SR4 Newbie Character Creation, How many egregious mistakes did I make? Options

[Hexariah]

Hi there, Dumpshock folks!

I'm extremely green to Shadowrun and I'll be applying for my first game soon. Very exciting for me, but also a little bit nerve wracking. I've looked at Glyph's and Max's pornomancers, and have sluiced some of their brilliance off to make my own little character.

Lizzie Xiao is my dryad adept, and I hope to use her as a face. Any advice, any suggestions, any glaring mistakes -- I'd love to hear about it all. If this isn't the correct forum for this sorta post, I apologize! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/embarrassed.gif)

Thank you all in advance!
Hex

[Glyph]

welcome to the forums!

The most glaring flaw is having an Intuition of 2 and no perception skill; perception is very important in Shadowrun, especially for a face. The only mechanical error I found from a quick read-through was improved con at 3. Improved ability is capped at half the skill, so with the influence group at 4, you can only get improved con at 2. You might want to spend a grand or two to give her some minor cosmetic biomods, almost a gimme for a sim star.

The pornomancer was fun, but it was a "how many dice can you get for this?" exercise. Played as an actual character, you really need a good background. This is someone who is famous, memorable, and distinctive. How does she intend to function as a shadowrunner? What is her motivation for shadowrunning when she has a regular, easy job and a luxurious lifestyle? How will she relate to the other runners? Do you know what kind of campaign this will be, or what kind of characters the other players will be bringing? There are types of games and playstyles where this character would fit in fine, but she would have problems with a typical game with the default of shadowrunners as expendable deniable assets doing corporate espionage.

[Hexariah]

Strange that Hero Labs didn't catch the 1/2 Skill for Improved Con. I'll correct that.

The minor cosmetic biomods, according to Hero Labs, cost no essence or money, so I didn't list any. Because she's a dryad, I figured natural beauty would be acceptable for the day job I provided her. Is the essence/nuyen cost actually zero, or no? I have the credit chit that I can convert back in BP/chargen money, so paying isn't an issue at the present. Worse comes to worst, I can reduce some of the contacts to generate more money.

So I should up my Intuition and get perception. Not the easiest thing in the world to do... should I reduce my Agility to accomplish that, or switch Logic and Intuition? I can reduce Intimidation to buy Perception, but from what I'd read it's important to have a skill at 6 -- and Intimidation, since it isn't affected by glamour, seemed like a wiser choice. What's your opinion on the matter?

I'd like to think I have a good background, although I'm biased since, y'know, I'm the one who made it. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) But to answer the questions in the order you've asked them in: functioning as a shadowrunner will probably be the hardest part, on account of her visibility. But that can also be a bonus -- she can get into places that normally wouldn't be open, she can provide a distraction with the equivalent of a tweet, and when she deigns to speak to someone, she can charm them to hell and back. You provided a build for a more subtle 'social chameleon' in a thread, and I can definitely see the line of reasoning that would say a chameleon would be useful -- but this is my first time in Shadowrun, and I decided I'd go for the flashy starlet. My hope is that she can leverage her fame and charisma for the betterment of the shadowrunning team. I intend to investigate options for false SINs or ways to obfuscate her fame in-game, which dovetails with her mental state (the effects of living a glamoured life -- it provides a unique world view, one I'm excited to explore).

As per her background, Lizzie's husband was a shadowrunner back in the day, before stealing the heart of the future Mrs. Xiao. However, he disappeared -- and, with Elizabeth's family's connections, she suspects foul play. So she spent a good amount of nuyen on private investigators, proper channels, all that stuff, but when nothing was turned up she determined her father was getting his revenge on her marrying 'down.' Elizabeth doesn't perform these black budget actions because she wants to get paid -- she's well off, her son will be well off, she's not worried about that. She just wants to find out what happened to the love of her life. All the luxury in the world means nothing when there's a gaping hole in the tapestry of your life, after all, and as a dryad she feels the effects of her husband's disappearance even more profoundly due to the effect it's having on her son.

I'm not sure who the other runners are yet, so I'm not sure how she'll interact. I imagine she'll treat them with a sort of perverse curiosity, seeing them as these mythical subjects of her childhood stories and the scripts she performs in her day job. There'll be a desire for connection, both because of who she is and because of who her husband was/is -- since he was a shadowrunner and refused to talk about that portion of his life, Lizzie is curious to learn more about that entire chapter of his life. Anything to bolster the connection she longs to feel again. But it'll definitely depend on the specifics of the other player characters.

