New Character, New to Shadowrun, Help me design a character! Options Track this topic Email this topic Print this topic Download this topic Subscribe to this forum Display Modes Outline Switch to: Standard Switch to: Linear+

[Sand]

Hey,

I'm a long-time roleplayer who's new to Shadowrun and about to start a game (1st session in about 2 weeks). I'm making my way through the 3rd Edition core rulebook (the only book we'll be using) and am trying to figure out what kind of character to make. Since making things easy would be no fun, I have two sets of priorities -- my own preferences and my GM's foibles.

My preferences are for characters with flexibility -- enough combat ability to get the job done without having to be the star of the show, and enough skills to have fun outside of combat. I prefer survivability to massive damage potential, though I need to at least have the ability to affect opponents. I've also been told by everyone I asked that initiative is king in Shadowrun, so lots of that would be a good thing. From what I know so far, it sounds like there are several paths one could take to make this kind of character (adept, shaman, mage, and various cybered types all seem like they could fit the bill if done properly).

Then there's the GM. I haven't played with him much, but he tends to be very focused on what he wants to have happen and not so much about other stuff the characters might want to do. For example, I'm leery of taking too many Contacts because I suspect they will only tell me what we would have learned anyway, and trying to use them creatively will not get me much. It's not so much that he's linear in terms of character actions -- within a given scenario we're free to do what we want -- but attempts to go too far outside that scenario seem to run into a brick wall. For example, we might get a mission to infiltrate a corp, and it'll be up to us to make it a sneak job, a frontal assault, or a magical op; but trying to con an exec into giving us the info directly won't work. His NPCs also tend to get fairly deadly fairly fast.

Thanks for any help you all can offer!