Topic: Of Dice and Men (SR5) (At least NC)

[RSGAlex]

Sure, just make sure to show your math.

[TheGlyphstone]

Will do.

And that concludes my chargen, I think. Just need to format now, to turn my Notepad scribbles into something coherent and character-sheet looking (decided not to use Chummer, since I was splat-diving all over the place into stuff it didn't cover).

[Hexed]

Little late to the party but it never hurts to toss in your hat.  Tempted to try a pure mage as they're fun. So two questions.

1) Is Mystic Adept worth it if you don't plan on going melee all the time, just getting a few points in powers?

2) The guides seem to debate it but with a spellcaster is it best to max out and hit 6 magic or is that bit about 4 magic being enough true?




That said... why's everyone having such trouble with chummer? It seems to work fine just unzipped?

[TheGlyphstone]

It works fine for me, it just doesnt have the data packages for all the new books released. Though I am using 5 and not 5a, which might make a difference.

[RSGAlex]

Did you get the right build of Chummer and go to options to build everything?  https://github.com/chummer5a/chummer5a/releases

Other than the armor stuff it should have it all.

Mystic adept is pretty good, but you'll eventually want to look at Magician's Way (20/40 karma). It depends on what you want to do with those points, because they're 5 karma a PP.

And for spellcasting, it depends on what kinds of spells you want. You'll almost certainly want to hit 12 dice to cast spells (specialty/totem/way helps) and ignore alchemy unless you're going to take astral perception, buffs that can tolerate low force and low pools (potentially) or really plan on specializing in it. More importantly, remember that it does limit both your max PP and max adept power ranks.

[TheGlyphstone]

I was using a much older build, it looks like. That'll work better, thanks.

[Hexed]

Ahh. That might do it. I followed the advice from... Here? And got a nightly build. Seems to have most stuff even if Edge is glitched.  I can go up to 6 edge and not burn that single point of special attributes.



Hmmm. I had forgotten the Adept Ways so that's something to look into. For the PP I was mostly thinking of picking up a few enhancement or movement abilities that are pretty much usable whenever. Maybe some augmentation that won't sap my essence.

Spellwise... All I know is at least stunbolt and chaosworld or whatever that nice AOE debuff spell is. Although it does look as if aiming for max magic is better. Thanks!

Been looking at Chaos Magic if it helps any.

[RSGAlex]

Keep in mind that it will cheerfully let you overspend and not stop you until you try to go into career mode. And that some systems, I've found, don't update the panel to the side properly or show pop-ups right all the time.


Also, I think I'll break in the new build by seeing how much it would cost to make Cyber-Techomancer Wall Extraordinaire.

[ShadowFox89]

 Likely going to go with a mix of melee and gun adept, focusing much more on short range and stealth.

[TheGlyphstone]

Handle: Bubble Boy
Nickname: Alvin
Age: 18
Metatype: Human

Priorities

Attributes: B(20)
Magic: E
Skills: C (28/2)
Resources: A (450,000 nuyen)
Metatype: D (Human, 3)

Attributes

(20 points, 1 special point)
Body 4
Agility 1
Reaction 6 (9)
Strength 2
Willpower 5
Logic 5
Intuition 4
Charisma 1
Edge 4
Essence 6

Initiative 10 (14) + 1D6
Matrix AR Initiative: 14 + 1D6
Cold-Sim VR Initiative: 11+3d6
Hot-Sim VR Initiative: 11+4d6

Mental Limit: 8
Physical Limit: 6
Social Limit: 4

Physical Condition Monitor: 10
Stun Condition Monitor: 11

Karma: 6

Skills

(28 skill points, 2 skill group points, 18 Knowledge skill points)

Engineering skill group 2

Electronic Warfare 6
Gunnery 6
Hardware 1
Pilot Aircraft 4
Pilot Ground Craft 6
Pilot Walker 6 (Biped)

German N
English 1
Biology 5 (Physiology)
Engineering 5 (Electrical)
Engineering 5 (Mechanical)

