Hey, I've never done shadowrun before, and I'm asking for a hand figuring out equipment and such that I will need.

Character: Cybered and Bioed up Orc, So I'm the muscle, mostly hand-to-hand combat. I'm also a security guard for a large 'pub'. I should also mention that the GM is setting out games in Australia, so guns are a lot more illegal, and armour etc a lot more conspicuous.
Stats
Body 9 (11 with bone lacing)
Strength 11
Quickness 9
Intelligence 3
Willpower 3
Charisma 2

I've got about 300,000 left to spend after all my implants.
This is the equipment list that I've got so far, I'm also going to need a vehicle in the mix.

Kris
Claymore
AZ-150 Stun Baton
Yamaha Pular Tazer
Browning Ultra-power (with lazer sight)
Ruger 100 sports rifle (with Mag 3 image scope and a sling)
Ulysses coat
full body form fitting body armour
full suit of urban camo
general clothing
ammo for everything (how much recomended?)
Flash-bangs

Also looking at needing some kind of peppermint bomb (to remove our scent, in case of sniffer dogs etc), and will need some way to destroy the DNA in any blood that I lose to prevent DNA tracking.

Any advice on what more I need? Also any other tips are greatly appreciated!

Perhaps post the rest of your character, especially skills, the special attributes and cyberware. It would really help knowing exactly what you got.

Ammo - a lot. I usually buy at least 50 rounds for every pistol I get and 200 rounds for any automatic weapon (don't forget to buy the 5¥ spare clips for each time you need one).

I'd definately get something heavier than just a Heavy Pistol if you're supposed to be the muscle unless you've got backup. Your heavy pistol should definately be your go-to gun for most situations, but for a muscle character, you need something with more punch for when the drek hits the fan. SMG/Assault Rifle, or at least a shotgun. Sports rifles are IMHO only for snipers who can't get the sweet rifles at chargen because of availability. They're just not made for heavy combat but rather for picking your shots.

Nice choice with the Ultra-Power though. That's my personal favorite heavy pistol for a non-smartlinked character because of the laser sight. Plus it's a lot easier to figure out how many clips you have with the ammo you bought because it's 10 rnds to a clip. Throw a silencer with it though (doesn't have to be conceal-carried with it on as it only takes one phase to put it on).

But definately post your skills, cyber, and also more detail about the concept you're going for so we have somewhere to start. Depending on what you're trying to do with the character, any advice given could be completely wrong for the character.

One last thing. Do NOT run around town carrying a friggin' sword...unless it's a katana and your character is Japanese and wired out the ass/an adept, or if it's a weapon focus, you'll be laughed at a lot. Then shot at a lot. Then arrested a lot.

The Abstruse One

Ok then. Oh, and the other party members are: A fire-arm street-sam, a dwarven demolitions specialist, a mage (sun I think), and we will be getting a troll rigger.


Skills:
Capoeira - 6
- Sweep
- Evasion
- Whirling
Rifles - 4
Athletics - 2
Stealth - 2
Etiquette - 2
Intimidation - 2
Wilderness Survival - 2
Bike (Ride) - 2
Bike (Repair) - 1
English Language - 3
Japanese Language - 3
Knowledge Intimidation - 4
Knowledge Unarmed-Combat - 2
Street Knowledge - Local Neighbourhood - 3
Small Unit Tactics - 3
Cyber Implant Combat - Spurs - (This one is weird, I'm using NSRCG, and it comes up as) [2/4]=3

Augmentations:

Cyberware:
Titanium Bone Lacing
Retractable Spurs
Replacement Ears
- Dampener
- High Frequency
- Low Frequency
Replacement Eyes
- Low Light
- Ultrasound
- Thermographic
- Vision Magnification 3
- Retinal Clock
- Mirrored Covers (This helps protect from Flashbangs doesn't it?)

Bioware:

Enhanced Articulation
Muscle Toner 4
Muscle Augmentation 2


Edges:
Bonus Attribute Point - Strength
College Education
Photographic Memory
Human Looking
Magical Resistance Lv 2
Good Reputation

Flaws:
Allergy (Uncommon, Severe) - Raw Gunpowder
Allergy (Uncommon, Severe) - Bleach
Allergy (Uncommon, Mild) - Tree Sap
Day Job 10hrs/week (Security Guard)


My character is basically going to be a 'run in and hit them while the mage does his tricks and the street sam shoots'.
I think thats about everything, anthing else you want to know?

