Quebec Ork Mercenary, First time Cybermodified concept ... help ... Options

[Delarn]

Hi All I'm creating a mercenary ork character. First time I'm making a plain vanilla concept. So I'm a little mixed up.
Combat skills
Pistols
Automatics
heavy weapons
Throwing
Blades
unarmed.
Social skill
Negociation
Etiquette
Con
Utility skills
Stealth
Shadowing
Pilot ground craft
???
Technical
???

Any idea for qualities and cyberwares ?

[Banaticus]

I recommend that you pick something that you are good at, something to specialize in, something where you'll be really useful. Then round yourself out. So, what's your focus? Weapons? Face? Tech/mechanical?

[Delarn]

I would be the thug so weapons. The group doesn't have a driver so I could drive.

The group is always in stealth mode. So even if I'm good with weapons I will not be able to use them a lot. We drive around town with machine sprites so they need a real driver.

I'll have to boost my negociation and pilot skill.

[Rasumichin]

When you take Negotiation, Con and Etiquette, you might be interested in the Influence skill group.
You'd pay 10 instead of 12 points per rank and would get Leadership for free, which fits well with a higher-ranking merc.
Force of personality, commanding small groups in battle and all that.

Other skills worth considering, though not a must (skillwires?) :
-Demolitions
-Survival (or the Nature skill group, though it's not really worth it- rather consider the Outdoorsman quality from RC if you need a bump to that)
-Armorer
-some Mechanics skill
-First Aid (a good skillsoft, not too shabby Logic and a good medkit should suffice)
-anything from the Athletics skill group, though not necessarily as a group
-Intimidation

As you see, the list of possible skills is terribly long and unaffordable in it's entirity.

Absolutely a must, though :
-some way to dodge, either the Dodge skill or Acrobatics (if you're good at close combat, i'd suggest the latter)
-Perception. I cannot stress this enough.

Good ware :
-some way to gain additional IPs
-Muscle Toner (or a fully pimped out cyberarm with maxed AGI and gyromount)
-Skillwires (practically a must for a fully rounded military skill set with 400BP)
-either Platelet Factory or Trauma Damper (the latter if you have good armor, as you'll resist Stun damage more often then)
-Synthacardium (helps with Athletics, including Acrobatics to dodge)
-Attention Coprocessor
-probably some senseware, though all of that could as well be bought as gear
-your piloting skill can be boosted for a relatively low cost with nanites
-Tailored pheromones give a nice bonus to social skills
-Enhanced Articulation is more expensive than a Synthacardium, but one of the best ways to gain a bonus to Stealth skills as a mundane.

Qualities :
None are really a must. For a Quebecois, Bilingual would be fitting, though not particularly useful in most situations. First Impression gives a nice social dicepool bonus, though it's specific on the situation. Guts or Toughness would be appropriate for a merc as well, though both seem a bit overpriced to me. There's some number crunching possible with SURGE, but it may not fit the concept (and Quebec comes off as extremely biased to any of the weirder character options out there).
Flaws would likewise be dependent on the background- has the character made enemies or does he even follow a personal vendetta, does he have a dark spot in his past, is he actively prejudiced, does he have a problem with the abuse of combat drugs or does he go berserk in combat? All of these could be fitting for a merc from Quebec.

[Banaticus]

Ok, you're going to want to focus on Agility and Reaction. Agility is your attack skill and also things like Infiltration. Reaction is what you'll use when driving around. Unfortunately, there is no driving skill group, so you have to pick up each driving skill individually. I recommend the Pilot Ground Craft skill, which lets you drive cars, motorcycles, bikes (but no planes or boats or jet packs or Star Wars AT-AT Walkers or spaceships, all of which have their own Pilot skill).

B 2, A 5, R 5, S 2, C 2, I 2, L 2, W 2, Edge 6
Firearms skill group 4
Stealth skill group 4
Pilot Ground Craft 6
Resources 200,000
That all costs 324 build points. You could spend another 60 points in Attributes if you wanted and 16 in skills or qualities or you could buy a lot more skills or a lot of qualities...

