Help me build a character!, 400 BPs and a background, have fun! Options

[Penta]

OK....Allow me to explain my situation.

I'm building my character. I get the concepts behind chargen, but I'm having a hell of a time trying to turn the background in my head into stats.

And now the background. Character name is left a variable because I haven't thought on it. This is for a MU* environment, so presuming there'll be a team is ill-advised.

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<Charname> was born to a middle-class family along the Jersey Shore (in NJ, UCAS) in 2039. Had a fairly normal childhood, parents were a civil servant and a realtor respectively, and he had an older brother to provide adversity. He had rather good grades, and being a more-or-less observant Catholic, applied to Boston College among other places. It was initially just to make his grandparents happy, that he might be going to school near them, but then the school came back with a better financial aid package than he figured likely.

4 years later, he graduated with a double-major in Political Science and Criminal Justice, and a 3.8 GPA; To keep his options open, he'd reply with a grin when asked why he'd picked them. When it came time to figure out what to do with himself, he had almost too many options. Diplomacy or law weren't his pick; He was too much an adrenaline junkie, though he had found he had a gift for languages. The military, honestly, had never occurred to him. But law enforcement? Yeah, it had. Knight Errant won out; They paid better and just seemed more professional, compared to Lone Star or many of the other choices. It had a really restrictive non-compete clause in the contract, but everything else seemed to outweigh that, and how likely was he to be changing jobs?

So it was to Knight Errant; After finishing training, he was posted to a patrol unit working a low-class residential suburb of Boston. His language skills came in handy here, and he developed a rapport with neighborhood kids that proved very useful, besides generating good PR for his unit (and Knight Errant).

His life settled into a routine for the next while, then, until a notice in his precinct's muster room appeared, advertising openings in the SWAT division in the New York metro area. The chance to head home appealed to <char>, and the difficult training and action-packed nature of the job was even more of an inducement. So he applied, not expecting he'd be accepted (he tends to be self-deprecating about his abilities, see). So, 2 weeks later, on a train from South St. Station, he left Boston.

SWAT training, in the Adirondacks Mountains, in New York, Newark, Trenton, and even on the Jersey Shore where <char> had grown up, was difficult. No, perhaps difficult is the wrong word. It was hell. But it was good training. At the end of 3 months, <char> graduated in the top 20% of the class, and wound up posted to a SWAT team in Newark.

Not exactly a plum assignment, but he was okay with that. His career was promising, skillful saving had enabled him to pay off the cyberware he'd gotten in training 2 years early, and he found friends in his fellow officers, and mentors in his Sergeant and his Lieutenant. Of course, that would be what would end his career, as well.

He'd been in SWAT for 3 years. He'd just turned 30. Unfortunately, while his Lieutenant was a good boss, he was also a maverick, who'd rubbed some people the wrong way and who'd stepped on a few toes. One of those people, unfortunately, had come into a position of minor influence. The Lieutenant, in securing funding and gear for their unit, had bent (but not broken) minor acquisition and funding regulations. When Auditing came by, they'd normally smack him on the wrist and move on; everybody did it, corporate profits weren't hurt, and their operational effectiveness was superb, which reflected well on the chain of command. This time, unfortunately, was abnormal. Lieutenant Marks found his career ended, informed he would be retired with his pension when he reached his 20-year-mark in 3 months. Sergeant Vasquez and much of the unit found themselves shuffled about, using what influence they had to save themselves.

That left <char> in the lurch. He was informed that he was going to be separated in the next round of attrition; he'd done well, but his number just happened to be up, they said. In reality, he had no real influence to call on to keep his job. He was given an honorable discharge and severance, but when he filed his paperwork and turned in his gear, the personnel sergeant noted his contract's non-compete clause. A surprise to everybody, including the lawyer they called over with a "this has gotta be a misprint, right?" question. It was exceptionally broad, essentially barring him from work in the security industry *worldwide* for 5 years. Apparently, it was a contract KE's recruiters had only used for a very short time (during which time recruitment dropped like a rock) before the language was changed back to a more normal non-compete clause. The lawyer made a few checks, and found that, regardless, Detroit was holding to it. Depressing, indeed. However, he was lucky. Sergeant Vasquez, as they met for lunch that afternoon, recalled a friend of his who might be able to give <char> some work, regardless of any contract language, so long as he was willing to move out to Seattle.

