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Save-vs-DM
So, I've been working on my character for an upcoming Shadowrun game (my buddy and I are going to split GMing duties, so I get to play too! Yay!) and while I'm good enough at running games, I find that I tend to make substandard characters at times. I know this guy is a bit below par, but I'm so in love with the concept that I want to try and make him workable. I need some folks who are a little less biased to take a look and tell me what I should think about swapping around.

Caveat: He must remain an Ork - and taking Sensitive System is right out the window as far as negative qualities, it's a house rule thing.

Here he is. Let me know what you think.

Race: Ork

Attributes
Body: 4
Agility: 3
Reaction: 4
Strength: 3
Charisma: 4
Intuition: 4
Logic: 4
Willpower: 3

Edge: 3
Resonance: 5
Initiative: 8
Essence: 6

Active Skills
Cybercombat : 3
Electronic Warfare : 3
Hacking : 3
Compiling : 3
Decompiling : 3
Registering : 3
Computer : 3
Data Search : 3
Hardware : 3
Software : 3
Pistols (Semi-Automatics) : 1 (3)
Perception : 2
Dodge : 2
Negotiation : 1
Pilot Ground Craft (Bike) : 1 (3)
Clubs : 1

Knowledge Skills
English : N
Or'zet : 4
Japanese : 3
Matrix Games : 3
Security Systems : 3
Matrix Security : 4
Computer Background (Matrix) : 2 (4)
Firearms : 2
Data Haven (Subject : Hacking) : 2 (4)

Positive Qualities
Guts
Technomancer


Negative Qualities
Bad Luck

Complex forms
Analyze (3)
Armor (3)
Attack (3)
Browse (3)
Command (3)
Decrypt (3)
Edit (3)
Exploit (3)
Scan (3)
Stealth (3)
Cheops
Hmm...about the only two comments I can make are:

1) find points to bump your Stealth CF to 5. This is the primary advantage of a Technomancer. Having a Threaded stealth of 6 or higher is AMAZING. It'll let you hack most systems on the fly with Admin without too much worry. It is even better if you have enough time between hack attempts to register a Crack Sprite to add its rating to your Stealth. Suddenly that die pool of 8 doesn't matter so much when the system thinks you are "friendly."

2) Contacts, contacts, contacts. And I don't mean for your eyes. Contacts are like leverage--small dice pools suddenly become oh so much better when you have and use contacts. Probably only need like 2 or 3 of them at middling ratings. If you are in Seattle then a loyalty 4 or 5 hacker or technomancer friend who can get you on ShadowSea is awesome. Otherwise, a MacGuyver or some underworld contacts might prove useful. An O. Underground or Carbonado contact might be useful too.
Zolhex
I see lots of room to improve but the big thing I see is your complex forms.

I sat down with a player and his Techno after doing some mock runs with him we came to the conclusion that fewer forms at higher ratings is better.

Fiest off max forms is limited to 2x your logic so for you 8 max.

So I would suggest you drop 4 forms and jack the rest to 5.

Skills: (Your using skill groups I'd would guess)

Cybercombat : 3
Electronic Warfare : 3
Hacking : 3

Compiling : 3
Decompiling : 3
Registering : 3

Computer : 3
Data Search : 3
Hardware : 3
Software : 3

Automatics : 2
Longarms : 2
Pistols : 2

Negotiation : 2
Pilot Ground Craft: (Bike) : 2 (4)
Perception : 2
Dodge : 2

Your points on skills 126
Mine 144 (Now your more flexable in your weapon choices and better at Negotiation and Pilot)

Negative Qualities
Bad Luck 20
Common Mild allergy to Synthleather 10
Addiction Alcohol 5

(Neither of these can do alot to you even if your gm is a hardcase about useing your negs against you. Oh no synthleather distracts you ok what's he gonna do wrap your character in it? As for alcohol rats you need a drink once or twice a week.)

Your total 20
Mine 35 (you gain 15 BP)

Your BP : 130att./ 20race/ 20edge/ 40resonace/ 126skill/ 18 additional know. skill/ 10pos. 20neg./ 30 forms/ your total is 374 BP.

Mine : 130att./ 20race/ 20edge/ 40resonace/ 144skill/ 18 additional know. skill/ 10pos. 35neg./ 30 forms (your choice)/ my total is 377 BP.

