Alright, ever since I saw "The Punisher" and played the video game, I wanted to create a character like him for Shadowrun. So here he is. Feedback and comments welcome.

I'll put up his back story later; trust me, it won't be a total carbon-copy of Frank Castle's story.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name:
Race: Human
Age: 30
Gender: Male
Concept: Vigilante

Build Points (130)
Attributes: 27 (54 points)
Skills: 45 (45 points)
Resources: 1,000,000 nuyen (30 points)
Race: Human (0 points)
Magic: Mundane (0 points)

Attributes (27)
Body: 5
Quickness: 4 (7)
Strength: 4 (7)
Charisma: 4
Intelligence: 5 (6)
Willpower: 5
Essence: 5.04
Bio Index Used: 5.70
Reaction: 4 (6)

Initiative: 4 (6) + 1D6 (3D6)

Dice Pools:
Combat: 7 (9)

Edges/Flaws:
-Bravery (+1)
-Extra Contact (+1)
-Resistance to Toxins (+1)
-Friends in High Places (+2) extra Level 2 contact in important position)
-Will to Live (Level 3) (+3) (3 extra boxes of overflow damage)
-Combat Monster (-1)
-Hunted (-6) (Several organized crime syndicates and gangs)

Contacts
-Chief Dockworker (Level 1)
-Fixer (for shadowruns) (Level 1)
-Private Investigator (Level 1)
-Arms Dealer (Level 2) (10,000 nuyen)
-Bounty Hunter (Level 2) (10,000 nuyen)
-Decker (Level 2) (10,000 nuyen)
-Fixer (for anti-organized crime and anti-gang activities) (Level 2) (10,000 nuyen)
-High-Ranking Lone Star (Seattle Branch) Officer (Level 2)
-Professional News Reporter (Level 2) (10,000 nuyen)
-Redmond Street Doc (Level 2) (10,000 nuyen)
-Snoop (Surveillance Guy) (Level 2) (10,000 nuyen)

Active Skills (45)
Assault Rifles: 6
Athletics: 5
Demolitions: 5
Launch Weapons (Grenade Launchers): 4 (6)
Pistols: 6
Shotguns: 6
Stealth: 6
Unarmed Combat: 6

Knowledge Skills
Criminal Organizations: 5
Gang Identification: 5
Local Neighborhood: 5
Magic: 5
Police Security Procedures: 5

Language Skills
English (R/W): 5 (2)
Italian (R/W): 3 (1)
Japanese (R/W): 3 (1)
Russian (R/W): 3 (1)

Cyberware:
-Cybereyes (with Low-Light, Flare Compensation, and Thermographic Vision) (all alpha-grade) (0.16 Essence) (26,000 nuyen)
-Cyberears (with Dampener, Amplification, and Spatial Recognizer) (all alpha-grade) (0.24 Essence) (24,400 nuyen)
-Internal Transducer (alpha-grade) (0.08 Essence) (4,000 nuyen)
-Smartlink II (with Range Finder) (all alpha-grade) (0.48 Essence) (11,000 nuyen)

Bioware:
-Sleep Regulator (0.30 Bio Index) (20,000 nuyen)
-Synthacardium (Rating 2) (0.30 Bio Index) (15,000 nuyen)
-Cerebral Booster (Rating 1) (0.40 Bio Index) (50,000 nuyen)
-Pain Editor (0.60 Bio Index) (60,000 nuyen)
-Symbiotes (Rating 2) (0.70 Bio Index) (35,000 nuyen)
-Synaptic Accelerator (Rating 2) (1.00 Bio Index) (200,000 nuyen)
-Muscle Augmentation (Rating 3) (1.2 Bio Index) (60,000 nuyen)
-Muscle Toner (Rating 3) (1.2 Bio Index) (75,000 nuyen)


Gear:
Weapons:
-Ares Predator III (with integral Smartlink II; silencer, range-finder, concealable holster, 20 spare clips, 150 rounds of Regular ammo, 150 rounds of EX Explosive ammo) (3,300 nuyen)
-Ares Alpha Assault Rifle (with integral Smartlink II, 2 points of recoil compensation (frame) and underbarrel grenade launcher; Gas Vent IV, range-finder, sling, 20 spare clips, 420 rounds of Regular ammo, 420 rounds of EX Explosive ammo, 80 Offensive High-Explosive mini-grenades) (13,110 nuyen)
-Franchi SPAS-22 (with integral Smartlink II and folding stock (1 point recoil compensation); Gas Vent IV, range-finder, underbarrel weight, sling, 200 rounds of Regular slug ammo, 200 rounds of EX Explosive slug ammo) (4,620 nuyen)
-C-4 (100 kilos; with timer and radio detonator) (8,350 nuyen)

