[Ajax]

"I needed a drink. I needed a lot of life insurance. I needed a vacation. I needed a home in the country. What I had was a coat, a hat, and a gun."

Character:    Ide "Naisho" Ishida
Concept:    Ex-Cop Private Dick

Priorities:
Metatype:    C Human
Attributes:    B 20
Magic:       E Mundane
Skills:    A 46/10
Resources:    D ¥50,000

Attributes
Body:    2
Agility:    3
Reaction:    3
Strength:    3
Willpower:    3
Logic:    5
Intuition:    5
Charisma:    4
Edge:    7
Magic:    0
Essence:    6   

Limits
Physical: 4
Mental: 6
Social: 6

Qualities
Analytical Mind (+5)
Friends in High Places (+8)
Home Ground: You Know a Guy (+10)
Jack of All Trades Master of None (+2)
Addiction (Mild, Alcohol) (-4)
Allergy (Uncommon, Moderate; Cats) (-10)
SINner (National) (-10)

Martial Arts
Style: Boxing, Classic Style
Techniques: Haymaker, Opposing Force (Block)

Active Skills
Etiquette*:       6
Leadership*:       6
Negotiation*:       6
Computer*:       4
Hardware*:       4
Software*:       4
Pistols:       5
Unarmed (Boxing):    5
Tracking (Urban):    3
Perception (Visual):    3
Palming (Legerdemain):    3
First Aid:       4
Con (Fast Talking):    6
Intimidate (Interrogate): 6
Chemistry (Analytical): 4
*Skill Group

Knowledge Skills
Police Procedures:    6
Business (Megacorp):    3
Literature (Poetry):    3
Sprawl Life:       2
Tokyo Street Gangs:    2

Contacts
* Fixer (Con 4, Loy 2)
* Go-Gang Leader (Con 4, Loy 2)
* Beat Cop (Con 2, Loy 4)
* Bartender (Con 2, Loy 2)
* Neo-Tokyo Police Commissioner (Con 8, Loy 2)
* Neo-Tokyo Retired Yakuza Leader (Con 8, Loy 2)

Karma Expenditure (26 Karma)
-14 added to Contacts
-12 to gain Martial Arts and additional Technique

[Glyph]

I like the character, it has a nice, organic feel to it like some of the archetypes in the book (Face, Sprawl Ganger, Bounty Hunter, etc.).  Like them, though, the character is better in a low-powered game.  Where you can out-talk the club bouncer but not Mr, Johnson.  Where one mouth-breathing thug is a fight, two are a battle against the odds, and three means run or get beat down.  This character works best with a GM and players who are on that same page.

He might be able to hang in a higher-powered game, though.  Being a generalist means that whether a specialist covers a given area determines whether you fill a role, or are an emergency spare.  Your effectiveness also depends on how often your skills come up; sometimes a GM will focus on one aspect of the game, such as combat, and gloss over other areas.  Finally, how quickly Edge refreshes between sessions impacts your character a lot, since his high Edge can make him momentarily much more effective.

Nuts & Bolts:
The only thing that doesn't quite fit for a tough, hard-bitten PI is his low Body, which makes me cringe a bit.  Possible fix, if your GM allows Sum-To-Ten, and if you don't have your heart set on some B&E gear or similarly expensive stuff, Then raise Attributes to A and drop Resources to E.  Raise Charisma to 6 and Body to 4 (or just to 3 if you want another stat of 3 to be raised to 4).  Contacts stay the same but don't cost the 14 Karma any longer.  10 of that Karma goes to raising Starting Nuyen to 26,000 Nuyen, enough for starting runner essentials.  Look at my Starting Runner PACK (3rd post down) for an example.  4 Karma remains for adding to contacts or skills (maybe escape artist: 1 and locksmith: 1).

[Ajax]

I just double-checked the Missions FAQ, Sum-10 is off the table and so is the ‘Friends in High Places’ quality... Which is a bit of a bummer. On the other hand, that’s 14 Karma back (8 for the Quality and 4 that was spent on improving those two contacts). Dropping one of my other Conacts by one point would get me 15 Karma, which could then raise me to Body 3... No match for a Street Samurai in a stand-up fight, but good enough to throw a beating on a street punk.

If (read: when) the drek hits the fan so badly that the assault rifles and monofilament katanas get whipped out, this guy runs the hell away.

[Ajax]

He snorted and hit me in the solar plexus. I bent over and took hold of the room with both hands and spun it. When I had it nicely spinning I gave it a full swing and hit myself on the back of the head with the floor.

