Hi there!

I made this thread to see some new ideas about how to make "crazy" chars that actually work and are playable but are borderline rulebending freaks
The chars posted don't need to be fully planned out with every stat etc. I'm more interested in the "idea"!

Here are some examples of chars I came up with and want to play at some time (as long as the GM doesn't send me to the looney bin first )

Cyberpornomancer (please excuse me for this crazy idea, it started as a joke at our table but soon we realized that it would actually work ....)
The idea behind this is making a Pornomancer Troll that has a high Body rating. He doesn't need to have 40 dices in Con but just enough dices to keep the upper hand in arguments and get what he wants. After that you give him a chemical gland with external release (Spray) filled with Narcojet or something similar and a penile implant. If the has a Body of 10 he could actually squirt narcojet 10m and after seducing people you could just knock em out

The armless fighter
This idea came up during one of our sessions when someone lost an arm. A normal streetsam would need to replace his arm with cyberware or grow a new one. But what about mages? Having Close combat specialisation high enough with Magic 6 and the spell magic fingers could end in some funny situations!
If you have for example Skill 5 in Close combat +2 Specialization and you could actually cast a Force 12 with 12 hits Magic fingers skill you could pummel foes from afar with 12 strenght and 12 agi. Resulting in a dice pool of 12+5+2 (-2 for magic fingers) = 17 dices. combine this with magic fingers + shock gloves and you will have a lot of fun as a mage

The Pyro Goblin
Since Goblins are fire immune, why shouldn't he run around with a flamethrower? Burn the house to the ground and rise from the ashes since fire can bite your hairy goblin arse


The Cybermage Warrior
In this Idea we have a mage that uses touch based spells and has a cyberarm with grappling hand. Allowing him to touch people over a large distance (as I can remember about 30m with grappling hand). Since the flying hand is connected to the body with a cable, the mage would be able to use touch based spells and cast them at insane Force because he suffers almost no Drain. Combine that with a Dwarf char and Cerebral Booster 3 (willpower + logic as drainstat) for extra fun

Do you got similar ideas? Can't wait to read the combined madness of the dumbshock people

I thought about this a while ago. He's actually not immune. He only has Hardened Armor against Fire of Magic x2 and since Fire is elemental, it reduces armor buy 1/2. So with a Magic of 6, he is only immune to fire with a DV less than 7. Not much...

The armless fighter could also be quadriplegic.



What I want to play at some point: The Flash. Haven't figured out yet, how to be insanely fast without having to summon double digit spirits for Movement power. The goal is to break the sound barrier with a successful sprinting test.

But shouldn't immunity to fire work similar to fire protection? meaning that you get the FULL bonus to defend yourself without adding the 1/2 armor ? Would be pointless otherwise

Well you could always just get some cyberfeet with skimmer discs, you're not going to break the sound barrier but running around with about 100m/turn is still fun (that without having to add magic and spirits to it) Troll have movement rate of 35. Now you make a Running test (running + strenght, each hit adds 2 meters). Lets say for example you've got 8 strenght and 5 Running skill and you roll a perfect 13 dices out of 13 skill. That adds 26 meters per turn giving you a speed of 61 meters per Turn. Skimmer discs now double that movement rate and you would end up with 122 meters per turn or 40 meters per second or in another format 146km/h speed

EDIT:
Troll base movement Rate 35
Skimmer discs x2 (70)
Running test +26 (96)
Force 10 Spirit x10 movement speed (960m/turn)

960 /3 = 320 x 60 x60 / 1000 = 1152 km/h
So you're almost able to run faster than the sound barrier which would be 1240km/h

This has become really difficult
The best you can achieve on a starting character without movement power is about 142kp/h with maxed strength on a surged troll mystic adept and some ware (bought successes based on a 28 dice pool in running). So, no breaking the sound barrier until he's able to summon at least a rating 9 spirit
Respectable, but no cookie
Edit: Forgot skimmer disks, inserted inline skates, so there we go, to 185kp/h and only a F7 spirit would be needed.

Compared to the freaked up night one mystic adept (horse totem ^^) who could run more than mach 1 at start of play and a LOT more later on ... well.
OTOH, a plugged leak is a plugged leak

Start with a surged centaur having celerity and satyr legs. Give him 4 cyberfeet with skimmer disks and you are looking at a running speed of 450 m /turn without sprinting... Double that via movement power and you've almost reached supersonic speed.

