Here is what I have so far.

Fredericke
Dwarf Magician

***********THE CHARACTER HAS BEEN UPDATED A 2ND TIME*********

---ATTRIBUTES---
Body: 5
Agility: 2
Reaction: 3
Strength: 3
Charisma: 2
Intuition: 4
Logic: 5
Willpower: 6

Edge: 1
Magic: 5
Initiative: 7
Essence: 6

---Knowledge Skills---
English : N
Japanese (Speak) : 4

Magic Background (Path of the Mage) : 4
Spirits : 2
Black Markets (Magical Items) : 4
Security Procedures : 4
Safe Houses (Runner Safe Houses) : 3
Lone Star : 4

---Active Skills---
Assensing : 4
Spellcasting (Manipulation) : 6
Perception (Visual) : 3
Counterspelling (Combat spells) : 4
Con : 2
Etiquette : 1
Computer : 1
Data Search : 1
Summoning (Air Spirits): 4

---Qualities---
Raven Mentor Spirit -5BP
Magician -15BP
Sensitive System +15BP
Bad Luck +20 BP


---Tech Gear---
Commlink : CMT Clip
Sim Module
Trodes
Tag Eraser
Commlink : Renraku Sensei
Response Upgrade (5)
OS : Vector Xim
System UPGRADE (Rating 5)
Firewall UPGRADE (Rating 5)
Edit (Rating 5)
Browse (Rating 5)
Analyze (Rating 5)
Mapsoft (Rating 5)
Datasoft (Rating 5)

---Equipment---
Mage Sight Goggles
+Flare Compensation
+Image Link
+Vision Enhancement (Rating 3)
+Vision Magnification
Earbud
+ Audio Enhancement (Rating 3)
+ Select Sound Filter (Rating 3)
Plasteel Restraint
Plasteel Restraint
Stimulant Patch (Rating 6)
Stimulant Patch (Rating 6)
Stimulant Patch (Rating 3)
Fake Sin (Rating 4)
Fake Sin (Rating 1)
Fake Sin (Rating 1)
Magical Lodge Materials (Rating 6)
Combat Fetishe
Healing Fetishe
Sustaining Focus (Rating 3)
Detection Fetishe
Manipulation Fetishe
Biomonitor

---Spells---
Stunball
Heal
Increase Reflexes
Improved Invisibility
Physical Mask
Physical Barrier
Deflection
Fashion
Levitate
Mind Probe
Influence
Stunbolt

---Contacts---
Naomi (Talislegger) (L:4 C:4)

---Lifestyle---
LOWx3

---Vehicles---
Suzuki Mirage (Racing Bike)

---BP Allocation---
Metatype 25
Attributes 180
Special Attributes 40
Skills 112
Gear 14
Resources 36
Contacts 8

Sensitive System +15BP
The ever present awakened 'free BP' neg quality.

I notice that your character is going to be a total clutz with agility 1 and reaction 1. Hope you like tripping over curbs and falling down stairs.

If I remember correctly, you cant have 2 skills at rank 6 at char gen. (Summoning and Spellcasting)

I would rule that your Mage Goggles would have an availability that is too high for Char Gen with all those mods.

Lastly, I see you plan on having no contacts...

You're going to be in a *lot* of pain in combat. 1 agi, 1 reaction. No dodge. 3 body, no armor.

A single shot from the street sam, and you're in a lot of pain. A second shot, and you're likely down for the count.

And yes, one at 6 or two at 5.

Is your plan to be the mage sitting invisibly in a tree 500' away summoning spirits? It seems likely, based on your spells and skills. That's an option, but at some point, you have to get down and dirty, and you're in a lot of trouble then.

Why 4 ranks in infiltration? You have 1 agi. You're a clumsy bugger. And you have a several magical concealment spells. Don't pretend you're going to use the physical - just dump the points elsewhere, and go all magic.

What's your goal? For all I know this might meet it perfectly.

My personal opinion only.

Attributes at 1 are bad, Edge of 1 is bad. Sensitive System questionable. No car, No Lifestyle, No Contacts. Can't tell if you are buying Computer and Influence group, thous I assume you are.

To shave points, consider dropping one level in a skill, and spend 2 BP in specialization that you will frequently use. e.g Perception 4 becomes Perception 3 (visual 5). This works really well with something like Security Procedures 3 (Lone Star 5) instead of the two separate skills.

Yeah it looks like I have some serious oversights. Ok, back to the drawing board. Thank you for the input.

If you are going to be working with a lot of spirits (seeing you have summoning at 6, I have to believe you intend to), you will want your CHA increased, as that is the limit to your bound spirits.

Okay I made some changes. I could also use some help if I have made poor use of BP. I have a feeling I spent BP in places I shouldn't have. Maybe you can help me shave some BP off in the unnecessary places, so I can put it into some more important places.

