Okay. I had this half done before a power outage (screw you, tropical storm) resulted in a loss of multiple builds, so this time I will be doing 1 build per post.

The first post consists of a newly freed Force 3 summoned spirit of man, essentially what PC Free Spirits are supposed to be according to the rules and a generally reasonable support character. Two versions of this build will be posted. First is what the character is supposed to be according to all the other Spirit rules (along with associated costs) and second the closest you can get with 400BP under RC's rules.

After that, I will follow up with more specialized builds, I'll have two each of Shooters, Combat Magicians, Support Magicians, Faces, Wheelmen, Infiltrators, and Power-based support. One will be built with BP, the other with 750 Karma because.... Damn, as Agent J once said.



Manny (Standard Newly Freed Force 3 Spirit of Man, with RC costs listed for comparison purposes)

Race (250BP): Free Spirit

Attributes (10BP each, 80BP Total): Strength 3, Body 3, Agility 3, Reaction 3, Logic 3, Intuition 3, Charisma 3, Willpower 3

Special Attributes (10BP) Force 3 (10BP), Edge 2
Note: I'm assuming that Manny burned a point of Edge on his test to go Free.

Qualities (0BP): Magician

Skills (12BP each, 72 Total): Assensing 3, Astral Combat 3, Dodge 3, Perception 3, Spellcasting 3, Unarmed Combat 3

Powers (6.5+???PP):[Standard Free Spirit Package] (0PP), Materilization (0PP), Accident (.5PP),Concealment(2PP), Confusion(1PP), Thermographic Vision (.25PP), Low Light Vision (.25PP), Guard(.5PP), Influence, Search(???PP), Innate Spell:Heal (???PP), [Empty Power Slot], [Empty Power Slot]

Total Cost: 412BP (of 400) , 6.5+???PP (of 2)

The BP cost is actually pretty reasonable. With the appropriate negative qualities to reflect his inexperience, his BP cost would be within the standard chargen limits. The problem is the powers. His PP cost far exceeds his allotment, and he has some powers which aren't even on RC's list - a standard power that all spirits of his type get and the most common optional power for his type.

I can, of course, understand the reasoning behind this design decision. They didn't want the PC Free Spirits to dominate the game with their wide array of Powers, particularly since it is eacy to pump force up to 5 or 6 and ignore skills and other stats. I do disagree with it, however, this topic is not about my disagreement, it is about creating standard character types using these rules, and seeing how they work out.

My next post will be Manny 2, built with 400BP using RC rules in their entirety.

Until then, I'll be outside with a harpoon defying the very will of Mother Nature in a vain but noble attempt to stab a Tropical Storm to death.

Manny 2 (Newly Freed Force 3 Spirit of Man, made with RC rules)

Race (250BP): Free Spirit

Attributes (10BP each, 80BP Total): Strength 3, Body 3, Agility 3, Reaction 3, Logic 3, Intuition 3, Charisma 3, Willpower 3

Special Attributes (10BP) Force 3 (10BP), Edge 2
Note: I'm assuming that Manny burned a point of Edge on his test to go Free.

Qualities (-15 BP): Magician: Shaman (0BP), Computer Illiterate (-5BP), Amnesia (-10BP)

Skills (12BP each, 72 Total): Assensing 3, Astral Combat 3, Dodge 3, Perception 3, Spellcasting 3, Unarmed Combat 3

Powers (2PP):[Standard Free Spirit Package] (0PP), Materialization (0PP), Accident (.5PP), Thermographic Vision (.25PP), Low Light Vision (.25PP), Guard(.5PP), Psychokinesis (.5PP), Spirit Pact: Friendship (0PP).

Spells (3BP each, 3BP Total): Heal

Total Cost: 400BP (of 400) , 2PP (of 2)

Statistically, he's the same. He has some qualties to represent his nature as indicated by the fluffier rules in RC, Computer Illiterate because he can't even see a screen (though why this is different from any other light source I do not know) and Amnesia because the PC Free Spirit apparently looses the memories of its former existence.

Former Innate Spell, Heal, is taken as an actual spell and some of his best powers are lost. Search, in Particular, is hard to see go. I kept Accident and gave him psychokenesis because he can still be a decent mischief-maker. I could get rid of his senses and Psychokenesis to give him Confuse, instead, making him a useful "debuffing" support character whose job it is to keep dice pools down. I could also free up another 10 BP and increase his Edge and do that, or eliminate Psychokenesis and Enhanced Senses, as well, and give him Fear. Both are useful options that change the way he can be played.

But he needs magical protection at all times. A single magician or a Spirit of Man with Manabolt will utterly destroy him.

Not to mention that at Force 3, a Light Pistol with Explosive (not even EX), or a Heavy Pistol will injure him if he materializes - Heavy Weapons would rip him apart just as effectively as another Spirit or Magician. APDS in any firearm could easily shred him.

Both seem to have the same problem. When your force is 3, your natural maximum is also 3, so when you want to raise an attribute from 2 to 3 in that instance, it costs 25 points.



