Build the optimal Shadowrun team, The whole team. Options

[Laodicea]

Limitations: 4 characters, 400bp. no In-Debt quality. Any SR4 books. If you have 5 characters it just gets too easy to fill all the roles.

I'm going to start working on this now. I'll post the builds I come up with. I'm more interested in seeing the builds you guys come up with. I think i'm pretty ok at character building, but I think it's one of those "I'm the best basketball player in my neighborhood" scenarios. I'm sure you guys will blow me away.

Anyone interested in participating?

[Summerstorm]

Meh, easy:
Three mages, same tradition. Two specialized in combat and support, one in illusion and mindcontrol (He may be the face too)
And one technomancer specialized in spoofing and exploiting.

But i know what you mean and want. I think one could just search these forums for some gamebreaking characters and pool them up for this.

[Surt]

The pornomancer why use a team when I can seduce random people on the street to do what I want.

[Laodicea]

Meh, easy:
Three mages, same tradition. Two specialized in combat and support, one in illusion and mindcontrol (He may be the face too)
And one technomancer specialized in spoofing and exploiting.

But i know what you mean and want. I think one could just search these forums for some gamebreaking characters and pool them up for this.

Interesting idea. I think that's valid. Sure, it would never happen if 4 different people made the characters, but that's not the point.

[Smokeskin]

The pornomancer why use a team when I can seduce random people on the street to do what I want.

It doesn't work that way. You only give them the hots for the pornomancer. That doesn't mean they lose the ability to think or stop caring about their other obligations in life. You might get a married CEO to start an affair, but that doesn't you can get him to leave his wife or compromise security.

[MJBurrage]

1. Covert Ops Specialist (can be an adept)
2. Street Samurai (can be an adept)
3. Hacker/Rigger (can be a technomancer)
4. Magician

[Pat]

1. Covert Ops Specialist (can be an adept)
2. Street Samurai (can be an adept)
3. Hacker/Rigger (can be a technomancer)
4. Magician

No face?

[Chainsaw Samurai]

With only 4 people the Face would be the first I would expect to go. In the case you quoted I'm sure that between the Covert Ops, a few points from the Sam, and the mage they'll have it covered some how.

[Pat]

With only 4 people the Face would be the first I would expect to go. In the case you quoted I'm sure that between the Covert Ops, a few points from the Sam, and the mage they'll have it covered some how.

Well, I would Have thought it would be more people doubling up on jobs.
Its not like the coverts ops and the Sam are going to pool their dice to get a halfway decent social pool. Though that does paint te mental image of TV twins finishing each others sentences..

[KCKitsune]

My team would be composed of the following:

1. Street Sam with enough Social Skills to double as the face
2. Phys Ad Covert Ops specialist with enough skill to double as a hacker (not too hard to do)
3. Technomancer Rigger with enough Social skills to back up the Street Sam
4. Mage (with Cyber/Bioware to help him keep up with the others)

[Pat]

My team would be composed of the following:

1. Street Sam with enough Social Skills to double as the face
2. Phys Ad Covert Ops specialist with enough skill to double as a hacker (not too hard to do)
3. Technomancer Rigger with enough Social skills to back up the Street Sam
4. Mage (with Cyber/Bioware to help him keep up with the others)

I like this one so far, te cross training while still covering all the bases is what I expected to see here. Can you give a little general detail as to the things you would do to make the cross skills work? Like your opinion of how to get the covert ops to double as te hacker? (Cyber/Bio)ware, skills, qualities or whatever you had in mind?

Now to get builds to show how it's viable from those who love gening characters for fun.

[Dumori]

Unholy trinity plus face would work. AI/TM, freesprit/mage, Adept/sam(the meat B&E expert) + face likely a mystic adpet elf; to fill the lack of spirits the trinity has if you use a free sprit witch you should so versatile if used well/right. It's not 100% lacks real rigging power and stand up power in a fight though thats plartly a size issue. Makes up for it in versatility, stealth and teamwork.

I'd say with four guy the face and hacker are the key members a small team wants to be light, quick and stealth not run in with LMGs blazing (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif) If they have to fight its on their own terms or while runing the fuck away and that what a pysical barrier spell is for.

