A shadowrun Adventure (Covid-81)

Game Master DEWN MOU'TAIN

From the interest post i made, there is a lot of interest in me starting a Shadowrun 5th edition game.

That being said, i want to let everyone know that this would be my first shadowrun game in a long, long time. And my first using 5th edition. I know 6th edition is out there, but i dont have the book for 6th yet. (plus ive heard some bad things about 6th, so that bears further investigating).

I only have the 5th edition core rulebook, so any and all information/gear/spells/etc will be found in there.

So, since this is my first, im...not sure what to really put here, so ill just wing it.

Character creation:

all characters start with 25 karma

character generation is derived from using the Priority table, found on page 65 of the core book.

When making your character, list your priority steps, for example

Priority A) Troll
Priority B) 20 attributes
Priority C) 140,000 nuyen
priority D) 22/0 skills
Priority E) Non-magical

...and i need to make dinner for the family.

so let's start there. if interested, make a priority list, and submit below, and we can work through the build process.

if you have already played Shadowrun 5th edition before, feel free to submit a full character, showing the steps used to make the character.

there is a program called chummer found online that allows you to make characters. i dont have any experience with it, so i cannot tell you if it's any good or not for making/streamlining a character creation process.

I'll need to look over the rulebook before committing to anything. I'll get back to you, because currently I'm not even sure what the priority thing is all about. =p

A: Attributes (24)
B: Magic (Adept)
C: Skills (28/2)
D: Metatype (Elf)
E: Resources (6000Y)

== Priorities ==
Attributes: A - 24 Attributes
Resources: B - 275,000¥
Skills: C - 28 Skills/2 Skill Groups
Metatype: D - Human or Elf
Special: E - Mundane

Character is complete from the previous game here, though a couple of things will have to be stripped off from that game.

Chummer is excellent, especially if you know what you're doing; if you don't, you should get assistance / follow the book, and merely use Chummer as the method by which you keep track of development, inasmuch as it won't let you cheat. ;)

If anyone has any questions, I am available to consult.

sweet...will get worling on a guy....thinking elf shooter type

I've read the priorities thing and think I have the general gist. AFB again but I'm going to put down my general character archetype as likely to be a Rigger of some sort, with a little robo-buddy.

...My entire knowledge of Shadowrun comes from Shadowrun: Hong Kong, so it may be a long process on my end.

A: Attributes (24)
B: Resources (275k)
C: Skills (28/2)
D: Metatype (Human)
E: Magic (None)

Looking to make a burn-out samurai who is loaded with what once was prime tech, but is now a little glitchy. He now lives on the streets and tries to stay out of trouble...but it always seems to find him!

That's a great game Storm Dragon. I'm about 2/3rds the way through it.

The other shadowrun games from the same studio are also really good.

@Rizzenmagus: where in the world are we starting/being based out of? Seattle, or someplace else?

As for my backstory, I'm going to be playing a more experienced shadowrunner who paid almost all his money to afford leonization treatments (it basically resets your body to when you were a teenager/young adult).

I have a fully fleshed character that has been on one run with a local group. He is a gun adept with the following priorities and crafted using only the core book:

A) Attributes
B) Skills
C) Adept
D) Human
E) Nguyen

I had a single skill from run and gun that will need to be changed as it is a complex skill and I do not want to burden you while learning the core rules. Will work on an alias this weekend.

Dot. Not sure about concept yet.

Dot.

Now, imho, more than priorities or whatever, I think we should talk about roles, right?

I am more or less willing to play any role, except maybe from thech-related ones. I so suck at tech things that I avoid them even in RPGs, sorry.

So, if you still want a full-fleshed character, that's ok. I'll skim through the book and come out with something.

@Vrog: What is your adept going to be good at? I had a native american adept in mind, melee & infiltration guy (but still don't know if it's possible in this edition to achieve that straight from the beginning).

Dotting for interest - already in a SR5E game here on the boards, but still relatively new to the system.

Am mulling an Ogre Mage... will turn the cogs o'er the next few days and see what pops.

Dot. (never tried PbP before so not sure I did that correctly)

I have a large amount of experience with SR5e, but not PbP. If there is room in a PbP SR5e game, I would be very interested.

My build would be a physical adept troll with a bear mentor spirit.

Grumph is a drummer in a local band who has beefed tasked by mother bear to protect and care for a local group of street children (all of whom have been displaced for a wide variety of prejudices.) To feed and care for his wards Grumph turns to the shadows and relies on his previous military training.

