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SR5 - Physical Adept Martial Artist

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Hermetic Mage

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« on: <05-04-21/0827:16> »
Made the below as a way to practice to see if I'm getting any better at understanding character creation from tips I found online. Also as an alternative character to my mage depending on what our third player decides to make.

More negative qualities might be a good idea but I'm not sure what to take and where to put the points.

I've also been told that unarmed with a Human is completely useless but I can't think how to build this character with a high enough priority to get Ork (also not sure if the background would work and if the Triads actually have non-Humans).

Triad Martial Artist turned Shadowrunner. Punchy with some ability to sneak and occasionally do social stuff and shooting.

Priority: A - Attributes | B - Skills | C - Magic | D - Resources | E - Metatype (Human) |

Metatype - Human

Attributes
  • Body - 3
  • Agility - 6
  • Reaction - 5
  • Strength - 5
  • Willpower - 3
  • Logic - 2
  • Intuition - 3
  • Charisma - 5
  • Edge - 3
  • Essence - 6


Skills
  • Skill Points - 36
  • Skill Groups - 5 (Athletics)
  • Magic  - 4 (Improved Reflexes (2))

Active Skills
  • Escape Artist - 3 points + 6 = 9
  • Etiquette - 1 points + 5 = 6
  • Gymnastics - 5 points + 6 (+ 2) = 13
  • Intimidation - 4 points + 5 = 9
  • Leadership - 4 points + 6 = 10
  • Negotiation - 4 points + 6 = 10
  • Pilot Group Craft - 2 points + 5 = 7
  • Pistols - 4 points + 6 = 10
  • Running - 5 points + 5 (+2) = 12
  • Sneaking - 4 points + 6 = 10
  • Swimming - 5 points + 5 = 10
  • Unarmed Combat - 6 points + 6 = 12

Knowledge Skills
  • Triads (Street) - 4 points + 3 = 7 Yellow Lotus Specialisation
  • Seattle (Street) - 4 points + 3 = 7 Gang Territories Specialisation

Languages
  • English - Native
  • Chinese - Native


Positive Qualities
  • Ambidextrous = 4
  • Bilingual = 5
  • Mentor Spirit - Thunderbird = 5
  • Natural Athlete = 7
  • Martial Art: Jeet Kune Do = 7
  • Skill: Etiquette to 1 = 1

Negative Qualities
  • Distinctive Style (Triad Tattoos) = -5


Adept Powers - Power Points = 4
  • Astral Perception = 1
  • Combat Sense (1) = 0.5
  • Critical Strike (1): Unarmed Combat = Mentor Spirit
  • Improved Reflexes (2) = Free with Priority C
  • Killing Hands = 0.5
  • Nerve Strike = 1
  • Penetrating Strike (2) = 0.5
  • Wall Running = 0.5


Augmentations
  • None


Gear
Weapons
  • Colt America L36 - 320
  • Mod: Smartgun Systems, Internal - 640
  • Accessories: Spare Clips (10) - 50
  • Accessories: Suppressor - 500
  • Ammo Regular (60) - 120
  • Ammo: Stick-n-Shock (60) - 240
  • Ammo: Gel Rounds (20) - 50
  • Shock Gloves - 550

Armor
  • Sleeping Tiger - 13500

Comlinks
  • Erika Elite - 2500
  • Meta Link (Burner) - 100

Electronic Accessories
  • AR Gloves - 150
  • Subvocal Microphone - 50
  • Trodes - 70
  • White Noise Generator (4) - 200

ID & Licenses
  • Fake SIN (4) - 10000
  • Fake License (4) - 800 - Gun License
  • Fake License (4) - 800 - Concealed Carry License

Optic Devices
  • Contacts (3) - 400
  • Mod: Image Link - 25
  • Mod: Smart Link  - 2000
  • Mod: Flare Compensation - 250

Audio Devices
  • Earbuds (1) - 50
  • Mod: Audio Enhancement (1) - 500
  • Mod: Select Sound Filter (1) - 250

Vehicles
  • Suzuki Mirage - 8500

Lifestyle - Middle
  • Apartment in the Barrens - 5,000 per month


Contacts
  • Fixer
  • Connection: 4
  • Loyalty 4
  • MA Club Trainer
  • Connection: 3
  • Loyalty 4
  • GM is giving out 1 free Fixer contact to each player for his campaign purposes.


