Test Run - Shadowrun: Run Faster - Blast Hardcheese

With Flint Ironstag, troll street samurai, done, let's try a more mechanically complex character.  Flint delved into the cybernetics rules, but cyber augments a metahuman.  Magic weirds things all on its own.  Concept is always the first stage of character creation.  At this point, I have an idea for a dwarf hermetic mage, so let's get going.  First things first, a name.  Like last week, I'll plunge the many names of David Ryder created by Mike and the Bots is the MST3K riff of Space Mutiny.  Let's put our faith in Blast Hardcheese.

Blast gets the same 750 Karma that Flint did.  Being a dwarf will cost 50 Karma right off, leaving 700 for Life Modules.  Blast isn't as strong as Flint, but he does share the troll's thermographic version, plus gets bonus dice against poisons and diseases.  Blast also has to pay 20% more for Lifestyle costs.  To be a magician, Blast spends 30 more Karma, leaving him with 670.

Attributes:
  Body 3
  Agility 1
  Reaction 1
  Strength 3
  Willpower 2
  Logic 1
  Intuition 1
  Charisma 1
  Edge 1
  Magic 1
  Essence 6.0

For a change of pace, Blast isn't from Seattle originally.  Instead, he's from the Confederation of American States, specifically, Atlanta.  English becomes his native language, and he picks up Yiddish, because why not?  Whatever the choice, the module costs 15 Karma, leaving 655 left.  The bump to Charisma may help Blast as a mage.

Attributes:
  Charisma 2

Active Skills
  Computer 2
  Etiquette 1

Knowledge Skills
  CAS 1
  History 1

Language Skills
  English N
  Yiddish 1

Qualities
  Sinner (5)

Blast's early years see him in much better circumstances than the ones Flint grew up in.  The future mage had parents who had white collar jobs; middle-to-upper management.  The choice is to let Blast and his magical ability get noticed and trained early.  I'll fill in the interest skill by the end; for now, there's a place holder.  Blast is also getting good with Yiddish.  The module costs 40 Karma, leaving 615.

Attributes:
  Logic 2
  Charisma 3

Active Skills
  Etiquette (Professional) 1 (+2)
  Negotiation 1

Knowledge Skills
  Interest_1 3

Language Skills
  Yiddish 4

Blast's teen years have the obvious module pop up - Magical Education.  He now owes a corporation time as a wage mage, but he can leave after that.  The skills he gets depend the type of mage he is.  Blast is a full magician, capable of casting spells, conjuring spirits, and enchanting items, and paid for that above.  The current module costs 50 Karma, leaving Blast 565.

Attributes:
  Willpower 3
  Charisma 4

Active Skills
  Conjuring Group 1
  Sorcery Group 1
  Arcana 2

Knowledge Skills
  Magical Theory 5
  Mathematics 4
  Physics 4
  Psychology 3

Language Skills
  Latin 2

Qualities
  Corporate Limited SIN (15)

Last time, Flint skipped Further Education.  Blast, though, is going through university.  Specifically, he's going to Georgia State, at a cost of 65 Karma, leaving 500 for later modules.  He is getting far more Knowledge skills than Flint did, but that's expected with someone going through higher education.  Blast isn't a combat expert; he's an academic at this point.

Attributes:
  Willpower 4
  Logic 3

Active Skills
  Sorcery Group 2
  Computer 3

Knowledge Skills
  Law 4
  Metaplanes 5

Blast owes a corporation a life module.  He takes the Corporate module with the sub-module Wage Mage.  He now needs to choose which corporation, and goes with Aztechnology, to later explain why he left.  Aztech does not have a shining rep in the shadows, better known for delving into magics best left alone.  After that, he takes Street Magic, with the Occult Investigator sub-module.  Each module costs 100 Karma, leaving Blast with 300.

Attributes:
  Willpower 5
  Logic 4
  Intuition 2

Active Skills
  Conjuring Group 3
  Enchanting Group 1
  Sorcery Group 5
  Arcana 5
  Assensing 6
  Astral Combat 2
  Etiquette (Professional) 4 (+2)
  Leadership 1
  Locksmith 1
  Negotiation 2
  Perception 4
  Pistols 1
  Tracking 2

Knowledge Skills
  Aztechnology 3
  Forensics 5
  Magical Law 5
  Seattle 4

Time to wrap, spending the remaining Karma.  Some will go for gear, and some to spells and attributes.  First, attributes.  Getting Agility, Reaction, and Edge to 3 each costs 75 Karma; boosting Magic to 5 is another 70 Karma, and Logic to 5 is 25 Karma, for a total of 170, leaving 130.  Blast takes Stunbolt, Lightning Bolt, Analyze Truth, Stabilize, Bugs, and Shadow, for a total of 30 Karma, leaving 100.  He also has skills to improve - Pistols to 3 (10 Karma), the Enchanting Group to 2 (10 Karma), and Astral Combat to 4 (14 Karma) for a total of 34 Karma, leaving 66.

