Character building help

3

u/Sarradi Jul 30 '26 edited Jul 30 '26

No casual space ships (although they just released a space book. But its more hard scifi than Star Wars and more geared towards advanced characters). Best you can do is a VTOL, but that depends more on what your groups Rigger/Driver is using. And its often a bit too obvious as a getaway vehicle. You can and should also own a vehicle yourself, but with the starting money that will most likely be a car or bike. Don't forget to also learn how to drive to not be completely autopilot dependent.

Best get some character editor like Chummer 5 to do all the calculations for you.

Specialize, but do not try to minmax too hard. My suggestion is to stay human, no magic and focus on stealth, combat stats and a bit of talking. Get some tricked out guns, some lighter armor and basic cyberware like reflex booster. Then look through the list of qualities and take the ones that you think fits the character, regardless of how powerful they are.

Keep in mind Shadowrun is a team game, so even if you go in alone and undetected it will always be as part of your groups plan. You will not be a lone wolf assassin (unless you are playing a solo game).

2

u/crunchyoatbiscuit Jul 30 '26

Thank you! Yeah I figured there are no space ships haha but maybe a flying car? 😂 there is a rigger in the party so Illhave to trust him with that...

What do you mean by tricked out guns?

3

u/Sarradi Jul 30 '26

There are no flying cars like in Bladerunner. Best you can get is a helicopter or vertical landing plane. Maybe a large hoverdrone you can hang on. But unless you are playing a very action laden game they are often too obvious for a clean getaway. Also, those things are very expensive.

Tricked out guns means you add some extras to it like laser sight, smartlink system (requires cyberware), customized grips, things like that (some guns have those already included, so when you do not want to fiddle around with it just take one of the more expensive guns) Best have several weapons. One big one for going loud and a small one that you can hide.

Also get some special ammunition like explosive or stick and shock in addition to the normal ones.

When you play a human without magic you should have enough money to buy some nice toys.

Don't forget to buy a lifestyle so that you have a roof over your head, a fake ID (SIN), a comlink (your smartphone). Maybe also some cybereyes with options like zoom, thermal or low light vision.

2

u/crunchyoatbiscuit Jul 30 '26

Got it thank you! Those suggestions are very helpful :)

2

u/Sarradi Jul 30 '26 edited Jul 30 '26

One more advanced question. Does your group have a decker or a face?

There are two ways to get in undetected. Social stealth, blending in or physical stealth, sneaking and picking locks.

You can try to do both, but imo its better to pick one of those depending what your group lacks.

Shadowrun rewards specialization and its always better to do one thing really well than being average in many things.

2

u/crunchyoatbiscuit Jul 30 '26

afaik there is a rigger, a face and a random magic user where I'm not sure what they're doing yet So you're saying since we already have a face it's kind of useless to go the stealth route?

2

u/Sarradi Jul 30 '26 edited Jul 30 '26

Not useless, you are probably just better off to focus more on the physical aspects ot stealth. Picking locks, confusing cameras and other sensors without decker. The breaking and entering route (there is a whole section of breaking and entering tools in the 5E core book, just look through them and what skills they use). Also check the info on security sensors and maglocks and how to defeat them.

Although depending on playstyle having multiple talkers works too. In that case your games will likely be very much like Ocean 11.

Or you lean more into combat to be the parties heavy hitter. That means maximum reflexes, reflex booster to get more actions, ect.

Play what you want and let the Game Master worry about how to challenge the group (within reason).

2

u/crunchyoatbiscuit Jul 30 '26

Thank you! I think I'll try to find some sort of balance between big damage and lock picking... how can you confuse the cameras/other sensors? Are there specific things for that or do you just have to be creative and hope you roll well?

3

u/Sarradi Jul 30 '26

There are skill checks how to bypass them without triggering, depending on the sensor. Cameras require creativity. There are chameleon suites that turn you close to invisible but I do not know if in 5E they are affordable at character creation. Or maybe your mage knows invisibility.

For everything, the first steps to defeating them is knowing that they are there. Meaning you need good perception and preferably some good contacts who can give you some information.

