Character Creation Walk Through

Okay in the Shadowrun 5e Core Guidelines go to page 62 where we can walk through the process and we will discuss each piece as we go.

Step One : Choose Concept

Read through pages 62 through 64 be sure to read it all and tell me what you think you might enjoy playing -- keep in mind certain archetypes will be easier to play than others due to the layers of complexity within the game. Now as many variants are being allowed keep in mind if while reading those pages you get a concept you feel might be fun to play as there is a very good chance that we can implement that as well.

Your standard Human is the most common race and there are some times prejudices against other non-human races. For instance Japan is very prejudice against non-humans and to a lesser degree non-Japanese humans. However, I am not sure how our GM plans to make their Philippines in regards to this but there a pockets where there are reverse prejudices well like the underground (I assume there is one here) where Trolls and Orks rule and Dwarves are accepted but other races are sometimes viewed with disdain or outright hostility. And of course, no one every trusts a dragon as such everyone knows to Never Deal with a Dragon of course they are extremely rare so not like you bump into one of those everyday, and often if you do bump into you might even know it. And no I highly doubt the GM will let you play a dragon, of course if you did it be a young one a major target for every mage out there.

Respond to this post with your ideas towards what you think you might like to play -- use broad strokes when painting the picture that will help us to drill it down to the details that best fit what you feel you might have fun playing. Focus on character concept and personality and those kind of things mostly.

P.S. Feel free to use DnD5e references if that helps for instance Orcs are Orcs and Trolls in this game are more like Ogres in DnD, elves are elves and dwarves are dwarves and we have just about every other race both playable and not-directly playable that can be found in DnD5e

Okay, so I have a goblin artificer that I loved playing that could fit the bill. Are there goblins in here? Think Rocket Raccoon crossed with Warcraft goblins. :D So like...a mechanic of some sort? Big guns? Bombs?

You're likely looking at a street samurai then. There are hobgoblins, not sure on normal goblins, I haven't read all the supplements.

I'm definitely looking for a small, animalistic race of some kind.

Okay well goblins in Shadowrun are just diseased ghoul-like creatures -- so we would be working with a Dwarf or Dwarf MetaVariant

Dwarves appear in the core guildelines so no need for me to cover them the other metavariants for dwarves can be found HERE but to be clear they are as follows:

Gnomes: ....... Central European Dwarf
Harumen: ...... Dwarven variant from India with monkey-like appearance
Koborokuru: .. Japanese Dwarven variant
Menehune: .... Hawaiʻian Dwarf
Querx: .......... Variant from Saxony in the Allied German States

Monkey Dwarf?! Booyah. Let's do that. Haha

Okay, so here's my Heroforge mock-up. Where do I go next? You said a street samurai? I can see him being a sort of bounty hunter type?

I myself have become interested in the shapeshifters. Curious in making a stealth/infiltration focused pantherine Adept. (Which may mean my mystic adept just becomes a mage, or I even just swap characters.

You might want to look at some of the Monkeyking images but yours works too just giving potential suggestions. The Mankey is what came to my mind when I first glanced at the description.

Hanuman

Bdy 1/6 ... Agi 2/7 ... Rea 1/6 ... Str 2/7 ... Wil 1/6 ... Log 1/5 ... Int 2/7 ... Cha 1/5 ... Edg 1/6 ... Ess 6 ... Init: Rea + Int
Racial Traits: Low-Light Vision, Monkey Paws, Prehensile Tail, Unusual Hair (Body)
This metatype has a +20% increase to Lifestyle costsSo you were talking a small guy with big guns that knows how to make them as wall as perhaps be a mechanical/electrical genius of a sorts. Now you say Street Samurai bounty hunter style character. That could be two totally separate paths as street samurai generally focus on physical characteristics and a mech/tech genius would focus more on the mental aspects.

So need a clarification on your character concept -- more physical or more mental oriented

That may be my fault for saying street sam earlier, as just saw the big guns + grenades.

Hey LightOfMidnight are you wanting help with your character build as well ?

I should be mostly good but I may be keeping an eye on here, and occasionally asking questions/still writing down steps. As by using HL I may miss some stuff, like just realised you can adjust lifestyle to a degree.

Edit: As only made one before and it was in a game we were all new to the system.

I’ll say it this way, and hopefully it helps. If this was 5e, it would be artificer, with multiclass into rogue. So smart first, but also nimble and stealthy. Does that make sense? Definitely INT first, DEX second.

Okay DnD Int is SR Log -- and DnD Wis is SR Int

And yes that makes sense so not a typical Street Sam per-sae as they tend to be more Tanky like Fighters in DnD except they move a LOT faster let me mull the concept around in my head and outline some options

Thinking to make a male Human Adept.

okay

Re: Metahuman Discrimination and Discrimination (draft)

Okay Mr.Armitage I rolled the concept around in my head some and you have two paths we could go -- one is going to require tactics to pull off (and we the other players can perhaps help with this) and the other is much more straight forward but lacks imo pizzazz but it would be lean mean and semi-effective in most situations.

