[TheWayfinder]

Here is a rough sketch of what my conception for an Adept Detective who is sort of inspired by the version of Holmes in the BBC series Sherlock.  I haven't bought his Knowledge/Language Skills, or his Gear, or bought Contacts for him yet.  He's still a work in progress for a setting that I and my friends have been working on for awhile now.  Generally, he's extremely perceptive, he's going to be somewhat knowledgeable, and he can handle himself okay in combat, but that's not his principle thing.  This will be my first character I've ever played in a while, so be gentle with me. 

Zachary Wylde (or, just Wylde)

A - Attributes (24)
B - Adept (Magic 6)
C - Skills (28/2)
D - Resources (50,000Y)
E - Human (1 Edge)

Attributes

Body 3
Agility 3
Reaction 4
Strength 3
Willpower 3
Logic 5
Intuition 6
Charisma 4
Edge 2
Essence 6
Magic 6
Initiative 10+1d6 (2d6)

Skills

Perception 6
Pistols 5
Stealth 2
Etiquette 4
Con 4
Negotiation 4
Sneaking 4
Unarmed Combat 3
22 pts. Knowledge Skills

Qualities

Analytical Mind
Photographic Memory
Homeground (Vancouver - You Know a Guy)

Code of Honor
Sinner (National)
Mild Addiction Tobacco

Adept Powers

Enhanced Perception 3
Improved Mental Potential 2
Danger Sense 2
Astral Perception
Improved Reflexes 1


Like I said, this is a rough draft.  I have a story all made out for him, but I'd like some input. 

Thanks!

[fseperent]

Only problem I have is with your opposed social skills.
Normal threats have dice pools of 12+, you only have 8.
For your knowledge skills, I would suggest Forensics, Criminology, Law Enforcement Procedures, and maybe a second language.

[TheWayfinder]

Only problem I have is with your opposed social skills.
Normal threats have dice pools of 12+, you only have 8.
For your knowledge skills, I would suggest Forensics, Criminology, Law Enforcement Procedures, and maybe a second language.

That's good to know.  I'm not trying to go for a rude Detective or someone who's not known for his social graces, though I didn't think they were all that important for the concept I was going for.  Still, it's something to consider. 

We're playing in our version of Portland/Vancouver area in Shadowrun, and therefore Sperethiel will have to be the second language.  He's going to live in Vancouver, mainly because being human in the "Land of Promise" might get more expensive than he's willing to pay.  As for the Knowledges, I've already picked those up, just highlighting them for now.  I've also been considering maybe building a forensics lab in the future out of his own place, something that Holmes does in the show. 

[Jack_Spade]

If you use sum to ten I'd lower your money and increase your skills.
Instead of Photographic Memory get a mentor spirit and get the adept power that does essentially the same.

Instead of the addiction, you can take debt to get your money up (and it's a classic for a PI to have a real motivation to earn money)

[Csjarrat]

personally i'd go with
Attribs A (24)
Skills B (36/5)
Adept C (4, +R2 skill)
Meta D, (Human, 3)
Resources E (6K +10 karma for 26k)

this gives you enough skill points to be much more rounded and enough SAP to still hit EDGE 3 and MAG 6.
I'd pick up assensing and computer at decent ratings with aura reading and data search specialisations. either take oracle as a mentor spirit for free astral perception or spend a point on it, assensing is useful on allsorts of levels when dealing with suspects and analysing scenes of crime etc.
Data search is great with your high logic and doesn't require expensive kit to do it well (cheapish commlinks have high enough DP limit) and it fits with the idea of a detective being able to trawl databases, look through social histories, ex-girlfriends on social media, previous cars owned/addresses lived at and all that sort of shebang that detectives would do in real life.

Alternatively, a mystic adept could come in handy, casting detection spells or helpful rituals. you only lose a point of EDG for the utility (if you still want MAG 6) but you'd have to work your karma a lot harder to keep the same level of power points

[Top Dog]

For a detective, I'd say ~8 social pools fit pretty well. You're not a face, or dealing with faces, but you know enough to talk yourself in to lesser guarded places, or intimidate weak-willed witnesses. Of course, if you want to be able to work as a proper face, it needs more. Also, you should probably get intimidation? (it fits the concept, I think). Assensing too, as people mentioned - with your concept, Intuition and powers, it'd be a waste not to. Just 2 karma will give you a pool of 10 out of the gate, after all (more is not a bad option). And I second Csjarrat's Computer - with a low investment, you can get a decent skill pool for basic work, and assist the specialist on advanced work.