I've played with a couple of builds myself, and so far I think the "buffer" concept works best when it comes to free spirits. Well, at least when it comes down to trying to be a useful part of the group. Force 6, Edge 5 and a boatload of powers to make your friends the best they can be.

Manny K (Daymn..... made with Karma)

Race (0Karma): Free Spirit

Attributes ( 30 Karma each, 240 Karma Total): Strength 5, Body 5, Agility 5, Reaction 5 (7), Logic 5, Intuition 5, Charisma 5, Willpower 5

Special Attributes (129 Karma) Force 6 (54 Karma), Edge 7 (75 Karma)


Qualities (30 Karma): Magician: Shaman (0BP), Computer Illiterate (-10Karma), Amnesia (-20 Karma), Lucky (40 Karma), Lightning Reflexes (20 Karma)

Skills Groups (130 Karma):[Influence 4 (50 Karma), Stealth 4 (50 Karma) Firearms 3 (30 karma)

Skills (122 Karma): Assensing 3 (12 Karma), Astral Combat 3 (12 karma), Dodge 3 (12 karma), Perception 3 (12 karma), Spellcasting 4 (20 Karma), Unarmed Combat 3 (12 karma), Counterspelling 6 (42 karma)

Language
English N

Powers (6PP):[Standard Free Spirit Package] (0PP), Materialization (0PP), Accident (.5PP), Thermographic Vision (.25PP), Low Light Vision (.25PP), Guard(.5PP), Animal Control (1PP), Confusion (1PP), Concealment (2PP), Realistic Form (.5PP), Mutable Form, Spirit Pact: Friendship (0PP).

Spells (5 Karma each, 60 Karma Total): Heal, Manabolt, Shape Manmade Material, Improved Invisibility, Stealth, Manaball, Stunball, Levitate, Lightning Bolt, Stabilize, Influence.

Total Cost: 711 Karma (of 750) , 6PP (of 6)


Yeah, He's just motherfraggin good. I could have made him more specialized, but that wasn't the point of this build. He can pretty much do anything well. He doesn't need magical protection, he can support, he can infiltrate, he can attack. And I still have some karma left for gear and contacts and I can flesh out the knowledge skills however I want.

I considered getting Fear instead of Concealment, but decided against it because frightened guards who escape will alert others. Still, choosing his powers was difficult and there are many changed that can be made to fit different character types.

All in all, this character is an excellent jack of many trades.

Hey, question.

What page or formula are you using to figure out the bp/karma for higher starting force for the Free Spirit?

RC page 92, its exactly the same as the cost for every other attribute.

*blink* Oh... so it is!

Though, it says force also dictates the minimum of attributes. That makes it sound like you pay only once (for force) instead of for each ability.

*begins to tinker*

This was confirmed to not have been in the final draft, and how it made it into the print is unknown. Force sets the Natural Maximum for Attributes, but has no effect on the Minimum (beyond the starting 2 in each). Attributes are raised independently of Force. It is in one of the recent spirit threads, I believe, if you want to go look it up.

Oh, I believe you, no worries there. A friend of mine wants to make a cyberzombie out of his old runner, and I'd figure give him something to fight when tests the build.

...Thought. Free Spirit and Cyberzombie, what happens? Does the spirit lose force rating for being within range of it? ((Edit. If the spirit is reduced to 0 force, treat like he was disrupted. Ouch))

Alright, question related to this thread.

Free Spirits willing entering a vessel (plasteel homunculi or possibly a drone) what would they need?

Homunculi use attributes derived from the spirit stats, in the case of free spirit PCs individual attribute ratings instead of force.

In the case of drones, you have no alternative mechanic, and should IMO get to add force to the stats like NPC spirits do.

Well, would they add their ability to that of the plasteel?

The homunculi mods are used, so that the physical attributes look like B+8 A–1 R–1 S+8, final values not limited by force.

Don't the rules say that you add the PC's relevant attribute to the vessel's? Lemme check ... yeah: page 92, Runner's Companion. So for drones, the PC's Body would be added to the drone's Body and so on as the rules for possessing vessels indicates (I seem to remember there being some question about drone possession and attributes for that, but I don't remember what they were).

"For spirits of possession traditions, the spirit´s Physical attributes are added to the attributes of the vessel possessed by the spirit."

Body is "Konstitution" for metahumans and "Rumpf" for vehicles in the German edition. Since forever (SR2 at least). I immediatly went, "yeah, they can´t have a single fitting one in the case of drones, add force like always". (The drone possession threads I remember were on NPC summoned/bound spirits)

I can't tell you how to play at your table, I can only offer the writer's intent (for that section, at least) and my own interpretation of the rules as written. I can say for certain, though, that it was not the intent to allow spirits of possession traditions to not have to buy up their Physical Attributes, while those of manifesting traditions do.

I was trying to explain how I got to my previous answer, and appreciate knowing writers intent. Really. I think the need to buy up attributes is already there:

- Body is a given because you can add it to the drones Body
- Reaction is also a given, the drones Initiative doesn´t count due to being technical in nature; I`d use handling mods, but anyone reads up on vehicle customisation before following me on that
- Agility/Strength: A drone does not have either, but you need those for quite a list of skills.


