So, with all of these new Qualities out, are there any that are begging you to utilize these? Did you ever get an urge to make a character with X qualities, because they are just so damned cool(both positive and/or negative?)

Here's a few of mine, with the advent of the RC, and hell, even some older ones that I just haven't had a chance to utilize yet.


Positive:

-Photographic Memory. It might not be the most godlike, but there is just something cool about this one that I can't quite put my finger on. Just something about being able to rattle off all kinds of things to someone can be a touch more than disturbing sometimes.

-Home Ground. I never had a chance to really use it yet, as I couldn't really figure out a character that would use it. I'd like to fiddle with a concept that utilizes it, though.

-Made Man. You're like a mobster, with Day Job! It's like, two in one! Nah, it actually sounds pretty fun. Would take some heavy utilization of a double lifestyle.

-Deep Cover. This could be great, with the player and GM working together-and naturally, the GM holding a FEW cards close to their chests.


Negative:

-Evil Twin. Upon reading this, I just have to try it out one day. It just sounds so awesome. I mean, it's definitely a flaw, but it just sounds so damn cool to have your Evil Counterpart running around(or, in Shadowrun, a game of gray morals, your ''darker gray'' counterpart, if you will), that you have to deal with. I expect to want to try to use this one very soon.

-Lost Loved One. I dunno why, but this one just seems like it would be awesome to use, and wonderful for plot hooks, for both character background AND the GM involved.

-Signature. Awesome idea for an assassin character. It's one of those negative qualities that might start rather mild(since most starting characters have low Street Cred), but begins to inflate substantially as the game goes on. Do you get street cred and risk this flaw going into overdrive? Or do you stay lower on the food chain with all of the disadvantages therein? I always like the idea of the assassin with some sort of signature. This one is getting used soon, I think.

-Vendetta. More fun, and even a bit more than the typical Enemy. Nothing like a several generation-long blood feud to get the gears turning.

-Augmentation Addict. This one just sounds fun. Dangerous, but fun.

-Judas. Yeah, it might piss off the party a bit, but damn, it does sound fun in a twisted way.

-Amnesia. You know, I've always loved the idea of an amnesiac character, but right in the middle; I'm one of those anal folks who has to be able to build my character, but at the same time I'd love the GM to put a few odd Knowledge Skills in there and to do some crazy shit with my background and maybe some of my qualities. So a middle-ground version of this I'd go for. (Unless it was a one-shot. Then lay it on me.)

Born Rich + In Dept for those can't quite afford what you want builds. Throw in restricted gear and get something ultra snazzy.

My Sasha actually has Born Rich and In Dept 3 for the nice 315000

Nice combo. Ive been wanting to mix Signature, Vendetta(Enemy comes with that automatically), and Dependant together. Assassin with a Dependant of sorts(perhaps not unlike The Professional, only with a twist), that he has to take care of (i'm thinking young, though, perhaps 6 or 7 or something). Must protect them from the fact that he's got a Vendetta and an Enemy(his old assassin group?) Naturally, he still leaves his signature(something fairly brutal too, like a pair of severed limbs or a smashed head) out of some kind of habit, and I'll tack in one more flaw there. It would be a fuck of a dangerous character to play, but damn, I could see that as being fun.

(On the plus side, Erased could help matters a bit here.)

Erased. Erased, Erased, Erased. I LOVE that damn thing.

Personally I'm quite fond of Analytical Mind (especially if playing a TM and allowed to use the bonus for Threading), Erased (especially when it's linked with a suspicious background plot hook) and Trust Fund (for playing the rich kid gone bad). I'm also quite tempted by the idea of Clone, lot of weird potential there especially if the person you're cloned from is still alive somewhere.

For the Negative side I'm a big fan of Lost Loved One (plenty of RP potential), Signature seems quite fun to play especially if your team mates keep trying to tidy the signature away afterwards. In Debt is handy, but seems a bit too munchkin for frequent use (as a GM I'd make the downsides for having it a lot more severe). And Reality Impaired is /awesome/ fun for Matrix characters. Just imagine your skinny hacker walking up to a giant troll combat monster and poking and prodding him for more information!