I'm not going to be 'running around' with the sword, it will be stored in the vehicle in case of need.

I would think that if you're playing in Oz, a desert cammo suit would be useful as well.

Take out the cybereyes; you're paying for a cybernetic version of your own vision that's not as good. You need flare comp to get away from getting messed up by your own flashbangs.

Your're also slow (1d6) initiative, which can really hurt going up against people who are faster. Think about that. Why does your character have a college education if he's a security guard? I don't get the logic here.

Don

A Troll rigger. I see those as often in my games as troll deckers.

What abtruse said is right, the Ultra is a good sidearm, but I have to ask: Why no smartlink? I don't know how much essence you have left, but even if its' ungodly low, slam an internal smartlink 2 into your guns and pick up a pair of smartlink 2 goggles. You should be able to afford it, and they really help with called shots The goggles even come in mirrored shade design

Unfortunately, smartlinks don't work with scopes, but you already got cybereyes so it shouldn't be a kicker. If you have enough essence, i really do recommend smartlinks. I recommend smartlinks for anybody who even comes close to touching a gun, but hey, it works.

As for choice of ammo payloads, don't overlook plain ol standard ammo. Cheap and gets the job done. Stash several hundred rounds of 'em in your lifestyle(s). YMMV, but I've also found it's nice to have truckloads of ammo and pre-bought so you can just go back and reload after an ammo exhasutive run.

Pick up gel rounds for nonlethal takedown. Add a silencer and you've got nonlethal silent takedown rounds. No sound, no mess. Groovy. Aim for the head if possible, by the way, to maximize effectiveness. If you need to assassinate someone who isn't built for combat, use flechette and again, aim for the head. If you need all out power with no subtly whatsoever, grab EX Explosive rounds.

There are other variants of ammo, but I find these the most useful in general.

If you're in a place where guns are, uh, even more illegal (illegaler? ), grab a permit for guns that have them. Only 10% of the gun's cost, and it'll keep the police off you. Just don't take a stroll down the park wearing a freakin assault rifle and you'll be fine.

I need the cybereyes for both the thermo vision and the ultrasound vision (ok, will get the flare compensation, I missed it first time round).
I know I'm slow, but there is nothing I can do about that at character creation, after I get the cash in game I'm going to get synaptic accelerator to help compensate for that.

The college education is in my backstory, I migrated to the city after a mana storm tore apart the settlement where I lived, so I used the cash from my (now dead) parents savings to put myself through University, then got the job as a security guard later.
Dont worry about anything on the grounds of back story, it all fits, but trying up my full story here would take me forever.

Not really. Anything you get for cybereyes can be made into retnal modifications, Yes, you'll lose more essence, but you'll keep your natural lowlight vision, plus save on having to pay for it.

Think about the smartlink; it's useful. Better yet, spring for smartlink II, if you can. Permits are nice too.

Don

Yeah, I'll tack a couple of silencers on the list, I'll see what I can do about the smartlink (I've got 2.5 essence left). So permits are 10% of the gun's cost? Thanks, I had no idea what permits were worth (hence the reason I didnt' have any), shall rectify that right away. And as to being arrested, did I mention that I have a Lv 3 contact within the police department?

Once the troll rigger arrives, we shall have one of each race in our party, we wont attract attention!! No!! Never!!

also, you may want to change your weapons or combat skills. Your Kris will need Edged Weapons, your Claymore will need Pole-arms (which is just stupid), your stun baton will need Clubs, and your pistol and taser will need Pistols. With your set up now, you will be defaulting like crazy, which is never good.

oh and the reason the program listed your skill 2/4=3 is because your base Cyber Implant is 2, your Spur speciality is 4, and it cost you 3 points to have it that way

You'll probably want reflex recorders for your Capoeira skill.

I'm not sure if this is the sort of advice you want: but your character stands a high chance losing in melee against an adept or a character with reach (such-as a katana). Your character is far better with his unarmed combat than he is with his spurs, so there is really not much reason to use them. You would probably be best dropping the cyber implant weapons skill and buying a good weapons skill with reach (Whips with a Manriki Guisari or Morningstar gives you a good reach).

You probably won't need the cyberears. Smartlinks are good, also you have a pistol but no skill to use it.

I notice a few things that may or may not need to be addressed. First off, the pistol has been mentioned twice but I dont see any pistol skill. If your the muscle you definately want weapon skills to match your weapons. Also you have spent 6 points on Capoeira and three manuevers. If my understanding of the martial arts rules are correct you would need to spend 12 points to get three maneuvers. You must select one maneuver for every increment of two you raise you MA skill. Everyone who has posted above me is correct, if your already cybered a smartlink is almost mandatory. Hope you enjoy the game.

