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(5e) 2nd Attempt at First character: Occult Investigator

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saithor

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« Reply #15 on: <10-11-14/1238:08> »
Ok, I'll drop Astral Combat, and maybe a couple points of a few other. I'm planning on using Astral Projection quite a bit, so shoul I bump the Will to 5 for that?

Just picked up Street Grimoire, looks amazing, some good spells, and Ally spirit look like something I'll want to consider. I will switch out Analyze Truth for Influence, but I still want to hold onto Extended Life Detection.


Thanks for all the help so far.

Edit: Reason I picked up Astral Chameleon is because I thought it would help me hide in the Astral Realm when I was projecting. Now that I've read up on the rules, it seems it does not. May pick up Ritual Spellcasting, several of the Rituals seem very useful.

Revised Skills
Spellcasting 6
Counterspelling 5
Perception 5
Con 5
Arcana 4
Pistol 4
Unarmed Combat 4
Locksmith 2
Aseensing 4
Tracking 3
Strret Knolwedge 4
First Aid 2
Ritual Spellcasting 2

Edit: A couple more questions. First off, is there any difference between the snake and oracle mentor spirits? Secondly, I'm not sure which tradition my characters background fits. She has a close to religous respect for spirits and for her mentor spirit, but also approaches actual spellcasting with a more heremetic bent. Any advice there?
« Last Edit: <10-11-14/2110:37> by saithor »
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« Reply #16 on: <10-11-14/2317:58> »
Edit: A couple more questions. First off, is there any difference between the snake and oracle mentor spirits? Secondly, I'm not sure which tradition my characters background fits. She has a close to religous respect for spirits and for her mentor spirit, but also approaches actual spellcasting with a more heremetic bent. Any advice there?

Snake and Oracle spirits provide different adept powers, and have slightly different drawbacks. Oracle's drawback is honestly much more severe, as you have to spend your first initiation towards Divination, which is kind of a waste (unless you wanted it in the first place).

I'm looking at Intuition based traditions, there may be others that are better suited but use a different drain stat. Wiccan Tradition (Goddess Wicca) seems like it may be a decent fit for you. Sioux tradition seems like it may be similarly useful. Druidic tradition has a slightly different flavor, but may be something you want to look at. Those are really the only ones that seem to fit what you're looking for, unless I misunderstood you.

Shrazkil

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« Reply #17 on: <10-11-14/2345:07> »
Edit: A couple more questions. First off, is there any difference between the snake and oracle mentor spirits? Secondly, I'm not sure which tradition my characters background fits. She has a close to religous respect for spirits and for her mentor spirit, but also approaches actual spellcasting with a more heremetic bent. Any advice there?

Oracle would have only been useful for mysad, divination would go well with build.

saithor

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« Reply #18 on: <10-11-14/2352:18> »
I think Wiccan will work, but my main beef is that I want to portray her RP-wise as a sort of combination, a little logic mixed in with Intuition. Not looking for a tradition to meet that, just worried if it will cause any conflict. I think I will go with Snake, had that as the original characters theme. Also, Divination seems  interesting, but not like it could help in investigations as much as other choices . Psychometry or Necromancy actually seem more useful, unless I'm missing something. If I get this right, I can only initiate into one, right?
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« Reply #19 on: <10-12-14/0206:50> »
I think Wiccan will work, but my main beef is that I want to portray her RP-wise as a sort of combination, a little logic mixed in with Intuition. Not looking for a tradition to meet that, just worried if it will cause any conflict. I think I will go with Snake, had that as the original characters theme. Also, Divination seems  interesting, but not like it could help in investigations as much as other choices . Psychometry or Necromancy actually seem more useful, unless I'm missing something. If I get this right, I can only initiate into one, right?

Now, don't take this for fact, as I'm not 100% sure I'm right, but I believe you can initiate into both. I'm not seeing anything directly contradicting it in the book, but they are both completely different studies that would likely have to have an elaborate story reason to have both of them. Mechanically though, I cannot find anything that says you cannot initiate into both. Just remember that people who know Necromancy are pretty closely watched and regulated to ensure they aren't slipping into darker magical techniques.

saithor

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« Reply #20 on: <10-12-14/1110:56> »
Ok, thank you all for the advice so far. Character is almost done except for Gear and final Karma expenditure. With Resources E, I am kind of forced to get Nuyen with Karma, so is there any gear for this type of character that most people would consider essential? Also, what kind of Foci should I porbably spend my Karma on? Finally, doe anybody knw if any of the Play-by-posts are open for recruitment?