Character:    Ide "Naisho" Ishida
Concept:    Ex-Cop Private Dick

Priorities:
Metatype:    C Human
Attributes:    B 20
Magic:       E Mundane
Skills:    A 46/10
Resources:    D ¥50,000

Attributes
Body:    3
Agility:    3
Reaction:    3
Strength:    3
Willpower:    3
Logic:    5
Intuition:    5
Charisma:    4
Edge:    7
Magic:    0
Essence:    6   

Limits
Physical: 5
Mental: 6
Social: 6

Qualities
Analytical Mind (+5)
Home Ground: You Know a Guy (+10)
Jack of All Trades Master of None (+2)
Addiction (Mild, Alcohol) (-4)
Allergy (Uncommon, Moderate; Cats) (-10)
SINner (National) (-10)

Martial Arts
Style: Boxing (Classic)
Techniques: Haymaker

Active Skills
Etiquette*:       6
Leadership*:       6
Negotiation*:       6
Computer*:       4
Hardware*:       4
Software*:       4
Pistols:       5
Unarmed (Boxing):    5
Tracking (Urban):    3
Perception (Visual):    3
Palming (Legerdemain):    3
First Aid:       4
Con (Fast Talking):    6
Intimidate (Interrogate): 6
Chemistry (Analytical): 4
*Skill Group

Knowledge Skills
Police Procedures:    6
Business (Megacorp):    3
Literature (Poetry):    3
Sprawl Life:       2
Tokyo Street Gangs:    2

Contacts
* Fixer (Con 4, Loy 2)
* Go-Gang Leader (Con 4, Loy 2)
* Beat Cop (Con 2, Loy 4)
* Bartender (Con 2, Loy 2)

Karma Expenditure (32 Karma)
-10 added to Contacts
-15 raising Body 2 to 3
-7 to gain Martial Arts

[Ajax]

Okay, so digging deeper into the ‘Missions’ rules, it looks like Sum to 10 might actually be kosher at the discretion of the GM. Guiding principle seems to be that as long as you’re not abusing the system to make a min/max’d munchkin it’s allowed... and I don’t see too many GMs objecting to an unaugmented, mundane, combat-lite investigator.

Metatype:    C Human (2 Points)
Attributes:    A 24 (4 Points)
Magic:       E Mundane (0 Points)
Skills:    A 46/10 (4 Points)
Resources:    D ¥6,000 (0 Points)

This will certainly give me a nicer spread of Attributes... and honestly, having less cash to spend on gear kinda works for me, conceptually. All I really need is a commlink, a hip flask, a dirty trench-coat, an I’ll fitting suit, and a throwaway Streetline Special.

[Stainless Steel Devil Rat]

I'm generally a firm believer in a shadowrunner needing either magic, drugs, or augmentations, but going 7 edge just might work as a fourth avenue to success.

You shouldn't be seeing more than 2, or 3 tops, initiative rolls in a standard Mission. 7 Edge lets you perma-blitz AND still have plenty left over for critical skill tests... even if the GM never refreshes your EDG.

[Fedifensor]

I think the concept is great, but I'm not sure how well the mechanics will back you up in the modules for Neo-Tokyo.


Some concerns:
* Jack of all Trades is great for adding even more skills...but one of the reasons to go with Skills A is to have several skills at or near max.  As you gain Karma, your skill-based character has to pay more to improve high-level skills, which is your biggest advantage over other characters.  Over time, I think you'll be less and less effective compared to characters who took a lower Skill priority.
* My personal rule is to never create a character that can't get 2 actions on a minimum initiative roll (or close to minimum, if you're adding more than 1d6).  Even completely unaugmented characters have ways to get two actions every round, such as Lightning Reflexes.  Sure, you can use Edge, but not having to spend Edge every combat round leaves more for noncombat stuff.  Another possible suggestion is to take Adrenaline Surge, which frees up Edge to be used on Blitz, while ensuring you go first.  Regardless, I would suggest improving your Reaction + Intuition.  Intuition in particularly should be maxed for a private eye...
* No amount of Martial Arts is going to make up for a 3 Strength unarmed strike - you'll bounce off most enemies.  If you have to hit someone, skip Martial Arts and buy a Shock Glove.  Or adjust stats to make Strength more of a priority.  Given that you're limited to 20 points in stats, about your only option to free up points is dropping a stat to 1 then buying it back up to 2 with chargen Karma (or 3 if you're somehow flush with Karma to spend).
* Likewise, 3 Agility is going to be whiff-tastic against most foes unless you max your combat skills and hunt for every possible bonus die.  Pistols 6 with a specialty based on your gun (semi-auto or revolver) is highly recommended.
* Are you opposed to ware, or just don't have a lot to spend on it?  A smartlink mod for the eye would help, and is pretty cheap.  There's other low-cost ware you could add that would give the character a decent boost.
* Don't have the FAQ handy, but I'm not sure Alcohol is allowed as an Addiction for Missions.

