Recently a friend of mine invited me to join a 4th Edition Shadowrun game he's going to be running online and I, flattered just to be asked, said yes. Now that the start date is slowly creeping up on me though, I'm finding myself in a bit of a pickle.
The only other Shadowrun game I've ever been in had been a train wreck. The person running it had wanted to use some sort of retro-alternate setting called 2050 that might have been great in theory, but whose rules were spread across at least a dozen books. No one had any idea what was going on and the person running it couldn't decide if they wanted to do a plot-driven game or a free-roam sort of deal and switched between the two every time we played. I had tried to play a rigger, had no idea what I was doing when I made my character, and ended up making a useless and boring character who spent most of the time sitting around watching as everyone elses twinked up supercharacters beat every combat encounter in the first turn or two (which frustrated the person running to no end).
I have my character concept for the new game already: a contractor (who eschews the term 'Shadowrunner') whose mother was a corporate shark that had no hand in her life and whose father was a mercenary for several private security firms till he burned out and died trying to keep up with younger and more heavily modified mercs. She decided that won't be her life and plans on starting her own private security firm, then once she had built up a strong reputation for it, sell the brand name to a Corp and retire rich. Currently she's Shadowrunning just to raise start-up capital. Driven, focused professional who will be providing the firepower for the group (it's a three-man band, with the other two being an egotistical punchy Physical Adept and mousey sort of Mage).
The GM likes the concept, but now I need to actually make a sheet. My friends, love them as I do, are worthless for advice. They get stuck on tangents for hours when I ask them questions. Half the time arguments break out over conflicting answers on questions no one even asked.
I could really use advice on producing a character who isn't complete rubbish. Character generation is 900 karma.
The only other Shadowrun game I've ever been in had been a train wreck. The person running it had wanted to use some sort of retro-alternate setting called 2050 that might have been great in theory, but whose rules were spread across at least a dozen books. No one had any idea what was going on and the person running it couldn't decide if they wanted to do a plot-driven game or a free-roam sort of deal and switched between the two every time we played. I had tried to play a rigger, had no idea what I was doing when I made my character, and ended up making a useless and boring character who spent most of the time sitting around watching as everyone elses twinked up supercharacters beat every combat encounter in the first turn or two (which frustrated the person running to no end).
I have my character concept for the new game already: a contractor (who eschews the term 'Shadowrunner') whose mother was a corporate shark that had no hand in her life and whose father was a mercenary for several private security firms till he burned out and died trying to keep up with younger and more heavily modified mercs. She decided that won't be her life and plans on starting her own private security firm, then once she had built up a strong reputation for it, sell the brand name to a Corp and retire rich. Currently she's Shadowrunning just to raise start-up capital. Driven, focused professional who will be providing the firepower for the group (it's a three-man band, with the other two being an egotistical punchy Physical Adept and mousey sort of Mage).
The GM likes the concept, but now I need to actually make a sheet. My friends, love them as I do, are worthless for advice. They get stuck on tangents for hours when I ask them questions. Half the time arguments break out over conflicting answers on questions no one even asked.
I could really use advice on producing a character who isn't complete rubbish. Character generation is 900 karma.