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First Shadowrun Character Ever, Fire-Bringer Shaman

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TigerPlanet

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« on: <09-23-16/0221:56> »
Hi! I'm looking for some tips on building a Shaman character for my first time playing Shadowrun. I've gone through the book as thoroughly as I'm able to before I need to have this together, and watched quite a bit of youtube footage on character creation, but I'm still looking for input. Note that I'm not as versed in the lore as I'd like to be so the background is very, very rough.

Rough Draft Background:
Damien Lee, aka Torch's handle makes him sound like some sort of pyromaniac, but really he took up the name as a  symbol of his mentor, the Fire-bringer spirit, as well as a nod to invention and his burning passion for supporting the underdog, the little man, etc. Though, that doesn't mean he isn't a pyromaniac, either.

Damien got into the shadows as a result of nonviolent protests heading south and getting him into trouble. Afterwards, he became fed up with convention and took to being a shadowrunner. He never had a SIN to speak of having grown up in a smuggler's neighborhood working off the books, so transitioning to freelance was just a matter of resources. He took on jobs to make his lifestyle appear on the level before moving into a secure neighborhood, and used his magic for causes he generally believed in, with great prejudice. As long as his actions follow his mentor's principles he seems to continue being rewarded with powerful magics in his shamanic tradition.

Blah Blah Blah, On to the Numbers:
Damien Lee / Torch
Elf
White, UCAS
Age 26, Sex M, Height 190cm, Weight 80kg

Priorities
A Magic
B Attributes
C Elf
D Resources -5 karma 60,000¥
E Skills

Attributes
Body 4
Agility 5
Reaction 2
Strength 2 (1 from karma)
Willpower 6
Logic 3
Intuition 4
Charisma 6
Edge 4

Essence 6
Magic 6
Initiative 6 + 1d6
Matrix Initiative -
Astral Initiative 8 + 2d6
Composure 12
Judge Intentions 10
Memory 9
Lift/Carry 4/20kg
Movement 10/20, +2m/hit

Physical Limit 4
Mental Limit 6
Social Limit 8+1(Indomitable)

Skills
Spellcasting 6
Counterspelling 6
Summoning 6
Pistols 3
-Tasers (spec. 2 dice) 1
Banishing 2
Astral Combat 2
Binding (+1 dice Man) 2

Alchemy (+2 dice Fire-Bringer) 0

Fixers 2
Street Drug Dealers 2
Runner Hangouts 2
Fine Wine & Liquor 2
Magic Theory 2
Obscure Trideo 2
Sperethiel 1
Japanese 1

English N

ID/Lifestyle/Currency
Primary Lifestyle Low, Extra Secure (2 months)
Nuyen 1,105 ¥
Licenses Fake SIN (4), Fake (pistol possess, conceal pistol, spellcasting, spell focus, driving, motorcycle, magic, spell formula) licences (4), Silver Credstick

Core Combat Info
Armor Armor Vest 9
Primary Ranged Weapon Ares Light Fire 70 + Silencer (-5d6)
Dam 6p Acc 7 AP - Mode SA RC - Ammo 16(c)
Primary Melee Weapon Defiance EX Shocker
Reach 20m/0m Dam 9s(e)/8s(e) Acc 4/3 AP -5/-5

Condition Monitor
Physical Damage Track
OOO -1
OOO -2
OOO -3
OXX -4
XXX -5
XXX -6

Stun Damage Track
OOO -1
OOO -2
OOO -3
OOX -4

Overflow 4

Qualities
Mentor Spirit (Fire-Bringer) P
Spirit Affinity (Man) P
Indomitable (Social) (1) P
Quick Healer

Distinctive Style (Nerdy Tattoos) N
Addiction (Moderate, Cram) N
Prejudiced (Corporate Wageslaves, Mild) N
Allergy (Mild, Latex) N

