Another Shadowrun noob looking for char-gen advice

[CatharzGodfoot]

Honestly, you're probably better off without the cyber arm, as cool as it is. That sort of thing will get you searched at security checkpoints, and the grappling gun will raise alarms regardless of how legal it is. Just carrying around batman gear would probably be less suspicious, and at least you can easily ditch it.

Combat sense is mostly a sucker's game, IMO. Getting rid of the above will get you at least two more ranks of power throwing, boosted stealth, or boosted perception.

I'm also wondering where the rest of your gear is. Spy goggles, knives, courier armor, and so forth all seem to be missing.

Other than that, looks fucking awesome.

[Kot]

Contacts: (2x CHA free house rule) [12]

Stolen. Thanks a lot. :)

[Foxwander]

Honestly, you're probably better off without the cyber arm, as cool as it is. That sort of thing will get you searched at security checkpoints, and the grappling gun will raise alarms regardless of how legal it is. Just carrying around batman gear would probably be less suspicious, and at least you can easily ditch it.

Combat sense is mostly a sucker's game, IMO. Getting rid of the above will get you at least two more ranks of power throwing, boosted stealth, or boosted perception.

I'm also wondering where the rest of your gear is. Spy goggles, knives, courier armor, and so forth all seem to be missing.

Other than that, looks fucking awesome.

Well the cyberarm is part of the original character concept. You see, my wife and I were trying to recreate our characters from our 2E game that died after 2 sessions. Story time- but I'll put it in a spoiler so it can be ignored by those who don't care...

Back then I was in the Air Force deployed to the desert and I just happened to be working with a guy that turned out to be a gamer. He ran Shadowrun and we got to talking about get a game together when we got back to Japan (where I was stationed at the time). My wife loved the idea since we had met at a D&D game but since coming to Japan hadn't found any other gamers. So for the last 2 months of my deployment we learned the rules and created characters. As you can imagine, with that much time to work on them, the characters and backstory got pretty elaborate. But when we finally got back and played, like I mentioned in the first post- it fizzled after 2 sessions. The GM, while pretty focused on deployment where there's nothing else going on, was actually kind of a flake. It was all pretty frustrating- we had these interesting, well thought-out characters, but no game to play them in. Now we have a chance to actually run them, so we're trying to stay true to what we originally created. But...

...the main point is that the character losing his arm is a big part of an eleborate back story, and whether it's "optimized" or not I really want to keep that.

Besides, having what amounts to a web-shooter available all the time can be a lot more fun, and useful, than a grappling gun in your backpack. Not to mention a decent commlink running a good agent that you can mentally communicate with thru the DNI all implants have.

As for getting more levels of power throw- I'd love to, but it's capped at 3 levels per errata. I actually had to drop the extra level I had. Combat sense adds to ALL defense and surprise attacks, so I'm sure it will be useful.

What is this "courier armor" you mentioned? Don't recall seeing that name in a book. Is it the urban explorer?

Anyway- yes, I have a whole spreadsheet full of gear, armor and weapons. I just didn't post it all to keep the write-up shorter. Goggles, contacts and earbuds with ALL the enhancements. Urban explorer armor w/ thermal damping, non-conductive, and chameleon suit mods over FFBA and Secure PPP. All the expected thiefly gear. Two cougar fine-blades, a bundle of throwing knives, plus some trick shuriken (stick'n'shock, explosive, incendiary- a modification of trick arrowheads)- not to mention various grenades for when things get serious.

[Kot]

As for the munchkinism, i still think adjusting stats to match the character concept is a lot more important. Even if you have a real lean, mean killing-machine, it has no soul. It's even not like playing a cyberzombie - they have souls. Tattered, yeah, but still.
I've played some min-maxed characters in my life, and i don't really remember having fun, except for combat maybe, once or twice. Trying to overcome your character's weakness with wits, and fight enemies on your own terms by being a) prepared; b) well-equipped; c) smart, and d) not alone works just fine. And how much more can bringing down a BBG be wne you play like that.

[Foxwander]

As for the munchkinism, i still think adjusting stats to match the character concept is a lot more important. Even if you have a real lean, mean killing-machine, it has no soul. It's even not like playing a cyberzombie - they have souls. Tattered, yeah, but still.
I've played some min-maxed characters in my life, and i don't really remember having fun, except for combat maybe, once or twice. Trying to overcome your character's weakness with wits, and fight enemies on your own terms by being a) prepared; b) well-equipped; c) smart, and d) not alone works just fine. And how much more can bringing down a BBG be wne you play like that.

Huh? Are you responding to the right thread? What's munchkiny about my stats?

[Kot]

Nothing. I mean 'munchkiny' as in making a character that would be awesomely-good, and make other players feel like they're not needed. I bet you've played games like that. Is it fun for anyone, except the powerPC-owner?

I meant: just make a character you're comfortable with. Even if he's not a real killer, not getting shot, and helping the other guys in a fight is enough. Not everyone has to excel at combat.

[ubernoob]

Nothing. I mean 'munchkiny' as in making a character that would be awesomely-good, and make other players feel like they're not needed. I bet you've played games like that. Is it fun for anyone, except the powerPC-owner?

I meant: just make a character you're comfortable with. Even if he's not a real killer, not getting shot, and helping the other guys in a fight is enough. Not everyone has to excel at combat.

If the powergamer also happens to be the most charismatic person in the group, having one person with a much more powerful character can work pretty well.

[CatharzGodfoot]

Nothing. I mean 'munchkiny' as in making a character that would be awesomely-good, and make other players feel like they're not needed. I bet you've played games like that. Is it fun for anyone, except the powerPC-owner?

I meant: just make a character you're comfortable with. Even if he's not a real killer, not getting shot, and helping the other guys in a fight is enough. Not everyone has to excel at combat.

If the powergamer also happens to be the most charismatic person in the group, having one person with a much more powerful character can work pretty well.

Ugh.

[Kot]

It doesn't. I used to be in that position, and it almost broke my group apart. I toned down my character, and started to play with my group, instead of with them. That's a lot better.