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FenrisWolf
Here's my first attempt at creating a caster. I wanted to go with a street shaman this time. The group already has a stealthy and deadly phys adept, a hacker/rigger, a pistol gun bunny, and a sniper (hasn't been spec'ed out yet). There were plenty of gun toting guys/gals around already so I went down the route of a gun free shaman. He's a beast with combat spells and the counter spelling will help the team. He has the capability to summon spirits if need be too. I wasn't sure on the spell selection though. I also made sure he had a sustaining foci to take care of the Increase Reflexes spell.

Any critiques or thoughts on this one?


Crazy Ivan
Dwarf (Russian)
Body: 4
Agility: 2
Reaction: 4
Strength: 3
Charisma: 5
Intuition: 3
Logic: 2
Willpower: 6
EDGE: 2
Phys Init: 7
Passes 1
Magic: 5

Assensing 3
Conjuring (Group) 4
Counterspelling (Combat Spells) 4 (+2)
Dodge (Ranged) 2 (+2)
Influence (Group) 2
Perception 2
Spellcasting (Combat Spells) 6 (+2)

Magic Knowledge 4
Hangouts (Safehouses) 4
Criminal (Seattle Gangs) 4

Russian N
English 3

Mentor Spirit (Wolf) 5
Combat Spells +2 dice
Beast Spirits +2 dice
Disadvantage: Willpower + Charisma (3) test to retreat from a fight.

Gremlins (2) -10
Sensitive System -15
Allergy - Salt Water (Common, Mild) -10

Spells:
Clout (Indirect)
Lightning Bolt (Indirect, Elem.)
Stunball (Direct)
Heal
Improved Invisibility (Realistic, Single)
Increase Reflexes
Influence (Mental)
Levitate (Physical)

Gear:
Fake SIN Rtg 3
Sustaining Focus Rtg 3
2 x Antidote Patch
Respirator Rtg 4

Bound Beast Spirt (Force 5, Services 3)
GrimWulf
Haven't looked over it, but Crazy Ivan, a dwarf, and not a bear shaman? biggrin.gif
FenrisWolf
I really liked the theme behind the wolf mentor spirit. The strong pack mentality and propensity to not back down. The raging and out of control bear shaman just didn't seem appropriate in my mind.
J. Packer
From a purely mechanical perspective, I have created this character myself at least once. I think we probably all have. Mechanically, it's fine. You're going to be a devil in combat with those spells, and most of those skills. But outside of combat, and the social skills you've given him as a secondary since they dovetail so nicely with the high CHA of a shaman, you're not going to do much shining.

Now, I'm not saying every character has to be great at everything, or even that you should be less great than you can possibly be at what your main job is, but be prepared to roleplay the hell out of him, and make him interesting in that way, because the character sheet just doesn't show that much that's different from any other optimized character.

At the very least, take those twelve points in knowledge skills and make them something that makes him an individual. Russian literature and poetry, professional wrestling, tobacco appreciation... something that really sets him apart and makes people remember him.

Okay, that's enough. I'll get off me soapbox...
FenrisWolf
No worries about the soapbox. This is the first caster I have created and didn't know if I put all of the proverbial eggs in the spell basket.
Udoshi
QUOTE (FenrisWolf @ Jan 11 2011, 07:49 PM) *
I wasn't sure on the spell selection though. I also made sure he had a sustaining foci to take care of the Increase Reflexes spell.

Spells:
Clout (Indirect)
Lightning Bolt (Indirect, Elem.)
Stunball (Direct)
Heal
Improved Invisibility (Realistic, Single)
Increase Reflexes
Influence (Mental)
Levitate (Physical)


Use street magic's Spell Design rules to change improved invis to Multi-sense. Saves headaches later.
Indirect combat spells are -terrrible-. Avoid, avoid, avoid. (to be fair, they play more like other combat stuff, in that they allow dodge and soak rolls)
Physical barrier might be good.
I'm a fan of Shatter - its a physical spell doing physical damage, and the drain code means you can overcast at force 10 for only 4 drain. Having the option to just reach out and break anything you can touch is rather nice. If you don't pickup shatter, pick up its cousin, powerbolt. If you're a combat mage, you typically want one good Mana spell(such as stunball) to deal with astral threats, and a Physical spell to deal with real-world targets.
Physical Barrier might be a good one.
Detect Life is can tell you a surprising amount of useful information
Physical Mask is also pretty excellent, as Trid Phantasm. The ability to make things look like other things, and fool sensors while doing so, is very powerful. (a spirit using Concealment on things is also great for smuggling things)

Stunball, heal, invis,reflexes, levitate - all good. You may want to swap Influence for Control Emotions (control mind and control body are brokenly powerful and can trivialize your game), but control emotions can give your Face dice pool bonuses when doing his job - its a listed social modifier. Then again, influence should be, but isn't, so you might as well ask your gm about it.