[Ajax]

”My buddies travel light, and they're fun to have around. One travels in a holster, and the other in a hip flask.”

Character:    Ide "Naisho" Ishida
Concept:    Ex-Cop Private Dick

Priorities (Sum to 10):
Metatype:    Human (2 Points)
Attributes:    24 (4 Points)
Magic:       Mundane (0 Points)
Skills:    46/10 (4 Points)
Resources:    ¥6,000 (0 Points)

Attributes
Body:    3
Agility:    3
Reaction:    4
Strength:    3
Willpower:    3
Logic:    5
Intuition:    5
Charisma:    6
Edge:    7
Magic:    0
Essence:    6

Qualities
Analytical Mind (+5)
Home Ground: You Know a Guy (+10)
Jack of All Trades Master of None (+2)
School of Hard Knocks (+4)

Addiction (Mild, Alcohol) (-4)
Allergy (Uncommon, Moderate; Cats) (-10)
SINner (National) (-10)

Martial Arts
Style: Boxing (Classic)
Techniques: Haymaker

Active Skills
Etiquette*:       6
Leadership*:       6
Negotiation*:       6
Computer*:       4
Hardware*:       4
Software*:       4
Pistols:       5
Unarmed (Boxing):    5
Tracking (Urban):    3
Perception (Visual):    3
Palming (Legerdemain):    3
First Aid:       4
Con (Fast Talking):    6
Intimidate (Interrogate): 6
Chemistry (Analytical): 4
Pilot Ground-Craft: 1**
Swimming: 1**
Locksmith: 1**
Escape Artist: 1**
Disguise: 1**

*Skill Group
**Karma Purchases

Knowledge Skills
Police Procedures:    6
Business (Megacorp):    3
Literature (Poetry):    3
Sprawl Life:       2*
Neo-Tokyo Street Gangs: 2*
Japanese Politics: 2*
Japanese Yakuza: 2*
Security Companies: 2* **
Neo-Tokyo Triads: 2* **
Renraku Holdings: 2* **
Mitsuhama Computer Technologies: 2* **

*Street Knowledge Skills purchased at 2:1 Rate.
**Karma Purchases

Contacts (18+10)
-Fixer (Con 4, Loy 2)
-Go-Gang Leader (Con 4, Loy 2)
-Beat Cop (Con 2, Loy 4)
-Bartender (Con 2, Loy 2)
-Yakuza Boss (Con 5, Loy 1)

Karma Expenditure (28 Karma)
-10 added to Contacts
-7 to gain Martial Arts Style
-2 to gain ¥4,000 more Resources
-9 to gain additional Skills

[Ajax]

I’m not expecting this guy to be great in combat. I’ve got an absolutely vicious Street Samurai / Marksman going in the Chicago Missions, I’m looking for a change of pace. Since there’s already a lot of people playing magicians, adepts, deckers, and riggers... Well, I felt like a Face would be fun. But I didn’t just want to be the typical charming confidence artist.

Strength 3 and boxing isn’t an optimal combination, but in a setting like Neo-Tokyo where mêlée is a lot more prevalent than Seattle or Chicago it seems prudent to have some sort of close quarters combat skill. Brass knuckles are easy to palm and cheap enough to drop down a sewer grate if I need to ditch them.

This guy’s main role in a Shadowrunner team will be legwork, legwork, legwork. Between his already pretty wide net of Contacts, his “I know a guy” and Analytical Mind Qualities, and wide array of Street Knowledge he has a very high likelihood of knowing someone who knows something about anything.

I’m not opposed to Augmentation for this guy, per se, but I do think it would be best to keep it very limited... A datajack or cyber-eyes wouldn’t be out of place, but I’m not sure if a smartlink would be kosher. Firearms are strictly verboten in Japan, although a well placed bribe and some favor trading can let you get away with a discrete pistol without too much trouble... Permanently implanted milspec murder enhancing cybernetics probably won’t fly.

[Hobbes]

FWIW, I've never seen a Missions GM allow a sum to 10 character no matter how Organic.  I'm also pretty sure addiction Alcohol isn't allowed, you'd have to double check the FAQ.  Generally it needs to be something that'll kill you dead or bankrupt you over a weekend.  Alcohol takes a while generally.

Things that require GM approval are fine if you've got one GM for your Missions character.  I wouldn't recommend it if you're bringing a character to a Con as different GMs may say something else.  It's not worth the headache, IMO anyway.  Change the Addiction for whatever, use standard Priority, welcome to any Missions table no questions asked.  Edgelord performance also varies quite a bit GM to GM as some GMs are better than others at handing out Edge.

