Shadowrun
Shadowrun Play => Character creation and critique => Topic started by: 8-bit on <10-23-14/1722:42>
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This guy is meant to be super good at conjuring, with some pretty good spellcasting abilities as well.
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-- Priorities --
Metatype E (Human)
Attributes B
Magic A (Magician - 6 Magic, 10 Spells) - Buddhist Tradition
Skills D
Resources C
-- Karma Expenditure --
50 Total
-13 in Qualities
-18 to bind Force 3 Power Focus
-8 to bind Force 2 Health Sustaining Focus
-5 for one Spell
-2 for Sneaking 1
-2 for Etiquette
6 Left
-- Attributes --
Body 3
Agility 2
Reaction 4
Strength 2
Willpower 5
Logic 3
Intuition 6
Charisma 3
Edge 3
Essence 6
Magic 6
Initiative - 10 + 1d6
Astral Initiative - 12 + 2d6
Physical Condition Monitor - 10
Stun Condition Monitor - 11
Physical Limit - 4
Mental Limit - 6
Social Limit - 6
Astral Limit - 6
-- Qualities --
Mentor Spirit - Eagle (-5 Karma)
Focused Concentration 2 (-8 Karma)
Allergy - Pollutants, Mild (Mentor Spirit)
Allergy - Silver, Moderate (+10 Karma)
Distinctive Style (+5 Karma)
Weak Immune System (+10 Karma)
-- Skills --
Assensing 4 - dice pool 10
Binding 6 (+2 Spirits of Air) - dice pool of 12 (14) w/o Foci
Etiquette 1 - dice pool of 4
Perception 6 (+2 Visual) [+2 Mentor Spirit] - dice pool of 14 (16)
Spellcasting 6 (+2 Combat) - dice pool of 12 (14) w/o Foci
Sneaking 1 - dice pool of 3
Summoning 6 (+2 Spirits of Air) - dice pool of 12 (14) w/o Foci
-- Knowledge/Language Skills --
TBD - 18 points
-- Gear --
Vashon Island: Ace of Wands w/ Nonconductivity 6, Rating 6 Respirator - 3,000 nuyen
Force 3 Power Focus - 54,000 nuyen
Force 2 Health Sustaining Focus - 8,000 nuyen
Rating 6 Medkit - 1,500 nuyen
Transys Avalon Commlink - 5,000 nuyen
3 Renraku Sensei Commlinks - 3,000 nuyen
Micro-transceiver - 100 nuyen
10 doses of Psyche - 2,000 nuyen
300 drams of Reagents - 6,000 nuyen
Force 6 Magical Lodge Materials - 3,000 nuyen
Survival Kit - 200 nuyen
15 Magnesium Torches - 75 nuyen
Capacity 1 Glasses w/ Image Link - 125 nuyen
2 Gold, 4 Silver, 4 Standard Credsticks - 300 nuyen
Rating 4 Fake SIN w/ Rating 4 Fake License (Registered Magician), Rating 4 Fake License (Power Focus) - 11,600 nuyen
Hyundai Shin-Hyung w/ Morphing License Plate, Spoof Chips - 30,000 nuyen
1 Month of High Lifestyle - 10,000 nuyen
Remaining Money - 1,300 + (5d6 x 500) nuyen
-- Magic --
Fire Ball
Clout
Lightning Bolt
Analyze Truth
Heal
Increase Intuition
Increase Willpower
Increase Reflexes
Improved Invisibility
Influence
Physical Barrier
-- Contacts --
9 points TBD
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Edited on October 27th. Thoughts? Criticisms?
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How are you getting to 23 dice to summon?
Magic (6) + Skill (6) + spec (2) + mentor (2) + Focus (4) = 20
The only thing i can think of is you are stacking the summoning and power foci
SR core P318
You can’t bond more foci than your Magic attribute, and the maximum Force of all your bonded foci can’t exceed your Magic x 5. Regardless of the number of bonded foci you have, only one focus may add its Force to a dice pool for any given test.
You are also at risk for focus addiction. Granted you dice pool is high, but i have rolled 21 dice, gotten no successes, used an edge to re-roll, and critically glitched... The dice gods are not fond of hubris!
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I had Power Focus and Summoning Focus stacking. Did not remember that section where they can't stack. That will free up a lot of money and karma to not bind the Power Focus. You are right about that. Still 20 dice is pretty good. Focus addiction is only for active foci, I can turn them on and off to sort of cheat the system. Will edit it later.
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I had Power Focus and Summoning Focus stacking. Did not remember that section where they can't stack. That will free up a lot of money and karma to not bind the Power Focus. You are right about that. Still 20 dice is pretty good. Focus addiction is only for active foci, I can turn them on and off to sort of cheat the system. Will edit it later.
Honestly you are better off keeping the power focus, and losing the others. It is a catch all for summoning/binding etc.