May I suggest ...

When you go back to the drawing board, you should concentrate first and foremost on what you want to do Magically. Magic can cover a lot of bases, sometimes better than, or in place of Skills. (The same can be said for Tech like Medkits, because when using the First Aid Skill alone, healing is limited to the Skill level.) If you don't envision your character using a certain Magic Skill, it is pointless to buy it at chargen.

[side rant] The same can be said for Skill Groups in general. While they can be a good deal, it is only true if you plan to make use of every Skill in that group. If you just want to fit in socially and tell the occasional lie, then you are better off getting Con and Etiquette than the whole Influence group. [/side rant]

Only after you are happy with the Magic side of the character, then go back and fill in the blanks, either from a useful or background point-of-view.

Ok, I just rebuilt the guy from the ground up and made some new decisions. I took into account what Fortune said and some others.

DEEK:
I only have a charisma of 1 because I won't be binding any spirits. Since the limit of unbound spirits is 1 anyways, it doesn't really matter. If I was going to use the tactic you said, I would have actually chosen to be a shaman.

I'd skip the Astral Combat altogether, and just use magic on anything Astral.

If you are not concerned with Spirits whatsoever, the I'd suggest a form of Spirit Blast, which is great for dealing with those pesky Watcher Attack Packs™.

You might even think about skipping Summoning altogether, the better to concentrate on slingin' spells.

Speaking of Spells, you seem to have a few too many.

I'd definitely pick up a Rating 6 Medkit. Maybe drop some of that extra stuff from your Commlink until after the game starts, and you can get it custom-made for you by the team's Hacker.

Speaking of Hacking (or more technically, Computers), how much do you plan to have your character interact with that type of tech? The reason I ask is that the points used in Data Search and Computer might be better used elsewhere, unless those Skills are integral to your character concept.

All in all though, the character is starting to look a lot more cohesive and playable.

Thanks, you guys are awesome. I will make the changes tomorrow.

Alright made the chagnes. I completely took away summoning and astral combat. I then used those points to make spellcasting 6 and added specialization combat spells to counterspelling. I increased my logic and willpower up by 1 to 5 and 6. I added the pilot groundcraft skill to 1. I also now have 12 spells instead of 16 . Any other pointers?


One thing I forgot that somebody recommended. I have the programs at all rating 5 because our team isn't going to have any hackers. We are all very new to Shadowrun version 4 and the GM doesn't feel capable of doing any matrix stuff yet. So that means no hacker's allowed. On the otherhand, I know the GM and I know I better have protection from NPCs hacking me. Yeah it doesn't make sense, but oh well.

Another thing too. The computer and datasearch are there just so my character will be capable of using a computer well enough to protect himself. If I did have a hacker on the team I would kiss these goodbye without any worries. I would also throw away all those programs I bought too since the hacker could just crack his and give them to me. I have to be at least able to keep out the rift raft, script kiddies, and mediocre hackers out of my commlink. It's the only thing I could think of to cover myself.

You can't default on Astral Combat or Summoning. Unless you have a character concept that never conjures and is helpless if attacked astrally in a high background count, I'd keep a point in each somehow. If you don't plan on ever using conjuring, then lose Bad Luck quality and take some Incompetencies in the conjuring group skills and find the other 5 points somewhere else.

How to pay for a point each in Summoning and Astral Combat?

First, I'd lose the point in Pilot Groundcar. You can drive without it, and can even default to 2 dice if you need to make a vehicle test of some sort. If you're needing to make enough tests that 4 dice is enough better than 2 that its worth forgoing Summoning entirely there's a problem with your character concept.

Second, trim a point from Computer or Data Search. I like that you took them because they make you not purely one dimensional and they're the kind of skills a hermetic mage might have, but these are flavor skills rather than anything you'll do much, especially if you've got a hacker. With skill 2 you're rolling only 7 dice; with no skill you'd still roll 4. Settle for 6 with skill level 1.

Do that and you can have a point in Astral Combat and Summoning, and go from zero dice to six, enabling you to dodge some damage if ambushed in the astral and to summon still useful Force 3 or so spirits.

I'd personally trim another point from Computer/Data Search (make them both 1s) and use it on something else that either can't be defaulted on or is more useful. Pick something and fit it into his background/concept. Maybe he took flying lessons once and has Pilot Aircraft 1, which might somehow save your ass down the road if you need to steal something and no one else knows how to get it off the ground without the disabled autopilot. Or First Aid to maximize your high Logic and mop up damage you can't Heal.

Finally, I note that you didn't list Magician under your qualities. Did you pay the 15 BP but not put it here, or not pay it at all? Also, put somewhere on there your tradition and which mentor spirit you have.

First of all, yes, I payed for magician; I forgot to list it.

