SR5:Positive Qualities

5th Edition Lists
Gear // Magic // Hacking // Skills // Qualities // Packs // Creatures

Positive Qualities	Negative Qualities	Martial Arts

Positive Metagenic Qualities	Negative Metagenic Qualities

Ambidextrous

COST:4 KARMA	Dual Wield No -2 DP Modifier
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:Core

The Ambidextrous character can handle objects equally well with either hand. Without this quality, any action performed solely with the off–hand (i.e., firing a gun) suffers a –2 dice pool modifier (see Attacker Using Off-Hand Weapon, p. 178).

Analytical Mind

COST:5 KARMA	Logic Tests +2 DP Takes half the time
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:Core

Analytical Mind describes the uncanny ability to logically analyze information, deduce solutions to problems, or separate vital information from distractions and noise. It’s useful in cracking cyphers, solving puzzles, figuring out traps, and sifting through data. This quality gives the character a +2 dice pool modifier to any Logic Tests involving pattern recognition, evidence analysis, clue hunting, or solving puzzles. This quality also reduces the time it takes the character to solve a problem by half.

Aptitude

COST:14 KARMA	Max Skill Rating 13
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:Core

This quality is how you become even better than the best in the world. The standard limit for skills is 12. Every so often, there is a character who can exceed limitations and be truly exceptional in a particular skill. With this particular quality, the character can have one skill rated at 7 at character creation, and may eventually build that skill up to rating 13. Characters may only take the Aptitude quality once.

Astral Chameleon

COST:10 KARMA	Being Assensed -2 DP Modifier to Assenser
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:Core

With the Astral Chameleon quality, the character’s astral signature blends into the background of astral space and is difficult to detect. All signatures left by the character last only half as long as other astral signatures. Any individuals assensing astral signatures left behind by a character with this quality receive a –2 dice pool modifier for the Assensing Test. Only characters with a Magic rating and capable of leaving astral signatures may have this quality.

Bilingual

COST:5 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:Core

A character with this quality reads, writes, and speaks a second language fluently. They can list a second language as a native tongue (see Language Skills, p. 150). This quality can only be acquired at character creation; selecting it gives the character a second free language skill during Step Five: Purchase Active, Knowledge, and Language Skills, (p. 88).

Blandness

COST:8 KARMA	Memory Tests +1 to Threshold to remember individual with this quality Stealth/Search Tests -2 DP Modifier to try and follow/find individual with this quality Matrix Benefits do not apply
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:Core

This character blends into a crowd; he’s seldom noticed and easily forgotten. He is unremarkable in every aspect of physical appearance. Anyone attempting to describe the character cannot come up with anything more precise than “average height, average build, average hair, etc.” Increase the threshold for anyone to recall specific details about the character by 1. This means a Memory Test with a difficulty of Average (threshold of 2) becomes a Hard test (threshold of 3). Individuals attempting to shadow or physically locate a character with the Blandness quality in a populated setting receive a –2 dice pool modifier on all tests related to their search. The same penalty applies if they’re asking around about the person based on the individual’s physical appearance. The modifier does not, however, apply to magical or Matrix searches. If the character acquires any visible tattoos, scars, obvious cyberware, or other distinguishing features, the bonuses from the Blandness quality go away until the distinctive features are removed from the character’s appearance.

In certain circumstances and specific situations, the gamemaster may determine that Blandness does not apply. For example, a troll with the Blandness quality still towers head and shoulders over a crowd of humans and so still stands out, no matter how average their horns may be. The character only regains his bonus by leaving the situation where he stands out.

Catlike

COST:7 KARMA	Sneak Tests +2 DP Modifier
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:Core

A character with the Catlike quality is gifted with an uncanny elegance, a stealthy gait, and an almost preternatural ability to move without making a sound. They also claim they land on their feet when dropped, though they tend not to let people test this. This quality adds a +2 dice pool modifier to Sneaking skill tests.

