[Solarious]

This'll be my first ever Shadowrun character so any critique would be great.

I'm playing with 3 other players which already have the basics covered- a pretty standard samurai, a Mage/face, and a decker/light rigger. For this reason I just wanted to go with a basic support character that can be the tech guy, field medic, light fire support, ect

I don't have a lot for background but I wanted to play an every man kind of character.
Born into a slum but smarter then most, he decided to get together what money he could to get the best (used) skillwire system he could afford in order to enter the world of unskilled wired temp workers.
It was through one of these temp agencies that he was recruited for the life of a shadowrunner.
Wanting a better life for his wife and newly born children, he accepted, sold his car, and bought a few weapons and skillsofts he might need for the job.

A few questions-

1) I realize that I should probably make this guy a human to push up his skills a bit but I thought an ork would be more interesting to play in this particular situation. Is this going to handicap me too much?

2) I'm honestly not sure which skillsofts to take. I just took things that seemed appropriate to the character.
Any advice would help.

3) I'm sure there's more but I can't think of anything right now.
I'm sure that'll change.

Anyway...

Priorities-
A- Attributes
B- Ork
C- Resources
D- Skills
E- Magic

Attributes-
BOD 6
AGI 5
REA 5
STR 6
WIL 4
LOG 5
INT 3
CHA 3

Active Skills-
Engineering Group 2
Electronics Group 2
Pistols 3
Clubs 3
Unarmed 2
Perception 3
Running 2
Gymnastics 3 (Climb +2)
Etiquette 2 (Corp +2)
Pilot Ground 2

Knowledge Skills-
Temporary Work Agencies 4
Engine Design 2
Ares Macro 2 (Detroit Operations +2)
local Gangs 2
Industrial Macinery 2

Contacts-
Fixer (Connection 3, Loyalty 2)
Paramed Mage (connection 1, Loyalty 3)


Qualities-
Jury Rigger
Dependents (9)
National SIN (UCAS)
Insomnia (10)

Lifestyle- Low (1 month- +30% for dependents)

Augmentations-
Datajack
Skilljack R4 (used)
Skillwires R3 (used)

Armor-
"Worker Jumpsuit" (Urban Explorer Jumpsuit- fire resistance R2, nonconductivity R2, Helmet)
Gas Mask
Goggles (Capacity 4- Image Link, Flare compensation, vision enhancement R2)
Rappelling Gloves

Weapons-
Ares Predator (50 rounds regular)
Ingram Smartgun (100 rounds regular)
Extendable Baton
Knife

Gear-
Erika Elite Comm
Fake SIN R4
Fake License R3 x2 (Firearms, Lockpick gear)

Tools-
Auto Mechanic Kit
Armorer Kit
Aero Mechanic Kit
Hardware Kit
Autopicker R2
Lockpick Set
Flashlight
Miniwelder (2 extra fuel tanks)
Monofilament Chainsaw
Medkit R3
Trauma Patch x2
Stim Patch R3 x2

Programs-
Mapsoft (Detroit)
Shopsoft x2 (tools, skillsofts)

Activesofts-
Automatics R3
Armorer R2
First Aid R3
Locksmith R3
Sneak R2

Knowsofts-
Drone Design R2
Anatomy R2

Linguisofts-
Spanish R3
Japanese R3
Or'zet R1

[Solarious]

40 views and no comments?
Does that mean I'm all good?

[Namikaze]

Honestly, it's a pretty solid build.  Without knowing anything about his background, I can already tell that he's going to be a good character.  The trick is going to be getting him to survive the first few sessions - once he's got some money in his pocket, he can buy whatever skillsofts he might need, and he'll start to really shine.

[Solarious]

Really?
Thank you- that's great!
I figured my first character would be a mess.
Or that he would be too underpowered or something.
Not being able to buy activesofts higher then 3 (without upgrading my wires) scares me a bit.

I'll work up some more detailed backstory and post it here later.

[Namikaze]

The thing is that it's not a munchkin.  But it's versatile, and it's kind of nice to see a character that's more balanced than many.  With skillsofts, even at rating 3, he can fulfill a lot of needs for backing up the group.  And going with an ork makes sense, since Edge can't be used on skillsoft-based tests.  So the increased attributes of an ork make sense in this build.

[JackVII]

I'll be honest. I'm playing an ork Skillwire Samurai right now and skillsoft are a bit underwhelming given the cost and limitations.

