Chummers!

Background:
My friend is starting a campain in a couple of days. This will be my 1st time in SR4 (i played only 2 sessions in SR3). OMG am i hyped!

I'm gonna make an Adept that has a bit of 'ware.
I think i understand the difference between implanted; Commlink, Datajack, and Sim Module, but i thought i'd ask, to make sure.

(SR4, pages: 210, 330, 331, and 318)

Questions:
I assume a Datajack is good for poor or magic guys, but uses wires.
Commlink seems good for all the wireless PDA and AR goodness, but cost more.
Sim Module (Hot modifed)?? Do i NEED to have this for VR, sims and BTL's, etc? Can't i view these with the above inplants? If i do need this, is it a separate implant or does it go inside the Commlink.
If i do only get a Sim Module can i only view entertainment, but not get online?


Thanks for your time

A datajack is to physically connect to a device
Trodes are for magic people
Hot SimMode is for intense hacking
Commlink w/ trodes is for day to day hacking and AR
A datajack can plug BLT chips


I would sudgest getting a low level commlink w/ trodes (as you are an adept) and plug the BLTs into your commlink.

imho, the only ware an adept should think about, is when it does something his powers cannot, or when it does it beter/cheaper. So you could get cybereyes and ears instead of spending 1+ powerpoints on sensory upgrades which can be expensive. Also, muscle toner is the best way to raise your agility over the max of 6.

that said... most adepts should AVOID getting any implants. lower magic means lower maximum bonuses.. which you need to be the best at what you do.

visual mods? thats what contacts or (sun)glasses are for

audio? both earbuds and headphones are available.

Yeap, you can get all the fun stuff in wearable format including smartgun (go-go-smartlinked contacts!). Of coarse it's now a liability, but it saves Magic.

and makes you look oh so cool with your colored contacts with smartlink and ow-light vision, and your big headphones with sound filters and audio enhancement (hmm, why isnt damper available as a external option?).

trow on some AR gloves, the leather jacket with eletronic paper on the arms and back, and maybe some holo projectors on the shoulders, and your ready to go clubing

cool advice so far, thanks.

A low lvl commlink w/ trodes may be the way i go.
"plugging" in to AR/VR is just cool. =)

it does seem as if some 'ware is better than some adept powers for the cost (eg. mussle toner and synaptic booster, etc) and may be worth the wait.

so far IMO:
Adepts are cool due to never being disarmed or unarmored,
Street Sam's have fun 'ware but i think may have little social skills and harder to heal.

(i guess i'm thinking about trying to get the best of both worlds with out powergaming or min/maxing. lol)

Opinions?

an adept has no upper limit on his potential, except the high karma cost. a sam starts with more stuff, and upgrades based on availibility, money, and time.

sams do heal more slowly, with a 1 die penalty per 2 essence loss. however you can have a sam/face as easy as anything else. the ware doesnt give you any social penalties. theres just a lot of guys with the ware and no social skill becuase they dont care.

the best way to do an adept with ware, spend 45 points to get the magic 5 adept. next spend 32 BP on gear (160k) for a lv 2 synaptic booster. costs 1 essence, dropping magic to 4, and gives you 3 magic's worth of speed. a good trade in most cases. as an added bonus you get +2 reaction. its a good deal for anyone focusing on combat.

where the adept really shines, is in getting a HUGE number of dice for one test. more dice than any non-adept can ever get. Compare this to a sam who is very good at a number of different things. the adept is better in a narrow area, but the sam is good in a wider area.

get combat sense. it adds directlt to all defense rolls in combat. combat sense 4 is 2 magic points. if you have a base reaction of 5, synaptic boost 2, and combat reflexes 4, then thats 11 dice plus skill when dodging.

that leaves 2 magic ponts for whatever your concept goal is.

Asides from the Kinesics bullsh*cough*power and things like M4d Skillz: Negotiation +3, there's really not that much that an adept has going for it that would make it socially better than a sammie.

Thanks TBRMInsanity and others for breaking down the "Commlink, Trodes, Datajack Sims, BLT chips" stuff.

Also, now that i see the differnce between Sam and Adept, i'm gonna go the route Teulisch suggested.

(the boys and i are getting together tomorrow to offically make our characters)

Awesome advice, thanks all!