Critiques Abound! Yep., First SR4 hacker. Might need some help. Options

[ElFenrir]

Well, in SR3 I had a combat decker idea that i never got to fully flesh out, and never got to play. So i started to rebuild him and ended up fleshing out bits of background as i went along, that is growing more, and ill include it a little later after i get it together a bit better. But i wanted some mechanics down.

Ive read over the hacking chapter a couple of times, but having never played one in SR4 yet, i might be a little lacking on some knowledge(i find you learn best by playing).

I didnt skimp on his hacking skills, and i gave him good combat skills to round out his role(was never the type to sit in the back). Ended up actually creating a new character with different background than planned(im still working on it, will post it later.) I recall a discussion of 'spreading a character too thin is pretty easy in SR4', so i tried my best to avoid that.

Well, here goes. I dont have all of his gear purchased yet...but thats one of the things i havnt understood, unless i just missed it every time i read the chapter(which is possible.)


For starters, the character:

[ Spoiler ]

Gavin Johanssen
Male Ork, 22 years old
Black hair('punk-goth' style), silver-gray eyes(cyber replacement, natural was blue-gray), 6'4'', 200 lbs.

Race: 20 BPs

Attributes:
Body:5(6 for dmg)
Agility:4(5)
Reaction:4(5)
Strength:4(5)
Charisma:3
Intuition:4
Logic:4
Willpower:3
Edge:2
Essence:2.7
Initative:8(9)/1(2)

190 BPs total

Skills(Active) :
Electronics Skill Group:4
Hacking(Survaillance) :5(+2)
Cybercombat:5
Electronics Warfare:4
Unarmed Combat(Kickboxing) :4(+2)
Automatics(SMGs) :3(+2)
Perception:3
Infiltration:2
Etiquette(Street) :2(+2)
Dodge(Ranged) :2(+2)

BPs: 168

Knowledge/Language Skills:
Electronic Engineering:4
AK:Munich:3
AK:Seattle:3
Safehouse Locations:4
Shadowrunner Haunts:3
MMORPGs:1
20-21st Century Metal Bands:2
Nerdy Message Boards:1

English:N
German:3

Contacts: 5BPs plus 6 BPs Chax2(using that option thats been around here)
Still thinking about contacts, probably one a Fixer at C5 L4
Resources: 25 BPs(125,000 nuyen)

Positive Qualities: Human Looking(5 BPs)

Negative Qualities: Mild Allergy(Sunlight)(10 BPs)
Mild Addiction(Stim)(5 BPs)

Total BPs: 408

Remaining: 2

Cyberware:
Cybereyes(Rating 4), with low-light, thermographic, flare compensation, image link, smartlink, vision magnification, and vision enhancement 3-.5 ess
Plastic Bone Lacing-.5 ess
Datajack-.1 ess
Wired Reflexes(rating 1)-2 ess

Bioware:
Muscle Toner lv.1-.1 ess(halved already)
Muscle Augmentation lv.1-.1(as above)

Gear:

AK-97 SMG(smartlinked) with 3 clips regular, 3 clips gel, and 3 clips EX-EX ammo, Gas Vent 3
Armor Jacket
Electronic Tools Kit and Shop

Commlink:

Transys Avalonw/Novatech Navi OS: Response 4, Signal 5, Firewall 3, System 4, Modified for Hot Sim

Alrighty then. Now, ive read the chapter. I cant, for the life of me, find where the hell the rules are for upgrading the commlink.(its high end, but we dont play with Availability rules at chargen). I noticed the Archetype hacker has his beefed up...can someone help me here? Whats a good level to get this thing at?

And programs. Now, i know ones i need...Analyze, Browse, Command, Encrypt, Edit, Armor, Attack, Biofeedback Filters, Decrypt, ECCM, Exploit, Medic, Sniffer, Spoof, Stealth...I know Stealth has to be as high as possible...but do you really need to max out all programs? Is hacking one of those things that 'get everything you can with your money?' Unlike magic, you dont need spells at force 6 to be effective...but after reading some hacking threads and in the book it seems hacking is about powerful programs. Are there programs that you can get away with lower?

Any other tasty programs im leaving out? Are Black Hammer, Blackout, or Data Bomb worth a pickup?

Also, commlink. Implanted or outside? I have enough cash atm to splurge the 2,000 nuyen for implanted, and plenty of essence.

