Shadowrun 3 Advice

[Stormcrow]

Preferably people who've played the game before but hey, im not picky.

I'm heading into a new... "campaign" soon and the premise is that my associates and i are a hit squad/bounty hunters. I lead. As such we need to cover alot of bases.

So far;

Human Sprawlganger... lots of guns. He's our offensive Specialist.
Human Sniper/Demolitions Expert.
Human PhysAdept Martial Artist. Our low tech fighter.
Human Stealth\Security Specialist.

What do people think i should play to round out the force?

[ilovefire]

a combat rigger wtih a vested focus in bioware and other such medical things.

and yes, you can make someone in SR3 that's good at hacking, rigging, combat, and medicing. I've done it before (he wasnt' great at all of it but hey)

[Raum]

I'd recommend a mage and plan on hiring a decker. But a rigger would be almost as useful as the mage, it's just harder to hire a mage when you need astral overwatch.

Basically your current four characters seem to be missing three things: a) rigger (vehicle and drone specialist), b) decker (matrix runs and matrix watch), and c) magician / shaman (combat, healing, and utility spells, astral combat, astral reconisance, and astral overwatch). You can combine the decker and rigger abilities in a single character with some work, but you'll be chronically short of nuyen. Also, either decker or rigger are usually fairly easy to hire...neither has to risk his meatbod as much as other types. Magicians (or shaman) are kept fairly rare in SR and will cost more if you need to hire one. Having said all that, the most important criteria should be "play what you'll enjoy".

[JaronK]

A medic/face could be quite useful, or a face/shaman. You need some healing!

JaronK

[Stormcrow]

I'm thinking face/mage or face/shaman at this point. We still dont really have a grasp on Rigging and Decking rules so there isnt much of a call for it in our missions.

Definitely some face in there though...

[Raum]

Prior to version 4 it's easier on the GM to hire a decker anyway. Riggers can be lots of fun though...

In any case, a mage or shaman will provide some much needed healing for the group as well as working in the astral. Both are hard to do without. The face role is a good fit also, particularly if you're leading. Charisma also helps with summoning. Summoning, by the way, is both more powerful and more costly for hermetic mages than it is for shaman in versions 2 & 3. More powerful because it becomes a force multiplier...as long as you have the nuyen to keep multiple elementals at your beck and call. :) In version four there isn't much difference.

[Stormcrow]

I'm thinking shaman at the moment though i cant remember what KINDS of shaman there were now that i try. I had a friend who was a horse shaman but thats all i rememeber.

It makes sense though, its hard to be a hitsquad/bounty hunters without a someone to fight mages. Mages fight mages best.

[Raum]

Actually in SR, a heavily cybered street sam is one of the best mage killers. He's harder for the mage to hit with spells because of his low essence.

However, mages/shaman are the only characters with full access to astral space. That can be important...or deadly if you aren't careful. :)

[oriong]

Right, Mages can be awesome (and their summoning abilities can give you major cards to play in the right situation) but keep in mind that they aren't tough and they'll run out of juice fairly quick if used for too much combat.

[Stormcrow]

I've only ever played heavy cyber characters before. My last guy had 0.008 essence by the end of it all, none lost through drain. He was a monster to be sure. Ambidex8 and two custom sawn off shotguns with clips. He killed 16 people in two rounds.

I want to go different but i dont want to get cained. Advice?

[oriong]

Well, cash can be a mage's friend too (don't sacrifice valuable spells and other useful things for gear of course), remember that you don't have to be the robe-swathed glass cannon of D+D. Get your character some good, solid armor and at the very least a powerful heavy pistol, use specialized skills to get a decent combat ability too. Of course get a pair of smartlinked goggles.

Get the heaviest armor you can reasonably buy and conceal (I like the long coat, the canon companion has even more stuff) and make sure you're not a pushover. Grenades are an excellent substitute for area of effect damage spells.

A couple of spirits who owe you favors can be very powerful tools, a high force spirit can give a troll ganger or a cyber samurai a run for his money in hand to hand combat, and they can typically act as great helpers. If you're a shaman especially you should give quite a bit of thought to getting some spirits owing you favors.

Pack at least one Mana spell, Manabolt is probably the best choice since it is stealthy and will let you deal with astral or spiritual threats, it'll also punch through even the heaviest armor chromed troll brings to the table. A power (physical) damage spell also makes a good droid-smasher.

[Leon]

Start Planning the week before you are going to do something - then maybe you wil be able to fit all the action into a gaming session

[Wagadodo]

Okay, if you want to play a Shaman with out any resrictions but also no bonuses think Coyote Shaman. If you want to play a combat monster think Wolf, Gator, or what have you.

Some spells to think of to get is Reaction Increase +3D6, and anchored or use the focus that lets you anchor to yourself. That way you don't have to worry about those Cyber guys always beating you out.

Don't take any cyberware unless you want to for flavor, becuase you can do every thing better with magic than you can with Cyber.

Take a Stun spell and a physical damaging spell. Remember those modifers add up quickly that way. Also make sure you have one spell that focus on Willpower and one on Body so you can attack those that have a low body and then throw at the low willpower.

Improved Invisibility is a life saver, so is the Heal spells.

Spells that I normall take.
Stunball
Powerbolt
Heal
Improved Invisibility
Improved Inititiave/Reaction +3D6

If you have the points left over get some either fluff spells or some more combative spells.