Shadowrun 4 : The gunslinger (sniper) adept

Elf Gunslinger (sniper) Adept
Race : Elf / Cost : 30 pt
Attribute : Adept (5 pt) ,  Aptitude (Longarm)(10pt)
Attribute cost : 210pt
Bod	Agi	Rea	Str	Cha	Int	Log	Will	Edge	Ess	Mag	Init	IP
4	6 (8)	4 (5)	2	3	4	2	2	3	5,68	4	8 (9)	2
Skill cost :  124pt
Longarm : 7 Spe : Sniper Dodge : 4 Spe : Ranged combat Stealth group : 4 Perception : 4 Locksmith : 4
Power List  : Improved ability 3 ( Longarm ) ( 1.5 )  Improved reflex 1 ( 1.5 )
Equipment cost : 11 pt / 5300 nuyen left Muscle toner 2 alphaware (32 000 nuyen, - 0.32 essence ) 1 Walter-Ma-2100 ( 5000 nuyen) 200 Ex Explosive round ( 200 nuyen) 1 Gas vent 2 system ( 200 nuyen )  1 Imaging scope ( 300 nuyen )  Chameleon suit + helmet ( 8/6) (9000 nuyen) Thermal damping for camouflage suit rating 6 ( 3000 nuyen )
total point = 390 / PB = 10 / SB = 9 / Armor : +8/+6

Comments :

- As usual, feel free to add some negative quality to gain some more points for your character creation. Most of the time i add a moderate allergy to uncommon element like gold, diamond or a like and then some element that will put out some background, like a sinner for example. 

- As a reminder, don't forget that you can't take at character creation any element that has an availability greater than 12 neither one with a rating above 6, whichever come first. 

- The Walter-Ma-2100 has been choose because he has already a smartgun system in it, and allow you to fire in semi automatic mode, that will give you an extra shot on each combat turn. Additionnaly, it has no edge drawback when fighting out of the sniper mode (see the description of sniper weapons, SR4 pg 319) . At last, this is the only one you can buy at character creation because the other one has an availability of 16. 

- Here i have mostly focus on a maximizing the shooting capacity of the guy You can shoot with the sniper in a semi auto mode (that will allow you to shoot two time on a combat phase) . The gas vent system is here to avoid any trouble with the recoil compensation. 

Here is your possibility :

1. You will roll 19 dice when attacking ( 7 skill + 2 spe + 8 agility + 2 smartgun ), and if you have set an image magnification and you use a take aim action, you could add 1 dice, reaching to 20 dice (SR4 core pg 150 ). 
2. Your base DV is 8 with an AP of -4. 
3. Because it s semi automatic, you can fire twice in the same combat phase ! Cooolll !! ^^
4. If you add some edge, you will have 23 dice to throw, and the rule of six will arrive also. 
5. You could add one dice if you take the reflex recorder for the skill (long arm). 
6. This mean that with the Edge, you will roll 24 dice, and the rule of six can give you 4 extra more ( if 6 cames up), so this mean 28 dice with an average 9 success, giving you a DV 8-17 with an AP of 4. Not so bad. 

- The stealth group is here because why spoil an agility of 8? And this will help you to sneak to the good place to shoot. 

- The camouflage suit it you best way to survive. With his -6 dice pool modifier to notify you by visual mean, the thermal damping and your stealth, you will be hard to spot. Add some jamming device also, to prevent people to use device that will allow to spot you with earing. Mage is not a big deal : if they can't see you , they can't cast a spell on you. 

- Take also some fumigene with you, to allow you to be harder to spot if you're discovered.

- As an elf, you have access to an high agility ( you can reach 10 with some augmentation, for example the thyroid gland). With that, you have also low light vision, to have no modifier in the night or dim area.

- You could also add some athletic skill or take a grapple gun to jump to the top of a building. Add this with enhanced articulation, and with the reflex recorder ( for 13 BP, you could already add two dice, and with 10 point for the skill group, you will have around 23 BP for 3 dice in all athletic field ), and you can start poking around without any problem.

- Here we have sacrifice 1 magic point, and it was enough, but you can have a magic attribute of 5 if you want, and ake another initiative pass.

- Don't spend your time taking the astral perception, and take only the bad karma drug in your stock if you want to cover this field. 

