As I am finishing up character generation for the game I am going to run, one of my players has come forward with an interesting take on a concept. She knows that the other players are relying on her to be the 'big guns' of the group, as she made a vocal point about wanting to do so when I said I was going to start the game.

However, after going over her sheet and all the things that she wants to purchase, it's a really odd sort of take on things. No Wired Reflexes or Synaptic Boosters, no Enhanced Articulation or Reflex Recorders. However, she does have Olfactory Boosters (II), Cybereyes and Ears (With Balance Augmentation, Audio Enhancement, Sound Filtering II, Low Light/Thermographics, and a Smartlink), an Internal COmmlink, and a Datajack.

Bone Density, Muscle Augmentation and Toner (All at II) round out the attribute bonuses, along with Orthoskin II to help the armor. High Firearms skill with Aptitude to allow it to go even higher paired with a decent Stealth Skill group finish things off. Of course, she has a good amount of low-level other abilities, but the main thing is that nothing in the build screams to me STREET SAM KILLER.

In my opinion she'll do very well in assassination style work, but in a flat-out firefight I think she'll be lacking. Granted, always being able to track your enemies is a bonus, and with her high dice pool in pistols she could split dice pools and still shoot better than most (Agility 5, Pistols 6, Specialization, Smartlink), but I just feel that she might be a slight bit underpowered.

Is this just my hopes that my runner team doesn't die right off and I want them to enjoy the game (Which is why I'm not pressuring her to play a Physical Adept instead), or do I have a somewhat legitimate concern?

It seems tro me that this character wants to limit herself to bioware over cybernetics. Works out well for her as all her cyberware appears to be of the legal variety. The trouble being that she probably ran out of money fast.

My best guess is she's holding out for better Synaptic Boosters then she could afford during chargen.

I hear it rains a lot in Seattle.

As you've noted, under conditions where environmental modifiers are applied this character will do well. So do you consistently apply conditional modifiers?

In normal situation there may be not much difference, but if you have a scene where it's rainy, smoky, muddy, slippery , very noisy and wet and no one else can shoot straight and this character ignores all those modifiers and starts taking mooks down, what will everyone else's impression be then?

No Sammy with increased reflexes.
Yes she can do assassination work, but if other people rely on her to be the back up she very needs to have augmented reflexes.
For one good reason :
having two IP multiply both your offensive capabilities AND your defensive capabilities by two.

I mean, surely she can do a good character (even if not really powerfull) without augmented reflexes, but she won't be the "big gun" that way.

If she really, really wants bioware instead of cyber, she might want to consider using combat drugs in the meantime.

edited: for phrasing

I think she man soon be rolling for addiction resistance against whichever drug it is that gives up an extra IP. But, we'll see how it works out for the first session before leaping to THAT conclusion.

For the curious, here she is. Any suggestions I could make to her, possibly, or comments on the build for benefits that I am missing?
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The Underpowered Samurai?
Human

Body: 4
Agility: 4 (6)
Reaction: 3
Strength: 4 (6)
Charisma: 3
Intuition: 4
Logic: 3
Willpower: 3
Edge: 2

Athletics Skill Group: 1
Close Combat Skill Group 2
Computer: 1
Disguise: 1
Diving: 1
Dodge: 1
Firearms Skill Group: 3
Pistols: 6 (+2, Heavy Pistols)
Hacking: 1
Hardware: 1
Intimidaiton: 1
Locksmith: 2
Mechanic Skill Group: 1
Negotiation: 1
Perception: 1
Stealth Skill Group: 1
Infiltration: 3
Survival: 1
Tracking: 1

Biology: 2
Chemistry: 3
Security Companies: 3
Security Procedures: 4
Street Drugs: 2
Street Gangs: 3
-English: N
-Japanese: 2
-Or'Zet: 1
-Sperethiel: 1

Ambidexterity
Aptitude: Firearms
Blandness
Toughness

Incompetant
-Con
-Etiquette
-Instruction
-Leadership
SINner, Criminal

Cyber/Bioware
Cyber
Internal Commlink
Datajack
Olfactory Booster II
Ultrasound Sensor
Cybereyes II
-Low-Light
-Thermographic
-Smartlink
Cyberears II
-Balance Augmenter
-Audio Enhancement II
-Select Sound Filter II

