[Dinendae]

Concealability is not the only thing to consider when it comes to firearms. Consider this scenario... your runner is stopped at a DUI checkpoint or a border checkpoint or something similiar.

"Mam, do you have any weapons in the car?"
"No, officer."
*buzz buzz whirr beep*
"My milimeter wave scanner saves otherwise. Please step out of the car, ma'am."

Or alternately...

"Mam, do you have any weapons in the car?"
"Yes, there's a hunting rifle and a shotgun in the back seat. I just got back from cleaning up some devil rats at my uncle's farm upstate."
"Alright, move along."

Which is why a hidden (and shielded) smuggling compartment is generally the fourth thing I get for a vehicle; morphing license plates, the chip thingies, and armor (both car and personal) tend to be bought first. After that the nice anti-theft system with the 10s shock, and then run-flat tires! 

[JackVII]

I think the general understanding is that the first part of the phrase is the defined meaning and the following items are a non-exhaustive list. I've seen it argued differently. The main problem as it is written right now is that Attribute Boost (STR) is pretty meaningless if it only adds to dice pools (there are not a ton of STR dice pool checks), but it would be overpowered it it added to melee damage when compared to something like Critical Strike.

[Cronstintein]

That deck, low edge and logic score will likely cause you some problems when trying to do any tricky hacks.  I'm not sure what the host ratings in the missions are, but 11 dice isn't much compared to a decent host rating (4+).

[JackVII]

That deck, low edge and logic score will likely cause you some problems when trying to do any tricky hacks.  I'm not sure what the host ratings in the missions are, but 11 dice isn't much compared to a decent host rating (4+).

As is, I agree. 3 ranks of Improved Ability in Hacking or Cybercombat would be a good choice here. Add in a specialization or Codeslinger PQ and you could get your 11 dice up to 16-18.

I'm a little concerned about the low Intuition.

[Mithlas]

I think the general understanding is that the first part of the phrase is the defined meaning and the following items are a non-exhaustive list. I've seen it argued differently. ...but it would be overpowered it it added to melee damage when compared to something like Critical Strike.

It seemed to work okay in 4E. Granted, I don't like how Critical Strike is handled in 5E (with it being an 'unarmed only' power in 4E it seemed to lose most balance issues in all discussions I've had so far). The number of "does not affect anything except for this narrow set of constraints" certainly harkens back to 3E, but also doesn't seem to really lend as much benefit as bookkeeping.

To the topic, I think the weight is a little high for a Troll at minimum stats for both Body and Strength, but it looks like a very good attempt to make a reasonable character - and a non-enforcer troll is a rare find in the first place.

[Michael Chandra]

Regarding Strength Boost: The current statement is that it doesn't boost damage, though no proper answer was given on the more detailed question on whether the restrictions are inclusive or exclusive, so it MIGHT (though I don't expect it) get a different answer in the official FAQ.

@Jack: Interesting houserule, it makes it more fair, actually gives you a movement and limit boost, but at the same time makes it actually worth it to take more than 1 level. I should remember it.

[Taejix]

I think the general understanding is that the first part of the phrase is the defined meaning and the following items are a non-exhaustive list. I've seen it argued differently. The main problem as it is written right now is that Attribute Boost (STR) is pretty meaningless if it only adds to dice pools (there are not a ton of STR dice pool checks), but it would be overpowered it it added to melee damage when compared to something like Critical Strike.

I actually took it on my parkour ninja adept. Running and jumping both use Strength after all.

I can't really think of any other situation where I'd take it though.

[Dinendae]

That deck, low edge and logic score will likely cause you some problems when trying to do any tricky hacks.  I'm not sure what the host ratings in the missions are, but 11 dice isn't much compared to a decent host rating (4+).

Deck-wise, I'm going to be looking at having to take down an enemy decker to get a better one: Grab his deck, pop it into hidden mode if I can, shut it off, and pull the battery (and work on it after the run). Just buying the basics meant that I was having to go low end on a deck; a bit lower than I would have liked. Now that there's a new edition of the excel character builder out, I'll go back and make a copy of her with skills and resources priorities swapped. I still will not be able to get that Renraku one that seems to be the default, but I should be able to get the next one down. I think. I'll post the stats/skills once I get it done up, and see what everyone thinks.

