[ZeroSum]

First off all, huge thanks to Aria for the awesome character sheet. I built this character using SR CG 6.01                                                

I had a chance to rifle through the rulebook yesterday, and made some notes. So this morning I threw together the following, figured I'd get some input from you fine people.

The concept is pretty straight forward: a no-nonsense decker with a conscience, designed to be easy to play. All Matrix attributes are 7 (Firewall is 8 for the higher defense), skills picked to be complementary to primary role of decker, with moderate investment in biotech and engineering for first aid assistance and technological repair. Additionally, minor investment in perception and piloting allows the character to function as a low-end advanced scout, and every decker needs to be able to lie a little. Completely reworked to be more focused, see notes at end.

Equipment to deal with any kind of matrix security, but not physical as that is a different ballgame. If it can't be hacked, this guy doesn't know how to deal with it. At least not very well.

Basically, no real dump stats, some low-dice pool skills to build on, solid core of matrix abilities.

Description
0day is a stout dwarf of Japanese heritage who appears to be in his mid to late 20s. At 4' 2" and roughly 140lbs he is above average height and somewhat overweight for his metatype, and he frequently wears a plain utility jumpsuit and a drab lined coat in an attempt to blend into the crowd.

A significant part of the back of his head and neck are covered by obvious signs of rudimentary and highly invasive cyberware surgeries, while some such marks are barely visible even to a trained eye. Despite this he keeps his head and face clean shaven at all times; in part for easy access to the chrome cyberjack located at the base of his skull, but also to ensure a snug fit for the respirator he wears more often than not.

In the Matrix 0day commonly appears as a stylized samurai in full modernized armor that is not so much black as it is devoid of all colour, a feature that allows him to effectively blend into the background of the Matrix by warping code around his persona. Despite being armed with attack programs in the form of an energized katana he is known in the hacker community for never employing lethal biofeedback attack, preferring instead to linklock his target and severing their connection to the Matrix with a brutal efficiency.

In person 0day maintains a quiet demeanor that makes him appear distant and cold, particularly to those who do not know him. Under the surface, however, his thoughts and emotions are in constant flux as his augmented mind rapidly absorbs and evaluates new and changing information. His speech pattern is methodological and thorough, and conversationally he prefers to cut straight to the business at hand and does not waste time on social niceties.


Background
Cato does not know who his birth parents were; his first real memories are of clear, blue skies over a Japanese zen garden, contrasted starkly by sounds of what could only have been armed conflict. Despite possessing a profound ability to recall minute details with exceptional clarity, he has been unable to reconcile the events of his infancy with a particular time and date. He suspects that he was born in 2053, and that he is either a Seattle native or a young immigrant of the Emerald City.

This knowledge comes from a single irrefutable fact that is as horrific as it is permanently burned into his memory; before celebrating his 9th birthday he had survived the SCIRE lockdown.

Before the events that would forever shape his future, he recalls receiving praise from teachers and tutors for his intuitive understanding of mathematical and scientific material well beyond his grade level, as well as for being able to solve complex logic puzzles. He received a datajack implant when he was only 6 years old, and the virtual reality of the Matrix opened his eyes to the endless possibilities technology could provide. He quickly grasped the concepts of machine language and was enrolled in several coding classes within a year.

When debriefed following his rescue from the shutdown, Cato’s own accounts puts him inside areas of the SCIRE host that were confirmed to have gone Ultraviolet as a result of Deus’ awakening. While his activities during the shutdown could not be accounted for, no clear link between the young dwarf and the group known simply as ‘The Whites’ or the so-called ‘otaku’ was ever established. Furthermore, all records of the interview process and supplemental documentation, including his Renraku SIN, was conveniently lost during what became known as the Matrix Crash 2.0.

The Decker has never since spoken to anyone about what transpired during the years between December of ’59 and November of ’64. At some point following the events of Crash 2.0 the now teenage boy adopted the name Viktor Idō and sleazed his way across Seattle while remaining deep in the shadows for several years.

