[mercaptan]

Backstory: "Bandita" is a Hispanic woman in her 50's who discovered her talent for manipulating machines late in life. She was an accountant until a few years ago when corporate raiders bought out her company, made massive lay-offs, and plundered the retirement funds, including hers. Her own kids grown up, she now spends her time playing with her grandkids, and going out on shadowruns, sticking it to the man. She often says, "It sure beats being a greeter for Saeder-Krupp Walmart."

Concept: She's a 4E character I built for SRMs that I'm now revamping for 5E and SRM5. Back in the 1E and 2E days, I played a lot of stone cold killers, mercs, pew-pew mages, and physads. Then I realized that half the trouble wasn't firepower, but dealing cleaning up the aftermath, getting good intel so that you weren't always getting blindsided, and generally doing the legwork. So I made a pure support character who was good at wiping records, spying/gathering data, and generally being unassuming. And can kick some butt in the Matrix when needed. She's been my favorite SR character.

Priorities: Technomancer, Attributes (20), Skills (28/2), Metatype (human(3)), Resources (6k)

Attributes			Calculated			Living Persona
Body	2 (1+1 from karma)		Initiative	7+1D6		Attack	5
Agility	2 (1+1 from karma)		AR Initiative	7+1D6		Data Processing	6
Reaction	2		VR Initiative	11+4D6		Firewall	5
Strength	3		Mental limit	8		Sleaze	5
Willpower	5		Physical limit	4
Logic	6		Social limit	4
Intuition	5		Physical boxes	9
Charisma	5		Stun boxes	11
Edge	5 (2+3)		Overflow	2
Essence	6
Resonance	6

Skills	Base	Karma	Total		Qualities
Con	2		2		Unsteady hands	7
Cybercombat	4		4		Prejudiced (mages, closet)	3
Electronic warfare	4		4		Allergy (common, moderate)	15
Hacking	5		5
Computer	5		5		First impression	-11
Software	5		5		High pain tolerance	-7
Pistols			0
Influence (group)	2		2		Complex forms
Compiling	6		6		Puppeteer	Y
Decompiling			0		Diffusion of Firewall	Y
Registering	5		5		Transcendent Grid
Pilot aircraft			0		Static Bomb
Pilot walker			0		Resonance Spike	Y
Perception	2		2		Resonance Channel
					Static Veil	Y
Knowledge/Languages					Pulse Storm
Corporate Finances	4				Editor	Y
Corporate Security	3				Cleaner	Y
Chicago Area	3
Matrix Hot Spots (Chicago grid)	3 (+2)				Contacts	Connection	Loyalty
Matrix Host Networking	3				Goober	4	3
English	N				Quantum Princess	4	4
City speak	2
Spanish	3

Final notes:

• Zeros under skills are ones that I decided to buy later on once I earned some karma. Similarly the Complex Forms list is a shortlist with Y's placed next to the ones I'll get at character gen.
• Under skills: total = base + karma spending
• Shopping list not included, but mostly it's armor, a nice commlink for the PAN, fake SINs, and a couple of mini/microdrones for recon
• Definitely looking for feedback on skills and complex forms.
• EDITS: Put Metatype to D and Resources to E. Dropped Focused Concentration. Dropped piloting skills. Will turn 8 karma into cash.

[firebug]

Well, I just wanna ask: Why bother with Focused Concentration at Rating 1?  You may need to read over that quality.  What you have right now would let you ignore the -2 penalty for sustaining one Complex Form with a Level no higher than 1.  I guess if you intend to spend Edge to break the limit of one CF and just sustain that all the time it would be worthwhile.

[mercaptan]

Why? Because I totally misread the Focused Concentration description. Good catch.

Guess I'll either drop it or bump it up to at least Rating 3.

[JackVII]

It's actually useful for Static Veil if your target sticks around on the Public Grid (Threshold = 1).

