I am going to be starting my first Shadowrun campaign soon and am contemplating character creation. I have read through most of the rules, but have yet to really assimilate much of what I have read so I thought I would ask for help in fleshing out the character that I want to create.

We are using a 500 BP system for character creation and was wondering how I'd best allocate these to create what I want. My character concept revolves around being the Combat Medic and all around support for the team. In that vein I would like the ability to heal people in and out of combat and possibly even conduct major surgery such as implanting Cyberware or Bioware. I'd also like the option if possible to be able to arm and equip the team in terms of vehicles, weapons and armor. I'd like to be part Medic and part engineer. I am also very interested in being a demolitions expert.

I've at best got a sketchy idea of what I'd want in terms of Stat allocation, but would like to see what more experienced hands come up with. I want a character who mostly plays the supporting role, but can mix it up in combat if possible. I think I'd like to wield a shotgun of some type mostly for the look of the thing.

Some of the qualities I am set on are Juryrigger for quick and dirty improvisation on the battlefield as well as Sinner and Day Job. With DayJob I figure I'd take it at the level wherein I work 20 hours a week. I would explain it as operating a clinic in a slum. Part of it is a legitimate business providing low cost health care for low income families, but also a shadier side providing medical help to those who might not questions asked about why they need bullet holes repaired.

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Besides the boost to BP were there any other differences the GM mentioned with chargen?

Your concept dovetails nicely with the rules, as far as optimization goes. All of the skills you are interested in seem to be tied to Logic - the biotech skill group, armorer, demolitions, chemistry, etc. Obviously, cerebral boosters are a good choice, along with similar things such as an encephalon: 1, PuSHeD, etc. What books do you have?

With 500 points to spend, and only one Attribute that needs to be really high, you might be able to afford to be an awakened character even after getting a high number of skills and decent resources. Being a hermetic mage will let you combine mundane and magical healing, while being an adept lets you use improved ability for your technical skills, along with a few other useful mental powers.

Yeah, 500 points lets you play around with quite a few options, since technical skills have a lot of dice pool modifiers available that can let you get pretty competent even with 400 bps. In fact, you can be so good at 500 bps that you might want to take a long, hard look at some things that a 400 bp character may consider costly and impractical luxuries. For example, the Erased quality and a good lifestyle/contact combo can be a real boon for a character that requires a secure work place and nice tools to do their best work.

Actually, I have a question which dovetails nicely with this: is it worthwhile for a support-type mage to get some brain-boosting ware?

For example, a Magic 5 mage with 1 essence worth of PuSHeD, Cerebral Booster, etc who focuses on Health and Detection spells, maybe some manipulation. Your magic isn't going to be superpowerful but if you can use Logic to resist drain (and things like PuSHeD boost that roll) then you're looking at a very respectable dice pool to resist drain meaning you can cast a whole bunch of low level stuff without too much worry. Sure, you'd probably have to shoot things instead of blasting them but for a support guy that's not bad. Anybody have any experience?

Rigger Skills seem pretty obvious if you want to deal with vehicles, at which point with all your Logic stuff you could make a decent Hacker without too much effort. Depends on where you want to go.

As far as supplying the team, you can either build anything they want or, what's much easier, you can be the guy who can find and buy any high availability item they need. That's treading more towards face territory and I'm not sure that's what you want.

Looking at it, I like the support concept but especially at 500 BP I'm not sure if that's enough to base your whole character around. What else might you want this character to do?

Could even try Mystic Adept and go for both, though granted both likely won't be as powerful as either on their own.

I'm Sorry, but did you just say that a Mage with a Magic of 5 was not powerful? Really? Seeing as how that is almost double of the average mage you will find (MAgic 3 is average), I find a Magic 5 Mage Quite powerful...

Fluff aside, he's not throwing Force 6 spells without overcasting. Since he'd be a support mage with a Logic tradition, he could take the overcast with a caveat that it's going to sting if he borks the roll. I don't see it being that bad of a concept if he's got a decent enough set of combat monkeys to thin the ranks before he needs to take a shot. Stunbolts don't cost a lot on the Drain-O-Meter either.

Other than the 500 BP I don't think anything else has changed about character generation. Nothing was mentioned at least. As for the sourcebooks available I think we are allowed to use all of them. I imagine anything too crazy would be subject to GM approval of course.

