I was thinking about making a character based off of Vash the Stampede from trigun. I was curious to see how every one else would go about building Vash using the standard 400 BP.

high dodge, high pistols skill, gun in cyber arm, high edge

I think by the time we see him on the show he has quite a bit of Karma...

Yeah I don't think i can get him worked out exactly, i am just curious to see how the people on dumpshock who are much more experienced at creating characters than i am would go about trying to create a starting character as close to Vash as possible.

I prefer Black Lagoon for my character builds.

Rock's the Face, Revey the Gunslinger Adept, Benny the Hacker, and Dutch is ... IDK. What would Dutch be?

Merc.

Definitely former military, has access to military class equipment.




-karma

Vash the Stampede is one of those impossible builds. The character has been living on the run for centuries, and he's a freaking angel. Even trying to stat him in SR4 would be ridiculous.

If you just want something reasonably close to the concept, go human street sam with Wired 2, Reaction Enhancers, a cyber-arm with cybergun, stupidly high dodge and pistols skills, maxed out edge (Vash is a perfect example of an edge bunny; you're never quite sure if he's lucky, or just that fricken fast!), and a sideline in the electronics skill group (he's often shown to be quite technically adept). Oh, and athletics group at 4.

Dutch is a mixed character; combat skills, physical presence, and some social skills leaning mostly on the street etiquette and intimidation side (whilst Rock handles the softer side of negotiations). Also Dutch is the group's primary wheelman, with Benny backing him up (making Benny a hacker sidelining into Rigger, and probably running a few drones in the SR world). Revy is definitely the easiest to pin down; when trying to explain adepts to new players, one of the best possible examples is the gun battle from the third episode where she's leaping across the boats.

Quality wise, I guess it would depend on how closely you want to model Vash.

Negative Qualities that could apply
Bad Rep
Hung Out To Dry
Wanted
Distinctive Style (Red Trenchcoat and Big friggin gun) (Questionable)
Vendetta and Enemy (possibly)

Also invest in social skills.... Vash was quite charismatic, but just had the bad reputation that made people run from him.

Distinctive Style for the coat would be reasonable. It's definitely identified in the series as a trademark of his (to the point that he goes and gets another one when the first one is destroyed).

You need to make a distinction as to whether or not you are doing Vash from the anime or Vash from Trigun/Maximum. They end up being two very different people in terms of motivations.

Well, he doesn't go and get another one, he is given it as a gift when he shows up on the ships without it. The issue is that the trenchcoat is a trademark because it is a -very- rare outfit. Most people wear late 19th to early 20th century outfits. I don't know if it would qualify in Shadowrun, where there's enough freaks running about as it is.

The first episode does deal with that a little. The description mohawk, red coat, big weapon. The girls end up following three different people before they actually believe Vash really is the person they are looking for. Not everyone recognizes him immediately, and even when they do, they don't always believe it since he is fairly charismatic. I think though, that the "red coat" might not be enough, you might want to stick with a little more specific description for distinctive style.

Really it depends on how you run with Distinctive Style. People's outfits tend to be varied. If someone constantly and consistently only wears the same outfit, that would be a distinctive style. The question becomes a matter of how distinctive is it. Is it something that others in the region would also wear commonly? If no one else wears it, showing up in the region with it on would definitely identify you. Likewise, continuing to show up with just that outfit would make you pretty easy to track. The reason I stated that flaw and that is was questionable was precisely because the outfit was highly unique when compared to the common outfits utilized. The sidebar for Distinctive Style even admits that it could be distinctive in one locale and completely normal in another.

Here is a copy of the 400 BP character built on the Character Generator (the one linked in my signature).

I think a mystic adept is the best route to go. 2 points on sorcery/conjuring, 3 points on Phys Adept powers.

For adept powers, get Combat Sense 3, increased pistols 1 and Improved Physical Skill Dodge 2

Spellcasting of 4, specialized in Manipulation Spells.
Pistols of 4, specialized in Heavy Pistols.
Dodge of 6
Summoning of 2 Specialized in air spirits (for increased movement, used when fleeing while screaming like a woman)
Unarmed 1

Body 3
Reaction 5
Agility 4
Strength 3
Charisma 3
Intuition 4
Logic 3
Willpower 3
Edge 4
Magic maxed (5, due to essence loss)

Knowledge skills: Crazy Dancing of 4

Spells: Increase Reflexes
Deflect
Combat Sense

Sustaining foci force 3, used to sustain Increased Reflexes
Sustaining foci force 3, used to sustain Combat Sense

At the beginning of every run, cast Combat Sense force 3 into the sustaining foci, then use Edge to reroll failures and use the successes to overcast (up to 6 successes total).

To dodge, you will have 8 reaction (5 reaction, +3 for increased reflexes)
Plus your combat sense phys ad power of 3 dice
Plus your Combat Sense spell (3 dice, or 6 if you used Edge)
Thats 17 base dice for dodge. Whenever you need to reaaaly dodge, you use your 8 dice from dodge skill.
For situations like the first episode, where he was in a bar that was RAZED by gunfire, cast a force 4 Deflect spell, use edge to overcast and sustain it until shooting is over. Should protect you from most blind suppressive fire without even having to dodge.

Get a Used Alphaware Cyberarm. Put a heavy pistol in it. Later when he is an uber elite runner, replace the built in heavy pistol with an energy weapon (Vashes cybergun was energy, right?)

Your primary weapon is a Cavlier Deputy, modded with Custom Grip. You can get a laser sight, although Vash never needed one.

After initiating, get Adept Centering, so you can begin ignoring wound pentalies and sustaining spell penalties. Raise your magic and get your sorcery to 3 (for force 5 and 6 spells when overcasting) and then raise Adept points, spending them on Combat Sense and probably Mystic Armor (he is covered from scars from being shot, suggesting he has lived through being shot alot, so he must be resilient).

Select the flaw Evil Twin and whip up a character sheet for Knives, your evil brother.

Select the Pacifist flaw, because you will fight to defend, but you hate taking lives.
Give the compulsive 10bp flaw, because you compulsively have loud outbursts, hit on any hottie you see, and always have to help women and children in need.

Use your Crazy Dancing knolwedge skill to dance like a fool when dodging, and try and convince people you are just lucky.

Definately get the Distinctive Style flaw, probably Wanted too. You always wear a red lined coat, and never hide your spikey blond hair. Purchase sunglasse with a lightingbolt shape on the side. Get lowlight, vision mag, and smartlink in the goggles for maximum effect.

Dutch is the catch all character. "Human Looking" ork, good firearms, solid social skills (Etiquete: Street, Intimidation, Negotiation, and Leadership) but a ton of contacts (including multiple organizations), and strong driving skills. Other merc skills, like stealth, first aid, and athletics.

My favorite build (well, right up there with Remy) is Mr. Chan. I was going to submit him for the "800pt Character Build" project awhile back, but I never got around to it.

Vash would definitely be an adept with superhumanly-boosted skills and attributes. He's well beyond human in his speed and reflexes, and the cyberarm alone can't account for that. Just thinking back on some of his displayed exploits, I shudder to imagine how many handfuls of dice would be needed to pull of something that difficult in SR. It's flatly impossible to achieve that with a starting 400BP character, but the closest you're gonna get is with an adept with a cyberarm, Pistols 7, Dodge 4, as many points in stats as you can manage, and as much adept mojo as you can spend in boosting his skills and actions.

Mind how twinky you get Zalbaar deary, I know your DM hates twinky. Remember the Aristotelian virtue of roleplaying.