Hi all, very new to the forum so I'm not sure if this is the right place to be posting something like this. I'm about to commence my first ever game of shadowrun in about 2 weeks time and I've been reading anything I can get my hands on to try and build a character that will fit in with the world. I'd like to introduce you all to Johnny "Dandyman" Silver, an elf face. My inspiration for the character comes from characters like Harry McDowell from Gungrave, the Joker from DCU and Varrick from Avatar.

Backstory of Johnny "Dandyman" Silver

"Hello, is that RCCC section chief Julie Wong? How I got this number isn't important, what is important is if the picture I'm sending you right now is a picture of your missing daughter or not. That is your daughter? Well, I have some good and bad news for you. The good news is I know where your missing daughter is, the bad news is that she's an item in a Matrix Auction house that specialises in human trafficking. Well, I mean, you can get just about anything there, doesn't have to be humans, but that's not really relevant right now is it. No, my name isn't relevant right now either. What is relevant is Gorilla icon I can see over there which I know to be a rather large Troll fellow who usually ends up breaking his purchases if you catch my drift. So, I can burn this commlink and you'll at least know the fate of your daughter, or I can place a bid. What would you like me to do? No I don't want your money. You see, you have something that is far more valuable to me than you, and I can obtain something that is far more valuable to you than me. I just bid by the way, $1000, she's a pretty young thing... what maybe 16? Damn, $1100 to the troll. So, if I were to help you in this, I'd need something that I know would guarantee my safety. $1200! No, that was to them, not you. I'm winning... damn Troll goes again. Here's what I need. The entire investigation files into the Seattle mob, and a recording of you having sex with me. Listen, I'm as disgusted by the prospect as you are, but I need to be sure that if I get your daughter back I'm not just going to wind up in prison for my good deeds. Now I'd love to give you time to think this over, but they just called going once. Those files, to my commlink, right now if you consent, otherwise you've got maybe 12 hours to find a large Troll that uses a Gorilla icon. Going twice! Time to choose. Either you or your daughter are getting screwed tonight. $1500!!! You have made a wise choice Julie. I scared him off with that last bid, there's other girls he can buy for half the price. I'll send you an address, meet me there. Once I've got what I need to ensure my safety, I'll return your daughter to you. Oh, and a $1500 cred stick... I shouldn't be out of pocket ya know?"

"Hello Di? Yeah it's Dandy. Now, first promise me you won't get mad. That sounds like you getting mad. Now, I'm sending you a file, I haven't opened it yet, so I have no idea what the contents are. This is for my safety. Can you please open the file and tell me if you're still mad. That doesn't sound like anger... so I know it's good. It doesn't matter how I got it, it's a gift. Of course not a free gift, I'm not an idiot. Yes, I know I've already sent it, what I'm bartering with now is me deleting it vs me sending it to a Matrix news network. Ah, silence. Wow, that good is it? Now, this information, that I HAVE NOT LOOKED AT, I know is worth a lot more to you than it is to me. I also know, that if I do send it to a Matrix News Network, I'll be dead. He's what I want. Two guys to pick up item 242 I purchased yesterday that are expendable. I'm gonna shoot em. Yeah that'll do. Also, I want access to the VIP listings on Ruthenium Road. And lastly, I want to be your friend. I'm planning to get into the Shadowrunning business and the ability to turn collateral damage into profit will be invaluable for me. In exchange, I'll delete this file, and you'll have access to an off-the-books runner who isn't part of the family. Trust me? Hell you're smarter than that! Trust in me, and what I can do. If I become a burden, off me, see what happens. But I think I'd be a "Dandy" asset. I know you're smiling at that one. Ok, great, I'll fill you in on as much of the details as you want after I finalise everything I have to."

"My name is Julie Wong, and I consent to this recording"

"It's ok now... it's ok... I'll get you out of here. Those men are dead. I need you to listen. Is your name Anna Wong? My name is Johnny, I'm a friend of your mothers and I've come here to get you home. Shhhh... it's ok... shhhhh... I don't know how you got mixed up with this crew young lady but you are one lucky woman. Listen, I know you've been through a lot, but we have to get out of here. You can either stay sitting in that chair and wait for either the good guys or bad guys to show up, or you can come with me now, to your home, which I know is 245 Rosiland Drv, because your mother Julie sent me. I have a bike just outside, we can be home in 10 minutes. C'mon, your family are waiting"

Hopefully that fleshes out the character enough for people to get an idea of what sort of person "Dandyman" is. In the current year (at chargen), Dandy has been having an ongoing abusive sexual relationship with the police chief for the preceding four years (using it as blackmail), in a "healthy" relationship with the daughter of the police chief who currently lives with him and has consolidated his mafia connections to access a world of goods and services that would be otherwise unavailable to him (and the rest of the group). I'm wondering if this character has successfully captured the Shadowrun "vibe" and if not, how I could improve on the backstory to bring my face to life.

I like it.

A little high on the interpersonal drama, but hey, what shadowrunners aren't broken people, floating on a sea of sewage?

The trouble with backgrounds is that they are like self-insert fanfics; everything can go smoothly and the character's way. It can be a jolt sitting down to a game where dice rolls determine your success and NPCs are run by the GM. On the other hand, character creation is the time to get high-powered contacts and other things that are more difficult to acquire in-game. But all three contacts are time bombs. The blackmailed contact could turn at any time, the daughter could find out about her mom's situation, and the mob guy will always have the goal of turning the character from an off-the-books asset to an underling.

I can't say for sure if you got the tone right. He's a sleazebag, so he fits into a future dystopia. But individual campaigns can have different kinds of runners - gritty antiheroes fighting "the man"; cold-eyed professional expediters; criminal lowlifes; or deranged crazies of various stripes. It really depends on how the GM sees shadowrunners, and what kind of characters the other players bring to the table. In some campaigns, your character would be disruptive, but in other campaigns, he would fit right in.

Timebombs are what I'm going for with those three contacts. It gives the GM something to play with when he feels like messing with me, as well as I've taken "Did you just call me dumb?" so when the bad roll comes, he gets to have all the fun. If the character is too disruptive to the rest of the group, the GM has all the ammo he needs to kill him off and I can come in with a fresh one. I know one of the other players is going to be a full on junkie, and one has gone for the "cold-eyed professional" type; so we only need a "gritty fighting the man" type and we've collected the set! The idea is that this character will work in the setup, legwork and social side of things, but play second-fiddle to everyone else when it comes to actually completing the job. He's got some passable skills in a firefight, but he's mostly there for the intimidation / con roll.

Looks fine to me - I'd welcome that as a backstory to my table, and I agree with you - that gives your GM plenty of interesting ways to develop the NPCs. To my mind, it also sets out the character as wanting to look at social dynamics not ballistics to resolve problems, which also makes adding some depth to the story and adding NPCs to interact with more viable than a team who apply 12mm logic to everything.

Thanks for the feedback all. I've finished the build with this character and very happy with the end result, can't wait to start playing!