[Aethelwulf1972]

Okay this is for a Campaign based in seattle.  GM told us we had 1200 karma to play with for the Karmagen method, with the availbility boost (15) and negative quality karma limit (-35) from the prime runner option.

1) Attributes: Should I max out Charisma to start? also are there any attributes I can afford to neglect at all being both a Face and a solid combatant?

2) skills planned so far are(with out ratings yet) Automatics, 1 from close combat, maybe Archery (though it seems a tad unrealistic that the military wouldn't also train soldiers in pistols and longarms to a certain extent at least but i have been told before that anything more than automatics is a waste), Con, Ettiquette, Negotiation, First aid (i learned to never have a character with out first aid).  For social skills should I pick specific social skills or just grab influence + acting + intimidation?

3) Qualities: other than a trust fund "re branded" to be a Military pension or some such, I am not sure here.

4) Augemtations both magical and technological.  some of the technological augmentations are quite pricey and I might not have the nuyen for them. so is it worth the karma (and the 'space' that could go to other positive qualities) to get the burnout way quality? or how much essence lost makes it worth the 15 karma at character gen? and should it be paired with used ware to just reduce the nuyen cost of the upgrades?  for a face, even a shooty face, what level of improved reflexes regardless of the source is recommended?  Eye mods or cybereyes? Implanted Comlink?

5) Gear. can anyone point me to what would be standard  issue for the UCAS Military?

[Hobbes]

Archery is bad yo.  Burnout I can't ever figure out why you would want enough cyber to make it worth while to take.  I guess if you get your arms blown off and have to replace them with cyber ware, sure, but as a char gen choice?  Pass.

1200 Karma looks like a lot for the Karmagen method so you can likely max out Charisma and Agility.  150+125 for Elf Max if it uses the regular advance table?  Done. 

Mentor Spirit is an easy pick for any Magicly active character. 

Skills, Con and Negotiation are the main opposed tests you'll make, possibly intimidation if you're playing Scary the Elf.  Etiquette's main use is Legwork and that is typically unopposed.  With 8 Cha and whatever Adept bonuses you get, I'd say start with 6 Negotiation and Con, specialize each of them, and 4 Etiquette, 6 Automatics plus specialization.  Then go get your other stuff.  Powers, Gear, Contacts, decent stats whatever else.  If you've got points left over after that consider raising what you got, or broadening your abilities.  Lock picking, Disguise, Gymnastics, Impersonation can do a lot with a little.  Stealth would be another one to get to 5 or 6 if you can.

Have fun!

[Aethelwulf1972]

and why exactly is Archery Bad? 

[8-bit]

Archery is bad yo.  Burnout I can't ever figure out why you would want enough cyber to make it worth while to take.  I guess if you get your arms blown off and have to replace them with cyber ware, sure, but as a char gen choice?  Pass.

Archery's not bad. Just different. Sure, it's noticeable. Aren't shotguns, sniper rifles, and assault rifles too? Plus, Archery has access to some pretty badass arrows. I wouldn't ever run normal arrows. Incendiary, Narcoject (Injection) Arrows, and Stick-n-Shock are all amazing.

As for Burnout's Way, there are plenty of situations where you can get enough cyber. It's mostly long-term stuff though.


1) 1200 Karma I would say go for it. Max out Charisma and Softcap that Agility. You can opt to neglect Strength, and probably Logic. I wouldn't do both though. Also, don't go Bow if you drop Strength.

2) I recommend Unarmed Combat for Close Combat; mainly for Shock Gloves. Those things are wonderful. If you're going to pick up Automatics, Archery isn't helping you. I'd say stick with one or the other. You can throw in Pistols or Longarms if you really want, but running 2 (possibly 3) combat skills is going to run you out of Karma really quickly.

3) First Impression. Mentor Spirit. Catlike. Blandness. Bilingual. All good choices for positives. Negatives are up to you.

4) Burnout Way is going all the way. Like, all the way. I mean dropping to just above 1 Essence, maybe 2. Burnout's Way is also incompatible with Used 'Ware; Standard 'Ware is the only one that gets an Essence reduction. If you really want any technological upgrades; Used Tailored Pheromones 3 + Datajack + Smartlink is where I'd start. If you are willing to drop 2 Essence, pick up Used Muscle Toner 3.

Really though, other than the 1 Essence combo above; I would pick up Magical bonuses. Improved Reflexes 2 is always a good start; you aren't going to be the best combatant, as you are dual face/combatant. Level 2 is good enough for that. I would pick up at least one level of Voice Control, go for broke on Authoritative Tone, and one level of Combat Sense. Anything other than that is pretty optional, although some of my favorites are Motion Sense and Rapid Draw. If you want any more powers, consider picking up a Qi Focus. I would recommend putting the activated or situational powers in there, as you can activate the focus when needed. You don't want things like Combat Sense in there, as you want that one always on.

5) Armor Jacket + Ballistic Mask + Assault Rifle of choice (AK-97/98, usually) + sidearm. There might be other things in there, but that's probably a start.

[Glyph]

Burnout's way sucks because it only gives you a discount on standard cyberware.  As soon as you upgrade to alphaware or better, it is useless.  It is 15 Karma that could be much better spent on other things.

[Hobbes]

and why exactly is Archery Bad?

Two simple actions to fire vs one simple action; typically lower damage compared to Assault rifles/shotguns, harder to conceal, can't shoot blind around corners, more stat dependency, less combat options (SA/BF/FA, 3 round, 6 round, 10 round bursts, ect )

Flavorful, but a mechanically inferior choice.  If you're asking for mechanical advise on Bow vs Assault Rifle, Ares Alpha wins.  That said a Bow will still do damage.   