And so he's arrived in Seattle.
---

What I have thusfar in terms of CG:

<char name>
Human Mundane

After that, nothing.

[Mistwalker]

What kind of cyberware were you thinking of?
A lot, a little?

[Penta]

Not much. I'm kinda wondering: What kinda cyber would be at all likely?

[Smed]

Depends on who paid for it. I doubt the Corp would have turned him loose if they spent a lot of money on implants for him.

[Penta]

It was sorta like "Corp implants the stuff, you pay for it in installments".

[ChicagosFinest]

well smartlink is a must. Swat hostage situations require you to know friend or foe not to shot hostages.

Defineately look at the lone star and security hand books. They should be awesome resources. MMM plain clothes and undercover cops should be the template but overall X-star and other SR mentionables are the prototypes.

[Penta]

Well, as I noted in another thread...All my books are a few hours away, CF, so looking at books is not really an option.:)

[ChicagosFinest]

lol, my fault. Thats why I cant wait to get a PDA, just carry all my books with me through PDF's

[kzt]

[Smed]

I would think the Corp would be more likely to offer Cyberware than Bioware. Its cheaper, and they probably aren't as worried about the essence penalties and easy detectibility associated with Cyberware. An undercover officer on the other hand would be a better candidate for Bioware.

[ChicagosFinest]

[Penta]

Smed: I'd think Alpha would be offered, though, with the implantee playing the difference.

[Blade]

On one hand, reaction boosters should be nice SWAT agents : they have to shoot before the bad guy kills the hostage. Even if the bad guy is hyped on some drugs. But on the other hand, there's the risk that the boosted agent shoots before he can think.

Voice modulator may be fine to be more impressive when you're shouting to the bad guys about dropping their guns.

[Penta]

[Blade]

Shoot one of your own isn't much a problem with smartlinks. But shooting a non threatening suspect or, worse, a civilian can't really be avoided with smartlinks... But if the SWAT agent is trained to control his boosted self, it can be useful when you're up against cybered or hyped opposition.

About the voice modulator, I was thinking of the ability to increase the volume of the voice and change the tone : hearing someone shouting "DROP YOUR WEAPON NOW !" with a massive and inflexible voice may get you to comply. But that can also be built-in the helmet so you don't have to get cyberware for that.

Anyway, I've got some issues with your background.
First, I have a hard time believing in such a non compete clause being accepted by any juridiction (especially since corps have their own, and can consider that clause as void.)
Then I guess that <char name> will end up as a runner in Seattle... Becoming a runner is more than a carrier change. It's deciding to become a criminal. For most of the population, it's becoming a terrorist scum, a cold-blooded bastard who could kill his own mother if he didn't already did it when he was five. I don't picture a SWAT agent deciding to become one just because he can't work in his field. He's got a family, he's got a double-major, he's 30 ! Why isn't he thinking about getting a nice new job, a stable income, a wife, two kids, a garden, a synthedog and 3 drones ? Maybe there's something you forgot to mention, because it doesn't make much sense to me this way.

[Penta]

Re the non-compete clause: It might not be accepted, but let's be frank: Could the average person pay for the lawyers to fight it? Not likely.

The "Why would *anybody* become a shadowrunner?" question has posed itself to me, as well. I admit, there's no *good* answer to this question, and I admit I ducked it. However, for what it's worth...He's not *intending* to become a Shadowrunner (and, fwiw, he has...his parents, his brother...that's it, for immediate family anyway. He has fairly distant relations with all of them.), he's going to be sucked into it.

In any case, I admit the background isn't great, but I'm concerned more about what sort of stats would fit the bg using the 400bp regular chargen.

[ChicagosFinest]

He does sound a little vanilla to me as well. It's the question of why a suburban rich white guy hang out with 30 year old African american gang banger OG's? or that same suburban guy kickin it with some 30 year old felid working mexicans.

I say that because you can tell the quality of life is completely different between all 3 of them. your character is getting his world rocked and he may not be prepared to see all of the things the sinless go through.

Watching the dateline last friday on "privilege" it seemed like white makes right. Do you honestly think he is ready to slum it with orks, trolls, squatters, killers and the foulest of scum and villanry?

{EDIT}: you beat me to the punch LOL. I think some of that BP needs to go to lifestyle he seems well off enough for a little while.