- Don't forget to buy a com link ;) that s why i have left 5300 nuyen, for the common buy ( lifestyle and so on )

Thayla's Voice

Here is some part of the background of shadowrun/earthdawn that i ve found. I m still searching where i ve seen this story about this songbird, but i wanted to share it with you. Should be useful in some future campaign. If you know who is this black man, just tell me (even if i have some doubt ;) ).



 The Legend of Thayla Ages ago, before written memory began, lived a queen of great beauty and even greater heart. Thayla reigned over a rich green valley nestled between two mountain ranges that rose like spikes into the heavens. Under her rule, the land she loved prospered, and her people lived their days in joy. Each morning thayla greeted the rising sun with a Song. She sang in a voice as clear as the air and as bright as the great burning orb itself. Nothing foul or dark could prosper in her land, for her voice was too pure for such abominations to bear.

One night an army of dark creatures made to enter the valley, seeking to overrun the prosperous land and corrupt it with their vile presence. Thayla rose that morning as she always did, and upon seeing the black army, sang. Her voice filled the valley with power and hope. The evil horde, shown the depravity of their existence by her voice, had no choice but to flee. And as they did - running with wild abandon for refuge beyond the valley - one black soldier slowed and, for the briefest of moments, listened to Thayla's Song.

Days passed, and the terrible army remained beyond the valley, fearful of the Song. Finally, driven by their dark masters, they surged forward again. And again Thayla sang. As before the foul creatures fell back blindly, unable to stand even a few pure notes of her voice. But again thelone, tall warrior with hair and eyes of dark fire lingered and listened, if only for a few moments, before fleeing the valley. The next time the creatures approached Thayla's domain, less of the army came. The rest were unable to marshal the will needed to enter the valley. But again, the lone dark soldier fell back last, so that he could hear her Song. Finally, not one of the black army would come. Not even the terrible threats of their vile masters could push them forward. But still a single warrior in ebony and red armor would slip into the valley befor each dawn and listen, and after a time, watch as well. The black figure advanced to where he could see Thayla standing high upon the terraces of the great sprawling city that surrounded her palace. And he would watch her every morning as she rose and greeted the new day with the Song. And as he listened, blood flowed from his ears and his skin blistered from the powerful purity of her voice, but he would not turn aside. He would not flee from her Song. And so he stood, listened, and watched. The one night, the dark warrior slipped into the city as Thayla slept.

He crept into her citadel, sat at the foot of her bed and watched her. When she woke and found him there, she called for her guards, but none were strong enough to move the dark warrior. She called her sorcerers, but none were wise enough to banish him. She sang to drive him away, but though his body and spirit were wracked with pain, he stood strong and firm, enraptured by her beauty. Unable to drive him away, the great Queen Thayla decided to ignore him. Though he stood at her side, she ate without speaking to him. Though he ran alongside as she took her horses out for exercise, she did not look at him. And though he stood silently nearby as she slept, she did not acknowledge his presence. Each morning she would rise and greet the sun, singing loud and strong so that the dark army waiting beyond the valley could not enter. And each morning he stood beside her and cried tears of blood and fire at the pain and joy her voice gave him. And so this went on for some time. Thayla slept, sang, and performed her royal duties. But the black warrior stayed at her side, and slowly the land began to darken from his presence. The animals of the field sickened, as did the people. The crops would not grow, and dark and terrible clouds filled the sky over the valley. Thayla knew the black soldier was the cause of all these things, and so she asked him to leave. He did not even answer her. She tried to trick him into leaving, but he would not be fooled. Then she tried to force him away, but he could not be broken. Finally, she begged him to leave. "But I do not wish to leave." he replied. This were the first words he had ever spoken to her, and his voice was like dried leaves blown on th autumn wind. "Your beauty is like none I have ever seen." "But you cannot stay." she told him. "Your presence is destroying my land and my people." "I care not for your land or your people." the warrior told her. "I care only for you." Faced with his determination, Thayla wept. Slowly her people died.