Qualities

Prototype Transhuman (free)
Allergy: Sunlight, Mild (free)

Antipathy +8
Implant-Induced Immune Disorder +5
Weak Immune System +10

Gearhead -11
Drug Tolerant -6

Gear

Commlink

Transys Avalon commlink (5,000) (DR 6)
   Hot-sim module (250)

Rigger Control Console

Lone Star Remote Commander (75,000)  (DR 6, DP 6, Firewall 5)

Programs (410)

Biofeedback Filter (250)
Encryption (80)
Signal Scrubber (80)

Autosofts = 36,000

Maneuver (Roto-Drone) 6 (3,000)
Maneuver (Doberman) 6 (3,000)
Evasion (Roto-Drone) 6 (3,000)
Evasion (Doberman) 6 (3,000)
Targeting (Ares Alpha) 6 (3,000)
Clearsight 6 (3,000)

Identification

Fake ID, Rating 3 (Prof. Jessup Carmichael) (7,500)

Jessup Carmichael is a well-published and respected engineering theorist, but a notorious curmudgeon and pathological germaphobe who refuses to meet with anyone outside the Matrix.

Ammunition

1250 Rounds of Standard Ammo (Assault Rifle) (2,500)
500 Rounds of Standard Ammo (Light Machine Gun) (1,000)
5 Microgrenades (Flash-Bang) (500)
5 Microgrenades (Fragmentation) (500)
5 Microgrenades (Thermal Smoke) (300)

Augmentations

Transhuman Prototype augmentations:

Cerebellum Booster 1 (0.2) (50,000)
Cerebral Booster 1 (0.2) (31,500)
Control Rig Optimization (0.1) (4,600)
Digester Endosont (0.1) (10,000)
Increased Myelination (0.1) (12,000)
Sleep regulator (0.1) (12,000)

Total cost:

Lifestyle

Street (Lives out of his van)

Cost: Free

Vehicles and Drones

Alvin, Ares Duelist (18,850)

Base Stats

Handling: 3
Accel: 1
Speed: 3
Device: 3
Pilot: 3
Body: 4
Armor: 8
Sensor: 3

Mod: Weapon Mount (0)
-Sword
Mod: Weapon Mount (0)
-Sword
Mod: Weapon Mount (2,500)
-Ares Alpha Assault Rifle (2,650)
Mod: Extra Armor 8 (3,200) (4e Arsenal p133)
Mod: Body Stabilizer 1 (6,000) (4e Arsenal p134)

Eagle, MCT-Nissan Roto-Drone (12,950)

Base Stats

Handling: 4
Accel: 2
Speed: 4
Device: 3
Pilot: 3
Body: 4
Armor: 7
Sensor: 3

Mod: Weapon Mount (2,500)
-Ares Alpha Assault Rifle (2,650)
Mod: Extra Armor 7 (2,800) (4e Arsenal p133)

Hawk, MCT-Nissan Roto-Drone (12,950)

Base Stats

Handling: 4
Accel: 2
Speed: 4
Device: 3
Pilot: 3
Body: 4
Armor: 7
Sensor: 3

Mod: Weapon Mount (2,500)
-Ares Alpha Assault Rifle (2,650)
Mod: Extra Armor 7 (2,800) (4e Arsenal p133)

Sparky, GM-Nissan Doberman (10,450)

Base Stats

Handling: 5
Accel: 1
Speed: 3
Device: 3
Pilot: 3
Body: 4
Armor: 7
Sensor: 3

Mod: Weapon Mount (0)
-Ares Alpha Assault Rifle (2,650)
Mod: Extra Armor 7 (2,800) (4e Arsenal p133)

Spot, GM-Nissan Doberman (10,450)

Base Stats

Handling: 5
Accel: 1
Speed: 3
Device: 3
Pilot: 3
Body: 4
Armor: 7
Sensor: 3

Mod: Weapon Mount (0)
-Ares Alpha Assault Rifle (2,650)
Mod: Extra Armor 7 (2,800) (4e Arsenal p133)