Armor:
-30 sets of Ordinary Clothing (1,500 nuyen)
-Armor Jacket (with Gel Pack modification) (4,500 nuyen)
-Secure Long Coat (650 nuyen)
-Secure Clothing (450 nuyen)
-Combat Vest (190 nuyen)

Surveillance Counter-Measures Gear:
-Bug Scanner (Rating 6) (3,000 nuyen)
-White Noise Generator (Rating 6) (9,000 nuyen)
-Data Encryption System (Rating 6) (6,000 nuyen)
-Dataline Scanner (600 nuyen)

Surveillance Gear:
-Dataline Tap (Rating 6) (6,000 nuyen)
-Micro-Camcorder (2,500 nuyen)
-Micro-Recorder (Rating 6) (3,000 nuyen)
-Tracking Signal (Rating 6) (3,000 nuyen)
-Signal Locator (Standard) (Rating 6) (1,200 nuyen)

Security Gear:
-Chem Sniffer (Doorway) (Rating 5) (100,000 nuyen)
-Cyberware Scanner (Doorway) (Rating 5) (20,000 nuyen)
-Maglock (Rating 6) (600 nuyen)

Misc. Gear:
-10 pistol pouches (80 nuyen)
-10 rifle pouches (110 nuyen)
-20 shotgun pouches (160 nuyen)

Lifestyles:
-Low (apartment on outskirts of Downtown) (10 months prepaid) (10,000 nuyen)
-Squatter (Safehouse in Redmond) (permanent) (10,000 nuyen)
-Squatter (Safehouse in Puyallup) (permanent) (10,000 nuyen)
-Squatter (Safehouse in Bellevue) (permanent) (10,000 nuyen)
-Squatter (Safehouse in Tacoma) (permanent) (10,000 nuyen)
-Squatter (Safehouse in Everett) (permanent) (10,000 nuyen)

Starting Cash: 9,768 + (3D6 x 100) nuyen

I would have gone a totally different way with that really. Frank has gone the way of Low Essence. He has become less human and more detached, pretty much everything about the way extremely low essence is describes.

Also, you aren't going to get a reasonable facimilie without a boatload of added karma

I'd go with orthoskin/titanium bone lacing/smartlink/trauma damper. Also, this character is basically one of a million sterrt sams just with a tragic background.

I would go adept, as he and most of the marvel supes fall into that category IMO.

30......sets.....of.....regular....clothing.



Right.

Half woman, half sammie.

nah, it's not 'cause he a clothes-horse, it's for disguises. Look like a security guard, look like a construction worker, look like an electrician, look like a lumberjack, whatever he needs.

The only big hole I saw in the character is that he doesn't have an Electronics skill to use all that suveillance/counter-surveillance stuff. And where is his badass van?
And is his Decker contact his buddy Microchip? Does he still have that guy helping him in the comics?

I like the idea that he isn't an adept. Frank Castle was primarily a product of his training, and his psychoses. However, he doesn't have enough skills. He should have at least some skill in every ranged weapon as Castle was always learning eahc new weapon he could get his hands on... and often stocking his safe houses with them.

It's not like you can make superheroes right out of creation. You'll need a boatload of karma to do it.

Those skills will come in time.

Castle was always big on M-16's and the like, perhaps a better choice would be M-22A2 or M-23 tricked out?

What would be the point of toning the others down? Then it takes him longer to get better at everything else (he has to then raise his skills with more karma than if he just learned a new skill entirely).

Everybody starts somewhere. Even if it's only in one or two weapons.

[/QUOTE]Actually the entire conceptual point of Mr Castle is that he has no natural edge. He's a normal guy with no powers. Making him an adept is pretty well defeating the entire point.

Yeah but cyber does not really fit in there either, and adepts seem more natural.

but I think it makes sense with the character concept to go with cyber. His opponents get better, and so will he. Right now, before the world Re-Awakens, his advantage is that he is skilled, continually trains, and has a lot of experience. Once those amatuers he fights start wiring up he's gonna do the same to keep his experience, combat wisdom, and skill edge.