[whitezero]

maybe he has nothing to lose, maybe his superior pissed someone off enough to get his whole unit blacklisted... so <char> couldnt get a job on the east coast if he *wanted* to, double major or not, or maybe someone set him up to take a fall...if you just rearange a little bit of his career background you could leave the overall concept intact, al the while giving him an enemy and a motivation you could go as far as him being marked to get cacked and surviving, maybe his on the run...and when he gets to seatle and calls his buddy back home, they already got to him... then hes kinda got no choice as to what he can do with himself.

[Penta]

A little will. I grant, the "how he gets to the shadows" part is...vanilla, mm. Cheesy, yeah, probably. However, the usual is "the corp killed my family/friends/dog because...", which to me doesn't wash. Or something similarly cliche.

This is not that. I took an angle I don't think many people would think of (namely, how many people even realize that such things as non-compete clauses *exist*?) and went with it.

Like I said, because I'm writing this for a MU* environment, I don't need to have him running immediately. I can afford to build up to that point, where he finds he's crossed the line into criminal activity without really intending to do so. He's a character I don't intend as a badass, but one where I hope to at least explore the "ordinary person in unusual circumstances" motif a bit. He's a fairly observant Catholic; There are going to be moral questions he has to confront.

I'm not sure there's ever really a good answer as to why someone would head for the shadows from any remotely normal existence. But I am trying to build a 3D character.

Oh, and FWIW...He has a BA with a double major, yes. But even right now, it's not all that easy to get much work with a BA. You generally need grad school. (Speaking from experience, as I near graduation from college w/ a poli sci major.)

[Penta]

Whitezero: That's the thing...I don't see the corps just killing people. Not little people like the character (whom I'll call Penta, after myself, as a placeholder) in question. Why? Really simple reason...Eventually, they'll screw up, and not kill someone, or kill the wrong person.

Plus, how cost-effective would that really be? Not very.

[ChicagosFinest]

Knollegesofts- like tactics
Languesofts
smartlink
gas of some sort (tear or smoke)
survelliance eqiupment

skills in guns of some sort (im thinking assult rifles)
althletics?
computers

Thats all I got now excuse the typos im about to leave from work so I'm in a hurry. Ill write more when I get home in like 30 to 45 minutes

[whitezero]

if you dont like the *getting cacked* angle then you can definately still have him wind up black listed, with KE not answering his calls, and suddenly its as if his entire professional career never existed, or is marred by a false disciplinary record...

[Penta]

The "blacklisted" angle is basically what I did. He was the only one in his unit who didn't have influence to use to land on his feet within KE; therefore, he was separated. Admittedly, on more-or-less amicable terms (he'd get decent references out of it, for example), but that hardly mattered given his non-compete clause. (Remember, even if it would never be held up in court: 1. It's the UCAS, Ares basically has its tentacles firmly in the government, including the judiciary; 2. How the heck would he pay for a lawyer that could even hope to compete with their lawyers? Fighting the non-compete clause is not a particularly rational decision.)

[Mistwalker]

If he get's hired on by Lonestar, they won't care about the non-compete clause.

A suggestion to change your backstory a bit. Have him be a suspect in misappropiration of gear, some that went missing. Not enough evidence to charge him, but enough to get him booted for conduct unbecoming. His team mates had enough connections (influence) to make sure that they didn't tarred with the same brush.
He is unofficially blacklisted. KE will give him a reference, but has already spread the word to other Law Enformcement companies.

As for Cyberware, I would suggest Eyes rating 4, Ears rating 4, Commlink, datajack with skin link, sleep regulator. Won't blow the bank, but would have taken him a while to pay it all off.

[2bit]

He sounds like a good guy who's fallen on hard times. A guy like him is going to get a regular job. He's not going to leave the KE offices and decide to go leave a resume with the yakuza. Maybe work the adrenaline junky angle. Use Mr. Incredible (The Incredibles) as an example. Being a superhero was what kept him going, so even though he had a stable job at the insurance company, he'd sneak out with his buddy and stake out the police frequencies for action. Maybe pointing guns and shouting at people is what makes your man feel alive. It doesn't make sense though unless he tries to be "normal" first. He needs to spend time as an office drone or something, who hates his job. Then it makes sense when he starts taking side jobs. And it totally supports your "ordinary person in unusual circumstances" bit.