your hands in your pockets or wear gloves. Gloves are also quite useful to not leave fingerprints when Faelan touches things. Just pay a bit more and have him buy custom-made gloves for his furry hands. Always go in style
The whole conceal your indentity theme is just a fluff thing. See how detailed and realistic your group wants to play it and adapt accordingly.

Edge is a very useful attribute, indeed. But it's easy to raise Edge from 2 to 3 (15 Karma). Generally Edge comes into play when things go wrong. With careful planing you can avoid some of these situations, like don't get shot at and you won't have to use Edge for soak tests.
Consider it a resource best saved for emergencies. Mechanical-wise you will benefit more often from a higher Edge than Logic attribute. You have to make a choice somewhere.

Your magical lodge should have a force at your current magic attribute. But if you read up on it, you will find that it might take a while before it will have a useful impact on the game for Faelan. So it could be viable to not buy it during character creation.

You will need Infiltration. A lot. It involves moving silently and hiding from sight. So even with an active Invisibility spell you need to move silent.
Since your Agility is super low, Faelan will never sneak well. It doesn't really matter if you have it at rank 2 or 3.
So everytime it really is important for Faelan to be not noticed in any way, he has to use magic to help out. I'm talking about spells and the spirit power Concealment. In the end he still needs to make a roll and not glitch, which is why not having Infiltration is not an option.

Shadowing also has two uses: following someone without being noticed and noticing being followed by someone else.
In the first case, don't try it. That is the job of your team's infiltrator or sam. The latter case is very important for any criminal.
Since Shadowing is linked to Intuition (which Faelan should have a 4 or 5) he is not that bad. A specialisation to Tail Evasion will be lucrative for Faelan once he has earned career karma.

Since Faelan sucks at Infiltration no matter what, drop it to rank two and raise Shadowing to rank 3. Then cross your fingers, stay in cover and hope for the best.


Good luck with your character and have a merry New Year's Eve party.