Also, I did have A look at magical traditions more in-depth, and the one that probabley actually matches my chr=aracters background is Aztec, so I may go for that one just because for me Background is just as important as the actual crunch of the character.

Edit: Reading up on traditions in Street Grimoire, I am now extremely confused. Spirits went from being generalists to now you can only summon those in your tradition, and now you can only use a spirit to do the things based on the category it's assigned? So if I'm a shaman and summon an Earth Spirit, the only thing it can do is Healing? Beasts spirits can only do Combat? Water Spirits Detection?
« Last Edit: <10-12-14/1133:43> by saithor »
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« Reply #21 on: <10-12-14/1217:12> »
Edit: Reading up on traditions in Street Grimoire, I am now extremely confused. Spirits went from being generalists to now you can only summon those in your tradition, and now you can only use a spirit to do the things based on the category it's assigned? So if I'm a shaman and summon an Earth Spirit, the only thing it can do is Healing? Beasts spirits can only do Combat? Water Spirits Detection?

Yes, it's dumb. Especially since an Earth Spirit can't heal. "I'm sorry man. I know you summoned me to heal you, but I can't do that." There are others that are much better versed in magic than I, but I would suggest you sit down with your GM and ask him these things. Because right now it's rather messed up.

Ok, thank you all for the advice so far. Character is almost done except for Gear and final Karma expenditure. With Resources E, I am kind of forced to get Nuyen with Karma, so is there any gear for this type of character that most people would consider essential? Also, what kind of Foci should I porbably spend my Karma on? Finally, doe anybody knw if any of the Play-by-posts are open for recruitment?

Also, I did have A look at magical traditions more in-depth, and the one that probabley actually matches my chr=aracters background is Aztec, so I may go for that one just because for me Background is just as important as the actual crunch of the character.

Interesting, I thought maybe Zoroastrianism might have been appealing to you. As you wish though.

For Gear, here is what I recommend. Also, yes, you absolutely need 10 karma into Resources with Priority E.

Essentials
Armor
Weapons
Commlink (Expensive + burner if you need a PAN, just burner if you don't)
Credsticks
Fake SIN
Fake Licenses (If something isn't that obvious like a smartlink, then don't bother)
1 month of Lifestyle

Optional Stuff
Extra Burner Links
Medkit (For healing after a run, recommend rating 6, keep in vehicle or home of choice)
Vehicle
Glasses/Vision device that has Image Link (AROs are super important to interact with your team and the world in general)
Any specialized protection for your area (Respirators, Chemical Protection, etc.)

It should be noted that you really want Image Link, so a Monocle would probably be the way to go. Monocles are expensive, but they allow you to spellcast, as you still have natural Line of Sight. If you get Glasses, you do not have Line of Sight, since even though you might be able to normally see what you see through Glasses, you are looking at a digital image.
« Last Edit: <10-12-14/1219:40> by 8-bit »

saithor

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« Reply #22 on: <10-12-14/1235:21> »
Yeah, I'll put in the recruitment thread about how traditions are done.

Aztec appealed to me because because I want my character to focus on her Mentor Spirit, and not a lo of traditions allowed for that option. Thanks for the gear advice, although I have to ask if RIFD tags are worth it?
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« Reply #23 on: <10-12-14/1243:50> »
If you want to discreetly transfer data, then yes, I would say they are good. You can basically accomplish the same thing with a commlink, but RFID tags are useful in that they don't leave a data trail and cannot be tracked back to you. I would say that they are something optional though. You can get 50 Datachips for 25 nuyen, so it's not that expensive.

saithor

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« Reply #24 on: <10-12-14/1257:21> »
I was actually thinking of getting some Security Tags to help keep track of leads and so own. Spirits alone won't be able to keep track of people. I'll hae my finished gear up here soon, but here is what I was thinking for starters.

Lined Coat
Ares Light Fire 70
100 rounds regular ammo
2 Spare Clips
Concealed Holster
Renraiku Sensei COmnlink (Not sure what you meant by burner)
1 Month Low lifestyle
3 Standard Credsticks
3x Fake SIN Rating 4
3x Fake License Rating 4 (Firarms, Conecealed Carry)

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« Reply #25 on: <10-12-14/1332:59> »
I was actually thinking of getting some Security Tags to help keep track of leads and so own. Spirits alone won't be able to keep track of people. I'll hae my finished gear up here soon, but here is what I was thinking for starters.

