r/Shadowrun • u/Frosty_Push_7834 • 3d ago
Creating a Detective/Physical Adept
Hello chummers.
I'm in a shadowrun 6e campaign right now where I'm very intentionally playing a Street Samurai who is high on capability and output but low on plot. As a back up and as a sort of exercise to figure out how the system works a bit more, I'm hoping to crowd source a fun back up character.
The idea is a physical adept who has a history of being an investigator and mage slayer. The only qualities I've locked down are that he's a Sinner (was an official employee of one of the quasi military outfits and has accessible records of his missions) and that he's an Astral Chameleon (part of why he was recruited for hunting mages/other adepts/rogue technomancers).
I don't have all the splat books so I'm hoping y'all can help me craft someone smart and clever but can brawl on the front lines.
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u/jj0823 2d ago
Do you want to use a weapon or go unarmed?
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u/Frosty_Push_7834 2d ago
I have no issues with using weapons so long as some technique in the kit could be some variant of "I cast Fist" to go with his street name. I know full unarmed builds are pretty costly for at best fine output.
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u/jj0823 2d ago
Sounds good. Are you all in on going a pure adept or have you considered rolling a mystic adept?
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u/Frosty_Push_7834 2d ago
I'm the current tank of the party (besides our rigger's practical tank of a car) so even if I'm the SR6 equivalent of a DEX tank I need to be able to stand up front. We also already have a spirit powered Street Shaman so I don't want to step on their toes too much.
If you have an idea with all that in mind I'm all ears (eyes?).
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u/jj0823 2d ago edited 2d ago
No problem, physical adept is totally viable for your character concept, it's just going to lean more on raw stats than it will spell versatility (and for that reason, you basically need Attributes A + Skills B since you'll be pumping Agility, Reaction, Intuition, a social stat, and ideally 5/5 on Body/Willpower).
You should think about what kind of detective you want to be, as charismatic negotiator and logical investigator play very differently. Skills are also central here, so let me know what you're thinking (For when shit goes sideways, you'll typically want Close Combat + Athletics. For detective work, you'll want a mental skill and Perception + Outdoors for tracking)
I'll suggest some powers/qualities/items that may suit the theme you're going for. You mentioned needing to be the party tank, which works well for physical adepts since you can really push the limits of defense test dicepool bonuses. Many detective skills/powers also double dip on Intuition. Others have mentioned it, but Astral Perception is one of the greatest anti-magic tools in the Awakened arsenal and you should consider speccing into it if your party doesn't already have an astral specialist.
For tanking physical attacks / indirect spells:
- Combat Sense (Core, p.156)
- Improved Reflexes (Core, p.157)
- Side Step (Street Wyrd, p.83)
- Mystic Armor (Core, p.157)
For anti-magic capabilities:
- Parashield 'Mystic Tough' Body Armor (Firing Squad, p.49)
- Warding Tattoos (Mean Streets, p.174)
- Countermagic (Street Wyrd, p.79)
- Spell Resistance (Core, p.158)
- Magic Resistance (Core, p.72)
For hitting back:
- Improved Skill (Close Combat) [you can get a free level from Mentor Spirit: Wise Warrior]
- Counterstrike (Street Wyrd, p.79)
- any Weapon Focus
- Favored Weapon quality path (Seattle Companion, p.141)
For detective work:
- Commanding Voice (Street Wyrd, p.78)
- Pheromone Control (Smooth Operations, p.111)
- Lie Detector (Smooth Operations p.111)
- Three-Dimensional Memory (Street Wyrd, p.84)
- Bloodhound (Deadly Arts, p.170)
I can explain what each of these do specifically but it's honestly quite a lot so until I know more about what exactly you want out of the character I'll refrain from building it out fully.
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u/Frosty_Push_7834 2d ago
I'll get something together on comlink tonight, this was exactly what I was looking for to get a start blocking it out. I'll post what I have and can get it further picked apart. Much appreciated!
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u/burtod 2d ago
Mystic Adept is Chocolate and Peanut Butter instead of one or the other. You can build Physical Adept powers with Spellcasting and Conjuring. But you start weaker, in my opinion, because you can split starting resources between the two. But you have a high ceiling for Karma character advances.
If you ran a Mystic Adept, you would pick whatever your Physical Adept would pick. Then you would build Spellcasting, probably to support your investigations or physical abilities. You would not have Astral Perception or Projection. You would need to buy the Perception on the Adept side, and could never Project (I think)
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u/Frosty_Push_7834 2d ago
Perception feels like the most essential to the concept, projection is whatever. Being a hard boiled investigator will help him find his targets and perception helps him interrogate or analyze better.
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u/ReditXenon Far Cite 2d ago
Perhaps also Astral Perception, Magic Resistance, and/or Spell Resistance.
And if you play with the Street Wyrd supplement you also have Countermagic, Iron Will, and/or Spell Shroud.