Everyone seems to have missed his intial statement that the campaign is running out of Australia where guns are highly illegal, (IIRC IRL Aussie's can't even own a simple breach-loader rifle without extensive proof and permits that you live in a wild enough part of the Outback to need one, much less a handgun).

Though I'd agree about improving the various armed combat skills. Since you're getting spurs (a pair?) I'd drop the unarmed combat skill altogether and transfer the points to Cyber Implant combat up to 6 and the rest into uping the various armed combat skills (clubs, edged weapons, polearms).

The world has changed, maybe the laws are different now. Does anyone have a shadows of Australia book handy? At any rate, best check with your GM. If you're lucky, he'll just make permits much more expensive.

As to the stun baton, I'm not worried about not being proficient with it, it's more 'security guard apparel'

Ok, I have a couple of options here.
1) Switch one of my martial arts specialties to close-quarters fighting, to negate opponent's reach, drop the spurs, and put a couple of points into pistol.
2) Drop martial arts entirely, beef up pistols, cyper combat, and either whips or pole-arms for reach.
3) Drop martial arts and the spurs and go with pistols and whips or pole-arms.

I'd say drop the spurs as well, you already get plenty of bonuses for just hitting people, using obth skill points and essence for spurs is a bit much.

If you want your 'close' weapon to be your hands, this lets you skip the pistol skill for now. This lets yu sink some more points into the skills you nned when you ren't running around killing stuff.

In general, assault rifles are the most versatile of weapons, you get range and firepower in one package. Taking lauch weapons (grenade launchers) or throuwn weapons (grenades) can be worth a look too.

According to Target:Awakened Lands, guns are more tightly controlled, and handguns are more illegal than long-arms. Combat Cyber is labelled Security Grade (You can presumably still pick-up a lisence if you must though).

Best vision setup for an ork is to keep your natural low light vision, and add in eyelights. Nearly perfect vision out to 100 meters. Screw thermo, you'll never need it. Keep the vision mag, but you might not need the ultrasound vision. Keep it if you're going to do a orientation system. Unless you have a particularly good reason to keep it, ditch the low frequency hearing in favor of an amplifier, sound filter, or spatial thingie (only if you're going to go with an orientation system).

On the skills, [2/4]=3 means you have a base skill of 2, a specialization of 4, and it cost you 3 skill points. Someone else might have already hit on that one, though

Ok, I've removed martial arts, the spurs, and cyber-implant weapons.
I now have:
Pistols 4
Pole Arms 6
Clubs 5
hows that?

Well if you're gonna do that you'll get more milage out of replacing titanium bone lacing kevlar bone lacing and a good dermal sheath. Also most of the other comments still stand.

Ok, skills and fighting are going to get overhauled tomorrow night (it's currently 2:30am, time for bed (I have uni tomorrow) )
Ok, ignore the skills/weapon setup as they stand, I shall report more tomorrow.

Anyways, back to the equipment, any more advice there?

(5,000) Bugout Bag:
• (50) Bag
• (2,000) Certified Credstick w/ 2,000¥
• (500) 500¥ in script
• (450) Ares Predator
• (30) 15 regular rounds
• (155) Spare clip w/ 15 Ex-explosive rounds
• (80) Spare clip w/ 15 Hollow point rounds
• (150) Quick Draw Holster (concealed)
• (60) 2 smoke grenades
• (450) Survival knife
• (10) 35 meters of duct tape
• (50) Handset cell phone
• (100) Survival Kit
• (250) Medkit w/ extra supplies
• (25) Heavy denim jeans
• (25) Synth Wool Sweater
• (10) 2 changes of underware
• (10) 2 changes of synth wool socks
• (5) Towel
• (50) Leather gloves w/ wool liners
• (40) Mini-Mag light w/ extra bulb, two changes of batteries
• (30) 6 while glowsticks
• (40) Food bag w/ dry cereal, coffee grounds, jerky, ramen noodles, multi vitamins
• (50) Camal Pak
• (80) Sleeping bag
• (50) Thermal blanket

And more contacts.

Buy a rope.

Are these Pole Arms or Clubs vital to your concept? If not, you're way better off with Pentjak-Silat 4 (Close Combat, Close Combat; Cyber-Implant) and Cyber-Implant Combat 6, especially if you have Ambidexterity.

