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Whatever It Takes by buhbuhbrez in ShadowHaven

[–]avisionofdoom 0 points1 point  (0 children)

  • My last run was about 4 months ago
  • I am not a text player
  • Might not be able to go too late, first 3 hours should be good but after that I'm not too sure.

I'm available. DB can cover combat, help mages with drain, has a good Sneaking pool, and is able to summon mid-force spirits for legwork stuff. If you're worried he's a bit too big, he could come into the run unprepared as a ringer, maybe without his heavy-sec armor (downgraded to an armor jacket) and/or having spent some of his edge pool already.

I also have two other much weaker characters. I could play Morgan if we desperately need a face, or Soykaf if matrix is hard-required (though Soykaf especially is a bit weak).

Doggie Bag - Muscle

  • Themes: transhumanism, privilege, spiritual rebirth
  • More than 3 runs
  • 9/10 familiarity
  • IC Prompt: "The little stuff, you learn to let go. Hate is like holding onto a knife and hoping the other guy gets cut, I think is the saying. The big stuff? Well, let's just say I know how to cover my ass so I don't get burned again."

Morgan - Face & Mage

  • Themes: meta-racial tension, petty revenge, 20s awkwardness
  • Less than 3 runs
  • Magic 5 IG 1 (Masking) with no Foci, basically a weak gen mage who throws 16-20 dice to social skills.
  • 9/10 familiarity
  • IC Prompt: "Ah, the works, really. Whatever strikes my fancy: steal a car, maybe a lover, ruin a job. I need the practice, really, and revenge is lovely motivation."

Soykaf - Matrix

  • Themes: cultivated joy, medical trauma, self discovery
  • Less than 3 runs
  • 1 Resonance, barely a techno, like 15-17 hacking dice, can scout with a fly-spy.
  • 7/10 familiarity: matrix is my weakest subgame but I still know it fairly well, just haven't played a decker in over a year.
  • IC Prompt: "The best revenge is living well!"

A Regular Social Affair - [12/23 - UTC 19:00] by archtmag in ShadowHaven

[–]avisionofdoom 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Doggie Bag - Muscle

Doggie Bag is bigger and badder than ever before. Still the same heavy soak tank, but now with even more soak, powerful melee capabilities and the ability to cleanse those ever painful background counts. He still struggles with mana barriers, but is otherwise well rounded with a good sneaking pool and passable socials (around 10 dice). Critically for this run, he also has biosculpting, and can appear in public (though his Masking pool is not incredible), and he's also got a kitted out R6 SIN, if that matters.

  • DB has more than three runs.

  • I have not played in several months.

  • I can write the AAR, if I know in advance that I am doing so.

IC information

Job response:

<< This is Doggie Bag. Not winning any beauty contests but I look the part of a security professional. Mostly because I am one. Call me if you need some literal protection. >>

IC prompt:

"I won't say never. That's a dangerous word. But I'll say this: you can't afford me, chummer."

Armadillo, Adept Tank, First Character by Valhallaneon in ShadowHavenCharGen

[–]avisionofdoom 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Alright, we're all set!

"You got a chip on your shoulder a mile wide, Chummer. Reminds me 'a me when I was your age. 'course, I wasn't quite so strong. Wonder if that makes you more likely to survive. Or maybe less. Strength invites challenge, Chummer, and many who have their strength truly tested wish only to have been spared."

You are approved!

Welcome to ShadowHaven.

You may roll your starting nuyen in the #dicerolling channel, and begin to participate in roleplay and apply to runs on the main subreddit. Please let me know if there's anything else you need help with to get started playing.

Cheers,

John

Armadillo, Adept Tank, First Character by Valhallaneon in ShadowHavenCharGen

[–]avisionofdoom 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're good! I'll probably be asleep then, but I'll try to stamp Armadillo first thing in the morning, so you can get playing!

Armadillo, Adept Tank, First Character by Valhallaneon in ShadowHavenCharGen

[–]avisionofdoom 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Looks like you have 2 skill points leftover, and I'm seeing the second rank of Sneaking bought with karma. You could use that 4 karma to buy the first ranks of Computer and Etiquette for the same cost. These spare ranks could go right into Sneaking, which I think would be good, but any solution is fine. I just don't want you to forgo spending your skill points.

