Amnesia (5 pointer), Help me make a cool character. :P Options

[Sphynx]

Ok, when our current GM hands over the reigns in December, he's told me he intends to play a character with the 5 point Amnesia flaw....

Now, I'm not looking to screw the guy over, even remotely, I want to make him a cool character with lots of interesting 'tools' etc that he has to discover. To break him into our group, AFTER generatting an acceptable character using the BP system at 130 points (135 if you count the Amnesia) I'll be adding 150 karma to his sheet based on how I think the character would have advanced.

Anyways, I want to create a character that is not a wimp, not a "screw the player" but at the same time not necessarily a 'tank' either, which will fit into our already solid group (we run with 8 players).

Current characters are:
Leader/Face: All 6 in all attributes, decent in combat, more skillwires than God and a good 500k+ worth of softs.
Street Sam: Cyberninja girl with Titanium Lacing, Muscle Aug 4 and hellish unarmed damage/skill but with stealth and athletics that make a PysAd seem klutzy.
StreetSam: Speed Demon, 19+5D6 and a non-comparable gun skill.
Phys Ad: The 40+ dice Daisho character.
Mage Ad: every 'Sense' available, and all the Detection spells at Extended Range, Tattoo'd.
Spirit Shaman: Ally Spirit, Power Focus, and stays in the Astral Plane fighting Astral problems.
Rigger: SecurityRigger/DroneRigger/Driver.

I think the only thing missing is 'my' character, the spell-caster, so thinking this is the most likely route, but I don't want the new character to even remotely mirror my character, but to be perfectly honest... I suck at making characters not like my Shaman, they all end up being mirrors (as alot of you know, since I've remade the same character, 2 deaths, since starting on this Forum). And of course, the one Shaman has some decent combat spells, but he's rarely with the group in physical form.

Or maybe, to give the group a bit of weakness, a lack of spell-casters might be a good choice too... really in a mix over this (hate it when someone does this to me). So, anyone got a(ny) good idea(s)? Last time this guy played a Troll/Ranger-X character with like a 20ish Strength (overkill and couldn't do crap in close quarters, but this was before we found the Eratta about adept's Increased Attribute, mod instead of max).

Thanks in advance for any help in brain storming.

Sphynx

[Siege]

Go covert ops/free-lance spy.

Which means the player could find lots of clues to lots of different identities the character has used over the course of his career. Figure out which one is real and why seemingly nameless minions are hunting for him.

-Siege

[snowRaven]

Sphynx, gimme a day and I'll come up with a spellslinger concept for you :elims: something abit unusual I think.

[nezumi]

[rather stream of thought, sorry]

2/7 characters are spell casters and you think they need more? I also notice you don't have a decker. If you want a rounded group, make a decker (but I'm guessing you've already thought of it and dismissed it). It sounds like you're playing the amnesia flaw by making it so he has these powers, but doesn't know about 'em, so I'll try to play on that. I don't want to actually do all the number crunching because I'm not THAT bored, plus there's no reason for you to munchkin the guy, it takes half of the fun out for him. You do have a really solid group as it is, and I doubt you need another fighter (plus they can probably cover for him for a bit until he finds himself, so feel free to screw him over for plot purposes in the first few battles).

I wouldn't mess with the totem connection, so just make him hermetic (although shamans tend to have much funner excuses for getting amnesia... maybe set it up so he lost his memory from using a particular wacky weed which he felt gave him spiritual awareness, and then when he regains his memory swap that flaw with addiction: wacky weed so it starts over : P ).

I'd probably make him into a researcher, since that has a LOT of good plot hooks. Possibly give him a weapon skill, but give him plenty of b/r/science skills and, obviously, all the magical skills. Either set him up with a mnemonic enhancer or some neat headware memory plus a fun geas (then you can lock up more plot hooks in that noggin of his). Give him a mess of utilitarian, especially manipulation spells. Also, I'd give him one high levelled, very specialized spell not from the books and don't count the BP cost for it. It could be something like maintain cybermancy, or even better, give him the ability to do blood sacrifice, except he's either forgotten a vital step or has developed those pesky ethics things.

What you should have in the end is someone who was involved in some sort of serious incident involving a hard hitting magical corp. He's worth a lot of money and either he has something locked up in his head, or the corp thinks he does. He'd have a number of useful low level spells (mostly manipulation) he can unlock early on and a few high level ones he can figure out at useful moments, plus he has a geas he needs to figure out. His cyberware/bioware isn't obvious, so if he wants to use it he needs to find out its there first. Plus, eventually he can find that he has some super special power which, while it won't upset game balance, it's quite illuminating into his past. And, of course, he has a slew of generally useful skills for making it through life as a know it all science guy until he gets his feet under him (it'll be lotsa fun watching him build his own bomb or use his skills to otherwise out think the hard hitters).