Spurs used in pairs are way more deadly than a polearm or club. Even moreso if you throw in some Shock Hands and "route" them through the spurs (which definitely requires GM approval).

But if you're going with the Caeporia concept, you're better off without any weapons whatsoever and instead just focusing on unarmed combat boosts. A pair of Shock Gloves (Boots) and some Bone Lacing will be more than enough to make you quite effective.

Oh, and don't forget to dikote your spurs. That's fun.

Seriously, look up martial arts in Canon Companion. There already is a martial art that gets you what you want.

As a side note, I really think it's stupid that maneuvers cost 2 skill points at chargen, but only 2 karma to learn afterward. If I were you I'd try to get this house-ruled to 1 skill point.

CC p. 90

I'm reading "muscle/security guard" as being something along the lines of a bruiser/bouncer. He's mostly there for show, but when it comes right down to it he can really thump someone around in close combat.

Losing the spurs was a good idea, IMO. While they gave you a lethal close combat option, so does a knife. I would consider changing your bone lacing from titanium to kevlar or ceramic (which provide ballistic and impact bonuses, correspondingly, as well as the ceramic having a stun damage bonus), mostly because the titanium lacing sets off metal detectors, and eats a LOT of essence. Sometimes it's worth it, often times it's not.

As for weapon selection, you have to consider the roles of your weapons. Handguns are weapons which do precisely one thing well in life: concealed carry. Submachineguns are a little larger, but they're just as maneuverable and they're a lot more firepower. Shotguns don't have much more range, but they hit a lot harder. Sport rifles are really good for punching a hole in a target that's a pretty good ways away, and do alright serving as a battle rifle, but aren't maneuverable enough or fast enough to want to use in a close-up firefight. Assault rifles are good close up, far out, and for a number of things... but are the most illegal out of any of these and hard to hide.

You're in Oz... the likelyhood that even that high-rating cop buddy could get him off if he's picked up with an assault rifle in the trunk of his car is minimal. Same deal for the SMG. Frankly, Port Arthur (i think that was the name of the event... think Columbine in a cafe, with two civilian-legal "assault weapons") has made the Aussies really gun shy if they're combat-weapon-types. I can't imagine that would reverse itself very much, even in 60 years. On the other hand, the sport rifle might be totally legal, even there.

Handguns, of course, are the ubiquitous SR weapon, mostly because they fit under coats. Good choice on the Ultra-Power... the extra concealability is more useful than a few extra rounds, with most gunfights not lasting long enough for you to need to reload. If you work as an *armed* security guard, you could probably get a permit because of that. Won't help you much if you get arrested for using the gun, but you won't get jailed just for having it.

Consider the following in ammunition choices:
Explosive or EX-EX ammunition is the best generic mankiller availiable in SR. Things like glaser, hollowpoint, etc work as well, but armor screws with them pretty badly, and Explosive does pretty much the same thing (hurts more, doesn't overpenetrate much). That's also it's main failing... it's not good at shooting through things.

Standard ammunition (and APDS, but I doubt that's easy to come by in Oz) solves your penetration problem. Urban fighting involves a lot of things that screw with bullets (tables, windows, car bodies, walls, all sorts of things that can get in the way), and carrying a mag or two of a round that doesn't see penalties for trying to fire through things is usually a good idea. Basically, look at it this way: the first time you get into a firefight indoors or near a car, it'd be nice if your rounds didn't explode when they hit what the guy was behind, rather than going through it and hitting him.

Gel ammunition is an excellent, excellent tool. It means that you can fire without worrying about killing bystanders, without worrying about killing your extraction target/hostage, and without worrying about destroying sensitive equipment. I've also seen it used to fake an execution. Also, if you get picked up for using your gun, being able to show that you had hardball but chose to use gel ammo is a serious plus as far as sentencing/getting off is concerned.

You've got a huge strength stat... you don't need to mount any kind of gas venting on this gun to reduce recoil during rapid fire. Keeping this in mind, you may want to purchase a sound suppressor (SR calls them "silencers" when they're mounted on semiautomatic weapons). Keep it around because it's handy. Be aware cops are going to frown on them, legal or not... and I don't know if they're legal in Oz or not in 2064. I doubt it. If it's not... keep it in mind as an option, but don't feel obliged to carry it unless you forsee a need for it. The likelyhood it'll cause major problems exists. You could also get one for the sporting rifle (which I'd recommend, honestly), but the same problems of legality apply.