As far as the bit about being able to supply my team I would much rather be able to build things myself than go through contacts. I think you are right in saying that it would be treading on Face territory and that isn't somewhere I really want to go with this character. Also I think someone already has the Face aspect covered.

About the Erased Quality I would much rather take the Sinner quality as well as the Day Job one so I could run the clinic I was thinking about. I think it is good background for me being able to ply my trade outside of runs.

As for playing an Awakened character I had kind of hoped to be sort of mundane. An average human with good technical know how. Or is that not the sort of person who survives very long as Shadowrunner?

Politeman you mentioned that a support role was not enough to base my character on. Is this because 500 BP allows me so many options? If so how easily would it be to become a hacker? Our team might be lacking in that. Or should I instead become a rigger? I admit it would be nice to have some drones who could provide surveillance and perhaps paint targets for the team. I suppose I'm just not too used to Shadowrun and am afraid of spreading myself out too thin. Is that then not truly a concern?

I do apologize for the barrage of questions. You all have given me much to think about and I appreciate the responses.

Building things on your own is nice, but the aspect one must take into consideration is time to build. Fixing what the team breaks is a good skill to have since building covers that as well, but having the contacts to get quickly what your team needs now is an excellent redundancy. The Face knows people, but you know specialized people. Such things can make a difference!




Mundane characters do fine - Awakened is merely another option, nothing more. Anything that works off Logic works well with a Logic-based tradition for an Awakened character; doing so would just give you another avenue to move people in and out of the clinic. You could also run a small-scale street clinic and not need to take SINner or Day Job unless you truly want to.

Becoming a hacker just takes a high-rating commlink, a bunch of high-rating programs, and the skillgroup that has Hacking/Electronic Warfare. You're done! Doesn't even need Logic.

If your objection is purely thematic then that makes perfect sense. But if you're thinking in terms of potential mechanical difficulties do consider that Erased is selective and won't delete anything you don't want it to.

I wouldn't worry too much about surgery (esp. installing 'ware) in a 'typical' Shadowrun game.

Unless you're a technomancer instead
Ah, warm memories of the first character I played in 4e, a doc/techno.
My experience teaches the hacking takes far more of a spotlight than the docking does though, and in half a year of playing, I haven't used Cybertech once. Then again, my character was assumedly running cyberware maintenance during downtime.
Like with Locksmith and an Autopicker, it kindof smarts anyone can surpass your 50 BP of First Aid skill with a medkit. Be sure to bring one yourself ^^

The 'build things yourself' rules are very vague and incomplete (at best). Apart from taking lots of time, they'll need plenty of GM consideration and cooperation.

I was actually thinking that a adept, with the 'use logic instead of agility' power from War! would fit this bill nicely.
Just get a point of ware, and some cerebral boosters. Maybe Mystic Adept - Healing spells are always nice.

Adepts also benefit from the Improved Technical Skill power, which can rather easily boost technical skills(such as first aid, medicine, or hacking) above 6.

If you plan on spellcasting/overcasting, then Platelet factories and Trauma Dampers are worth picking up.

Agreed. A workable 400 BP character with 100 BP of extras is more fun than a munched 500 BP character. I would advise to keep it simple, as too many "special" rules are hard to remember.

Tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to spend about 400BP and give you exactly what you want, with another 100BP to fill him in and no merits/flaws so you can take whatever you want.



With the 100BP left, you can buy up some of your attributes and round out your skills, making sure to pick up a couple of contacts. As a 500BP character, up to 50BP more can be spent on attributes. You can survive on your base attributes though. I'd put another 40BP or so into skills and 10BP into contacts. Then just balance out your merits and flaws.

Also still having $149k for more ware, weapons, and gear. Some Medkits and a Med shop/facility are a minimum. A chem shop wouldn't hurt ether. Let me know if you need help with the rest of the gear. Consider taking two lifestyles, one your home and one your biz/clinic. If you use the advanced lifestyle rules, you can make your biz have lots of space.

Oh yea, none of the dice pools listed take any equipment into account.

