I'm sure someone else has thought of this, but I'll kick the idea around anyway. Is there any reason a Adept/Decker shouldn't work? I occurs to me that, with a Computers(Decking) Specialization and Maxed Adept Power Improved Ability (Computers), your decker would be throwing 13 dice for computer tests.

That still leaves half of your starting power points. My idea is to speend these on body and armor adept powers, making this small computer heek surprising resilient for his stature.

I imagine this character having a terrible inferiority complex. With anti-magic sentiment still prevalent in sections of the UCAS, he is rejected by his magic fearing parents when they learn he has the Talent. Though he is taken in by another Warrior Way type adept, he never lives up to his master's ideal, being physically weak and more intrested in computers and electronics, not to mention succumbing to the lure of cyber and getting a datajack.

Any reasons why this shouldn't work? (SR 3 rules here)

I did something similar in a game a while back (not the Improved Ability bit, the Adept/Decker).

It worked quite well, as a geased Physical Mage with a datajack and smartgun link, I could cover most of the bases. Initially.

As the game went on, I found it annoying to be the backup guy. The backup mage, the backup sam, the backup decker, the backup rigger (add cool toys to your deck and you can do it too).

The lack of character focus and the need to spread the karma around to cover the necessary skills made it a less fun character.

I'd say go with it, but don't lose your focus in the name of nifty addons.

From the FAQ:

Can the adept power of Improved Ability (p. 169, SR3) be applied towards other skills, such as Computer, Sorcery, Conjuring or Vehicle skills?
No. This power only improves physical ability, not technical or magical abilities.
As an optional rule, a gamemaster may allow Improved Ability to be applied towards Vehicle skills (at a cost of 0.5/level), but this would not improve a character's Vehicle skills when rigged.


So you can't become super-human at decking by being an adept. It's still a viable concept if you want a decker who is good at combat. Decking only really requires the computer skill (the other technical skills are useful, but all that you really need is a good deckmeister contact). And adepts are best at being specialists, so you should pick one or two things to be good at. For example, improved pistols and some stealth-improving powers. You won't be as well-rounded as a "pure" decker or warrior's way adept, but you will be have an optimal mix of the best abilities of both, without spreading yourself too thin.

Whoops, somehow I missed that in the FAQ. Looks like NSRCG is in error there.

dont feel bad demon, i did as well, i made an adept driver, she isnt rigged but uses improved ability to her vehicle skills

...Didn't SOTA 2064 expand on the Improved Ability power to include Technical skills? The sourcebook does have a discussion on Techno Adepts.

Yes it did.

Ah, this thread brings me back…

~J

Yeah, Improved Ability only works with physical skills, and not with manipulating virtual reality.

That being said, I'll bet that if your character were using a tortise-and-keyboard, I'd allow you to get the bonus for typing really fast. You'd have the penalty for not being logged into VR mode but your leet typing skills would somewhat offset that.

So, the FAQ says no but SOTA 2064 says yes?

You should probably check the date on the faq, but yes, in SOTA:2064, they mention about a motorcycle driving adept, who "rivals any rigger I ever saw".

The shadowtalker in question clearly had never seen a competent Rigger.

~J

Well, if the wannabe-driver Adept took What's-It-Called-That-Lets-Them-Spend-Karma-To-Get-A-TN-Bonus-With-One-Item, from SOTA '64 (Infusing?), and had an appropriate Aptitude for that driving skill, and had Vehicle Empathy, and had the effective "double the dice" from Improved Ability...

...they'd still suck compared to someone with the same Edges/Merits, and just a -5 lower TN anyways. Whoops!

It's still one of my biggest beefs with Shadowrun, really. The Rigger versus Not-Rigger divide, when you get behind the wheel of a car. If you want someone who can do their job as a team driver, they need that VCR...but if you buy them the VCR just to make them a driver (and don't go whole hog on combat drones, etc), you're wasting potential, Essence, and cash, and gimping yourself into being only a driver.

Which always struck me as a bummer. I play enough Driver and GTA that I want my Shadowrunner to be able to drive around and shoot stuff, not just run around and shoot stuff. Is that so much to ask!?

Every Rigger I've ever seen / played has been more than competent with at least one type of gun. You have to be in case someone does manage to catch you outside of a vehicle, or when you have to leave the vehicle to drag the carcass of one of your chums who couldn't quite make it himself. In 3rd edition it was harder to make a combat competent rigger, but now it's nwhere near as bad.

No more than a streetsam has to be able to deck in case he ends up caught on camera. Which is to say, it's certainly helpful, but by no means essential.

~J

Well, if one person can deck/hack, that covers it. It's never a bad thing to have another gun in a firefight. It's not like 6 deckers going after a camera can take it out faster....