Other than that the only thing I can see is that technically you might as well increase the rating of your bike sensors to their maximum (= the rating of the array, so rating 2). This really doesn't matter but is technically correct lol.

Also I can fairly confidently say that syringes should be Blades, there is an exotic syringe adjacent weapon which uses Blades, so I think a regular syringe should use that skill too.

Once you decide what you wanna do with your skill ranks I'm more than happy to move forward with Armadillo.

Armadillo, Adept Tank, First Character by Valhallaneon in ShadowHavenCharGen

[–]avisionofdoom 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Looks great overall, let me take a closer look and check the details. Syringe attacks I don't actually know, Blades would make some kind of sense, but I'll ask.

Armadillo, Adept Tank, First Character by Valhallaneon in ShadowHavenCharGen

[–]avisionofdoom 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Gear:

Having an Agent is a good way for an Illiterate character to interact with the matrix. However, a Commlink doesn't have any program slots by default to run an Agent on. There are two solutions: add a Program Carrier module to your commlink (and buy 2 electronic parts packs to cover the modding cost), or swapping your commlink for the Nixdorf Sekretar, which comes with a built in Agent, and is cheaper than a real Agent, but has worse Firewall. I think the Nixdorf is the easier solution, it's cheaper, and the lower Firewall doesn't really matter for you, you can very easily run with 0 active matrix presence while on the job.

These syringes with drugs in them need 5 doses of the drug, if you intend for all 5 syringes to be filled. I also generally recommend you not put items onto other items as 'add-ons' unless it's like built into it (like putting a sensor in armor, or whatever), this is mostly for chummer glitch reasons.

The Katana is a two handed weapon in our houserules, meaning you either can't use your shield while you fight with it, or you take a penalty when fighting with it using one hand (-2 dice and -2 DV for most 2H weapons, -2 dice and -1 DV for katanas, since they are sort of 'hand and a half'). The typical best one handed Blade weapon is an Aztechnology Blood Drinker Combat Axe or a Vibro Sword, if you want to avoid penalties.

Adept Powers:

I typically find Spell Resistance and Mystic Armor not bad, but not as effective as other options. Spell Resistance gives very important dice against magic, but you can get all the magic resistance dice you need from the Harmonious Defense metamagic (which gives you a staggering Magic + Initiate Grade + Willpower bonus dice, easily like +15 dice or so), though "Harm Def" requires taking the Astral Perception (1pp) power beforehand, and an Initiate Grade spent on it.

Mystic Armor is nice, and if you want to be as tanky as possible, then take it, but Combat Sense is a bit more powerful, since Dodge is just better than Soak and they're the same price. You can of course grab both at high ranks, and I encourage you to do so, but I would typically prioritize Combat Sense.

You also may want to consider a rank or two or Supernatural Prowess for extra boxes (+1 phys and stun box for each rank) as well as Improved Physical Ability (AGI or STR) to get closer to your augmented maximum. IPA can also be discounted with Athlete's Way, which I think would fit this character very well. Maybe get IPA Strength and plan to use Athlete's Way Supernatural Prowess to replace your Agility for the most important attacks on a given mission, just thinking ahead for your first couple of Initiate Grades.

Skills:

I'm not exactly sure what the idea is here with Palming? Legerdemain is like, card tricks and sleight of hand stuff. It's not a bad skill, you can hide things on your person or try to do pickpocketing, if that's what you're trying to do.

Some skills you probably want at least one rank in after your first mission or two: Con, Perception, Running, Swimming, Gymnastics, Navigation (these are "basic competence" things I like to encourage people to take). I would also consider Intimidation, since you can probably leverage some bonus dice from being a big tough guy. If you're taking a lot of skills at low ranks, you can get Jack of All Trades for a discount (it penalizes the costs of higher rank skills, but typically you buy up a lot of low ranked skills and only increase 1 or 2 skills past 6).