In the decade between Crash 2.0 and the introduction of new Matrix protocols in 2074, Viktor spent most of his time surviving through small-time hacks and Matrix grifting. A free hotel room here, some protein bars and an energy drink there, and enough nuyen skimmed from various sources to be able to afford the basics and put some aside for an emergency. The Matrix protocols were loose enough that if you stayed small-time you could live quite comfortably, and it was during this time he developed the 0day persona; utilizing his extraordinary mental abilities to the fullest capacity, he was able to slice through the Matrix with nothing but a cheap commlink, some pirated software, and his own razor-sharp intellect.

That all changed when de la Mar got her wish; Viktor was forced to rapidly adapt to the new wireless Matrix, and all of a sudden he could no longer rely on his quick wit and a piece of disposable tech. Using savings he had squirreled away for years he went under the knife for the first time since the events of the Arcology shutdown, and came out new and improved (if somewhat harrowed, mentally speaking).

Over the next several years he underwent several major cyber- and bioware surgeries, constantly pushing the boundaries between meat and machine, culminating with a state of the art cyberjack in late 2079. Despite the constant arms-race between deckers, GOD, and the corps, 0day had never felt more at home in the Matrix.


Priorities
Metatype C Attributes B Skills D Magic E Resources A

Karma Expenditures
Starting Karma   50
Positive Qualities   37
Negative Qualities   21
Attributes   0
Skills   30
Resources   4
Remaining   0

Personal Data
Name/Fake SIN/Primary Alias Cato Hirano / Viktor Idō / 0day
Metatype Dwarf Ethnicity Japanese

Age Early 20s Sex Male Height 4' 2" Weight 140lbs
Reputation 0 Heat 0
Karma 0 Total Karma 0 Misc

Attributes

Attribute Description.....	Value....	Attribute Description.....	Value
Body	2	Essence	1.33
Agility	3	Magic/Resonance	NA
Reaction	2	Initiative	8+1d6
Strength	2	Matrix Initiative	15+2d6 (Coldsim)
Willpower	6	Astral Initiative	12+2d6
Logic	5 (7)	Composure	9
Intuition	7	Judge Intentions	13
Charisma	2	Memory	14
Edge	5	Lift/Carry	40kgs
Surprise	8	Movement	10/+5
Damage Resist	2	Defense Rating	6

Notes: 9 adjustment points spent on Willpower (-5) and Edge (-4); 16 attributes points spent, no karma spent.

Core Combat Info
Primary Armor Urban Explorer Jumpsuit (DR3)
Primary Ranged Weapon: Ares Light Fire 75 (DV 2P, SA, AR 10/7/6/-/-, 16(c))
Primary Melee Weapon Unarmed (DV 1S, AR 4)

Condition Monitor
Phys 9
Stun 11
Notes: Pain Editor can be used to ignore wound penalties and remain conscious with full stun track

Skills

Active Skill Name .....	Specialization .....	Rating .....	Dice Pool
Athletics		0	2
Biotech	First Aid	2	9 (+2)
Close Combat		0	2
Con		0	1
Cracking	Hacking	6	13 (+2)
Electronics	Computer	6	13 (+2)
Engineering	Electronics	2	9 (+2)
Firearms	Pistols	1	64 (+2)
Influence		0	1
Outdoors		-	6
Perception		0	6
Piloting		0	1
Stealth		0	2

Language Skills: English N, Cityspeak, Japanese,
Knowledge Skills: Criminology, Forensics, Organized Crime, Sociology, Sprawl Life, Street Gangs
Notes: 16 Skill Points used; Biotech and Engineering 2, Cracking and Electronics 6); 5 specializations and 1 skill at rating 1 purchased for 40 karma

Qualities
Positive:
Analytical Mind
Aptitude (Cracking)
Exceptional Attribute (Willpower)
Hardening