Build wise, you have no stealth capabilities, be it magical or otherwise, which could hurt.
Focused concentration 3 might be worthwhile with 3 buffs in the spell list. That way if you purchase one more level after creation, you can keep reaction boosted cheaply.
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Yeah, I suppose I can keep the Power Focus. The extra money can go towards a vehicle, while the karma can go towards qualities perhaps.
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Not bad for a "walk around" guy. But as a running.... well i wouldn't run with him.
Spirits get cranky when they feel abused. Not going near a pissed off free spirit. As mentioned before, lack of stealth skills is a worry.
The high Ettiquette skill suggests a face position, thus a secondary position during combat.
<edit: missed something you had, and like an idiot, commented on it)
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While you shouldn't abuse spirit, a conjurer character can certainly summon spirits to help him do running things (including combat) and not get astral flak for it, as long as you treat them well. And that includes them getting shot and such, as long as you don't put them into unnecessary danger. After all, they do get... something in exchange for them helping you, and while being disrupted isn't fun, it's not lethal either. And since spirits have a lot of utility and power, summoners are very viable as runners.
You might want to look at stealth, though, as Reaver suggested. Spirits will actually help with that too, but some skills (and/or invisibility/stealth spells) would certainly help.
You have a lot of sustained health spells. I presume those are to boost your drain resist, which is nice, except keeping all 3 spells active will give you a -6 on all dice pools (well not drain and such, but most). That's not a good idea. You can get sustaining foci to do it but those'd be expensive (you can shove Reflexes on a F1 if you use reagents, but the Int and Will need force 6 and 5 respectively). You can also shove them onto a spirit but then it'd only last a couple of turns, ór really piss the spirit off (and see Reaver's comment on that).
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While you shouldn't abuse spirit, a conjurer character can certainly summon spirits to help him do running things (including combat) and not get astral flak for it, as long as you treat them well. And that includes them getting shot and such, as long as you don't put them into unnecessary danger. After all, they do get... something in exchange for them helping you, and while being disrupted isn't fun, it's not lethal either. And since spirits have a lot of utility and power, summoners are very viable as runners.
You might want to look at stealth, though, as Reaver suggested. Spirits will actually help with that too, but some skills (and/or invisibility/stealth spells) would certainly help.
You have a lot of sustained health spells. I presume those are to boost your drain resist, which is nice, except keeping all 3 spells active will give you a -6 on all dice pools (well not drain and such, but most). That's not a good idea. You can get sustaining foci to do it but those'd be expensive (you can shove Reflexes on a F1 if you use reagents, but the Int and Will need force 6 and 5 respectively). You can also shove them onto a spirit but then it'd only last a couple of turns, ór really piss the spirit off (and see Reaver's comment on that).
Pretty sure the plan is to have those spells quickened eventually ( which I would reconsider astral beacon as a nq if that's the case, trail for intuition would be active for 9 hours.). I would set yourself up with 7 karma waiting at creation, so you can likely initiate after first mission.
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Pretty sure the plan is to have those spells quickened eventually ( which I would reconsider astral beacon as a nq if that's the case, trail for intuition would be active for 9 hours.). I would set yourself up with 7 karma waiting at creation, so you can likely initiate after first mission.
That could work. Having a lot of Health spells active is a good thing if you can pull it off, you just need a way to do it, and quickening is a good one.
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Psyche was a temporary measure for a few of the spells, and Quickening was my thought, yes. That would allow me to overcast combat spells if necessary, or summon spirits with less worry. I should probably change the specialization to Combat Spells instead of Health Spells, since most Health spells only count a certain number of hits anyways.
I have no intentions of abusing my spirits (although binding, in itself, is still fairly abusive), because getting on the bad side of spirits as a conjurer seems like a very bad idea.
I'll take a look at Stealth stuff later tonight when I have access to my books. Also reconsidering Astral Beacon as Shrazkil pointed out.
Thanks for the comments and critiques guys, I'll try and get a new version up later tonight.
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-18 to bind Force 3 Power Focus
-8 to bind Force 4 Air Spirit Summoning Focus
-8 to bind Force 4 Air Spirit Binding Focus
-4 for Force 6 Bound Water Spirit with 4 Services
-- Skills --
Assensing 6 (+2 Aura Reading) - dice pool 12 (14)
Binding 6 (+2 Spirits of Air) - dice pool of 12 (14) w/o Foci
Etiquette 1 (+2 Street) - dice pool of 4 (6)
Perception 1 (+2 Visual) [+2 Mentor Spirit] - dice pool of 9 (11)
Spellcasting 6 (+2 Health) - dice pool of 12 (14) w/o Foci
Summoning 6 (+2 Spirits of Air) - dice pool of 12 (14) w/o Foci
Why the double up on the Conjuring foci ? Really, why not use that Cash & Karma to buy the AGI/STR points & then stick those 2 points into higher Charisma ?
