I about to begin creating the first SR4 character that I will be creating from scratch, by myself. I'm still something of a noob at Shadowrun, but I've played SR3 with a character that I created with the help of a GM (Ork Street Sam). That being said, creating a character by myself is somewhat of a daunting task, especially since I'm going to do it in edition that I have very little experience with. Below you'll find a list of character types that I'm considering. I'd like to get some feedback/suggestions (i.e. are they any fun, will they be at all useful, good skills, good tech, etc.) on my ideas. Feel free to make suggestions for completely new character types as well.

1. Demolitions Expert
-Yeah, this one is pretty self-explanatory. Blowing stuff up is fun. Nuff' said. My only questions questions regard what the best ways to compliment the character are, and is it really going to be of any worth to a group. My background idea for the character basically revolves around him being a merc, if that helps

2. Shaman
- I really don't have alot experience with Shaman, so I just want to know what ways can best set them apart from mages, and what are the best kinds of/ways to run a Shaman.

3. Modern Pirate (read smuggler)
-I had already begun work on a character with this in mind within the SR3 rules, however, I am looking for an SR4 character. The key term here is "modern", so think less swashbuckling and more shotty-toting. He would basically be a drone/vehicle rigger with a tiny bit of sammy thrown in there. Alot of his skills and equipment are very character-driven (complete with Cyber-leg and boat) as it stands in his unfinished SR3 format. However, I think it might be viable in SR4. Look at him as a Drone rigger primarily, if that helps with suggestions, but realize that he would do substantial work with vehicles (car and boat) as well.

4. Ninja
- Well, since I listed a pirate I figured listing a ninja was only right. I'm thinking high stealth and mobility, and enough stopping power to carry his weight. My real concern is keeping this character unique and useful at the same time. There are alot of characters that try to pass themselves off as ninjas, but I'd like to make one that isn't just some physical adept katana copycat.

5. Paladin
- I guess Paladin would refer more to his belief system, but he's aimed at being a modernized version of the paladins that are so popular in MMORPGs and fiction today. He would be a heavy warrior with major combat skills in either a polearm or large sword. The claymore weapon is what comes to mind. Of course, he'd have other combat and utility skills as well. He could be either a Street Sam or an Adept, I'm not exactly sure which would fit best. If it helps any, I keep envisioning a troll version of Morpheus from The Matrix. (/ironic )

That pretty much sums up my basic ideas. I plan on using this character in a PbP game either here or on another site, so I'm trying to stay away from one-trick pony types. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

There are a couple of guidelines I follow for Shadowrunners:

1. Be really good at something, i.e. have a specialization.

2. Be really good at at least one other thing beyond your specialty.

I think you might like taking TWO of your ideas and mashing them together, like a Ninja/Demolitions expert.

Now, consider also the "traditional" structure of a Shadowrun session: you have the meet, followed by legwork, then the run itself, and then wrap-up/payday, of course with various subplots intruding. In my sessions, at least, there tends to be a LOT of legwork, so a pure combat character can get boring. Ideally, you want to be able to contribute during a run, but also during legwork.

Couple of ideas I'm playing with for a new home campaign include (i) a female elven adept face/martial artist who's a social expert and master of disguise, but also a very deadly martial artist - mostly, she's working contacts, can get anything the team needs materiel-wise, can socially infiltrate a run site, but can also use her ability to get close to a target then take him out, if need be - and (ii) a male orc hacker/demolitions expert who can use his hacking skills in both the legwork and run phases, and is basically a coward when it comes to contact, but with his technical acumen he CAN make pretty deadly or specialized explosives, and who also runs an underground humor matrix site where he edits trid news footage of political and corporate figures in comical or pornographic mash-ups... sure to provide the GM with some nice subplots

So in general, you want two things you can do which will keep you busy all the time!

...if your GM is using Arsenal being a demolitionist could be a pain as using the skill is no longer as simple as roll your Structural or Material Engineering Knowledge, Then roll your Demo skill to set the charge step back & watch it go boom. At one point they even bring up *Gasp* trigonometry. Also a lot of the more useful explosives are out of reach at Chargen due to availability.

Demolitions as a secondary skill would be better than as the character's primary focus.

#1: Not terribly useful in a shadowrun team


2,3,4. very useful in a team. esp #3 if you give him a shiatload of contacts he can use. think "face" almost.

5: interesting, challenging to play.

Yeah, I agree very strongly with KK; #1's usefulness depends entirely on what you consider to be a "demo man", since demolitions is really only a single skill and an awful lot of other things could be fit into a character besides. If you do have an interest in having your character be a demo expert, I'd consider only taking a point or two right away and buying a specialization via karma once in game (at that point you might be able to have the connections to acquire the explosives of your choice rather than the chargen stuff, so you can more freely pick and choose what is appropriate for your needs) and pouring points into Logic, Skillwires and rating 2 Cerebral Booster instead. Maybe Demolitions isn't that terribly useful, but a guy with 5-7 Logic along with Hardware, First Aid and Heavy Weapons (covers things like mortars, grenades and rockets) can definitely come in handy both for general use and for good ol' fashioned safe-cracking.

My worry here is that I'll spread the character too thin in terms of attributes/skills. If anybody has suggestions on how to prevent that, please post 'em. I do like the idea though, so I might just try rehash what I already have for SR4 and go from there.



I probably should've labeled him "Mercenary". That's closer to what I was thinking, and basically what you're saying (correct?). I play a character in another PbP game that is basically a "Brick" type, which is what I'd imagine this would end up as too. I'm still debating on this one...