Alternatively, make a hard core, cybered stealth/sniper character. This gives you the option of packing in as much unknown cyberware as you want. Give him maybe a small headware deck (with something in headware, of course), some wicked expensive eyes, some sort of internal weapon and either dermal plating or bone lacing, plus, of course, some reaction enhancer. Then, if you feel so inclined, give him something more cutting edge. Maybe give him a prototype rheuthium skin coating (not totally functional yet, of course, and prone to breaking, but quite, quite valuable), some sort of biometric key or just the good, old fashioned cranial bomb.

Headware memory/mnemonic enhancer really is super fun for amnesiatic characters. Just like Johnny Mnemonic, you can put whatever you want in there and say, for some reason or another, he can't access it unless he has a druggy dolphin (no wait, getting off course). Put in something fun, either a cryptographic key or highly technical documents, so even if he can access them, it looks like gibberish and he needs to go jump through hoops to understand it. Or put on granny porn (which will fully justify the -5 flaw and why he lost his memory).

[Kagetenshi]

I'd personally suggest a master tactician or something, maybe with some decking on the side. Small Units Tactics, Tactical Computer/BattleTac (I'm assuming that availability limits are loosened; if this is incorrect the character concept is workable but will be much less complete in and of itself), a bunch of stuff like that.
If you wanted to be really evil, you could make the character the ultimate assassin. No combat skills except Throwing Weapons and maybe Unarmed Combat, then give him Chemistry, Demolitions, Stealth, Engineering, Vehicles Skills, that sort of thing up the wazoo. Maybe make him a spellslinger for the Accident power and some spells, though those leave traces.
Ooh... or you could make him a faded Otaku whose mind couldn't handle the fact that he lost his abilities... Computers skill around 10 or so, but an inexplicable feeling of alienness and loss within the Matrix...

~J

[easytohate]

I would suggest an investigator type, someone who knows a lot of people (or at least did) this would make some very interesting situations as he is confronted by contacts he does not remember. I would generate a wide base of knowledge skills along with creative mundane bend toward technolgy. An everyman of sorts, essintialy someone who dosn't realize thier own knowledge base. Electronics, Demolitions, Computers. Magic active is really not a question in amnesia, so if he is magic active, then I would put a bend toward paranormal studies or even atlantis research. Or whereever else magic goes in your game. On the magic side of things, I would develop some unsual or unique spells for the character things one can't learn but would have to develop.

[Siege]

Actually, Magically Active could be amusing if the shaman is summoning spirits without realizing it...

-Siege

[TinkerGnome]

There's a new Keanu Reeves movie coming out sometime in the near future which would make a great concept for an Amensia character. In essence, he was a scientist who worked on top secret projects and had his memory wiped after each one. When he finally retired, he found out that he'd voluntarily signed away his (sizable) compensation and received only an envelope with 19 items. I only saw the trailer, of course, but he'd apparently built a machine to see the future in his last assignment and sent himself the 19 items as clues on how to change an undesirable future (signing away the retirement was an exclaimation point toward the items to make him think about 'em). It'd make a great amnesiac character, even at 5 points (he'd know his name, but not much else).

[BitBasher]

That's the new John Woo directed movie "Paycheck", and it's Ben Afflek not Keanu Reeves.

[Lilt]

One thing I'd try to make sure of: Make sure that the other players won't just be able to fix him up immediately. A character with mysterious powers he can't explain would be looked at by a magician for a coupple of seconds before he was informed that he was an adept or had XYZ cyberware. Perhaps consider going for an interesting skillset. Maybe even give him something odd that's not in the books (like bioware versions of most-commonly cyber implants, or hybrid cyber/bioware).

[Dim Sum]

I ran a campaign not too long ago where all three player characters were -5 point amnesiacs built with 150 Build Points total inclusive of all flaws. I've posted the Awakened character here for you - the only thing I'm worried about is that your group looks a little munchkinny (no offence) and geared to rumble while I created a balanced (not bad-assed but not a wuss) character based on a background story I had for the guy (so this character is NOT optimised):

150-point Wujen magical adept
Human male, Chinese-Danish descent, height 1.78m, weight 67kg, slim wiry frame, short black hair with subtle streaks of blond, dark brown eyes, left-handed, deep scar on left side of his neck.