Finally, she called her greatest advisors together and told them what they must do. "As you know, the presence of the dark warrior is destroying our land and our people." she said. "However, he will not leave my side. We cannot make him leave, and si I must leave the land and take him with me." Her advisors wailed at her words. "But you cannot! It is only your voice that holds the black army at bay! If you leave, we will certainly die!" Thayla nodded, for she knew this to be true, but said, "I will leave, but my voice will remain." And with that she charged her most powerful sorcerers with the task of placing her voice in a songbird that would greet the rising sun each morning as she had. They searched the land and found the finest songbird of all. And as the sun rose, they performed the ritual. When the first light appeared the next morn, the bird, the bird sang with Thayla's Voice, and the song held the dark army at bay. The sorcerers rejoiced at this, but when they turned to congratulate Thayla, she and her dark Shadow had gone. They searched the land, but could find neither of them. But the songbird rose each morning. And with a voice as pure as the clear air itself, it sang the Song, and the black army trembled in ist tracks, unable to enter the valley.

How fast can you fly with your magician in shadowrun 4

Today, reading the book, i spend some time on the levitate spell. And i realize something :

In this game, you can fly very very quickly!

Let's compute some little thing :

The levitate spell say that the subject can be moved at a movement rate equal to the Force of the spell X net spell casting hits in meter per turn ( In the 20th anniversary edition, check the errata if you have a previous one) . This is quite awesome !

So if you overcast your spell, at a force 12 , and that you have an average 15 dice for your spell casting roll ( 6 in magic + 5 spell casting + 2 spa manipulation + 2 power focus for example ), this mean an average 5 success on your roll.

So you're value is 12 * 5 = 60 meter per combat turn. But remember that a combat turn is 3 second, so we have a 20 meter / second. Great, this mean we have reach 72km/hours. Not so bad.

But we can enhance this again :)

Let's look now on the movement critters power. This allow you to multiply or divide the target's movement rate by the spirit's Magic. And when you summon a spirit, his magic is equal to the spirit's force. So let's keep min-maxing, and we will summon a force 12 spirit ( and hope you survived the summon ^^. This is an average DV of 8 for the drain, so you should survive it).

So now, your speed could be increase by a 12 factor.

20 meter/second * 12 = 240 meter/second, this mean 864 km/hours . Great ! , you ve got through the sound barrier ! And you re even faster than the concorde ! (Speed example)

Now, if you push yourself a little more, you can almost reach Mach 1. How ? Just add some edge to your spellcasting test for example.

You can roll 18 dice : 6 (magic) + 6 (spellcasting) + 2 (specialization) + 2 (power focus) + 2 (mentor spirit). If you add an average 4 edge for example, you have around 22 dice with the rule of six, meaning around 25 dice. An average 8 success by the end.
So your speed in meter will be 384 meter / second , this mean 1 382,4 km/hours. A little bit above MACH 1 .

But, don't forget something : Can you survive this speed ? Because you will get the frictional force in your face ! And this will slowly burn your skin. So if you have something to protect you from this, wear it !

As an information, here is the fly speed of a great dragon using a levitate spell with a force of 24 and  summoning a spirit of air with a force of 24 ( assuming he survive the summon).

24* 8 ( average roll result of magic 12 + spellcasting 8 ) =   192 meter by combat turn, so we divide by 3 to have 64 m / second. With a 24 force spirit , this mean a 1536 m / second, around the speed of a rocket 5529, 4 km / hours.

If the dragon add his edge to the spellcasting test , he will have 26 dice, with 4 possible 6 coming up, this mean an average 10 result.

Base on this we have :

24*10 = 240 / 3 = 80 m/S *24 = 1920 m / s = 6 912 km/hours.