Remaining Nuyen = 2135
Remaining Karma = 0

Starting Nuyen (4D6 * 100) = Haven’t Rolled for this Yet
Nuyen Ingame = 2135 + Starting Nuyen


Karma Expenditure Details:

Starting Karma = 25

Negative Qualities
  • Distinctive Style: Yellow Lotus Triad Tattoos: -5
  • Karma Gained: 5

Remaining Karma = 30

Positive Qualities
  • Ambidextrous: 4
  • Bilingual: 5
  • Mentor Spirit - Thunderbird: 5
  • Natural Athlete: 7
  • Karma Spent: 21

Remaining Karma = 9

Other Expenditure
  • Martial Arts (JKD): 7
  • Skill - Etiquette to 1: 2

Remaining Karma = 0
« Last Edit: <05-04-21/0844:28> by Hermetic Mage »
Numbers never lie and they can reveal everything to us.

Tecumseh

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« Reply #1 on: <05-04-21/1328:47> »
Pretty good. Again, lots of comments below but don't take them to mean that the character is bad. For an early draft, it's quite good.

Triads can be non-humans, no problem. It's the Yakuza who would have a problem with metahumans.

Personally, I would consider swapping Resources D and Metatype E and put the extra points into Edge. You need those extra Magic points for reasons detailed below. You can bridge the gap by converting some karma to nuyen, or by taking the In Debt quality. You also have more fancy stuff than you need, like a 5,000 nuyen apartment and 13K armor.

Magic C gets you a rating 2 Active skill. You can't use it on Improved Reflexes, which is not a skill. The good news is that if you get Magic 6 (per above) then you can leave your Power Point spending largely in place. The catch is that Improved Reflexes costs 2.5 (not 2.0) power points.

Reaction is 5 (7) due to Improved Reflexes.

I'd do the "drop Logic to 1 and buy it back up to 2 with 10 karma and put the saved Attribute point somewhere" trick. An extra point of Intuition would be very helpful.

In fact, you don't really need Strength. Humans are never going to be very competitive as unarmed brawlers unless they have a cyberarm, which is a viable but separate situation. Your Strength will never be high enough, even with Critical Strike or knucks as a weapon focus: after all that, it's still not as effective as your shock glove.

BUT, the great salvation - which you've discovered - is Nerve Strike. Not only does this effectively shorten the condition monitor of your target (as Reaction and/or Agility will usually be in the 3-6 range, rather than a more typical 11 boxes on a condition monitor), but it also provides much more of a debuff when you connect (as each point of damage turns into a negative modifier, instead of every 3 points on a condition monitor). The catch is that it doesn't work on things like drones and spirits, but you have your shock glove for those.

You don't have the Assensing skill so you currently can't make use of your Astral Perception power. This power is a good choice for a qi focus, if you want to save up for one. Plus Triads love their qi tattoos.

Instead, check out Magic Sense (a hugely beneficial power, none of my adepts leave home without it) or - if you're going the face route - check out Authoritative Tone and/or Cool Resolve.

For skills, you need Perception. No exceptions.

If you're going the secondary face route, I'd put your skill group points into Influence and your individual skill points into the skills from Athletics that you want (Gymnastics, Running). I'd rather have Etiquette at 5 and Swimming at 1 than the reverse, which is the current situation.

Those earbuds still need to be R2 to handle both those modifications.

Your fixer contact costs too much. The Connection + Loyalty limit at chargen is 7. Since the fixer is Connection 4 + Loyalty 4, it is over this limit. This does leave you in an awkward spot where you have 1 free point of karma leftover for contacts. See if you can scrape up another point of karma for a Connection 1, Loyalty 1 contact. Street kids are a good option, as they can be good eyes and ears on the grounds.

Hope that helps! Good luck and have fun.