Improved Mental Potential is a bit... meh. You have a limit of 7 already, and (presumably) more on your perception skills. More is never bad, but at the cost of a power point, it's not worth it. You took Danger Sense - which fits - but perhaps a better choice is (one point of) Combat Sense. It allows you to "sense" danger too, specifically to use your perception check to see dangers you couldn't otherwise.

By the way, I think your Edge is off. Humans start with 2, and with Metatype E you get 1 special point to distribute. Since that didn't go to magic, it should be spent on Edge, so you end up with 3 Edge. Also, your Initiative will be 11+2d6 once  Imp Reflexes is active.

[Jack_Spade]

I'd put assensing into a (tatoo) focus. It's a nice self-contained power. The Perceptive I and II qualities are also really useful and cheap at character creation since you gain +2 dice to assensing, perception and matrix perception.

Also: Contacts with Vision Enhancement 3 will increase your limit and wireless provide 3 dice to perception. That's imho a lot better than to invest power points into improved perception.

[Top Dog]

I'd put assensing into a (tatoo) focus. It's a nice self-contained power. The Perceptive I and II qualities are also really useful and cheap at character creation since you gain +2 dice to assensing, perception and matrix perception.

Also: Contacts with Vision Enhancement 3 will increase your limit and wireless provide 3 dice to perception. That's imho a lot better than to invest power points into improved perception.

Good point about Perceptive, especially if you also get Computer as a skill.

Vision and Audio enhancement aren't a replacement for Improved Perception; though you should get the first before you get the second. But really, get both and see everything.

Not sure I agree with offloading Assensing to a focus though. Especially if you're going to invest skills in it.

[Jack_Spade]

It's about opportunity cost: The focus costs 8 karma, initiating costs at least 13.  It's a power you don't want to have active permanently. Unlike mystic armor or combat sense there is not much harm in having the focus deactivated from the astral.

My experience so far is, that more than 15 dice on perception tests is usually a waste of resources. If the threshold is 6+ the GM doesn't want you to find the clue.

[Csjarrat]

5 Karma for Oracle mentor spirit trumps both options

[Jack_Spade]

Yeah, but personally I don't like the drawback (Also it feels a bit cheesy to get a full PP out of it where other mentors only give you one half)

[Top Dog]

Yeah, but personally I don't like the drawback (Also it feels a bit cheesy to get a full PP out of it where other mentors only give you one half)

All the new Mentors have more PP's worth, last time I checked. I think it's because the drawbacks are worse (although, the magician ones aren't better, so that's odd).

Oracle is better pointwise, though. And it does, sort of, fit the character. But it depends on whether or not you want the mentor spirit at all, of course.

Anyway, you do have a point - of all the powers he has right now, Astral Perception is the one you'll least miss in the situations where your focus is temporarily disabled (and it's turned on quick enough when needed).

[Whiskeyjack]

Enhanced Perception is almost certainly overkill with good sensory enhancements in contacts and earplugs. Never pay in PP if you can instead pay in nuyen.

I think the Limit-increasing powers are not ranked.

Personally I think Combat Sense >>>> Danger Sense.

[TheWayfinder]

I'll take all this into consideration as I complete my character.  Though, I should also explain that the setting and the adventures we do are kind of, well, low-key.  I'm not expecting to take Mr. Wylde on too many runs where you infiltrate a corp or some other stronghold and make out with some paydata, gear, or whatever.  That's not what we do, because we're just not into that. 

Our campaign is inspired largely from film-noir, and films like Snatch and Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, instead of Mission: Impossible.  Most of our adventures involve recovering kidnapped people, finding out who's blackmailing whom, foiling conspiracies, finding murderers, and the like.  We're big on mysteries, and I'd say we're more along the lines of a hard-boiled detective kind of thing going than the kind of stunts you might normally see in a Shadowrun game. 

So, our adversaries aren't usually prime runners or anything like that.  We don't even fight dragons (though the last detective I had was hired by the big guy himself and is currently retired - in hiding).

However, after reading all these excellent suggestions I'm inclined to be more diverse.  I picked up on all the Enhanced Perception because I wanted this guy to be the Sixth World's version of Holmes, only a bit better able to defend himself.  I figured that to do that I wanted him not to be able to rely too much on gear, and certainly no cybernetics.  A Mentor spirit might be cool, though, and I'm definitely giving that some thought.  I'm rather glad we didn't play last week because I felt I just didn't think I made my character as good as I could make him. 

So I've got another week to complete this guy, and I'll give you a second draft soon!  Thanks!