[CanRay]

OK: A Human Leader/Infiltrator that can pull off almost any disguise, but is addicted to "The Jazz". An Elf Face-man with a taste for the finer things in life. A Troll Technomancer-Rigger and Mechanic. And a Human Pilot that the rest of the team has to break out of a mental institution anytime they have a 'Run, because that's his "Lifestyle".

[Laodicea]

The A team was awful.

[CanRay]

The A team was awful.

The A-Team was EXCELLENT!

Oh, wait, you're probably talking about the movie. Yeah, I heard that.

[Wasabi]

Uncouth Troll Sam (with copious amounts of unreliable cyberware)
Uncouth Troll Adept (redneck-y mobility based daredevil)
Uncouth Troll Mage (with speech impediment)
Overly Articulate Troll Face (with OCD and London accent)

[Makki]

we covered a pretty good team with just 3 guys: dwarf Rigger/Sam for driving, scouting, shooting + human TM/Face for talking, hacking + Troll-Mage for casting, summoning, punching.
the lack of an infiltrator could be compensated by high lvl concealment most of the time. and all those guards that were trained in "geek the mage first" had a really bad time

[MikeKozar]

The A-Team was EXCELLENT!

Oh, wait, you're probably talking about the movie. Yeah, I heard that.

I quite enjoyed it. Very clever in a lot of ways, like explaining B.A.'s fear of aircraft being due to his first flight with Murdock. Big, complex plans on all sides. Lots of fun for me personally.


To take it in a different direction, what about the Leverage team? You've got a five man team: Combat specialist, Tech specialist, Insertion expert, and the dedicated con artist. Ford is billed as the Mastermind, which is less a character class and more a player requirement. You could make him the team's Fixer if you want to put it in those terms.

The reason I like the Leverage team as an example of a good Shadowrun team is that they have skills outside of their specialty. The thief is taking fighting lessons from the Hitter, and the Hacker can run a con when the need arises. The combat guy can pass as a construction worker one day and a billionaire the next. Any member of the team can pickpocket IDs or cellphones from the target. It gives them the tactical flexibility to use team members in a variety of roles, and the plan doesn't fall apart because the wrong guy is in the dining room when the target shows up.

[The Jopp]

Pixie Runners all magic 6

Support Mage (Useful spells like levitate etc)
Combat Adept (Monowhip with 20D6 attack and invisible)
Hacker Adept (Backpack with commlink)
Combat Mage (Powerbolt, spiritbolt etc)

All in full second skin line ruthenium armor with shock frills.
All armed with Hand crossbows with injection bolt (neurostun), Stick And Shock Bolts and ex-Explosive bolts

[Saint Sithney]

One guy. 200 BP in contacts.

[The Jopp]

One guy. 200 BP in contacts.

Correction, one guy. 200 BP in Shadowrun Team Contacts.

[Ascalaphus]

Building a whole team in one go is a chance to build some of those "specialty" characters you otherwise wouldn't really get a chance to fully use. Like a team focused on maritime matters, where the sams all have mods to swim like sharms and such.

[Elfenlied]

1. Technomancer (Matrix specialist/Rigger)
2. Possession tradition Mystic Adept (Sam)
3. Support Mage (Face)
4. Combat Mage

That's the ideal team, IMO. You're unhindered by most scanners, but still packing serious firepower when the shit hits the fan. Background count hurts, but you're still effective in those scenarios.

[Badmoodguy88]

A free spirit with a few of the spirit pacts could be very useful in the long run but for it to pay off the party needs to atleast eventualy take the spirit pact quality at a ratting equal to the free spirits edge. Edge gives power point used to buy spirit powers and types of pacts.

If the spirit were on an all game team like the pixi one above then the spirit could take the pact that lets the spirit aid in drain.

It is unclear what other role they could fill at chargen with400bp.

[Lanlaorn]

Why does everyone keep listing a Combat Mage and a Support Mage? There is absolutely no reason to make this distinction, one Mage can perform both roles. It would be like a separate Hacker and Rigger, it's just not necessary when one guy can be Hacker/Rigger. Oh and if his tradition is Charisma based he can be the Face, too.