Smartlinks are your friend. If you can get one, get one. If not, the laser sight is better than nothing, but that's it.

This character does seem far too specialized, by trying to do everything, it effectively does nothing. I know, I've been there. Make sure you've got anything and everything that you could possibly need for the Outback, should your GM be nasty enough to send you there. Once you're out there, you'll need everything with you, food, ammo, water!!!!!
Your combat potential seems a bit wasted with the lack of any smartlink. I know essence can be an issue, but the smartlink goggles is a good idea, you could even look stylish whilst doing so (using smart-linked sunglasses, aka Matrix).
Ditching the small unit tactics skill might be an idea as well. It needs at least a complex action to take effect, and with your current initiative, you'll be getting very few of them. I'm thinking that a possibel +3 bonus to initiative is going to be far less useful than some solid Ultra-power shots, especially if it's smartlinked. Doing so would give you the chance to bulk up your skills, especially since they're so dilute right now.

Okay, let's screw all this crap and start from scratch. What do you want this character to do? Figure out what the rest of the team is doing and pick something that will cover their holes and support them. From your previous post I see you already have a mage and another street sam for ranged combat. I'd say focus on hand-to-hand and ranged combat. If you try to branch out too far, you'll end up with a character who is always second or third fiddle to everyone else. I say if you want to do the martial arts thing, read the rules in CC backwards and forwards so you know what you're getting into.

Melee w/ Ranged secondary: Martial Arts: 6 (choose type that will fit the character background best, but I always love military-style martial arts. Not flashy, but effective as hell), <Weapon Skill>: 6 (Pick a weapon or two in the same class and go for it. Edged Weapon is my favorite as it covers all sorts of knives and swords) Pistols: 6 (or specialize for 5/7), Shotgun: 4 (or again specialize, or you can use an SMG or Assault Rifle, but if you do that you need more skill to do a more serious wound). Go with bone lacing for lethal hand-to-hand, some sort of reflex enhancer (if you're playing a combat character that isn't magical, you NEED a reflex boost of some sort or you'll get hosed. Also, I don't mean just boosted reflexes, just something that enhanced your reflexes so you'll have a minimum Init of 11 so you get two phases at least), and Str enhancers.

Melee & Ranged both: Martial Arts or Weapon: 6 (not both), Pistols: 6, Assault Rifle/SMG/Shotgun: 6 (I say pick two of these, either the Assault Rifle or SMG and Shotgun is my advice). Gear: Str and Qui enhancer, Reflex boost, Smartlink, Kevlar bone lacing, shock or hardliner gloves, and Orthoskin or Dermal Sheathing.

Melee/Ranged & Interogation/Intimidation: Pistols: 6 (specialize if doing melee mainly), Martial Art/Weapon/Ranged skill: 6, Intimidation and Interogation w/ one at 4 and one at 6 at least.

If you have skill points left over, boost whatever skills you set lower. If you still have skill points left, get Biotech if you can get a rating higher than 3 and no one else has it. If you can't get higher than 3, just go with a MedKit (Computer in it has a Biotech skill of 3). Specialize in First Aid if you have to specialize, so you can patch up falling comerades. If you still have skill points, pick something that's useful but no one else in the team can do, or something that will back up something someone else can do (Intimidation goes well with a teammate with Interogation..."Either you tell me what I want to know, or I'll sic the big guy on you."

For other stuff, get at least two fake IDs (even if one of them is a really low rating). If no one else in your team has any "safehouses", get a couple of low lifestyles prepaid through a pretty long period. Check out Sprawl Survival Guide for ways to make the perfect safehouse in the Custom Lifestyle section. Permits are a must if playing in a country with strict laws, not just for your guns but for your cyberware, esp. obvious stuff. The rules for this are I believe in the begining of the gear chapter in the main book..if not, in the Canon Companion. Also, if you're getting a smartlink, be sure to check out the section of Man and Machine about Smartlink components to make sure you're not paying extra essence and cash for stuff you don't have to. If you have some sort of natural vision mod, try your best to keep it. Get retinal mods for other stuff you need, as natural vision is always better than cybernetic versions.

Lastly, make sure it's a character you'll have fun playing. There's no point in making a character that fits what WE say you should play if it's not something YOU want to play. And frankly, that's the most important point.

The Abstruse One

On a related note, never, ever, ever default in melee combat if there is any way to avoid it. A +2 or +4 modifier in melee combat is all it takes for the anorexic schoolgirl to beat up the troll bouncer.