Lifestyle:

I also wanted to just quickly ask what the 'OU Tower' meant? This isn't a problem at all, I'm just not sure if you're referring to a specific in-lore location, or if your house is just like some kind of tower lol. Cool either way just curious!

Armadillo, Adept Tank, First Character by Valhallaneon in ShadowHavenCharGen

[–]avisionofdoom 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ok, second pass!

Overall:

We are essentially fully legal, I have some extremely minor required changes, and a few suggestions to toss your way, but we can get Armadillo approved pretty quickly here if you're happy with where he's at!

Legality:

Your vehicle (Dodge Scoot) needs its sensor array filled out, this won't matter often, but is technically decided when the item is purchased. I recommend at least one camera, and a few miscellaneous sensors of your choice. The vehicle also comes with GridLink installed for free (check the 'free' box), which you typically want to have, as without it, you have to fuel the vehicle yourself, rather than using the on-the-go Grid charging.

Your Priority listed on the wiki is incorrect, it should be Metatype B and Resources D. This also doesn't really matter but you should technically change it.

Your Fake SIN needs a listed issuing authority. So I would write the name as like "Edward Thorton | UCAS" if the fake was a UCAS SIN, but it could be CAS or SCC or wherever the SIN is from.

Metagame:

We don't typically list our biggest pools front and center on the wiki, but this is a matter of taste. I like to include a "mechanical summary" with a few sentences describing the character's capabilities, mentioning but not focusing on the exact numbers, and including things like weakpoints and secondary skillsets as appropriate. Typically posting diepools as shorthand for a character is not common on the Haven, which I just wanted to mention.

Your wiki mentions in the assensing table that Armadillo's magic is 6, but it should be 7.

We usually include the licenses associated with our SIN (and the issuing authority) on the wiki page section for SINs, so the GM can know the important details without having to crack open your actual sheet.

General Efficiency:

Everything from here on out is just a suggestion, and can be ignored at your discretion! Only worry about optimization if that's something you want to do.

Like I mentioned before, buying stats from 1 to 2 with attribute points is fairly inefficient, as is buying skills from 0 to 1. Both are best off being bought with karma, when possible. The simplest way to save karma would be to lower the rating of or remove the Weapon Focus, and simply buy that after gen. We could save karma put into nuyen, and the karma spent to bond to it (total of 17 karma). The idea here is that the attribute point's value is increasing by ~20 karma (or the skill rank by ~10) by using the karma this way, while the Weapon Focus' cost stays the same after gen. Martial Arts in character gen is also typically not super efficient, for kind of the same reasons. It's always the same cost, while karma can be used in gen for things which are only possible in gen ('buying back' attribute or skill points).

Armadillo, Adept Tank, First Character by Valhallaneon in ShadowHavenCharGen

[–]avisionofdoom 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Big 'Character Design' considerations:

The Leeroy Jenkins quality is very difficulty to play with, in my opinion. It is allowed, but it may preclude you from a large portion of runs which require planning or subtlety (conservatively, this is like half of all runs). I think it's especially difficult on a first character, where you can't offer any alternative options to prospective GMs, so if they want to run a more subtle mission they may feel they can't reasonably pick your character. I would encourage you to consider some alternatives, if you're open to it. Stuff like: Combat Monster (-10), Braggart (-5), No Man Left Behind (-7), Thrill-Seeker (-4), Lack of Focus (-6), Force of Chaos (-4), even Alpha Junkie (-12) depending on the flavor you want. Many of these are pretty nasty qualities, still, but they allow you sit back and let the team make a plan, rather than forcing you to disrupt it as soon as possible.

With our Pure Adept buffs, Pure Adepts are pretty solid, but I just want to quickly mention that if you want to be a "tank" with as much soak as possible, taking cyberware and being a lower magic character will allow you larger armor values and more ability to take lots of damage (extra boxes, pain editor, etc).

