Troll Sam in training, advice would be nice Options

[Chance359]

A friend of mine who's new to Shadowrun and is gonna be doing a Missions game this weekend. I've suggested to use a pregen, but he's insisted on building a character, so here he is.

Troll Sam


B: 8 (3 to damage resistance)
A: 4 (6)
R: 3 (5)
S: 8 (10)
C: 2
I: 3
L: 4
W: 4

Edge: 1
Essence: 0.15
Initiative Passes: 3

Qualities:
Bad Luck


Bioware
Muscle Augmentation: 2
Muscle Toners: 2

Cyberware
Bone Lacing Ceramic
Cyberears: 3 (Audio Enhancement,

Balance Augmenter, Damper, Spartinal

Recognizer)
Cybereyes: 3 (Flare Compensation,

Low-Light vision, Smartlink,

Thermographic Vision, Vision

Magnification)
Olfactory Booster: 1
Internal Air Tank
Wired Reflexes: 2

Skills (122)
Athletics: 1
Dodge: 2
Etiquette: 3
Gunnery: 2
Infiltration: 4
Longarm: 4
Parachuting: 1
Pilot Ground Craft: 4
Pistols: 2
Survival: 2
Unarmed Combat: 4

Knowledge skills
Biology: 3
Chemistry: 1
Knots: 3
Military: 4
Paranormal Critters
Security Design: 2
Security Procedures: 4
Sprots: 2


Contacts: 24
Hacker: 3/4
Fixer: 4/4
Supply Seargent: 6/3


Gear:
Middle Lifestyle (one month)
5x Flash-Bang Grenades
10x Frag Grenades
3 x Smoke Grenades
10 kg of Commercial explosives
5x Detonator Cap
2x Durable Clothing
Armored Jacket
Armor Vest
Erika Elite
Ghillie Suit
Flashlight
Fake License: 4
Fake SIN: 4
Took Kit
Medkit: 6
Doc Wagon Contract (gold 1 year)
Tent
Backpack

Vehicle:

GAZ P-179

Weapons:
Mossberg CMDT w/ Sling, silencer, foregrip
Ruger 100 w/ sling
Ares Predator 4 w/ silencer, personalized grip
Background is that he grew up in the country, enlisted in military, served and was honorably discharged.

[Grinder]

Seems fine to me.

[Wandering One]

At first glance: He needs perception skill, I'm a little lost as to 'Paranormal Critters Security Design' knowledge skill, or if you just left out a # there, a loyalty of 6 needs to be heavily backstoried (you're talking about a guy willing to take bullets for you at that point), which you've started but would need to flesh out, you could easily add the Sinner flaw to him and keep in line with the backstory (almost have to, if he's on record with the military, depending on the situation) for some additional points, and you might want to swap out Wired Reflexes 2 for equivalent bioware unless it was a price decision. It's a lot gentler on the essence and you're not risking cyberzombie essence levels that way.

Also, what's the fake license for? (Concealed weapons, explosives for construction use, etc.)

Armored jacket and vest seem duplicated, though an urban explorer jumpsuit (and maybe a nice suit as well for Johnson meets) would be good investments. He's also got a TON of explosives... but no ammo.

[DWC]

Four things immediately come to mind.

1) The character is missing the most important skill in the game. Perception is crucial for pretty much everyone. It's also unlikely that a designated marksman isn't going to have observation and situational awareness training.

2) Bone lacing is terrible. You can't get a license for it, and as cyberware, is easily detected. In Denver, it's a non-issue. In NYC, it's going to be a problem.

3) I see weapon related skills, but no weapons.

4) Gunnery is going to be far less useful than Heavy Weapons.

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4) Gunnery is going to be far less useful than Heavy Weapons.

Or Automatics, as ARs and SMGs are typical military issue. Much more than LMGs, of course, if they were looking for someone to handle that Stoner, a troll would be the obvious first choice.

[Mongoose]

Aside from the shooty skill / no weapon thing, I see explosives, but no Demolitions skill. With a logic of 4. And lots of grenades, but no skill to throw them with.

So yeah, match up some skill and gear together. Background wise, might want to explain why an honorably discharged soldier is now in the shadows, and not working legit security; gms like to know WHY you are a Shadowrunner.

Reaction enhancers might be a viable alternative to the bone lacing; being able to dodge better beats having better damage resistance. RE2 is cheaper (in cash and essence) than Ceramic Bone Lacing.
This guy also looks like a good candidate for skillwires; the military might require them to allow rapid re-deployment without extensive training. Even if you don't have the cash for many skillsofts, they can be a good investment for the future.

[Grinder]

At first glance: He needs perception skill,

D'oh! Seems like I glitched on my Perception test. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wobble.gif)

[Makki]

my first thought, and i'm shocked no one already mentioned it, Edge 1 and Bad Luck? this troll probably won't survive the first session...

[Grinder]

Come on, he has an internal air tank. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Ed_209a]

First thing that hit me was Edge 1 and Bad luck.

I treat Edge like any other stat and like to start it at 2-3 pre mods for every character. Is that under the radar because it is for a missions game, not a campaign?


Ditto for the perception thing.

Ditch the explosives, buy an assault rifle.

Unless he wants to specialize in only one type of weapon, really think about Firearms group.

[kjones]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't having low Edge somewhat mitigate the effect of Bad Luck? Sure, it means that you don't get to make many Edged rolls, but if you do roll a 1, then you're only penalized by one die.

What I'm trying to say is, low Edge + Bad Luck is not that much worse than just low Edge.

[Patrick the Gnom...]

Parachuting?

