Note: This was made using the Pregenerator Speadsheet available on the Dumpshock Forums, and I use OpenOffice.Org, so there might be a few issues. I also had the devil's own time copy/pasting this, so more might be off.

His storyline starts in early in 2060, when he was 25, and an up-and-coming accountant for a major firm that dealt with AA-Level Corporations and double-checking their finances for errors and embezzlement. One day, he gets home, and his door won't recognize him. He starts shouting at his door, "Come on, House, let me in, I've been leasing you for two years now! You know me!" and is jumped from behind by someone with a garrote.

Long story short, the best he can figure out is that he's seen something that he shouldn't have. Something so dangerous that not only does it require that he be killed for knowing it, but his entire history be erased. Needless to say, he survived the assassin through a mixture of luck and pragmatic combat moves that they just don't have counters to in Karate 4.0. (Such as using a car door to break the guy's arm.), and had to move to the fringes of society in a hurry.

Pawning his Registered Credstick for a Certified Credstick with half the amount on it, he moved to the Barrens, where he moved from being a homeless, almost helpless bum on the streets into a respectable Shadowrunner over the next decade, starting out with a few runs headed up by the infamous pacifist Shadowrunner, "Twist".

Over the years, he's honed his body and mind to give him the ability to actively partake in Shadowruns. His role varies from team to team, being a generalist, but is often used as a "Soft Infiltrator", due to his upbringing in "The System" allowing him to know how to behave around average Wageslaves, a valuable asset that is sorely lacking in the Shadows. He's also so generic and bland that he is easily forgotten by people, and often underestimated as a threat. His favourite technique is to pose as a deliveryman, as they are everywhere, and have access to almost anywhere. His only "Abnormal" skill is training in "Parkour", the French-Vietnamese Martial Art designed for rapid and unusual movement techniques in an urban terrain, which he uses to extract himself from situations, as well as a combat multiplier. (One story that gets told about him often in the Redmond Barrens is the time he was standing in front of an aggressive Troll, and then kicked him in the back of the head twice before hitting the ground, breaking both horns.).

Whatever system that was put into place to erase all traces of him somehow survived Crash 2.0, which means that all records connected to him are removed from the Matrix constantly, and are often corrupted even as they're stored, making him next to impossible to find in person (Due to his ability to blend in) or online (As everything is erased, including his CommCodes from his friend's CommLinks). He has taken to using online newspaper classified ads in code to contact his Fixer and other contacts that he doesn't see in person/online. He tried to get out of the Barrens, but the rental companies kept evicting him, forcing him to stay in the areas where rent is collected in person, and often pays in advance. How he's able to keep a MSP ongoing is a mystery even to himself.

He often has nightmares of being attacked from random places and people, and has, on occasion, had assassination attempts made against him. Every time he's interrogated the survivors of the attempts, however, they have all been a case of mistaken identity. A downside to having "That kind of face".

A strong case of "Parents should have a license to name their children", his real name actually is "John Quincey Public", but he's often referred to as "The Suit" on the street, having once been one of the faceless masses of Wageslaves (And the repeated attempt to give him the handle of "Wageslave" often ended with a fight.). He dresses appropriately for the situation to best blend in, but always meets with Mr. Johnsons wearing a Three-Peice black Actioneer Business Suit with a spotless white shirt and blood red tie (Which is a clip-on.).

Name: John Quincy Public (The Suit)
RACE: Human
CONCEPT: Wageslave whose life and SIN was stolen from him.

ATTRIBUTES
Body: 3
Agility: 4
Reaction: 4
Strength: 3
Charisma: 4
Intuition: 3
Logic: 3
Willpower: 2
EDGE: 5

Phys Init[P] 7
Passes 1
Essence: 5.53
Walk/Run 10/25
Phys Boxes 10
Stun Boxes 9

ARMOR
Mortimer Greatcoat Suit
Bal/Impact 6/5 [6]
Mods RFID Tag Eraser,Concealed Holster,Fire Resistant (1-3) 3

Urban Explorer Jumpsuit
Bal/Impact 6/6 [6]
Mods

Urban Explorer Helmet
Bal/Impact 0/2 [2]
Mods

Forearm Guards
Bal/Impact 0/1 [1]
Mods

Actioneer Business Clothes
Bal/Impact 5/3 [5]
Mods RFID Tag Eraser,Fire Resistant (4-6) 5