Why 4 services on 1 spirit. Why not 2 at 2?
For that matter, Karma for 1 Service is a waste of cash, with your resources I would just bind pre-1st mission.
I think I would get a 5th skill higher.
Assensing-6
Binding-6 + Air+2
Perception-6
Spellcasting-6 + Health+2
Summoning-6
Also, consider STR-1 & use that 10 karma for 5x L1 Skills.
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Edited the build a bit. I have some free cash and karma. Thinking Sneaking 1 or Pilot Groundcraft 1 for the Karma, any suggestions on the cash?
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Edited the build a bit. I have some free cash and karma. Thinking Sneaking 1 or Pilot Groundcraft 1 for the Karma, any suggestions on the cash?
Stealth at 1 will at least get you out of critical glitch range with 1 die rolled, 3 into stealth would be better, so that 2 ones don't glitch you. If that is possible.
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Edited the build a bit. I have some free cash and karma. Thinking Sneaking 1 or Pilot Groundcraft 1 for the Karma, any suggestions on the cash?
5 dice in driving isn't going to do much. Better off letting your car drive I think - you're going to get money to spend on autosofts to make it drive better then you anyway. Sneaking is better (your car can't sneak for you).
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Sneaking it is then. Also, adding a Driver's License to the Rating 4 Fake SIN. Still have 2,800 nuyen left to spend, any ideas?
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Sneaking it is then. Also, adding a Driver's License to the Rating 4 Fake SIN. Still have 2,800 nuyen left to spend, any ideas?
i say bring it into game with you. You can never have too much bribe money!
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Sneaking it is then. Also, adding a Driver's License to the Rating 4 Fake SIN. Still have 2,800 nuyen left to spend, any ideas?
I would drop Focused-Concentration down to Level-2 to free up 4 Karma.
Also drop off some of those Drugs, Reagents, & 2nd SIN to free up some cash.
Bind a Health-Sustaining-Foci-2
That way you can have 2 spells sustained instead of 1.
I'd also probably drop a couple of those specializations to get 6 full ranks of Perception.
Drop the 11th spell.
Then use Karma to repurchase Etiquette as well as Arcana, & Ritual Casting all at L1
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How does having a Force 2 Sustaining Health Focus help me? Increase Intuition needs to be cast at Force 6 (7 when under the effects of Psyche), and Increase Willpower needs to be cast at Force 5. I suppose I could sustain a Force 2 Increase Reflexes with the Focus and then something like Improved Invisibility with the Focused Concentration. The thing is, I can sustain 3 spells with Psyche for a -2 penalty (2 sustained with 1 in Focused Concentration), while sustaining 3 spells with the Focus is the same -2 penalty (1 for Focused Concentration, 1 in Focus, -2 for a spell). That just climbs up higher and higher as I sustain more spells. The goal is to sustain Increase Reflexes/Improved Invisibility through the Focused Concentration, while sustaining the Increase Intuition and Increase Willpower at a -2 penalty while using Psyche. The goal is to eventually get Quickening to not require Psyche at all.
I can easily drop some doses of Psyche, I don't need so many. Reagents are incredibly useful, plus, since Binding is a big part of this guy, I am going to need a lot of reagents. A Force 6 Spirit requires 150 drams of Reagents. I plan to have multiple ones if possible (going to treat them with respect, but it never hurts to have big powerhouses to help you out). I can easily drop the second Fake SIN as well, I had some spare cash when I first made the build, so I threw that in there as an emergency, "Oh shit, I need to disappear and need to throw away my good SIN for a bit."
As for Specializations ... well, it's a personal preference honestly. It costs a pretty large 7 Karma after chargen to get those back, and they add 2 dice. Also, what you are suggesting would require dropping 5 specializations, which is pretty much all of them. I think the skills are pretty well set in stone. I mean, my Perception is at 9 (11) right now, which is pretty good; it will be 13 (15) with Increase Intuition, and I can raise it to rank 2 for only 4 Karma. Yes, eventually it gets more and more expensive, but considering how high this character's Intuition is; I think I can afford to lowball Perception. (Edit: Just noticed you didn't mean for me to drop 5 specializations, but I think my reasoning still stands.)
The 11th spell was Improved Invisibility. Everyone emphasized how important stealth was, so I added that in there. I could possibly drop Analyze Truth, but it's such a useful spell.
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Also, just noticed I still had Astral Beacon. I changed it to a Moderate Silver Allergy. It's generic, I know, but Allergies fit in well with the Weak Immune System, not to mention that I get an Allergy from my mentor spirit.
