Flaming Prince: Ork Mercenary/Runner Options

[Seven-7]

Now, as of this post the character is not complete. Here's some details:

Arnold Burkhard (AKA: Flaming Prince) is an Ork Mercenary born and raised in Munich, Germany. Moved to New York, UCAS in a surge of people due to poverty and strife. Without proper sin, family, or a place to live he started his shadow carrier with the shittiest of contacts and dealers. Despite his large stature, combat prowess, and army sized armory, he still gets a few chuckles behind his back due to his name which comes from the two things he loves: Old Purple Rain albums he stole, by Prince, and the belching flames from riots in which he's participated in.

Race: Ork
---20BP

[ Spoiler ]

B: 5 (6)
A: 5 (7)
R: 4 (7)
S: 5
C: 2
L: 2
I: 4
W: 4

---180BP

[ Spoiler ]

EDG: 4
ESS: 0.09/6.00
Physical IP: 1(2)

---30BP

[ Spoiler ]

Positive Qualities: Firefight 2 (-2 AiM), Krav Maga 3 (Take Aim Free, Quick Draw Free, -1 AiM), Genetic Heritage (Synch)
Negative Qualities: Uncouth, Incompetence: Leadership, Negotiation, Instruction
Maneuvers: Iajutsu

---2BP

[ Spoiler ]

Firearms (Group): 4 (Automatics: Machine Pistols +2)
Perception: 5 (Visual +2)
Hacking: 5
Unarmed Combat: 4 (Krav Maga +2)
Gymnastics: 4

--118BP

[ Spoiler ]

Control Rig (.5)
Datalock (.1)
Plastic Lacing (.5)
Reaction Enhancer II (.6)
Move-By-Wire I (2)
Muscle Toner II (.4)
Attention Compressor III (.3)
Encephalon II (1.5)
Math SPU (.15)
Qualia (.4)

So here's what he can do so far, significantly:

• Fire A Gun (14 Dice)
• Perception (17 [19 Visual])
• Initiative (11 Dice)
• Fire In Melee (0 Penalty)
• Hack the Gibson (7 Without Program)
• Dodge (11 Dice)

What I need advice on:

I need two types of guns: Long and Short ranges

Short: Pistol, SMG, or Shotgun

Long: AssRifle, (S) Rifle, Heavy Weapon

And

Should I drop the Enceph (-2 Dice on hacking) for more gear money? Will 40k cut it?

[Seven-7]

Also:

Can we please freaking bring back spoiler tags?

[Fortune]

He needs a little red corvette. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

And spoiler tags never went anywhere.

[ Spoiler ]

See. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[Seven-7]

As there is no quick tag button anymore (It seems), yeah, it did go somewhere (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

[Fortune]

Shrug. I really don't know what you are referring to when you talk about a 'quick tag button'. I do know that it is quite obvious that spoiler tags work, given the existence of an operational spoiler tag in my last post. If you would like to create a spoiler manually, you can do so by typing {spoiler}stuff that spoils {/spoiler}, replacing {} with [].

[Glyph]

40K is normally enough for gear, but you might want to go a bit higher since you are so focused on hacking (hacking programs are 5,000 Nuyen each for Rating: 5 programs). I don't know how quickly you will be able to upgrade cyberware after play starts, but I would consider getting the Encephalon at Rating: 1 and upgrading later.

FYI, your Reaction should be 9, not 7. You get +2 from move-by-wire and +2 from reaction enhancers.

I would be wary of your social skill disadvantages - in some campaigns, they could be a mere inconvenience, but in other campaigns, they could be outright crippling.

As far as the guns:

Short: Pistol, SMG, or Shotgun
I would recommend a Steyr TMP modded all to heck for recoil reduction, since it is still the only machine pistol capable of full auto fire. Maybe a Morrissey Elite as a backup gun.

Long: Assault Rifle, (S) Rifle, Heavy Weapon
The Ares Alpha is still the king of assault rifles. The Desert Strike is the best sniper rifle you can get a char-gen, with its reliability and extra damage - it's easy enough to get it modified for a smartlink.

For heavy weapons , um, they aren't part of the Firearms group, sorry. If you get the skill, I would pimp the Ingram White Knight LMG for its incredible recoil reduction, and the M79B1 LAW rocket, a one-shot launcher/rocket which I think is the only rocket that falls under char-gen Availability limits.

