[Bewilderbeast]

My players (Smugtown Shadows) please kindly keep out!

I have a player in my group who's playing a magician with a Raven mentor spirit. I can tell he wants Raven to be a big part of his character, and I'm having a hard time coming up with ways to incorporate Raven's disadvantage.

You must make a Charisma + Willpower (3) Test to
avoid exploiting someone else’s misfortune to your own
advantage or to pull a clever trick or prank even if it’s to
the disadvantage of your friends.

So people with Raven as a mentor have two issues.

1. They're tempted to exploit someone else's misfortune. The problem with this is that if I say, "Okay, make a Charisma and Willpower check to see if you can do this dastardly thing to gain an advantage," then the average Shadowrunner will say, "Umm... I pass the check. But can I do that anyway?" Exploiting someone else's misfortune is stuff criminals generally just do, right?

2. They're tempted to pull clever tricks and pranks all the time. This is a little more believable as a disadvantage, I suppose, but I don't want my Shadowrun campaign to turn into wacky hi-jinks time. How can I make pranks and jokes risky, dangerous and disadvantageous for the character?

So far I've done the following:

1. The Raven magician discovered a young Awakened girl in his apartment and was tempted to spook her. Instead he beat the check and decided to set up a ward to protect her. It was a pretty cool scene.

2. I'm planning on having the character discover a cache of BTLs with labels. He'll have to make a check to resist switching the labels on the BTLs. I don't know about you, but getting "Gay Ork Orgy" when you expected "Skydiving Adventure" sounds pretty funny to me. Of course, some BTL users might not agree...

I'm looking for more ideas like this, ways I can use the Raven disadvantage and actually make it a disadvantage.

[All4BigGuns]

Mentor Spirit is a Positive Quality that is paid for, not a Negative Quality that gives more points. The "disadvantage" isn't a 'balancing factor'. It merely adds to the character, and if a character with Raven is the sort that would exploit someone else's misfortune anyway, then that's just a sign that the right mentor was chosen as a mentor spirit comes to those compatible with their ideals not just to anyone who decides to follow that particular mentor that day.

[RHat]

As far as exploiting misfortune goes, remember that the rest of the part is not exempt.  Nor is the Johnson, nor the extraction target...  It's a heavy disadvantage.

Guns: The disadvantage is a balancing factor.  Hence why the mathmatically best Mentor has the strongest disadvantage.

[Sendaz]

Raven swoops in when opportunity knocks.

Example, Team is at a bar waiting for a meet.  An argument breaks out between the fairly hot waitress and her scum boyfriend she has found sleeping with her best friend and is raking him over the coals and dumping him publicly, much to everyone's amusement. As she strides past back to the counter, most would just be returning to their drinks because the show is over.  Raven boy however may well intercept and chat her up right there, maybe suggest dinner sometime. He probably has zero chances most days of the week but hey, she just broke up and he may not have another opportunity.

Of course the newly Ex might not appreciate that sort of thing, and depending on who he is connected to, may be able to make things difficult or even hazardous down the road.

So he is still exploiting another's misfortune (the breakup) certainly to his own advantage (she is pretty hot afterall) though it may be a disadvantage to the rest of the team (really he could not have waited until after the meet?  Especially if the Ex kicks off with a few buddies to mess with Raven boy while the Johnson is negotiating with the team leader/face, just rude and may look unprofessional or at least not subtle).  Might even end up with a low pt Enemy.

You don't have to make every action he does risky or dangerous, but there can and should be consequences for actions taken and let it evolve from there.

Pranks and jokes can range from subtle to crazy, but remember the Raven isn't stupid either.  If during a run on some corp Raven boy plants a whoopee cushion under the CEO's chair, it is amusing, but you can be certain he will still wipe all prints or any other removable traces so it doesn't come back on him easily.  Spiking the guards coffee pot in their break room with ex-lax is always good for the cheap laugh along the way. Of course it may also trigger an alert early in the run if several of the guards are running for the john and someone realizes something is wrong.
So the pranks/jokes can be hazardous, and again just look at them and ask yourself if he does X, what are the consequences that derive from it?  Sometimes the effect will be minor, but if he is sloppy and it can come back on him, it might be much more dear.

[Silence]

Falling back on 4th ed rules here, but the biggest RP difference between Trickster and Raven is the wording.  Trickster says "Even to the person's or their friend's detriment."  Raven, "Take advantage of another's misfortune."  Simply put, a person with a Raven mentor spirit can be a prankster in 4th, but it's not needed.  Or a better way of putting it:  Trickster is a more happy-go-lucky jovial fellow.  Raven's a dick.  5th ed Raven, "You must make a Charisma + Willpower (3) Test to avoid exploiting someone else’s misfortune to your own advantage or to pull a clever trick or prank even if it’s to the disadvantage of your friends."

Translation:  You now have to Raven as an even bigger dick, but if it's his tail on the line, he's not going to do it.  And pulling pranks on a run is a good way to get geeked by your own team.  Unless it's something that saves them.

My advice:  Do a few hooding runs where he has a chance to put the client over a barrel, and must choose between taking immediate advantage of the situation, or taking a longer view.  Or the guy their hired to hit makes a pretty tempting offer to turn on the client.  Frankly, temptation's going to be a bitch, there.  See if he takes the long view or the short one.  Raven doesn't much care, so long as an advantage comes up somewhere.