Honestly, if you've got Cybercombat skill, don't take Resonance Spike. It is pretty bad in comparison to Data Spike. I would take Transcendent Grid instead.

Any reason for the Pilot skills at this point? You would probably be better off just letting the Pilot programs do their thing since you can't jump into your drones yet. Also, you don't really have many skills that would be useful for Remote Control or Jumping In other than EW if you want to use sensors. I would just command the drones and let them figure it out.

Skillwise, I'd go for a few specializations here and there, if you can think of any that would be appropriate. I'm a fan of specializations for low rank skills.

I might suggest ditching First Impression and dumping most of the excess karma into Resources, then swapping your Race and Resource priorities around. Edge is hella useful.

Oh, last but not least, what is your Common Moderate allergy? That seems like it could be pretty hindering if you are routinely exposed to it.

[mercaptan]

Good points, Jack.

It's actually useful for Static Veil if your target sticks around on the Public Grid (Threshold = 1).

Honestly, if you've got Cybercombat skill, don't take Resonance Spike. It is pretty bad in comparison to Data Spike. I would take Transcendent Grid instead.

I was looking at Transcendent Grid before, but how useful will it be in Chicago, which hardly has any grid at all?

Conversely, I could drop cybercombat and stick with Resonance Spike. Is cybercombat useful outside of Brute Force, Data Spike, and Crashing?

Any reason for the Pilot skills at this point? You would probably be better off just letting the Pilot programs do their thing since you can't jump into your drones yet. Also, you don't really have many skills that would be useful for Remote Control or Jumping In other than EW if you want to use sensors. I would just command the drones and let them figure it out.

Makes sense. Ran out of skill points to put into sneak and whatever else. I'll axe these and let the drones sort it out. And await Data Trails or whatever rigger book finally emerges.

Skillwise, I'd go for a few specializations here and there, if you can think of any that would be appropriate. I'm a fan of specializations for low rank skills.

I might suggest ditching First Impression and dumping most of the excess karma into Resources, then swapping your Race and Resource priorities around. Edge is hella useful.

Yeah, that's pretty compelling, especially given how expensive it'd be to upgrade Edge later. I'll have a look at my spending. First Impression was there to beef up her minor in being a Face. But it is a large chunk of Karma, to be sure.

Oh, last but not least, what is your Common Moderate allergy? That seems like it could be pretty hindering if you are routinely exposed to it.

Haven't decided yet. Bit tricky figuring out one that works for SRM. Even if it was something like soy, there'd be a ton of GM leeway.

[JackVII]

How useful will Transcendent Grid be in Chicago, which hardly has any grid at all?

I checked the Missions FAQ but didn't notice any information on grids. With that said, I would think it would be pretty useful in a place like Chicago. I would assume that most of the CZ would be covered by the Public Grid or Global Grids. If most people are operating on the Public Grid, you would have a 2 dice advantage over them when using Transcendental Grid since you don't suffer the -2 penalty for operating on the Public Grid with TG up.

Honestly, I'm not sold on Diffusion of Firewall either, mainly since it is resisted with the very attribute you're trying to reduce, is sustained, and has typically ridiculous CF FV. Someone elsewhere made a compelling argument that Infusion of Firewall is not too shabby with a high-class commlink. Yeah, the FV sucks and you'll probably have to sustain it on your own most of the time, but Firewall 10 is nothing to sneeze at (particularly if the team's gear is slaved to it). Register a few sprites and have them sustain the CF when combat breaks out.

Edit: You could ditch Cybercombat, but it means you're giving up a lot of your combat utility. You can get by without Brute Force and Crash Program easily (just Hack on the Fly and don't worry about the programs), but subbing Resonance Spike for Data Spike is not a good choice at all due to how Resonance Spike works (DV = net hits of Software+Resonance vs. Willpower+Firewall limited by level) compared to Data Spike (DV = Attack + net hits from Cybercombat + Logic vs. Intuition + Firewall resisted by Device Rating + Firewall). Against someone with average stats and gear, you're doing 2 damage with Resonance Spike and 5 with Data Spike. Granted, you risk taking damage if you fail and are going to raise your OS with Data Spike, but you have to resist fading every time you use Resonance Spike.