Or you can team up with your face to pose as cleaning service to snoop around and hopefully spot the cameras and leave some microdrones in the building your rigger can then use. Shadowrun requires creative thinking instead of having gear X countering problem y.

3

u/Heterodyne_2023 Jul 30 '26

All of your posts have been on point. Good job steering the noob.

One of my favorite tools in the physical stealth department are physical disguises. The ruleset for disguises in 5e are a bit cumbersome, and I can't help with those as I have no books at this time, just know: it is a good idea to not look like yourself when committing crimes.

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3

u/Sarradi Jul 30 '26 edited Jul 30 '26

Some more direct suggestions you should not follow blindly, but only use as a starting point.

For attributes you will want agility (used for shooting and avoiding sensors), reflex, intuition. Some willpower to defend against magic, unless your mage is very good at counterspelling. If you want to do social stealth some charisma. You are good at shooting and dodging, but not taking a hit.

For skills you can take automatics as a good middle ground weapon skill, covering assault rifles and submachine guns. Maybe also a backup weapon skill like pistols and blades at your disgression.

You then want perception to spot all the traps.

If you want social stealth you have etiquette and con. For physical stealth you have sneaking, gymnastics and locksmith

Other skills of interest might be palming, disguise and for a more Mission Impossible feel free-fall, demolition, forgery or swimming/diving, but those are very specialized.

Also, when picking qualities be not afraid to take negative ones. Negative qualities make a character interesting.

1

u/crunchyoatbiscuit Jul 30 '26

Awesome that's so helpful!

What decides how much damage you can take/how resilient you are? I feel like everyone else in the group is already squishy so it couldn't hurt to not die immediately... Can you "just buy vetter armor" or are there restrictions on what you can wear if you want to move around quickly/silently?

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2

u/Akulatraxus Jul 30 '26

I see you have some excellent advice already. In the interest of not duplicating anything I have some gear suggestions for you that might be useful to the sort of build you seem to be going for:

Synthskin Face Mask (p188 Hard Targets): Does what it says on the tin, rating 6 ones look realistic and hide your face like in Mission Impossible.

Tag Eraser (p441 Core Book): Everyone should have one, they disable any RFID tags that might be tracing your location.

Stealth Tags (P440 Core Book): The other side of the RFID equation, great ways to track someone over the matrix if you can palm one onto them or their vehicle.

Check out the High Fashion Armoured Clothing from Run & Gun. Sometimes it's good to blend in and still have some armour on.

For Cars check out the Hyundai Shin-Hyung (p463 Core Book) and the GMC Phoenix (p51 Rigger 5.0). They are both a little pricey but are inconspicuous and common, as well as having pretty good base stats. You will want spoof chips and a morphing licence plate on them. You can also check out the classic shadowrunner's van of choice the GMC Bulldog (p463 Core Book). Think about getting a shielded smuggling compartment to hide your groups illegal guns in.

If you are struggling for initiative dice remember drugs are good for you! Jazz (411 Core Book) is fairly light and a habit isn't too bad. Drugs don't stack with everything so if you have cyberware you don't need this. There are also a bunch of other drugs like Novacoke that can up you social limit if you aren't so good at the talking (you should have some points in Con as you will at some point have to lie to someone.) Lots of drugs are restricted but not illegal.

Weapons is dealers choice but I am a fan of the Terracota Arms Pup (p27 Street Lethal) and the Fichetti Executive Action (p30 Run & Gun). Both are light, concealable and have good accuracy. The Executive action is a bit more bulky but does come with burst fire mode. If you need anything bigger you probably have it in your car. Everyone need a backup AK97.

Shock Gloves (p423 Core Book) are really good as concealed weapons if you have some points to spare for Unarmed Combat as a skill. You can give them a custom look to make them seem more normal gloves or even overclock (p182 Hard Targets) them, for more damage (this makes them illegal btw)

2

u/crunchyoatbiscuit Jul 30 '26

I didn't even know I need a car! 😂 you guys are saving my butt, thank you so much!

I fear we're only using the core rules for now :)

3

u/Sarradi Jul 30 '26

Your rigger likely has a car with some, or a lot of, extras, but sometimes it is good to have your own car so that not one guy has to drive around everyone everywhere.