3 Karma carry over

Contacts
Drug Dealer - Trix, Loyalty 1 Connection 1
Street Doc - Bones, Loyalty 1 Connection 1
Talismonger - Tram, Loyalty 3 Connection 2
Fence - Mister Tingle, Loyalty 1 Connection 2
Fixer - Watson Holmes, Loyalty 3 Connection 3

Vehicle
Suzuki Mirage
Acceleration 3
Pilot 1
Armor 6
Handling 5/3
Speed 6
Body 5
Sensor 2

Gear
Medkit (3)
Renraku Sensei Commlink
5 Cram Doses
Goggles (6)
-Smartlink
-Thermographic
-Image Link
-Flare Compensation
-Vision Magnification
-Vision Enhancement (6)
Spell Focus (4)(Manipulation)(Sustaining)
Clothing (300 ¥)
10 Taser Dart
250 Regular Ammo
6 Spare Clips
Climbing Gear
24 Drams Shamanic Reagents
Spell Formula (Manipulation)
Magic Lodge (1)

Spells
Flamethrower
Fireball
Lightning Bolt
Ball Lightning
Stunbolt
Stunball

Heal ~Quick Healer +2 dice~

Control Actions ~All Manipulation Force 4 Sustaining Focus(8 Karma), Fire-Bringer +2 dice~
Physical Barrier
Control Thoughts
Levitate (formula, license, lodge, 5 karma)

Leftover
0 Karma
1105 ¥ (445 + Lifestyle Starting Cash)¥
« Last Edit: <09-23-16/0244:02> by TigerPlanet »

Kuirem

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« Reply #1 on: <09-23-16/0437:37> »
That's a fairly decent first draft and the character could hold his ground in most missions but the most powergaming ones. But well you are here for input so here we go :

Priorities

E Skills is really tough for a mage, between Spellcasting, Summoning and the classic the different useful skills for every shadowrunner that will be tough. Most Mages just go for E Resources and spend some Karma (or In Debt quality from Run Faster) to get the basic stuff since you can do a lot with your magic anyway. I would probably go for A - Magic; B - Attributes; C - Skills; D - Elf; E - Resources or maybe B Skills / C Attributes to be a secondary Face (guy who is good at talking).

Attributes

Odd numbers are better for BOD and WIL. The reason is that you get an extra Monitor condition box there. So going for 4 BOD will only get you one extra soak dice, it's not bad but much less valuable that an extra Box. You could shave off one point from WIL and BOD and reinvest them in an other attribute for a better result (for example CHA and STR so you keep the same drain soak pool and you get back your 10 Karma to reinvest).

Skills

I said it above, you have too few skills. Note that Binding test (opposed by Force x 2) are much tougher than Summoning (opposed by Force) ones so with 2 Binding you won't be able to bind high Force spirits.

Astral Combat is useless with so few dice and no weapon focus, it will be better to just use Stunbolt and spirit to fight in the astral.

You lack a Social skill, the minimal for every runner is Etiquette but with 6 Charisma it's well worth to invest into Con, Intimidation, Impersonation, and/or Negotiation. Etiquette + Con probably offer the wider range of Social tricks imo.

Sneaking and Perception are two skills insanely useful for every Shadowrunner though a Magician can partially replace them with Invisibility, Assensing/Detect Life. But having both skill and spell options is even better.

Might as well spend at least 2 karma into Alchemy since you have the Mentor Spirit who raise it. It will give you a dice pool of 9 for a small investment.

Qualities

Qualities are fairly good, note that some GM consider that Quick Healer should only affect heal used on your character for the cost, even with this limitation it's a powerful quality.

Indomitable (Social) is pointless, you already have a high limit and you don't even have a Social skill.

Focused Concentration is a really good Quality for mage that often sustain.

Gear

Your goggles are illegal. First Vision Enhancement is limited to 3 and even that will go over the Capacity. Also note that fitting Vision Enhancements will raise the availability and you are limited to 12 at chargen.