Hermetic Mage

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« Reply #2 on: <05-05-21/1010:52> »
Thanks for the great feedback! I tried to take them on board whilst also converting to an Ork to allow for a bit more punchy fun. And thanks for the lore titbit, I had confused the Metahuman racism with the Yakuza I think. I'm only deep diving back into the setting after being big into reading the source books about 12 years ago  :D

Quote
Priority: A - Attributes | B - Metatype | C - Skills | D - Magic | E - Resources |

Metatype - Ork (4)

Attributes
  • Body - 6
  • Agility - 6
  • Reaction - 5 (7) - Improved Reflexes (2)
  • Strength - 7
  • Willpower - 3
  • Logic - 2 - Bought with Karma
  • Intuition - 4
  • Charisma - 5
  • Edge - 1
  • Essence - 6


Skills
  • Skill Points - 36
  • Skill Groups - 2 (Influence)
  • Magic  - 6 - Metatype Special Attribute Points

Active Skills
  • Con - 2 points + 5 = 7
  • Escape Artist - 3 points + 6 = 9
  • Etiquette - (Grouped: Influence) 2 points + 5 = 7
  • Gymnastics - 4 points + 6 = 10
  • Intimidation - 2 points + 5 = 7
  • Leadership - (Grouped: Influence) 2 points + 5 = 7
  • Negotiation - (Grouped: Influence) 2 points + 5 = 7
  • Perception - 6 points + 4 = 10
  • Pilot Group Craft - 1 points + 5 = 6
  • Pistols - 6 points + 6 = 12
  • Running - 4 points + 7 = 11
  • Sneaking - 4 points + 6 = 10
  • Unarmed Combat - 6 points + 6 = 12 (13) - Improved Skill (1) & (+2 Mentor Spirit & +2 JKD Specialisation = 17 Total)

Knowledge Skills
  • Triads (Street) - 4 points + 4 = 8 Yellow Lotus Specialisation
  • Seattle (Street) - 4 points + 4 = 7 Gang Territories Specialisation
  • Runner Hangouts (Street) - 2 points + 4 = 8

Languages
  • English - Native
  • Chinese - Native


Positive Qualities
  • Adept
  • Bilingual
  • Mentor Spirit - Shark
  • Natural Athlete

Negative Qualities
  • Distinctive Style (Triad Tattoos)
  • Prejudiced - Red Dragon Triad
  • Simsense Vertigo (VR)
  • Day Job - Martial Arts Instructor
  • Mild Addiction - Undecided

Other Karma Expenditures
  • Martial Art: Jeet Kune Do
  • Skill: Pilot to 1
  • Attribute: Logic to 1 to 2
  • Nuyen (12K)


Adept Powers - Power Points = 7
  • Combat Sense (2) = 1
  • Critical Strike (1): Unarmed Combat = 0.5
  • Improved Ability (1): Unarmed Combat = 0.5
  • Improved Reflexes (2) = 2.5
  • Killing Hands = Mentor Spirit
  • Magic Sense = 0.5
  • Nerve Strike = 1
  • Penetrating Strike (4) = 1


Augmentations
  • None

Resource = E + 6 Karma = 18000

Gear
Weapons
  • Colt America L36 - 320
  • Accessories: Spare Clips (2) - 20
  • Ammo Regular (30) - 60
  • Shock Gloves - 550

Armor
  • Actioneer Business Clothes - 1500
  • Includes concealed holster

Comlinks
  • Sony Emperor (2) - 700

Electronic Accessories
  • AR Gloves - 150
  • Subvocal Microphone - 50
  • Trodes - 70

ID & Licenses
  • Fake SIN (4) - 10000
  • Fake License (4) - 800 - Gun License
  • Fake License (4) - 800 - Concealed Carry License

Optic Devices
  • Contacts (2) - 400
  • Mod: Image Link - 25
  • Mod: Flare Compensation - 250

Audio Devices
  • None

Vehicles
  • None

Lifestyle - Low
  • Apartment in the Barrens - 2,000 per month


Contacts
  • Fixer
  • Connection: 4
  • Loyalty: 3
  • MA Club Trainer
  • Connection: 3
  • Loyalty: 3
  • Street Kids
  • Connection: 1
  • Loyalty: 1
  • GM is giving out 1 free Fixer contact to each player for his campaign purposes.