Codeslinger

COST:10 KARMA	Predetermined Matrix Action +2 DP Modifier
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:Core

Ones and zeroes are practically a native language to a Codeslinger. The character is adept at performing a particular Matrix action (which she selects when she selects this quality) and receives a +2 dice pool modifier to that Matrix action. This can only be selected for Matrix Actions (p. 237) that have a test associated with them.

Double-jointed

COST:6 KARMA	Escape Artist Tests +2 DP Modifier
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:Core

A Double-Jointed character has unusually flexible joints and can bend and contort his body into extreme positions. The character receives a +2 dice pool modifier for Escape Artist tests. The character may also be able to squeeze into small, cramped spaces where less limber characters cannot. They’re also great at parties and bars.

Exceptional Attribute

COST:14 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:Core

The Exceptional Attribute quality is how you get to be the charismatic troll, or the agile dwarf. It allows you to possess one attribute at a level one point above the metatype maximum limit. For example, an ork character with the Exceptional Attribute quality for Strength could take his Strength attribute up to 10 before augmentations are applied, instead of the normal limit of 9. Exceptional Attribute also applies toward Special Attributes such as Magic and Resonance. Edge cannot affected by the Exceptional Attribute (Edge is raised by another quality called Lucky). A character may only take Exceptional Attribute once, and only with the gamemaster’s approval.

First Impression

COST:11 KARMA	Social Tests +2 DP Modifier during first meeting
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:Core

The First Impression quality enables a character to slide easily into new environments, situations, groups, and jobs. Whether infiltrating a gang, making contacts in a new city, or wrangling an invite to a private meet, the character gains a temporary +2 dice pool modifier for relevant Social Tests such as Negotiation and Con during the first meeting. This modifier does not apply to second and subsequent encounters

Focused Concentration

COST:4 PER KARMA	Sustain Spell/Complex Form No -2 DP Modifier for single sustaining up to Rating
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:(MAX 6)
SOURCE:Core

A technomancer or magic user with the Focused Concentration quality has the discipline to manipulate mana or Resonance more precisely than otherwise possible. This precision reduces stress to the magic user’s or technomancer’s body. She is able to sustain one spell/complex form with a force/level equal to her Focused Concentration rating without suffering any penalties. For example, a magic user with Focused Concentration rating 3 may sustain a Force 3 Armor spell without taking the negative dice pool modifier for sustaining a spell. Sustaining any additional spells or complex forms incurs the standard –2 dice pool modifier per spell or complex form sustained. This quality may only be taken by magic user characters that are able to cast spells and technomancers.

Gearhead

COST:11 KARMA	Vehicle Modifier Either +20% Speed or +1 Handling Difficult Maneuvers +1 DP Modifier Limitation Bonus only lasts 1D6 Minutes Additional Minutes (Up to +1D6 Minutes) cause 1 Stress Damage to vehicle
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:Core

The Gearhead is who you look for when it’s time to stomp on the gas and move. She’s a natural-born driver or pilot. When she’s at the wheel/stick/controls of a vehicle or drone, she has an intuitive understanding of its limitations and its capabilities and is able to coax whatever machine she’s controlling to perform at its best. During vehicle or chase combat, a Gearhead can increase the Speed of her vehicle or drone by 20 percent or increase the Handling modifier by +1 (player’s choice). She also receives a +2 dice pool modifier when attempting difficult maneuvers or stunts in the vehicle. This bonus lasts for 1D6 minutes. The player can choose to make this bonus last up to an additional 1D6 minutes if she wants. Doing so pushes the vehicle or drone well beyond its design limits and risks catastrophic damage. For each minute the character pushes the vehicle past its initial bonus period, the vehicle automatically takes one point of stress damage (unresisted)

Guts

COST:10 KARMA	Resist Fear/Intimidation +2 DP Modifier
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:Core

When a bug spirit with dripping mandibles comes calling, the character with Guts is the one most likely to stand and fight instead of freaking the hell out. Guts gives a character a +2 dice pool modifier on tests to resist fear and intimidation, including magically induced fear from spells or critter powers.

