Can it be done decently?, Exploring the possibility of a FixerFace Options

[SixBit]

I'm curious as to whether or not this can be done. Consider it a challenge with the following parameters:

Use the priority system
Character must be an elf (Tie up your C for kicks =) )
Character must be mundance (Seriously, a magic Face?)
Don't use supplementals; use canon material.
Cite sources. A simple book and page number is fine.
Rating 6 max, Availability up to 8.

Concept: A fixer who can also be a face, but is primarily a fixer.

[mfb]

i think it'd be more difficult to make a fixer who can't double as a face. both types depend on social skills; they just use those skills for different purposes. kinda like the difference between a street sam and a merc and a company man.

[SixBit]

Well, a face generally is more dependent on 'ware, I would think. How else are you going to get past that retina scanner lock shoved into that steel plating?

I could set your priorities for you if you'd like. ;)

[FrostyNSO]

A fixer can be a face of sorts.

In fact, a merc, samurai, decker, rigger, etc. could all make a good fixer with the right contacts. Especially as some fixers tend to specialize in a certain field.

[Jrayjoker]

You also have to define decently. For a low power, street level game sure. But for a bump off a great dragon type game, no way (unless it is for comic relief). I prefer the street level stuff, so I can ring in with a, "you betcha!"

[SixBit]

Make something high-powered and we can start throwing stuff at it.

Think about a face that can completely steal someone's identity and appear to be them on a daily basis.

[Fortune]

[Jrayjoker]

Well, if the purpose is to limit magic, then that throws fortune's idea out of the running. But I agree, the best way to take over someone's life is with a little magical help, or a Master Shedim

[Fortune]

It wasn't a suggestion, just a question as to why magic was automatically eliminated.

A Face is a Social Skills specialist. There is no need for eye mods or the like for one to qualify, although there is no need to exclude them ether if the character in question wants them. but primarily, the Face's role is to deal with people, using Etiquette and Negotiation to the best advantage.

[SixBit]

Perhaps I've mixed up the Face with a Covert Ops-esque archetype.

No one seems to want to make one, anyway.

[Fortune]

People get a bit tired of making characters for other people every single day. If a compelling reason was given, then you might get a better response.

[toturi]

Sixbit's defination of Fixer is far off the normal meaning of how we think of Fixers here in Dumpshock. His fixer is someone who can literally fix things. I can make a magical Face/Fixer(Sixbit defination) in a heartbeat... he probably doesn't have SOTA 2064 (Kinesics kick so much social ass).

[Glyph]

So, by fixer/face, he actually means "covert ops specialist with lots of B/R skills"? It can be done, but doing it with an elf and using the Priority system is not going to result in the most optimal character. You need Priority: A skills to do either a B/R expert or a covert ops specialist, and definitely need it to do even a half-way credible mix of the two. You need Priority: B resources for the essential cyberware and the rest of it - even the covert ops specialist is kind of bare-bones, gear-wise. Priority: C is race, for an elf. That leaves Priority: D for Attributes and Priority: E for Magic.

If you really wanted to do it, I would just tweak the covert ops specialist from the book. For skills, drop the unarmed and clubs skills - a character with Body: 3 and Strength: 3 should stick to shooting, fast-talking, or running away very fast. Also drop the Computer skill from 4 to 2; you aren't going to be doing a lot of decking. With those 12 points, get Electronics/Maglocks B/R: 3/5, Car B/R: 4, and Pistols B/R: 4. The only change you need to make to cyberware and gear is to add Microscopic Vision (from Man & Machine) to her cybereyes. You might want to ditch the wimpy holdout pistol in favor of an Ares Viper, too. She has 1,200 + (3d6 x 100) as starting cash, so that means she had 12,000 left of her starting money - enough for those two modest changes.

Honestly, though, I think combining the two concepts makes a character too generalized. Yes, it can be done, but a more specialized character would probably be more effective and more fun to play.

[Oro]

thoughts from a moron, dont listen to me

first off i think anything can be made pretty well except a character concept that has magic and lots of cyberware

second the viper sucks, it only shoots flechette rounds, horrible against armor and most of the stuff youre really gonna need to kill will be armored

[Glyph]

The Viper is actually pretty good as a covert weapon. It has a decent damage capability, high concealability, and built-in sound suppressor. It's definitely better to have than a holdout pistol.


You can build most character types well, but when you have self-imposed restrictions on what priorities you can use, it affects the end product. If I were to make a covert ops/fix-it guy myself, I would make it a dwarf so I could take Attributes: C, and I would narrow the focus - I would lessen the social skill aspect and focus more on pure break-in, which would fit with the fix-everything aspect of the character.

See, that's the trick to making "multi-class" characters in Shadowrun - you pick what fits the new niche you have chosen, so that you can pare things from both sides. For example, if you made a break-in decker - a "sammie-decker", you might drop some of the technical skills from the decker side (relying more on a deckmeister contact for decks and programs), while ditching the high strength and melee skills of a sammie and only keeping one or two good ranged weapons skills. Spreading yourself too thin in Shadowrun is usually a bad idea. So, instead of combining everything in two specialties, you make a new specialty.

[Oro]

replace any B/R skills that you wont need in the field with contacts, use skillsofts for anything that you dont have. if youre not gonna have enough skill to be happy with it then just go with skill-chips. viper still sucks unless you back it up with a good damage dealer against armor, get the brown maxpower (same conceal) as a backup, just in case your foe has armor

elves are just for RP, they suck in every game ive ever played. people play them cause they are "cool" switch to dwarf in this case. higher than 6 in charisma is useless for this character starting out anyway

[Fortune]

The Viper is opposed by the better of either Ballistic or Impact x 2 (which usually works out around the same). In what way is that worse than a Predator? The Predator has a much lower Concealability, 1/2 the ammo capacity, lacks burst-fire, etc.

If you compare the Viper to a Holdout or Light Pistol, it fares even better. I don't follow your logic. In a very few cases you'd be worse off with a Viper, but not often, especially in Social situations where armor is considered a faux pas.

[Oro]

you fail to see my logic because it's faulty.

i figure that its easier to learn by assuming and being corrected than to ask and be told because if im right then no correction is needed but if i ask then a reply is required in all cases

in the post before i wrote "im a moron, dont listen to me"

im sorry if i misled you and you thought i actually knew what i was talking about

thank you for the lesson...true words

viper is now my favorite pistol

which in this game is true.

im sorry if i wasted your time

[Fortune]

It's cool. Very little here is a waste of my time, as I have no life anyway. :D

Most people dislike the Viper because it's too munchkin, not because it isn't good 'in-game'.

Even in the case of high armor ratings, with the newly-errata'ed Called Shot rules, avoiding armor isn't too difficult. D-damage to the face tends to dampen almost anyone's day.