Just to remind everyone, only the core rule book is being used for rules, gear, races, etc.

So, to point out Black Dow, no ogre's. sorry.

@vrog: let's keep it simple, and stick with seattle

Um, too many combat/adept/combatadepts, it seems... I'll have to look for further inspiration.

alright, some people have submitted their priorities, so we'll go to the next step. again, im doing this to learn the system and help those who dont know what to do.

next step is to assign mental and physical attributes.

so, using my example of my troll, i chose priority B for 20 attribute points.

my idea is to have a CQC (close quarters combat) troll. so, i want to emphasize agility, body, and strength.

Base stats for a troll showing min and max stats

Body (BODY) 5/10
Agility (AGI) 1/5
Reaction (REA) 1/6
Strength (STR) 5/10
Will (WIL) 1/6
Logic (LOG) 1/5
Intelligence (INT) 1/5
Charisma (CHA) 1/4

so then id spend 4 attribute points on agility to max that out, 2 points for strength, and 4 points for body. id have left over 10 attribute points to disperse amongst the other stats. Ill increase reaction to 2 (1points), will to 3 (2 points), Int to 4 (3 points), CHA to 3 (2 points), and LOG to 3 (2 points)

so the troll will look like this
BOD 9
AGI 5
REA 2
STR 7
WIL 3
LOG 3
INT 4
CHA 3

Um, too many combat/adept/combatadepts, it seems... I'll have to look for further inspiration.

I see it too, so to also help with a "well rounded" group, here are some roles to consider for the new folks:

Combat - Street Samurai, Physical Adept, some Riggers
Magic - Mages, Shamans, Magical Adept, Burned Out Mage (the key attribute for magic is Essence, as you add intrusive implants, your essence is diminished)
Matrix - Decker, Technomancer, some Riggers (think of the Matrix as modern day internet as viewed through the lens of Tron)
Face - Anyone can be the Face, you just have to shift some attributes and skills around to make it viable

Lesser roles include a driver and scout:

Driver - Any team member with good driving skills, usually a Rigger. Everyone should be able to at least have basic skill to drive one or more of bikes, cars, boats, planes, etc.
Scout - scouting is done on the Matrix and in the physical and metaphysical world; it is mostly a subset of one of the primary roles above.

Here are the attributes for my PHYSAD:

BOD 1/6
AGI 1/6
REA 1/6
STR 1/6
WIL 1/6
LOG 1/6
INT 1/6
CHA 1/6
Essence 6/6
Magic 4/6 (based on selected priority)

Priority A gives me 24 points for attributes and as I am limited to a single attribute maximum and speed/initiative are tied to the combination of REA and INT, I am giving 5 points to INT and 4 to REA. As I have a combat role as a shooter, I also add 4 points each to BOD and AGI. This character was not planned to be a Face, but if necessary, I can adjust to fill the role later. I am at 17 of 24 and give the rest of them a more or less equal share, 1 to STR and LOG each, 2 to CHA and 3 to WIL. I gave WIL a higher priority than STR because I do not intend to be in hand to hand very much and WIL directly influences my stun damage track. This gives me the following totals:

BOD 5/6
AGI 5/6
REA 5/6
STR 2/6
WIL 4/6
LOG 2/6
INT 6/6
CHA 3/6
Essence 6/6
Magic 4/6

Essence and Magic are not adjusted at this stage, but they are very important to my character, so I am always keeping them in mind.

I think I'm going to bow out, sorry.

So, after looking things over, for a Rigger typed dude this seems a good Priority:

A.) Skills
B.) Resources
C.) Attributes
D.) Metatype (Human)
E.) Magic (none).

Or am I overestimating skills and underestimating attributes, since it seems like EVERYBODY has set Attributes to Priority A?

Hmmm...it does seem we have plenty of meaty shields being produced...perhaps I will give a mage a try...never played one before!!

I usually set attributes to A, cause I like not having dump stats.

To answer the question about my role, I'm going to be a Face/Infiltrator.

Going to the next step:

Base Elf Stats:
BOD 1/6
AGI 2/7
REA 1/6
STR 1/6
WIL 1/6
LOG 1/6
INT 1/6
CHA 3/8
EDG 1/6

Elf Racial: Low-Light Vision

I get 2 points of Edge for free from my Race priority, and i am going to allocate the rest of my points thusly:

Bod: +4
Agi: +2
Rea: +2
Str: +2
Wil: +2
Log: +2
Int: +4
Cha: +5

Hanging onto 1 point at the moment for the next step.