Based on Ancient History's concept of a Gunsel Karcist, I would like to play a 6-armed Nartaki with 6 cyberarms, giving control of all his arms to pilot-upgraded smartguns...

-CJ

Centaur's with satyr legs are SO cheesy. I know it's RAW, but this bonus should already be included

Don't forget to add a cyberimplant Horn that works like the modular cyberplugin "Jackhammer" for extra Cyberunicorn ramming fun

Edits: Ideas like that are the reason I love such threads and char ideas

One that popped up this week-end: an adept with "Enthralling Performance (Infiltration)"

"Look at that ninja! He's so stealthy!"
"Wow! he's so well hidden that I can't see him!"

Another fun idea would be an retired cyberinterrogater from the army.

Old grumpy man with customized cyberarms that has a modular "tool kit" integrated with a lot lot lot of dices on intimidation specialization physical torture.
Not really powergaming stuff, but would make a very funny char with a lot of fluff and RP posibilities

Another powergaming idea would be "The Magehunter"

The idea behind this is making a mage that has a very high skill in sniper rifles and using the biggest sniper rifle he can find. After that you need to initiate and learn the anchoring metamagic.

Now you can bind a force 12 fireball to a bullet. (very karma intensive, would cost 12 Karma for just one bullet for a one time use) But I want to see the enemy that can evade a sniperrifle with lots of dices, 8P damage (+ nethits) with APDS ammunition for -8 Armor and an additional Force 12 Fireball punch added to the damage

Even at 12 karma... If it means one shot one kill I'd carry that sucker around.

Has anyone found a good karma to nuyen conversion cost? IE If I wanted to find an enchanted bullet like the above what would a mage of said skill charge for a single round?

@Wrestling Troll:
Ultimate Mundane Climber.
A Troll that CLIMBS faster than most people run and some vehicles drive.
Also can't fall even if all of his 45 dice for climbing come up 1.

Sonic the Hedge-Pixie. Super-Sonic Pixie.

This one spawned the Pixie-Puncher Adept that can punch out Cyborgs.

Bear-Walks-Through-Walls. A Bear/Troll-Shifter modded only for tearing stuff down.

Brick. The Tank-Troll with more Armor on him than most vehicles have.



Also, COMPLETELY NUTS and OUTSIDE THE RULES. There is my Binky.

Well if I would be the GM i would at least charge between 10'000 - 20'000 Yen per Karma point if you want to buy that bullet
But it would be a worthwhile investment, since it could be the one thing that helps you to survive a nasty enemy

Explanation for the high cost:
Normal mages have a magic attribute of around 3-4 and you need someone that has AT LEAST 6 magic. This makes the whole thing very rare to find. Also the powerfull mage needs to have learned anchoring metamagic AND be crazy enough to offer such a service, since he has to deal with the drain of a Force 12 fireball to bind it to the bullet.
I'd imagine that maybe 10-15 mages around the world would offer such a service and it would be VERY expensive!

Could be a way for a PC mage (free spirit, perhaps?) to do karma to cash. If it's actually a free spirit, work on trading that newfound wealth back to karma at a better rate with some cybersamurai or the like.

You can't bind spells to bullets. Full Stop.

You're no fun... DM FIAT

Actually I think it would be a cool plot point if nothing else.

Well by RAW it is actually possible to bind a spell to a bullet with anchoring metamagic, as long as the bullet is used as a construct for the anchored spell's focus formula

Trigger would be: "Contact with any other aura than the owner (or owners Team)" resulting in releasing the spell when it hits the enemy

Or destruction of the Spell Anchor when it is fired and it deforms in the barrel.

I have! Rollerskates, Celerity, raptor cyberlegs if they stack, also Troll movement speed.

It reminds me of a similiar idea! the TROLLERSKATERS, a street gang full of goblinized humans! They only have a few rules! You gotta be FAST, UGLY, and Awakened(adepts usually) and have a mean attitude!
They're basically a standard motorbike gang in action, except with a different visual appearance.... and being able to keep up with cars on foot. Especially if one of their rarer members sends a spirit with Movement to help a squad out.