And I agree with Reaver, he wouldn't have the Combat Monster Flaw, that sounds more like Logan than Frank.

See, I got the Combat Monster idea from the Punisher game. I'm not sure if this was in the comics, but the game had something called "Slaughter Mode," in which the screen turns black, white, and trippy and he goes to town on his enemies, gutting them with knives and slicing their heads off (and regaining health in the process).

Given that, why wouldn't it fit?

Allright, as a disclaimer I'm a big fan of Mr Castle.

I've thought of how to make his character in SR but never actually done it. I may do it when I get home tonight, as I have no character generation method here at work.

Conceptually you'd need to change his background to a more recent military conflict, and Desert Wars really doesn't fit. It needs to be a messed up and brutal conflict. Fundamentally in the grand scheme of things Frank wants war.

Frank was not a normal man who fought in a war and went back to his wife and kids. Frank was a soldier that had a wife and kids for a while then went back to the war. There are no deep personality conflicts, there are no twists and turns.

Frank is an absolute and total sociopath and psycopath that happens to have a strict moral code. Frank doesn't kill people because of revenge really, it hasn't been about revenge since the beginning. Frank kills people because in his mind those people need to die, and those people need to die because they harm innocents.

Frank has also been doing this for 30 years. Hos character is unique among comic books in that he (at least with the current authors) ages in real time. He's about 54. He's also in phenominally good shape.

Castle should have phenominal willpower and above average intellignece, with a low charisma. Physical stats should be as high as possible.

In the context of SR cyberware is common for hardened veterans and career military men, and would not be unusual for him to have. Cyberware in the context of his comic book character isn't used because cyber is for supervillians and heroes, while in SR it's far more common and less special.

Frank is not a fast man, but he is horribly efficient at killing, and focuses a lot on the ability to soak damage. Frank knows that if you put yourself in a gunfight you're going to take a hit, so make sure you survive that hit. This is the reason that I'd go with the orthoskin/titanium bone lacing combo. It allows the most impact/ballistic armor integrally and lowring TN's is almost always more effective than adding dice.

For bioware I'd probably go for synaptic one or two and a trauma damper and sleep regulator. Nothing else off the top of my head shows as necessary.

For other misc cyberware I'd definitely add a smartlink II and a second induction pad for his offhand and a datajack. I'd also lean twards a lot of senseware, cybereyes with lowlight/flare comp and thermo, probably ultrasound. Cyberears with hearing amp and damper. In combat situational awareness is KING. There is no substitute. I'd also use a Spatial recognizer with a mapping unit. In combination with the ultrasound it automatically maps his surroundings and could display them via a display link.

That's just off the top of my head.

insert into this post everything bitbasher just said, with added emphasis.

HMHVV Hunter:

There have been several incarnations of the Punisher--the character first appeared in 1974, as a hit man in THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, Volume 1, Issue #129 (February 1974). He was a hit man with a difference--he only hunted criminals. (One of Spidey's adversaries, The Jackal, had hired The Punisher to get rid of the webslinger, deceiving Castle by telling him that Spider-Man was a supercriminal.)

In the original, comic book version, Frank Castle (birth name, Frank Castiglione--his father Anglicized the name when he was six) was a U.S. Marine who fought in the Vietnam War, earning two Silver Stars, two Bronze Stars, and four Purple Hearts.

While on leave in NYC Castle, his wife, and their two children (a son and a daughter) were taking a walk in Central Park when they quite literally stumbled the scene of a Mafia hit. The killers panicked and shot all four of them, intending to eliminate any witnesses. Frank was the only survivor. After he left the hospital, he went A.W.O.L. from the Marine Corps (for a while, the Marines wanted him for desertion; as he's undertaken a few jobs for the U.S. over the years, though, it's possible that the warrant has been withdrawn, or the charges dropped) , and has been waging a one-man war on the Mob ever since.

In the unofficial movie adaptation of The Punisher (1986) starring Dolph Lundgren and Louis Gossett, Jr., Castle was a Drug Enforcement Administration agent whose wife and two daughters were murdered by a car bomb intended for him. Castle himself was seriously injured and left for dead, but recovered. A major drug trafficker had put out a contract on Castle because his operation was losing money due primarily to Castle's efforts.

