So I've been fiddling with my agility character, parkour base-jumper thrill-seeker. I have a playable character I think, but I'm still trying to tweak him to be a good shadowrunner. Would you hire this man? What changes would make you say yes?

Race: Elf
Concept Parkour Infiltrator
Description Downplays elven heritage, cyberears are human-style, minor facial work as well. Works as a courier for a mob bookie.

Stat PNT Level /MAX Modified/MAX
Body 5 5 / 6 5 / 9
Agility 5 6 / 7 10 / 10
Reaction 4 4 / 6 4 / 9
Strength 3 3 / 6 3 / 9
Charisma 2 4 / 8 4 / 12
Intuition 4 4 / 6 4 / 9
Logic 1 1 / 6 3 / 9
Willpower 4 4 / 6 4 / 9
Edge 5 5 / 6 5 / 6

Initiative 8 / 12 8 / 18
Initiative Pass 1 / 4 1 / 4
Essence 3.46


Skills Level
Unarmed Combat (+1) 2
Spec. Blocking
Automatics (+1) 3
Infiltration (+1) 3
Shadowing (+1) 1
Gymnastics (+5) 5
Climbing (+5) 1
Influence (Group) 1
(Con)
(Etiquette)
(Leadership)
(Negotiation)
Perception (+3, +6 visual) 2
Pilot Ground Craft (+1) 1
Hardware 1
Spec. Maglock
Parachuting (+2) 1
Demolitions 1

Knowledge Skills Level
AK:Downtown Seattle 2
IN:Urban Brawl 2
IN:Popular Culture 1
BK:Small Unit Tactics 1
BK:Electronics 1
AK:Greater Seattle 2
BK:Leadership-Tactics 1
BK:Lock Picking 1
IN: Base Jumping 2

Positive Qualities:
Restricted Gear 5

Negative Qualities:
Wanted (for blowing out a window to jump from a skyscraper)
Day Job (20hrs/wk, $2500/mo, bookie w/Korean mob)
Poor Self Control (Thrill Seeker)
Allergy (Uncommon, Mild) to Shellfish (-2 die pool to tests)
Addiction (Mild) to Cram (7hrs, +1 Reaction, +1 Init Pass; crash is 6S stun)

Cyberware
Enhanced Articulation
Muscle Toner (4)
Synthacardium (3)
Cerebral Booster (2)
Sleep Regulator
Attention Coprocessor R3
Datajack
Data Lock

Cyber Eyes (Std. Grade)
Accessories
Flare Compensation
Low-Light Vision
Vision Enhancment (3)
Vision Magnification
Thermographic Vision
Smartlink
Protective Covers

Cyber Ears (Std. Grade)
Accessories
Audio Enhancer (3)
Balance Augmentor
Damper
Select Sound Filter (4)

He doesn't seem all that professional, but he does seem like he would be a fun character.
In a Pink mohawk game he seems good to go.

The description of what he did / the negative quality level of wanted don't add up for me.
Was popping this window a significant felony level offense?

i don't much hire runners as so far i have only played but most of my dudes would enjoy working with him....
in regards to the window popping, it may be a large offence for BASE jumping if the window breaking was recreational not work related
could have also been the events leading up to the window popping?

If I were you I would try to squeeze in some sort of IP augmentation. Standard Wired Reflexes 2 "only" costs 32000 and takes up 3 Essence. Yes I know that you're running the edge with that, but without speed augmentation you're going to have problems. As for your cyberears... I would downgrade the Sound Filter and get a Spatial Recognizer.

I believe in IP augmentation so much that even my Chaos Mage has Synaptic Booster 1. I know I could get a sustaining focus, but I want to have it up without having to worry about Wards and whatnot.

Not sure about hiring him but definitely hang out with him so I could say "dare ya to do it" all the time.

Just a note : if I'm not mistaken cybernetic ear replacement is internal and normally does not alter the outer ear.

Nothing prevent you character from having is ears surgically altered to a human shape, but it will be a deliberate cosmetic alteration rather than a side effect of cyber-enhencement.

Quick answer: no. He´s an elf and elves suck basically.^^ "Never trust an elf"

Interesting thing to say when you have an elf as your avatar.

This is just a matter of fluff. I've never seen mention of this specifically in the rules, and i have seen many illustrations of "robot ears" in Shadowrun over the years. If he wants his ears to look cyber, let him I say

Also, I'd drop the sleep regulator. With that addiction to Cram, you might as well get some sleep when you come down anyway

If its possible to i.d. him as an elf, he may meet other elves that view him as a race traitor (like all those Ancients running around Seattle). Big fun.

It just his opinion a lot more of consideration.

Uh, 1 IP? Infiltration 3? Perception 2?! He's not much of an infiltrator, frankly, especially without all that advanced sensor stuff they implant into themselves. Also, you're obviously trying to cover all bases with that Demolition and Influence skill group, while in my experience, in Shadowrun characters have to be extremely specialized for the team to be effective and in the end victorious.

The two questions you should really be asking yourself are, though: what are you imagining your character doing? Will there be enough of that in the campaign for you to have fun?

The drug addiction is his IP boost - cram gives +1 IP. Spatial recognizer, eh? I can find room for that.

I've been thinking about emphasizing the mob aspect - possibly I can modify it to something to do with fixing games, and failing to throw one he should have. Then it would be wanted by one criminal group, and hiding inside another one.




2 IPs (Cram). More than 2 IPs would definitely be better, but I'm hoping to go big-time someday with either a Rating 2-3 Synaptic Booster, or a Rating 2 Move-by-wire system.

Infiltration links to the Agility 10, and gets a bonus die from Enhanced Articulation, giving a die pool of 14.

Perception gets 3 bonus dice from the Attention Co-Processor and 2-3 dice from the Spatial Recognizer (Thanks !) for audio or Vision Enhancement for visual, giving a die pool of 11 or 12, and still 9 dice for the rare perception test that uses scent, taste or touch.

These seem to be solid pools for the mentioned skills, yes?

Solid, but...uh, could be better.
Maybe it's just me, of course, but I firmly believe that a character should be as good at his primary job as possible.

As for Synaptic Booster and Move-by-Wire - does your GM give out that much money, or are you going to have it installed a year into the campaign?

Well, that's the question really: What is his primary job? He is a courier and a parkour specialist, and he's really good at them - but that's his background, not his shadow persona. How does 20 dice of gymnastics translate to the shadows, and what is he missing to make it translate well? One thought I had was catburgler, but I think you just about need to be a full-on hacker to pull that off, right?



That second thing. It's a personal goal for the character.

At the minimum this would make for a great antagonist
in a run where a package has to be intercepted!

Start out with the Wired Reflexes 2 and when you're ready to get the MBW you upgrade.