Lined Coat
Bal/Impact 6/4 [6]
Mods RFID Tag Eraser,Concealed Holster,Fire Resistant (1-3) 3

SecureTech Vitals Protector
Bal/Impact 1/1 [4]
Mods


COMMLINK
Type Hermes Ikon
Resp 4
Signal 6
OS Type Custom
Firewall 6
System 4
Programs:
Decrypt 4
Spoof 4
Analyze 4
Browse 4
Edit 4
Encrypt 4
Scan 4


ACTIVE SKILLS
Gymnastics (Parkour) 2 (+2)
Close Combat (Group) 2
Firearms (Group) 3
Influence (Group) 3
Stealth (Group) 3
Dodge (Ranged Combat) 2 (+2)
Pilot Ground Craft 1
Running (Urban) 2 (+2)
KNOWLEDGE SKILLS
Hangouts (Safehouses) 2
Economics 4
Law (Accounting Laws) 2 (+2)
Physics 2
Number Running 2
Accounting (Z-OG Banking) 4 (+2)
LANGUAGES
English N
Japanese 3

Standard Qualities
Blandness 10
Erased (7 days) 5
Guts 5
Obscure 5
Photographic Memory 10

Nano Intolerance -5
Prejudiced (Specific, Biased) -5 (IRS Agents)
Compulsive - Moderate -10 (Neat Freak to OCD level.).
Allergy (Common, Mild) -10 (SoyKaf)
Weak Immune System -5

Cyber/Bioware:
Datajack (Old Skoll!)
Math SPU (To double-check the math he just did in his head)
Sound Damper (Gunfire in buildings/alleyways/automobiles is noisy!)
Troll's Eyes (Infrared Vision FTW!)
Sleep Regulator (For those long stakeouts/operations. Or to just sleep through the heat being on.)

CONTACTS
Fixer (Loy. 2 Con. 4) ("Felix the Fixer" from my stories and the example of a Shadowrun I did.).
ID Manufacturer (Loy. 2 Con. 2) (As soon as the program connects him to a SIN, it can go bye-bye. He's a good customer for this guy.).
Shark Lawyer (Loy. 2 Con. 3) (Mr. Underbridge, the Troll Lawyer that's willing to work for Shadowrunners and the SINless.).
Street Doc (Loy. 3 Con. 1) (Doctor Steinback, who lost his SIN in Crash 2.0. The character helped him get back on his feet, but his operation is only small-time, in a back alley office.).
Note: Look up cost of group contact: ShadowSEA/Dumpshock Data Haven.

GEAR 65¥
Low for 3 months. (Custom made with the RC Rulebook. Small apartment in the Redmond Barrens.).
Squatter Lifestyle for 12 months (Bolt hole made out of a container crate in a "U-Store It" location used by Squatters)
2 x Fake SIN (1-6) Rtg 4
200 x Regular Ammo (10mm Caseless for Colt Manhunter Pistol and Beretta M70 SMG)
50 x Regular Ammo (12 Gauge for Shotgun)
10 x Shock Lock Rounds (12 Gauge for Shotgun)
200 x Regular Ammo (7.62mm Caseless for Customized AK-97)
3 x Medkit R (1-6) Rtg 6 (1 in apartment, 1 in car, 1 in bolt hole)
14 x Spare Clips (4 Spare Mags for Manhunter, 5 Spare Mags for M70, 5 Spare Mags for AK-97)
24 x EX-Explosive Rounds (For Colt Asp)
3 x Speed Loader (For Colt Asp)
5 x Nanopaste DisguiseSmall
2 x Maglock R (1-6) Rtg 6 (1 on apartment, 1 on bolt hole)
Morphing License Plate (On car)
Spoof Chip (On car)
10 x Datachip (Keep it off the Matrix, keep it from being deleted.)
10 x C-Squared (Stored in various places)

MELEE WEAPONS
Name Unarmed
Reach 0
Ap 0
DV 2S

Name Shock Gloves
Reach 0
Ap -half
DV 5S(e)

Name Cougar Fine Longblade
Reach 0
Ap -1
DV 4P

Name AZ-150 Stun Baton
Reach 1
Ap -half
DV 7S(e)

Ranged Weapons
Name Defiance T-250 (Under Coach in living room of apartment)
Type Shotgun
Mode SA
Armor Piercing -1
Damage Value 7P
Recoil Comp 0
Short Range 0 - 10
Medium Range 11 - 40
Long Range 41 - 80
Extended 81 - 150
Concealability +6
Ammo 5(m)