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How does having a Force 2 Sustaining Health Focus help me? Increase Intuition needs to be cast at Force 6 (7 when under the effects of Psyche), and Increase Willpower needs to be cast at Force 5. I suppose I could sustain a Force 2 Increase Reflexes with the Focus and then something like Improved Invisibility with the Focused Concentration. The thing is, I can sustain 3 spells with Psyche for a -2 penalty (2 sustained with 1 in Focused Concentration), while sustaining 3 spells with the Focus is the same -2 penalty (1 for Focused Concentration, 1 in Focus, -2 for a spell). That just climbs up higher and higher as I sustain more spells. The goal is to sustain Increase Reflexes/Improved Invisibility through the Focused Concentration, while sustaining the Increase Intuition and Increase Willpower at a -2 penalty while using Psyche. The goal is to eventually get Quickening to not require Psyche at all.
I can easily drop some doses of Psyche, I don't need so many. Reagents are incredibly useful, plus, since Binding is a big part of this guy, I am going to need a lot of reagents. A Force 6 Spirit requires 150 drams of Reagents. I plan to have multiple ones if possible (going to treat them with respect, but it never hurts to have big powerhouses to help you out). I can easily drop the second Fake SIN as well, I had some spare cash when I first made the build, so I threw that in there as an emergency, "Oh shit, I need to disappear and need to throw away my good SIN for a bit."
As for Specializations ... well, it's a personal preference honestly. It costs a pretty large 7 Karma after chargen to get those back, and they add 2 dice. Also, what you are suggesting would require dropping 5 specializations, which is pretty much all of them. I think the skills are pretty well set in stone. I mean, my Perception is at 9 (11) right now, which is pretty good; it will be 13 (15) with Increase Intuition, and I can raise it to rank 2 for only 4 Karma. Yes, eventually it gets more and more expensive, but considering how high this character's Intuition is; I think I can afford to lowball Perception. (Edit: Just noticed you didn't mean for me to drop 5 specializations, but I think my reasoning still stands.)
The 11th spell was Improved Invisibility. Everyone emphasized how important stealth was, so I added that in there. I could possibly drop Analyze Truth, but it's such a useful spell.
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Also, just noticed I still had Astral Beacon. I changed it to a Moderate Silver Allergy. It's generic, I know, but Allergies fit in well with the Weak Immune System, not to mention that I get an Allergy from my mentor spirit.
Not sure what he was smoking when he made those suggestions, but i don't want any.
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I can easily drop some doses of Psyche, I don't need so many. Reagents are incredibly useful, plus, since Binding is a big part of this guy, I am going to need a lot of reagents. A Force 6 Spirit requires 150 drams of Reagents. I plan to have multiple ones if possible (going to treat them with respect, but it never hurts to have big powerhouses to help you out). I can easily drop the second Fake SIN as well, I had some spare cash when I first made the build, so I threw that in there as an emergency, "Oh shit, I need to disappear and need to throw away my good SIN for a bit."
If you need to free up some cash, reagents aren't a bad way to do it. They're easily replenished anyway - you can keep, say, 200, use as you see fit during the run. I'm not sure how others do it but I generally don't bind multiple spirits during downtime anyway. 200 karma means you can always bind the first (in case the first run goes bad), and you can use the money from your first run towards the second if you wish (and so on). (Same goes for Psyche but you agreed with that point).
Completely unrelated point: You don't need a fake Driving License. Fake licenses in the context of SR5 are for restricted items and such. Driving isn't restricted in that sense; it's presumed included in the SIN.
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Yeah, I can free up a lot of Reagents. I am completely fine with keeping the first 200 or so. The main point was that I wanted a lot of them, and his recommendation for what to do with the extra money just didn't add up or make sense to me. Also, Driving Licenses are included in SINs? I never knew that. That's useful information; thanks!
I'll be removing the Driving License then. I'll also bump down the Reagents, doses of Psyche, and drop the extra Fake SIN. I am still not 100% sure what to use that money on, but I think I'll use it to upgrade to a High Lifestyle. Any suggestions are still appreciated! I've still got about 10,000 nuyen after dropping everything and upgrading to a High Lifestyle.
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How does having a Force 2 Sustaining Health Focus help me? Increase Intuition needs to be cast at Force 6 (7 when under the effects of Psyche),
and Increase Willpower needs to be cast at Force 5. I suppose I could sustain a Force 2 Increase Reflexes with the Focus and then something like Improved Invisibility with the Focused Concentration. The thing is, I can sustain 3 spells with Psyche for a -2 penalty (2 sustained with 1 in Focused Concentration), while sustaining 3 spells with the Focus is the same -2 penalty (1 for Focused Concentration, 1 in Focus, -2 for a spell). That just climbs up higher and higher as I sustain more spells. The goal is to sustain Increase Reflexes/Improved Invisibility through the Focused Concentration, while sustaining the Increase Intuition and Increase Willpower at a -2 penalty while using Psyche. The goal is to eventually get Quickening to not require Psyche at all.
Yes. I see what your planning. But it seems like your not understanding what I'm saying. Let me get more specific.
