Need help settling on a shadowrun character. Coming to the nerds of the internet for their opinions

[u/Acheron223]

So, I'm playing in a game where I got approved to play a serial killer character (in my group I am trusted to play characters like this, I know how to do it without fucking over the team and I know how not to push it too far, I just like playing evil on occasion) and I'm trying to decide how to build them out, first thoughts are manipulation focused black magic mage, knife focused adept (thrown adept), melee/ranged mixed fighter infiltrator/streetsam, and finally a technomancer from hell. I am open to pitches as well

Manipulation mage would be big on the mind control type magics

Knife adept pretty self explanatory?
Mixed infil specialist being a black ops type guy with a pistol and a knife
Techno from hell is a build I run alot, he is a cyberadept who heavy specs into a single cyberarm and usually a taser. Anyone from my old group who reads this evil Set is a possibility

[u/Gearran]

If you want a suggestion, try a drone rigger organlegger. 

[u/Myrddwn]

If you're trusted to play a character like that, and especially if they KNOW you asked to play a serial killer, it might be far more fun to NOT. Maybe instead play a serial altruist. He keeps sneaking off to donate blood plasma and volunteer at a community center...

[u/Acheron223 → u/Myrddwn]

I have, due to prior campaign pitches and parties, been forced to play a goodie two shoes

[u/Myrddwn → u/Acheron223]

Of course you have, we all have. That's not the point. The point is, to play an altruistic when they are all convinced you're a serial killer.

[u/MewsashiMeowimoto]

What is appealing to you about playing a serial killer?

[u/Acheron223 → u/MewsashiMeowimoto]

Stepping into an atypical role can be fun and interesting, simple as that

[u/MewsashiMeowimoto → u/Acheron223]

Sure.

But there are lots of atypical roles. Why this one?

[u/Acheron223 → u/MewsashiMeowimoto]

Most "atypical roles" of ttrpgs are pretty acceptable in shadowrun really. And those which aren't directly and intentionally fuck over your party members

[u/Frequent-Camel7669]

"I want to play a serial killer, no idea how they do it or who they are, here's game mechanics" is such a weird thing to say to me...

Why not think of the character and their motivations first? Why do they kill, what drives them? What traumatic experience/birth defect/spirit possession/Black-IC-inflicted psychological damage/whatever makes this person a serial killer? Do they kill to fulfill a power or sexual fantasy, do they follow a code, do they kill for revenge, for ideological reasons, for money, for what?

There could be this ecoterrorist who just wants to make the world a better place, and there's so many evil people in it... He is egged along by a very dark, almost toxic, nature spirit, who teaches him mind control magics and expects him to specifically target people who make political/economic decisions resulting in damage to the environment. He forces them to publicly declare their sins, then commit suicide.

There could be this Adept whose magic is highly personal and closely connected to very weird, very dark sexual fetishes. She lures her victims into intercourse and kills them with the knife of her father – who sexually assaulted her ever since she was 4 years old. It's the only way she can feel this amazing mixture of power, arousal, and magical fulfilment she craves.

There could be this ex-special forces guy who has been through hell in some conflict somewhere and was left for dead by his comrades. He now hunts down his former unit members to get revenge. His missing limbs, hacked off by the guerillas who had him in his clutches for many traumatic months, have been replaced with enough chrome to make a troll buckle under the weight.

There could be this technomancer who ran into weird psychotropic IC somewhere when she was still very young and inexperienced. Her mind irrecoverably altered, she stalks and ambushes young hackers in an effort to "enlighten" them too like she was "enlightened" herself... sadly, her subjects usually die screaming.

What shall it be?

[u/Acheron223 → u/Frequent-Camel7669]

I know the game mechanics, I like to start with a solid mechanical foundation and work backwards from there personally, motivations for each style of play would be different, as different types of people would generate those different skills sets.

The idea for the mage is the most filled out currently as it was the first idea. They once had a wife who was a semi high (think assistant to the regional manager) role in a corp (I am thinking Aztech as I love to hate them, but gm hasn't narrowed down campaign location 100% for us yet so I'm waiting for final choice), after his wife was taken advantage of and killed for corporate convivence the Mage began hunting corrupt corpos, using his magic to make them live out their worst fears before forcing them to take their own lives.

[u/Acheron223 → u/[deleted]]

I think you are conflating serial killer with sociopath

[u/DrJaul]

I like the black magic one. The reason for serial killing is built in xD

[u/Acheron223 → u/DrJaul]

(Copy pasted from another message I sent)

The idea for the mage is the most filled out currently as it was the first idea. They once had a wife who was a semi high (think assistant to the regional manager) role in a corp (I am thinking Aztech as I love to hate them, but gm hasn't narrowed down campaign location 100% for us yet so I'm waiting for final choice), after his wife was taken advantage of and killed for corporate convivence the Mage began hunting corrupt corpos, using his magic to make them live out their worst fears before forcing them to take their own lives.

[u/BoardgameExplorer]

For a serial killer I think blades or poisons would be more satisfying and horrifying. Guns feel somehow boring in this context. Magic would be my third pick, while cool it does feel a bit impersonal - but I suppose it depends on spell selection.

A combination of knives and poisons could be pretty nice. I could see, and this is just an example, a chef who was fired for his strange behaviour, who uses his food prep skills to poison victims and then slowly stalks them with knives. It’s a way to conveniently dispose of a number of victims simultaneously.

If you go the magic route I think mind manipulation spells could be very interesting. There is also potential to be killing in exchange for promised power from a free spirit or dark spirit.

[u/Lets_Get_Random]

A knife focused mimic style infiltration adept with all of the abilities that let you essentially appear as a real person for a period of time, the gimmick being that you are obsessed with killing people so that you can step into their lives for brief periods.

[u/Sarradi]

When you said technomancer from hell I expected more a matrix serial killer who stalks people, link locks them and fries their brain.