Character Creation Guidelines

When you are ready to make a character, please review this checklist for our requirements and recommendations for new characters. We use chummer5a for character creation here. The current stable we use is 5.216.0, currently the Latest Version on the site; we allow characters created with versions starting from 5.216.0. Please enable the following settings on Chummer.

Character generator for Shadowrun 5th edition

Settings
Setting Files downloads for Chummer .216 Stable or .221 Stable Put these into the Settings folder for your Chummer install and select the file for the CharGen option you wish to use when creating a character.


 * 1) Basic Options Tab
 * 2) Enable all books except Shadowrun 2050 and Data Trails (Dissonant Echoes).
 * 3) Check Enforce Capacity Limits
 * 4) Check Use Drone Modification Rules (R5 122)
 * 5) Check Use Restrictions for Recoil Compensation (RG 53)
 * 6) Check Use Cyberleg Stats for Movement
 * 7) Limb Count for Cyberlimbs: select 5 (2 arms, 2 legs, torso)
 * 8) Custom Data Tab
 * 9) Check Rainforest Carbine Missions Errata
 * 10) Check In Debt Does Not Contribute to BP
 * 11) Check Legal SIN and Licenses
 * 12) Exclude German Sourcbooks
 * 13) House Rules Tab
 * 14) Check Allow Characters to Exceed the Negative Quality Limit
 * 15) Check Characters Do Not Gain Karma from Taking Qualities in Excess of Their Gameplay Option’s Limit
 * 16) Check Allow Skills to be re-Grouped if all Ratings are the same
 * 17) Check Unarmed Combat-based Weapons Benefit from Unarmed Attack Bonuses

Build Options

 * 1) You may create your character using Sum to 10, Priority, or Karmagen
 * 2) Maximum Availability is 12
 * 3) Maximum Karma converted to Nuyen is 10 (235 for Karmagen)
 * 4) Starting Karma is 25 (800 for Karmagen)

Requirements checklist

 * 1) Plagiarism is banned. Transformative use must be actually transformative, setting appropriate, and must credit the original source wherever shown.
 * 2) Please ensure that your Character Info sections are all filled out. We require some development of your character’s origins and path into the shadows in your Background section, and the Description section should be a usable summary for other players to get an idea of what your character looks like. Even if your character is an unrepentant disguise enthusiast, they do have a default appearance.
 * 3) We do not allow characters to begin the game with a history of working in or winning against any elite fighting force or spec ops unit to maintain expectations about character proficiency.
 * 4) We do not allow metasapient or pixie contacts in your relationships tab.
 * 5) We do not allow Prototype Transhumans to begin play Emerged or Awakened.
 * 6) We do not allow Awakened characters to begin play with less than 6 Essence.
 * 7) We do not allow characters to begin play with the SINner (Corporate) or (Criminal) qualities. (Corporate Limited) and (National) are permissible.
 * 8) Players are allowed one Special character, which is a character that has traits from the following list. If you do not have one of these characters already, you may choose such traits for this one.
 * 9) Metasapients
 * 10) Prototype Transhuman
 * 11) SURGE
 * 12) Infected
 * 13) Drake / Latent Dracomorphosis
 * 14) Characters may begin play with augmentations in the Used, Standard, Alphaware, and GreyWare grades, but not the Betaware, Deltaware, or Gammaware grades.
 * 15) Please do not select the “Free!” box on any item you add with the exception of Medkit Supplies for any Medkit you purchase normally. (You may have X free supplies, where X is the rating of that Medkit).
 * 16) Native Language: Everybody has one. You can add one in chummer by adding a knowledge skill for a language and leaving it at 0 ranks (pre-Chummer 213) or checking the "Native" box (Chummer 213+).
 * 17) Lifestyle: You must have at least one lifestyle. You may use a basic lifestyle or an advanced lifestyle, but ensure that you include a name for the lifestyle, complete with which district in Seattle it is located in.
 * 18) Some gear and qualities prompt a value entry when you select them, such as Wanted or Fake SIN. Please ensure that these values are filled out in a way the GM team can use.
 * 19) SINs should include a full name and an Issuing Body, which can be any corporation or government. If you are not certain which to use, the UCAS is the official governing body over Seattle.
 * 20) Wanted should include the Bounty amount (usually 25000ny), the way your character is identified (Runner Handle, real SIN, or full biometric details), and the Issuer (either an organization or an individual). If you have this quality, an explanation should be in your background.
 * 21) Any quality that involves a player explanation should include that explanation in a Note on the quality. This includes Driven, Phobia, Restricted Gear, and many others.

Negative Qualities and their Impact
Negative qualities have a wide range of effects and interact differently with different characters. As per Run Faster, page 25 ("What About the Triads" side box), a negative quality which does not have any impact on your character is worth 0 karma.

The difference between a negative quality that you like or synergize with and one that is worth 0 karma is not fixed solely on the primary effect of the quality (-X to this dicepool/do this when that happens/suffer with this for your whole career) but on many other aspects.

It falls solely on the purview of Review Team to sniff out what is acceptable, but a good rule of thumb is to not take things that don't affect you in any way.