This leaves my final attribute totals:

BOD 5
AGI 4
REA 3
STR 3
WIL 3
LOG 3
INT 5
CHA 8
EDG 3

My one maxed stat is, obviously, Cha.

Ok..here is my new stats. Going for Magician.

A.) Magic - Magican
B.) Attributes
C.) Skills
D.) Resources
E.) Metatype - Human

Next are my attributes

BOD 2
AGI 3
REA 3
STR 2
WIL 6
LOG 5
INT 4
CHA 4
EDG 3
Mag 6

Ok..here is my new stats. Going for Magician.

A.) Magic - Magican
B.) Attributes
C.) Skills
D.) Resources
E.) Metatype - Human

Next are my attributes

BOD 2
AGI 3
REA 3
STR 2
WIL 6
LOG 5
INT 4
CHA 4
EDG 3
Mag 6

Just dropped in to see how we are doing. Looks like you are one over for your attributes and a priority E human only gets 1 edge. Have you given thought to which tradition you want to use? As a primary magic user, you got lots of choices.

A.) Resources
B.) Skills
C.) Attributes
D.) Metatype (Human)
E.) Magic (none).

Going by advice I got elsewhere, this is better for a Rigger, and I was leaning toward this priority anyway.

So my starting Human Attributes:

BOD 1/6
AGI 1/6
REA 1/6
STR 1/6
WIL 1/6
LOG 1/6
INT 1/6
CHA 1/6
Essence 6/6
Magic N/A (?) (or 0/6? Not sure how this game does attributes you simply don't have.

Then 19p to spend:

BOD 4/6
AGI 4/6
REA 6/6
STR 1/6
WIL 1/6
LOG 6/6
INT 4/6
CHA 1/6
Essence 6/6
Magic N/A (?) (or 0/6? Not sure how this game does attributes you simply don't have.

Seems a decent enough spread.

As much as I love Shadowrun, my time to try and learn a new system is pretty tight. I'm going to bow out but best of luck to people!

Not sure how this game does attributes you simply don't have.

If you're mundane, you don't actually have a magic attribute. Same thing with resonance.

A.) Resources

B.) Skills
C.) Attributes
D.) Metatype (Human)
E.) Magic (none).

Going by advice I got elsewhere, this is better for a Rigger, and I was leaning toward this priority anyway.

So my starting Human Attributes:

BOD 1/6
AGI 1/6
REA 1/6
STR 1/6
WIL 1/6
LOG 1/6
INT 1/6
CHA 1/6
Essence 6/6
Magic N/A (?) (or 0/6? Not sure how this game does attributes you simply don't have.

Then 19p to spend:

BOD 4/6
AGI 4/6
REA 6/6
STR 1/6
WIL 1/6
LOG 6/6
INT 4/6
CHA 1/6
Essence 6/6
Magic N/A (?) (or 0/6? Not sure how this game does attributes you simply don't have.

Seems a decent enough spread.

Vrog Skyreaver is correct, you can disregard any stats that do not apply. Essence is good to track because it is also the limit of invasive technologies. As a reminder, starting characters are limited to a single maxed attribute, Essence by default starts at max and counts backwards. Review shows there are two here. I am not an expert with all aspects of this version of Shadowrun, but I want to help out anyone who is willing with building their character. Feel free to send any PMs.

Revised then:

BOD 4/6
AGI 4/6
REA 6/6
STR 1/6
WIL 1/6
LOG 5/6
INT 5/6
CHA 1/6
Essence 6/6
Magic N/A

Just to remind everyone, only the core rule book is being used for rules, gear, races, etc.

So, to point out Black Dow, no ogre's. sorry.

No worries chief - my bad for not clocking that. Will bow out gracefully :)

Unfortunately, I'm going to have to withdraw as well; Hawatari can't really be done purely from the core book. Thanks anyhow.

alright, i see that some people have dropped out. so i want to make a list of those who look like they are still in to play.

Vrog
Daniel stewart
TheDMstrikes
Storm Dragon

i'll have another posting online tonight for character development and what not. it'll be a novel as i hope to knock out a few more steps for making my character.

sounds good...I have mine done up on hero lab..

Hi again.

