Help make a character, Troll Samurai trying to fit in! Options

[WarpedAzz]

Hi guys,
We are startig a new game up soon and I am short on inspiration!
The team consist of three members;
A human rigger, yet to be made but going to be the techie and driver.
A human face/ninja/samurai. This character was made up be one of the other players, and she does pretty much all of what you would expect of those three areas at 10+ dice. shooting SMG at 17(getting a bit silly), monowire whip at 13+reach, wired 2 as well as influence group and infiltration group. Lots of Bioware, amped up AGI & CHA, bone density, platelet factories, as well as cyber eyes and ears. not oguh iwth only damage resistance of 4.

So where does the troll muscle fit in? With such a good shooter/melee I'm finding it really hard to come up with something interesting that will hold its own that isnt as over the top(one version has move by wire 2 and a REF score of 9. Bit over the top) or steps on anyones toes.

So how would you approach making the third character in this group without making him a third wheel!

[Mantis]

So I can't help but notice that team has no magic support. Have you considered that? Not much you can't do with magic with the right combination of spells and spirits. Does it have to be Troll muscle?

[WarpedAzz]

When we all sat down we discussed the rolls and who wa going to do what. We were going to make things a bit edgier for us by not taking a mage but now that the face has taken over those other roles as well Im starting to think that Mantis may be right.
Dont thin I want to go straight mage though. Maybe a shaman? Someone who can still get in close and do the dirty.

[Banaticus]

That old BBB picture of the big troll magician/shaman (whatever he was) -- great picture.

[Hand-E-Food]

One of my characters is a Troll specialising in melee, grenades, athletics and biotech. She's also a good damage sponge.

Give the troll limited combat ability, say one melee and one ranged skill, and see what other skills could be interesting. Consider: Armorer, Athletics group, Chemistry, Demolitions, Gunnery, First Aid, Forgery, Intimidation, Leadership, Medicine, and Outdoors group.

[Glyph]

The way you throw around phrases like "a bit silly" and "over the top", I'm not sure a front-line combatant character is really something you would enjoy playing. Lower-powered combat characters can be really unfun to play when the other players are playing higher-powered combat characters, and you don't seem to want to play a higher-powered combat character yourself.

You would probably be better off being a support mage or hacker, with some good tertiary skills such as first aid.

[Saint Sithney]

Mystic Adept healer and Summoner maybe?

[Tomothy]

If you really wanted to go a troll you could buy up body and armour and get some defensive spells and be the teams tank.

[toturi]

The way you throw around phrases like "a bit silly" and "over the top", I'm not sure a front-line combatant character is really something you would enjoy playing. Lower-powered combat characters can be really unfun to play when the other players are playing higher-powered combat characters, and you don't seem to want to play a higher-powered combat character yourself.

You would probably be better off being a support mage or hacker, with some good tertiary skills such as first aid.

The way he is using those phrases I am not sure he belongs in that group. Even if he does get into a support role, I am not sure if his character could fit in if he thinks that primary skills at 10+ is "a bit silly". If his own primary dice pools are less than 10, I would think that he would be better off in an intentionally low-powered game instead.

[Glyph]

I read it as the 17 dice being considered "silly", not the previously mentioned 10+ dice areas (although he could have meant that, too, in which case you would be right). So a support type character, who doesn't need 17 or so dice, might be more up his alley.

I know from doing similar characters (face/combat types) that they can be spread pretty thin, so a well-crafted troll tank to add some heavier firepower and damage soaking ability to the group would not be overshadowed. But if he flinches away from high dice pools or effectively-built characters, when another player doesn't, then the troll would be overshadowed.

[Mesh]

So how would you approach making the third character in this group without making him a third wheel!

What do you feel like roleplaying? Why did you decide to go with troll? How does he feel about being a troll? Is it a curse on top of what otherwise would have been a nice life? Is he a genius trapped in a rocky hulking form? Did he earn his medical degree and now performs procedures remotely via robo-doc jacked into the matrix? Did he ultimately fail to do so and became a medic instead before drifting from job to job? Urban brawl fill-in? Augmented b-ball league? How did that turn him to running? What's he into? What values did his culture instill in him that make him unique? How does he feel about killing? What do you find fun about SR?