My point is that Focused Concentration-3 isn't going to get you much of anything over Focused Concentration-2.
As you already pointed out using it with Intuition or Willpower will not help.
Which leaves you with Reflexes & Invisibility as you stated.
Force-3 Reflexes gets you 3+1d v/s Force-2 Reflexes that gets you 2+1d
So you've blown 4 Karma for a boost of 1 to your initiative.
Similar issues with Invisibility where 3 Hits v/s 2 Hits isn't going to be a huge bonus.
My suggestion is to use the Health Focus to run Force-2 Reflexes all the time. (Or add 4/6 Reagents for heavy combat)
Keep Focused Concentration-2 for a slightly less effective quick invis or a Reagent boosted effective invis.
Then as stated, your Psyche will let you use a full on cast at F5/7 Willpower/Intuition boost and sustain them both at -2 dice.
I can easily drop some doses of Psyche, I don't need so many. Reagents are incredibly useful, plus, since Binding is a big part of this guy, I am going to need a lot of reagents. A Force 6 Spirit requires 150 drams of Reagents. I plan to have multiple ones if possible (going to treat them with respect, but it never hurts to have big powerhouses to help you out). I can easily drop the second Fake SIN as well, I had some spare cash when I first made the build, so I threw that in there as an emergency, "Oh shit, I need to disappear and need to throw away my good SIN for a bit."
I'm aware Reagents are useful.
That said, you don't need 500 of them at CharGen. You can make do with 300, get a pair of Bound Force-5 spirits up & a summoned Force-6 all prepped before the first run starts.
Then after you've earned some more cash bind a 3rd spirit.
My point being you don't need EVERYTHING on your first run.
Which is why I said drop the 2nd Fake SIN as its unlikely you have to go on the lamb on your first day as a Shadowrunner, unless your GM just wants to end the campaign before it even started. Pick up another SIN after a couple runs.
As for Specializations ... well, it's a personal preference honestly. It costs a pretty large 7 Karma after chargen to get those back, and they add 2 dice. Also, what you are suggesting would require dropping 5 specializations, which is pretty much all of them. I think the skills are pretty well set in stone. I mean, my Perception is at 9 (11) right now, which is pretty good; it will be 13 (15) with Increase Intuition, and I can raise it to rank 2 for only 4 Karma. Yes, eventually it gets more and more expensive, but considering how high this character's Intuition is; I think I can afford to lowball Perception. (Edit: Just noticed you didn't mean for me to drop 5 specializations, but I think my reasoning still stands.)
You have 32 Skill Points.
The most karma efficient way to set them is to have 5 skills at R6 w/ 2 of them Specialized.
What can I say, 2 skills at Rank-1 via points just screams inefficient to me.
As for the Specializations you've chooses......
Aura Reading isn't likely to save your life from ambush.
Summoning. Gets you 2 dice on One type of spirit. So maybe 1 extra service if you have a little luck.
Both of those can go. You have a Mentor Bonus & a Power Focus boosting your base 12 Dice. Normal spirits aren't likely to resist that.
Now Binding as I suggested is a solid one to keep because of the cash at risk w/ all those Reagents.
Spellcasting is solid as its your main Combat skill.
Visual Perception is solid but covered by getting 6 Full Ranks in it. Its one of the most useful skills in the game.
Perception is huge in avoiding ambushes or finding little things like that lever that opens the secret panel to the vault full of pay-data.
Etiquette as I mentioned can be purchased w/ 2 Karma. 6 will get you Rank-2 which will likely be as useful as 1 w/ Specialization in 1 segment of the population.
The 11th spell was Improved Invisibility. Everyone emphasized how important stealth was, so I added that in there. I could possibly drop Analyze Truth, but it's such a useful spell.
I wasn't saying drop Improved Invisibility. I said Drop the 11th (Paid for with Karma) spell.
Maybe it one of the Attr Buffs since you don't have quickening yet. But, Flamethrower & Sound Barrier would be my choices.
Flamethrower is mildly redundant given the other 2 Combat Spells & Sound Barrier is iffy based on the situation.
I'd drop them both for the 5 Karma & a spell that has more use, like Control Thoughts or Influence or that new Memory Eraser one from Shadow Spells, I forget the name.
Weak Immune System, not to mention that I get an Allergy from my mentor spirit.
Personally I'd go with 3 Allergies, Weak Immune System is common in people w/ lots of Cyber installed in their body.
Edit: Also, this might seem counter intuitive when your building a Conjurer.
But I'd drop the Spirit Affinity. 1 Service for only 1 type of Spirit isn't really THAT amazing.
At least not if you plan on summoning all available type of spirits, which you should.
I recently dropped it when I remade character w/ new Grimoire stuff and don't miss it.
I think using those 7 points for higher/more contacts would honestly serve you better.