Now, with 2 BPs left i can buy him another specialization, or a couple more points in Contacts, or even 10,000 more nuyen. His skills seem about where i want them, though I was also debating switching Automatics with Pistols(Semi-automatics.) I want him to be effective outside the VR world, which he is,(hence the light physical cyber, and i put a little bit into his physical stats as well), and Automatics seem to be good to go if you need to do some gunning. But Pistols are a bit more concealable. They both can fit him for what i had in mind. I originally had Blades as well, but the bone lacing and the good Unarmed Combat rating(i see him more of a scrapper) seemed to make it needless, so I got him Infiltration and added a specialization somewhere else.

Soooo....anything i could do to this fellow? Suggestions?

[Serbitar]

http://forums.dumpshock.com/index.php?show...pic=16143&st=11

[ElFenrir]

Ahh, i did see that, and it is useful...However i ended up splashing some extra points to balance him out, so this guy isnt exactly a total 'maxed hacker.'

I found the part about upgrading firewall and system, also.

I have about 68,000 nuyen left with this guy for programs and agents. (The commlink and everything written above i had subtracted, along with a few other odds and ends, like a subvocal mic and satellite link.)

I would have liked to by some electronic countermeasures and the like, but i dunno if that will be possible.

Well, 2 BPs for me for Resources, bringing him to 78,000 for Agents, Programs, and upgrading his commlink.

I might be able to shave off a couple more BPs from somewhere else. I will use the guide for programs however, and buy as many as i can atm maxed.

[Catharz Godfoot]

It seems like, according to page 240 of SR4, you can spend 4k and make an extended (1 day) threshold 12 test to build a comlink with a response of 6. Give it whatever signal you like. If you have to start with a comlink to put the response chip in, start with a meta link.

Even if you don't do that, upgrading a Meta Link to 4/4 costs 2.6k, which is cheaper than what you're paying.

Unless I'm horribly misunderstanding building & upgrading.

[ElFenrir]

I thought about in-game upgrading. Usually an option. But, again, ill have to do one more re-read...while i find i learn better by playing, i dont like not buying a commlink at the start, in case its harder than i thought and ill need awhile. If he were, say, sammie first and hacker second, i might, but its the other way around.

There also might be some legality issues getting the parts...while commlinks are legal, im thinking there might be some issue to raising them to amazingly high levels.


While the 6/4/4 in Hacking skills i was considering for a long time, i settled on the 5/5/4 mix with a specialization. I know this is less karma-friendly (top method, 44 karma to raise both to 6....my method is 46...well, 2 points dont matter at all), and honestly, i dont need the 6's as hot badly, so id probably rather round him out with karma. (Id love to add specializations to the other 2 but im already sort of hurting for Resource karma. Im running very low in buying his programs...while hacking is a GREAT deal cheaper now than in 3, those hacking programs at higher levels are friggin expensive.)

First thoughts were to try to balance the hacker with 'sam'(lack of a better word, unless i call him 'combat man' :grinbig: ) half-half, but i fell short on both parts, and since i never did an SR4 hacker i decided to lean toward that end.

[Kyoto Kid]

...upgrade his Commlink and OS to Res 5 / Sig 6 / Sys 5 / FW 6. Believe me, you really want that Response for it controls the level at which your programmes run.

After entering play, the character can easily upgrade the hardware, but upgrading software (Your Signal and Firewall) takes a much longer time since it is software based.

As the character's commlink is currently configured, he will be able to only run three utilities before his link's response is reduced, by 1 which conversely limits the power of the programmes being run. Also the other three commlink stats are limited by it's response, meaning none of them can exceed the performance of the unit's (modified) response rating.

I like the Skillset and Attributes. This is not a decker who runs & hides behind the Troll Sammy when trouble happens.

Since he has cybereyes, get the skinlink option for his Smartlink.

[ElFenrir]

Hehe, i havnt updated the typed version but on the scratch paper version i did indeed upgrade the commlink to high as i could, which is pretty much the numbers you said. :) I definately did want that high Response rating.

Now im going through programs...Stealth 6 was the first i bought, along with all the common use at 6. Money is starting to get a little tighter though. And while yeah, i do like his skills at this point, he definately isnt one to hide behind the wall...i realized i forgot a Ground Craft(Car or Bike) skill for him, so ill have to pull 6 more BPs out of the air. Should be doable though, just need to go over a few things with him. I kind of do want at least a basic vehicle skill for him. Thought i suppose its not 100% necessary at the start, i could do it with Karma if i just cant take anything else lower. (Most BPs atm that i had left went to the needed cash for programs. Ill post the updated version after i finish the shopping spree. :))