Actually, Hell Hounds have Fire Immunity too, and the rules/cost/availability for buying them are in Running Wild. Now he can ride into battle on his trusty dog!
Also worth noting, Adepts can get an Elemental Armor power in Digital Grimoire. It's not great, but it can help against fire damage - especially since Goblins are vampire variants, and can boost their magic spontaneously when they feed by pumping essence into it - a goblin adept would increase his own base armor from Fire Immunity and get extra power points at the same time.




I've statted this as an experiment before, only I did it as an Adept with a point of ware to get ALL the things that give bonuses to individual tests, not dice pool.
Turns out that when you drop 7-8 dice per gun, AFTER the split and firing twice per gun per pass, you can basically get rid of a defender's entire dodge pool. Even if they're on full defense.
Also 6 or 7 is the magic minimum number of members you need to support a rating 4 tacnet, and its possible to make each individual gun contribute enough channels to count by itself.




A possession based tradition using Archery can do this better, by the way.
Possession raises the rating of applicable stats of the possessed item, so a possession mage can replicate Old Trollbow somewhat by bumping up his bow's rating beyond 8 - but its also tricky because under the current rules you need to do it on the bow AND the arrows too.
Still. Even a watcher spirit in an arrow can be used to shoot spirits with, which is hilariously unexpected because Ranged Weapons Can't Be Magical.(usually)
It also doesn't cost karma.

Blind Sniper without drones/cameras etc.

Go adept and it is entirely possible
Maybe unrealistic, but that would hardly happen for the first or last time.

The reactions of my group were funny after I fired my first shot.

It's not clear that this works. They never bothered to publish the rules for dual-natured objects and their interactions with… anything.

"Should be" and "RAW" are two vastly different things sometimes.

But you can do it with arrows.

Trollbow shamanic adept with a bound ex-explosive arrow loaded with a fireball.

The Spell Bouncer

Willlpower ~6
Counterspelling +6
Specialization of Choice +2
Way of the Magician Adept Power: Sorcerous Parry +3
Reflecting Metamagic +(Initiate Grade)

Minimum 16 Dice to resist spells, 18 against the appropriate category, can break 20 after initiating a couple more times. When you resist a spell, you reflect it back at the caster at half force with net hits on the resistance test counting as spellcasting test hits.

It is worth noting that Reflecting uses your Counterspelling + Willpower roll in place of your Magic + Spellcasting roll. This does allow you to spend your points solely on Counterspelling instead of Spellcasting, allowing you to min-max a bit at the cost of being able to cast your own spells whenever you please.

I'm not entirely sure of the efficacy of this concept, though. My first concern is that Street Magic doesn't actually clarify whether the original spellcaster can roll to resist the reflected spell. If not, this is very powerful, but is kept in check by the fact that it is an interrupt action which takes up your next available action.

If, however, the original caster can indeed resist the reflected spell, I don't see much point in this. Instead of Reflecting the spell for half force, you could just use the same number of dice to resist it, and then use your next action to cast your own spell. The only benefits to reflecting in such a situation would be "casting" a spell you yourself do not know, and not having to resist drain.

But you could just take the Absorption metamagic instead, reducing the force of incoming spells by the number of hits you make on the resistance test (even if you fail to resist!), and then reducing the drain of your next spellcast by that same number of hits!

~Umi

Or the construct for the anchor is a small ball of titanium encased by the bullet, so that deformation doesn't destroy the anchor

Or triggers are either a unknown aura or destruction of the anchor to release the spell with an added timer delay, so that it doesn't explode in the barrel if destroyed.

We could play this game all day and night long

I dunno if the focus can be *encased*. Presumably you have to be able to lay a finger on it. Hollowpoint?

I dunno, either, if 'destruction of the anchor' is a valid trigger in combination with a timer, for magic. It might be. Tough to time that right, though, unless you know the range of the target ahead of time, or the slug embeds itself in them.

Warp Mage Changeling Geomancer

Magician
Astral Hazing
Arcane Arrester
Shielding/Absorbtion
Geomancy [Ignores Astral Hazing]

Any spells cast on the magicians or wards he gets close to will be in trouble. Spells that hits him can used to power his own. Any spirit of F4 or less will go 'pop' and magicians at F4 or less will be powerless.

This is one of those things where you're going to have to Initiate a couple of times... But if you do, hooo doggie, that could be nastily awesome. Ram might actually be useful.

Hell, go for the gold - 0.01 Essence and still Magic of 6+.

