What magicians? The only magician we saw in Cowboy Bebop (excluding the Fung Shui guy who never met Spike) was the old tribal shaman who predicted his future for him in the first and last episodes.

Anyway, wetware is also detectable by magicians. Assensing gives you the target's cyberware with enough successes.

Lastly, CB is an un-Awakened world, so anyone with adept powers would just be seen as having "innate natural talent". Which is why "adept" often becomes the fallback when you're trying to make a Shadowrun version of characters from another fictional universe who doesn't have much cyber.

Honestly, were it not for the initiative issue, I'd say Spike doesn't need 'ware or magic. Stats could be raised as high as 9 (in SR3, at least) without them, just by expenditure of Karma, and skills are unlimited if you've got the practice and experience put in on them. Spike could just have Quickness 9, Strength and Body 6 or better, good stats for Willpower, Intelligence and Charisma, with a huge skill rating in things like Unarmed Combat, Pistols and Piloting, a fair bit in Athletics and Stealth and none in Computers or Electronics. The only problem then is the lack of initiative bonuses (which is a non-issue if no one else has magic or reaction-boosting cyberware) and that can be countered by having him be a (pre-awakening?) adept with Improved Reflexes 3 taking up all his magic points.

But yes, I suppose his physical capabilities can also be done with cyber/bioware. But to me the real key to Spike is in his skills and personality. The physical stats are just icing on the cake.

Oh, and no Ambidexterity. Every time Spike tries to dual-wield he gets gut-shot. He's definitely taking the +2 target number penalty.

Well, Mad Perrot was a pretty powerful psycic with translates to a psionic magician in SR terms. Altough, I'm not sure if psionists have access to astral. I'll have to check. I don't think Peroit would have cared either way, really.

Lets forget about Spike and make a character based on the real star of the show, Andy.

Maybe "Western Poser" as negative quality?

Nah. He is an experment in creating a supermage from a SR standpoint.

The energy shield is just a very high force armor, high force hardened armor from a custom spell, or immunity to normal weapons from a custom spell. Remember, he loses it when he stops concentrating. Likewise, the VTOL is just an powerful levitate self spell.

Mad Pierrot had artificially augmented telekenetic powers. It was this argmentation that drove him nuts in the first place.


Lab Coat: Hey, we've invented a bran inplant that actually increases a magician's magic rating and even gives spellcasting abilities to mundanes.

Suit: How did you do that?

Lab Coat: It is bioware based on a Free Spirit's DNA.

Suit: How does a Free Spirit have DNA?

Lab Coat: No clue, you'll have to ask him. We just know that it works.

Suit: Any side effects.

Lab Coat: It slowly transforms the recipent into an insasible killing machine with the intellect of an infant and mastery of mana that rivals a Great Dragon, but nothing major. The mental degredation is a feature, really.

Good point. I see where you are coming from much better. I'd still lean towards adept because there is no history of implants in the show (other than the eye) and I'm stuck in the natural talent point of view brought up earlier in the thread.

I was referring specifically to the Smartlink III.

Meh. Not in my games.

Most of the shots Spike makes aren't very impressive by SR3 terms. The cases of 'coring' various slubs - the guy holding Faye at gunpoint, the Harmonica Kid (twice), etc. - are at short range against a stationary target.

You'll also notice in all or almost all of the cases, he spends at least three seconds just aiming at his target. This translates into at least 2 Take Aim actions... probably 3, since he only fired a single shot in each case (one full round of Take Aim, plus another simple action Take Aim and the other simple to shoot). Assume he's got a Smartlink and that's a total of -6 modifier. If he's got a Smartlink II, he's only eating a measly +2 for the called shot, even!

Yes, Spike is a good shot. So is a character with Pistols 6 or 7, Combat Pool 8+, a Smartlink, and a reasonable understanding of how the combat system works.

Faye? She's downright superhuman. She shoots the guns out of three or four peoples' hands before they can react. She shoots out the tire of a pursuing car while leaning out the back of a speeding convertible that's dodging grenade fire at ninety plus miles an hour - in one clean shot!

You have to consider things relatively. Spike, relatively speaking, is very good (a 6 or 7) but not the best in the world by any stretch of the imagination. He would, however, also be better diversified than most characters: Shotguns, Throwing Weapons, Gunnery, Vector Thrust Aircraft, as well as the standard Stealth (used for sleight-of-hand actions) and Athletics... he's worthy of 5-6 marks in a lot of fields rather than being a one-trick pony.

All true. Of course, Faye is biologically enhanced. Also, she's really old.

-Frank

...what?

I agree with what you're saying in general, though I disagree with saying he isn't a Kung Fu Master. The guy's at least World Class (8+), given that he's shown as at least the equal of everyone in the series, with the exception of Ed's father and Pierrot (hax!).

I wouldn't say he's a Killing Hands (D), Improved Unarmed (6+) mega-unarmed adept initiate or anything like that, but he's at least got world class unarmed skill. If you were to make him an adept, a few levels of Counterattack would be very much in keeping with his fighting style.

Now for another question: How would you make Jet? Obviously a decent cyberarm is a given, but would he have any other identifying features beyond high vehicle skills? I'm thinking some defensive bodyware (bone lacing and the like) and edges like Toughness, but other than that I'm drawing a blank.

I'd probably just end up making him a Rigger since he likes to work the Tactical Overwatch niche a lot.

He is also a mechanic, and he was quite skilled in classic detective work. Contacts in police, and many points in equipment (he owned the ship).

I'd think that toxin filters would make your urine more potent, since they are probably located in the kidnies and probably dump the toxins into urine. It is simply the most efficient way for them to work.

Anyway, one would still have to go eventually. The bladder can only expand so far. Death from a burst bladder is both painful and embarasing.

also I doubt clean metabolism would make defication any less frequent. It doesn't lower lifestyle food costs. The 'ware that lets you eat tree bark and toilet paper might.

Ruth coated pressure triggered bomb. If the assassin can avoid painting "Boom" on the toilet paper in a fit of whimsy it is a foolproof assasination method.