I'm at home, and this SR5 fever has started to catch on me... so I guess I'll submit a character anyways. With luck, I'll get selected over others. With no luck, well, at least I'll scratch my itches a bit by making a character on chummer :P

I'll see what I can get done tonight.

alright, i see that some people have dropped out. so i want to make a list of those who look like they are still in to play.

Vrog
Daniel stewart
TheDMstrikes
Storm Dragon

i'll have another posting online tonight for character development and what not. it'll be a novel as i hope to knock out a few more steps for making my character.

Still interested...just trying to decide between shaman and technomancer

RIZZENMAGNUS wrote:

alright, i see that some people have dropped out. so i want to make a list of those who look like they are still in to play.

Vrog
Daniel stewart
TheDMstrikes
Storm Dragon

i'll have another posting online tonight for character development and what not. it'll be a novel as i hope to knock out a few more steps for making my character.

Still interested...just trying to decide between shaman and technomancer

Go technomancer, I seen one in play and they are the future of deckers

yarp, still here...

Alright, so here comes a step by step of how the character is going. He's far from being fully optimized, but well...

The guy is a katana-wielding adept (I've noticed Thedmstrikes planned on a gunslinger, so I aimed for the opposite combat role). One of his "things" is he will have Astral Vision as a Power, but we'll get to that later. He's Human because I like having a good Edge pool and because I like having a more evenly spread array of attributes.

PRIORITIES

A Attributes
B Magic - Adept
C Resources
D Metatype - Human
E Skills

Let's go with the Attribute Points assignment. We all know already the Human chassis, so here's the result:

Body 4/6
Agility 6/6
Reaction 5/6
Strength 5/6
Charisma 2/6
Intuition 4/6
Logic 2/6
Willpower 4/6
Edge 5/7
Magic 6/6

So I think that's where we are. I'm not thrilled by having to leave some attributes at rank 2, but that's how it is.

Ok. glad to see we have people still interested! Let's carry on!

The list:
Jereru
Spazmodeus
Vrog
Daniel stewart
TheDMstrikes
Storm Dragon

Ok. so Step three is choosing magic or resonance.

My character isnt a magic user, so i dont need this step. But for other people listed, this is where you choose what type of magical practitioner you are based off of where you put your magic priority.

in the above post, Jereru chose Priority B for magic: Adept. This gives Jereru an Attribute: Magic 6 rating, and one rating 4 Active skill.

step 4 is purchase qualities:

there are both positive and negative qualities that can enhance your character. Positive qualities are perks, and cost karma to purchase said positive qualities, and Negative qualities are just like they sound and act. But, they give you karma to purchase other qualities.

So, We started with 25 karma...

ambidextrous costs 4 karma
Photographic memory costs 6 karma
10 karma spent

15 karma left over.

ok...i just fired up the chummer program...holy crap! I cant believe how easy it is to get things rolling with a character. Sheesh...i need to play with this more.

gonna go shaman...

Will have a profile or at least a skeleton of one up this evening...

Step 3:

Step 3 is pretty easy for me. I am an Adept with a Magic of 6, thanks to my priority purchase.

I am taking the following adept powers:

Voice Control r4 -2 pp
Combat Sense r4 -2 pp
Danger Sense r4 -1 pp
Kinesics r4 -1 pp

Step 4:

Positive Qualities:
- Exceptional Attribute (Cha) -14
- Mentor Spirit (Eagle) -5
- Photographic Memory -6

Negative Qualities:
- Simsense Vertigo +5
- Incompetent (Close Combat) +5
- Allergy (Severe; Gold) +15

oops, I just realized I made a mistake in the ordering of my priorities. I have my skills and magic backwards. Kinda matters for this step:

with a Magic rating of 6, I get 6 power points and would buy:

Improved Reflexes, level 3 = 3.5
Combat Sense level 1 = 1
Improved Physical Attribute (STR) level 1 = 1
Enhanced Accuracy (Automatics) level 1 = .25
Missile Parry level 1 = .25

Qualities (capped at 25 points for character generation) are evened out with good and bad, but outlined below (subject to GM approval):

Toughness = 9
Natural Athlete = 7
Ambidextrous = 4
Dependent (Child w/mother) = -3
SINner (UCAS) = -5
Bad Rep (UCAS sole survivor) = -7
Allergy (Gold, mild) = -5

These are all explained in his backstory.