Mine is 3 points higher but I think better. quality is better than quanity for the forms
and your better in the skills department.
Lagomorph
rules about making a TM:

CF's are WAY cheaper at chargen than after, you should be maxing out as many as possible.

Get your mental attributes to 5, those are your commlinks rating. (this will also allow you to take more CF's)

Toss Decompiling, it's completely and totally worthless, you'll save yourself a few points.


8 dice is actually pretty good, you'll also have +2 dice in VR. It's the most you can realistically start with as a TM and still be a functional in other environments.
Jaid
QUOTE (Lagomorph)
8 dice is actually pretty good, you'll also have +2 dice in VR. It's the most you can realistically start with as a TM and still be a functional in other environments.

currently, that *is* with hotsim actually... he has CF 3, skill 3, and hotsim +2. definite boosting of some CFs is called for. possibly the skills too.

anyways, as was said, dump decompiling and either specialise your resonance skills or boost some other skills, or whatever... just don't bother with decompiling though. it's actually *worse* than banishing, because theoretically with banishing you can gain a spirit that is not of your tradition, whereas all sprites are already of your tradition...
Save-vs-DM
One note I should have mentioend: We have a house rule where you buy Complex forms at a flat 3 BP and get them at a rating equal to Resonance (a lot like mage spells). Thus my complex forms are at Rating 5 (I used 3 to make the math easier).

Save vs DM
Jaid
ah. well, you still have too many... you're only allowed 8 with a logic of 4.

unless that's a houserule too...
sunnyside
Ok I don't have time to write up a full char. But TMs are supposed to be gods of the matrix, and this character isn't that.

Of course others may disagree with me but I'd say,

Get negative qualities to give you the BP you need. negative quals make for more interesting chars anyway.

Focus on doing what you need to, let sprites do the rest, they're great for it.

Personally I'd say focus on stealth and hacking and avoid combat. TMs just aren't that good at it, and don't have the BP to spare for it. You use hacking for full defense anyway, which is probably what you should be doing while your sprites tear the enemy IC apart.

In that I'd suggest.

Resonance at 6 (yes you pay an extra 25 for it)
Hacking at 6
compiling &registering at 4
software electronic warfare, and computer at 4


drop data search, hardware, decompiling and cybercombat. If you want to add a skill back data search might be nice as you'll do it oftenish and might not want to use a sprite for it, depends how much BP you want to spend on other things.

Get the max number of CFs. Remember you'll be having sprites doing your combat and maybe your data searching. So you then don't need those abilities.

What you really need to be able to do.
Stealth
analyze
exploit
defuse
armor
scan (I believe that's right)
but get as many as you can, especially with the 3 bp thing making them half off.

It's a hard call but you may want to start with some level 6 sprites registered. It costs 1 BP each you could spend on something else. But there is a lot of room for things to go wrong initially summoning the things, though they aren't as bad as spirits.

Regardless you'll want tons of services with your registered level 6 sprites. So in off time (or early in the game) you'll want to try re registering them. It doesn't cost you any money, but you might end up taking a nap as a result. If luck isn't with you you might even take physical damage, but they don't go uncontrolled. You may also want to specialize on a sprite type to get a couple extra die, level 6's take a lot of work. But they're worth it.


Jaid
in a game where your CFs autoscale, it is my opinion that you'd have to be some kinda looney to buy your resonance up to 6 with BP.

and for the record, cybercombat happens to be one of the two areas where the TM is king, and the hacker cannot ever come close to what the TM can do in that area (specifically, TMs can boost their CFs to well over 6, and the attack rating does more than just adding dice, it makes your damage start higher in the first place. a cybercombat-oriented TM can be throwing a ton of dice for cybercombat, but most importantly, a TM can nuke just about anything with a single hit if they specialise themselves in that direction.
sunnyside
Hmm autoscaling does make the 6 less of a nessesity. I'd worry about sprites getting into trouble from losing the 2 dice and all that but it would be doable. I don't think it's a looney move even with the autoscaling though.

And yes the TM can have fabulous offensive capabilities. High attack programs may very well drop IC in one hit. Hackers with their rating 6 will almost always take a few against rating 6 IC with armor.

