| The Essentials The following guide is a series of tips and hints on making shadowrun characters. It is by no means fully comprehensive, nor does it cover every type of character. It does, however, outline the basics the I have thought very important after my time playing the game. Attributes - Probably the most important attribute in the game is intelligence. Intelligence is how many dice you roll for perception tests, one of the most singly important tests in the game, because if you cant see something, you cant avoid it, you cant kill it, and whats worse, it may get the drop on you. A high Stealth (Alertness) skill can offset a low intelligence, to a point. It also determines the amount of knowledge and language skill points you have in chargen. A high intelligence also helps offset magical illusions The second most important attribute is most likely your reaction, which in turn is the average between your quickness and intelligence. Combined with willpower, quickness and intelligence determine your combat pool, which is often the difference between making the hit and missing, or taking the hit and dodging. Reaction is also important with initiative, and in shadowrun, initiative is very important. Arguably not as important in 3ed as in 2ed, but still very much so. Strength is important for anyone who wants to deal out damage with melee combat. Most, if not all hand to hand weapons are based of strength, so this means a low strength makes for a relatively innefective fighter. Body is important for combat damage resistance, and the like. Although a high combat pool can offset a low body. Willpower is essential for mages. Willpower is the target number for many magical spells, and it is also what you roll for drain. A high willpower will help you sustain drain tests for longer, using less pool dice to do so. Quickness is important for combat pool, but also for anyone who wants to stack on the armour. A high quickness will allow you to wear more armour for less penalty. Charisma is important for shamans, as a shamans strength is in their summoning. Also important for fixers, indirectly - a high charisma makes higher social skills cheaper. While many combinations are possible, it is generally accepted as essential to have a high intelligence and quickness to be an effective runner, the other attributes having different priorities depending on your character focus. |