If you're playing in a higher powered game, it will cost you 29 BP to start with a rating 4 power focus(100K, 5bprestricted gear, 4bp to bind it), but its pretty much the best thing a mage can do to be effective out the door. Its expensive, but then again, its only 4 points more than magic 6 - and gives you 4 diceto pretty much everything you do with Magic. Just be careful not to lose it.

I like your skills and stats. They look good for a starting character. Maybe there's some fat to trim off(i'm a fan of picking up specializations in play, because they're so much cheaper, but 2 extra dice can be really good) , but i like seeing well rounded characters.

In terms of gear: Visibility modifiers affect your spells. Get some contacts with low-light, flare, and therms. Get a rating 6 medkit - it can help with your drain a lot. and see if you have some nuyen leftover for Stim Patches: Drain causes stun damage, stun damage causes wound penalties, stim patches can negate those penalties if you're really in the shits.

If you've got access to the runner's companion, a good lifestyle can help with magic related things.

edit: Some good knowledge skills can be f ound here
You also don't seem to have paid for your Magician quality.
Thanee
Mages are about as one-dimensional as their spell selection is. So, you can always just grab some extra spells to make him useful in other areas than just combat (you have some, already, the Invisibility, Influence and Levitate will come in handy outside of combat situations).

It's this flexibility, that makes Mages so great.

Getting some other skills (later via Karma), like some Athletics or Infiltration, which are often useful, certainly helps, too.

Bye
Thanee
Lansdren
I would suggest you try to scratch up some points to get infiltration, yes I know you have invisibility but that doesnt help against eveything where as infiltration is a skill that covers alot of stuff.


It would be quite embarassing to be sneaking through a office totally invisible but making so much noise they know your there because of lack of skills.
FenrisWolf
Thanks for all of the suggestions. I will be away from my computer today but will try to tweak my character a bit tonight. I can trim off 10 points by lowering the Conjuring skill group to free up a little points. Also, I used the character generation spreadsheet to create him and forgot to copy and paste that he paid for the magician quality already. We are also just using the SR4A book so no Street Magic goodies.
FenrisWolf
QUOTE (Udoshi @ Jan 12 2011, 01:25 AM) *
Indirect combat spells are -terrrible-. Avoid, avoid, avoid. (to be fair, they play more like other combat stuff, in that they allow dodge and soak rolls)


Clout has such a low drain value that it allows my shaman to cast during extra IPs from Increased Reaction without passing out. I included Lightning Bolt for the times when drones are a pain in the ass.
FenrisWolf
If your GM uses the optional rule for direct spells that increases the drain value for every net hit on your magic + spellcasting test, then indirect spells look a little better. Net hits on a indirect spell such as Clout increases the damage value accordingly but does not make the drain value any harder to resist. For a mage with increased reaction going, the repeated casting of direct spells are going to suck in the drain category. On the other hand, my shaman could cast clout repeatedly with little worry of the drain of 2. He could unload with a direct spell if need be but the drain would be much higher.
Udoshi
QUOTE (FenrisWolf @ Jan 12 2011, 01:45 PM) *
Clout has such a low drain value that it allows my shaman to cast during extra IPs from Increased Reaction without passing out. I included Lightning Bolt for the times when drones are a pain in the ass.



If you say so. I still think you'll have better luck with Powerbolt than Lightning Bolt.
You still need 5 hits to damage a drone with either spell.(Object Resistance) Which means force 5 castings. Since spell DV is force+net hits, isn't that 10 damage per cast anyway, which is enough to instakill any drone. Thats why direct combat spells are awesome: Cast, get hits, target dies. No dodge, no soak, since the resistance test is the same as the spellcasting test.
With lightning bolt, the same drone gets to use Reaction to dodge, then armor to soak. If a drone manages to get enough hits to downgrade your damage below its armor, then it converts lightning bolt's physical damage to stun, and just ignores it because its a vehicle. As far as i'm reading, there are two upsides - it doesn't get object resistance on its side, and you can use Called Shots to increase the damage of your lightning bolt.(indirect spells are handled as ranged attacks). Electricity damage IS good, though, but i'm not sure its worth the f/2+3 drain code.

I just think your spells are a little off. You've got a Clout(Physical LOS, indirect Stun damage), Lightningbolt(Physical LOS Direct physical damage, +electrical), and Stunball(Mana LOSA direct Stun damage).
Clout and Stunball fill the same role. The thing I don't get is why you feel the name to have a Physical spell that does stun damage. When are you -ever- going to need to do stun damage to inanimate objects? you CAN hit people, on the physical plane, with Mana Spell, so there's no pressing need to have a Physical spell for the job - so why not use stunbolt instead? Its pretty much better in every way. Including the drain you're worried about.
Udoshi
QUOTE (FenrisWolf @ Jan 12 2011, 02:14 PM) *
If your GM uses the optional rule for direct spells that increases the drain value for every net hit on your magic + spellcasting test, then indirect spells look a little better.


Whups, missed that when I was posting. Yeah, if you've got that optional rule in your game, then its not so bad.
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