The problem is the lower defensive capabilities of the TM vs black IC. Unless I'm mistaken you can't thread/assist your living persona stuff. Which includes response, firewall, and biofeedback filter. All that stuff you roll when a black IC takes a swing at you. There is a fair chance (depending on why you're facing this IC) that it'll win on initiative too(so full defense would be nice).


Granted if you up all your stats this problem goes away, and in theory you could surpass the hacker, but TMs aren't known for having piles of karma lying around.


Regardless the bottom line you run into is that a TM can do anything better than a hacker, but they can't simultaniously do everything better. And as an ork we're looking at logic 4 so that's only 8 CFs. Adding attack means they don't get something else. Though maybe they'd be easy to add later in this guys campaign, making this not such a big deal. And cybercombat 4 means 16 BP they can't spend on something else. Though again he has more BP to play with than your usual TM.

Yeah maybe a different build would be good for this guys houserules. Resonance can be upped later, CFs can be picked up with early karma, logic can be lower, the extra BP can be used on other stuff. Maybe this guy CAN be better at everything.

Does your GM let you break skill groups in chargen? I.E. (skill goup) 3: (specific skill) 6 = 42BP instead of three skills at 3 and one at 6=60BP If so you'll want to do all sorts of that.

If not getting hacking 6 might just be worth it anyway.
Save-vs-DM
QUOTE (sunnyside)
Does your GM let you break skill groups in chargen? I.E. (skill goup) 3: (specific skill) 6 = 42BP instead of three skills at 3 and one at 6=60BP If so you'll want to do all sorts of that.

As I'm one half of the GM team, that's open to debate, but we're leaning towards no at this moment. We keep universal house rules across games, so what goes for mine goes for all our games. Basically me and my GM buddy are both playing hacker/technomancer types, so we can fill in with the group interchangeably.

We also tend to run a slightly...lower powered game. A lot of the characters tend to have odd skills in some things, mostly because it's fun. We're less worried about being super awesome at things and more worried about having skills that just seem fun.

Still, input it vastly appreciated.
sunnyside
Alright given all that maybe

your stats, maybe shift a point of reaction over to intuition

same res and edge
orc, technomancer, codeslinger (I suggest hacking in as the bonus, staying hidden next up if you don't like that)

Your choice of full negative qualities. Make them fun.

Hacking 6 (initial exploit a suggestion for specialization. Staying hidden next).
electronic warefare 4
electronics skill group 4
compiling 4
registering 4
percetion 2
pistols 2
infiltrate 2 (so you can possibly go in with the team, could swap to something else)
unarmed 1
pilot ground craft 1

programs

must haves
stealth
exploit
analyze
defuse (this assumes your other GM read the bit on data bombs)

four more
spoof (almost a must have)
scan
browse or edit(just common use)
armor, unless you feel lucky or really want both browse and edit.
more if allowed by GM.

you'll pick up more CFs in game, for now use sprites to pull stuff off.

So this build still has the extra odd abilities you'd like, though not as muchy as could be made.

It doesn't feature cybercombat for now. Again sprites can cover that for you for now. In the meantime use threading/sprites with your stealth to try and ensure cybercombat doesn't come up.

From a GM point of view stealthing without fighting means that your hacking will take less game time. Which is very very nice.

This char is still potent in the matrix(to be more potent lose some of the real world skills, like trade infiltrate for cybercombat and get attack instead of browse or something). Just get them some registered sprites built up with a lot of services so you can hack with assisted stealth and maybe a threaded exploit (errate or faq said sustaining doesn't apply to the threaded action). 22 die(or fewer if not using a sprite or using threading instead) will get past most firewalls in a single roll, two tops, with a little bit of luck stealth will hold out.

Early char defelopment might be adding in specializations, cybercombat and first more CFs.

To practice hacking out try and run a corp main frame on the fly.

system 6 response 6 systems analyze program 6 firewall 8(highest firewall I've seen on a corp main system in missions has been a 10 but 8 is pretty good)

Loaded data bomb on the paydata for the run. Some other paydata findable with a good browse roll.