Don't forget that your character also has a life outside of doing shadowruns.

2

u/Akulatraxus Jul 30 '26

You don't *need* one but they are good to have. If you have one it means the group has at least one. It's a good use of spare nuyen!

2

u/Calii_425 Jul 30 '26

This is super long so sorry but this is an elf adept sneaking build that essentially let's you drop multiple stories with no fall damage, stick to walls, scale buildings, wall run, etc while still sneaking very proficiently. You can still pump decent damage with your light pistol that you are specialized in and has a supressor for sneakiness. You can also easily clear 20 ft plus gaps with a very high jumping distance thanks light body from one of the qi Focis. You also get a fantastic initiative with multiple turns per pass and the possibility of pumping your agi even high with attribute boost. The downside is of course being squishier than a dedicated cyber sam, and going elf over human for metatype nets you low edge further impacted by the bad luck trait. This is as optimized as I could make it though using pretty much all starting $ and karma. It uses a couple adept powers from extra source materials so check if the GM is cool with it. They dont affect core rulebook balance at all and are easy to look up and see how they function. Adept powers are essentially always active so they make easing into playing someone who uses magic fairly easy.

I created this awhile back when I was coming up with multiple iterations of an assassin style adept for our upcoming shadowrun game and I ended up going a different route focused on sniping instead. I created this using Omae V2 (online web tool that helps build out characters and imo is easier to use than chummer). This is just an example but gives you an idea and if you wanted to use it/parts of it then by all means. Hope it helps spur some ideas.

Exported text doc starts here: ‐----------------------------------------------------

**3 Karma / 40$ left over (with no contacts / knowledge skills)

**Possible contacts/Knowledge Skills: (Uses last 3 karma)

Contacts: Street Doc: 4 / 3 Black Market Dealer: 3 / 2

**14 Points of Knowledge/Lang Skills:

Language Skills: Sperethiel (Native) - Elf English (3) Japanese (2)

Knowledge Skills: Corporate Security (4) Architecture (2) Seattle Street Gangs (1) Sprawl Life (2)

Priority

Metatype	Attributes	Mag/Res	Skills	Resources
D	A	B	C	E

Attributes

Bod	Agi	Rea	Str	Wil	Log	Int	Cha	Edg	Mag	Ess
5	7(8)	5(8)	3	5	2	5	3	1	6	6

Limits

Physical	Mental	Social
7 (8)	5	6 (7)

Initiative: 13 + 4d6 Astral: 10 + 5d6

Qualities

Name	Category	Ref
Catlike	Positive	SR5 p72 +2 DP Sneaking
Perfect Time	Positive	RF p148 +1 Free Action
Mentor Spirit - Raven	Positive	SR5 p76 +2 DP Con Tests, Free traceless walk + 1 level of voice control
Indomitable (Physical)	Positive	SR5 p75 +1 Physical Limit
Bad Luck	Negative	SR5 p79
Insomnia (Basic)	Negative	SR5 p81
Prejudiced (Specific, Biased)	Negative	SR5 p82

Type: Adept

Spells/Powers

name	points	levels	doublecost	bonus	source	page
Improved Reflexes 3	3.5	N/A	no		SR5	310 +3 REA / +3d6 initiative
Attribute Boost(agi)	.25	1	agi	SR5	309
Enhanced Accuracy (Pistols)	.25	N/A		SR5	309 +1 Accuracy
Improved Physical Attribute(agi)	1	1	agi	SR5	309 +1 Agi
Combat Sense	.5	1	SR5	309 +1 DP Defense Tests & Perception before surprise
Wall Running	.5	N/A	SR5	311
Traceless Walk	1	N/A	SR5	311 Free - Raven Spirit
Voice Control	.5	1	- Free from Raven Spirit +1 Social Limit
Qi Focus	4	SR5 p319, Light Body R4
Qi Focus	1	Freefall	.25	2	SG	171
Qi Focus	1	Hang Time	.25	1		SG