There are several "classes" out there which only require about a 100 BP invesment or less to be pretty darn good: Hacker, Rigger, Doc, Face etc. Instead of thinking pure hacker, think hacker/other skill set. In D&D terms, these classes work more like multi-classing than straight classes, you dip in, grab the skills you need, and then move on to something else. With 500 BP this just gets bigger because you can easily fill 2-3 roles.

Looking at what you've posted, eh, I just don't see enough for you to do. You'll build bombs and fix people up after fights, maybe customize their cyberware and...that's it.

Looking at what you've posted, I'd say picking up the hacking skillset but the hacking rules are...complicated. It would be much simpler to go rigger but it's not as optimal. I'm guessing you're not in a powergaming group, so go rigger, have fun, and if you wan to take up hacking latter rigger->hacker is a very easy transition since riggers do some of the stuff hackers do (they're on the defensive side).

One thing you could do quite easily is pick up Memnonic Enhancer 3 and a Agent with the Data Search program. This makes you Mr. Know-It-All. Anytime anything comes up, the agent gets you a pirated level 5 Knowsoft in that field and voila, you're rolling 20 dice on your knowledge rolls (remember to stick to academic and professional knowsofts). Each pirated knowsoft will run you $1000 for the download and $100 a month if you want to keep it updated.

@Tymeaus Jalynsfein
Sorry, should have been more clear. Magic 5 is before the reduction, so the final Magic score is 4. I don't think I could spare the 25 BP for Magic 6 (reduced to 5) because I would want to give the character hacking/rigging/etc skills as well. I'll make a seperate thread for this later, as he's not going that direction.

Pushed won't help your drain roll, how I read it at least. There is no logic linked skill in use when you roll attribute only tests.

So I made some few tentative additions. I added a contact and changed the pistols to Firearms Skill Group as I thought perhaps I might like a range of guns to choose from. Added combat versatility hopefully. I added a contact who would fit into my backstory. I think my back story will consist of my character having been part of a Special Ops group specializing in extractions. Kidnappings and/or rescuing folks. I figure such a team would find a Medic useful for a number of reasons and it would also explain why I'm more than average as the 500 BPs seems to suggest. My contact will be a member of that former team who was something like a quartermaster and has transitioned into civilian life by becoming a fixer.

With this I reckon I still have 62 BP left over. Should I use to branch out more towards being a Rigger? Would that bring much added functionality to a group and would it be feasible? Also on the topic of weapons I quite like the shotgun for style, but was wondering if I should pick up the ability to take a grenade launcher or the Throwing skills to give myself a use for the demolitions I bring. Or perhaps some of those odd special weapons for drugging and the like.

I shall have to read over the advanced lifestyle rules as I know nothing about them. I guess I will have to get a number of shops one for my Armorer skills, one for the mechanic side, one for the clinic and I was thinking maybe some sort of drug lab.

My gear section will need much work. I'm going to have to dig through a lot of the material and figure out what will be most useful as well as confer with some of the group to see what they are bringing to the table.

I am not yet sure if I will be allowed to take the particular Compulsive trait I listed. The example they used was someone who was tidy and I figured that might be comparable to someone constantly wanting to see their team's gear in the best condition or improved.

Thanks again for all the help provided so far. I am greatly appreciative.

There's also such a thing as too much branching. If the 'threat level' of the campaign expects 500BP characters, you might want to raise some skills (the 1s) higher. For the love of god, raise your attributes at least ('ware). …Do you have just 1 IP? And how about around 6 contacts.

It was a base 400BP character that filled in everything he was asking for. He has plenty of money left for some ware, including wired reflexes. I made sure he had enough wiggle room left over to fill in any role he wanted to expand into.

I was responding to his latest post, so I assumed it had the additions he wanted.

In terms of gear is that a good place to start? I took advice and gave myself some Attribute boosting Bioware and Cyberware. Is that enough or should I seriously invest in more? As to bumping up my skills I still have about 62 left. In order to become a Rigger do I just need Electronics and gear? I am thinking of going that route if it is true that I need more of a role in combat. I think it still ties in neatly with a support concept.

By my estimation I have 103750 in terms of money. Further suggestions on items would be appreciated unless you folks think that is enough and then I shall splurge on items that look cool and whose function I can figure out later. Also if anyone can suggest changes to Attributed or Skills that will round me out better or expand a particular role in the party that would be great.