I don't really have a problem with the Edge 1 thing from a conception standpoint, just so long as you make it a quirk of his to fail anything gambling or fortune related. It certainly hurts from a survival standpoint (more than dodge, armor, or sneakiness edge is the number 1 factor in keeping a character alive after a horrible roll).

He definetly has to work on his skills/equipment synergy as has already been said.

Bonelacing does suck for anyone who's not a cyber melee fighter or an adept who can afford deltaware. He should take one of the other 'wares that have been suggested in this thread.

[DWC]

Depending on the location, parachuting can be an extremely handy lsat ditch escape skill. A chameleon suit, coupled with a ruthenium polymer parachute means you're never trapped on the 75th floor of a skyscraper. With a little skill and a sport parachute, you can hook around another building to break line of sight and then you've got a plethora of options for disappearing.

Also, escaping from security by BASE jumping is awesome. This is doubly true if you can land on a passing motorcycle, shove the rider off, and ride the bike to freedom.

[Digital Heroin]

Also, escaping from security by BASE jumping is awesome. This is doubly true if you can land on a passing motorcycle, shove the rider off, and ride the bike to freedom.

Sounds to me like someone's been playing Just Cause 2.

[DWC]

Sounds to me like someone's been playing Just Cause 2.

Nope. Just replayed the second GTA4 DLC, but after looking at Just Cause 2, I might have to go pick it up.

[Patrick the Gnom...]

Depending on the location, parachuting can be an extremely handy lsat ditch escape skill. A chameleon suit, coupled with a ruthenium polymer parachute means you're never trapped on the 75th floor of a skyscraper. With a little skill and a sport parachute, you can hook around another building to break line of sight and then you've got a plethora of options for disappearing.

Also, escaping from security by BASE jumping is awesome. This is doubly true if you can land on a passing motorcycle, shove the rider off, and ride the bike to freedom.

Good point. He just needs the requisite chameleon suit and parachute.

[Grinder]

Which he can buy in-game. He doesn't have to buy every useful piece of equipment during chargen only. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[Patrick the Gnom...]

Which he can buy in-game. He doesn't have to buy every useful piece of equipment during chargen only. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

It'd be nice if he bought some though...

[ZeroPoint]

I don't really have a problem with the Edge 1 thing from a conception standpoint, just so long as you make it a quirk of his to fail anything gambling or fortune related. It certainly hurts from a survival standpoint (more than dodge, armor, or sneakiness edge is the number 1 factor in keeping a character alive after a horrible roll).

Give him an addiction (Gambling) and In Debt qualities and laugh as he takes his mission rewards, gambles it all away and can't pay back the loan shark and they come to reposes his shiny cyberware.

That actually sounds kinda fun. I might have to do that with my next character.

[Saint Sithney]

As has been mentioned with the license, most GMs will require a separate license for each piece of restricted gear or at least each type, and beware of forbidden gear in NYC unless his fake ID is going to place him as some sort of corpsec HRT/ops guy who can pull rank on the MAD scan guys. If that's the case, make sure he invests in Con.

As for the Perception deficit, I'd recommend an Attention Coprocessor and Vision Enhancers for the cybereyes. That's +3 dice for general Perception and +3 more for Visual Perception at a much lower price tag than buying up the skill past 1.

He might consider ditching some of that Strength as well. It's not as useful as a lot of other stats, like Intuition or Agility.

[Saint Sithney]

Give him an addiction (Gambling) and In Debt qualities and laugh as he takes his mission rewards, gambles it all away and can't pay back the loan shark and they come to reposes his shiny cyberware.

That actually sounds kinda fun. I might have to do that with my next character.

Most RP-centric qualities like In Debt or Enemy aren't allowed in Missions from what I recall.

[Stingray]

Which he can buy in-game. He doesn't have to buy every useful piece of equipment during chargen only. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

..but in char.gen everything he/she buys is Troll-modified (wo/+ 25 % price)
(SR4A pg. 311 .." as rule we suggest that metatype modification costs do not be incurred for any
gear purchased during character creation" )

[Ol' Scratch]

It's not even a 25% price hike anyway. It ranges from 10%-25%. They got rid of dwarf = 10% and troll = 25%, and instead made it flaky and hard to determine what to do as a player for... some unknown reason.

[FriendoftheDork]

This troll will usually have only 10 dice to shoot with. Most combats in an urban setting is with pistols or other concealable weaponry (not ruger 100 or a shotgun). That's a bit low. At the very least get a specialization in Semi-autos or Heavy Pistols.

As an alternative, get the Firearms skills group so he can use assault rifles and SMGs, fits alot better with his military background.

Perception is kinda obvious. The bad luck might actually work as he is a troll and can stand alot of punisment, but I'd lower str by 1 and increase Intuition instead or buy better shooting skills.

Also, Mossberg CMDT with no recoil compensation is totally useless... that's double recoil for being a shotgun.

[Stingray]

This troll will usually have only 10 dice to shoot with. Most combats in an urban setting is with pistols or other concealable weaponry (not ruger 100 or a shotgun). That's a bit low. At the very least get a specialization in Semi-autos or Heavy Pistols.

As an alternative, get the Firearms skills group so he can use assault rifles and SMGs, fits alot better with his military background.

Perception is kinda obvious. The bad luck might actually work as he is a troll and can stand alot of punisment, but I'd lower str by 1 and increase Intuition instead or buy better shooting skills.

Also, Mossberg CMDT with no recoil compensation is totally useless... that's double recoil for being a shotgun.

so true.. in urban settings Heavy Pistols, Machine Pistols and SMG's are kings of the jungle..

Mossberg CMDT w/ silencer?? RAW SR4A pg. 322 " a silencer can be only be used with single shot or semi-automatic weapons"