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Not sure what he was smoking when he made those suggestions, but i don't want any.
I wasn't smoking anything.
Tossing 20 dice instead of 18 dice at a spirit that is resisting with 5-6 dice isn't doing jack for you really.
Tossing 3 Extra dice to notice something & avoid an ambush can save your life, especially, for this character where he's going to be DODGING more than RESISTING damage & dodge dice go away when your surprised. Resisting that sniper rifle damage with 3 Body & an Armor Jacket isn't going to leave you in great shape.
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How does having a Force 2 Sustaining Health Focus help me? Increase Intuition needs to be cast at Force 6 (7 when under the effects of Psyche),
and Increase Willpower needs to be cast at Force 5. I suppose I could sustain a Force 2 Increase Reflexes with the Focus and then something like Improved Invisibility with the Focused Concentration. The thing is, I can sustain 3 spells with Psyche for a -2 penalty (2 sustained with 1 in Focused Concentration), while sustaining 3 spells with the Focus is the same -2 penalty (1 for Focused Concentration, 1 in Focus, -2 for a spell). That just climbs up higher and higher as I sustain more spells. The goal is to sustain Increase Reflexes/Improved Invisibility through the Focused Concentration, while sustaining the Increase Intuition and Increase Willpower at a -2 penalty while using Psyche. The goal is to eventually get Quickening to not require Psyche at all.
Yes. I see what your planning. But it seems like your not understanding what I'm saying. Let me get more specific.
My point is that Focused Concentration-3 isn't going to get you much of anything over Focused Concentration-2.
As you already pointed out using it with Intuition or Willpower will not help.
Which leaves you with Reflexes & Invisibility as you stated.
Force-3 Reflexes gets you 3+1d v/s Force-2 Reflexes that gets you 2+1d
So you've blown 4 Karma for a boost of 1 to your initiative.
Similar issues with Invisibility where 3 Hits v/s 2 Hits isn't going to be a huge bonus.
My suggestion is to use the Health Focus to run Force-2 Reflexes all the time. (Or add 4/6 Reagents for heavy combat)
Keep Focused Concentration-2 for a slightly less effective quick invis or a Reagent boosted effective invis.
Then as stated, your Psyche will let you use a full on cast at F5/7 Willpower/Intuition boost and sustain them both at -2 dice.
Thank you for clarifying; I indeed misunderstood what you were suggesting. That sounds like it would be very useful to have. Especially since I have so many reagents, I can use the reagent trick that you have stated quite often.
I can easily drop some doses of Psyche, I don't need so many. Reagents are incredibly useful, plus, since Binding is a big part of this guy, I am going to need a lot of reagents. A Force 6 Spirit requires 150 drams of Reagents. I plan to have multiple ones if possible (going to treat them with respect, but it never hurts to have big powerhouses to help you out). I can easily drop the second Fake SIN as well, I had some spare cash when I first made the build, so I threw that in there as an emergency, "Oh shit, I need to disappear and need to throw away my good SIN for a bit."
I'm aware Reagents are useful.
That said, you don't need 500 of them at CharGen. You can make do with 300, get a pair of Bound Force-5 spirits up & a summoned Force-6 all prepped before the first run starts.
Then after you've earned some more cash bind a 3rd spirit.
My point being you don't need EVERYTHING on your first run.
Which is why I said drop the 2nd Fake SIN as its unlikely you have to go on the lamb on your first day as a Shadowrunner, unless your GM just wants to end the campaign before it even started. Pick up another SIN after a couple runs.
I ended up dropping it down to 200; 300 sounds like it might be a better number to get 2 Force 5 spirits, as you have suggested. You are correct with not needing everything on the first run; I'm just used to PbP games where getting through one run is a miracle in itself. However, your points are all valid.
As for Specializations ... well, it's a personal preference honestly. It costs a pretty large 7 Karma after chargen to get those back, and they add 2 dice. Also, what you are suggesting would require dropping 5 specializations, which is pretty much all of them. I think the skills are pretty well set in stone. I mean, my Perception is at 9 (11) right now, which is pretty good; it will be 13 (15) with Increase Intuition, and I can raise it to rank 2 for only 4 Karma. Yes, eventually it gets more and more expensive, but considering how high this character's Intuition is; I think I can afford to lowball Perception. (Edit: Just noticed you didn't mean for me to drop 5 specializations, but I think my reasoning still stands.)
You have 32 Skill Points.
The most karma efficient way to set them is to have 5 skills at R6 w/ 2 of them Specialized.
What can I say, 2 skills at Rank-1 via points just screams inefficient to me.
As for the Specializations you've chooses......
Aura Reading isn't likely to save your life from ambush.
Summoning. Gets you 2 dice on One type of spirit. So maybe 1 extra service if you have a little luck.
Both of those can go. You have a Mentor Bonus & a Power Focus boosting your base 12 Dice. Normal spirits aren't likely to resist that.