[Daier Mune]

are you allowed to take specializations within skill groups? i didn't think that you could, but i could be wrong. also: I don't think Krav Maga is a valid unarmed spec, either. the Krav Maga martial arts training is already sort of a specialization.

oh, also: i think the Attacker in Melee penalty is only a -2, so your 3 points of AiM compensation is unneeded. i'm not certain what advantage having both 'quick draw free' and 'iajutsu'. i think they both essentialy do the same thing, don't they?

[Seven-7]

are you allowed to take specializations within skill groups? i didn't think that you could, but i could be wrong. also: I don't think Krav Maga is a valid unarmed spec, either. the Krav Maga martial arts training is already sort of a specialization.

oh, also: i think the Attacker in Melee penalty is only a -2, so your 3 points of AiM compensation is unneeded. i'm not certain what advantage having both 'quick draw free' and 'iajutsu'. i think they both essentialy do the same thing, don't they?

You can take specializations in skills that are in skill groups, but not specilizations for skill groups.

Krav Maga is a Martial Art, and Martial Arts is a listed Specialization of Unarmed Combat.

AiM is a -3 dice pool penalty.

While the 'Ready Weapon with a Free Action' and 'Quick Draw any weapon' are not the same thing exactly, it does seem that they do have similar endings, except that, with Krav Maga I can essentially quick draw without a test and any weapon (Even beyond reach one) for the same results.

This seems to make Krav Maga's ability not only remove the need for Quickdraw power, but also for Iajitsu.

[Shiloh]

You can take specializations in skills that are in skill groups, but not specilizations for skill groups.

YOu can? I must re-read that bit...

[b1ffov3rfl0w]

Wow, taking Uncouth and three Incompetent (social skill)s is pretty awesome. I award you the St. Agur Cross, the highest honor in combat-oriented cheesiness (the civilian counterpart is the Humboldt Fog).
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/sleepy.gif)
Seriously though, you do recognize that this is a -4 to your Street Cred, which is like everyone knowing that after failing to complete a run, you were arrested for shooting the Johnson (who was a dragon).

(Although for some reason, the fact that you're shite at explaining things or talking to people makes you a real badass when trying to intimidate lowlifes).

[Seven-7]

This comes down to preference of course. I do not think that both Uncouth and Incompetence in certain social skills is cheesy, as you stated I will be starting off with no less than -4 Street Cred. I traded up the ability to carry a conversation for the ability to carry a loaded gun. Would it have been equally as 'cheesy' had I done the exact opposite? Is every character you play average at everything?

At some point you have to consider "Hey, I might not need to be good at X, because I'll be part of a team and most likely someone will be the face."

[b1ffov3rfl0w]

I think it's cheesy because you're getting 35 points for basically 20 points worth of disadvantages. The reason you get points for negative qualities is that they challenge your character -- you're already treated as "unaware" in all Social skills, so the fact that you are "unaware" of how to teach or inspire people, both Social skills, isn't much of an extra problem. It's like a guy with no legs also not being good at dancing. But I sort of have issues with the Incompetent quality as it is (wow, you're no good at Archery? well shit, have some extra build points!) and that's not anything against you in particular.

The build is legal, but highly min/maxed, thus cheesy. Not that cheesy is so terrible, mind you -- I really think it's a clever way to max your negative qualities points, and if I were the GM I would accept it. But I'd also try just a little harder to make those negative qualities work against you, noting that you start off with not just a Notoriety of 4, but a Public Awareness of 1, meaning that some people in the shadows have heard of you (and think you're poison). This might affect your group, and they may need to downplay their association with your character.

I also think there's quite a gap between "having to be average at everything" and taking 35 points on the same set of skills. I wouldn't do it personally. But hey, it's your character, and I think he could be a lot of fun to play, really.

Also, a lot of people on Dumpshock think for some reason that Uncouth means you automatically fail to resist any Social skill test, which is to say that an ordinary Cha 3 person defaulting on Con can convince you that you should give them all your stuff plus binding power of attorney. Make sure your GM doesn't think that.

[Seven-7]

There is no other way to both be unaware at Intimidation, Con, and Etiquette and never be able to train Leadership, Instruction, and Negotiation.