Name Beretta Model 70 (Closet in bedroom of apartment)
Type SMG
Mode BF/FA
Armor Piercing 0
Damage Value 5P
Recoil Comp 0
Short Range 0 - 10
Medium Range 11 - 40
Long Range 41 - 80
Extended 81 - 150
Concealability +4
Ammo 35©

Name Colt Asp (Stored in bolt hole)
Type Light Pistol
Mode SA
Armor Piercing 0
Damage Value 4P
Recoil Comp 0
Short Range 0 - 5
Medium Range 6 - 15
Long Range 16 - 30
Extended 31 - 50
Concealability --2
Ammo 6(cy)

Name Income Statement (Customized Colt Manhunter, carried in concealed holster in outfits)
Type #N/A
Mode SA
Armor Piercing -1
Damage Value 5P
Recoil Comp 1
Short Range 0 - 4
Medium Range 5 - 16
Long Range 17 - 32
Extended 33 - 48
Concealability -1
Ammo 16c
Modifications:
Electronic Firing
Barrel Reduction
Integrated Silencer

Name The Great Balancer (Customized AK-97, stored broken down in trunk of car)
Mode SA/BF/FA
Armor Piercing -1
Damage Value 6P
Recoil Comp 5
Short Range 0 - 50
Medium Range 51 - 150
Long Range 151 - 350
Extended 351 - 550
Concealability +7
Ammo 38c
Modifications:
Easy Breakdown (Manual)
Laser Sight (top mount)
Electronic Firing
Foregrip (Underbarrel)
Gas Vent 3 (Barrel)
Melee Hardening

VEHICLES
Mercury Comet
Pilot 4
Body 10
Maneuver 2
Handling 0
Sensor 2
Accel 15/30
Armor 10 Concealed
Firewall 6
Speed 132

Run Flat Tires (4)
Anti-Theft System
GridLink Override
Fuzzy Logic
Smuggling Compartment
Engine Cust. (Speed)
Encrypt Program Rtg. 4

I like it. The new version's a bit more specialized, but still functionally quite generalistic.

Can always pick up tutorsofts for the other skills later on.

Updated the sheet to show what the modifications to the custom weapons are, and where they're stored.

I've never been quite sure how tutorsofts work, does it permanently give you the skill?

It's a teacher software, and allows you to learn the skill without schooling or an instructor. So, you use it to train for skills that you buy with Karma that you don't have much reason to have learned.

For example, how would The Suit have learned "Armorer"? He knows how to clean his own guns, get blood out of his body armor, and that's about it. The Tutorsoft Program gives him Simsense (I think it's Simsense, at least) instructions as if he were in a classroom taking a course in Gunsmithing at a community college. It's basically a specialized "Instruction" skill on a chip. For rules on using Instruction, SR4A page 134.

Regarding the group contact cost:

Ok, so it gives dice for the learning of skills. I'd never had Instruction come up in one of my games yet. No players thought to take it or use it. That's a nice bonus for the cost.

Same here. Most boost skills they've already have and work with constantly in the game, so it's just a matter of "I'm improving what I already know with experience.".

The Tutorsofts are for skills you can't get a teacher for, and don't even try to default with often. But do come in handy. Probably a First Aid Tutorsoft.

ShadowSEA as a contact for 11 BP? Ouch. Worth it, but ouch.

DDH would probably be more, as it's more elite and isn't as open.

DDH would be higher base, lower membership, probably a bit higher Matrix presence, magical resources and area.

Yeah, out of my price range unless I do some major re-arranging. Ah well, makes sense he wouldn't have Matrix connections like them, the thing that eats his life would eat those connections too.

The next time I'm in a game as a player I'll force everyone through Driver's Ed tutorsofts. NEVER DEFAULT ON VEHICLE SKILLS!

I had a bad experience.

I was the bad experience. Even when I had the skills.

In fact, it came to be a running joke with one character. He was the highest-paid wheelman to be ordered to never drive.

Yikes. My group is mainly assorted fantasy and High Sci-Fi veterens, so the realistic-ish world of Shadowrun doesn't fit with their thinking all the time. "Cars? Why would I need a car? This is a . . . . oh." Yes it may be a skill many take for granted in real life, but the former arcology wageslave may have no need of a car, and the dirt poor ganger certainly couldn't afford one. Also hilarious are the guys who buy the cars, but no skill to drive it. We had to steal a truck, my eco shaman was fresh out of being raised in Forest Park, the troll had minmaxed the hell out of his archery but could barely think, The hacker was offsite, and it turns out the rigger couldn't drive.