Non extensive list of examples:
 * 1) Qualities that inflict dice pool penalties, but there is no dice pool to be penalized. A character who wishes to take Antipathy (-2 to all Social Tests) but has Charisma 1 and does not plan to buy any Social skills would make Antipathy worth 0 karma because the affected dice pools are already 0, leaving no room for an effect.
 * 2) Qualities that alter the results or likeliness of glitches, but if your character cannot make an affected test, your character cannot glitch and therefore the quality has no effect. Such as Gremlins on a hermit.
 * 3) Qualities with an effect that activates if a particular event occurs, but this event cannot occur, then the quality is worth 0 karma.
 * 4) If the event is merely unlikely or your character will try to avoid it by spending other resources (even those you were already intending to spend), it is still worth karma. Such is the case for qualities like Creature of Comfort.

Licenses
Any gear with a restricted rating can get you in trouble. We recommend ensuring your Fake SIN has a license for any gear you expect to have on you when you can’t avoid security. Since there are such a wide variety of licenses available on chummer5a, here are some examples of the level of granularity we expect on these. These are not the only licenses you can pick, but if you would like to add other licenses, that is absolutely an option. None of these licenses permit a character to commit crimes; they just make it not a criminal action to carry such gear or perform such actions in public. Forbidden gear is never made permissible with a license.
 * 1) Firearms License: This license is sufficient to carry any firearm that is not Forbidden in public and permissible areas.
 * 2) Mage License: Any character who performs Sorcery, Conjuring, or Enchanting can use this license to demonstrate permission to do so, as well as binding foci for such magics. This license is very specific that magic affecting persons without their express permission is Forbidden, and astral projection is very much limited by property laws.
 * 3) Adept License: This license permits a character to benefit from Power Points and Qi or Weapon foci.
 * 4) Cyberdeck License: This license permits a character to operate and possess a cyberdeck, usually for security consulting.
 * 5) Drone License: This license permits a character to operate autonomous drones and use a Rigger Command Console
 * 6) Driver’s License / Pilot License: This license permits a character to use virtual or manual control of vehicles and drones.
 * 7) Weapon License: This license is applicable to all restricted melee weapons, but does not cover the enchanting of a weapon as a weapon focus.
 * 8) Restricted Cyber/Bio/Armor License: A necessity for any obvious implantations or heavy armor, and especially important for those if you find yourself at the mercy of a legal organization.

Contacts
With our unique contact system that encourages shared community progression, we recommend players look through our contacts sheet on the Discord for existing contacts that suit their needs. These contacts can be upgraded by the community together instead of being costs and promote shared stories as they will inevitably have more detailed backgrounds from being used so often.

The (Shadow)Bear Necessities
There is a selection of gear we consider essential for shadowrunning.
 * 1) Micro-transceiver: this subvocal microphone and transmitter has the ability to do short-range audio transmission while wireless-off, a must-have when your Matrix security is not reliable on a quiet mission.
 * 2) Prepaid commlinks (good or cheap): these disposable ‘links are handy for receiving or making calls that are at risk of being traced or to parties you’d rather not give your primary commcode to.
 * 3) Fake SIN: almost every encounter with authority is going to involve a cursory check to make sure you aren’t one of the SINless, and this is going to be your ticket through.
 * 4) The Runner Shuffle: A runner without wheels is ill-advised, since even quiet runs typically end with the need to put some distance between you and the job. These modifications allow you to do that with less chance of drawing heat from any response teams en route.
 * 5) GridLink Override: Most vehicles are designed for city use, and as such come with a direct connection to the city’s traffic management system. This override stops them from giving you misleading information or telling your Pilot to pull over.
 * 6) Spoof Chips: This electronics upgrade lets you give false identifications to anybody checking your vehicle in the Matrix or from GridLink.
 * 7) Morphing License Plate: As long as the make of your ride is ubiquitous enough, this will usually be enough to avoid being identified once you make it into the flow of traffic.
 * 8) Backpack! Self-evident, but you should be able to carry stuff larger than a ‘link.
 * 9) Any Drone or Vehicle you purchase comes with a Sensor Array. This array can be equipped (for free!) with up to 8 sensor functions. The rating of cameras and microphones in the array can be the same as the array’s rating. The sensor functions Vision Magnification and X-Ray are not legal selections. The FAB sensor does cost money to install and a monthly upkeep as well.
 * 10) Another gear related topic is appropriate skills. Many gear items offer a bonus or allow a function correlated with a skill. If you do not have that skill, you will generally not receive any effect from that gear!
 * 11) Contacts are very useful, and we recommend starting with a high connection Swag contact for the kind of gear you'll need most to grow for characters without high Negotiation. Faces might want to consider contacts that get them in touch with hard-to-find people to leverage their social skills on runs.
 * 12) You may read more about our contact rules here, including how to buy them after CharGen.
 * 13) Negative Qualities: When selecting your negative qualities, we ask that you ensure they are made part of the theme of your character.
 * 14) Negative Qualities. Some of these qualities are harsher than others, and we recommend players interested in certain qualities ensure they have a full understanding of how it impacts their character’s career.
 * 15) SINner: These qualities all apply a tax to your character’s income. This includes your illegal pay from shadowruns and Working for the Man!
 * 16) Emotional Attachment has you select gear that will be your first and only choice for any situation where that choice would not immediately ruin your plan. This would not force you to use a shotgun to lockpick or snipe at five hundred meters, but would stop you from using flamethrowers or axes at all.
 * 17) When you are happy with your character, please select the Special tab at the top and use the Check Character Validity option. It will prompt you to spend any Free Points you have not yet used, and it will do a basic legality check as well.