I would like to have the ability of summoning because it adds a heck of a lot more versatility to my character. I agree with your reasoning behind Astral Combat too, but I would rather have 3 in summoning. I should also choose to specialize in summoning a certain spirit for 2 BP. That way the 3 in it isn't so bad. Do you have any recommendations? To get the 2BP for it I am thinking about getting rid of my specialization in fast talk for the con skill.

EDIT:
Ok I made the changes. I decided against the Astral Combat. I put Summoning to 3 and haven't decided what spirits to specialize in.

EDIT AGAIN:
Just made another change. I put Etiquette down to 1 and made Summoning 4. I still haven't chosen a spirit type to specialize in.

You could pick a mentor and summoning speciality that stack. As far as which one would be good, I think for a mage Air/Fire/Man are the best choices. Fire is the best combat killer, Air hits and dodges just a little bit better if you don't mind stun damage, and Man is great for utility with Innate Spell.

You might also want to change your Spellcasting specialty. Throwing another couple of dice for a combat spell may be less useful than for Detection or (especially) Manipulation spells, and you know five Manipulation but only two Combat spells. If roleplaying and character concept weren't an issue, you might go with Raven for a mentor and specialize in Manipulation and Air. You'll have 15 dice for Deflection, Physical Barrier, Influence, and Levitate. (And, uh, Fashion...) An extra success on those spells can be more meaningful than an extra box of stun damage from Stunbolt, especially since that's a low drain spell you can just boost the Force on for more base damage. And with Air you'll be tossing 13 dice, plenty to get good services from a Force 5 spirit who in combat can do stun damage to mop up/combine with whatever damage you did with Stunbolt/Stunball.

Other good mentors for dice maximization, not necessarily role playing, might be Phoenix (+2 Health/Fire, -1 Binding which you don't have) and Fire Bringer (+2 Manipulation/Fire, -1 Illusion). Since you can't do physical damage with your spells, maxing Fire elementals would be a good fit for the gap. Summon Fire elemental, hide under Physical Invisibility/Deflection, let him do your fighting for you.

You don't need Pilot Ground Craft to drive! You only need it to make tests, like Crash Tests. Even then, you can default to Reaction.

Look at the skill level examples on SR4 pg. 108. Skill 0 is equivalent to: "Basic operator's license. Can get from here to there, but can't handle driving in adverse conditions." If he plans to get into enough chases to justify taking a point in the skill, I don't think two more dice (one for skill, one for not defaulting) are going to save his ass.

And now that he has a reaction in the reasonable range, he can drive just fine.

With a reaction of 1, I'd say you're hosed. 3 is fine for normal stuff, jsut don't try to get away from anyone....

Input is fun!

My first SR4 character was made using only Daegann (sp?) chargen.

I think my GM actually went in to catatonic shock after reading it....

"WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

He still won't let me live it down, 9 characters later....

Although I don't know what I'd remove from the list for it, as I said before, I'd definitely consider SpiritBall (SpiritBlast?), especially when you are not going to be dealing with friendly Spirits to any great degree. It has the bonus effect of being able to be cast right on top of you (and/or the rest of your party) with no fear of damage due to 'friendly fire'.

I wouldn't worry about lacking physical damage. You can use a Fire/Earth spirit for that or just keep stunning them after they go down. Or default with a pistol to shoot them in the head when they're down...

The rest of your spells are a good mix, but since you have Influence and Mind Probe you might think about picking Alter Memory up. Influencing someone who has information you need so your team can kidnap/restrain him in a private area, Mind Probe him, and then Alter Memory so he won't remember and can't warn anyone is one of my favorite tactics. It's also useful if you're busted and just want to stun and wipe the memories of the guards/whoever that saw you, or even set them up with false memories to lead pursuers astray.

It's tough to say which spell you'd give up for that, though. I'd probably drop Fashion; it seems to fit in with your Con and Improved Mask as a spy/con artist sort of role, but if you've got Physical Mask up you can change what your clothes look like anyway.

I'd give up almost any other Spell before I gave up Fashion for most of my Magicians.

Real magicians won't do without Makeover/Healthy Glow. It's the man, not the clothes!

Those too!

I didn't mention them because they were not the topic at hand.

I don't know what you mean by Spiritblast or Spiritball as a spell. I agree alter memory does sound pretty darn good. It was one I was choosing between. Fashion seems to be the only one in there I could give up for alter memory. All the other spells I think have higher oppurtunity costs than it in regards to utility. The reason I like fashion is that it is permanent and allows you to dress for every occasion. Makeover would be nice for disguising myself too and is also permanent. Though neither of those spells will fool face recognition software if the Lonestar are on my tail.

Spirit Ball would be an Area Effect Direct Damage Mana Spell with the targetting limitation of Spirits. Basically it is a Spirit killer with a DV equivalent to Stun Ball (IIRC).