NEWS

(SR5) Technomancer dreams of being Rigger.

  • 7 Replies
  • 2411 Views

Bushw4cker

  • *
  • Omae
  • ***
  • Posts: 826
« on: <07-03-16/0113:06> »
GMing New Street Campaign with at least 3 new players that have never played Shadowrun before.

I am helping player make his first Shadowrunner.

In one of the first two runs I have planned, the runners are going to acquire a free van as partial payment for finishing the run, and are going to definitely need a van for the third run. Having a Rigger that can drive said van well, would be a lot of help. He is going to play Rigger Technomancer with some decent Hacking abilities. Not having GMed a lot of Decking 5th Ed. games yet and having new player, I purposely kept a lot of the Dice pools similar, except for Hack on Fly and Data Spike.

He wants to be able to jump into vehicles and drones. Character starts with 7 Karma, so he should be able to Submerge by the end of first run and get Mind over Machine Echo.

Any thoughts, comments or suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks )


Attachment looks way better than spoiler just fyi...


[spoiler]ATTRIBUTES (540)                                 
BOD      2      WIL      5      WLK      10   
AGI      5      LOG      5      RUN      20   
REA      5      INT      5      SPNT      (+2)   
STR      2      CHA      5      COM      10   
ESS      6      EDG      3      JUD      10   
RES      5      LIFT      4      MEM      10   
Init: 10 + 1D6   Edge: OOO                                 
                                 
PHY      4      MEN      7      SOC      7   

POSITIVE QUALITIES                              RTG   
Focused Concentration                              1   
Codeslinger (Hack on the Fly)                                 
Codeslinger (Data Spike)                                 
                                 
NEGATIVE QUALITIES                              RTG   
SINner (Criminal, UCAS)                              -   
Did You Just Call Me Dumb?                                 
Poor Self Control (Braggart)                                 
Curiosity Killed the Cat                                 

ACTIVE SKILLS (135)                        RTG      DP   
Etiquette                        1      6   
Animal Handling                        1      6   
Perception                        1      6   
 (Visual +2)                              8   
Escape Artist                        1      6   
Gymnastics                        1      6   
Sneaking                        1      6   
 (Urban +2)                              8   
Throwing Weapons                        1      6   
Computer                        5      10   
 (Matrix Perception +2)                              14   
Hardware                        1      6   
Software                        4      9   
Locksmith                        1      6   
Palming                        1      6   
Armorer                        1      6   
Pilot Ground Craft                        2      7   
 (Wheeled +2)                              9   
Pilot Aircraft                        1      6   
Gunnery                        3      8   
 (Ballistic +2)                              10   
Compiling                        2      7   
                                 
SKILL GROUPS (95)                        RTG      DP   
Cracking                        5      10   
Engineering                        1      6   
Close Combat                        1      6   
Firearms                        1      6   
Acting                        1      6   

KNOWLEDGE SKILLS                        RTG      DP   
Matrix Games                        4      9   
Small Unit Tactics                        1      6   
Police Procedures                        1      6   
Local Street Gangs                        1      6   
Sprawl Life                        1      6   
Iconography                        1      6   
 (Matrix +2)                              8   
Trid Shows                        1      6   
 ("Reality" +2)                              8   
Music                        1      6   
 (Gob Rap +2)                              8   
Insults                        1      6   
 (n00bs +2)                              8   
                                 
LANGUAGE SKILLS                        RTG      DP   
English                        N      -   
Japanese                        2      8   
‘l33tspeak                        1      7   
Or'zet                        1      6   
                                 
ID (2,500¥)                  TYPE            RTG   
Patrick                  Criminl SIN            -   
McLOVIN                  Fake SIN            1   
                                 
LIFESTYLE (2,000¥)                                 
Low Lifestyle (2,000¥ a Month)               

ARMOR (4,010¥)                              RTG   
o Lined Coat                              9   
Electrochromic Modification                              -   
 Fire Resistance                              5   
 Gear Access (Sword)                              -   
o Armor Clothing (Casual)                              6   
Electrochromic Modification                              -   
 Concealed Pocket (x4)                              -   
 Faraday Pocket (x2)                              -   
                                 
GEAR ACCESS (SWORD)                                 
o Monosword (Ac5, R1, 5P, -3AP)                                 
                                 
CONCEALED POCKETS                        RTG      CON   
Lockpick Set                        -      -8   

LIVING PERSONA                                 
Device Rating: 5                                 
Attack: 5     Sleaze: 5                                 
Data: 5     Firewall: 5                                 
o Running Silent (-2 DP Matrix Actions)                                 
o Hot Sim (Initiative: 10 + 4D6), +2DP                                 
                                 