Now Binding as I suggested is a solid one to keep because of the cash at risk w/ all those Reagents.
Spellcasting is solid as its your main Combat skill.
Visual Perception is solid but covered by getting 6 Full Ranks in it. Its one of the most useful skills in the game.
Perception is huge in avoiding ambushes or finding little things like that lever that opens the secret panel to the vault full of pay-data.
Etiquette as I mentioned can be purchased w/ 2 Karma. 6 will get you Rank-2 which will likely be as useful as 1 w/ Specialization in 1 segment of the population.
28 points, technically, but I see your point. I would like to keep the Summoning specialty if possible, even if it is not mathematically that important. Just a preference. However, I think you have a point with that. What about dropping the Assensing Specialization; dropping Etiquette, and dropping Assensing itself to 4? That would allow me to get Perception 6; and I think even with 10 Assensing dice I should be able to get the information I need.
The 11th spell was Improved Invisibility. Everyone emphasized how important stealth was, so I added that in there. I could possibly drop Analyze Truth, but it's such a useful spell.
I wasn't saying drop Improved Invisibility. I said Drop the 11th (Paid for with Karma) spell.
Maybe it one of the Attr Buffs since you don't have quickening yet. But, Flamethrower & Sound Barrier would be my choices.
Flamethrower is mildly redundant given the other 2 Combat Spells & Sound Barrier is iffy based on the situation.
I'd drop them both for the 5 Karma & a spell that has more use, like Control Thoughts or Influence or that new Memory Eraser one from Shadow Spells, I forget the name.
I think Sound Barrier would be my go to for a spell to drop. Flamethrower seems kind of necessary to me, since I can only attack with spells. I don't always want to cast Ball Lightning to do Physical damage.
Weak Immune System, not to mention that I get an Allergy from my mentor spirit.
Personally I'd go with 3 Allergies, Weak Immune System is common in people w/ lots of Cyber installed in their body.
Edit: Also, this might seem counter intuitive when your building a Conjurer.
But I'd drop the Spirit Affinity. 1 Service for only 1 type of Spirit isn't really THAT amazing.
At least not if you plan on summoning all available type of spirits, which you should.
I recently dropped it when I remade character w/ new Grimoire stuff and don't miss it.
I think using those 7 points for higher/more contacts would honestly serve you better.
Triple allergies sounds just so cheesy to me. It seems like it's begging the GM to cripple me. As for Spirit Affinity, your reasoning makes sense. I'll end up dropping it.
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I'll get the edits done tomorrow probably. Been kind of busy lately.
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28 points, technically, but I see your point. I would like to keep the Summoning specialty if possible, even if it is not mathematically that important. Just a preference. However, I think you have a point with that. What about dropping the Assensing Specialization; dropping Etiquette, and dropping Assensing itself to 4? That would allow me to get Perception 6; and I think even with 10 Assensing dice I should be able to get the information I need.
I think Sound Barrier would be my go to for a spell to drop. Flamethrower seems kind of necessary to me, since I can only attack with spells. I don't always want to cast Ball Lightning to do Physical damage.
Triple allergies sounds just so cheesy to me. It seems like it's begging the GM to cripple me. As for Spirit Affinity, your reasoning makes sense. I'll end up dropping it.
How are you getting 28 ? I'm seeing Priority-A Magic & Priority-D Skills. That is 10+22 = 32
I think a lot of people like Ball Lightning because it has the reduced initiative effect on a bunch of goons at once.
This is just me and I'm sure others will have differing points of view. But I tend to like Fire Ball & Lighting Bolt.
Fire Ball allows me to try to set multiple targets on fire at once for when things really need to die, if I'm going to nuke them, hopefully flame will do the last couple points of damage.
Lightning Bolt allows me to pump up my power level for a single target shot on a Boss NPC or Drone/Vehicle (Fried circuits yay)
I see where your going about allergies, as someone who is allergic to tons of stuff, I know you can have more than 2-3 so I don't feel cheesy about it.
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Ah, I thought I had Priority C skills; I tend to only count the skill priority; even when I get the priority wrong. That's what I get for thinking about this stuff at 2 in the morning.
I actually like your reasoning with Ball Lightning + Flamethrower vs. Fire Ball and Lightning Bolt. I think I'll steal that if you don't mind.
As for allergies, while I do understand people have a lot of allergies in real life; I still feel like it's begging the GM to stack penalties on you, otherwise it's free karma. Thinking about it, that's kind of how it works in real life (the allergies, not the karma/GM). Still, I think Weak Immune System adds together pretty well with allergies, so I think I'll keep that.
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All right, changed the build again. This is likely the final draft, unless anyone has a couple of final touches they can think of.
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I went though the small stuff, got a few things.