[Udoshi]

I'm looking at the skill list and...

Dodge. You need Dodge.

[Karoline]

I'm looking at the skill list and...

Dodge. You need Dodge.

Yeah, or at least gymnastics to do gymnastic dodges.

I'm a little curious as to why you have so much invested in social skills. Unless you're the face (or the GM separates people and has them use their social skills alot) they aren't generally that needed. Still good to have con so you can fast-talk, but the others aren't nearly as needed.

You might also want to considering drawing in your weapon focus some. Remember, the ability to use a dozen different weapons is great, but you can only ever use one (or two I guess) at a time. I'd consider dropping pistols and blade. You have automatics for your main weaponry, can use heavy weapons when needed, can lob grenades, and can use unarmed when things get up close and personal or you need to go without a weapon for some reason (Like getting past a high security checkpoint)

If you grabbed so many skills because of being a mercenary, remember that a mercenary isn't someone who can do anything, it is someone who does (combat related) things for money.

Athletics skill group might be a good idea. Being able to run, jump, swim, and climb can all come in useful. Armory skill is good so you can take care of your weapons.

As for augmentations, lots of options.
Muscle toner is going to be a big one, as the bonus agility is really handy.
Muscle enhancement might also be good if you plan on going unarmed much.
Bone lacing, once again, mainly if you plan on going unarmed so you can do P damage.
Dermal Sheathing. I've always been a fan because it isn't obvious like plating, but isn't super expensive either.
Synaptic enhancers or wired reflexes or MBW would be a good idea for an extra IP or two.
Platelet factories if you plan on getting shot much (Here's a hint, you do).
Trauma dampers might also be a consideration if you plan on getting shot alot, especially if you have alot of armor.

Some good qualities... well, regular sammies aren't my most common area... Toughness might be good if you've soft maxed body already. The 'always calm' one might be fitting for a mercenary. Black market pipeline for weapons would be appropriate. For the most part, just stuff that grabs you I guess. There aren't really any 'direct boost to combat power' qualities, they all boost more specific things.

[Delarn]

Thanks it was a great help !

I even made him addicted to betel ...

[Karoline]

Yeah, addictions are great for the merc stereotype. Alcohol addiction, and likely a combat drug or two might also be good. Oh, might be wanted in some country for having blown up their [insert something important here]

[Lansdren]

For a merc I'm going to say Bone lacing for that extra punch (and at better levels more survivability) something to boost agility would be good and I'd agree with dropping pistols and blades you have other weapons avaliable and unarmed is going to be nice if you dont have anything else to hand.

Other skills maybe not bother with First Aid and just buy a good kit which can replace your skill, Add in some languages (mercs tend to be able to swear / order booze / seduce women in a few languages)

Think ahead armour wise to blalance out against your body score so you dont find yourself armour light if you need it.

[Dakka Dakka]

For a high level Grunt Bone Lacing may be appropriate, but not for a Black Ops/Shadowrun type. Bone Lacing is just to easy to spot and illegal on top of that. Go with Bone Density Augmentation. If you decide you need skill wires, MBW may be a good idea. They come included in the system, but you will need the Restricted Gear quality for Rating II and III is not available at CharGen.

If your character was an outdoorsy mercenary, maybe a digestive expansion and a suprathyroid gland can be of use. Less picky eater and more physical prowess.

Any reason, why you want the character to come from Québec?

[Delarn]

The character goes by the name of LaMalice (Inside joke of our group)
Metatype : Ork

Attributes:
Body: 4(5) Charisma: 4 EDGE: 3
Agility: 4(7) Intuition: 3 Phys Init 7[10]
Reaction: 4(7) Logic: 3 Passes 1[3]
Strength: 4(5) Willpower: 3 Essence: 0.63

<< Positive Qualities >>
Class I Surge: Dermal Deposits
Black Market Pipeline - Weapons
Tough as Nails (1)
Restricted Gear(Supratyroid Gland)