A few comments:
1) I think your skills look correct for someone with the background he has, but you're kind of doubling up on things, IMO. If you're not intending for him to be a front line combat character, you can probably get away with one ranged and one melee skill. I find Unarmed to be a bit more all-around useful.

2) Your attributes are going to help a bit, but the R3 limit for your skillsoft probably places you in a back-up role for most things, particularly since you can't Edge tests made with skillsoft. You're looking at 9 dice or so, which is competent, but nothing to write home about.

3) Check with your GM on whether they are going to roll with skillwires being addictive. It can eventually be pretty crippling, particularly if you use them all the time.

[Namikaze]

3) Check with your GM on whether they are going to roll with skillwires being addictive. It can eventually be pretty crippling, particularly if you use them all the time.

Wait.  Is that a thing?  I don't remember reading that anywhere.

[JackVII]

3) Check with your GM on whether they are going to roll with skillwires being addictive. It can eventually be pretty crippling, particularly if you use them all the time.

Wait.  Is that a thing?  I don't remember reading that anywhere.

Skillwires are listed on the addiction table (and are pretty damn addictive at Addiction Rating 5 higher than Cram and Zen, same level as Bliss). I personally am not a fan of its inclusion. Then again Hot and Cold Sim VR are also apparently addictive.

The rules are also completely silent on whether it's a psychological, physiological, or Both type of addiction (I'd probably go physiological, but I can see a case for both).

[Solarious]

I neverr thought about skillwires as being addictive but it does totally make sense.
I bet you can get real used to doing things with the wires you can't nomally even understand.
Plus this adds another interesting possible storyline- which I like a lot.

[Namikaze]

Wow, I hadn't noticed it on the Addiction table.  Seems kind of reasonable, considering how easy it would be to get dependent on them.  But man, that's a brutal Addiction Rating.  I might houserule that down a bit at my table.

[JackVII]

Wow, I hadn't noticed it on the Addiction table.  Seems kind of reasonable, considering how easy it would be to get dependent on them.  But man, that's a brutal Addiction Rating.  I might houserule that down a bit at my table.

Personally, I feel it somewhat unfairly targets skillwires. Why not wired reflexes or adrenal boosters? It seems like almost any physical augment that impacts the body would be fair game. Considering the limitations and cost of skillwires. it just seems like an unnecessary hit.

[gmoney999]

I like the idea for your character. I don't know as much as these guys, but I think you could optimize him and still make him more flavorful at the same time.

Like its been said, pick one ranged and one melee skill and get it higher. Pistols might be a good choice. You can almost always sneak in a hold out.  Then you could always contribute something to combat. Maybe max out agility.

And I would pick an area where you are better then the rest of your team. Maybe be the B&E infiltrator guy?  Specialize your real skills a little bit in that.  Only get augmentations like skillwires that are legal and relatively common. That way you wouldn't attract attention like your Street Sam or Mage.  According to sensors and astral perception you are just a normal guy and can go a lot of places.  Work that angle.

For your skill wires pick things you can use to support your team like medicine, forgery, and mechanic. Use them creatively. Lots of people talk about sneaking into somewhere as plumbers or the like. It would be nice to have someone on the team who can actually work the plumbing. Maybe you actually fix the plumbing on the run, and the target is none the wiser that they are hit?  (see if you can use industrial mecahnic?).  You could buy specific skills like that as needed for certain missions (chemistry? Cyberware?).  Keep the same priorities and almost the same attributes.  Could be alot of fun.

My 2 cents.

[Tecumseh]

Can you break out where he spent his karma? I see a whole bunch of negative qualities but I don't know where that karma (or the chargen karma) went. I'm guessing into the Skill Group points, since Skills D doesn't include any, but didn't want to assume too much.

[Solarious]

No problem-

Karma was spent on the skill groups, juryrigger, and the rest went into loot
I'm pretty sure that's it but I don't have my sheets on me

While I'm here I wanted to see if anyone had any advice on advancement.
I think upgrading my skillwires and buying more softs is obvious but that's really not all that expensive in the long run.

And what about karma?
When you buy all of your skills off a shelf where do I go from there?
Up my attributes? Better my nonchipped skills?

I'd like to keep this guy's family life separate from his shadowrunner life for their protection.
Is buying  second lifestyle worth the expenditure?
After all this guy's whole goal in life is really to make sure his kids (triplet Orc babies- what a nightmare!) can go to a real school instead of just dodging bullets the whole time.

I'll post a background story later. Honestly, I just don't feel like typing it right now.

[JmOz01]

I WOULD consider moving Ork down to C and Money to B, but otherwise...