COMPLEX FORM (12)                     T      D   FAD   
Transcend Grid                     Self      I   L - 3   
Static Veil                     Pers      S   L - 1   
Smartlink                     -      -   -   
o Wireless: +2 Dice Pool to Smartgun Weapons                                 

RANGED WEAPONS (4,210¥)                              CON      ACC         DAM         AP      RC      MODE               MODS                                                                     
o Colt America L36                              -5      8(10)         7P         -      1      SA               Smartgun, Trigger Removal, *Electronic Firing                                                                     
o (Clip) Reg OOOOO OOOOO O     o (Clip-Reloading Slide) Reg OOOOO OOOOO O     * -1 to Sound Based Perceptions                                                                                                                                                      
o Colt America L36                              -5      8(10)         7P         -      1      SA               Smartgun, Trigger Removal, *Electronic Firing                                                                     
o (Clip) Reg OOOOO OOOOO O     o (Clip-Reloading Slide) Reg OOOOO OOOOO O     * -1 to Sound Based Perceptions                                                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                                      
CONTACTS (5)                  TYPE                     METATYPE               LOCATION                        CON      LOY      NOTES                                                            
Smiley                  Fixer                     Ork               Downtown Seattle                        5      2      CAS Accent,Infectious Tusky Smile, Former Shadowrunner                                                            
Upgrayedd                  Chop Shop Mech                     Ork               Redmond Barrens                        3      4      Huge Gob Rap Fan                                                            
Acid Burn                  Matrix Gamer                     ?               UCAS                        1      5      Might be a Girl…                                                            

GEAR (5,250¥)                                 
o Renraku Sensei (DR 3)                                 
Matrix CM OOO OOO OOO O                                 
o Running Silent (-2 DP Matrix Actions)                                 
o Shock Gloves (8Se, -5AP)                                 
Charges OOOOO OOOOO                                 
o Recharge by Induction (1 Charge per Hour)                                 
o Contacts (Rating 2)                                 
Flare Compensation                                 
Low-Light Vision                                 
o Hidden Arm Slide (Colt L36)                                 
o Wireless: Ready Weapon as a Free Action                                 
o Hidden Arm Slide (Colt L36)                                 
o Wireless: Ready Weapon as a Free Action                                 
o Reloading Slide (Colt L36)                                 
o Wireless: Reload Weapon is a Free Action                                 
o Reloading Slide (Colt L36)                                 
o Wireless: Reload Weapon is a Free Action                                 
o Dose(s) of Long Haul x OO                                 


                  



[/spoiler]
« Last Edit: <07-04-16/0205:22> by Bushw4cker »
"Stupid men are often capable of things the clever would not dare to contemplate." -Terry Pratchett

Coyote

  • *
  • Chummer
  • **
  • Posts: 136
« Reply #1 on: <07-03-16/1437:24> »
Sword weapon with STR 2? Unless it's a must for the character concept, I would prefer to use shock-based weapons... shock gloves, shock baton. Or just not use melee weapons at all. Or if he must be dangerous in melee, go for a Monowhip instead.

Combining the Curiosity and the Braggart qualities is just asking for trouble. Granted, that may be what you're desiring to create.

I would not take the Firearms group on a character who has other purposes that are each more important than shooting (Hacking and Rigging). Firearms is for someone who wants to be good with all weapons, which generally means a combat-focused character. Pick 1 skill (Automatics) or 2 skills (Pistols/Longarms), rather than going for all 3 ranged skills.

Kuirem

  • *
  • Omae
  • ***
  • Posts: 607
« Reply #2 on: <07-03-16/1630:45> »
There is a lot that could be improved for this character, especially considering that you want to play 2 archetype at the same time :

AGI and REA are too high, you do not use them when jumped in since you are not in your own body. You will need all this karma for your skills instead.

There is a bunch of useless skills, especially at 1 :

  • Animal Handling : Not extremely useful unless you build a "ranger" style character or something like that. Too low to really train anything anyway.
  • Escape Artist : You are not a fighter so even if you manage to get out you will probably get geeked in an escape attempt
  • Gymnastics : If you want some skills in there you should probably pick Athletics skill group instead that give a bit of everything. A Techno/Rigger will probably not use it much anyway.
  • Throwing Weapons : With a score so low (especially if you reduce your AGI) you will just eat your own grenades
  • Locksmith : Once again you will likely stay behind, let someone else take care of locks, the Street Sam can probably break the door if needed
  • Palming : Since Palming is opposed to Perception you need a fairly good dice. Just hide stuff in Concealed Pockets.
  • Armorer : This is more for people who use a lot of guns. If anything having a Armorer contact is perfectly viable.
  • Close Combat Skill Group : Go for Unarmed or Clubs (Baton specialization) instead for Shock weapons
  • Firearms : Same here, pick Automatics or Pistols and a Specialization to have a decent dice without sinking tons of karma.
  • Acting : Just pick Con should be enough, Etiquette is also useful but the others are pointless if you are not specialized in them. Since you are already going Hacker and Rigger you won't have the karma to go Face as well

On the other hand there is some skills that you want to increase to do your job : Cracking Skill Group and Compiling for Technomancer, Gunnery and Pilot for Rigger. You might also want to increase your Stealth since being jumped in a spy drone use it.