In the official adaptation released last year (under the same title), Frank Castle (Thomas Jane) was an ex-Special Forces (Delta Force) operative turned FBI agent whose family was killed in retaliation for the accidental killing of Bobby Saint, son of Howard Saint (John Travolta), a wealthy Tampa businessman with underworld connections. Saint orders the killing of Castle's entire family at a reunion, and only Frank survives. Castle hides out in a Tampa tenement, and starts retaliating. Saint hires a number of assassins to take him out.

You can find information on both films at The Internet Movie Database.

(I saw part of the 1986 film on cable TV several years ago, and I was disappointed. I haven't seen the newer version.)

--Foreigner

Just make sure your character doesn't go through a goth angel of redemption phase.

Wow.

Are there any comic adaptations that actually show The Punisher as the hero he is rather than some psychopath? In the movie, he struck me as a "Boondock Saints" sorta guy; is he like that in any comic adaptations?

In any case, yeah he might not work well in a conventional game, but if the GM decides to do some alternate form of game, it could work.

it varies. he's never really been portrayed as a "good guy", though. i mean, yeah, he fights bad guys--but he's a dirty bastard about it. always has been.

Let's not delude ourselves, anyone that serts out to kill other humans for whatever reason is already a little off psychologically.

Yes, he only hunts criminals. Yes he tortures burns, kills and does whatever is neccesary to kill them. But he has a VERY big point about making sure no innocents are hurt, and god help you if you shoot inocents and he finds out about it. Ultimately the ends justify the means in that he reduces crime but he is by no means a hero. He is an anti-hero.

Even in the movie he isn't a good guy. He sets out at the end of the film to set up shop where needed to massacre those to do wrong unto others. He's not exactly doing it for altruistic reasons although if you really want to you can think that he is doing it so that noone else has to suffer the loss of loved ones like he has as long as he can do anything about it. That was so long ago though now it's what he does because it's just what he does.

Some people do taxes, some wash cars, he kills people. He's probably far more ruthless than even any bad guy or villian from about any comic book or movie I can even remember, his energies are just directed in a more "acceptable" direction.

As a note, his street rep is huge. most cop's wont arrest them, and most bounty hunters won't even try because they like living.

He's probably easily got a few thousand karma, probably more than that. He's not a well rounded character. He has combat skills, interrogation and intimidation, and thats about it. And he's now been killing people (counting military service) for 37 or so years, and he doesn't take days off except to heal. He's a karma earning freight train of judgement... or rather punishment.

Even in the movie he's not a good guy, he's just the protagonist. There's a difference.

Well put BitBasher.

If you're going off the game, you'll have to give him "Killing people with things in the background" as a skill.

Also, he should have way more guns than a shotgun, a rifle, and a pistol.

"antihero, n.

A main character in a dramatic or narrative work who is characterized by a lack of traditional heroic qualities, such as idealism or courage."

Judging by that definition (from dictionary.com), I don't know if I'd say The Punisher is an anti-hero. He's certainly idealistic (both about killing criminal scum and not killing innocents), and he's not lacking in courage. And I'm sure many people that saw the movie let out an internal cheer when he laid down the law, so at least to them he's a hero. Sure, the way he goes about getting justice isn't for the squeamish, but I dunno if that alone makes him an anti-hero.

In any case:

I'm aware that I don't have all the skills and/or equipment The Punisher has yet, but keep in mind, this is a starting character. Just think of this as The Punisher starting out. I still need to pick up the interrogation skill, but I figured combat skills were more important at this stage.

Also, as far as the electronics skill: the way I see it, his electronically-minded contacts and friends tell him enough about how to use it that it makes up for his deficiencies with them. I'll purchase that skill too, if I ever get to play this guy.

Frank Castle is in no way, shape or form an "antihero." Likewise, nor are any of the "dark fated, dark souled warriors" that hear about so often here.

An antihero is pretty much an everyday loser. Not a super powered killer. Go read "Death of a Salesman," if you want a real antihero. Don't show me your badass killer with no morals.

If comic book writers and artists say Frank Castle is an antihero, they are wrong. Sorry. They should read more. A dictionary would be a good start. Not knowing how to properly use a word is no excuse for coining an inappropriate catch phrase.

All "villians" posess heroic traits, therefore, they are not "antiheros"

I'm a "your ends justify your means," kind of guy and I'm waaaaaay more of an antihero than Frank. (See my comment on "everyday losers")

As for the Punisher stats, I agree that's impossible to make a comicbook hero using char gen mechanics. There just aren't enough points.