Negative:
Honourbound (White Hat)
Incompetent (Outdoors)

IDs/Lifestyles/Currency
Primary Lifestyle: Low
Nuyen: ¥195
Fake IDs / Related Lifestyles / Funds / Licenses
Fake Sin [R4 w/Fake License (R4) x5 (Licensed Private Investigator, Cyberware, Firearms w/Concealed Carry, Electronics)]
Fake SIN [R1]

Contacts
Beat Cop (C2/L4), Hacker Community (C4, L2)

Weapons
Ares Light Fire 75 (DV 2S, SA, AR 10/7/6/0/0) w/custom silencer, hidden arm slide, integral laser sight, integral smartgun system w/ultrasound sensor, flashlight (thermographic)
Unarmed (DV 1S, AR 4)

Armor
Lined Coat (DR3)
Helmet (Ballistic Mask, DR +1)
Urban Explorer Jumpsuit (DR 3) w/Chemical Protection 6, Biomonitor

Matrix Stats
Primary Device: Shiawase Cyber-6 (DR5) w/biometric reader, satellite link
Attack 8, Sleaze 9, Data Processing 7 (+1), Firewall 8
Attack Rating: 17 (+2), Defense Rating: 16 (+2)
Matrix Condition Monitor: 11
Programs (Running): Armor, Biofeedback Filter, Browse, Configurator, Exploit, Fork, Overclock, Virtual Machine (Signal Scrubber, Toolbox)
Programs (Stored): Blackout, Lockdown
Configurator: Attack 9, Sleaze 8, swap Browse and Configurator for Blackout and Lockdown

Augmentations
Cerebral Booster R2 (Standard)
Cyberjack R6 (Used)
Cyberdeck (Alpha)
Pain Editor (Standard)
Sleep Regulator (Standard)
Smartlink (Standard)

Gear
Most gear either worn, carried in jumpsuit, or stowed in various kits

Worn:
Contacts [R3 w/Flare Compensation, Vision Enhancement]
Earbuds [R3 w/Audio Enhancement, Spatial Recognizer]
Hidden Arm Slide [w/Ares Light Fire 75 (w/16x Gel Rounds)]
Lined Coat
Micro-transceiver
Renraku Sensei
Respirator [R6]
Urban Explorer Jumpsuit [w/biomonitor, chemical protection R6]

Carried (various pockets in jumpsuit and lined coat:
Bug Scanner
Credsticks [Standard, Silver]
Medkit
Spare Clip x2 [w/Gel Rounds x16 each]
Survival Kit (Backpack)
Tag Eraser
Tool Kit [Engineering]

Stored in Medkit:
Antidote Patch
Medkit Supplies x5
Psyche x3
Stim Patch [R6] x2
Trauma Patch

Stored in Tool Kit (Engineering):
Datachip
Data Tap x2
MCT Gnat x10 [w/Clearsight R6]
RFID Tags [Standard x50, Stealth x10]

Stored in Survival Kit:
Gel Rounds, x2
Helmet
Jammers [Area (R6), Directional (R6), Head (R6)]
Laser Mic [R1 w/Select Sound Filter R1]
White Noise Generator

Stored at home:
Tool Shop (Engineering)

EDIT:
Changes in v1:
Completely redid character with lessons learned from street samurai. Now a dwarf with R6 cyberjack and Shiawase Cyber-6 deck, focused on Matrix actions with a minor investment in biotech, engineering, and firearms. Extremely solid Mental and Matrix attributes, a little weaker in the flesh. No secondary face role anymore. Overall much more focused and able to perform primary duties as dedicated decker.

Changes in v2:
As carrying over Karma from character generation to gameplay is potentially not allowed, I've made some minor changes to ensure the character is RAW legal.