Karma:
1. Health Sustaining Focus-2 is 4 Karma to Bind, not 8.
That frees up 4 Karma to give you 10.
2. Sneaking & Etiquette could both be purchased as Groups now instead of single skills if you really wanted to with that 10 Karma & then you'd have 4 leve.
3. Contacts-9. You really need to dump some of that Karma into getting at least 13 points for a pair of solid contacts, preferably more than that.
4. Arcana Skill. While you don't need it at Char-Gen, if your just moving towards Initiation soon then you'll need it eventually so you might as well get it now.
So, Basically for Skills/Karma/Contacts you have a total of 14 to spend.
Ask yourself what are your biggest goals in the short term?
Sneaking & Etiquette & their Groups are both solid options. But they do slow you down from getting Initiation.
Contacts are VERY useful & can only be purchased at Char-Gen.
How quickly do you want Initation?
I'm asking because I can see reasons for Single Skills, Group Skills, Contacts, Saved Karma, all of it, so the question is, where do you want to go quickly?
Qualities:
Just me, but I'd swap Style for SINner, I just like being a citizen v/s born in a hovel somewhere.
Cash:
Force-6 Lodge ? Do you really need it to be this powerful. What are you using it for?
Glasses-1 w/ Image Link ? With your resources ? Get yourself some Vision Enhancements for Perception & some Lowlight/Thermo to see in dark places. Just my opinion.
I know they are cheap but 15 Torches & 10 Credsticks, you don't have the cash to fill them all up so why have them? And why the higher level ones?
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I went though the small stuff, got a few things.
Karma:
1. Health Sustaining Focus-2 is 4 Karma to Bind, not 8.
That frees up 4 Karma to give you 10.
2. Sneaking & Etiquette could both be purchased as Groups now instead of single skills if you really wanted to with that 10 Karma & then you'd have 4 leve.
3. Contacts-9. You really need to dump some of that Karma into getting at least 13 points for a pair of solid contacts, preferably more than that.
4. Arcana Skill. While you don't need it at Char-Gen, if your just moving towards Initiation soon then you'll need it eventually so you might as well get it now.
So, Basically for Skills/Karma/Contacts you have a total of 14 to spend.
Ask yourself what are your biggest goals in the short term?
Sneaking & Etiquette & their Groups are both solid options. But they do slow you down from getting Initiation.
Contacts are VERY useful & can only be purchased at Char-Gen.
How quickly do you want Initation?
I'm asking because I can see reasons for Single Skills, Group Skills, Contacts, Saved Karma, all of it, so the question is, where do you want to go quickly?
Qualities:
Just me, but I'd swap Style for SINner, I just like being a citizen v/s born in a hovel somewhere.
Cash:
Force-6 Lodge ? Do you really need it to be this powerful. What are you using it for?
Glasses-1 w/ Image Link ? With your resources ? Get yourself some Vision Enhancements for Perception & some Lowlight/Thermo to see in dark places. Just my opinion.
I know they are cheap but 15 Torches & 10 Credsticks, you don't have the cash to fill them all up so why have them? And why the higher level ones?
1. You're right, translation error. It's still only 6 Karma remaining, I simply miswrote the karma cost for the focus.
2. Yes, I thought about that. I'm thinking Stealth 1 (the group), and Etiquette 1 (the single skill).
3. Yes, I plan to do so. I don't have any of that specced out, as this guy isn't in a game yet; more of a thought experiment.
4. I completely forgot about Arcana, you are right.
I tend to not save Karma, even though it could mean earlier Initiations. Stealth 1 is 3 extra Karma, leaving me with 3 Karma remaining. I would likely put that all into Contacts at that point; as those can't be bought later.
I do like the idea of a SINner, fits in a little better with the concept.
1. I've never gotten a Lodge before, and I could have sworn it did something useful to this concept. Can't seem to find it at the moment though. I'll check back in on that one.
2. You cannot target LOS spells through Glasses, as they are not "natural vision". I only really need them for Image Link, but I suppose it couldn't hurt getting Enhancements and such.
3. Torches are just for if they are necessary. Kind of like Sunrods in DnD. As for credsticks, that's just personal preference. I like to keep all my cash on credsticks, for bribe money, rent money, etc. The higher ones can hold more, so when I get to the point that a job pays a lot of money, or I want to stockpile money on one, I can do so. Again, the lower ones are everyday/bribe material that I can easily afford to lose.
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2. You cannot target LOS spells through Glasses, as they are not "natural vision". I only really need them for Image Link, but I suppose it couldn't hurt getting Enhancements and such.
I'm aware, & I think what you mean to say is you can't target electronically. Glasses themselves are not an issue or all people w/ bad vision couldn't cast ;)
My point however was that seeing things that you can't see w/o them can still be very useful. Knowing someone is across the dark room via your thermals might inspire you move for cover or target a fireball into the dark or turn on some lights, etc etc.