ETA: The other answer to the Data Spike/Resonance Spike problem is to just say screw it, get rid of Cybercombat, get rid of Resonance Spike, and make sure you have a Fault Sprite or two available at all times to do your fighting for you. You can jack with enemies while they fight using Pulse Storm.

[firebug]

Don't forget that Data Spike also gets bonus DV from marks, which is another thing Resonance Spike lacks.  However, as Jack added, a Fault Sprite can do cybercombat in general way better than you can, with a Level 6 one throwing 12 dice with an Attack attribute of 9.

If you're in Chicago though...  Well, you're screwed.  There's Noise everywhere, and you have no way to deal with any of it.  It's a minimum of 2 Noise in the CZ, and it's likely to be higher anywhere interesting in there.  Resonance Channel won't do anything about it, since it's not caused by distance.

[mercaptan]

How useful will Transcendent Grid be in Chicago, which hardly has any grid at all?

I checked the Missions FAQ but didn't notice any information on grids. With that said, I would think it would be pretty useful in a place like Chicago. I would assume that most of the CZ would be covered by the Public Grid or Global Grids. If most people are operating on the Public Grid, you would have a 2 dice advantage over them when using Transcendental Grid since you don't suffer the -2 penalty for operating on the Public Grid with TG up.

My understanding from Feral Cities was that NooseNet was the only provider out in the CZ and that there was barely any coverage in the rest of Chicago. The noise is just an added bonus, as Firebug mentions. Frankly, the lack of any kind of noise reduction for Technomancers is making it a bit unplayable.

Honestly, I'm not sold on Diffusion of Firewall either, mainly since it is resisted with the very attribute you're trying to reduce, is sustained, and has typically ridiculous CF FV. Someone elsewhere made a compelling argument that Infusion of Firewall is not too shabby with a high-class commlink. Yeah, the FV sucks and you'll probably have to sustain it on your own most of the time, but Firewall 10 is nothing to sneeze at (particularly if the team's gear is slaved to it). Register a few sprites and have them sustain the CF when combat breaks out.

Diffusion of Firewall was intended as a crowbar to make Puppeteer a bit more plausible, but you have a good point about it being a tough road. Definitely considering Infusion of Firewall now too. I'm just really curious how frequently SRM will feature high-grade attacks on equipment like that. Not to be too meta, but I'd imagine most missions would be scaled so that a high end commlink could handle things.

Edit: You could ditch Cybercombat, but it means you're giving up a lot of your combat utility. You can get by without Brute Force and Crash Program easily (just Hack on the Fly and don't worry about the programs), but subbing Resonance Spike for Data Spike is not a good choice at all due to how Resonance Spike works (DV = net hits of Software+Resonance vs. Willpower+Firewall limited by level) compared to Data Spike (DV = Attack + net hits from Cybercombat + Logic vs. Intuition + Firewall resisted by Device Rating + Firewall). Against someone with average stats and gear, you're doing 2 damage with Resonance Spike and 5 with Data Spike. Granted, you risk taking damage if you fail and are going to raise your OS with Data Spike, but you have to resist fading every time you use Resonance Spike.

ETA: The other answer to the Data Spike/Resonance Spike problem is to just say screw it, get rid of Cybercombat, get rid of Resonance Spike, and make sure you have a Fault Sprite or two available at all times to do your fighting for you. You can jack with enemies while they fight using Pulse Storm.

Both of those are rather appealing. She is already well set-up to compile and register sprites. Might make sense for her to just let them do the fighting and clean up after. It depends strongly on how much actual matrix combat there will be in SRM5. If there's going to be a lot, then I'd hate to be caught out without cybercombat if I exhausted my sprites/stun track. It's a bold idea though and I'll have to play around with that.

