hey guys/gals i have made a summoner for a up coming game that i will be joining in a few weeks time, i was just wondering if i might of missed anything.

the idea behind it is to provide some counterspelling support, while focusing on banishing spirits and then re-summoning them, he used to (and kind of still does) work for LS/KE as a support mage (i guess thats what it would be)

race: human
B: 2
A: 3
R: 3
S: 3
C: 5
I: 3
L: 3
W: 5

edge: 2
magic: 5

qualities:
magician (sharman)
mentor spirit: i dont know which one i want yet, maybe wolf
in debt (25,000)
sinner standard
records on file

skills:
athletics group: 1
pistols: 2
first aid: 3
summoning: 5
banishing: 4
binding: 4
counterspell: 5
perception: 3
assensing: 4
astral combat: 4
arcana: 3

gear:
counterspell focus: 3 (bonded)
banishing focus: 3 (bonded)


thats pretty much it, i also have two places and other gear and i can put that up if you want...
anyway, let me know what you think and also what i should change

1. More BOD! If you want to provide counterspelling, you have to be in LOS of your buddies so you are likely to get shot.
2. STR 3 is not really needed
3. Unless you use KarmaGen, use the whole 200 BP for Attributese. Especially after SR4A raising Attributes is too expensive.
4. Who has the records?
5. You have no skills from the sorcery group. I that intentional? If so think about an aspected magician
6. Astral Combat is not really needed if you have a Stun bolt and a poor choice for a magician.
7. At least according to the FAQ you can use dodge and gymnastics to defend against astral attacks. You may want to check with your GM how he handles it.

Yes, you'll definitely want a Body of 3 or more. I usually aim for 4 or 5 for most of my characters. It's one of those sad compromises where you have to accept game mechanics over character concept; a character with a low Body score is dead meat, especially since it's a double whammy since it also impacts the amount of armor you can wear.


Assuming you have a desire to raise them at a later date. I rarely waste (yes, waste) the full allotment of build points on Attributes during character creation. There's more interesting and fun things to spend them on, especially for a magician.


Do not consider Aspected Magician. As written, it's an absolutely horrible quality. It'll tank your Astral Combat and Assensing tests along with practically every other magical skill you decide to pick up at a later date. The only type of character it's worthwhile for are those who only use Astral Combat and Assensing and have no intention of being a true magician. Also, no, Stunbolt isn't a replacement for Astral Combat because you don't have Stunbolt or the Spellcasting skill to use it.

That said, here are a few more comments/suggestions.

In Debt: This is another really bad quality, and it's a trap on top of that. Not only do you have to pay the money back, but you have to keep paying them money indefinitely until you actually buy the quality off with Karma. Simply paying back what you owe isn't enough.

Shamanism: Since you're going with a Charisma-linked tradition, you may want to consider picking up some Social Skills and toys to help make you a Face. It's a great secondary specialization and is relatively easy (and cheap) to strong arm in to your build. If you don't want to do that, you may want to look at some of the other traditions in Street Magic to see if any of them jump out of you. An Intuition-based tradition would be a much better choice for your overall build as is; your Charisma isn't doing much for you right now, while a high Intuition will be a great asset since it'll boost your Assensing, Perception, and Intiative simultaneously. A Possession-based tradition might be a good choice, too, since you really don't have much going for you outside of conjuring. If you do that, you can get away with that lower Body score, too. But a lot of GMs have a stick up their arses about it, so you should at least talk to your GM if you do consider going that way.

Banishing: Banishing is a skill you want to have maxed out or not at all. If you are going to stick with it, I'd honestly drop Counterspelling and Summoning to 4 and make Banishing my 6, and then get the Restricted Gear quality to buy a Force 5 Banishing Focus. But that's just me; someone who actually uses and likes the Banishing skill.

Initiative Passes: Right now you don't seem to have any way to boost your Initiative Passes, which can be a BadThing©. If you go with a Possession-based tradition, that's not too much a problem as I believe your spirit will have more than one while possessing you. But if not, you should definitely look into that. Without cyberware, drugs (which is doubly bad for magicians), or sorcery, your options are pretty limited. It's arguably the biggest drawback to choosing to be a conjurer, especially a Materialization-based one.

Woops, I thought it only affected MAG related skills. Astral Combat and Assensing are INT related. As written, you are right of course.

Well you could reduce the premium to a manageable amount, say 100¥, and keep on paying the interest of 1¥.

Seconded.

Maybe a mentor that boosts banishing too?

I guess you have already checked with your GM that that kind of spirit pokemon is allowed in your game: I'm still sceptical that it's RAW.