<< Negative Qualities >>
Flashbacks - Uncommon
Addiction (Mild)(Betel)
Braggart
Astral Hazing (non-Awakened)
Critter Spook
Mood Hair
Paranoid

skill : (140 bp)
Unarmed Combat 2
Automatics 3
Stealth (Group) 1
Pilot Ground Craft 4
Influence (Group) 3
Dodge 3
Heavy Weapon 1
Throwing Weapon 2
Armorer 2
Athletics (Group) 2
Demolitions 1
Perception 2

Cyberware and bioware :
Cyber/Bioware:
Attention Coprocessor (1-3) 3
Muscle Toner (1-4) 2
Dermal Sheathing Rating 2
Wired Reflexes II
Bone Density Augmentation (3)
Suprathyroid Gland
Sleep Regulator

Contact:
Black Seraph (Loy. 1 Con. 6) (Earned for the campain.)
Fixer(QC) (Loy. 2 Con. 3)
Fixer(NY) (Loy. 1 Con. 3)
Armorer (NY) (Loy. 2 Con. 2)
Pirate(NY) (Loy. 1 Con. 3)

[Lansdren]

so I'm assuming your merc team (or his previous team) didnt have any mages / adepts because I'm sure astral hazing would be a major downside to working with you if your a magic user. I can see with very low essance your not going to have much range when your moving but if you kip down for the night the next morning the whole area can be abit less pleasent for some people

[Delarn]

so I'm assuming your merc team (or his previous team) didnt have any mages / adepts because I'm sure astral hazing would be a major downside to working with you if your a magic user. I can see with very low essance your not going to have much range when your moving but if you kip down for the night the next morning the whole area can be abit less pleasent for some people

Yup, no mages likes him.

[Rasumichin]

Astral Hazing can kick ass if you use it right. Low-force spirits will just go pop when you charge up to them, and the more powerful ones may get weakened so much you can just beat the shit out of them.
Sounds like a good mage killer.
Be careful with wards, though. You can't notice them, but you'll disturb them nevertheless.
This quality requires some well-planned coordination with the team mage.

All in all, the character seems well-rounded.

I wouldn't want to mess with explosives if i just had 4 dice for it, though...i should have thought about that when i suggested picking up the skill.
I'd drop it and instead increase Automatics by 1.

Personally, i find a Trauma Damper to be more useful than the armor-increasing ware. Especially with that Willpower score.
You'll likely have some problems with Stun damage, though this won't be much of an issue if your group doesn't play particularly combat-heavy and you keep a few stim patches at hand.

BTW, do you play with the normal Availability rules?
In that case, you'd need Restricted Gear for the Suprathyroid Gland.

I'd also double-check if Dermal Deposits are compatible with dermal ware such as the Sheathing, i think they aren't.
If this doesn't work, drop the Dermal Sheathing and get either a Trauma Damper or a Platelet Factory instead (the latter can also be bought used if it seems too expensive).

[Karoline]

so I'm assuming your merc team (or his previous team) didnt have any mages / adepts because I'm sure astral hazing would be a major downside to working with you if your a magic user. I can see with very low essance your not going to have much range when your moving but if you kip down for the night the next morning the whole area can be abit less pleasent for some people

Don't know why everyone always says this. The hazing has a .63m radius. That's about 2 feet, so unless he is hugging the mage/adept, it generally isn't going to be a problem.

Similarly everyone always mentions the sleeping thing. It'll expand at most 4m (more like 1m with sleep regulator), which is about enough to cover a room, so unless the mage/adept is sleeping with the hazed, it won't really matter (And how often do your characters have to sleep in the same room together?) and even if they are, they just need to leave the room if they want to activate any mojo. That or get the hazed to wake up and walk around some to disperse the BC.

Honestly it is ridiculous that it is a disadvantage for mundane, as the only two problems with it are that you set off wards, and are hard to help with magic (Already true with essence <1 so no big deal). But I'll not get any more into that rant/argument here.

Oh, no real need to include the possible rating range with the name of the augmentation unless that is for personal bookkeeping or something.

[Delarn]

Don't know why everyone always says this. The hazing has a .63m radius. That's about 2 feet, so unless he is hugging the mage/adept, it generally isn't going to be a problem.