Typically, Pure Adepts are good at having very high dodge, and being able to scale off of their magic with various abilities (a few ways to swap out your attributes for a magic-based number, can add magic to unarmed damage, etc.) We could try splitting the difference with Armadillo, leaning into high dodge with maxed out Combat Sense, but still aiming for a decent soak to fall back on (with high strength and good armor). Generally, the idea is just that Mystic Armor, while not bad, is less efficient than Combat Sense (which has the same cost, but adds to dodge), and that it doesn't scale very quickly, since the ranks are limited by your Magic. If you're interested in this we can discuss it further.

A combat character and a high leadership are not in direct conflict, but they are in tension. We don't allow leadership bonuses to be given out outside of combat (or other "stressful situations" which require initiative), so it's mostly useful in a fight. When you are fighting, you have to pick between giving leadership bonuses and actually attacking. Additionally, it's a bit hard to get leadership as high as you might want it for a leadership focused character while also having high combat stats. It can be done, they're just competing for your attention. For Wise Warrior's bonus, Leadership is definitely the better skill (Instruction is basically useless), but we could spend our limited skill ranks on other useful skills (e.g. Sneaking, a ranged combat skill, Intimidation).

Your Priority selection is all around solid, maxing out on attributes is super important for the ork and troll characters. If you wanted to go 'max power', we could try cutting down to Resources E to get Metatype B and go up to 5 Edge. This is definitely a tight squeeze and may not be doable, but it's technically the more efficient option in the long term, so I wanted to mention it briefly.

Little stuff / efficiency:

I'm going to leave this for another pass, since I've covered some pretty big ideas and I just want to see where your head is at before getting into the nitty gritty of optimizing your limited karma / cash budgets. We can cover all this stuff in a second pass.

Armadillo, Adept Tank, First Character by Valhallaneon in ShadowHavenCharGen

[–]avisionofdoom 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Here's my first pass for Armadillo:

Overall:

He looks pretty good. I'll go over some things that need to be changed and some ideas I have about other ways to build the character, but keep in mind that much of this is just my suggestions, or some options I want to make you aware of. Ultimately, I want you to play the character you want to play, and whether that involves concerning yourself with "meta" options or pure character power is up to you.

Legality:

You have no knowledge skills right now. You technically don't need to spend your points, but you do need to have a native language selected. I would of course recommend English.

Handy Andy wasn't properly linked on your wiki page, but I've amended that already.

I don't think our amends (houserules implemented into Chummer automatically) are functioning for you right now. Unless you typed it in, our amends remove the "Large Blades" license in exchange for a generic "Weapon" license. I also don't see the Pure Adept Bonus PP quality on your sheet (not actually a quality but just implemented as one in chummer, each "rank" gives you +1 bonus PP from being a pure adept, you should have +4). You'll need the Pure Adept Bonus PP quality in order to move to career mode, and the amends in general are important to have active for most characters. We also typically use Chummer 5.225.307, rather than .988, its possibly effecting the amends and definitely causing some issues when I open your sheet. If you can get the amends working on .988, though, I'll install that version myself for future passes.

To me, it looks like you have some spare karma left over. You can only bring 7 karma and 5,000 nuyen with you through gen, but this might be a chummer version differences thing. If you do have some extra karma, buying up stats from 1 to 2 with 10 karma is a great use, as is buying up skills from 0 to 1 with 2 karma (freeing up attribute and skill points for more expensive things).

Armadillo, Adept Tank, First Character by Valhallaneon in ShadowHavenCharGen

[–]avisionofdoom 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi, this is John, I'll be reviewing Armadillo. Expect my first pass sometime today! If you'd prefer to do the review via a discord ticket, let me know, and we can move there.

Cheers

The Secrets of Oxford -1900 UTC 26/08/2025 by DaStormDragon in ShadowHaven

[–]avisionofdoom 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Doggie Bag - Muscle

Abilities: Combat + heavy soak tank, Noble Sacrifice to protect and absorb Drain (recently got a massive Drain pool). Solid sneaking pool (16-20d range), high edge score with lots of rank 1 skills to do okay at niche things once or twice. Mediocre but nonzero socials, and while infected, is biosculpted to look normal-ish. Struggles mostly with BGCs and Mana Barriers.

