[UmaroVI]

There's some funny stuff where Threading says Resonance x2 is the cap under Threading, and it's not stated if it's supposed to apply to Assist Operation. I don't see many GMs letting that one fly. Either way, though, since PD stacks with AO, it's always good.

[Dinendae]

Out of curiosity, will you be making sample characters for the 2050 Shadowrun version?

[UmaroVI]

Most likely no, sorry.

[Dinendae]

Most likely no, sorry.

No worries, I was just curious if the sample characters in that book were as bad as some of the sample characters in the SR4A book (Weapons Expert, etc.). I'm planning to run a game in that era for my group, but I wasn't sure if I should recommend them or not to the players.

[UmaroVI]

At a quick glance through: they are pretty bad. Some highlights: the Shaman has no listed Magic stat (editing lol, who needs editors?), the Bodyguard took Restriced Gear for Dermal Plating 3, and the unarmed combat adept forgot to buy Critical Strike.

[Dinendae]

At a quick glance through: they are pretty bad. Some highlights: the Shaman has no listed Magic stat (editing lol, who needs editors?), the Bodyguard took Restriced Gear for Dermal Plating 3, and the unarmed combat adept forgot to buy Critical Strike.

Ok, make their own characters it is! Thanks!

[Rocksor]

Hi,

I am interested in why you choose not to max Magic to 6 with your characters?

Also I am interested in why some of the magic active characters have reduced magic because of essence loss?

Can you explain to me why chose to do it this way?

[UmaroVI]

Hard capping any stat is almost never worth it. 25 BP now vs 30 karma later is not a good deal. The main exceptions are technomancers and resonance (saves points over the long run because of how CFs are priced) and edge cases where the hard cap is very high (like 8+).

One magician has essence loss (the burnout combat mage). It's a tradeoff for magicians, he ends up trading offense for defense. All the adepts do because it's hugely advantageous to them to have a small amount of ware.

[JustADude]

Hard capping any stat is almost never worth it. 25 BP now vs 30 karma later is not a good deal. The main exceptions are technomancers and resonance (saves points over the long run because of how CFs are priced) and edge cases where the hard cap is very high (like 8+).

And if the cap is 10, such as Trolls' Strength and Body, you actually end up saving, since 1 BP is worth a fraction less than 2 Karma.

[Devil]

I'd like to request a Human B&E Specialist/Hacker sample character please.

[GoodbyeSoberDay]

First off, I'd like to say great job!  As a newb to shadowrun I found these builds to be very informative, both for general character building and just as a way to explore the vast set of rules and how they interact with each other.  The game of "what goes into that dice pool?" helped me quite a bit.

I understand that all your actual recommended adepts are augmented because there's so much you can get for that essence compared to those last points of magic.  Does the inclusion of shapeshifters into a game change this?  I see the huge stat increases and the fast healing (among other things), and my gut answer is that an unaugmented shapeshifter adept is playable, but perhaps their BP cost is too high for what they provide.  Thoughts?

-GBSD

[UmaroVI]

The problem with being an shapeshifter adept is not the lack of augments, but rather the crippling effects of being dual-natured with no ranged astral attacks. You a permanently stuck on a plane where nearly everyone else can fly and shoot lasers, and you can only fight people who are willing to come right next to you. Also, your teammates mostly can't help. For this reason, if you want to be a physical combat focused shifter, I recommend being a Mystic Adept and using buffs on yourself, which gives you the ability to do some stuff to defend yourself on the astral (and also to summon spirits who can help on the astral).

If your GM is going to softball the drawbacks of being dual-natured, then shapeshifter adept is perfectly fine, depending on type - they aren't well balanced relative to one another. Tiger/Lion is the best if you want to focus on physical combat.

[Caimbuel]

Any idea on how I can when using Chummer for it to use the Cyber arms statistics rather than the base Agility? I am currently trying to recreate the Generalist in Chummer, and so far so good with the minor exception that Chummer wont recognize the Firearms being used in the right arms statistic but uses the base Stats of 1 Agility instead.

Anyone know of a way around this or how to make it recognize that I am shooting with the right arm and not my natural arm?

[UmaroVI]

I'm afraid I have no clue about how to make Chummer do that. I'd suggest trying the dumpshock Chummer thread - I think you're more likely to get the answer there.

[Caimbuel]

[Availability 21, 12300Y]      Purchase Tactical Software 4, Ergonomic
   Note: You and all other Archetypes characters (aside from the Technomancer) can use this tacnet. You need 5 other people in this tacnet for it to work.

So do the other 5 people have to ALSO purchase the Tacsoft and install it? or is there another way?