1) Rigger 2) AdeptOkay so option 1 is more like the Artificer but this Artificer does not usually carry big guns they put them on a vehicle and then remotely use that vehicle. This guy would make things and use them, sort of like summoning monsters to do your fighting for you. However a rigger is not good because of their stats nor the vehicles they use. They are good if played cleverly. For instance, Riggers are as good at spying as they are at combat. One does not need to directly kick azz like a Street Sam for there to be plenty of appreciation for their skills. Someone flying a drones over the combat, finding all the of the baddies, and putting them on a AR map for their buddies so their buddies know where to lob the grenades, while also having a drone watching the escape route, while yet another flying high to watch for trouble further afield, etc...

The Adept on the flip side can be like the DnD Monk on steroids. If done properly no single individual can do more damage than they can in a fight and they are far form being a glass-cannon. While the Street Sam is like a high-speed Tiger Tank the Adept is the the higher-speed more maneuverable Panther Tank. Neither one of them is invulnerable but both are very hard to put down, if designed properly and playing to their strengths. The ranged Adept would be more like a highly specialized Archer while the melee Adept would be like a highly specialized swordsman

Of the two I think the Rigger is closest to the concept you described BUT the question I pose to you is are you up for the challenge that playing one requires. Its not necessarily learning all the intricate details of the game but it will involve learning how to use all the elements you have at hand to their greatest effect which I will not lie means reading a lot about how combat works and figuring out how to use your remote vehicles to exploit that. It also means figuring out other effective uses for the vehicles for doing other things, for instance getting a small spying vehicle that is built to be as realistic as possible like the Entertainment Systems Falcon (A Falcon Shaped drone with realistic feathers). Your imagination and money are you only limits to this.

I definitely think the rigger is the best fit

Okay Rigger it is -- so now you need to answer those questions posed by the GM
You should be able to answer these questions without having dived into the nitty gritty details of your mechanics

Further I suggest, as we continue forward, that you start reading the combat rules in general and then I will point out somethings later on that you ought to take specific note of -- other than that we will continue on to...

Step 2: Select Priorities (Choose MetaType and Magic/Resonance)
Step 3: Assign Attributes

Here is where we get into defining the skeleton of your character that all the muscle and organs get placed within -- this has a Major Impact on your end character and determines greatly what you will be able to do out of the box. To me and many others the Attributes are generally the most important thing as they greatly affect all of your Dice Pools and are generally the most expensive to raise later on. Of course, the differences between this and the other important items can be like splitting hairs but again to me the most costly thing to raise later on and the thing you cannot do without up front is solid Attributes.

However the easy-peasy thing for this character is what gets put into Slot E as you are not doing Magic nor Resonance its a throw away for you. Okay so that leaves Attributes, Metatype, Skills, and Resources and Slots A, B, C, and D

Your Metatype starts with these Attributes:
Bdy 1 ... Agi 2 ... Rea 1 ... Str 2 ... Wil 1 ... Log 1 ... Int 2 ... Cha 1 ... Edg 1

So to get a 2 in all Attributes will Cost 5 and that is the bare minimum one should have still to be an effective character IMO you need 3s in all Attributes which increases Cost 13 for this character. Now you can only have one Attribute at a 6 without augmentations and the since your Logic is capped at 5 this means we want to take Reaction to a 6. This just means your character will a bit better at Piloting things than they will be at Jumping In things so with everything at a 3 it costs an additional 3 to get Reaction to a 6 and 2 to get Logic to a 5 (which you need for fixing stuff) for an additional total Cost 18 so while a 24 Attribute points would be nice we can get by with just 20 (but that is your call). Assuming we go with 20 that puts that in Priority B and we put that last 2 points into Intuition to helps us with Initiative and your Attributes would look like this:

Bdy 3 ... Agi 3 ... Rea 6 ... Str 3 ... Wil 3 ... Log 5 ... Int 4 ... Cha 3 ... Edg 1

Further we have to put Priority C as your Metatype or you cannot be Hanuman

A) Hanuman(7) -5 Karma ... B) Hanuman(4) -5 Karma ... C) Hanuman(1) -5 Karma

And since you do not have Magic nor Resonance we put that one Special Point into Edge raising it to a 2

Bdy 3 ... Agi 3 ... Rea 6 ... Str 3 ... Wil 3 ... Log 5 ... Int 4 ... Cha 3 ... Edg 2

Thus your Priority Chart would look like this:

... Priority A : Resources (500,000¥)
... Priority B : Attributes (20)
... Priority C : Hanuman (1)
... Priority D : Skills (22/0)
... Priority E : Magic/Resonance (0)

This is going to hurt a bit with Skills but for a Rigger Attribute/Resources are 1 and 2. You will see why, as we progress forward, these two are as important as I have denoted but for now just trust me we can always go back and change things. Also you are going to need to consider how much Essence you are okay with losing to put in Cyberware/Bioware but we will need to balance their costs against what we want to spend on Vehicles. Still both can be acquired later if desired.

If you are okay with the above we can move to the next step -- but if you have any questions please ask them as you need to understand this step for as I said this is your characters skeleton or foundation that everything else gets built upon