If a purpose built social character shows up to your table you could get overshadowed mechanically.  Be aware if that will be an issue for you.

Your non-social skills are single digit dice pools, so without Edge, they're not going to be reliable.  Again, be aware if your character failing at stuff bothers you.  There are often skill checks where 4 or more hits are needed.

[Stainless Steel Devil Rat]

Addictions:  The sorts of things you're not allowed to have addictions to are things that fall into one of two buckets: things that you get for "free" (a Mage having addiction to Foci, Deckers being addicted to VR, etc. ) and things that are cheap and universally available (examples being cigarettes and caffeine).

Alcohol probably falls into the latter category as Neo-Tokyo doesn't have a prohibition against it. Still, it's a thematically appropriate addiction. The general rule of thumb for Missions is if your addiction doesn't have a set price you pay 500¥.  Personally, if I were your GM I wouldn't have a problem with it if you were suffering a sufficiently large "lifestyle tax" to represent your addiction.  But of course, Your Table May Vary.

Sum To Ten: Speaking of Table Variation... I wish Sum To Ten were just flat out banned rather than "well, MAYBE, if your GM says ok...".  Personally I'm very skeptical of any human or elf build that uses Sum To Ten. So maybe it's a good thing I'm not your SRM GM   My most objective advice is to avoid Sum To Ten if at all possible... question whether what you get is worth the risk you take getting a GM who could end up saying "Nope, not at my table."


Potential Augmentations: Obviously Tailored Pheremones are supremely useful.  You'd have to have an excellent reason for a face to not take them (like not having the resources...)  Since you want to shine in the legwork phases of the run, you might even consider a cheap Skilljack rating 1.  My Covert Ops char uses that, coupled with a Skillsoft subscription.  Give it 3 seconds, and you always have a relevant knowledge skill for the question at hand!  The Mnemonic Enhancer should stack, allowing your big mental stats to turn even a rank 1 knowledge skill into a viable dice pool!

Spoilery advice for your knowledge skill selections: At least one of your "factional" knowledge skills will absolutely not be relevant in any of the season 9 missions, nor in the 2018 CMPs. Should be obvious which one.  Unless you're attached to it for background reasons, you'd be mechanically better off swapping those 2 ranks out to other street knowledge skills or to a replacement street knowledge skill.

[Ajax]

I can always swap out his Addiction for something else if the GM objects to it, but let’s face it “alcoholic private dick” is about as iconic for the cyberpunk genre as you can get. If I need to swap it out for something like Longhaul or BTLs I will... But, yeah, I like the idea of the up-and-coming police detective with the promising future who had one nasty case that saw him crawling into a bottle and not coming out.

I’m pretty sure I can guess the Knowledge Skill that you are hinting at, but it just seems like the kind of thing an ex-cop in Neo-Tokyo would know... and I’m only paying one Karma for it.

I’ve got to play around with the budget, but I’m thinking a Datajack, Skilljack, Mnemonic Enhancer, and other such “desk job” enhancements might be quite useful.

[Beta]

Metatype:    C Human (2 Points)
Attributes:    A 24 (4 Points)
Magic:       E Mundane (0 Points)
Skills:    A 46/10 (4 Points)
Resources:    D ¥6,000 (0 Points)

Resources should read 'E' 

But if going priority, to reduce the chance of trouble at the table, going attribute A skills B should still give you a good range of skills, and the nuyen for a few useful item.

Other advice is to read the cyberpunk classic novel "When Gravity Fails" to give some inspiration for moving from an alcohol addiction to a drug one (although granted that there may not be quite the ideal drug out there for this character)

[Stainless Steel Devil Rat]

If you make the addiction to a specific high end line of liquor (or perhaps something that has to be specially imported) and you're paying 500¥ per bottle, it's close enough to the SRM party line that it's probably gonna pass any reasonable GM's scrutiny.

And yeah being a former detective is pretty much the perfect explanation for why a character would have Mnemonic Enhancers.  "Hey Taki, do you recall back at the crime scene if we saw X...."

[Ajax]

I’ve always seen the Withdrawl symptoms (and test to resist it) as far more important than the specifics of the substance or activity the character is addicted to. After all, people can be addicted to MMORPGs and internet pornography and be just as crippled socially and psychologically as if they were addicted black-tar heroin.

I probably will specify that Ide’s drink of choice is an appropriately hard to find single-malt scotch. That’s both characterful and appropriately speedy for any GMs who want the Addiction to be a “resource tax” too.