High Pain Tolerance

COST:7 PER KARMA	Wound Modifiers Ignore (Rating) Boxes of Damage
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:(MAX RATING 3)
SOURCE:Core

High Pain Tolerance lets a character keep delivering the pain even if she’s had plenty piled on her own head. A character with High Pain Tolerance can ignore one box of damage per rating point of this quality when calculating wound modifiers (see Wound Modifiers, p. 169). So a character with this quality at Rating 2 can take 4 boxes of damage but carry on without wound modifiers as if she only had 2 boxes of damage. The –1 wound modifier would then kick in when the character takes her fifth box in damage. This quality may not be used with the Pain Resistance adept power, pain editor bioware, or damage compensator bioware.

Home Ground

COST:10 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:Core

If a character knows her neighborhood better than anyone—the shortcuts, the hiding places, and the people she can trust—then she probably has the Home Ground quality. She knows the families who live there, their stories, and what the kids who moved out are doing; she knows the streets better than GridGuide, knows things that aren’t on GridGuide, and knows when GridGuide is wrong. She knows the politics of the gangs, who’s running for whom and who’s running from whom. But it’s not just the physical streets. Depending on the character, her Home Ground quality can manifest in ways specific to who and what she is. When choosing this quality, select one of the bonuses below:

Astral Acclimation

The character has become acclimated to the background count of her Home Ground. Through a lifetime of familiarity she’s learned to work around it, enabling her to ignore up to two points of background count.

Example

For example, if the background count on her Home Ground is 3, she sees only a reduction of 1 to her Magic tests; if the background count is 5, for her it is only a 3, and so on. This quality works only on her Home Ground and has no benefit anywhere else.

You Know a Guy

The character has built up long-lasting relationships with people from her neighborhood. These people are not contacts, but they know her as one of their own and are more likely to do favors for or talk to her. NPCs from the character’s Home Ground neighborhood are considered friendly toward her wherever she encounters them (unless she has done something to change that).The character receives +2 Street Cred for any Negotiation with people from her Home Ground.

Digital Turf

This is for a decker or technomancer who has a specific host that she calls her own. She may actually own the spot, or it can be a place she frequents enough to consider home. The character receives a +2 bonus to Matrix Tests while in her Home Ground host. Bonuses from other Qualities may stack with Home Ground. If the character has not frequented this host for more than six months, she loses the Home Ground quality because she is no longer as familiar as she should be.

The Transporter

This character knows the layout of streets, back alleys, service tunnels, etc., like the back of her hand. She knows when GridGuide is wrong and when GridGuide is out of date. When the transporter is on her Home Ground, she has a +2 dice pool modifier for Evasion Tests.

On the Lam

Hiding out and lying low are part of a shadowrunner’s daily life. On the Lam means a character has an encyclopedic knowledge of safehouses, bolt holes, abandoned buildings, just about any out-of-the-way place not claimed by gangs or squatters. When she needs to find a safe location in a hurry, this character receives a +2 dice pool bonus to her Intuition + appropriate street knowledge skill to find a suitable place to hole up fast.

Street Politics

This character knows the street gangs, the criminal operations, and the beneath-the-surface affiliations that are the social and political fabric of her Home Ground. She receives a +2 dice pool modifier for Knowledge Tests relating to gangs or their operations.

This quality can be taken multiple times, selecting one of the categories above each time.

Human-looking

COST:6 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:Core

A metahuman character with the Human-Looking quality can pass for human in most circumstances. Human NPCs respond with neutral attitudes toward such characters when making Social skill tests (p. 82), even those humans who are particularly biased against metahumans. The character may suffer increased animosity from metahuman NPCs who are prejudiced against humans and who either mistake him for human or distrust his motives for trying to look human.

Only elves, dwarfs, and orks can take the Human-Looking quality.

Indomitable

COST:8 PER KARMA	Limit Modifier +1 Per Rating to Specified Limit
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:(MAX 3)
SOURCE:Core

Bodies and minds have limits, but some people have the will to push right through those boundaries. For each level of Indomitable, a character receives a +1 increase to an Inherent limit of his choice (Mental, Physical, or Social). He can take up to three levels and can apply them in any way he chooses (+3 to one Inherent Limit, for example; or +2 to one Inherent and +1 to another; or +1 to all three).