Spent 4 Karma on Resources (+8k nuyen)
Swapped Medium lifestyle for Low (+3k nuyen)

Removed Stun Baton, Yamaha Pulsar I, 50 taser darts, and smartgun system (+1475 nuyen)
Removed Lined Coat with Rating 2 Cold/Fire/Electricity Protection (+2400 nuyen)
Purchased Ares Light Fire 75 w/custom silencer, 50 Gel Rounds, and 2 spare clips (-1650 nuyen)
Purchased Sleep Regulator (Standard) cultured bioware (-0.15 essence, -12k nuyen)
Purchased Configurator program, Datachip, and First Aid kit (585 nuyen)

Sleep Regulator seemed like the obvious choice for a reality-escaping hacker who just wants to live in the comfort of the Matrix. More time to explore the digital frontier, less time needed for pesky sleep. Also useful when conducting matrix research or repairing stuff.

Changes in v3:
Added knowledge skills, contacts, description, and background.
Removed Muscle Toner R2
Upgraded Cerebral Booster from R1 to R2
Swapped Improved Attribute (Willpower) for (Intuition)
Swapped one attribute point from Willpower to Intuition

[CigarSmoker]

Nice. Some things:

-You should write augmented stats like the Logic as 5(6) not just 6. Thats like it always was in Shadowrun as far as i remember.

-You could safe a little money with the car, depending on the GM such a good Hacker should be able to get a  rental for free for a day (or something similar) .... but that depends on the group i guess.

- i think you raised one skill to 6 using Karma ? you could get the Aptitude (Skill) Quality and get it cheaper at 6 (1 under max 7 then)

- for me the Stealth value is very low ... danger of getting glitches there

[ZeroSum]

Ah, good point about Augmented stats. Logic 5 (6) it is.

Yeah, I could switch the car for a bike, or use public transport. But for the amount of equipment I'm lugging around I prefer having my own mode of transport. That is definitely something that would be per table, so duly noted.

All skills higher than rating 1 were done with skill points, the only karma spent on skills were rating 1 or specializations.

Stealth is not an area of focus for this character, so no skill points were invested. If stealth is called for, the character can hack remotely or send in the drones for recon, but would have to follow behind the forward team for sure. This would be one area of focus for spending karma in game.

EDIT:
Original post edited to reflect augmented attribute Logic 5 (6)
Skills updated with the following:
Biotech, Cracking, Electronics, and Engineering purchased with skill points. Specializations and Con, Firearms, Influence, Perception, and Piloting were purchased with karma.

[CigarSmoker]

All skills higher than rating 1 were done with skill points, the only karma spent on skills were rating 1 or specializations.

Its on page 65 only one Skill at max from "Skill" Priority points. 

[ZeroSum]

All skills higher than rating 1 were done with skill points, the only karma spent on skills were rating 1 or specializations.

Its on page 65 only one Skill at max from "Skill" Priority points. 

Missed that, thanks!

Swapped First Impression for Aptitude (Cracking), and swapped Piloting for Stealth (let autopilot do it's thing, but if I need to infiltrate with a drone using Logic + Stealth at least I'm not defaulting).


EDIT:
Hm. Forgot about the Control Rig needed to jump in. Swapped the car for two more points of Karma on nuyen, and picked up a used Control Rig R1. This gives me the ability to jump into drones for remote recon, maybe even placing a data tap with the Kanmushi if the GM is lenient. Much more likely to succeed at stealth with Logic as the linked attribute and +1 plus Edge gain on such tests.

[CigarSmoker]

The Kanmushi has a Pilot Rating of 3. So if you take, lets say Maneuver, Clearsight and Stealth Autosoft for them with each rating 6 (running on the Pilot 3 Hardware). With a "Virtual Machine" Program for the Kanmushi you could add Evasion 6 too (if the Kanmushi needs that somehow, i d say not so much ^^) That would be  9000Y - 12000Y extra. But no Control Rig needed, and you can remote control it from AR.