For equipment, I'll use the Packs in Run Faster, because the Karma cost is already listed.  He starts with the Basic Runner Pack (5 Karma), the Subtle Pistol Pack (1 Karma), the Stylish Suit Pack (1 Karma), the Go Anywhere Jacket Pack (2 Karma), the Success in the Shadows Pack (6 Karma, because of the extra costs for Lifestyle as a dwarf), Medic Pack (1 Karma), Infiltration Pack (1 Karma), Advanced Magician Pack (2 Karma), and the Magic Wand Pack (18 Karma cost plus 12 Karma to bond), for a total of 48 Karma.  The remaining 18 Karma will be used for contacts.

The finished version of Blast Hardcheese is below.  Feel free to give him a try in a game and let me know how it went.

Name/Alias: Edward Goldstein / Blast Hardcheese
Metatype: Dwarf
Age:
Sex: M
Nuyen:
Total Karma:
Street Cred:
Notoriety:
Public Awareness:

Attributes:
  Body 3
  Agility     3
  Reaction 3
  Strength 3
  Willpower 5
  Logic 5
  Intuition 2
  Charisma 4
  Edge 3
  Magic 5
  Essence 6.0

Initiative: 5+1D6
Matrix AR Initiative: 5+1D6
Astral Initiative: 4+2D6

Inherent Limits
 Mental: 6
 Physical: 4
 Social: 6

Physical Damage Track: 10 boxes
Stun Damage Track: 11 boxes
Overflow: 3 boxes

Active Skills
  Conjuring Group 3
  Enchanting Group 2
  Sorcery Group 5
  Arcana 5
  Assensing 6
  Astral Combat 2
  Computer 3
  Etiquette (Professional) 4 (+2)
  Leadership 1
  Locksmith 1
  Negotiation 2
  Perception 4
  Pistols 3
  Tracking 2

Knowledge Skills
  Aztechnology 3
  CAS 1
  Forensics 5
  History 1
  Football 3
  Magical Law 5
  Magical Theory 5
  Mathematics 4
  Metaplanes 5
  Physics 4
  Psychology 3
  Seattle 4

Language Skills
  English N
  Latin 2
  Yiddish 4

Qualities
  Corporate Limited SIN (15)

Spells:
Stunbolt, Lightning Bolt, Analyze Truth, Stabilize, Bugs, and Shadow 

Contacts (Connection/Loyalty)
  Aztech Mr. Johnson (3/2)
  Talismonger (2/3)
  Metahuman Rights Activist (3/3)
  Street Kid (1/1)

Gear
  Lifestyle: Middle, 2 months
  Knife (Acc 5, Reach --, Dmg 4P, AP -1)
  Ares Viper slivergun (Acc 4, Dmg 9P(f), AP +4, Mode SA/BF, RC --, Ammo 30(c))
    w/concealable holster, spare clip
  Walther Palm Pistol (Acc 4, Dmg 7P, AP --, Mode SS/BF, RC --, Ammo 2(b))
    w/concealable holster
  Ammo:
    170 rounds heavy pistol flechette
    10 rounds hold out regular
  Armour Vest (AR 9)
  Auctioneer Business Clothes w/ electrochromatic modification (AR 8)
  Armoured jacket w/chemical protection 4, fire resistance 4, insulation 4 (AR 12)
  Fake Sin (3)
  Renraku Sensei commlink
    Mapsoft (Seattle)
    Subvocal mic
  Blank datachips x20
  Glasses (1) w/ image link
  Contacts (2) w/ image link, low light vision
  Earbuds (1) w/ sound link
  Stealth tags, x10
  Silver credstick
  Transceiver
  Microtransceiver
  Camera (1)
  Metal restraints
  Plastic restraints x20
  Backpack (20Y)
  Flashlight x2
  Flashlight, low light
  Respirator (1)
  Survival kit
  Medkit (1)
  Medkit 6 w/ 2 refills
  Disguise kit
  Lockpicks
  Magical lodge materials (6)
  Reagents, 50 drams
  Power focus (4)