Well, typically 'rigger' means you're directly controlling drones/vehicles in the full-VR 'jumped in' mode (although there are actually a few control methods). In that case, you do need relevant Piloting skills. If you're just telling them what to do (like pets), then you don't need to know how to drive them yourself.

Remember that you need somewhere to keep those fives kinds of shops; your Lifestyle(s) should be high enough to reflect all that workspace.

So, some of this advice can be ignored if you're not using certain books. Nothing wrong with not using them.

If you're using Arsenal, there are more optimal firearm choices (plus weapon modifications, of course). For serious rigging/hacking, you'll not only need a few(!) nova-hot comms, but (*if* you're using Unwired) you'll probably want gadgets like Simsense Boosters and/or Simsense Accelerators. Another concern for rigging is Signal, jamming, anti-jamming (ECCM), and so on; half the battle is maintaing secure, continuous control of your vehicles, while perhaps denying the enemy that.

If you have runners companion, then take a lifestyle as a shop. Something like this.

Comforts: Street (0)
Entertainment: Street (0)
Necessities: Middle (3)
Neighborhood: Low (2)
Security: Middle (3)
Qualities: Workplace (1)

That will cost you $1700 a month and has 750 meters square of work space with good utilities.

You still need the shops/facilities. There is a LOT of cash needed for that (Workplace quality only gives you extra-extra floorspace)

Hm, how was it again? 10.000 for Shop, 200.000 for facility (with some exceptions)?

And one needs: Electronic, Armorer, Industrial Mechanic, Automotive (and Aerial) Mechanic. At least all as shops.
Then maybe a few nexi, drone-workers... some stock (normaly stuff costs half of the normal priece, just in parts and ressources)

Actually it is $5k for a shop, $100k for a facility. Plus he has already bought 5 shops and has over $100k left to spend.

Mel, you should add a Demo shop and Demo tools to that list you have.

I mean, a runner can't realistically have a facility in most cases, but it all depends.

Ah yes, 5k and 100k... Sorry was away from my books. And yes: Chemical shop / demo shop... needed too *g*.

I can think of some runners having a facility. Even though it is called a "Facility" it still is small-scale. Yes, you can produce your own shit, yes you can modify anything in it... but it still is small-scale production with just a few workers/drones. Maybe even a single-man operation.

So even when you are designing and building your own car... it is still one unique piece requiering weeks of work. You can't pop out a car a minute with a 100k facility *g*.

Most "prime" street-docs have a medical facility (when i recall right that one DOES cost 200k? yes?) Place for 6-8 wounded/patients.
A Few people will have drug-labs or chemlabs for stuff, or having a BTL-burning facility in the hands of the mob... all hidden everywhere in the city. I think there are SOME shadowrunners having a or access to a facility. Not that rare.

If there are SOME, that's still pretty rare.

Bod 4

Active Skills
Electronics SG 4
Mechanic SG 3


I figure I will make the following modifications. This leaves me down to 2 BP. Will Electronics 4 be sufficient to be a decent Rigger? I suppose I could squeeze more BP by taking a negative quality and taking some piloting options. I'm just not sure I will be manually controlling my drones. I think I'd rather have them as autonomous entities and partake in combat with my guns.

Actually Electronics SG and Mechanic SG are not what you need to be buying to be a Rigger. You need to be buying Pilot <Type>, Gunnery, and Electronics Warfare. You can get all those to 4 with 48 points. Also as a Rigger you'll need to buy a top comlink and some expensive drones. Riggers are very money intensive.

If your not going to control them directly (remote or jumped in), you can get by without those skills.

Wait, why does he need Electronic Warfare again? I thought all you needed to jam was jamming gear.

Not if you want to Decrypt stuff, or Jam-on-the-fly(which you will need to do, as soon as your jammer finds a signal high enough it can't autojam it)

Decryption is hacker business in most of the games I've played.

Idk, the dice seem to be so against you in a jam on the fly test it seems like a waste of an action. I mean even if they both have a 6 in EW and a Signal 6 that ECCM 6 places the odds squarely in the other guys court.

Better than zero odds, and not having the ability to control your drones. EW is great hacker territory, but riggers *are* hackers. EW is also for encryption, which is a little useful.