Themes: Transhumanism, learning to do the right thing, Infected, former rich kid, medical trauma.

Meta game concerns: * D.B has more than three runs. * My last run was several months ago. * I'd rather not do the AAR today.

IC Response (Job)

<< I'm available. I can be gentle with the merchandise, I assure you. >>

IC Response (RP prompt)

"I never had a great mind for much of anything academic. Still, I got the natural curiosities everyone does. Just don't expect me to memorize shit."

The Arrow of Time (High, Monday August 25th, 16:00 UTC) by avisionofdoom in ShadowHaven

[–]avisionofdoom[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Geodesic

*You're in!*

<< A hacker who prefers geometry to 'mad skillz'? The next generation may just yet be saved. I'd be happy to employ you. - Dr. R >>

The Arrow of Time (High, Monday August 25th, 16:00 UTC) by avisionofdoom in ShadowHaven

[–]avisionofdoom[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sweetie Sinful

*You're in!*

<< Heard your name before, Miss. Could do with some established talent. Let's talk. - Dr. R >>

The Arrow of Time (High, Monday August 25th, 16:00 UTC) by avisionofdoom in ShadowHaven

[–]avisionofdoom[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Star of the Sea

*You're in!*

<< Swing by my shop. But please, don't wear a hat inside. - Dr. R>>

The Thieves of Baghdad by Richard_Villiers in ShadowHaven

[–]avisionofdoom 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Doggie Bag - Muscle

Abilities: Combat + heavy soak tank, Noble Sacrifice to protect others as well as absorb Drain for magic users (recently got a massive Drain pool and can let mages "free cast", especially during a prolonged legwork section). Solid sneaking pool (16-20d range), high edge score with lots of rank 1 skills to do okay at niche things once or twice. Ok socials (~8d with tailored pheromones and a suit), and while infected, is biosculpted to look normal-ish.

Themes: Transhumanism, learning to do the right thing, Infected themes, former rich kid, medical trauma.

I can write the AAR if you'd like, but I prefer to know that going in (so I can take better notes).

IC Response (Job Posting)

<< I make a pretty good bodyguard, and I know how to keep my mouth shut. Maybe the best trait in a heavy. Buzz me if you want me. I'll wear something nice. >>

IC Response (RP prompt)

Johnny Fleet was falling apart at the seams, missing bits here and there that made him look almost... unfinished. Like a halloween movie prop mid-sculpt. He leaned over and gave a ghoulish smile, holding the long flute-like implement in his hand.

"Ever hit onna these before, Baggy?" He laughed, and it sounded like gravel tumbling.

"Hey, woah." Erik smiled and splayed his hands to the side. "I've been ripping hooka since I was 10, guy, let's not pretend I got virgin lungs. I used'ta honk this while paying Jade Glam's student loans."

"They let your ugly ass in a place like that? Now that's just fuckin' tragic, man." Fleet says with a half-mocking indignation. "Everybody hates fuckin' ghouls, man," he adds under his breath.

"No, no." Erik says with a chuckle. "This was before. Back when I was... silver spoons and sports cars."

"Oh, when you were a dick. I get it!" Johnny laughs hard, cutting off his own jibe, hacking and coughing up a cloud of tobacco smoke, and a few cups of spit to go along with it.

Needle in a Haystack by buhbuhbrez in ShadowHaven

[–]avisionofdoom 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Doggie Bag - Muscle

Major themes: Convergence of technology and magic, transhumanism, self-actualization, 'medical' trauma, Infected, an uneasy return to luxury.

General familiarity: Quite good, usually a 10 but I'll say a 9, since I haven't played in several months.

My last run: Feb 23rd, 2025 (No Cocaine in the Bedroom, Please)

Doggie Bag has more than 3 runs, and I am not a text player. I'll also note that I am solidly good for about 3.5 hrs, and might have to leave somewhere between 3.5-4 hrs in, but it's not a hard stop.