[ZeroSum]

Interesting thought. I'll have to wait until I get another look at the rulebook, but isn't remote control actions done with your physical attributes?

The only reason I'm considering dabbling in jumped in rigging is because I have superiour mental attributes; using my physical attributes will be... less than ideal. Of course, as you point out, I could just let the drone pilot do it's thing; I honestly did not know that the pilot program could run programs directly. Figured you needed a cyberdeck or RCC for that.

I think I have to examine if I should just skip the rigging part entirely, and focus a little bit more on either speech skills or physical combat.

[Aria]

-You should write augmented stats like the Logic as 5(6) not just 6. Thats like it always was in Shadowrun as far as i remember.

SR 5 seemed to do away with that convention but looking at the archetypes it seems to be back, guess I need to modify my excel generator again to show both figures

@ZeroSum, glad the generator is useful 

[ZeroSum]

@ZeroSum, glad the generator is useful 

Very much so, thanks again!

[ZeroSum]

OK, updated the sheet.

Changed some skills around to be a little more focused. In particular, dropped Biotech and Engineering by 1 each and the skill points to buy Firearms 1 and Perception 1. Dropped Stealth 1 for Karma, then picked up Con 1 and Piloting 1 for karma and got specializations in for almost all skills.

Moved a lot of gear around to optimize the focus on hacking, with a very minor investment in drone recon and sensor usage. Feel the character is no more optimized in the areas I want to focus on.

[CigarSmoker]

I think there are 3 (or maybe 4) ways to control a vehicle in SR6.

1. Manual control - use your physical stats
2. Rigger control - use Control Rig and then Logic to fire Engineering weapons instead of Agility.
3. Remote control - Autosoft gives the skills then and Pilot or Sensor as the stat. you merely tell it "move forward, attack target x"
4. Remote control with a virtual "Gamepad" - thats wbat you are using now, if that works it kind of makes control rigs, bad doesnt it ?


So that's that

[ZeroSum]

Remote control through VR uses the same attribute substitution table as riggers with an RCC. While the RCC has other benefits over remote control, especially for multiple drones and with more autosofts,  a Decker dabbling with single drone recon candle easily do so through VR piloting as their attributes already line up.

Remote control really has three options;
Issue a command to the drone Pilot program; it uses Pilot + Autosofts (if available)
Remote control in AR; use your physical stats and relevant skill
Remote control in VR; use your mental stats and relevant skills

[CigarSmoker]

Ah nice good to know.

[ZeroSum]

EDIT:
Changes from v1
Completely redid character with lessons learned from street samurai. Now a dwarf with R6 cyberjack and Shiawase Cyber-6 deck, focused on Matrix actions with a minor investment in biotech, engineering, and firearms. Extremely solid Mental and Matrix attributes, a little weaker in the flesh. No secondary face role anymore. Overall much more focused and able to perform primary duties as dedicated decker.

[ZeroSum]

Changes in v2:
As carrying over Karma from character generation to gameplay is potentially not allowed, I've made some minor changes to ensure the character is RAW legal.

Spent 4 Karma on Resources (+8k nuyen)
Swapped Medium lifestyle for Low (+3k nuyen)

Removed Stun Baton, Yamaha Pulsar I, 50 taser darts, and smartgun system (+1475 nuyen)
Removed Lined Coat with Rating 2 Cold/Fire/Electricity Protection (+2400 nuyen)
Purchased Ares Light Fire 75 w/custom silencer, gas-vent, 50 Gel Rounds, and 2 spare clips (-1650 nuyen)
Purchased Sleep Regulator (Standard) cultured bioware (-0.15 essence, -12k nuyen)
Purchased Configurator program, Datachip, and First Aid kit (585 nuyen)

Sleep Regulator seemed like the obvious choice for a reality-escaping hacker who just wants to live in the comfort of the Matrix. More time to explore the digital frontier, less time needed for pesky sleep. Also useful when conducting matrix research or repairing stuff.