The Bubblemobile, GMC Bulldog Step-Van (46,200)

Base Stats

Handling: 3/3
Accel: 1
Speed: 3
Device: 3
Pilot: 1
Body: 16
Armor: 12
Sensor: 2

Mod: Heavy Weapon Mount (+5000)
-Krime Wave LMG w/ External Smartgun System (+2,200)
Mod: Rigger Interface (+1,000)
Mod: Rigger Cocoon (+3,000) (4e Arsenal 142)

Contacts

Prof. Bernard Reichstaff (Loyalty 1, Connections 2)
-A 'colleague' teaching at Hamburg University, who occasionally corresponds regarding school or industry info.

Karma expenditures

Character creation:

Starting Karma: 25

Antipathy +8
Implant-Induced Immune Disorder +5
Weak Immune System +10

Karma available: 48

Gearhead -11
Drug Tolerant -6

Pilot Aircraft to 4: -14

Extra Nuyen: -10

Language: English to 1: -1

Final Karma: 6

Description

In progress.

Nutshell description - Alvin is a living test-bed for immuno-suppressant drugs, with next to no immune system of his own thanks to genetic modifications. So he lives in his van, in a hermetically sealed chamber, and interacts with the outside world via his drones, to the point where they are 'him' more than his meatspace body is.

[ShadowFox89]

 Is it corny of me to make my gun adept assassin a Dryad with the handle of Green Peace?

[RSGAlex]

Okay, so there's a few errors and things left off there, so from the top.

Your edge should be 5. Base two for a human, plus three for priority d. The control rig optimization does nothing without an actual rig and isn't really worth it with a rating one rig. A rating two rig might not even warrant it you're not going to be cybering up the rest of your body. (Also it'd take some essence out because it's past where the PT you're getting covers.)

Also, you might consider a teaching license or industrial chemical license, or something to show what this well published guy is allowed to do (or at least to give a good excuse for some of the less illegal things.), and possibly having a drone that doesn't have a weapon mount so that it can be taken into public without catching heat. Possibly the van. And you wouldn't need a drone license for that one. (But might consider it anyway if you're going to carry around the RCC as Professor Jessup.)

I'd normally say get a background license to cover the weapons and such, but it's all in a pretty illegal format, so it wouldn't matter.

EDIT: ShadowFox, only if you also take sun spells to make you a truly dry-ad. :p

[TheGlyphstone]

I do have a Rating 2 Control Rig, I forgot to add it along with my Reaction Enhancers.

Good idea on an unarmed drone for 'civilian' walkarounds...I'll strip the Body Stabilizer off the Duelist and pick up an ordinary Sparring Drone. That'll free up a grand or so for some licenses, I guess.


What's wrong with the format? It isn't a Chummer printout, though I can upload one of those instead. I just liked HopeFox's sheet format.

[ShadowFox89]

 Having trouble deciding if I want attributes, skills, or magic to be higher... I'm thinking attributes?

[RSGAlex]

I do have a Rating 2 Control Rig, I forgot to add it along with my Reaction Enhancers.

Good idea on an unarmed drone for 'civilian' walkarounds...I'll strip the Body Stabilizer off the Duelist and pick up an ordinary Sparring Drone. That'll free up a grand or so for some licenses, I guess.


What's wrong with the format? It isn't a Chummer printout, though I can upload one of those instead. I just liked HopeFox's sheet format.

I meant more that your guns and weapons were all used in weapon mounts, which are illegal. So they're in an illegal format, i.e. one that a license won't cover.

[TheGlyphstone]

I meant more that your guns and weapons were all used in weapon mounts, which are illegal. So they're in an illegal format, i.e. one that a license won't cover.

Oh, okay. Yeah, the armed drones don't go out in public. Now I just need to figure out a way to hide the LMG built into my van.

EDIT: Oh hey, Arsenal has a thing for that.

Gah, this is why I don't like Chummer. Once you lock it into Career mode, you can't make any changes to it without a huge hassle.