My suggestion to simply add force is more a concern for things like acceleration, speed, and armor. A linking table would/will work for me, but given the numerical values of those stats, simply adding force does not seem to change much.

Rather than respond with a table, I'm going to respond with a question, if that's okay. If you were to make such a table, what would it look like?

My pleasure. I would for the balance reason you gave try to incorporate all physical attributes of the spirit. So:

Acceleration - Agility
Speed - Strength
Body - Body
Armor - Body, up to a combined armor rating of 20

Pilot and Sensor are not useable anyway, Handling I would not touch for balance reasons (nor would I in the case of NPC possessed drones). Not much of a table

Looks pretty good to me. I'd use it at my table. I presume you're using Reaction for moving and dodging?

Yes, in place of Response.


Hmm. Agility as a dump stat, who knew? Maybe movement should use agility instead.

While we are talking possession spirits:

Preparing a vessel costs a minimum of 20k¥ per ton of vehicle. One might think "too expensive", and pass it up. Wrong! Buy a Rover2068, pay 40k¥ to make it into a vessel, invite your groups free spirit to be the getaway-driver.

Classical kinds of homunculi are good for "social" functions, but how about a rotordrone vessel for combat? The increase in Body is VERY welcome, and even with maximum armor those beasts don´t get THAT heavy. You´ll want an arm and some armor, so lets call it 20k¥. Affordable.

Or how about a Renraku Manservant, for a modern, expensive (due to alchemy materials) twist on homunculi?

Karma system, because it is better:
750 Base -500 Free Spirit +50 from qualities = 300 karma.

90 all Attributes at 3
39 Magic 3->5, Body 3->4
40 100.000Â¥ for several vessels

66 Spellcasting 4, Counterspelling 3 (Combat Spells +2), Astral Combat 2 (Spirits +2), 6 spells
65 Stealth 3, Influence 1, Dodge 2 (ranged +2), Vehicle Skill 2 (type +2)

I think this is a viable concept for groups that enjoy the technomagical connection. The character can provide very safe transportation, and handles combat well (Spellcasting pool of 9 with magic 5, Physical Body 7 / hardened armor 13 in the rotor drone body). Any summoned possession spirit could emulate some of that (limited by skill), but there is no reason to complain, at all.
With the concealment power and some illusion spells, you can infiltrate a drones sensor suite, which does not have to be specced for navigation, nearly anywhere you want, while the thing is wireless OFF. Stealth? Handled.

Not in my current campaign, but I could see it.

Under the Karma system, all races cost 0. That's 750 Base - 0 Free Spirit +50 from qualities = 800.



I missed that. This interpretation really increases costs and I'd like an official ruling on it. Until such a ruling, I'll include both interpretations in future build examples.

Ouch. I consider that a tad unbalanced. I think the free spirit costs should be quality costs, like with drakes.

That doesn't actually work. A metahuman can't become a Free Spirit and Free Spirits were never metahuman. It isn't like Vampires where you have metahumans with a disease or Drakes where you have metahumans that can turn into small dragons.

So you propose having force 6, statline 5 free spirit PCs, with some 400 karma in skills, spells, and connections?

It is not a flaw in the Free Spirit rules (which are flawed, but in other ways), but a flaw in the Karma Character Generation rules, which are, put simply, fucked up.

I have my own Karma Character Generation rules that I feel are balanced - I will be posting them soon (likely before the end of the week), along with a few other adjustments to other issues (such as Metahuman/Varient, Non-Metahuman, & Racial Quality costs), & numerous minor adjustments.

But once again, by RAW, Karma Character Generation significantly favors higher Build-Point species, as clearly demonstrated with the Free Spirits.

It isn't a flaw at all. It allows you to actually make a decent character instead of a worthless buttmonkey (no offense meant to buttmonkeys).

The standard Free Spirit character is, to put it lightly, a liability to any team he is on. His powerset can more effectively be duplicated by a magician conjuring spirits, he's extremely vulnerable to astral threats, his skills are pitiful, and worse comes to worse the Free Spirit can be forced to act against his teammates with a simple binding ritual.

Yes, it is very much a flaw in the Karma character generation - metatypes are all noticably more powerful than a Human character for equal or less cost. Free Spirits are by far the most powerful characters via RAW Karma Generation. This is very much a significant unbalancing flaw in the system.


Once again, that is a problem with the rules for Free Spirits, not with the rules for Karma Generation.

It would IMO be in this case, but is not generally. Orks for example get about the same 5% advantage in karma that they get in BP. BP and karma system should have a similar balance of options, even if the power level is different.

The tiger-shifter of my GF looks pretty good, but not better than an augmented char would. Getting natural attributes up to 7 is expensive.

Metatypes are supposed to be more powerful than humans. If they weren't, then they'd just be human. The Free Spirit, do to the location of his hard caps, isn't more powerful than the average magician and never will be. His only advantage over a conjuring magician is monetary, since he doesn't have to bind himself.