Step 3: N/A

Step 4:

Positive Qualities:
Analytical Mind (5)
Gearhead (11)
Juryrigger (10)
Photographic Memory (6)
Codeslinger (Control Device; 10)
Ambidextrous (4)

Negative Qualities:

Code of Honor (Metasapient AI; -15)
Uncommon Mild Allergy (Antibiotics; -5)

PRIORITIES

A Attributes
B Magic - Adept
C Resources
D Metatype - Human
E Skills

Body 4/6
Agility 6/6
Reaction 5/6
Strength 5/6
Charisma 2/6
Intuition 4/6
Logic 2/6
Willpower 4/6
Edge 5/7
Magic 6/6 (5/5)

POSITIVE QUALITIES 15p total
Mentor Spirit - 5p (Wise Warrior)
Guts - 10p

NEGATIVE QUALITIES 25p total
Allergy - 5p (Mild, Cats)
Distinctive Style - 5p (Has a serene, calmed flow. Also wears a duster which reminds of Jedi robes.
Code of Honor - 15p (Kind of "Jedi" Code: don't let feelings interfere, try not to hurt anyone not involved, etc.)

That leaves me with a total of 10 extra Karma (35) for now. Later on, when spending Karma on skills and other things, I might buy some other Positive Qualities if I have some Karma left.

ADEPT POWERS 5 PP (Will be taking some augments later)
Astral Perception - 1 PP
Combat Sense +1 - 0.5 PP
Improved Ability +2 - 1 PP Blades
Improved Reflexes +2 - 2.5 PP

I'm quite divided on that. Should I buy Accuracy? Critical Strike? I'm going to boost STR and AGI through augments anyway, so not quite sure I'll end up with the right balance between Dice Pool, Accuracy and Damage. During the finishing touches I might adjust that.

Also, I don't know if this is a one shot or we plan on going on and receive further Karma, which would make me adjust my selections as well. But, for now, that's how it is.

Step 3: N/A

Step 4:

Positive Qualities:
Analytical Mind (5)
Gearhead (11)
Juryrigger (10)
Photographic Memory (6)
Codeslinger (Control Device; 10)
Ambidextrous (4)

Negative Qualities:

Code of Honor (Metasapient AI; -15)
Uncommon Mild Allergy (Antibiotics; -5)

Do not forget we are limited to 25 Karma worth of positive qualities at character generation. The extra Karma can go toward improving attributes, skills, or converted to cash (which will also have to be spent during generation).

Whew....Shadowrun's got so much going on ...so many options.
Gotta take a step back ...too many opinions on the interweb :)

Storm Dragon wrote:

Step 3: N/A

Step 4:

Positive Qualities:
Analytical Mind (5)
Gearhead (11)
Juryrigger (10)
Photographic Memory (6)
Codeslinger (Control Device; 10)
Ambidextrous (4)

Negative Qualities:

Code of Honor (Metasapient AI; -15)
Uncommon Mild Allergy (Antibiotics; -5)

Do not forget we are limited to 25 Karma worth of positive qualities at character generation. The extra Karma can go toward improving attributes, skills, or converted to cash (which will also have to be spent during generation).

@thedmstrikes: Thanks for the catch. i missed it.

Step 5: Purchase skills.

My troll had skills listed at priority D 22/0 skills.

the first number is the number you get for active skills, the second number is for skill groups. See page 88 of the book for more info about this.

Active skills chosen (22 points available)
Unarmed combat (spec BJJ) 6points
Tracking (Spec Urban): 2 points
Gymnastics: 2 points
Perception: 2 pooints
First aid: 2 points
sneaking: 1 point
Running: 3 point
Pistols: 2 points

20 points for skills, 2 points for individual specializations. total of 22 points.

Storm Dragon wrote:

Step 3: N/A

Step 4:

Positive Qualities:
Analytical Mind (5)
Gearhead (11)
Juryrigger (10)
Photographic Memory (6)
Codeslinger (Control Device; 10)
Ambidextrous (4)

Negative Qualities:

Code of Honor (Metasapient AI; -15)
Uncommon Mild Allergy (Antibiotics; -5)

Do not forget we are limited to 25 Karma worth of positive qualities at character generation. The extra Karma can go toward improving attributes, skills, or converted to cash (which will also have to be spent during generation).

I thought that was 25 points after factoring in negative abilities. I wasn't super attached to Codeslinger or Ambidextrous in any case. Really don't want to drop Analytical Mind, Juryrigger, or Gearhead though, and those together put me at 26. =/

I'll figure it out.