[RSGAlex]

Why'd you go into career mode so soon?

[TheGlyphstone]

Why'd you go into career mode so soon?

By accident. And there's no way to revert it.

[RSGAlex]

This is the best reason to enable backups before going into career mode in options that I've seen in a while. I'm sorry for your pains.

[TheGlyphstone]

Yup. On the bright side, Arsenal will let me make my Weapon Mount Internal for +1000 NY over the base price, giving it a Concealability of -2; I'm thinking a pop-up attachment that folds down into the roof of the van. Someone actually inspecting the van would likely be able to spot the panels, but for just driving around it should be just fine.

Pity I can't get secondhand drones the way I can get secondhand cyber; I wouldn't mind a slightly more beat-up Sparring Drone in exchange for, say, a Driver's License attached to my fake SIN. Prof. Jessup isn't a teacher, he just writes acerbic if insightful articles in industry journals.

[RSGAlex]

Just don't drive. Use the autopilot.

[TheGlyphstone]

Just don't drive. Use the autopilot.

Yeah, cause I am totally going to be comfortable relying on the Bulldog's Pilot 1 onboard computer. I'm not sure that thing can navigate rush hour traffic, let alone anything dangerous.

On the other hand, if I'm driving under a situation where I'd need to show someone my license anyways, I probably have a team of heavily and illegally armed shadowrunners in my passenger compartment while we flee at top speed from a job, possibly under fire. Not the best time to be getting pulled over by traffic cops, really.

Chummer text-output sheet, just for verification.

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

== Info ==
Street Name:
Name: Bubble Boy
Movement: 2/4
Karma: 67
Street Cred: 6
Notoriety: 0
Public Awareness: 0
Human
Composure: 6
Judge Intentions: 6
Lift/Carry: 6 (30 kg/20 kg)
Memory: 11
Nuyen: 60

== Priorities ==
Metatype: D - Human or Elf
Attributes: B - 20 Attributes
Special: E - Mundane
Skills: C - 28 Skills/2 Skill Groups
Resources: A - 450,000¥

== Attributes ==
BOD: 4
AGI: 1
REA: 6 (9)
STR: 2
CHA: 1
INT: 4 (5)
LOG: 5 (6)
WIL: 5
EDG: 5

== Derived Attributes ==
Essence:                   2.87
Initiative:                10 (14) + 1d6
Rigger Initiative:         14 + 1d6
Astral Initiative:         
Matrix AR Initiative:      14 + 1d6
Matrix Cold Initiative:    5 + DP + 3d6
Matrix Hot Initiative:     5 + DP + 4d6
Physical Damage Track:     10
Stun Damage Track:         11

== Limits ==
Physical:                  6
Mental:                    8
Social:                    4
Astral:                    8

== Active Skills ==
Aeronautics Mechanic       : 2                      Pool: 8
Armorer                    : 0                      Pool: 5
Automotive Mechanic        : 2                      Pool: 8
Computer                   : 0                      Pool: 5
Cybercombat                : 0                      Pool: 5
Demolitions                : 0                      Pool: 5
Disguise                   : 0                      Pool: 4
Diving                     : 0                      Pool: 3
Electronic Warfare         : 6                      Pool: 12
First Aid                  : 0                      Pool: 5
Forgery                    : 0                      Pool: 5
Free-Fall                  : 0                      Pool: 3
Gunnery                    : 6                      Pool: 7
Hacking                    : 0                      Pool: 5
Hardware                   : 1                      Pool: 7
Industrial Mechanic        : 2                      Pool: 8
Nautical Mechanic          : 2                      Pool: 8
Navigation                 : 0                      Pool: 4
Perception                 : 0                      Pool: 4
Pilot Aircraft             : 4                      Pool: 13
Pilot Ground Craft         : 6                      Pool: 15
Pilot Walker               : 6 [Biped]              Pool: 15 (17)
Pilot Watercraft           : 0                      Pool: 8
Running                    : 0                      Pool: 1
Survival                   : 0                      Pool: 4
Swimming                   : 0                      Pool: 1
Tracking                   : 0                      Pool: 4