For your armor consider switching the Fire Resistance for a Non-Conductivity. Electricity is much more common that fire. Coyote already mentioned that the Monosword is a bit pointless, Stun Baton imo is the best choice since you can take the Clubs with Baton specialization for it and it has a 1 Reach.

Since you are the GM I guess it would not matter too much but having your main SIN being of RTG 1 is asking for it to be burned. Even a quick Police control will see through it. Fake SIN 4 is really a minimum since only Biometrics reading will be able to bust it. You also need Licenses to go with it (Here probably Technomancer, Driver License and Firearms).

Double Colt America is pretty much useless unless it is for Fluff. You will have enough trouble hitting with one. You do not even have ambidextrie so your hit pool will be abyssal.

Coyote

  • *
  • Chummer
  • **
  • Posts: 136
« Reply #3 on: <07-03-16/2143:13> »
"Coyote already mentioned that the Monosword is a bit pointless, Stun Baton imo is the best choice since you can take the Clubs with Baton specialization for it and it has a 1 Reach."

Just as a note, IF you're willing to go this way, is that you can set a Machine Sprite to use Stabilize on a monowhip. Between the wireless bonus and the Stabilize bonus against glitching, this means that a Technomancer (or someone with a friendly Technomancer) can use a monowhip without any fear of glitching. Granted, a monowhip is as much a character style statement as it is a stat-based item, since it draws a lot of heat both in combat and if it's ever discovered by the police. But if you're willing to risk the heat, well, whip it good.

As a side note, I only do that with cyberarm Technomancers, since a Sprite-boosted cyberarm with a monowhip can get ridiculously dangerous, while a non-cyberarm Technomancer with a cyberwhip is more of a "that's cute, he slices (gangers), he dices (police), he misses (anything actually dangerous)".

Bushw4cker

  • *
  • Omae
  • ***
  • Posts: 826
« Reply #4 on: <07-04-16/0453:54> »
Thanks for the Replies!

Quote
Sword weapon with STR 2? Unless it's a must for the character concept, I would prefer to use shock-based weapons... shock gloves, shock baton. Or just not use melee weapons at all. Or if he must be dangerous in melee, go for a Monowhip instead.

Combining the Curiosity and the Braggart qualities is just asking for trouble. Granted, that may be what you're desiring to create.

I would not take the Firearms group on a character who has other purposes that are each more important than shooting (Hacking and Rigging). Firearms is for someone who wants to be good with all weapons, which generally means a combat-focused character. Pick 1 skill (Automatics) or 2 skills (Pistols/Longarms), rather than going for all 3 ranged skills.

You have a point about the Curiosity and Braggart Qualities, Nice catch, I didn't even think about how bad that could be.  (Character does have pretty high Composure though, but still, will see what player wants to do.)

Remember, this is a Street Level Campaign, so having 10 to 14 Dice to throw for Matrix tests is going to be fine.

Character does have Shockgloves, I forgot to put Gear in Spoiler, but it is listed now..

A few of the reasons that character has more skills than, even I would recommend with most characters, is that the player, when looking through all the skills. "Oh that would be useful." "Oh I should take that!" , Character was made using Karmagen, so taking a few low level skills is not going to be as uneconomical as character made using Priority.  A Karmagen character is almost always going to end up with more skills, but at lower level, than one made using Priority.

Character has 220 Karma points worth of skills. The cost for skills goes up exponentially with Karmagen. If you bought 10 skill groups, at Rating 1, using Karma, it would cost you 50 Karma. If you used priority to buy 10 skill groups, at Rating 1, it costs you the same as buying one skill group at level 6, and one at level 4 (Which would cost 155 Karma) With Karmagen, 21 Rating 1 skills will cost you the same amount as buying 1 level 6 skill. The most economical way to make characters with Priority, is max out as many Attributes and Skills as you can, which is generally going to leave you with much fewer skills and more unbalanced set of Attributes. (It would stupid to NOT max out a Troll's Strength or Body at character creation, if you think you're going to raise either stat later..) This is part of the reason I prefer Karmagen for making characters, I think it offers much more flexibility and doesn't almost force you to Min-Max.


