Shadowrun
Shadowrun Play => Character creation and critique => Topic started by: Chalkarts on <04-10-19/1711:55>
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If i wanted a long range stealth gunner, hides in the rafters of the warehouse picking off guards from hiding and slipping away to a new position before they can be found kind of character.
What I can't decide is if I could do this better with a blend of tech, cyber & bioware, or if an adept just blows it all out of the water.
Who's done the math?
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There's only two things that tech does better than magic: hacking and ignoring background counts.
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Are you asking from a player perspective or a GM perspective? Because a "sniper" PC is actually going to end up using shotguns most of the time as the majority of combat in Shadowrun is relatively close-quarters.
That said: go adept. The Hawk Eye quality and the Improve Range Finder gear stack with each other. They do not stack with Image Magnification taken on a visual device.....but if you take Image Magnification as an Improved Sense adept power, they will stack with that. You'll also want to get thermographic vision and low light vision on your natural eyesight but not spend too much on metatype, so roll up an elf, a dwarf or a human and get any missing vision types as Improved Sense adept powers. Elf provides a higher Agility for shooting, and a dwarf provides a higher Will for greater aiming bonuses. You'll want to only use a monocle for your smartlink so you can use your natural vision to take shots with.
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Mage, Ball Lightning, pair of optical Binoculars? :P
But, mechanically, a traditional Sniper build is essentially a Street Samurai that takes the Longarm skill instead of Automatics. And that's about it. Keep a Sniper Rifle in the car for those occasions when you can actually use it, Shotgun for most close in work.
Short Barrel, Removed Stock, chameleon coating, and whatever concealment you can get from your armor and you can actually Palm a Shotgun as well as any SMG.
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Might not even need the traditional sniper rifle... I find it very rare that the player's or NPC's are at any range that requires longarms most of the time. In fact I would think a smaller weapon would be better as it is easier to find a closer position then it is to find a long, unobstructed view, free of clutter, buildings, signs, ect... It also makes your escape easier when you simply pocket the weapon and walk off blending into the crowd (not to mention easier to conceal around town). Double tap those pistols, make a ranged throwing adept, there are lots of ways. But if you wanna stick to traditional sniper trope, that can work too.
If you take physical adept, some powers to look at would probably be wall running, traceless walk, taking the invisible way, improved skill ability, hang time... there are many ways to be honest. You could take face powers to mimic, morph, or vary appearance..
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I find it very rare that the player's or NPC's are at any range that requires longarms most of the time. In fact I would think a smaller weapon would be better as it is easier to find a closer position then it is to find a long, unobstructed view, free of clutter, buildings, signs, ect... It also makes your escape easier when you simply pocket the weapon and walk off blending into the crowd (not to mention easier to conceal around town). Double tap those pistols,
Can you dual wield pistol grip shotguns?
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Dual wielding is for punks who can't shoot very well and can't afford a full-auto weapon to compensate. Get an assault rifle if you aren't going to bother being accurate.
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There's some good guns under the longarms skill. Shotguns are neat, but there's some nice hybrid guns as sorts rifles. That M1 with the 20 round clip/mag and SA mode is a good shout with a few mods and can cover off cqb as well as ranged.
If you've got high AGI for sniping anyway, a couple ranks in pistols with a spec can mean you're good with concealable stuff too
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Optimizing for sniping is often not fun for a lot of people. Playing a character who is far removed from action and waiting around the whole run for the chance to shoot people can get dull.
As others have said, being a shotgun user who then is also proficient at sniping when needed is probably going to be more engaging.
As for magic/tech/resonance, it mostly is a matter of style. Hawk Eye Qaulity is prob the cheapest way to help be excellent sniper (shifting distance penalties down many dice is huge), but it precludes eye 'ware. So this works well with adept powers/mentors, or diagnostics boosted external smartlinked weapons for technos can get lots of dice