This is something I've been puzzling over the last few weeks.

I took stock of the characters I've created and played thus far and there seems to be a trend. Most of them are outlandish in one very significant way or another, they seem like people who are extreme in certain areas of their personality where very few real people are.

For Example:

Ikea- Human Magician, highly skilled surgeon and torture expert, works to supply organleggers and crooked cyberdocs. Loves to dismantle and disassemble the human body.

Cleric- Human Technomancer, believes that Technomancers are guardian angel-like figures whose job is to help bring humanity to the next stage in their evolution by joining with an AI.

Invictus- Human mundane, driver and smuggler, absolutely insane and hardcore adrenaline junky, extremely nihilistic and does not think more than a few hours into the future. Loves flying, drives and flies like an absolute maniac.

Ronin- Elf Adept, brought up from being an orphan by an executive of Mitsuhama to be a Samurai-esq bodyguard. Takes the code of the Samurai very seriously, distraught when he found out his boss was dealing with the Yakuza and killed him. Now dealing with mental turmoil because of his violating the code.


Where do you draw the line and say "this person is just too "out there" to exist."

On the other hand I feel like if you make a character that's too average, they're not exciting or interesting to play.

It varies from table to table, but some good questions to ask are: Would any sane group accept this person as a member? Can this character function as a member of a shadowrunning team despite his or her quirks? Would this character's shenanigans disrupt the game, lead to intra-party fighting, or take up too much "spotlight" time? There's nothing wrong with oddball characters, as long as you're not messing up the game for everyone else.

i currently have a ghoul in my group who we have deemed "too physco to live" he has 2 vendettas, combat monster, vindictive, and is currently on the look out for one of the PCs so that he can give him the hard good bye...

but i do like the outlandish characters, it gives you the feel that its kinda real

Shadowrunners aren't exactly normal people to start with.

We've had a Dryad in our game who was the lovechild of Aithne Oakforest and Jenna Ni'Fairra. Go figure

Was expecting a Ke$ha reference. Thread did not deliver.

I consider myself above that. Not by much, but still above that

<threadjack>It's a shame Kesha affects such a skanky stage persona; she cleans up pretty damn nice.</threadjack>

It's a fine line that a shadowrunner (or rather, a shadowrunner's player character/creator) has to walk.

On the one hand, they've got to be fucked up enough -- mentally, physically, or socially -- to not be holding down a steady job in the "real world" despite having well above average stats and skills.

On the other hand, they've got to be stable enough that other professional criminals would want to work with them on a regular basis, that people would trust them to get a job done, etc, etc.

I prefer my character with a splash of caramel and a double-shot of chocolate fudge.

Oh, you didn't mean for eating. *Cough*

(Look at icon, look at post, look at icon, look at post)

The most important thing is that your character can work well with the group. Different levels of quirks are tolerated by different groups.

And don't select flaws that hinder your group. Judas, Astral hazing and pacifist II come to mind.

Hey, I've played some sweet games with someone who had one of those flaws.

Bear Who Walks Through Walls was a pacifist (total or partial I'm not sure, but if it was total, he never broke it). He could intimidate like no one's business. "I reach out and crush his gun."
Astral Hazing is a tool, like any other quality. Possibly a horribly broken tool, but when you can throw the hazed character at a toxic spirit and reduce its force to 0. Well.
As for Judas, that quality hasn't even been taken, at least not explicitly. But I have played one-shots where the GM (Jim: I miss you) would pull aside a few players and tell them Special Rules they'd be following. One said one-shot involved a Judas working for Lone Star. I think only one character managed to escape alive (who infiltrated a hotel and released a deadly toxic gas into the airvents, so also had the highest kill count).