Character is a Gamer, I imagine that a lot of the Matrix Games in 2075 are pretty realistic. I think Firearms-1, and Close Combat-1 would represent someone that has good understanding of the skills, but lacks real world experience. I think  Dunning–Kruger effect would aexplain a characters relatively lower skill levels in the meat world and Braggart Negative quality.

The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which relatively unskilled persons suffer illusory superiority, mistakenly assessing their ability to be much higher than it really is. Dunning and Kruger attributed this bias to a metacognitive inability of the unskilled to recognize their own ineptitude and evaluate their own ability accurately.

There are going to be a few parts in 2nd and 3rd Run where being able to lay down suppressive fire, is going to be important. Team is going to have access to crate of automatic weapons, or should anyways, unless run takes a wildly unexpected turn.  New player might decide he really likes SMG's or Rifles better than Pistols. I thought it would be better to leave character a little more open in regards to some of his skills. First time player is going to be a bigger unknown than someone who's played Shadowrun before, in regards to what skills and abilities he's going to find he uses more than others.

Quote
On the other hand there is some skills that you want to increase to do your job : Cracking Skill Group and Compiling for Technomancer, Gunnery and Pilot for Rigger. You might also want to increase your Stealth since being jumped in a spy drone use it.

You are probably right about Sneaking. (You said Stealth, but pretty sure you meant Sneaking..)

Quote
There is a lot that could be improved for this character, especially considering that you want to play 2 archetype at the same time :

AGI and REA are too high, you do not use them when jumped in since you are not in your own body. You will need all this karma for your skills instead.

Reaction is linked to ALL vehicle piloting skills.. Agility... Character who is prone to social faux pas, needs to be able to run fast.

Quote
There is a bunch of useless skills, especially at 1 :

    Animal Handling : Not extremely useful unless you build a "ranger" style character or something like that. Too low to really train anything anyway.
    Escape Artist : You are not a fighter so even if you manage to get out you will probably get geeked in an escape attempt
    Gymnastics : If you want some skills in there you should probably pick Athletics skill group instead that give a bit of everything. A Techno/Rigger will probably not use it much anyway.
    Throwing Weapons : With a score so low (especially if you reduce your AGI) you will just eat your own grenades
    Locksmith : Once again you will likely stay behind, let someone else take care of locks, the Street Sam can probably break the door if needed
    Palming : Since Palming is opposed to Perception you need a fairly good dice. Just hide stuff in Concealed Pockets.
    Armorer : This is more for people who use a lot of guns. If anything having a Armorer contact is perfectly viable.
    Close Combat Skill Group : Go for Unarmed or Clubs (Baton specialization) instead for Shock weapons
    Firearms : Same here, pick Automatics or Pistols and a Specialization to have a decent dice without sinking tons of karma.
    Acting : Just pick Con should be enough, Etiquette is also useful but the others are pointless if you are not specialized in them. Since you are already going Hacker and Rigger you won't have the karma to go Face as well


 With  Karmagen, the total cost of all the above (Sixteen Level 1 Skills) is 29 Karma. Just one rating 5 skill, costs 30 Karma. I probably could get rid of a few that you mentioned though.. Throwing Weapons, Escape Artist.. , it's just so hard though when they only cost 2 Karma Each.. sigh..


Quote
For your armor consider switching the Fire Resistance for a Non-Conductivity. Electricity is much more common that fire. Coyote already mentioned that the Monosword is a bit pointless, Stun Baton imo is the best choice since you can take the Clubs with Baton specialization for it and it has a 1 Reach.

Good Advice on Armor!

I think Shockgloves and Monosword better fit character..

Quote
Since you are the GM I guess it would not matter too much but having your main SIN being of RTG 1 is asking for it to be burned. Even a quick Police control will see through it. Fake SIN 4 is really a minimum since only Biometrics reading will be able to bust it. You also need Licenses to go with it (Here probably Technomancer, Driver License and Firearms).

The SIN.. I think it fits character.. besides, then he would have to get new fake name, and McLOVIN is the best Rating 1 Fake SIN name ever!!   Fake SIN Rating 1, this is where having high Agility also comes in handy..
Quote
Double Colt America is pretty much useless unless it is for Fluff. You will have enough trouble hitting with one. You do not even have ambidextrie so your hit pool will be abyssal.