HMHVV Hunter used 130 BPs and still didn't cover all the bases. No offense, its a great character but it lacks skills like "Interrogation" (possibly with the Torture spec) and "Intimidation." Both are skills that are pretty much required for Frank. Other than being 5(ish) BPs over the generally accepted limits, I like him.

I see no reason he could not be a PhysAd. Not all PhysAds view their power as GREAT AND MYSTICAL.

I see no reason why Frank is low essence. His detachment from "normal" society is a direct result of his personal loss. You could argue that the detachment was always there, waiting to come out and the murder of his family triggered it but...I personaly think that's weak. If we're going off the movie, he seemed like a fairly well adjusted family man.

Wether Frank is a PhysAd or a Sam or a Norm with a ridiculus amount of Edges is a point of personal interpretation. Given his spec ops background (Delta Force? in the original or SF/CTU currently) I'd probably suggest a PhysAd with some chrome.

There's no reason a 2060ish Frank wouldn't use an Alpha. He made fine use of an M4 with GL, there's no reason not to upgrade.

Just to clarify my "Antihero" status:

kevyn668

Antihero

B: 4 (its probably closer to 3)
Q: 4 (I'd like to say 5 but that's not realistic)
S: 3 (Meh...)
C: 4 (I'd like to say 5, but find that hard to believe)
I: 4 (I'd like to say 5, but I have trouble with the Mensa Challenge of the day calander, so...)
W: 4 (its probably closer to 3. I have trouble resisting the magical powers of strippers.)

Flaw: Ends justify means (1pt)

I'm not currently magicaly active

I do not have any chrome or bio.

I can drive a car (standard transmission included) but I am not Handsom Rob.

I can operate a PC (my Google Fu is strong and that's about it) but I am not Trinity.

I have had several years of martial arts training and have been in a number of RL fights (I like to think I'm batting 500 in that department. The actual number may be lower ) but am not Jett Lei.

I can shoot a pistol or a shotgun fairly well but I am not Cho Yun Fatt.

I have had girlfriends in the past but have been single for the past 3 years.

The biggest recent highlight in my life was reaching "Runner" status.

I spend my nights and weekends posting to a BBS dedicated to a roleplaying game.

These are example traits of a "true" antihero.

[/sobstory]

While Frank Castle does have qualities of "hero" in him, he also possesses a much darker "antihero" quality to him. As a long time reader of the comic, I absolutely know this. Yes, he does possess idealism. Courage? Hmm, not so sure on that one. Despite the trite late 90's years of Punisher, most writers developed the character's mental demise. When Punisher went into urban combat, he was doing so because he had nothing left to lose. Was he a loser? No. He was effectively playing the role of the hero without actively wishing to do so. He had social problems, drinking problems, he is a man with a definite lack of heroic qualities to him. A man with little to live for... besides his insatiable vengance-bent.

Here's a pretty good editorial rebuttal to a Hero vs. Antihero article on RPGamer that deals with this exact issue.

That guy uses Final Fantasy 7 as a citation in his article. As such, he loses all credibility in my eyes.

The Punisher's active skills might be narrowly focused, but his knowledge skills should definitely include things like guerilla tactics, psych ops, etc. He is not just fearsome because he is a badass - he is fearsome because he is ruthlessly cunning, knows how to play on an enemy's fears, and knows how to use his surroundings to improvise any number of lethal stunts.

He is a deceptively difficult character to play, both because his morality is so unbending, and because he is so very intelligent as a combattant.

Oh yeah, Pun has spent a significant amount of karma on knowledge skills. Amusingly he doesn't call a lot of contacts he just tortures a lot of organized crime soldiers until one points him where he needs to go. There's a lot of torture on Frank's menu, most of it is on the 99 cent value menue, as it gets ordered frequently and in volume.

But remember...above all.... what he does is not vengeance....


It's PUNISHMENT!!

I haven't read many Punisher comics recently, but from what I remember, the new movie did not have the same "grittiness" and darkness I recall.

However, the last battle in the new movie basically summed up everything I liked about the Punisher comic in its pure intensity and gore. I ended up wishing the whole film was like that last fight in the building.

I REALLY liked him stabbing that guy under the chin and seeing the blade in his mouth. THAT was bad ass.

None taken.

Personally, I don't think the Punisher is lacking in the 'Ideals' category.