NEWS

Thimote "Helios" Ghadir - Orc Rigger (Critique)

  • 4 Replies
  • 1370 Views

Escherichia

  • *
  • Newb
  • *
  • Posts: 3
  • Noob at shadowrun but willing to play more
« on: <11-07-18/1535:58> »
Hey all!
Been a while creating characters for shadowrun and thought about this guy last night at work. Please give me feedback as I am a bit unsure of how viable he'll be.

Fluffy blurp

A MCT-Fly-Spy whirrs throuhg the damp air of the city. The neon lights gleaming off its slick wasp shaped dead. The whirring slowly stops as it lands on the dark green Suzuki Mirage customized drone compartments. As the compartment slides back into the body of the Suzuki Mirage it speeds off. Another successful retrieval by Helios, the private eye of scums and slums. Dressed in all black bike racing attire, a tomahawk inconspicuosly tucked away at the small of his back inces below his trusty Ares predator pistol!

Grown up in the sprawls of the city with a scavenging father, repairing gadgets found or handed to him. This is where he learned engineering. While Timote "Helios" Ghadir is currently an underground rigger and daytime PI he was not always part of the underworld.

After the passing of his parents he learned how to find "info" on people, at first legally as a clerk. After being let go he turned his mind towards private investigation. However, licenses are scarce and Helios never got his legally.

A self proclaimed master of blackmail, anyone and everyone wanting to ruin a fellow sprawlers career can aquire his services for a fistful of nuyen.
M.O. Filming, recordings and if necessary beatings to get the info needed


« Last Edit: <11-07-18/1600:01> by Escherichia »

Reaver

  • *
  • Prime Runner
  • *****
  • Posts: 6422
  • 60% alcohol 40% asshole...
« Reply #1 on: <11-07-18/1710:23> »
I'm not a rigger guy, so some others may spot other details I miss.

1: If you are following standard character generation rules: You need to rework your 'ware. You have beta and delta grade ware, while at creation you can only have standard and Alphaware.

(CRB page 95
Quote
There are four grades of available cyberware and bioware:
standard, alphaware, betaware, and deltaware (p.
451). Only standard gear and alphaware are available at
character creation.
)

2: Blackmail requires a level of social interaction to pull off... and you have 0 social skills. Worse, you have only 1 die after defaulting...

So you are as scary as a wet paper bag :D (intimidation)
As convincing as a potato :P (Con, etiquette)
As charming as dog poop  :o (Performance)

You need at least to be able to scare/con/or bluff someone for blackmail.... (Yes, actual physical proof of a misdeed helps.. but you still have to sell to the Mark, otherwise he may not believe you, may turn you over to the police, or just up and shoot in the face right there!).


May want a Gun permit for your pistol, so you can carry that with out a hassle. (Out of luck on the Ares Alpha however, can't license Forbidden items)

All in all, not a bad start.

If you are looking to free up some skill points here is a suggestion:

Drop the pistols skill. You have automatics -which is a catch all weapons skill - get rid of the revolver and get an machine pistol (automatics skill) instead.

 
Where am I going? And why am I in a hand basket ???

Remember: You can't fix Stupid. But you can beat on it with a 2x4 until it smartens up! Or dies.

Stainless Steel Devil Rat

  • *
  • Errata Coordinator
  • Prime Runner
  • *****
  • Posts: 4572
« Reply #2 on: <11-07-18/1811:28> »
I took a look as well.. I'm more of a riggger aficionado so I thought maybe I could add to Reaver's advice.

Honestly, he pretty much covered it though.  If you want to be a successful blackmail artist you'll want to address being able to leverage your data, not just collect it.  Negotiation, especially with a specialization in Blackmail, is something that's pretty much a no-brainer of an improvement to the character for meeting your concept.  I'd also suggest/recommend the Software skill: you can clear up grainy footage to better prove misdeeds or even maliciously edit in misdeeds where none actually existed.  (Every blackmail artist should be proficient with Photoshop...) 

With skills as priority A, you shouldn't have a hole in skills like that... you have lots of points to move around.  Eyeballing it, it looks like you spent your 10 group points in 5 stealth, 3 engineer, 2 athletics.  The investments in engineer and athletics aren't doing you much for you, tbh.  Your drones will do the sorts of things Athletics is covering anyway, and you're running virtually stock drones.  Ones that are cheap enough you can possibly just replace rather than repair them.  If you want to keep the mechanic skills just to cover future modding, I'd look at dropping Engineer down to 2 and buying Electronics instead.  The points you already spent on Hardware could then go into Negotiation (Blackmail).  I'd also suggest finding a way to add the Sensor Operations specialization to your Electronics Warfare skill.  As a rigger using drones to collect data, that's your primary skill and specialization.

Unless your GM is giving you special permission to have beta/deltaware... you'll have to downgrade those as Reaver mentioned.  That'll free up lots of money, and here's some suggestions on what to buy with that freed up money:
A drone rack for your Motorcycle (it'll be worth it to be able to transport your drones around...)
A fake SIN & fake permits (don't forget to buy Driver's, Drone Pilot, and assorted weapon licenses)
A datajack isn't necessary as a VCR already gives you a DNI, but its Noise Reduction is ever-useful for riggers
Might even look at upgrading your VCR rating, if you plan on using vehicles/drones for things other than intel-gathering
Certainly look at the cornucopia of options regarding sensors.  If collecting footage/data is your specialty, this is where you'll want lots of specialty options. (a couple of spitball suggestions: Laser Microphone, X-Ray, Ultrasound, Radio Signal Scanner)

With regards to qualities: Lose Acrobatic Defender.  Even if you keep the 2 skill group points in Athletics.  Spend those points on a quality that helps you do what you do in your niche (drive drones, make perception tests, etc)
« Last Edit: <11-07-18/1817:59> by Stainless Steel Devil Rat »
RPG mechanics exist to give structure and consistency to the game world, true, but at the end of the day, you’re fighting dragons with algebra and random number generators.

Escherichia

  • *
  • Newb
  • *
  • Posts: 3
  • Noob at shadowrun but willing to play more
« Reply #3 on: <11-07-18/1831:41> »
Cheers for all the critique.. The Idea was more of a purveyor of info used for blackmail but maybe I cant tweak it to get him to be more intimidating.. Also I completely missed the deltaware good spot. I'll upload a new  and hopefully improved one once I manage to sort him out.  ;)

Marcus

  • *
  • Prime Runner
  • *****
  • Posts: 2802
  • Success always demands a greater effort.
« Reply #4 on: <11-07-18/1855:15> »
Well this looks a lot more like sam then rigger to me. You have nothing in gunnery, the usual rigger weapon skill.
Get one personal combat skill and be good gunnery, use those freed up points to fill out social, disguise isn't usually a rigger skill.
I'd improve mechanics, and piloting types. 
*Play-by-Post color guide*
Thinking
com
speaking