== Knowledge Skills ==
German                   (N)
Biology                    : 5 [Physiology]         Pool: 11 (13)
Engineering                : 5 [Mechanical]         Pool: 11 (13)
Engineering                : 5 [Mechanical]         Pool: 11 (13)
English                    : 1                      Pool: 6

== Qualities ==
Allergy (Common, Mild) (Sunlight)
Antipathy
Drug Tolerant
Gearhead
Implant-induced Immune Deficiency
Prototype Transhuman
Weak Immune System

== Lifestyles ==
Street  1 months

== Cyberware/Bioware ==
Cerebellum Booster Rating 1
Cerebral Booster Rating 1
Control Rig Rating 2
Control Rig Optimization
Digester Endosont
Increased Myelination
Reaction Enhancers Rating 3
Sleep Regulator

== Weapons ==
Minigrenade: Flash-Bang
   Pool: 0   Accuracy: 0   DV: 10S (10m Radius)   AP: -4   RC: 2
Minigrenade: Fragmentation
   Pool: 0   Accuracy: 0   DV: 18P(f) (-1/m)   AP: +5   RC: 2
Minigrenade: Thermal Smoke
   Pool: 0   Accuracy: 0   DV: (10m Radius)   AP: -   RC: 2
Unarmed Attack
   Pool: 0   Accuracy: 6   DV: 2S   AP: -   RC: 2

== Commlink ==
Lone Star Remote Commander (ATT: 0, SLZ: 0, DP: 6, FWL: 5)
   +Vectored Signal Filter
   +Biofeedback Filter
   +Signal Scrub
   +Encryption
Transys Avalon (ATT: 0, SLZ: 0, DP: 6, FWL: 6)
   +Sim Module, Hot

== Gear ==
Ammo: Regular Ammo (Assault Rifles) x1250
Ammo: Regular Ammo (Light Machine Guns) x500
Autosoft (Maneuver (Roto-Drone)) Rating 6
Autosoft (Evasion (Roto-Drone)) Rating 6
Autosoft (Maneuver (Doberman)) Rating 6
Autosoft (Evasion (Doberman)) Rating 6
Autosoft (Targeting (Ares Alpha)) Rating 6
Autosoft (Clearsight) Rating 6
Fake SIN (Mr Smith) Rating 3
Minigrenade: Flash-Bang x5
Minigrenade: Fragmentation x5
Minigrenade: Thermal Smoke x5

== Vehicles ==
Ares Duelist (Medium)
   +Weapon Mount
   +Weapon Mount
   +Weapon Mount
   +Extra Armor x8
   +Sensor Array Rating 3
GMC Bulldog Step-Van (Van)
   +Heavy Weapon Mount
   +Rigger Interface
   +Internal Weapon Mount
   +Rigger Cocoon
   +Sensor Array Rating 2
GM-Nissan Doberman (Medium)
   +Weapon Mount
   +Extra Armor x7
   +Sensor Array Rating 3
GM-Nissan Doberman (Medium)
   +Weapon Mount
   +Extra Armor x7
   +Sensor Array Rating 3
MCT-Nissan Roto-drone (Medium)
   +Weapon Mount
   +Extra Armor x7
   +Sensor Array Rating 3
MCT-Nissan Roto-drone (Medium)
   +Weapon Mount
   +Extra Armor x7
   +Sensor Array Rating 3
Sparring Drone (Medium)
   +Sensor Array Rating 3

[ShadowFox89]

 You could have one of us drive

[TheGlyphstone]

You could have one of us drive

Get your grubby, disease-riddled, un-sterilized hands off my Bubblemobile. I'm generous enough letting you ride in the back with my precious drones.

Besides, I doubt you've got a driver's license either. So if someone is going to be driving illegally, it might as well be the guy with Pilot 6 (Ground Craft) and Reaction 9.

[RSGAlex]

Glyphstone, it could be that there's just a scanner looking for expired driver's licenses.