Race 0 points
Adept 30 points (Magical Adept)
Resources 15 points (200,000 nuyen)

Attributes 58 points

Body 4
Quickness 5
Strength 6(8)
Charisma 3
Intelligence 5
Willpower 6

Essence 6
Magic 4/6*
Reaction 5(6) + 2d6

*2 pt loss from cyberware (offset by Incantation & Gesture geas). Effective rating: 4 if geas broken.

Karma pool 1
Hacking pool - (no cyberdeck, yet)
Combat pool 8
Spell pool 5

Skills 50 points
Athletics 4
Aura reading 1
Bike 3
Biotech 3
First aid 5
Computer 3
Programming 5
Conjuring 6
Eitquette 1
Triad 3
Kung-fu (White Crane) 6(8)
Kick attack (2 points for maneuver)
Pistols 5
Sorcery 5
Spellcasting 7
Stealth 5
Submachineguns 2
Uzi III 4

Accountancy, UCAS 5
Accountancy, Europe 4
Data havens 3
Dragon lines 1
Law, UCAS corporate 3
Magical theory 5
Medicine 3
Pokemon collections 1

Languages
Chinese 4
Chinese R/W 2
Danish 4
Danish R/W 2
English 6
English R/W 3

Adept Powers Cost
Improved Strength +2 1
Improved Kung-fu +2 1
Magical power 4 4 (yields 24 spell points + 3 bought at char gen)

Cyberware Essence Cost
Cybereyes 0.2 5,000
Flare comp. (0.1) 2,000
Image link (0.2) 1,600
Vis mag (optical) 3 (0.2) 6,000
Boosted reflexes 2 1.0 80,000 (alpha)
Chipjack 0.2 1,000
Datajack 0.2 1,000
Smartlink 2 0.4 7,000 (alpha)

Spells
Alter memory 4(6) - exclusive
Barrier, physical 4
Combat sense 2
Imp invisibility 1
Levitate 2
Lightning bolt 4(6) - exclusive
Mana bolt 4(6) - exclusive

Edges & Flaws
Aptitude (Sorcery) 4
Focused concentration 2

Amnesia, total -5
Distinctive style -1

Brief Background
Johnny Chang was a Smart Kid TM (Intelligence 5) who was Stubborn TM (Willpower 6) and wouldn't listen to his immigrant parents who counselled him that the white devils had nothing to offer him and run with his own kind. So Johnny found some friends who knew some friends who inducted him into the Really Cool TM world of the Tongs.

Johnny was a whiz with computers and his Wonderful Tong Friends TM showed him how easy it was to make Easy Money TM on the Matrix by funnelling a little here, a little there without hurting anyone - after all, the businesses they hit were covered by insurance, mei chor ba? When his parents wanted him to go to college and become a doctor, the Tong even paid for his education - what truly Wonderful Tong Friends TM he had! They taught him Really Cool TM kung-fu and made him aware of his magical gifts - all he had to do in return from time to time was show up for a drive-by shooting (fun, fun, fun with guns, guns, guns!), erase some memories, and run some errands as a courier.

But in college, Johnny met The Girl of His Dreams TM reading for a double-major in Accountancy and Law. He dropped out of Med school to pursue the same course to get to know her much to his parents' dismay. The Tong was happy with his choice since his education would benefit them but The Girl of His Dreams TM persuaded him to cut his ties to organised crime and take an innoncent hobby like Pokemon. Enraged, the Tong killed The Girl of His Dreams TM and his parents. Filled with Furious Vengeance Born of Grief TM, Johnny shed his past life to become a Tragic Hero With A Manifest Destiny TM. He fought his way into the Tong's Cliffside Retreat TM and wiped out the triad. Victorious, our Tragic Hero With A Manifest Destiny TM stood atop the sea balcony contemplating his Furious Vengeance Born of Grief TM when a dying Tong sze kau made a Called Shot, Left Cranial Sphere TM. The Tragic Hero With A Manifest Destiny TM fell over the balcony and into the sea below. He washed out to sea with the tide and was rescued by a passing Smuggler Boat Captain With A Plot Hook TM because he reminded the Smuggler Boat Captain With A Plot Hook TM of his own son lost long ago.

:D

[Steel Eyes]

I've been working on couple of ideas kind of close to this here are a few of them.

1. Clonal Bioware - A new type of bioware, one that does not hamper magic in any way and/or is difficult to discern without invasive surgery.
2. The character is an initiate and is subconsciously masking himself to hide cyber/bio and they're magic potential.
3. He holds the Hidden Life of a Free Spirit, you will probably want to change the powers received a little bit as they are too powerful.
4. He has a spirit that is protecting him. All these strange things happen around him that he has no control over.

When I get my notes I'll post some more.