Lined Coat
Ares Light Fire 70
100 rounds regular ammo
2 Spare Clips
Concealed Holster
Renraiku Sensei COmnlink (Not sure what you meant by burner)
1 Month Low lifestyle
3 Standard Credsticks
3x Fake SIN Rating 4
3x Fake License Rating 4 (Firarms, Conecealed Carry)

I would pick up some Gel Rounds, you don't always want to be lethal when shooting someone.

Rating 4 Fake SINs are 10,000 nuyen each, you can afford at most 1. With 3 licenses (I would say get a fake investigator license too), then your Fake SIN + Licenses would be 12,400 nuyen.

What I mean by burner links is this. Whenever you make a search on the Matrix or a call with anyone, you run the risk of being detected and eventually tracked down if they notice you are performing illegal activities. So, let's say you talk to your Fixer, and then someone sells you out. They know your commcode now, and law enforcement can track you down. If you know a commlink has been compromised, you can throw it away. You generally want one high rated commlink to form a PAN (Personal Area Network) to defend your devices from hackers, and several (or only one if you can afford) burner links to communicate and perform all the activities you need the Matrix for. If you get compromised, you don't lose too much if you drop a 100 - 1,000 nuyen commlink.

Think of it like this. Do you know what a single use cellphone is in real life? Do you know why people use them? It's the same reason with "burner" (aka disposable) commlinks. It's for security and paranoia's sake, so you can cut ties without too much worry. You can get away with either Meta Link commlinks for burners, or if you want slightly more security, Renraku Sensei Links. Here's what I went on one of my Priority E Resource characters: 1 Renraku Sensei commlink for legal activities and security, and 3 Meta Link commlinks for illegal and quasilegal activities and communication with team. You don't want to be traced back to an illegal call from your main commlink, so using a burner link allows you to have a cutout that you don't mind throwing away.

As for Security Tags, that sounds fine. It's another way of keeping your data secured and stored without it being easily traceable to you. They're still pretty cheap, so it's not a huge expense.

saithor

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« Reply #26 on: <10-12-14/1545:18> »
Ok, character sheet so far

Priorities
Meta-D
Resources-E
Magic-C
Stats-B
Skills-A

Stats
Body 3
AGL 3
REA 3
STR 1 (Raise to 2 with Karma)
WIL 4
INT 6
LOG 4
CHA 4
MAGIC 6
EDG 2

Limits:
Mental: 6
Physical: 3
Social: 6

Qualities: Common Mild Allergy (+10) , Insomia (+10), Minor Addiction (Alcoholisim) (+4), A, 3xFocused Concetration (-12)

Karma 7
Raising STR to 2 (-15)
20,000 nuyen (-10)
Spell (Area Thought Recognition) -5

Skills
Conjuring Skill Group 5
Stealth Skill Group 3 2
Influence skill Group 2 0
Spellcasting 6
Counterspelling 5
Perception 5
Con 5
Arcana 4
Pistol 4
Unarmed Combat 4
Locksmith 2
Aseensing 4
Tracking 3
First Aid 2
Ritual Spellcasting 2

Knolwedge Skills

Contacts
Police Detective 3/3
Talismonger 3/3
Hacker 4/3
Fixer 3/2

Spells
Detect Life Extended
Improved Invisibility/Mask (Which one in your opinion is better?)
Combat Sense
Lightning Bolt
Heal
Area Though Recognition

Weapons
Ares Light Fire 70
-100 Regular Round
-50 Gel Rounds
-2 Spare Clips
-Concealed Holster
Lifestyle
1 Month Low Lifestyle

Armor
Lined Coat

Gear
1 Renraku Sensei Comnlink
3 Meta Link Comn Links
30 Security Tags
Bug Scanner
Monocular w/Image Link, Vision Magnification
Rating 4 Fake SIN
Crowbar
3 Rating 4 fake Liscenes (Private Investigator, Posession of a Firearm, Concealed Carry)
Rating 6 Medkit
Nuyen: 1,460

Will have background up sometime, just want an opinion on it's believability.
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