Cue chase scene.

Then there was Captain Jack. Oh good ol' Captain Jack, how I miss you. The only character my GM ever had committed to an insane asylum and still be considered a PC (Admittedly on heavy medication.).

One of the best pilots around in the Star Wars universe, able to pull more from his ship than could even be dreamed. He wasn't Han Solo and she wasn't the Millennium Falcon, but they did many great things. Only one problem.

The ground.

It seemed like he was ill fated to always crash, no matter what. Forests, plains, a mountain, an ice sheet... Man I miss those days...

Hopefully I'll have some Shadowrun stories of my driving mishaps for you folks, considering my luck with operating vehicles.

The Star Wars version of Mad Dog Murdoch?

No, fully original character. I was mentally hyperactive, and actually on medication for my (Misdiagnosed and mismedicated) learning disorder, so I would sometimes get... Weird. (Add to that the tendency to fly into things because of the dice and other stuff we knew only due to Metagaming, and...)

In game, one of the PCs, who was my superior officer, had me written up enough that a full mental assessment was done. It's happened very rarely in the GM's experience, and I'm the only one he's agreed that should be kept as a PC.

You can drive a car without Pilot skill no problem, just like you can run without Running, and hide without Infiltration. You just can't do the funky things, like optimise gear shifting to accelerate, take tight curves, control the car during a slip, etc.
John Q Wageslave will most likely not have any driving skill, wether driving himself, or leaving it up to the autopilot.

Indeed. If you are leaving the driving to the Autopilot and GridGuide, you will never encounter the need to have a Pilot skill of your own.

Pilot programs are great for John Q. Wageslave, but for Shadowrunners (And "The Suit" has been in The Shadows for a decade or so), they're only good when you're about to pass out from blood loss and need the car to drive you to the Street Doc's.

Also, IIRC, Pilot requires GridGuide. No such thing when you hit the Barrens.

Finally, there's the "Human Element", computers can be fairly predictable. You never can guess what some idiot metahuman will do.

And, as a PS: All those stories of me and bad driving were with skills in it. I'd dread what would happen if I defaulted!

I don't see a reason why a Pilot would require Gridguide. It's just a tool to help it do its thing. The normal sensor package should be sufficient for that though, possibly hook up a Mapsoft to tell it where to go. You're certainly not saying an aircraft or boat can't use its Pilot while on/over the Atlantic?

Air and Water have two major advantages over roads: They're not on roads!

And the Barrens have blocked off roads, gang zones, illegal toll booths, that really big scary thing that doesn't show up on sensors but will eat a semi-truck and trailer in one bite...

Of course. Still a regular sensor package should give the Pilot the tools to navigate the vehicle around those (with a lot of trial and error and going around in wide circles), barring other actors' influence. Wether you want to take the gamble as a passenger is another story altogether. But the Pilot ceasing to function, just because live traffic information dissappears? GridGuide at that point is not much more than a modern-day car nav system.
It still has mapsoft and GPS functionally, and given local or satellite Matrix access would even be able to use and supplement a 'dangerous area' database, or just use the most recently downloaded version of it.

Most I see happening is a big windscreen pop-up saying "Now leaving GridGuide-managed area. Be advised to turn back or exercise caution. Mercury, Renraku nor GridGuide accept any responsibility for consequences of travelling beyond this point."

And, of course, the biggest warning: "Doc Wagon no longer guarantees it's services in this area."

Hey, the WBC attempt at getting them involved gave me an idea...

How much would the group contact "Anonymous" be? Because that would be worth it!

Anonymous

Loyalty 0 Connection: over 9000

Not your personal army.

*Chuckles* Yeah, kind of like that Improvised WMD I had in the game... Something you point and try to be far, far away!

Yeah, but whatever you do, don't make it look like you're trying to steer them. They really won't like that. I would love to sic them on the Azzies though. Where's your PR now, Blood Mages?

Oh yeah, as the WBC will find out when they decide to get revenge. "We do not forget" after all.

WBC has $Deity on their side (Doesn't sound like God or Jesus to me, however). Anonymous has... A bunch of bored and pissed off hackers.

Hey, we know what happens when Hackers get pissed off, don't we Dumpshockers?

They get... Creative.

