A "Punisher"-style character, Which totem would be better? Options

[HMHVV Hunter]

I've been tinkering wih a "Punisher" (as in the comic book hero) character idea for Shadowrun for some time, and I'm trying to take it in a new direction.

Before, I'd always made this guy a street sam, with lots of implants. But that route is starting to get boring, since there's only so many combinations of cyberware and bioware implants you can have for a combat monster guy.

So I'm thinking of making the guy a shaman. But I'm trying to figure something out:

Which totem would be more suited for a guy like Frank Castle - Fenrir or Dragonslayer?

They're both fighters, but Fenrir seems more savage, while Dragonslayer is more of a justice-type.

Honestly, I can see elements of both in The Punisher. Hence, my indecision.

So what are your thoughts?

[hyzmarca]

The Wise Warrior. The Punisher is a soldier at heart and he reats his war on crime as if it were an actual war. Frank Castle is an uncybered mundane who is able to hold his own against (and sometimes defeat) a wide variety of superbeings due to his superior planning, skills, and strategy. It fits the Wise Warrior.

However, since the Punisher is an uncybered mundane that may be the better way to go.

[HMHVV Hunter]

[Shadow]

You could go adept, give him the powers that fit instead of the generic reflex boosting stuff. Give him things that boost pool/edge. He also had a lot of money so resource is a biggy. Don't forget his hacker buddy.

[Anythingforenoug...]

I would add that a good chunk of this depends on how Punisher you want your Punisher to be. If you are trying to get as close to Frank as you can get, the above suggestion of the Wise Warrior is a perfect one-esp. if you consider that in most of the early punishers [back when I read them, which is some time ago, so I am not sure what the commic is like now] the Punisher was portrayed as a guy fighting a covert war behind enemy lines. A sort of one man [plus his support dude and contacts] insurgency against the criminal occupation of society.

But if you want to divert from the strict Frank path, there are a lot of totems that would be good for the vigilante shaman. Fenrir is good if it is a character who has been reduced from a normal civilized man to a more primitive predator who "hunts" crime. Dragonslayer would work if it is a character who is more political, one who became "radiclized" by the tragedy that he has suffered.

One thing that I would add as a possibility that might be cool, regardless of the exact direction you take the character's personality is a tribal/pack type of totem like lion, wolf, hyena, ect.... That way in addition to having the normal vengeance type of effects, you could also have a substitute family, one that you joined/formed to replace the one taken from you, that you are involved in protecting.

Sounds like a cool character either way

AFE :nuyen:

[HMHVV Hunter]

Well, I've read some of the new Punishers ("Welcome Back, Frank" and "In the Beginning..."), and he seems to be very much alone in the new ones. "Welcome Back, Frank" had Mr. Bumpo, Spacker Dave and Joan in it, but they weren't really his partners.

[ Spoiler ]

In fact, in "In the Beginning..." one of the big plots was an ex-partner (Micro) betraying him.

So yeah, right now it seems like Frank is very much alone. Of course, in SR nobody is really alone (with contacts and all), so that would be a necessary change to adapt to the SR world.

[KarmaInferno]

[ Spoiler ]

In fact, in "In the Beginning..." one of the big plots was an ex-partner (Micro) betraying him.

And for that, he shot his only real friend in the face. With a shotgun. With no visible regrets.

Castle is representative of a black-and-white morality view taken to psychopathic extremes. As long as you're on the side of the angels, he's your ally. The moment you show signs that you're less than squeaky clean, he'll 'punish' you without a moment's second thought.

-karma

[HMHVV Hunter]