It's supposed to be a "lighter" game. From the DM herself: "A few more reasonable authority figures, a chance to actually change the world. Less torture porn. Basically there's actually hope that things will get better. [...] As for not having a good time at a brothel? No those exist still, but they're not run by people who make the hunger games look like a comedy." Not sure what the other players are looking to play, though. The game is very much in its infancy. Sorry that it's a lame answer! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/frown.gif)

I definitely went into making the Eastern Rose with the understanding that she's not a typical Shadowrun character. But, in my newbiness, I'm hoping it's not insurmountable. It's all about the different avenues of getting Datachit A from Vault B in Company C, and how you go about it is the meat of the story. Hopefully having a socialite par excellence [at least, to the best of my abilities to make her!] will open up additional avenues, while the other 'runners will provide avenues of their own. The result, my hope is, will be a group that won't have the same standard answer to each question, but instead will have a whole basket of options to select a solution from. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Glyph]

Minor cosmetic biomods cost no Essence, and cost 100-2,000. I usually get 2,000 for my face-type characters, a semi-random number that you can adjust up or down as you think it might suit the character. I reason that even a naturally beautiful character would still have some procedures done to smooth over slight asymetries, remove minor blemishes, "enhance" a few areas or slim down a few other ones, etc.

I think you don't quite need the Agility of 6, since her only Agility-based skill is pistols: 2, so you might want to, say, lower it to 4 and get a point of intuition and the perception skill at 2 with a specialization in visual.

Good background. She could be tough to run, but inappropriate-seeming characters have been done well before. The only thing I am curious about is why you have another sim star as such a high-rated contact, since such a person would presumably travel in the same circles as you, and thus be redundant as far as getting useful things such as gossip or party invitations. Plenty of ways he could be useful depending on his background, though.

After reading her background, the Seductress mentor spirit seems a bit out of place for someone married with a kid, and searching for her husband. I mean, the disadvantage is that you will do anything that moves, and do drugs like Charlie Sheen snorting Charlie Sheen. It doesn't quite seem to fit. And rolling 10 dice against threshold 3, you will succeed on average, but probably fail quite a bit. Personally, I think the Moon Maiden mentor spirit fits her a bit better. You get +2 to negotiation, and don't suffer the downsides of Seductress. I know it's not as good as pumping up your con skill, since you seem to be focusing on that skill, but it is still a good bonus.

I think it could be a fun character for you to play. After you get more comfortable with this GM, you will be better able to tell what is a good dice pool, and what is overkill, and might be able to branch out a bit more.

[Hexariah]

I've got the cash for that alteration, so I'll definitely get the minor biosculpting! 2,000 works for me.

Interesting. I thought dodge was based on agi, but it's definitely not. Too much D&D, I suppose! I'll take your advice on this front as well. I'm also considering a decrease in body to increase strength -- thoughts on that?

I'm glad you like her background! It's not quite as fleshed out as it should be, but it's nice to know I'm not entirely off my rocker. I disagree with you on the Seductress/Moon Maiden decision, however. But we'll see.

Thank you for your help so far! She's a pretty weird character, but I'm really excited to see her in action. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

EDIT: The reason I chose a simsense star was because it made sense she'd have a contact in the biz, so to speak. I wasn't sure who to select, really. Any suggestions on a better contact?

[Glyph]

I am only getting the bare bones of the background, so maybe Seductress makes sense with the more fleshed-out version. Your GM sounds mellow, so maybe the disadvantages won't bite you as badly.

Normally I consider Body much more important than Strength, but this character probably won't get into too many fights, and a Strength of 2 would look more natural. A Strength of 1 makes sense for the "delicate little flower" type, but I'm not sure that's quite how you envision her.

For the contact, maybe someone like an agent or a media producer, someone involved in the behind-the-scenes wheeling and dealing as well as the surface glitz and gossip of the biz.

[Hexariah]

I realized the reason I had her at Body 4 was for the encumbrance to not bite her in the rear, so switching that around does me more harm than good. As I upgrade her various 'ware, I believe I can get alpha, beta, or deltaware -- with additional essence, I can get muscle toner to solve the problem of her low Strength. Or just karma -- going from 1 to 2 isn't all that bad, and I can get the toner later on anyways.

Media Producer is a great idea! Thank you for it!

Someone on a different forum asked me "why would anyone want her on a team?" and I admit it's a question I face with some trepidation. I figured being a face par excellence with good contacts who can also shoot (if not all that greatly -- I may need to invest in a different method of attack, perhaps using narcojet+DMSO splash minigrenades?) wouldn't be a terrible addition to a shadowrunning troupe (group? Cell?). But perhaps I'm wrong in that respect. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/frown.gif)