Remaining Nuyen = 305
Remaining Karma = 0

Starting Nuyen (3D6 * 60) = Haven’t Rolled for this Yet
Nuyen Ingame = 305 + Starting Nuyen


Karma Expenditure Details:

Starting Karma = 25

Negative Qualities
  • Distinctive Style - Yellow Lotus Triad Tattoos: -5
  • Prejudiced - Red Dragon Triad: -5
  • Simsense Vertigo (VR): - 5
  • Day Job - Martial Arts Instructor: -5
  • Mild Addiction - Undecided: -4
  • Karma Gained: 24

Remaining Karma = 49

Positive Qualities
  • Adept
  • Bilingual: 5
  • Exceptional Attribute - Magic: 14
  • Mentor Spirit - Thunderbird: 5
  • Karma Spent: 24

Remaining Karma = 25

Other Expenditure
  • Martial Arts (JKD): 7
  • Skill - Etiquette to 1: 2
  • Attribute - Logic to 1: 10
  • Nuyen - 12K: 6

Remaining Karma = 0
« Last Edit: <05-05-21/1020:14> by Hermetic Mage »
Numbers never lie and they can reveal everything to us.

Tecumseh

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« Reply #3 on: <05-05-21/1555:46> »
Bad news: you moved from Skills B to Skills C but you kept the individual skill points at the B level (36) instead of the C level (28). So you spent more skill points than you actually have. You'll need to downgrade some skills as a result. I'd probably trim Escape Artist and Running first. They don't come up very often, and the benefits from Running tests are often pretty modest.

Also, because you switched to ork you now have two attributes at their racial maximums (Agility 6 and Charisma 5). During chargen, you're only allowed to have one attribute at its racial maximum. I'd move a point out of Charisma and put it into Intuition. Intuition is very important for Initiative, Perception, and dodging.

As long as you're going the "hit things really hard" route, I'd move a point out of Body and into Strength. Body is primarily useful for soaking damage, but your armor is much more important for that. You need the extra melee damage that a point of Strength would provide.

Hermetic Mage

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« Reply #4 on: <05-05-21/1732:03> »
Bad news: you moved from Skills B to Skills C but you kept the individual skill points at the B level (36) instead of the C level (28). So you spent more skill points than you actually have. You'll need to downgrade some skills as a result. I'd probably trim Escape Artist and Running first. They don't come up very often, and the benefits from Running tests are often pretty modest.

Also, because you switched to ork you now have two attributes at their racial maximums (Agility 6 and Charisma 5). During chargen, you're only allowed to have one attribute at its racial maximum. I'd move a point out of Charisma and put it into Intuition. Intuition is very important for Initiative, Perception, and dodging.

As long as you're going the "hit things really hard" route, I'd move a point out of Body and into Strength. Body is primarily useful for soaking damage, but your armor is much more important for that. You need the extra melee damage that a point of Strength would provide.

Thank you so much, I'll do that! I can trim those points of easily enough. I really appreciate all the help :)

Can Orks still be okay melee characters or is that a Troll only role?
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Tecumseh

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« Reply #5 on: <05-06-21/2033:31> »
Orks are actually a pretty good sweet spot. They don't have the hit to Agility that trolls do, but they have more Strength than elves. (Orks do cost more from a priority standpoint than elves though.) But, no, you don't have to be a troll.

Part of it depends on what you mean by "melee". It's actually not that bad to make a melee character with any metatype, because weapons can help bridge the damage gap. What's tougher is unarmed combat, especially as a human. That's why Nerve Strike is so helpful.

Probably the most straightforward way around this is a cyberarm. ¥84,000 will get you a cyberarm that's Strength 9 and Agility 9, and you're off and running. Or get it used for ¥63,000. Either way, you have plenty of capacity left over for other toys and fun stuff. Or get a cyberspur and now you're doing 12P -2AP even as a human.

So anyone who takes Priority C or higher can be good at melee combat. Plus you now have a high-Agility arm that's available for anything else you want, like shooting or throwing knives or tossing grenades or picking locks or ____.