Not to mention, the legless dancer is a bad analogy. The legless dancer will also never be able to run or jump or ect. The character however, with time and karma, WILL be able to con people or intimidate.

[b1ffov3rfl0w]

There is no other way to both be unaware at Intimidation, Con, and Etiquette and never be able to train Leadership, Instruction, and Negotiation.

Aside from taking the various Incompetent qualities and then not training the other skills, of course. I know, then he could train the skills, but the thing is that he's not going to, so it's like saying "here's 15 build points for not being able to do something that you wouldn't do anyway". The guy's not going to be spending Karma on social skills until he runs out of other things to do with it, and if it ever reaches that point he can spend Karma to buy off the Incompetent (and Uncouth) qualities anyway -- so really there's no way, mechanically, to force your character to never be able to learn Negotiation. You can make it costlier, but that's not the same thing.

Not to mention, the legless dancer is a bad analogy. The legless dancer will also never be able to run or jump or ect. The character however, with time and karma, WILL be able to con people or intimidate.

Erm, that would be a statement of literal fact, not an analogy.

[Glyph]

Depending on the GM, those disadvantages can be a bad idea. Not so much because you can't con, negotiate, etc., but because you will have a difficult time resisting being conned, intimidated, and so forth. Some GMs don't even let social skills work on PCs, but other GMs can make things very difficult for such a PC. So just be sure how the GM is going to run social skills before you take those disadvantages.

[Daier Mune]

Krav Maga is a Martial Art, and Martial Arts is a listed Specialization of Unarmed Combat.

ehhhh...different games, different GMs. I personally wouldn't allow it, since you're ALREADY getting dice bonuses for the martial art. its like specializing in smartlinked guns. seems like you're just giving away free dice at that point.

[Glyph]

What? Martial arts specializations are part of the rules. They are introduced in the main book, and Arsenal, pg. 156 talks about them in more detail.

If you disallow the martial arts specialization in your campaign, fine, but be aware that you are making a house rule, so it's not really relevant to a thread on a character built with canon rules.

[Cthulhudreams]

I'd like to join chorus of bleating lambs complaining about the unwise choices your character has made re: social skills. I'm pretty sure your character cannot actually buy anything with an availability rating because you cannot succeed ever in the extended test.

This would make your character less useful that a lump of roast mutton in my game. YMMV, but it does seem like a pretty risky strategy.

[Seven-7]

Again, FP is not a one man army.

There will be other people on the team.

That said, remember: Move-By-Wire is also Skill Wires.

[Cthulhudreams]

One of my takes on the game, and again, your experience may vary, is that it is important for everyone to be able to cope in every situation, and then come together voltron style with their specialist skills in key situations. So it's important for everyone to be able to shoot a bit, sneak a bit, fast talk a bit, drive a bit, and then have some specialist skills.

If that is not the case in your game, then go for it. I'd want to very carefully examine this with the GM first though.

[Seven-7]

Well, what do you define as 'a bit'? 4 dice may not be grand, but it buys a hit, two if you use Edge (Which I think you can? Some how?)

[Shiloh]

Again, FP is not a one man army.

There will be other people on the team.

But he starts with *stuff*. Where did he get that? If you're going to say the team helped him get his stuff, why did he even get on the team in the first place without all his *stuff* since someone so obnoxious wouldn't be the first candidate for assistance? Maybe it's in your team's background; maybe it ought to be.

That said, remember: Move-By-Wire is also Skill Wires.

You got any skillsofts? If not, then that's *potential* but doesn't explain how you managed to persuade anyone to go near the apparent barbarian long enough to cut some 'ware into him.

[Cthulhudreams]

Maybe he got hit in the head a few to many times after the ware getting installed. Using skillsofts to manage the problem is a valid answer though I wouldn't let in fly in my game.

[Seven-7]

You got any skillsofts? If not, then that's *potential* but doesn't explain how you managed to persuade anyone to go near the apparent barbarian long enough to cut some 'ware into him.

Should I drop the Enceph (-2 Dice on hacking) for more gear money? Will 40k cut it?

Part of the reason for posting.

[Daddy's Litt...]

I am sorry but the name just does not work.

I read "Flaming Prince" and I just think:
"FABULOUS!"

and imagine an ork in bright purple/lanvender scarfs, bell bottom pants and...well you get the idea.