BBB

First Impression - I love faces, and this is SO good.

Human Looking - I love Orks with this. 'specially girl orks.

Magic Resistance - Street Sam + 5 will + magic resistance! I wanna try!

Augmentation

Biocompatibility - so fun!

Genetic Heritage - I havent gotten to use it yet, but I wanna!

Type O - Seems like it'd be so great, but its SO expensive

Runner's Companion

Black Market Pipeline - Sounds so good!

Erased - wow!

Fame - Oh, I totally need to use this with Day Job and make a Model, that doubles as an assassin.

Mistaken Identity - Also nice!

Restricted Gear - Best. Thing. Ever.

Priviledged Family Name - For the model assassin!

Trust Fund - Hehehe, the Assassin model, for sure!

Negative Qualities

BBB

Addiction - everyone likes this!

Bad Luck - Also great!

SINner - so much more fun than SINless!

Low Pain Tolerance, Weak Immune System - For the girly face types!

Runner's Companion

Amnesia - used it already, its gonna be fun

Big Regret - Love it!

Day Job - <3

Enemy - sounds like a ton of fun

Evil Twin - Add to Mistaken Identity, and you can have a whole whack of fun!

In Debt - Awesome! Like Han Solo

Records on File - I love this, just like my SIN

Signature - This seems amazingly fun, too! The model with some sort of kissing chemical death thing, leaving signature lipstick kisses!

I had forgotten to add, the Martial Arts qualities. Yeah, I take them almost TOO often now. I can't help it, though. Luckily, I had a couple of recent concepts that did not utilize them(my human enchantress/mage/alchemist who wasn't one for battle and my dwarven cat burglar, who was more of the ''if they see me I did it wrong'' kind of guy). But yeah, I use these alot.

Yeah, the assassin guy with a scythe concept that entered my head I think is getting Signature/Dependant/Lost Loved One/Enemy/Vendetta, and on the + side, Martial Arts(unarmed); MA(blades), Perceptive, Erased. This entire combo was made and I don't even have anything written up yet. I love when qualities help define a character. I kinda think that's what they're there for.

That and getting things we were never mean to get. (Genetic Heritage, Restricted Gear... )

The infected qualities are all a big pile of fun!

Nano-Intollerance is another of my top rated Negative flaws. Because while it limits some of the cool nanotech options otherwise it largely doesn't harm you. Plus in some cases it helps by making hostile nanites leave your system quicker, which would spoil someones evil plan.

There really are a few of these that are sort of "these are DOWNSIDES?", huh?

Well, technically, they ALL have downsides. It's up to the GM, though, to put the downsides into play at a fair clip. For instance, it suggests that a Flashback with an Uncommon trigger will pop up about once a week; same with someone with a Mild addiction; tests about once a week(unless, of course, they have the drug constantly shoved at them for whatever reason; like if a Stim addict goes to a rave. They're kinda asking for it). Likewise, more severe get tested more often(10 point Flashbacks it suggests once per session to ahve the trigger pop up and the roll made to see if you avoid it...it was a pretty decent Threshhold, too, like a 3 or something.)

SINner is a 5 pointer, and generally 5 pointers are not going to ruin your life instantly. But it could come up. If the player does not use a fake ID(shame on them), then that SIN can be much easier traced. Signature, or anything else that can increase the chances of being discovered are likewise definite downsides. Some flaws I notice maybe by themselves aren't horrific...but start combining them and they can become much heavier. SINner, Signature, Distinctive Style and Vendetta together, for example. The enemy has an easier way to track, since Signature adds dice to location, as does Distinctive Style. Vendetta is worse than Enemy in that YOU can't avoid wanting to beat their ass if they walk up to you wanting to beat your ass. With the regular Enemy, if you encounter them, escape is always an option.

Really, any flaw can be a downside if played properly.

I'm looking forward to the day I take a character with Shiva Arms (and one Ambidexterity quality) into battle with an assault rifle, a ballistic shield, and a vibrosword (or something).

