Meriss
May 18 2007, 08:45 PM
Ok This is my first attempt at a female PC also a rigger. I'm looking for a little min/max, some advice and critique.
Edit: Alright taking what I've learned and editing, edits will be in Italics
Checking my current build I've found 10 BP to play with! WOOT!
Amanda Pinkerton
Ms. Pink
[ Spoiler ]
Attributes
Body: 3
Agility: 3
Reaction:
4 (I don't really need reaction at 5 with cyber I'm rolling +6 anyway)
Strength: 3
Charisma: 4
Intuition: 4
Logic: 3
Willpower:
4Edge: 4
Skills
Mechanic Group:
3Pilot Ground Craft (Wheeled): 5(+2)
Pilot Aircraft:
4Pilot Anthroform: 1
Pistols: 1
Etiquette: 1
Gunnery: 4 (Thanks for the tip Jaid)
Shadowing: 2Knowledge Skills (Tweaked for more driving flavour)
Greater Seattle (Roads): 5
Car Repair: 4
Lone Star Procedures (Vehicle Response Unit): 3
Stunt Driving: 3
Technomancers: 4
Fashion: 2
Performance Parts: 2
Qualities
Positive
Lucky
First Impression
Negative
SINer(Criminal)
Mild Addiction (Long Haul)
Contacts
Reggie (Technomancer) Loyalty: 3 Connections: 3
Resources
210,000

Cyber
Control Rig
Hot Sim ModuleDatajack
Skillwires Rating 1 (Why Not? Versitility is the name of the game)
Cybereyes Rating 1 w/Low Light Vision, Flare Compensation, Vision Enhancement 1
Adrenal Pump 1
Reaction Enhancer 1
Synaptic Booster 1
GMC Bulldog (For now until Mandy can build or find a better car)
Jaid
May 18 2007, 09:17 PM
why do you have pilot exotic vehicle? for that matter, what exotic vehicle can you pilot? it's not a catch-all category, it's a bunch of separate skills. you might have "pilot exotic vehicle (time machine)" "pilot exotic vehicle (catapult)" and "pilot exotic vehicle (spinning top)"
and those are about as useful as you're gonna get. there are no exotic vehicles, to my knowledge, in the main book.
on the other hand, there are plenty of *aircraft* which i can't help noticing you have no skill in at all. you might want to do something about that.
secondly, you don't want a specialisation in driving cars. you mostly don't want that because you can take a specialisation in *wheeled* groundcraft, which is pretty much everything that doesn't have legs (which would be pilot anthroform anyways) or hovercrafts... so pretty much if it drives on the ground and doesn't use hovercraft tech, it's within your specialty. the only other possible choice, imo, is remote operation, if you intend to use remote control instead of rigging (it doesn't look like you are, so go with wheeled).
thirdly, you have no gunnery skill. i can only assume this is some sort of horrible oversight, the likes of which could potentially very seriously screw you over as a professional shadowrunning rigger. gunnery 5 (ballistic +2) is my personal preference, but at the very least pick up gunnery 1. specialisation comes highly recommended.
my advice: drop pilot watercraft. add those two points onto pilot aircraft, as well as the two from exotic vehicle, and then see if you can't scrounge up some points for gunnery (my personal opinion is to drop reaction to 4, maybe even 3, and boost it using cyber... also consider something similar for agility). specialise gunnery as well, my personal favorite is ballistic, but you may have other preferences.
remember that your meatbod stats don't affect your ability to drive. your vehicle's response does, however. not saying you should neglect your meat stats, just saying they don't have to be all that great, either.
probably the best car you are gonna get is the Chrysler-Nissan Patrol-1. failing that, it's the step van, or the comet.
frankly, i'd stick with the patrol-1 (ask your GM if it can be a 'similar model' made by another company... LS won't react too well to you using the same model of car they have most likely) or just forget about cars entirely and go with either the hovercraft or possibly an aircraft (aircraft not recommended since they're so expensive, though, and will seriously cut into your budget).
other than that... what is your aptitude in, and why did you take aptitude if you aren't using it? do you really need the full cracking and electronics groups? do you really need mechanic group at 4? i personally would probably just buy a rating 3 set of skillwires and a bunch of skillsofts instead of those skills at 1, in any event... it's much cheaper, and much easier to build up on later. not to mention skillwires are almost a no-brainer for anyone who can afford to take a reasonable amount of cyber. does photographic memory really need to be in there? i mean, if it's just an essential part of the character, keep it in, but otherwise, that's an inefficient use of BPs for sure.
X-Kalibur
May 18 2007, 09:26 PM
I personally like the idea of getting a Eurocar Westwind and "pimping it out". Then paint it black and call it Kitt
Meriss
May 18 2007, 09:32 PM
You must forgive me Jaid she was done with a char Generator, so not everything is explained.
Wounded Ronin
May 18 2007, 10:00 PM
QUOTE (X-Kalibur) |
I personally like the idea of getting a Eurocar Westwind and "pimping it out". Then paint it black and call it Kitt |
Do do do do doooh, do do do do do doooh, bing da da bing, bing da da bing, do do do do do dooooooh!
If the player does that the character must have a she-mullet and a leather jacket.
Meriss
May 18 2007, 10:05 PM
OK Here's backstory to help explain her. No she's not an eighties throw back. Funny though. She's more little girl who likes
big trouble.