2 IC that will trigger on an alert with blackout and stealth. Attempting to suprise the hacker and jam the connection so a spider can track it down while the hacker lies unconcious. Will swap to attack if faced with an agent or sprite. If a spider calls an alert they swap stealth for analyze to find the target. System shuts down its own analyze in an alert state to keep response up while the IC run, that's the kind of useful info that's nice to know about a system through legwork.

1 spider with hacking 4 and rating 5 comlink and programs, going around making matrix perception checks all the time in the system.

A starting hacker can pull that off, but they'd be sweating and it could go very wrong very fast. A TM should be able to pull it off without edge most of the time. And with edge they should get past the firewall on the first roll, easily having their stealth hold, and then pull of the rest of the run cleanly.

For a smaller corp still trying to have a serious system lower all the ratings by 1.

-----

EDIT: While this is just a default system I whipped up it also demonstrates why it's nice to have combat sprites around (so you can fall back on full defence or so they can be found first getting the IC after them not you) and to focus on stealth. Stealth good. Very good. A great exploit roll and great stealth is also very fast on the table. Again the other players will apreciate that. It isn't like they hack, you aren't stealing their thunder, they just want you to implement whatever idea they came up with, or get the data they need, etc etc etc.
Wasabi
There are three things that a TM's success hinge on. Focus on them and you'll be fine.

1. GETTING INTO THE SYSTEM. This is most easily done with a high hacking skill, specializing in Exploit, the Codeslinger (Hacking in) positive quality, and help from sprites. Rating 5 registered sprites used for both Aid and a bit of threading can jump a rating 5 exploit CF to 12 and with a hacking/exploit of 6(+2 more for exploit) and the +2 full VR bonus you'll have 22 dice to throw which is an average of a Firewall 7 system in one pass or a Firewall 8 system with Admin Access in two passes. On AVERAGE.

2. AUGMENT WITH SPRITES. ITS WHAT TM'S ARE BRED FOR. Not being detected while detecting others is a common scenario. Detecting others is also easy. Here's a breakdown: Your Computer skill+Analyze CF is used for detecting others. Aid+Threading and you can get it up to maybe 10 pretty easy. Even without the CF at all you could throw 5-7 dice at the cost of time re-registering them later. With the bonus for full VR that makes enemy hackers that aren't aided, threaded TM's unable to hide from you. The same technique is used for hiding. You use a lot of valuable services this way but they take only time to regain.

3. CRY HAVOK AND LET SLIP THE SPRITES OF WAR! A Rating 5 Sprite costs NOTHING to register, and has 10 dice to throw. They get special abilities that are uber, including Electron Storm which stacks with Blackhammer to inflict -4 dice and a DoT damage effect on the poor sap they hit. Sprites can even probe for backdoors while you nap. They rock. Registering, Charisma, your ability to resist Fading, and a mage to make you able to skip sleep and you are SET. For added versatility ask the mage for a Shapechange. A sleeping pigeon hacking a node from the roof is some funny node pwnage! YMMV.
Wasabi
Build comments:

1. Drop Decompiling and Compiling. If you can't be uber with registered sprites, don't hack in.
2. Get your hacking or registering to 6 for pete's sake! smile.gif
3. Use drones to relay off of so you aren't doing runs with a matrix connection to the biiig matrix running. Signal encryption wont matter for controlling drones as long as you use Sprites and your Resonance Link to talk to them.
Aaron
I think by "Compiling" Wasabi means "Registering" and vice versa.
Wasabi
QUOTE (Aaron)
I think by "Compiling" Wasabi means "Registering" and vice versa.

Nope, I mean drop Compiling and load up on Registering. The additional abilities of a Registered Sprite combined with their free cost (except in terms of time) make them superior in every way. They do, however, force a TM to have a decent Charisma so he can have several available.
Ravor
Umm, don't you first have to Compile a Sprite before you are able to Register it?
iron_ic
Ravor is right. But if you *only* want to compile in order to register, you don't need that many dice (hell, even with resonance 5 and compiling 1 you'd be on par with a rating 6 sprite... and the sprite doesn't have edge (not that I'd want to use my edge on f****ing compiling)). Getting loads of services out of compiling prior to registering it makes things easier, though. Being able to compile a sprite you don't have registered on the fly might also come handy sometimes.
Wasabi
Fair enough!
[runs off to fix his TM]
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