[Ryo]

The one major advantage Resonance Spike has over Data Spike is that Resonance Spike is not a Matrix Action, nor does it use the Attack attribute, and therefore it does not alert the owner of a device when it is used. It requires a Matrix Perception test to check how many boxes of Matrix Damage a device has taken, so unless somebody has an agent constantly monitoring their devices or physically watch you resonance spike them in VR, they have no idea they got attacked until their device bricks. For an Under-the-radar Technomancer, that's a good trick to know.

[JackVII]

It kind of depends on how far you read the fluff of the text regarding matrix damage.

As a device gets damaged, it overheats, suffers power spikes and dips, shorts out as components start failing, and eventually becomes damaged beyond functionality.

I have a feeling you know you're being attacked, you just don't know how much damage you've taken without doing the Matrix Perception thing.

One thing I did realize is that Resonance Spike can't be defended against with Full Matrix Defense. That might come in handy somewhere.

[Xenon]

(Small note)

Infusion of Firewall on your living persona will not give devices more firewall.
Infusion of Firewall on a commlink will not give your living persona more firewall.

[JackVII]

(Small note)

Infusion of Firewall on your living persona will not give devices more firewall.
Infusion of Firewall on a commlink will not give your living persona more firewall.

I think we're mostly talking about applying it to a commlink to act as a Master for Matrix defense purposes. At least I was. But yeah, it's still a shame that a TM can't form a PAN from their LP.

[ShadowSix]

Haven't decided yet. Bit tricky figuring out one that works for SRM. Even if it was something like soy, there'd be a ton of GM leeway.

Regarding the allergy thing, have you thought about picking an uncommon alloy like gold?  I gave it some thought regarding my own character.  Its an example straight out of the book, gold is one of those things that a GM is probably not going to omit completely, considering its GOLD, yet you are extremely unlikely to run into something deadly like airborne gold dust or liquid gold, and you only get the penalty if you actually touch it somehow.  You can even argue that if you wear gloves you can touch the stuff, since it isn't touching your skin, so no allergy.  Gold is also a poor and heavy weapon, so no one is likely to put it in bullet or sword form, its extremely obvious, due to its color, and overall one of the best options if you gotta have an allergy IMHO.

[Rythymhack]

Haven't decided yet. Bit tricky figuring out one that works for SRM. Even if it was something like soy, there'd be a ton of GM leeway.

Regarding the allergy thing, have you thought about picking an uncommon alloy like gold?  I gave it some thought regarding my own character.  Its an example straight out of the book, gold is one of those things that a GM is probably not going to omit completely, considering its GOLD, yet you are extremely unlikely to run into something deadly like airborne gold dust or liquid gold, and you only get the penalty if you actually touch it somehow.  You can even argue that if you wear gloves you can touch the stuff, since it isn't touching your skin, so no allergy.  Gold is also a poor and heavy weapon, so no one is likely to put it in bullet or sword form, its extremely obvious, due to its color, and overall one of the best options if you gotta have an allergy IMHO.

Maybe not as good a choice as you think. (some of these things may have changed, but) Gold transmits electricity very well and at one point was listed as a component for cybernetics (meaning if you are alergic to gold no 'ware). Also I believe gold is a component for orichalcum (sp) which is required to make a weapon focus (unless things have changed or I am crossremembering games).

[ShadowSix]

Its true about the conductor thing, but silver is better, and that's cheaper.  Gold's advantage is that it resists corrosion, so it is used in many contacts (almost always sealed away inside a housing), basically the bits of metal that close and open to form an electrical connection.  However you're not going to see gold wires, as gold has a tendency to melt at high temperatures, and its really expensive. 

I don't know about other versions, but really, if a DM is going to say cyberware has gold parts that are significant enough to trigger allergies, then...well, don't choose gold.  Though its like saying the tiny amount of radiation that modern LCD monitors gives off will give you cancer, as in within the next year.