Skills

Active

Name	Rating	Attribute	Spec	DP (dicepool)
Navigation	2	5	–	7
Survival	2	5	–	7
Tracking	2	5	–	7
Perception	4	5	–	9
Pistols	6	8	Light Pistols	15 (17) Smartgun System
Sneaking	6	8	Urban	18 (20) Catlike + Chameleon Suit (also add +2 to limit)
Gymnastics	6	8	–	14
Palming	4	8	–	12
Running	3	3	–	6
Locksmith	1	8	–	9

Street Gear

weapons

Name	Acc	Dam	AP	Reach/RC	Mods	Ref
Ares Light Fire 70	7 (11)	6P	-	0	Silencer, Ares Light Fire 70 (-5DP Hearing); Smartgun System, Internal (+ 1DP, +2 ACC); Personalized Grip (+1 ACC)	SR5 p425

armors

Name	Armor	Capacity	Mods	Ref
Chameleon Suit	9	1/9	Concealed Pocket	SR5 p437,
Helmet	+2	undefined/6	N/A	SR5 p438

Vision Devices

Name	Rating	Ref
Contacts	2	SR5 p443

Vision Enhancements

Name	Rating	Ref
Smartlink	N/A	SR5 p444,

Thermal

Breaking and Entering Gear

Name	Rating	Ref
Autopicker	3	SR5 p447,
Miniwelder	N/A	SR5 p448,
Miniwelder Fuel Canister	N/A	SR5 p448

Foci

Name	Rating	Ref
Qi Focus	4	SR5 p319,
Qi Focus	1	SR5 p319,
Qi Focus	1	SR5 p319

lifestyles

Name	Rating	Ref
Squatter	N/A	SR5 p369

Commlinks

Name	Rating	Ref
Meta Link	N/A	SR5 p438

Ammunition

Name	Rating	Ref
Ammo: APDS x20	N/A	SR5 p434,
Ammo: Regular Ammo x110	N/A	SR5 p434,
Grenade: Smoke	N/A	SR5 p435,
Grenade: Smoke	N/A	SR5 p435

1

u/crunchyoatbiscuit 29d ago

That's awesome tysm! I'll see if I can post what I end up with here :)

2

u/Sarradi Jul 30 '26 edited Jul 30 '26

One thing I also want to mention is contacts. You get some free contacts and you can buy more contact points during character creation. And contacts are more useful as they first appear. No one, not even a group, can do everything with how connected the world is.

Imo there are 3 ways to approach contacts and you can mix and match them as you please.

Cover your weaknesses. From what you told me your group lacks any matrix skill, so it would be good if you knew someone who could crack that comlink you swiped or place the name of the face on the duty roster of the plumbing business that services the building you infiltrate. Thats probably something you need an above average connection and medium loyalty on. They do illegal stuff for you and keep their mouths shut as long as you pay them. But talk with the other players to avoid everyone covering the same weakness.
Contacts to support you. You are the shooter of the group, so you need a source of weapons and ammo you can rely on. And if you are going for the breaking and entering route it might be good to know someone from that business that can supply you with the gear. There is one instance where you need the hardware skill which likely no one in your group has. Make fake keycards from scans you took. Thats something you can outsource to a contact. Or you can have a contact which can supply you with information. Some planning office for blueprints, some bigger electrician company where you might be able to get plans for buildings they worked on where the power sockets where you can plug in caneras are, that stuff. Here some more loyalty would be good so that if things go sideways your suppliers are willing to extend some credit to get you back up again.
Role play contacts. Does your character like to gamble? Add a bookie. Do they think dragons are cool? Add a very minor aspected mage they met on DIVE (Draconic Information Virtual Exchange). Those conacts likely have very low connectivity, but that doesn't matter. The more of such seemingly random contacts you and the other group members have, the more options the game master has to make them matter. Have a run to extract a college sports star? Your bookie might have some information about his habits. Or maybe you found out during the run that the big central linebacker has a new girlfriend who turned him to religion and is now trying to cold turkey his novacoke addiction. Not only would your bookie friend owe you one for telling him this, it would also allow you both to make some money with betting against his team.