[Aethelwulf1972]

Hobbes - who said Archery meant Bow?  and who said I was comparing it to an Automatic weapon?  and for that matter who said I was considering it for a main combat weapon?  All the funky arrow heads that 8-bit mentioned also work for crossbow bolts, including Injector bolts.  I was infact thinking of the Pistol crossbow, which is much more silent than any silenced or suppressed firearm unless said firearm is also using subsonic ammo, very easy to conceal.  it is something I would use to try to tranq unexpected guards or other meta human enemies out of combat to try and maintain stealth as long as possible. there are also some interesting applications for the slinshot as well. (again for out of combat ranged delivery of non combat payloads.)

[Danny Montanny]

1200 Karma is a ridiculous amount for character gen. Authoritative Tone: 3 and Commanding Voice, with Leadership: 6 and your Charisma: 8, possibly levels in Improved Ability if you feel the need, will make his Facing very viable in combat. Stack on First Impression, to boot to command the enemy. Improved Reflexes: 2, Combat Senses: 1, and Atteibute Boost (Agility): 2 will bring the total to 6 Power Points spent. Wise Warrior Mentor Spirit will make the above build better and add to your chosen weapon skill. Raven Mentor Spirit would be hard to pass up, though, especially for a Covert Ops Leader. You could even go Exceptional Attribute Magic for the extra PP now, it'll cost you 49 Karma though.

Lots of things to think about. I'd definitely think about their personality and how you'd want yo play them. Then pick the appropriate Mentor Spirit and go from there.

[Aethelwulf1972]

okay so following 8-bit's advice, maxing Charisma and soft capping agi, and I want to try to come in under 600 karma for primary attributes so what do I do with the other 6 attributes?  I know I want a good intuition and reaction for defenses....

[Whiskeyjack]

okay so following 8-bit's advice, maxing Charisma and soft capping agi, and I want to try to come in under 600 karma for primary attributes so what do I do with the other 6 attributes?  I know I want a good intuition and reaction for defenses....

BOD/WIL 3. Dump STR and LOG - most B&E is Agility-based anyway unless you're decking the lock.

[Aethelwulf1972]

so with this character being an Adept, should  I get any augmentations at all? It should be noted that my GM allows initiations at generation (no discounts allowed though).    I know tailored pheremones is likely to be mentioned but I could probably get those +3 dice from elsewhere, not to mention that the pheremones only work in conversation proximity... 

quality wise, for mentor spirits, I am not sure I would be able to roleplay the disadvantages for the mentor spirits that provide dice to social skills...

[Danny Montanny]

Keep in mind that if you're going to buy all of the skills in a group, don't buy them individually even if they're going to be different ranks. Buy them up to the point you want for the lowest rank/s, then break the group and buy up the the remaining one/s you want higher. So let's say you want Ettiquete: 4, Leadership: 6, and Negotiation: 6. Buy the group to 4 before you buy up Leadership and Negotiation. This will save you 10 Karma on the 3 skills up to rank 4 (50 for group vs 3x20 individually). You might've already factored this in, but just in case you didnt, I thought I'd throw it out there.

[8-bit]

Keep in mind that if you're going to buy all of the skills in a group, don't buy them individually even if they're going to be different ranks. Buy them up to the point you want for the lowest rank/s, then break the group and buy up the the remaining one/s you want higher. So let's say you want Ettiquete: 4, Leadership: 6, and Negotiation: 6. Buy the group to 4 before you buy up Leadership and Negotiation. This will save you 10 Karma on the 3 skills up to rank 4 (50 for group vs 3x20 individually). You might've already factored this in, but just in case you didnt, I thought I'd throw it out there.

I would check with the GM before trying to pull that off. I've yet to see a GM that allows you to break Skill groups at chargen with Point Buy. It's basically gaming the system to get more skills for less Karma. It's different than Priority, because you only have a limited amount of Karma to break up groups with.

so with this character being an Adept, should  I get any augmentations at all? It should be noted that my GM allows initiations at generation (no discounts allowed though).    I know tailored pheremones is likely to be mentioned but I could probably get those +3 dice from elsewhere, not to mention that the pheremones only work in conversation proximity... 

quality wise, for mentor spirits, I am not sure I would be able to roleplay the disadvantages for the mentor spirits that provide dice to social skills...

You could pick up the Speaker's Way (gets you a lot of nice discounts for powers, too); Initiate to get the Presence metamagic. If you are willing to pick up a couple more Initiations, you can always take Power Points too. In fact, if you can fit it in, I would pick up the 1 Essence Combo (TP, Datajack, Smartlink) and pick up a couple of Initiations for Power Points.

[Whiskeyjack]

so with this character being an Adept, should  I get any augmentations at all? It should be noted that my GM allows initiations at generation (no discounts allowed though).    I know tailored pheremones is likely to be mentioned but I could probably get those +3 dice from elsewhere, not to mention that the pheremones only work in conversation proximity... 

quality wise, for mentor spirits, I am not sure I would be able to roleplay the disadvantages for the mentor spirits that provide dice to social skills...

If you're a face, tailored pheromones might be a good investment but few other things would be. Tailored pheromones are a good addition to both Authoritative Tone and Cool Resolve. Especially if your build is built around Commanding Voice.

[Aethelwulf1972]

8-bit, I did a bit of math and even at rating 3 Tailored Pheremones + smartlink + datajack is only .9 essence, and im not sure why a datajack?