Mesh

[Stahlseele]

Troll Climber?
Even if you don't max it out completely, you can get some imnpressive dice in climbing stuff.
Or if you have damage dealers, try and go for the tank/soak angle?
Those are things trolls excell in . .

[10gauge]

I'd suggest a mage, too. Try a support mage. Detection spells, healing and the like. Then spend some BP for Restricted Gear and get him a Light or Medium Mildspec Armor (Light Milspec should be enough for most situations). Don't forget an AGI upgrade for it if you are low on BOD. It's a bit expensive but you'll see that it probably won't be easy to "geek the mage first".

[sabs]

What about
Troll Mystic Adept Possession Shaman.

Spirits, some fun adept powers, and you can have a spirit "possess" your character giving you outrageously boosted stats.

[Stahlseele]

Yah, if you want to go for ridiculous/stretched thin, try it. sounds like fun ^^

[WarpedAzz]

The way he is using those phrases I am not sure he belongs in that group. Even if he does get into a support role, I am not sure if his character could fit in if he thinks that primary skills at 10+ is "a bit silly". If his own primary dice pools are less than 10, I would think that he would be better off in an intentionally low-powered game instead.

Thank for the suggestions. We've been playing Shadowrun together on and off since ed 1, way back when. I've done the super tough front line guy in the past and I assure you, I do enjoy it (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

In all that time I hadnt played a troll so I thought that might be fun.

We havent played 4th ed much. Looking at the archetypes, I realise they are a bit underpowered, I thought a die pool of 17 was really high. Maybe that isnt the case. Waht sort of die pools are you guys seeing?

Its hard sometimes to get out of the mind frame of the earlier editions were a pool of 6 dice was good!

[Glyph]

SR4 dice pools are attribute plus skill (making augmented attributes much more useful), and modifiers add to the dice pool rather than increasing or decreasing the target number.

As a basic example of a firearms guy, take a human with a base Agility of 5, add muscle toner: 2 to increase it to 7, then take a firearm skill at rating: 6, add a specialization (2 more dice), and add a smartlink (2 more dice). There's 17 dice, right there. And that's a pretty basic character, with Agility not even maximized, and no qualities such as exceptional attribute or aptitude to raise his maximum Agility or skill. You can be an elf for an extra point of Agility, get a reflex recorder for an extra die, take the restricted gear quality to get muscle toner: 4 instead of muscle toner: 2, or be an adept with the improved ability power. So 17 dice is relatively easy to get.

Not every dice pool is like that - combat, social, and magical dice pools tend to go the highest, because they have the most modifiers that you can pile on. On the other hand, they also are usually opposed tests where you face potential negative modifiers. That sammie with 17 dice won't be rolling nearly as many dice when he is suffering visibility penalties from a drizzling rain, feeling the effects of a light wound, and firing from cover at a partially concealed target at medium range. 12 dice to make a repair on your bike is a good dice pool, but 12 dice with a pistol is not quite front-line shadowrunner caliber (at least not in a game where the players optimize their characters - it might be fine in a lower power game).

[Medicineman]

....

So how would you approach making the third character in this group without making him a third wheel!

How about a Troll Adept
with lots of Physical Skills and Ki-Powers ?
Melee Specialist and Sports Fanatic ?
(you might ask Stahlseele ,He seems to be a Specialist for Troll Brawler (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) )
@Dicepools

I consider 6-8 Dice for below Average
10-14 Dice for Average or slightly above Average
and 16+ Dice for High
And everything >25 for Ridiculosly High
but thats my personal Oppinion

with a Dance in Melee
Medicineman

[Ryu]

He who dances in melee... dance.

Play a troll mercenary with heavy weapons. Invest heavily in contacts that can get you or move gear. I also like the Armorer skill on such chars.

If you have the Runners Companion, playing a Fomori with group contacts (mercs, black market) is good. Strong defense against magic, high damage output, stuff to do during legwork sections.