[Harshlax]

Hi all,

I've long had a soft spot for Shadowrun and finally am in a game.  As this is my first character and I'll be playing with some talented optimisers I would appreciate any advice on my Ork Druid, 400 BP.

Body 4
Agility 3
Reaction 2
Strength 3
Charisma 3
Intuition 4
Logic 4
Willpower 5
Edge 3
Magic 4

Sorcery 4
Conjuring 4
Astral Combat 3
Assensing 3
Dodge 2
Infiltration 2
Perception 2
Etiquette 2
First Aid 1
Pistols 2
Clubs 2

Qualities:
Magician (natch)
Astral Chameleon
Mild Addiction (Brandy)
Simsense vertigo
SINner
Sensitive System

Spells:
Improved Invisibility
Stunbolt
Clairvoyance
Powerbolt
Heal

I see him as primarily support and astral scout in a group being encouraged to be subtle, instead of massively gung-ho.

Thoughts?  Suggestions?

[Dakka]

Initial thoughts (because its midnight) I would try and get a Body of 5.  Orcs are great for cheap Body but a Body of 5 would get you an extra physical box as well as access to better armor.  Starting with a magic lower than 5 also seems like a mistake.  Can probably take a point out of Charisma for it.  Conjuring 4 is also overkill, banishment via banishing is harder than bansihment via Powerbolt. 

[Medicineman]

banishment via banishing is harder than bansihment via Powerbolt.
You mena Manabolt,right ? 
If you play an Ork you should use his advantages (high BOD and STR )
Like Dakka I think that Conjuring 2 or 3 is more than enough. You can still split up the group later and raise the Skills seperately,which is cheaper in the End
You got two Bolt Spells ,but no Ball Spell.
I'd take Stunball and Manabolt (but no Powerbolt ),Heal is also a "Must-Have-Spell"(but You got him allready) ...and try to raise MAG --->5

HougH!
Medicineman

[Harshlax]

I've done some rebuilding and now have magic 5, toughness 5, charisma 2, edge 2.

Another question, there is a massive difference in price cost of foci in Street Magic compared to the main rulebook, is there a reason for this beyond errata?  My GM said he found an article saying you had to pay Karma to activate the cheaper foci, is that true or is he mixing it up with bonding (covered by Build Points)?

[Walks Through Walls]

I would look at do you really need the whole conjuring and sorcery groups? I don't think I've ever found a place where I would have used ritual spellcasting for a player character especially if you will be the only magician in the group.

With the attributes being 5X new rating to raise in karma if you can raise your magic to 6 to start it can be well worth the build points now. One way to do this would be to drop your sorcery and conjuring groups. Take spellcasting at 4 (16pts), counterspelling 3 w/ specialization in combat spells (14pts), summoning 3 (12pts), and bincing 3 (12pts), and this leaves you with 1 point left.

Your dicepools for your skills will actually be higher in the spellcasting areas and the same at the conjuring areas.

Also I appreciate the thought of stealth, but with a dice pool of 5 with infultration you might be better off just dropping it and investing in a chameleon suit and have a spirit on standby to further mask you along with the improved invisibility.

A couple more spells could be useful also though they are cheap and easy to pick up (and learn) after the first couple runs.

What further tweaks I would make would depend on what other magic support was in the group. Will you be the magic support for the group or will there be others. If there will be others it might make sense for each of you to pick a specialty between the assensing and astral combat rather than each of you being mediocre at both. After a run or two again you can pick up the other skill at a low level and be a good backup for the other, and spend fewer points than trying to raise the mediocre skills to a high level.

[Rascal]

What kind of Astral Combat were you thinking here? Will you be getting a Combat Foci for it?

I would scrap the Clubs skill, the spellslinger should only be in close combat if that´s her niche. Fight close up only in the astral, and for that you don´t use Strength.

As for the Pistols skill: I would put it at 1, but get a specialization for the kind of pistols you will be using (for an effective rating of 3 in the skill). I found that this works with a lot of skills, and that it´s often is a great way of conserving your BPs.

[Harshlax]

I thought I would give more details of my rebuild, as it reflects a few of the suggested changes and other ideas found elsewhere.

Body 5
Agility 3
Reaction 2
Strength 3
Charisma 2
Intuition 4
Logic 4
Willpower 5
Magic 5

Arcana 3
Assensing 3
Astral Combat 3      -  Possibly drop by 1 and raise assensing
Spellcasting 5
Counterspellling 4
Conjuring Group 3
Dodge 2
Perception 2
Computer (comlink) 1
Stealth Group 2    -   I like the sound of the chameleon suit, Improved Invisibility and concealment spirit power combo though, are there any drawbacks?
Pilot Ground Craft 1
Pistols 2               -   I also will consider rating 1 with specialisation Heavy Pistols as I have the flechette gun
Social group 1      - any suggestions as to how best to focus this as its pricy for something I'm not that good at?

Magician
Astral Chameleon   -   My GM is talking up Sensai due to difficulty finding teachers illegally, is it worth it?
Mild Addiction (Brandy)  -  College educated ork from England!
SimSense Vertigo           -  No smart glasses for the pistol
SINner
Sensitive System

Contacts :  Talismonger 3/4
                 Paramed Shaman 2/3

Spells:
Stun Ball
Mana Bolt
Improved Invisibility
Heal
Influence

Gear:
Renraku sensai running Iris Orb
Electronic Paper
Actioneer Business Clothes
Full Body skinsuit (from Arsenal)
Lodge materials Force 5
Chameleon Suit
Ares Viper Slivergun
Dodge Scoot
Fake SIN rating 4
Fake gun license, concealed carry, and Power Focus licenses, all rating 4
Low lifestyle

I have 2BP and 3300Y left.

There is no other Magical support in the team which consists of 1 ranged street sam, 1 melee street sam, a hacker/face, and a rigger.

edited:  Misread gear table at back of Street Magic - Power foci still verry expensive!

[JohnQ]

The spell Increased Reflexes and a Sustain Focus (3) for it perhaps? That will give you more than a single IP. You would have to make some adjustments somewhere else to free up the BP for them though.