Similarly everyone always mentions the sleeping thing. It'll expand at most 4m (more like 1m with sleep regulator), which is about enough to cover a room, so unless the mage/adept is sleeping with the hazed, it won't really matter (And how often do your characters have to sleep in the same room together?) and even if they are, they just need to leave the room if they want to activate any mojo. That or get the hazed to wake up and walk around some to disperse the BC.

Honestly it is ridiculous that it is a disadvantage for mundane, as the only two problems with it are that you set off wards, and are hard to help with magic (Already true with essence <1 so no big deal). But I'll not get any more into that rant/argument here.

Oh, no real need to include the possible rating range with the name of the augmentation unless that is for personal bookkeeping or something.

I copy pasted from DK spreadsheet.

Astral Hazing is a disavantage because it give a -4 to all spell casted while touching the mercenary. So health spell, invisibility, and so on are not easily casted on the character. The character enjoyed too much his years of killing, and he also has critter spook. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[Karoline]

Right, like I said, it is a slight disadvantage because you can't get helped easily by ally mages (But really, how often do they throw spells on you anyway?), but that doesn't seem to outweigh the fact that you're near immune to magic that could hurt you.

Also keep in mind that with an essence of 0.63, health spells are already going to be really hard to cast on you, even without the hazing.

[Delarn]

I used to play mages so I decided to play the opposite. In the background he got the dormant gene and did bad stuff and the gene expressed itself. I think he will specialise into mage killing. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[Eratosthenes]

Addiction - Mild (Betel) is cheesy. Personally, I'd lump it in with Addiction: Caffeine or Addition: Sugar. You can't suffer worse than a Mild addiction to Betel, and there are no drawbacks to having an addiction to it.

Pick something that is actually a disadvantage.

[RedFish]

Mundanes can not by the rules take Astral Hazing - it's a Mutagenic quality only available to SURGE victims.

[RedFish]

.

[Karoline]

Mundanes can not by the rules take Astral Hazing - it's a Mutagenic quality only available to SURGE victims.

But SURGElings can be mundane. Mundane is basically defined as 'does not have a magic score'. It is entirely possible to SURGE and have no magic score.

Addiction - Mild (Betel) is cheesy. Personally, I'd lump it in with Addiction: Caffeine or Addition: Sugar. You can't suffer worse than a Mild addiction to Betel, and there are no drawbacks to having an addiction to it.

I suppose I have to somewhat agree, it is something that doesn't hurt the character all that much, as a mild addiction has very lax requirements, very small withdrawl, the drug is legal, the addiction can't get worse, its cheap, and has no downsides.

On the other hand, mild addiction to alcohol is about the same. You need a drink every week (Wow, that must be hard to fit into your schedule), it's legal, cheap, the down sides are fairly small, especially if you time it right or have some medicine or a mage with detox around. In honesty, any mild addiction is a fairly mild disadvantage. Once a week you need to dump maybe 20-30 nuyen on some drugs? Big deal. Depending on how often runs happen, you may satisfy that requirement simply as a byproduct of going on your runs.

I don't really know that one mild addiction is that much less serious than another, and they are after all only mild addictions, and only worth 5BP. Now, if we were talking about serious addiction to Betel compared to K-10 or something, then yeah, one should really be worth more. But that could be said about most any drug and K-10 at any addiction level.

[Rasumichin]

Mundanes can not by the rules take Astral Hazing - it's a Mutagenic quality only available to SURGE victims.

The character has got Class I SURGE, though.

BTW, mundane only refers to whether the character is Awakened/Emergent or not.
And it's Metagenetic, not Mutagenic. Sorry for the nitpicking.

[Delarn]

I took Betel because I didn't want him to be addicted to alchool or Marijuana. He can chew more than one in a day. So he bought 30 packs (300 units). He's Paranoid and need to have more perception.

The character is surged, he got dermal deposits like a troll but is an orc. So I took him Astral Hazing because he had the dormant gene that got trigered when he did his dark bidding against a troop of mage. He also got suplementary metagenic drawback, critter spook and mood hair.