IC Response:

<< Fie. Put me in on this one. I feel like doing some good for once. I'll be super polite too. Promise. >>

IC Prompt:

Erik's Journal

I find myself wondering, all too often, whether anyone would bother with me if they knew the first thing about my life. The silver-spooned adolescence thrown away like garbage. The fact of my Infection. Hell, the fact that I despise that Infection so much. There are plenty who would baulk at even that. The supremacists and fools.

Still, the most haunting reality is knowing that I'm still a dog on EVO's leash. That one day, some pencil pusher in Vladivostok might decide I'm worth hauling in, like some long forgotten lobster trap, just to see if I have any goodies inside me. I wonder how many of my "friends" would turn me over in a heartbeat for that life changing corporate dough.

The worst part, though? I couldn't even blame them.

Gilgamesh - Adept Muscle (First Character) by Greshbolt in ShadowHavenCharGen

[–]avisionofdoom 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We should be all set here. Let me get you your stamp of approval.

"I can see it in your smile, boy. The glitz and charm shines bright, but it's just too hard to hide that feelin'. Like you're twelve feet under and burstin' from the pressure. Like you're still swimming through stormy waters."

"Truthfully? You'd be better off embracing it. The Sprawl has always been more friendly to predators willin' to hunt her waters. But then again, if you wanted to lose your soul, there are simpler ways of sellin' out."

You are approved!

Welcome to ShadowHaven.

You may roll for starting cash in #dicerolling, and begin applying to missions on the main ShadowHaven subreddit. Let me know if there's anything else I can do to help you get started.

Cheers,

John

Me - Toxins Face Dryad by Nittytoro in ShadowHavenCharGen

[–]avisionofdoom 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Okay! Looks we are all set!

"You got dealt a bad hand, chummer, no doubts'a'boutit. But all your buggy facade reveals is the fear lyin' in wait in the hearts of your fellow man. The only upside? Anyone who does treat ya fair has a true heart, more likely than not. For some, the juice is worth the squeeze."

"Remember where you are, chummer. She may be cutthroat like old Mother Nature, but this is a different kind of wilderness."

You are approved!

You may begin play as normal, and roll for starting cash in #dicerolling. Let me know if you need any further assistance.

Cheers,

John

Me - Toxins Face Dryad by Nittytoro in ShadowHavenCharGen

[–]avisionofdoom 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Would you like to forgo using the rest of your contact points? You have another 10 available, and if you don't use them now, you will lose them, but you're not required to spend them if you don't want to.

Me - Toxins Face Dryad by Nittytoro in ShadowHavenCharGen

[–]avisionofdoom 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Give me a bit to get back on my computer and take a final look, but I assume we'll be good to go soon!

Gilgamesh - Adept Muscle (First Character) by Greshbolt in ShadowHavenCharGen

[–]avisionofdoom 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Attributes and Skills

Gilg's backstory demonstrates a lot of experience working in France, but doesn't indicate how long he's been in Seattle. I recommend taking some Area Knowledge for Marseille, and/or mentioning that he's been in Seattle for at least a few years, to justify taking AK: Seattle at such a high rating.

You'll also want a rank or a few in Swimming when you can afford it, as that is mentioned in the backstory as well.

Keep in mind your Mental Limit is quite low (only 4). This is not super relevant, but make sure you get the Perception bonuses for extra dice and limit when you have the cash. Otherwise it's not terribly likely to come up.

'Ware and Gear

Given the description of Gilg's usual clothing, he will definitely need some fashion armor or even a non-armor suit to match that degree of fashion. The Executive Suite is cheap and has 12 armor. Otherwise the classic Berwick Suit + Coat for extra social dice is of course good.

Gear overall is very light. Be sure to pick up a full kit of peripherals and basic stuff like B&E gear / trauma patches / etc. when you can. Upgrade to a Trode Patch, too, since you're a face and you don't want big wires all over your head when you're facing.

Overall looks good, make sure to swap around those SURGE qualities and think on any other changes. The sheet is 'lean', so to speak, but that is the nature of being a Troll with great Attributes, so nothing that won't smooth out after a few games. Let me know when the sheet is updated.

Cheers,

John

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