I would recommend to just drop the Smartlink and install a Laser Sight on your weapon, the bonus is pretty much the same if you don't put the Smartlink in the meat.

Spells

You don't need that much Combat Spells. Most of the time shooting a gun is as good as a spell to deal damage while the other spell school offer possibilities above what mundane runners can do.

At most I pick 3 Combat spells, 4 if I feel really dangerous :
  • Stunbolt : This spell is wonderful because it completely bypass armor. Ideal to fight Troll Tanks with low WIL. Manabolt/Powerbolt can work too if you prefer lethality.
  • Acid Stream/Flamethrower/Lightning Bolt/Clout (pick one) : Having an indirect, physical combat spell is never a bad idea as it often deal better damage than Direct and it gives you something to affect non-living things. Acid Stream has excellent utility because it can melt barrier, Flamethrower is a strong damage dealer against meathumans, Lightning Bolt is really good against Drones but can be replaced with Tasers/Stick 'n' Shock
  • Blast/Toxic Wave/Fireball/Lightning Blast : If I want my mage to have an area option. Indirect AOE are nasty because your opponent don't get a dodge roll. Blast has the advantage of dealing Stun damage when you don't want to leave too many body behind you (it's never a good thing), also because it is Stun damage it is ignored by Barrier, so you don't break stuff that you might want to keep for yourself. The others have their elemental advantage and a lower Drain

Improved Invisibility is an excellent spell that I take on pretty much all my mages. Increased Reflexes is one of the best support spell (can be cast on yourself with Health Sustaining Focus or Improved Concentration, if possible at rating 4 for +2D6). Detect Life Extended might be a good idea if you don't pick Perception skill.

Finally be careful with Control Thoughts and Control Actions as your target is likely to realise they have been manipulated and they will be extremely pissed off, that's a good way to start piling nemesis. Consider the more subtle Influence.
« Last Edit: <09-23-16/0942:03> by Kuirem »

TigerPlanet

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« Reply #2 on: <09-23-16/0818:17> »
Awesome advice, and thanks for getting back to me so quickly and so thoroughly! With your input, I have quite a bit of work to do, but I suspect it will be worth it.  :D

I'll probably end up keeping the priorities where they are but rearrange skills as best as I can just for the expedience sake of making this character in time to play, I'm not very quick at making characters in this system yet.  If my first character's doomed to fail, so be it. ::)

I will definitely take your advice into consideration on how to reallocate and prioritize everything other than the priorities table, though. And if it still feels like I'm lacking skills and the spells to make up for them I'll... well, I'm not sure what I'll do. You've given me a lot to wade through, lol. Much appreciated, though. I'm going to get to making changes right away. :)

Overbyte

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« Reply #3 on: <09-24-16/2221:39> »
Kuirem gives some great advice in his post.
Your bonus is actually to Manipulation spells so take more of those and less Combat ones.
Dump Banishing. You need to skill points and you might as well just blow spirits up with Stunbolt or such.

I'm not sure if you really want to be an Elf but since your stats aren't over 6 you aren't really taking full advantage of your "elf-iness".
You could consider dropping your Metahuman pick down and being Human (and you'd have more edge and more skills).
If you take Focused Concentration go for 4. Saves you some points and covers any Increase Stat spell you'll cast since they are limited to +4.
BTW you could (should?) take Increased CHA.
Take at least 1 point in Assensing.

You have a lot of points in AGI and only 1 AGI skill (Pistols). If it were me, I might dump a lot of AGI and the Pistol skill and focus on what I'm good at.
You aren't going to do much with a Pistol of 8 (at least not in most games/circumstances). YMMV
Nothing is foolproof. Fools are so ingenious.

TigerPlanet

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« Reply #4 on: <09-25-16/0105:40> »
Hello again! I've made a great deal of changes thanks to the advice on this page.  Thank you both Kuirem and Overbyte.

I'm sticking with the priorities I've had, and staying an elf, but otherwise I've taken most suggestions here.