Bio
Bone Density Augmentation II
Muscle Augmentation II
Muscle Toner II
Orthoskin II
Enhanced Articulation
Reflex Recorder, Firearms

Suggestion: Leave the Firearms skill group at 3, and use some of the extra points given to Pistols to Bow or Thrown Weapons. Given the generalist nature of the Character now not having a maxxed out skill shouldn't be a character breaker. The stealth group might stand some boosting, and maybe switch negotiation for ettiquette, but as both ultimately are pretty necessary maybe not.

Maybe I should suggest Exotic Weapons: Monofiliment Whip...so she can sneak, garrotte, and then move on...hmm...

Suggestion :

Edge give you more IP, you should drop STR from 4 to 3 (doesn't change the hand damages), and have edge 3

There is to much skills at 1, you should focus on some area ...
Drop disguise (already in the stealth skill group)

you have put 30+24+2 pts in firearms you shouldn't take the group at all :
24+2 pts : pistol at 6 (heavy pistol)
12 pts longarms 3, and 12 pts automatics 6, you gain 6 build pts - take pistol at 7 with it !

do she really need mechanic group ???

Hum yes ... not right according to RAW but much more logical ....

I really wouldn't accept all those "incompetent" flaws at my table.
Instruction and leadership as they could appear has free points,
And etiquette because such a runner is not playable to my mind :

She isn't able of anything socially, couldn't EVER be in contact with someone to begins with negociations anyway

You are doing a mistake since a guy with uncouth could at least have etiquette for twice the price.

A shadowrunner without etiquette can't do much things ...

The lack of extra IPs shouldn't be a problem, provided you as the GM don't equip every goon they meet with IP boosts.

I look askance at any character taking more than one incompetency really, although taking it for a complete skill group makes a little more sense. IIRC incompetency prevents you from even attempting a test, while uncouth just imposes penalties and makes buying the skills more expensive, but I don't have my book with me, so I can't be certain. If it is as I remember her charisma won't be worth a damn.

She won't be able to really use a contact until then
hum ... as you wish ...

bye !

I guess it depends on whether notoriety is an issue in your game or not. Uncouth is worth only one, while incompetency for the whole group is worth four notoriety. I'd also be curious to know why she is such a social inept. That makes a difference for me, as a GM.

I'd suggest something larger than a handgun for larger-scale engagements. When the character wants to hit someone further out than 60 meters (which happens sometimes, I hope), longer range is a nice thing to have. I'm a fan of assault rifles, personally (hell, even if you're just using them on semiautomatic), but sporting rifles work, too.

That's a LOT of skills at 1. Personal beef, really.

The PC might want to look into chemical stimulants (like Jazz) for extra IPs. It's not a bad way to go...

It's a pet peeve of mine directly linked to the stat + skill mechanic. I know people who do it both ways. However, it always seems odd to me when a character has a skill that they rely on pretty heavily be something that (according to the in-game description) they're barely familiar with.

If you use the Max hits equals Skill x 2 optional rule (see pg. 69) the Skill + Attribute issue is significantly mitigated, in order to do anything remotely difficult the skills have to go up to 2 eventually. However for an out of the box character I can understand a lot of 1 rated skills. Also consider that rasing an active skill to 2 and a new active skill cost the same (4 Karma) in game planning ahead with a bunch of 1's can make sense. Same goes for groups (10 points).

I think with three players, and none of them that tough in combat, you simply need to make it a lower-powered game.

Wired reflexes give sammies more than the ability to have multiple actions. The boost to reaction means that they usually go first, and also helps them dodge bullets, so that they don't have to soak the damage.

Maybe the Face will finally have more firepower than your "sammy" ...
4 shots given by his wired reflexe I, even with less dices could make the difference compared to only 2 shots.

Extra IPs are most useful when outnumbered, Grenade launchers are also useful when outnumbers, assuming that you don't want to rescue any hostages.

But the lower reaction is a problem when it comes to surprise tests and similar things.