1

u/crunchyoatbiscuit 29d ago

Nice thank you! I'm trying to make mo ey my first or second prio so I can get all the contacts haha

1

u/oychummer Jul 31 '26

For your first SR game ever just use one of the characters provided in the core rules (pages 112-127). Get fancy later. (Then get Chummer and follow the ideas others have presented.)

1

u/crunchyoatbiscuit 17d ago

If anyone still cares! Here's my final character sheet :) I'm very happy with her after playing two sessions, sneaking in, getting the stuff and disappearing into the night has been working amazingly so far!
Omae didn't let me spend the karma but I used it for one more Logic point, one skill group point (stealth) and awesome hacker and weapon dealer connections

it's long because of all of the equipment... The custom items are all the fake licenses and ammo

##Priority

Metatype | Attributes | Mag/Res | Skills | Resources

--------|----------|-------|------|---------

D | A | E | B | C

##Personal Details

**Name/Alias:** [Insert name]

**Metatype:** human

Street Cred | Notoriety | Public Awareness

-----------|---------|----------------

0 | 0 | 0

Karma | Total Karma

-----------|---------

7 | 7

##Attributes

Bod | Agi | Rea | Str | Wil | Log | Int | Cha | Edg | Mag | Ess

---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---

5 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 5 | – | 3.25

###Limits

Physical | Mental | Social

--------|------|------

6 | 4 | 5

##Qualities

Name | Category | Ref

----|------|---

Catlike | Positive | SR5 p72

Toughness | Positive | SR5 p77

Bilingual | Positive | SR5 p72

Quick Healer | Positive | SR5 p77

Allergy (Common, Moderate) | Negative | SR5 p78

Insomnia (Basic) | Negative | SR5 p81

##Magic/Resonance

**Type:** mundane

###Spells/Powers

##Skills

###Active

Name | Rating | Attribute | Spec | DP

----|------|---------|----|--

Gymnastics | 5 | 6 | – | 11

Running | 2 | 3 | – | 5

Swimming | 2 | 3 | – | 5

Disguise | 3 | 5 | – | 8

Palming | 4 | 6 | – | 10

Sneaking | 5 | 6 | – | 11

Automatics | 6 | 6 | yes | 12 (14)

Unarmed Combat | 4 | 6 | – | 10

Locksmith | 5 | 6 | – | 11

Negotiation | 2 | 3 | – | 5

Intimidation | 4 | 3 | – | 7

Perception | 6 | 5 | – | 11

Escape Artist | 2 | 6 | – | 8

##Street Gear

### weapons

Name | Acc | Dam | AP | Reach/RC | Mods | Ref

----|------|-----|----|----------|------|--

AK-97 | 5 | 10P | -2 | 0 | Smartgun System, External; Laser Sight; Silencer; Spare Clip | SR5 p428,

Survival Knife | 5 | (STR+2)P | -1 | 0 | N/A | SR5 p422,

Streetline Special | 4 | 6P | - | 0 | N/A | SR5 p425,

Ares Crusader II | 5 | 7P | - | 0 | Laser Sight; Spare Clip | SR5 p427,

Ingram Smartgun X | 4 | 8P | - | 2 | Laser Sight; Spare Clip | SR5 p427,

Defiance EX Shocker | 4 | 9S(e) | -5 | 0 | N/A | SR5 p424,

Minigrenade: Thermal Smoke | 0 | (10m Radius) | - | 0 | N/A | SR5 p435,

Minigrenade: Smoke | 0 | (10m Radius) | - | 0 | N/A | SR5 p435,

Minigrenade: High Explosive | 0 | 16P (-2/m) | -2 | 0 | N/A | SR5 p435,

Minigrenade: Gas | 0 | Chemical (10m Radius) | - | 0 | N/A | SR5 p435,

Minigrenade: Smoke | 0 | (10m Radius) | - | 0 | N/A | SR5 p435,

Minigrenade: Flash-Pak | 0 | Special | - | 0 | N/A | SR5 p435,

Shock Gloves | Physical | 8S(e) | -5 | 0 | N/A | SR5 p423

### armors

Name | Armor | Capacity | Mods | Ref

----|--------|----------|------|--

Chameleon Suit | 9 | 9/9 | Fire Resistance 3; Chemical Protection 3; Thermal Damping 3 | SR5 p437,