What is the mechanical disadvantage of the 10-point Amnesia neg?

Sensitive System is like free points for magicians.

No mechanical disad, thats all rp disad!

Technomancers too Heck, three people in my RL group have it. The GM just rolled his eyes.

Just a thought... but 'In Debt' seems like a great 'disadvantage' for mages.

In my experience, mages end up with tons of unspent cash while they scrimp and save for karma to spend on skills and magic. So theoretically, this is a disadvantage you could reasonably eliminate in play. Especially if you have some basic talismongering skills to make some nuyen collecting and refining reagants on the side, or to craft your own ritual materials.

Am I on or off the mark here?

At least until the evil GM has the mage captured and has his eyes gouged out, his arm cutoff, or secondhand cyberware intentionally installed on the character.

*whistles innocently* No I'm not sadistic at all.

About Amnesia: Yes, that is mainly an RP disadvantage. Which is still a disadvantage. RP situations can end up with you dead if you're not careful. Getting 10 points at chargen means you have some decent stuff in your background that can come crawling out of the woodwork.

Sensitive System on Mages I haven no problem with. I'm not a sadistic GM either and don't believe in chastising players unless they are ruining everyone's fun. If for some reason that mage's sensitive system flaw ended up ruining other player's fun I'd say something about it.

But it had disadvantages. Hell, me and my buddies took it a few times. But I make sure that the people know ''if something happens, which is well might, you have no choice but to get a real replacement. With your squatter lifestyle, I doubt you have a Docwagon Platinum contract. You might be rocking that one arm for awhile if something goes wrong.'' Stuff like that.

Honestly? These days, with all the books, I rarely see a mage with this anymore, especially a combat mage or adept. Getting 1-2 points of ware is just too good anymore for them to want to take it. It was more or less taken when SR4 had first came out. And yes. Flaws are also used to gain some BPs. Hell, even the one sample dwarf in the book(in the chargen tutorial), said 'he needs a few extra BP, so he takes the Scorched quality for 5 BP, it was from a BTL addiction he cleaned up from.'' Extra BP, some RP opportunities, and a bit of a background piece, all wrapped up into one neat little package.

For personal qualities I dislike, Uncouth is one-it's just too much of a beating, really. Unbalanced in the opposite direction, Imo, 20 BP are too little for that one. Uneducated is harsh as well, but not as bad.

Heck with being exclusive to SR4, When Shadowtech came out, I was thinking combat mage with Synaptic Accelerator level 1, Cybereyes with a number of bells and whistles, and something else to round out the full point of essence.

Oh yeah. I played cybered mages/adepts in those days as well. Not heavily; usually only a point, no more than two. I don't think I ever took Sensitive System in those days. I wonder what made it so popular in SR4. I saw a lot of folks with edges/flaws in SR2 and 3 as well; and Sensitive System was never on the list, even for adepts and mages. It's basically the same flaw that it was, though I suppose there was some difference between 3 and 4 that made Sensitive System much more desirable when 4e first came out(again, not so more.)

-Addiction. I have practically every Shadowrunner I play addicted to something. Whether the rolls are easy to beat or not, it's great to role-play a character who's always got an itch to scratch.

-Cursed. If I play a mage, I want to play this. It seems like a lot of fun.

-Astral Chameleon. This looks essential to a mage.

-Mentor Spirit. I don't care whether I'm a shaman or a mage. These are awesome. The bite of the disadvantages has dropped a lot since SR3, but it's cool that anyone can embrace a totem/idol now.

-Buggy Ware and High Maintenance are pretty cool if you have a tech-head in the group. Some good interaction between the Scientist (Logic twink) and our bitter old CAS merc with the ancient mil-issue cyber-arm. (The merc had his arm chewed off by rats after he was blown into a trench. Mild Phobia (rats)!)

-Media Junkie. "What? Oh, yeah, the mission. Sorry, I was just reading my latest copy of Weapons World magazine on the AR".

-Catlike. Speaks for itself. Excellent for roof-rats.

-Big Regret and Lost Loved One make an awesome noir character.