[Dim Sum]

Sorry, Sphynx, forgot to add that the really funny thing with Johnny Chang will be figuring out that:

a) he's Awakened - at first glance/scan, he'll look like a sammie / decker
b) what the hell the specific incantation and gesture are to make his magic work

You'll have to tailor it so that there are clues for the player to discover, of course. In my campaign, the PCs came across a security video showing Johnny throwing spells while doing some weird hand movements and shouting something. :D Up until then, they thought he was either a sammie or a cybered physical adept.

[Edit] His Essence is also 4 (6 with geasa), not 6. Sorry.

[Tanka]

Uh... Essence can't be gaesed back? If they could, man would some of my characters have a lot of 'ware...

[Dim Sum]

*Sigh* Semantics ....

I meant 6 Essence with 2 points geased .... :|

[Tanka]

Heh. Gonna say... Time for a Troll that can take as much 'ware as he wants because he just does silly things while... er... breathing! :cyber:

[Dim Sum]

[Tanka]

I can make one scary Troll using SR2 or SR3, but it's more fun in SR2. Bioware limited by your natural Body Rating... No Availability limits... SOTA6 edge... Yowsers!

Speaking of the massively-cybered Troll, I might.

[RedmondLarry]

Just some ideas...

Initiate 2, 3, (whatever) magician, who naturally masks, has enough cyber for essence < 1. and enough skills to look like another Samurai to the group. Doesn't know to go astral (has forgotten how), doesn't know to allocate Sorcery dice to Spell Defense. Could play 6 months or more without knowing he's a magician. Perhaps a spirit or his dreams eventually tell him, or a dragon, or he finds a magical weapon that works really well for him (he bonded it long ago).

Alternate idea: Actual character is an amnesiac magician in an almost-coma in a hospital somewhere. His (her?) only remaining connection to the real world is Sense Link to his ally spirit Possessing a Willing Troll [OK, bend the rules to allow it]. The Troll was willing because he got tired of people teasing him, and with the spirit in him he could seem much smarter, nicer, and things were really much better. Character has realized he has a split personality [just tell him that] but when he forces it he is in control. The GM plays the other personality (the Ally) who doesn't know much of the world and is willing to go along with the "dominate personality". So the character continually sees the world through the Troll's eyes and can walk and talk however he likes. The combination is always Dual-Natured (no penalties in physical world) but can't seem to shape-change or regenerate like the other characters expect. Things become really weird when the character earns Karma but can't seem to spend it on increasing attributes or skills. Sometimes the magician goes to "sleep" for a while, and the Ally/Troll walk around and do things on their own. When the magician "awakens" it is as if his other personality did things on its own -- which the ally can tell him of and pass him visions of. The ally may have been conjured just shortly before the accident and know very little of the world, or what he himself is. Ally has Sorcery and at least one spell, and knows what it is. Provide enough masking so the truth is not revealed till you want. You decide if the Ally/Troll combo has access to Troll skills. Troll does not earn Karma while possessed. Ally does not earn Karma.

Alternate idea (good for 1 or 2 adventures): He's a pizza-delivery boy with amnesia. Give him the real character after the team has fun figuring it out.

Alternate idea: Work out with the guy that his job is to play an NPC on the team for a month, make them all care for him and depend on him, and then kill him off (perhaps senselessly). Reminds all the players that death is part of the shadows. Only needed if it's been too long since the team experienced a death. Don't ever need to tell them it was an NPC. Then he gets his real amnesiac character, perhaps with more points because of the assistance he provided you.

[Entropy Kid]

GM: "Roll five dice."
PC: "I got SMGs at five?"
GM: "Maybe you're defaulting."
PC: "...."

Ah, the amnesiac character.

Even though it's a pain, I'd do all the rolling for the PC, asking them "how hard" they're trying or if they want to hold back a little (assigning combat or spell pool). Once they've performed a skill enough times, tell them what the rating is and let them roll for tests. Combat skills are figured out pretty quickly, others slower. Attributes pretty much take forever, except Body and Intelligence.

My co-GM and I talked a player into taking full amnesia. He wanted to be Plot-Monkey so we figured this would work. We told him things would be difficult, but he was ready for it.

The idea: He was an associate of someone (or something) powerful, Darke, Lofwyr, whatever. They made some crazy bet and the PC was altered from his original form and had his memory erased. We were going to set a trail of odd clues for him to follow in order to find out who he was (name, age, sex, metatype) and what happened to him and why. It was going to be a parallel story and we were going to try and otherwise play a normal game. He was going to have skills that'd benefit the team, rounding out their weaknesses. It was also an opportunity to mix edges and flaws together. Amnesia+Photographic memory, Dark Secret + Friendly Face. etc. Mysterious cyberware of course, and I mean in addition to what he'd be able to find normally (but just have no memory of).