As for the Logic score, that's the racial maximum for a Troll; I would need to go the exceptional attribute route to raise it higher, and then I would still need to come up with an attribute point from my limited stock. I was thinking of raising edge with karma in the final step; there's just no way I can make the character work by taking a higher priority for magic rating, and unfortunately edge is where she'll have to take a hit to compensate for the magic and good physical stats.

[Dinendae]

As is, I agree. 3 ranks of Improved Ability in Hacking or Cybercombat would be a good choice here. Add in a specialization or Codeslinger PQ and you could get your 11 dice up to 16-18.

I'm a little concerned about the low Intuition.

I'm thinking Hacking would probably be better for getting marks and bricking equipment, yes? As for the intuition, from what I saw in the matrix actions (and from matrix skills), Intuition is only used by one Matrix test (defusing a data bomb, I think it was). There's not a lot of places I could pull points from to up it. Keep in mind, I plan on sticking to AR hacking.

[Dinendae]

Regarding Strength Boost: The current statement is that it doesn't boost damage, though no proper answer was given on the more detailed question on whether the restrictions are inclusive or exclusive, so it MIGHT (though I don't expect it) get a different answer in the official FAQ.

@Jack: Interesting houserule, it makes it more fair, actually gives you a movement and limit boost, but at the same time makes it actually worth it to take more than 1 level. I should remember it.

Just to double-check but using the Body version would allow me to add dice to damage resistance tests, correct? As for his house rule, I would  be more than ok with it working like that officially.

[Dinendae]

Ok, here would be my skill choices with Priority B Resources and Priority C Skills:

Active Skills
Electronics Skill Group 2
-Computer
-Hardware
-Software

Cybercombat 6
Electronic Warfare 6
Hacking 6
Longarms 6
Blades 1
Gymnastics 1
Perception 1
Sneaking 1

I'm not really sure if that's going to be good, even with a much better deck. I have to use the skill group points for the Electronics Skill Group, as I would need 36 skill points just to max them all out.

[Vandarl]

As for the intuition, from what I saw in the matrix actions (and from matrix skills), Intuition is only used by one Matrix test (defusing a data bomb, I think it was).

Performing a Matrix Perception, Matrix Search, Trace Icon, Control Device, Hide, Snoop, and Spoof Command action...all Intuition.
Defending against Crash Program,  Data Spike, Edit File, Control Device, and Hack on the Fly...all intuition.

It is the second most used stat in decking right after logic.

[Dinendae]

Performing a Matrix Perception, Matrix Search, Trace Icon, Control Device, Hide, Snoop, and Spoof Command action...all Intuition.
Defending against Crash Program,  Data Spike, Edit File, Control Device, and Hack on the Fly...all intuition.

It is the second most used stat in decking right after logic.

Well, crud! Now I'll have to go back and try to figure out what to do with the priority points.

[Dinendae]

To the topic, I think the weight is a little high for a Troll at minimum stats for both Body and Strength, but it looks like a very good attempt to make a reasonable character - and a non-enforcer troll is a rare find in the first place.

Oops, missed this bit when I was replying! According to that article Patrick Goodman wrote (link is on the first page of this thread), I'm actually a bit on the low side for a troll (probably underweight actually, but that can be assigned to her living in the CZ for most of her life). He makes some very good points as to why weights given in previous editions were way too low for many metahumans; enough so that it convinced me.

[Dinendae]

Attributes
Body: 5
Agility: 3
Reaction: 2 (5)
Strength: 5
Willpower: 3
Logic: 5
Intuition: 4
Charisma: 1
Magic: 6
Edge: 2
Essence: 6

So, after finding out that I missed a whole bunch of things that Intuition is needed for when decking, I played around with the attribute points a bit and came up with the above. I could have probably taken one out of agility as well, but you can only have one stat capped at character generation, and the troll max for both Logic and Intuition is 5. Given the Uncouth disadvantage, I fell it's better to take a point from Charisma than Agility, since I will need to shoot more than I need speak for the party. Any problems with this?