Hi, I'm sending a recommendation for a friend who is playing in his first Shadowrun fourth edition. He is looking for something cheesy and easy to run. Any thoughts on the adept build below?

Build Points
180 BP - Attributes
40 BP - Magic
20 BP - Edge
40 BP - Adept/Aptitude: Pistols/Ambidextrous/Exceptional Agility
96 BP - Skills
37 BP - Resources
2 BP - Contacts
-15 BP - Sensitive System

Attributes
Bod: 3 Agi: 6 Rea: 5 (7) Str: 2 Cha: 1 Int: 3 Log: 3 Wil: 3 Int: 10 (3 passes) Edge: 4 Magic: 4

Skills
Pistols (Machine Pistols) 6 ( Dodge 4 Close Combat Group 3 Athletics Skill Group 2 Infiltration 1

Bioware: Synaptic Booster 2

Adept Powers: Combat Sense 4, Mystic Armor 2, Improved Ability: Pistols 2

with close combat group 3 and athletics 2, you're paying an awful lot to get dice in dodge. take out the dodge 4, spend 10 points boosting athletics group, and the other 6 can go elsewhere.

you can't have more than 35 BP of positive qualities without house rules, so consider dropping something...

i would boost those contacts a little as well.

From RAW under full defense

Full defense can be either taken as full dodge, full parry or gymnastics dodge

Full Dodge against ranged attacks is Reaction+Dodge
Full dodge against melee attacks is Reaction+Dodge+Dodge or Reaction+Melee Combat skill+Dodge

From the FAQ
What exactly is the dice pool used in the Full Defense option Gymnastic Dodge (p. 151, SR4)?

Against ranged attacks, it would be Reaction + Gymnastics. Against melee attacks, it would be Reaction + Dodge + Gymnastics or Reaction + melee skill + Gymnastics.

Full Dodge against ranged attacks is Reaction+Dodge
Full dodge against melee attacks is Reaction+Dodge+Dodge or Reaction+melee combat skill+dodge

Full Dodge against
Ranged attacks are Reaction+Dodge
Melee attacks is Reaction+Dodge+Dodge or Reaction+Melee Combat Skill+Dodge

Gym Dodge
Ranged
Reaction + Gymnastics
Melee
Reaction + Dodge + Gymnastics or Reaction + melee skill + Gymnastics

Summarizing

RANGED
Reaction+Dodge
Reaction+Gymnastics

MELEE
Reaction+Dodge+Dodge
Reaction+Melee Combat skill+Dodge
Reaction+Dodge + Gymnastics
Reaction+Melee Skill + Gymnastics

Looks to me having both dodge and gymnastics is a good thing. But reaction is the key attribute it would seem.

I would suggest maxing out your attributes at 200 points, it is far harder to raise them with karma than skills.

I can agree with the attributes; another 20 points could help a bit. Strength to 3 could work(it rounds up when determining damage), Body 4 is the point of the Armored Jacket, and Cha 1 is a little stiff. Of course, if the character is indeed non socially adept, go for it.


Social Skills im taking aren't this character's strong point. I'd at least take some kind of Etiquette. It doesnt even have to be that high.

Seems like a pretty cut and dry character type, and if that's what they want, it can work.

A pretty good build for someone looking for something easy to run. One way to boost up the Attributes a bit would be to make it an ork.

Build Points
20 BP - Ork
170 BP - Attributes
40 BP - Magic
30 BP - Edge
30 BP - Adept//Ambidextrous/Exceptional Agility
96 BP - Skills
37 BP - Resources
2 BP - Contacts
-25 BP - Sensitive System, Allergy: Silver, Moderate

Here, the Ork race is paid for by losing the aptitude/pistols quality, since you can start out with a 6 skill without it, making positive qualities legal (not more than 35 points), and adding a non-crippling additional negative quality. An extra 10 BP spent on Edge to keep it where it is, so 10 BP less on Attributes, but as you can see below, they still came out improved due to the Ork bonuses.

Attributes
Bod: 5 Agi: 6 Rea: 5 (7) Str: 3 Cha: 2 Int: 3 Log: 3 Wil: 3 Int: 10 (3 passes) Edge: 4 Magic: 4

The character can now wear an armor jacket without penalty, and even add a helmet. Strength is better (going from 2 to 3 gives you an additonal point of base damage), and Charisma is less gimped.

Skills
Pistols (Machine Pistols) 6 [8] Dodge (Ranged) 4 Unarmed Combat (Blocking) 4 Athletics Skill Group 2 Infiltration 1 Etiquette (Street) 1 Perception 1

A ranged combat specialist with a comparatively low Strength doesn't need to be the master of every form of melee. I picked unarmed with a specialization in blocking, and added a ranged specialization to Dodge, making him more effective at defense at the cost of close combat versatility, and used the ten points I saved to get some basic etiquette and perception.

Bioware: Synaptic Booster 2

Adept Powers: Combat Sense 4, Mystic Armor 2, Improved Ability: Pistols 2

Ok gymnastics has it uses but Dodge has more

Examples from the FAQ

Astral Combat

Defender (dual natured) Rolls:Reaction + Dodge

Defender (astral) Rolls:Intuition + Dodge

Defender (dual natured) using Full Defense:Reaction + Astral Combat/Dodge + Dodge

Defender (astral) using Full Defense:Intuition + Astral Combat/Dodge + Dodge

Rigger Combat

Full Defense:Dodge + Response

This just the examples that used Dodge, there are more examples.

So Dodge is not just waste of BP's it seems.

If your Adept is going to fight things on the Astral Plane Dodge is needed.

Thanks for the thoughts! Especially to Glyph, you really improved the character build. There were definitely some things I was missing. I would definitely plan on getting Astral Perception later for fighting spirits and other uses. My friend, who lives in a different city than me, is actually the one planning on using the character, so I don't know if he'll take it later. He is really looking for a simple and powerful character. He is joining a game with some people who have played SR4 many times before, but this is his first SR4 character.

I personally don't like gymnastic dodge. Dodge is used in other situations, like the ones mentioned above and missile parry. Also, as a GM, with a house rule, I wouldn't let a character use gymnastics to dodge if they were in a very enclosed space like a crowded bar or a tunnel.