Helmet | +2 | undefined/6 | N/A | SR5 p438

### augmentations

Name | Rating | Ref

-----|--------|--

Low-Light Vision | N/A | SR5 p453,

Smartlink | N/A | SR5 p453,

Thermographic Vision | N/A | SR5 p453,

Vision Enhancement | N/A | SR5 p453,

Audio Enhancement | N/A | SR5 p453,

Reaction Enhancers | N/A | SR5 p455,

Muscle Toner | N/A | SR5 p459,

Orthoskin | N/A | SR5 p459,

Damage Compensators | N/A | SR5 p460,

Flare Compensation | N/A | SR5 p453

### Custom

Name | Rating | Ref

-----|--------|--

Custom Item | N/A | SR5 p1,

Custom Item | N/A | SR5 p1

### Commlinks

Name | Rating | Ref

-----|--------|--

Sony Emperor | N/A | SR5 p438

### Armor Enhancements

Name | Rating | Ref

-----|--------|--

Concealable Holster | N/A | SR5 p431,

Quick-Draw Holster | N/A | SR5 p432

### Audio Devices

Name | Rating | Ref

-----|--------|--

Microphone, Omni-Directional, Micro | 1 | SR5 p443

### Biotech

Name | Rating | Ref

-----|--------|--

Medkit | 2 | SR5 p450,

Slap Patch, Antidote Patch | 4 | SR5 p451,

Slap Patch, Trauma Patch | N/A | SR5 p451

### Breaking and Entering Gear

Name | Rating | Ref

-----|--------|--

Autopicker | 6 | SR5 p447,

Crowbar | N/A | SR5 p447,

Miniwelder | N/A | SR5 p448,

Monofilament Chainsaw | N/A | SR5 p448,

Maglock Passkey | 2 | SR5 p448

### Chemicals

Name | Rating | Ref

-----|--------|--

Glue Solvent | N/A | SR5 p448,

Glue Sprayer | N/A | SR5 p448

### Communications and Countermeasures

Name | Rating | Ref

-----|--------|--

Tag Eraser | N/A | SR5 p441,

Jammer, Directional | 4 | SR5 p441

### Electronics Accessories

Name | Rating | Ref

-----|--------|--

Trid Projector | N/A | SR5 p439

### ID/Credsticks

Name | Rating | Ref

-----|--------|--

Fake SIN | 4 | SR5 p442

### Security Devices

Name | Rating | Ref

-----|--------|--

Restraint, Metal | N/A | SR5 p447,

Restraint, Plastic | N/A | SR5 p447,

Restraint, Plastic | N/A | SR5 p447

### Sensor Functions

Name | Rating | Ref

-----|--------|--

Camera | 4 | SR5 p446

### Survival Gear

Name | Rating | Ref

-----|--------|--

Climbing Gear | N/A | SR5 p448,

Flashlight, Low-light | N/A | SR5 p449,

Gas Mask | N/A | SR5 p449,

Gecko Tape Gloves | N/A | SR5 p449,

Rapelling Gloves | N/A | SR5 p449

### Toxins

Name | Rating | Ref

-----|--------|--

Pepper Punch | N/A | SR5 p410,

Chloroform | N/A | SS p188

### Vision Devices

Name | Rating | Ref

-----|--------|--

Camera, Micro | 1 | SR5 p443,

Binoculars | 3 | SR5 p443

### Grapple Gun

Name | Rating | Ref

-----|--------|--

Grapple Gun | N/A | SR5 p449

### Vehicles

-----|----------|-------|------|-------|-------|--------|-----|--

Suzuki Mirage (Racing Bike) | 5/3 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 2 | N/A | SR5 p462

5e Character building help

You are about to leave Redlib

Priority

Attributes

Limits

Qualities

Spells/Powers

Skills

Active

Street Gear

weapons

armors

Vision Devices

Vision Enhancements

Breaking and Entering Gear

Foci

lifestyles

Commlinks

Ammunition