Yeah Fluff... see The Dunning–Kruger effect again..
Quote
Just as a note, IF you're willing to go this way, is that you can set a Machine Sprite to use Stabilize on a monowhip. Between the wireless bonus and the Stabilize bonus against glitching, this means that a Technomancer (or someone with a friendly Technomancer) can use a monowhip without any fear of glitching. Granted, a monowhip is as much a character style statement as it is a stat-based item, since it draws a lot of heat both in combat and if it's ever discovered by the police. But if you're willing to risk the heat, well, whip it good.

As a side note, I only do that with cyberarm Technomancers, since a Sprite-boosted cyberarm with a monowhip can get ridiculously dangerous, while a non-cyberarm Technomancer with a cyberwhip is more of a "that's cute, he slices (gangers), he dices (police), he misses (anything actually dangerous)".

Not sure how common Monowhips would be on the Streets... and not sure if I want players even knowing about them...


Again, thanks for the responses. I appreciate the feedback.
:)










« Last Edit: <07-04-16/0459:58> by Bushw4cker »
"Stupid men are often capable of things the clever would not dare to contemplate." -Terry Pratchett

Kuirem

  • *
  • Omae
  • ***
  • Posts: 607
« Reply #5 on: <07-04-16/0859:27> »
For REA It all boils down to whenever you want your Technorigger to jump into vehicles or not. If you do not jump, you will need a high REA to pilot everything. If you jump however you use INT instead of REA for your piloting test so you can easily lower REA to ~3 (I think the Core Rulebook mention somewhere that you still use REA but it is obviously wrong as REA is a physical attribute and can't be use outside of the body). AGI is always useful, that's for sure but you probably do not need it at 5 unless you plan to fight a lot (which you shouldn't be as a Technorigger).

I said that Stun Baton was probably the best choice but Shock Gloves is also pretty good. Other melee weapons are ridiculously weak in the hands of a low STR character. But well, if it fits your character fluff go for it.

I missed that it was a Street Level, a fake SIN one makes much more sense in that situation.

Good point on karmagen, some RTG 1 skills are still pretty useless because you will never be able to get enough success to make them worth. If anything it is probably better to increase some to 2-3 with a Specialization instead to have a proper dice pool.

Something interesting about using a skill you do not have a rating for : The GM can allow to substitute a skill (often with a reduced dice pool), see the Core Rulebook, page 130 SUBSTITUTING SKILLS.
« Last Edit: <07-04-16/0906:41> by Kuirem »

Bushw4cker

  • *
  • Omae
  • ***
  • Posts: 826
« Reply #6 on: <07-04-16/1640:18> »
Quote
For REA It all boils down to whenever you want your Technorigger to jump into vehicles or not. If you do not jump, you will need a high REA to pilot everything. If you jump however you use INT instead of REA for your piloting test so you can easily lower REA to ~3 (I think the Core Rulebook mention somewhere that you still use REA but it is obviously wrong as REA is a physical attribute and can't be use outside of the body). AGI is always useful, that's for sure but you probably do not need it at 5 unless you plan to fight a lot (which you shouldn't be as a Technorigger).

I can not find where it says INT is used for Jumped in Piloting.. Could you please tell me where you found this?  I personally think it makes sense that this would be case.

If I lower Reaction, character is not going to be able to act twice every time in meat world..

Quote
Good point on karmagen, some RTG 1 skills are still pretty useless because you will never be able to get enough success to make them worth. If anything it is probably better to increase some to 2-3 with a Specialization instead to have a proper dice pool.

A dice pool of 6 is equal to someone with Average Attribute that is Competent in the Skill, and ALL of his Skill dice pools are at least 6+.

It has come up many times in Games I have Played, and games that I have GMed, were if player had a certain skill, at even level 1, it would have made the Run a lot easier, and in a few cases I think off the top of my head, would have meant success and not failure.
"Stupid men are often capable of things the clever would not dare to contemplate." -Terry Pratchett

Kuirem

  • *
  • Omae
  • ***
  • Posts: 607
« Reply #7 on: <07-04-16/1656:19> »
Sadly I do not think it has ever been mentioned, even in Rigger 5.0. But do your Rigger a favor and go for INT so he doesn't have to invest into an other Attribute only for piloting. People use homerules for a reason. If your Rigger want to fight in the meat world he would be much more efficient doing it through his drones anyway, it's good to have a act twice but not mandatory for a non-combat character. The Astral Attributes Table page 314 of the Core is a good reference when you are out of your body and you have a doubt on which mental attribute to substitute to a physical one.

Yeah 6+ is good enough to avoid Glitch and success Average test, for any Opposed Test or Hard test (see the Success Test Thresholds page 45) though you might end up having to spend Edge if you hope to have a good result. Of course it depends on the GM (you!), if you send them enemies with less than 6 dice pool it won't be a problem.