[ Spoiler ]
Amanda Pinkerton
aka: Motorhead Mandy; Mandy the Maniac; Ms. Pink; Bubblegum Crisis (by her TM boyfriend Reggie); That Crazy Bitch (90% of all drivers on Seattle roads); Little Leadfoot
Amanda never stood a chance of being a girl, she was raised by her father and five brothers. All of them devoted NARCAR fans, street racers or mechanics. Her mother left or died when she was five. So little Mandy grew up gapping spark plugs, grinding brakes and racing cars. By the time she was sixteen she could drive and fix anything with wheels. Now at the age of nineteen she has more driving skill than most people get in a lifetime. She is simply one of the best wheelmen out there. She has racked up more moving violations in three years than anyone can in twenty, she has now made it a point of pride to break every driving law in the book. Recently to expand her usefulness to her runner team she has taken up piloting drones.
Favorite Quote: "Oh goody, soy bacon, let's take em for a ride!"
Appearance:
Mandy stands five feet even and weighs aprox. one hundred and fifteen pounds (she refuses to tell anyone her exact weight). She has blonde hair and blue eyes. Her sense of style depends on her enviroment. If she's in her shop she wears oil soaked coveralls, if she's at a meet she wears a sensible gray business blazer and skirt, usually with a hot pink blouse. When she's on a run she wears an odd assortment of baby doll tees and a skirt or jeans. She always carries a Dunkie backpack when on a run. Her favorite tee is her I Love Dunkie shirt. Her hairstyle also varies but she prefers a neat ponytail when working in the shop, she tends to pigtails almost everywhere else. She almost always has a wad of bubblegum in her mouth.
Wasabi
May 18 2007, 10:41 PM
If you plan on being a Smiggler build, IE a vehicle rigger, consider getting Shadowing 5. It will counter others shadowing you and allow you to shadow up to your vehicle skill. (presumably also 5)
Unarmed
May 18 2007, 10:43 PM
I know this would probably screw with your character concept, but you could save 10 build points and get a free point of body by making her an ork. Man, orks rule.
Shadow
May 18 2007, 10:57 PM
Well I would suggest getting rid of the control rig and using your datajack to hot sim VR. Then for whatever vehicle you buy get it rigger modified and fly it like a drone. When you want to drive it, jump into it, you get the +2 Hot sim bonus and you are the car, plus you get your VR intitiative.
I would suggest the Nissan Patrol Car, for its cost it is way better than the Westwind, and wont fold on you at the first sign of combat. Bear in mind this is SR4, there really isn't a lot you can do to the car. Maybe a weapon mount, but it is not concealable.
I would suggest you look at the Sensor package you can put on the vehicle. You can mount a camera and mic, and both are modifiable by all standard means.
Jaid
May 18 2007, 11:02 PM
QUOTE (Shadow) |
Well I would suggest getting rid of the control rig and using your datajack to hot sim VR. Then for whatever vehicle you buy get it rigger modified and fly it like a drone. When you want to drive it, jump into it, you get the +2 Hot sim bonus and you are the car, plus you get your VR intitiative. |
the bonus is cumulative. for rigging the vehicle in hot sim with a control rig, he would get +4, which i'm sure you'll agree is better than +2
Shadow
May 18 2007, 11:48 PM
I don't think it is cumaltive. But I could be wrong, let me check.
Hmm, the way the rules are worded it could really go either way. My assumption was that the Control Rig was just for being jumped in directly to a drone. The Hot Simm was for being fully VR. However, they seem to indicate that they would stack.
In that case I would absolutley do both!! Anyone know more than me about this? (Rules check on isle 9)
Jaid
May 19 2007, 12:04 AM
i hear the
FAQ knows a thing or two about that

more specifically,
QUOTE (FAQ) |
A hot sim VR user gets +2 to all Matrix actions (p. 229, SR4). Does that mean a rigger using hot sim VR gets that bonus to tests for controlling a vehicle, piloting, gunnery, etc? Is this bonus cumulative with the +2 bonus for using a control rig?
Yes. |
Kyoto Kid
May 19 2007, 01:19 AM
...for a ground vehicle, there's only one choice: GMC Bulldog. Not fast but big (lots of room for drones & your troll buddies), tough (good body & armour) and rather inconspicuous (just about every delivery service from ConFedEx to UPS uses them).
LS cop: "so what kind of vehicle were they in?"
Witness: "A big van, a gray van yeah that's it..." [points] like that one... er, and that one....and that one over there..."
sunnyside
May 19 2007, 02:18 AM
I would make an effort to get some decent drones. Take a few for different conditions. This keeps you in the game when not wheeling around.
Also make sure your GM thinks a wheelwoman will work well in their campaign, and what else you might need. There is a fair amount of discussion on the matter but what it comes down to is we all do security services differently. Specifically some of us use drones and spirits like you'd expect a corp to. A driver avoiding those is going to need lots of contacts and places to duck into. You vehicle would need its licence plate, VIN, and paint job to all morph on demand, and you'll need some kit to patch up bullet holes in seconds. Plus you'll need the team hacker making other vehicles broadcast your info, and spirits watching your tail. Even then it might be hard, try and do runs in the rain (not too hard in Seattle).
On the other hand many GMs will essentially have Lone Star Captain Boss Hogg send Rosco and Enos after you in their patrol cars.
You just want to know what you're getting into and plan accordinly.
Red Fox
May 19 2007, 02:58 PM
just thought I'd contribute a GMC Bulldog to the conversation for those who enjoy the visual aspect of things
GMC Bulldog pic
Kyoto Kid
May 19 2007, 08:06 PM
...nice, very nice. I'll take one in flat gray.
IvanTank
May 19 2007, 11:23 PM
Why are you taking the Lucky Positive Quality if your edge is only 4?
IvanTank
May 19 2007, 11:34 PM
I would also consider taking some electronics type skills, like electronic warfare and hardware.
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please
click here.