Guys, I need a bit of help here.

Next Monday one of my friends will be hosting a game where we are going to be playing characters made with the Karma build rules (4th anniversary ed.) We'll have 1000 karma for the build, and all options are open.

I've considered making an Elf Magician with the Banshee Infected Metatype.

Now under normal BP rules, you'd normally pay 30BP for the "Elf" race and a further 65BP for the "Banshee template". However, as I read (and several times re-read) the karma build rules in Runners Companion, you don't pay Karma for Race and Metatype ("...there is no associated cost for metatype or race in Karma-based character generation...)", and in addition, you get to add the BP cost for the Race and Metatype together, multiply it by 2, and the result is added on top of the normal limit for how much of the total karma amount you can spend on Attributes (..."Characters begin with the minimum attribute ratings defined by their race/metatype. The maximum Karma a character can spend on their attributes at character generation is half their starting Karma (rounding up) plus twice the listed BP cost for their metatype or alternate racial concept. Characters cannot begin the game with more than one attribute at their natural maximum.... So in other words I'll get to make a character that has a number of additional powers and abilities, compared with "regular" type characters, I'll have to pay no Karma for these benefits, and additionally I get to be able to spend an additional (30+65)*2 = 190 Karma on Attributes, making it 690, rather than the otherwise 500!!!???

Can someone pls. tell me if I'm misinterpreting something here. English isn't my first language, and it was late when I read the Karma Build rules last night, but my English is generally pretty decent, and I've now read the different sections somewhere between 5-7 times, and I still can't interpret what I'm reading in any other way. And that way just seems too damned good to be true!

Help pls.

There has been a stealth errata to the KarmaGen rules.

While an actual errata document has not been produced yet, the latest printings of the books have been changed such that you pay for the race/metatype costs with Karma (same costs as BP, a 20 BP metatype costs 20 Karma). Additionally, attributes now cost 5x Karma instead of 3x Karma.

Changes have been confirmed in the latest English and German printings, I don't know about any others.



-k

Are you using the rules from Runner's Companion?

You pay nothing for your meta-type.
BUT you pay full price for the Infected "quality"

Elf: Costs you 0
Banshee: 130 Karma

holy Drek, I never thought about this. But that means that in Karma Gen you pay 0 Karma to be a Free Spirit.

And there are several erratas to this.. and stealth errata. So you should ask the GM what rule he's playing with.

OK. Thanks guys, that makes a LOT more sense. My interpretation of the rules didn't make sense. WAY too big an incentive for some of these grotesque types of combinations.

Anyway, I'll check with the GM about which set of rules he's using.

This is the reason for Karma Gen only beeing viable option for basic types of chars. (As far as I remember it is said somewhere in the text)

In that area it is superior in any way. Mostly because there are no longer different costs for Chargen and raising things in game.

Sadly you pay 250 karma to be a free spirit with karma gen.

Not with the straight up rule from Runner's Companion



if you don't pay for AI or shapeshifter, you don't pay for Free Spirit.

The latest printing of RC includes the unreleased errata, according to which you pay the races BP cost in karma.
So under those rules you pay 160 karma to be a Banshee.
30 for elf
and
130 for being a banshee(it's cost is double the BP value in karma as it's a quality)

Under the karmagen rules in the older printings, you would only have to pay that 130 karma to be Banshee.

Also the Banshees build point value isn't counted for the attribute limit, as it's a quality and not part of your racial cost.

On an unrelated mechanic, but similar contextual note, don't forget that banshee means "death faerie"

Bean(pronounced like Sean) = Death or deadly or what-not
Sidhe (pronounced she) = Fae or farie or other worldly thing that keeps fragin' up our drek
Mono = One
Rail = Rail