I now believe that someone needs to film The Adventures of Bubba the Love Troll just so their networks can be flooded with it.

"Bubba the Love Troll does Cell Block B".

See, I think you're making the assumption that's all he's "done"

That's the title of only one Simsense recording. There's also "Bubba the Love Troll does Cell Block A", "The Hole", "The Hole Again", "The Hole With The Troll", "The Troll in The Hole", "High Security Screaming", and, the one that's shown in schools, "Scared Straight (Because you won't want to be gay after this!)".

Wasn't there that CAS-based Christian revival conversion of Scared Straight as well? "Damned Straight, son." I do believe it's called.

And yet the priests and alterboys...

Ah, too easy, and too soon.

You left out the Oscar winning "I Know What You Did Under The Bridge".

There's a reason for that... And the awards ceremony was a catastrophe.

And the acceptance speech that was completely bleeped out, broadcast live from his cell, where they had to censor out his cellmate and what was happening to him...

See, I made the mistake of tuning in to see how they'd handle The Love Troll's arrival at the theatre, and then was disappointed that they didn't even let him out to accept the award. I swear the academy is racist. After a few argument's my team's hacker I've become terrifyingly familiar with the troll's work, and "I Know What You Did Under The Bridge" was easily the least painful. I should really stop rearranging the the tech in The Van.

Actually I am curious: Does anyone remember when was the first time Bubba the Love Troll mentioned on Dumpshock?

And don't forget that one time they let Bubba onto the Z-O space station - "The Black Hole", then there was the crossover one with the Aliens franchise, the one they used an Insect Queen as the Alien Mother, Bubba vs Aliens.

I think it was when Squinky posted his infamous picture.

OK, asking for a bit of help here: The Accountant From Hell (AKA: John Quincy Public, The Suit, Who?) needs a really good description. Thing is, he's totally vague.

So, I figure average height (5'7"?) and weight (140 lbs.?). Brown eyes (Does the "Troll Eyes" biomod look any different than normal eyes?), dark brown (Almost black) hair. Skin tone that can be almost any ethnic group (Dark Asian, Hispanic or Mediterranean, light AmerIndian, very light African, very dark Caucasian.). Facial features that can be almost any ethic group.

...

Basically, he can't be mistaken for a Netherlander and that's about it.

Any suggestions otherwise?

My advice would probably be to start from the MiB (Disclaimer: Will ruin your life) and work from there. Really though, I don't think blending in can really be meshed down to a cpmbination of common denominators.

Using esoteric / archaic units of measurement rather than S.I. units is a Distinctive Style in the real world - probably more so in the sixth world.

RC's SURGE eyes for low-light were described as looking catlike but the SURGE eyes for thermal vision weren't described as looking unusual. Enough people in the sixth world would go for cybereyes across cultures and age groups that even if the accountant's cybereyes were recognised as such, that wouldn't be anything unusual.

Bioware Troll Eyes, but Cybereyes might be a better option, yeah.

As for the measurements, it's one of the idiosyncrasies of Canada that we use Metric for everything but height and weight of people. I think it's due to Canadian Police having to deal with US Agents often enough that they get confused with the metric system ("183 centimetres tall." "Huh?" "Six Feet tall" "Why didn't you say that?"), and just use that in all media reports. But it might just be Canadian stubbornness again.

I mentioned the SURGE eyes, thinking they would look similar to bioware eyes (both being living tissue) and aren't described as looking too unusual. (Which is a pity: I have wanted the benefits of thermovision with the cool factor of cat eyes. You can do a lot with contact lenses with the advantage that they're impermanent.)

In Australia we use metric everywhere except in cooking. When someone does provide a distance in furlongs / leagues / cubits / parsecs / feet it's obscure enough to make that conversation / speaker quite memorable.

Yeah, North America is a hodge-podge of Metric and Imperial. I think some of the land grants in Canada are still in furlongs, in fact. (I know they're that or something similar in England because it would be too much of a pain to modify into Metric.).

I put that down to "The Player says what he's familiar with, the Character says it in the proper way for the era.".

OK, got The Accountant From Hell from Digital Format to Analog. Let's see what the GM thinks tomorrow.

Lived here my whole life, never heard anyone say 'furlong' aloud. This is wrong. We are letting our country DOWN.

I could also stand to lose a few stone.

(Psst, this is where he yells out "BLOODY COLONIAL!". ).

Give me a minute, just popping the kettle on. (Actually no, it is 4 in the morning and tea gives me gas.)