Geomancy does not ignore Astral Hazing. Geomancy is for Places not Mobile Mana Fields.
And a Magician does not ignore it either, since he is -4 Magic while Astrally Hazed. Sucks to pay for all that magic (50-75 points), just for a -10 point Flaw that reduces your magic back to 1-2.

If he uses filtering instead of geomancy, this would work. But you need a bootload of Karma and at least 4 metamagics for it

Filtering could work, yes. Not sure if he will live long enough in the shadows to get there, though.
Not a very good Starting Character (of course, with the presence of Initiations, he is obviously not a STARTING character), in my opinion. Too much of a waste of points to start, and he continues to be a detriment for way too long.

Maybe with karmagen, if the GM allows one to start with initiations. Would be quite specialized, but it might work.

I know that if players in games I run want to initiate, I'll let them get up to two. After speaking with my roommate, he would limit it to one.

Can you provide a page reference on that?

Just cuz you SAY so doesn't make it true!

(it can still be really stupid and worthy of houseruling tho)



My table uses the same rule. One initiation is acceptable - some concepts, like making ritual magic actually USEFUL(sympathetic linking) actually need an initiation to not be lame ass waste of points. It also opens up a lot of interesting options without being really overpowered.
Two initiations is about the polite limit on power levels at start.

It mostly came around when one of our new guys wanted to play a free spirit, and realized that under the karmagen rules, he could start out at force 12, or force 11 if he actually wanted to buy skills and toys. It was more a thought experiment than an actual character, but led the way to some reasonable houserules.

Geomancy affects Sites... Here is how the Ritual to Geomance works...



Geomancy affects SITES, not People.
See Page 56 of Street Magic for the in-depth rules for Geomancy.

Thats ok name your character "the site's"

Good enough for me, TJ.

Maybe it would work on obsidimen.

Found another loophole in the rules

Make a magician (preferably a troll" with high body. Now learn the spell shapechange for instawin!

Every hit you make in the spellcasting test adds +1 to all body attribute of the mundane animal you transform into. with 11 body you could transform into an elephant and if you're so lucky to get 12 hits it would be an elephant with 23 body and the other stats around 15-20

Sure you could argue that there's an augmented maximum or you should follow the rules of shapechanger. But by RAW it is doable and legal since there isn't any mention about augmented max or something like that

Elephants also have a Natural Weapon with 12P, -2 AP.

~Alja~

That's not really a discovery, The Wrestling Troll, but yes.

But all other stats, including edge, would quite likely be rubbish (unless you choose to interpret the rules regarding free spirits in the broken way)

Eh. Its a pet peeve amongst our group that dumpshockers literally cannot read the description of spirit attributes right. When one # sets the Minimum AND Maximum for other values, those other values BECOME the original #.
Basically Spirit Stats = Force is true for ALL spirit types.(normal, free, shadow, insect, player free, etc).

Nothing is stopping you from raising your physical attributes independently, but you basically never ever want to.

Also, under strict reading, a Possession PC Free spirit adds Force to the possessee's physical attributes(SM 102) AND also physical attributes to the possessee's physical attributes(RC 92), and thus gets to double dip.

If you choose to read the rules that way, you are unable to raise the physical attributes, as you've also set the maximum for them equal to force.

Yes. I'd also point out this is exactly how literally every other spirit works anyway. Force = Everything

The only difference is that real spirits add a preset # based on elemental type to certain physical stats when they manifest in the real world.
For example, air spirits get extra agility and reaction, and I think the writers were trying to find a way to let PC Free spirits do the same thing, but utterly failed at making it clear.

Not just 'clear', but also at making it work. Whichever way you choose to read it, they're both bad. It should be possible to make FS rules that work like other spirits without also being crazy broken (too strong *or* too weak). They just didn't.

But Udoshi, if you're claiming that as RAW, remember to include this from Street Magic page 108:



Of course, the SM rules are meant for NPC free spirits, and are at some points in contradiction to the RC rules, but this is the RAW regarding raising force for free spirits.

I would remind you that NPC free spirits and PC free spirits use entirely different, and incompatable, rulesets.

NPC Free Spirit rules are pretty much better in every way, anyway. The power point system is really kinda dumb.

But yes, you've found a good example: NPC Free spirits can raise one attribute at a time cheaply, or boost force to raise EVERYTHING at once for an obscene amount.
Keep in mind that force 7 would cost 70 karma, and also gives you magic and edge 7, both of which are worth 35 points each.