Amnesia is a great roleplaying flaw no matter what the character type (discovering cyberware only slightly less scary than some accidental sorcery), but it also gives a chance to make some really weird things if the player is up for it.

[The Jopp]

How about bending the rules a little? Let him have false memories and skills? Let him create a character with a background and skills but in midgame his original memories starts to take over and replace the false ones.

You MIGHT want to tell him IF he should be allowed cyberware or not. Perhaps a face character who is really a conjurer?

It could be uncomfortable to have your SMG skills suddenly replaced by Sorcery or something. He could be initiated and have Masking to hide the magical abilities from others, without even knowing it.

[Sahandrian]

Instead of a normal decker, how about an otaku who thinks he's a decker? Uses a low-grade cyberdeck that probably doesn't even work, when in reality it's all his entirely natural ability. I don't know enough about otaku (don't have the Matrix book, just read stuff on the forums) to really go into more detail than that...

[Herald of Verjig...]

[Sahandrian]

[Glyph]

Here's an idea, kind of inspired when I saw Dirty Pretty Things - not based on the entire character from the movie, but the general concept of someone who has fled corruption in a third world country, leaving tragedy behind him, to make a living in a new land where he has superlative medical skills but can't really use them for legitimate work.

You can start him out huddled against some crates near the docks, his heart beating rapidly and with no idea where he is or how he got there. All he knows is that he is carrying a satchel that seems to have medical gear in it. As his background develops, you can bring in the corporation exploiting his homeland, the secrets that he might have discovered, family members still in danger (which will be very important to this particular Totem), etc.

He makes a good addition to the party because he can fill the medic role (for mundane first aid, he rolls 7 dice, plus 6 complementary skill dice from his medicine skill, plus 6 complementary skill dice from the Savior medkit, at -4 TN (from Aptitude, the Savior medkit, and Microscopic Vision). Then, his magical healing will usually be plenty to heal up the rest. He can also cast a mean stun bolt, assist with spell defense, summon spirits, act as a face, and contribute to a firefight. He is very versatile - that is good to keep an amnesiac on his toes - he learns he is a good medic, then learns he is a good face, then finds out he is fast, etc. And this is just the basic 130-point version. With the extra Karma, you could take him in several different directions.


Here is the breakdown:
Dwarf: 5
Edges: +9
Flaws: -9
Resources: 0 (5,000 - 10% = 4,500)
Attributes: 56
Skills: 39
Magic (Adept of the Magical Way): 30
TOTAL: 130

Male Dwarf Adept of the Magical Way - Shamanic/Leopard Totem
Attributes
Body: 5
Quickness: 5[6]
Strength: 3
Charisma: 6
Intelligence: 7
Willpower: 7
Essence: 6
Magic: 6[4]
Reaction: 6[8]
Initiative: 8 + 2d6
Combat Pool: 10
Spell Pool: 6

Active Skills -
Biotech/First Aid: 5/7
Conjuring: 6
Etiquette: 6
Negotiation: 6
Pistols: 5
Sorcery: 6
Stealth: 4

Knowledge Skills -
(Languages)
Congo Tribal Dialect: 6 R/W: 3
English: 5 R/W: 2
Japanese: 5 R/W: 2
(Other)
Chemistry: 6
Magical Background: 6
Medicine: 6
(Meta)Human Biology: 6
Paranormal Critters/Wild: 1/3
Triage Procedures: 3

Adept Abilities -
Magical Ability: 4 with Chanting Geas
Improved Attribute/Quickness
Improved Senses -
Improved Scent
Microscopic Vision
Increased Reflexes: 1

Spells -
Stunbolt: 6*
Diagnose: 6*
Heal: 6*
Sterilize: 6*
* = Exclusive for -2 Drain

Totem modifiers -
+2 for Combat and Health spells
+2 for all Nature Spirits at Night
-1 to resist Illusion spells

Edges -
Aptitude: Biotech
Bonus Attribute Point: Intelligence
Bravery
Friendly Face
Sense of Direction

Flaws -
Allergy: Silver, Mild
Amnesia (5-point)
Bio-Rejection

Contacts -
N/A

Lifestyle: Streets
Cred: 100 Nuyen certified credstick in his pocket, 1,000 Nuyen certified credstick duct-taped to his ankle.

Gear carried/worn:
Wears ordinary clothing and a secure ultra-vest. In a doctor's satchel (of 100 Nuyen cost), there is a Savior Advanced Medkit, Spare Medkit Supplies (x1), 4 Antidote (6) Slap Patches, and a Bio-Monitor.