The 300 BP Technomancer, Building for the Street Level Options

[Eyeless Blond]

The following is an attempt to build a street-level urchin technomancer, for eventual inclusion in the sample character thread. He was built using some of the tightest restrictions I've ever seen on chargen:

• 300 Build Points
• No Edge/Resonance/Magic higher than 3
• No skill higher than 4, or skill group higher than 3
• No Availability higher than 6
• No more than 10BP spent on resources

The trick is to build something out of that that is actually effective as a technomancer. Even under normal 400BP rules this is a tough order, as technos are bigger BP hogs than mages, and is further complicated by the restrictions imposed by a ganger-level campaign. So, I came up with:

The Background:

[ Spoiler ]

Concept:
Name: Drip
Race: Human
Age: 11-13 (unknown)

Background:

Drip was your classic BTL-baby. Born sometime in '57-59 to two chiphead parents, Drip was never really given a first name, and never knew his last name. Spending most of his childhood scrounging for food in the trash heap his family called an apartment, the only rare moments of pleasure he found were when Daddy would use a pair of trodes--the only things in the apartment that his parents bothered to keep new or clean--and hook him up to the Matrix to get him to stop crying.

As a result, Drip spent much of his time on the Matrix. Even as a very young child, he would spend hours playing in the datastreams, making up imaginary friends and even a few real ones, with all the bright-eyed wonder of a child.

So, it was no surprise when he was online the day of the second Crash. After several days in a coma, Drip woke up to find himself in the same apartment, alone. He never did find out what happenned to his parents, if they had deliberately abandoned him or if they had just overdosed somewhere. By the third week it no longer mattered: there was no more food in the apartment, and hunger drove him to leave home to fend for himself.

Now the majority of the time, stories like these end up with the kid either starving in a ditch, sold into child slavery, or some other horrible fate. Drip, though, had one advantage going for him: his "imaginary friends" came out of the Matrix to help him. He'd spend the next five years "asking" vending machines to lend him a snack, getting drones and cars to follow him home, and learning the strangeness of this new meatspace.


Personality:

Like all technomancers, Drip is more at home in the Matrix than the real world. Being raised by machines almost as much as people, maybe more, he sometimes forgets even basic social nroms, like blinking, or not staring at people. He's also long ago learned the best way to survive in the Barrens is to not stick out too much, and somehow he gets by, mostly by relying on his youth and nonconfrontational attitude. Most people do find it disturbing how he can hold entire conversations with a toaster or how he treats an engine block like an honored teacher, but those who know him also know how useful he can be, in the right circumstances.

The Numbers:

[ Spoiler ]

CODE

Point breakdown
---------------
+180 Attributes
+ 15 Edges
- 25 Flaws
+ 21 Complex Forms
+ 98 Skills
+  6 Contacts
+  5 Resources
-----
=300



Attributes: 150 (+30) BP

B  A  R  S  C  L  I  W  Edg   Res
2  2  2  1  5  4  3  4   3    3

Initiative  [VR-hotsim]
R+I=6       [I*2=6]

Edges: ( BP)
--------------
Technomancer (5 BP)
Complex Forms: (21 BP)
analyze         3 BP
armor           3 BP
command         3 BP
exploit         3 BP
edit            3 BP
stealth         3 BP
spoof           3 BP

Home Ground (Redmond public Matrix node) (10 BP)


Flaws: (-25 BP)
---------------
Addiction (BTLs, mild) -5
Phobia (Plants, mild) -10 --Includes non-synthetic or unprocessed food)
Delusions (Machines are not only alive and capable of speaking,
  but also like to be spoken to, and will sometimes follow you home) -10


Skills: 98 BP
------------------------
Electronics group 2 (20BP)
-Computer
-Hardware
-Software (Threading +2) (2 BP)
-Data Search
Hacking 3 (12BP)

Compiling(Machine Sprites) 3(+2) (14BP)
Registering(Machine Sprites) 3(+2) (14BP)

Dodge (ranged) 1(+2) (6BP)

Perception 1 (4BP)

Etiquette(Matrix) 1(+2) (6BP)
Negotiation 1 (4BP)

Industrial Mechanic 2 (8BP)
Automotive Mechanic 1 (4BP)
Armorer 1 (4BP)


Skills(Knowledge/Language): (L+I) *3 = 21 (left 0)

"Street" and Interests:

Languages:
English [N]


Contacts: 6
------------
Edvige "Ratchet" Grozda 6 (Connection 3 Loyalty 3)

A Polish dwarf, Ratchet operates a small auto repair shop in the Barrens. "Auto repair" in the
Barrens by necessity means working on more than cars; she has some experience working with
drones, and was the one who installed the AK on Drip's "pet" Doberman. She took a liking
to Drip--gave him his name, actually, in an incident neither of them would forget but neither
ever mentions to anyone else.


Cash 25,000Y: 5BP
-------------------------------
Clothing
Leather Jacket (+2/+2) (200¥)
PPP Vitals Protector (+1/+1) (200¥)
PPP Leg/Arm Casings (+1/+1) (350¥)

Equipment
Kits (Armorer, Hardware, Automotive, Industrial) 2,000¥
Cheap Commlink (300¥)
Tag Eraser (150¥)
Medkit (Rating 4) (400¥)
BTL chip (50¥)

Ammo
Regular ammo (2 boxes, 200 rounds total): 400¥

Lifestyle & IDs:
Lifestyle: Squatter (1 month): 500¥
Fake ID (Rating 2): 2,000¥

Vehicles/Drones:
Name                         Handling Accel Speed Pilot Body Armor Sensor Avail Cost
Honda Spirit(Subcompact)*      +1     10/20 80    1     8    2*    1      -     11,550¥
MCT Fly-Spy(Minidrone)         +1      3/15 15    3     1    0     2      6      2,000¥
GM-Nissan Doberman(Medium)**   0      10/25 75    3     3    6     3      6      4,900¥

* Used (-30%: has Gremlins level 1, plus decaying bodywork -4 Armor)
  Includes rigger-adaptation (2,500¥), SunCell mod (4,000¥)
**Added: AK-97 (500¥),
         -modified with Gas Vent 3 (400¥) and ammo drum (100 bullet capacity, 1,000¥)

The Details:

[ Spoiler ]

Drip usually has five sprites registered:

Spot
Rating 3 Machine Sprite
Optional CF: Clearsight 3
Usually residing in FlySpy drone; one of Drip's "imaginary friends" who "followed him home" in the drone.


Chip
Rating 3 Machine Sprite
Optional CF: Maneuver (Groundcar)
Usually residing in Honda Spirit; one of Drip's "imaginary friends" who "followed him home" in the car.


Softie
Rating 3 Machine Sprite
Optional CF: Maneuver (Drone)
Usually residing in Doberman drone; one of Drip's "imaginary friends" who "followed him home" in the drone.


Tiggie
Rating 3
Optional CF: Stealth
"Hangs out" with Drip, helps out with hacking attempts


Xander
Rating 3 Fault Sprite
Optional CF: Blackout
"Hangs out" with Drip, "holds off trouble" by attacking IC.



Other sprite names: Brainy (Data Sprite), Zone (Courier Sprite), Calli (Crack Sprite), Zap (Fault Sprite), Kari, Mandy, Joe (all Machine Sprites)

As far as I can tell, this little guy would kick butt at breaking into vending machines, being a little mini-rigger for various gang activities, and in general being a kooky little crazy kid who talks to toasters and convinces other people's drones to follow him home. Any suggestions on how I can improve him?