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Marwynn
I want to get back into Shadowrun. I invested money into all these wonderfully written books and well I want to get some use out of them.

Plus, I love the setting.


My character concept is of someone who awakens to his magical heritage later in their life. 400 BP. By this time though he has had some work on done his body, doing the odd jobs to survive.

Magician or even Mystic Adept.

The main themes are:
- A Mentor Spirit or some kind of subconscious magical manifestation which he couldn't really communicate with had been somehow guiding him to not make things worse for himself. Acting as his magical conscience and his primary teacher.
- He's a SINner, and has a day job which doesn't pay enough for his own needs nor his dependent. In his "day life" he's a bit... frustrated, and he is looking after a relative that's even more lost than he is.
- Redemption: I want him to be a Mage learning the ropes and realizing just how much of his natural talent he had already sold off. His redemption won't come through resetting Essence, but rather through acceptance. Also, if he's magical his family could be too right?
- Strong personality. His "primary' Shadowrunning archetype is undecided but he has hidden talents and a personality that thrives in the underworld.

(EDIT: Also, to perhaps foreshadow a theme of rejecting the technological for the supernatural, are perhaps negative qualities that make him... incompatible with some technology. Like with implants and the like.)


So there's the rub. How do I convincingly create a "standard" Shadowrunner who has had some success as one before realizing his latent magical potential?

I would imagine being some sort of hacker would let him hide his deficiencies in some manner.

A Face would also make sense, though he too would have some combat abilities of some kind to have compromised his magic. I was thinking of a capable Face and Gun Bunny combo.

But I would like to hear your thoughts on the matter.

I'm not after super-powerful builds, though those'd be interesting to read through. Also, what spells could this guy unknowingly cast to have made him successful?
Fezig
The first thing I'd personally say would be not to go Mystic Adept if you already burned some of your magic on ware. That would stretch the pool a little too thin for my tastes. That being said, if you go for a black magic it'd make sense for you to have come into power later. Essentially your character sold some of his soul to a mentor spirit in order to gain the power. Your key stat would be charisma, so you can make a quality face, which would give you your niche prior to gaining magic abilities.
Totentanz
Great concept. Choose a tradition and base his primary role off his drain attribute. Conceptually your character was made to be a great mage; he just didn't know it yet. You can play up the destiny angle, if you like that sort of thing.

I would stick to one primary role. It sounds like you want to develop the magic in-game. If that is the case splitting up your karma and nuyen between three archetypes is going to be difficult. The other players might also get annoyed if you "call" the Face role and then don't develop it well, putting them at a disadvantage in the process. Alternately, you could play somebody that was a Face or whatever but focuses primarily on his magic from then on. Maybe he is trying to make up for lost time.

Finally, just about any Runner can find ware worth owning, so don't think you have to be a GB in order to have ware.
McAllister
I feel like you could certainly be successful at two roles; "face"ness and gun-bunnydom. I also think both roles can be complemented by the abilities of a magician, and also by certain cyber/bioware. I suggest you take some mundane skills/equipment for both of those roles, and find spells that will help you accomplish them. I would leave hacking alone. I mean, a face/hacker who Awakens and can also shoot... what's left for everyone else to do?

Face 'ware; tailored pheromones and enhanced pheromone receptors are great. Remember, when the EPRs are turning against you because the other guy has tailored pheromones too, complain of your asthma and whip out your respirator! Other useful ware includes things that let you use Con to impersonate other people.

Bunny 'ware; reflex recorders are golden, and there's plenty of defensive 'ware (though it's also easy to blow 4 Essence on things like implanted armor, toxin protection, extra reaction and extra soak, so be moderate). You might also want to consider a cyber-lower arm; pumping the agility in that will be cheaper than increasing it wholesale, and one quick hand is fine for any gun through SMGs. It's also great for loading with a datajack, nanohive and other Capacity-based goodness.

Face spells: Increased Charisma, Orgasm, Mental Manipulation spells

Bunny spells: Increased Reflexes/Reaction/Agility, Hawkeye, Physical Barrier, combat spells possibly (to complement guns)

Positive Qualities to consider: Magician obviously, Mentor Spirit maybe (or he could acquire the quality when he makes more concrete contact with his guiding philosophy), anything that adds dice to social or combat roles (Fame might be a good choice; a celebrity who's sick of the superficiality of it all, yet keeps acting in the shitty commercials to pay the rent makes a great concept)

Here's a positive quality that could get lightyears of mileage for this character; Spirit Pact (specifically, Dream Pact). Maybe a Black Magic free spirit with Realistic Form came up to him, and offered to give him the power to free himself from the drudgery and futility of his life, in return for "his dreams." The character agreed, not expecting anything to really happen, and ever since, as soon as he falls asleep, the spirit possesses his body. It makes sure to let him wake up at home in his bed, but the character should slowly come to realize what's happening through people telling him they saw him in the night, strange bruises, etc. etc. Perhaps this spirit has been guiding him by leaving him hints about how not to "make things worse for himself," in Marwynn's words. Perhaps that deal was the event that triggered the character's awakening.

Negative qualities to consider: Day Job (if the income boost from Fame seems too unrealistic, give him a 25 LP, 50,000/month lifestyle to keep up, and make it clear his dependent/family expect him to maintain this estate), Dependent, Lost Loved One, Simsense Vertigo, and anything from Augmentation.
Marwynn
Great ideas, chummers, thanks!

So I'm liking this Famed Face thing. And I didn't consider Black Magic but I like that as well. No, he doesn't have to be a bunny.

I'll develop the Face role, I kinda like it, and if it fits the concept.
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