Shadowrun 4 : Troll street samurai

Troll street samurai
Race : Troll / Cost : 40pt
Attribute : N/a
Attribute cost : 190 pt
Bod	Agi	Rea	Str	Cha	Int	Log	Will	Edge	Ess	Init	IP
9 (10)	4 (6)	5	6 (5)	1	1	3	3	4	0,55	6	1
Skill cost : 120 pt
Blade : 6 Spe : Axe Dodge : 4 Spe : Ranged combat Heavy weapon : 4 Spe : Grenade launcher Gymnastic : 4 Spe : Jumping Infiltration : 4 Spe : Urban Cybertechnologie : 2 Spe : Cyberlimb Pilot : 1 Spe : Bike First aid : 1 Spe : Combat damage
Equipment cost : 44 pt / 4340 nuyen left
Normal customized right cyberarm (Ag : 7, Bod : 7, Str :12, Armor : 2, 0 slot left)  Customized value : Ag : 3 , Bod : 4 , Str : 8 Enhancement : Agility : 4, Body : 3 , Strength : 4, Armor : 2
Normal customized left cyberarm (Ag : 7, Bod : 11, Str :3, Armor : 2, 0 slot left) Customized value : Ag : 3 , Bod : 9 , Str : 3 Enhancement : Agility : 4, Body : 2 , Armor : 2,  Grapple gun
Normal customized cyberleg (Ag : 7, Bod : 12, Str :4, Armor : 2, 2 slot left) Customized value : Ag : 3, Bod : 8, Str : 4 Enhancement : Agility : 4, Body : 4 , Armor : 2,  Hydraulic jack 6
Normal customized cyberleg (Ag : 7, Bod : 12, Str :4, Armor : 2, 7 slot left) Customized value : Ag : 3, Bod : 8, Str : 4 Enhancement : Agility : 4, Body : 4 , Armor : 2,  Hydraulic jack 6 Alpha customized body (Ag : 7, Bod : 10, Str :3, Armor : 2, 0 slot left) Customized value : Ag : 3, Bod : 8, Str : 4 Enhancement : Agility : 4, Body : 2 , Armor : 2 Combat Axe DV : 10 (STR/2 +4) Armor jacket + helmet (+9/+8) Orthoskin 1 Grenade Launcher MG 112 10 high explosive  10 frag  8 flash bang 1 flash pack 2 thermal smoke Chameleon suit
total point = 394 / PB = 18 / SB = 9 / Armor : +21/+20 ( 9/8 + 10/10 (cyberlimbs) + 1/1(orthoskin) + 1/1 natural ) Comments :

- The physical box value is compute as following = 8 + 5 (body/2) + 5 ( 1 point for each cyberware )

- In my game, a troll can wear an axe with only one hand. So this is why it has only one arm with a high strength. f you GM is not so kind,just use the stat for the right arm and adjust value accordingly.

- If you take the will to live, you can go to 21 PB , allowing you to have a lot of damage before falling down. This is particularly useful for some boss that you don't want to see falling down after the first round. With his 31/30 dice to resist damage from weapon or ranged attack, you can survive to a big amount of damage. If you have some point left, you can invest in some chemical or fire protection to avoid losing half of your armor from environmental attack.

- If you want to have him with multiple initiative pass, you can by some tooth compartment and add in it some drugs that will allow you to have the punch necessary.

- You're base damage value is 10 with the axe, and you will roll around 18 dice ( 7 for agility, 8 for weapon using and axe specialization, 1 for your natural reach, and 2 for the axe reach) . Quite good i think. This will allow you an average 6 success. If you use your edge, you will roll 22 dice, and can possibly get 3 reroll , leading to 25 dice with an average 8 success. This mean your damage will go from 10 to 18.

- Infiltration urban is because most of the time, you will play in urban area.

- Grenade launcher is to allow you to make area damage, and give you some help to avoid trouble. You can use the flash bang or smoke to try to escape fight if needed or gaining cover.

- Gymnastic and the hydraulic jack is to allow you to make some high jump ( virtually, you could jump 2 floor of a building). Adding the grappling gun with it, will allow you to have a good infiltration also and get out of trouble as quickly. For example, you can try to jump throughout a windows and land on the ground in around 1 round ( but still take care ;) )

Shadowrun returns

Today i found something that i would like to share ^^

I found a site that will do something that i have got in my mind since a long time : Create a game about shadowrun :

Here the site : Shadowrun Returns

They have already reach enough fund to start the development of the game , and are even billionaire ! But with a so good game, that s quite normal ;)

 Hope to see it soon. I ve try to go throughout the whole site, but can't already found some picture,  or even game concept. I ve not even found the version of shadowrun that will be used. But the team look like quite motivated and enjoy it look like they have some great ambition. Now, we have to wait for the development. And if you read me, i would like to be a beta tester ! ^^

For french reader, if you are like me and you enjoy playing your favorite game on the net, i would suggest you INS/MV.net that is also a great game online in 2 dimension and turn by turn combat. It's also a great game, and if you got time , you can even try the beta test ;)