Juryrigger

COST:10 KARMA	Mechanical Tests +2 DP Modifier when Juryrigging -1 Threshold Modifier
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:Core

Juryrigger gives a character an intuitive grasp of the inner workings and underlying principles of mechanical and electronic devices. She knows how to repair the broken, rejuvenate the worn, improve a device’s efficiency, or coax it into doing things it’s designers hadn’t intended. Characters with the Juryrigger quality receive a +2 dice pool modifier for Mechanical Tests when juryrigging gear. If the gamemaster decides what the character wants to accomplish is in fact possible, he determines the threshold for her success using the Build/Repair Table (p. 146) as a guideline, then reduces the threshold for the test by 1. While a successful Mechanics Skill Test enables the Juryrigger to perform amazing technical feats, everything she devises is temporary. Examples of what a character may be able to do with Juryrigger include:

• Juryrig a destroyed device so that it will operate just one more time (for 1D6 minutes).
• Tweak an electronic device to function at a rating one higher than normal for 1D6 Combat Turns.
• Temporarily coax extra performance from a vehicle’s or drone’s components, increasing its Sensor or Handling by +1 (if combined with bonuses from Gearhead, the vehicle’s or drone’s critical components completely burn out at the end of the duration from being pushed well beyond their limits; at that point, the vehicle or drone becomes a big paperweight).
• Improvise a one-shot device or weapon from disparate components (the gamemaster has final say on whether suitable parts are available).
• Devise an impromptu means to bypass a security measure, such as a trip beam or pressure plate.

Lucky

COST:12 KARMA	Edge Modifier +1 to Maximum
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:Core

The dice roll and the coin flips this character’s way more often than not, giving her the chance to drop jaws in amazement at her good fortune. Lucky allows a character to possess an Edge attribute one point higher than his metatype maximum (for example, a human character could raise her Edge to 8). Note that taking this quality does not actually increase the character’s current Edge rating, it just allows her the opportunity to do so; the Karma cost for gaining the extra point must still be paid. This quality may only be taken once and must be approved by the gamemaster. The Lucky quality cannot be combined with Exceptional Attribute.

Magic Resistance

COST:6 KARMA PER RATING	Spell Resistance Tests +1 DP Modifier Limitation Never a voluntary subject
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:(MAX RATING 4)
SOURCE:Core

This is the wonderful ability to potentially make a Fireball bounce away. For every 6 Karma spent on Magic Resistance, a character receives 1 additional die for Spell Resistance Tests. The Magical Resistance quality, however, is always “on”—the character cannot lower it to receive beneficial spells such as Heal. A character with Magic Resistance cannot take part in spells that require a voluntary subject; such spells automatically fail when used on magic-resistant characters.

Characters with a Magic rating cannot take this quality.

Mentor Spirit

COST:5 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:Must have Magic Attribute Rating
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:Core

Everyone needs some help in life, even if it comes from someone relatively filmy and insubstantial. Mentor Spirit means the character follows a patron spirit (see Mentor Spirits, p. 320) that guides him in his practice of magic and provides certain advantages and disadvantages to his natural abilities. A character may change mentor spirits, but he may have only one mentor spirit at a time. To change mentor spirits, the character must first buy off the current mentor spirit as if it were a Negative quality. He can then purchase the quality again to follow a different mentor spirit. This cost represents the toll of divorcing from one mentor spirit and bonding with a new one.

Each tradition has a different name for a mentor spirit. Hermetic mages prefer the term “mentor spirit,” while shamans use the word “totem” for the spirit that they follow. While the names may vary, the way the mentor works is consistent.This quality is only available to characters that possess a Magic attribute rating.

Natural Athlete

COST:7 KARMA	Running and Gymnastics Tests +2 DP Modifier
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:Core

A character with this quality has an innate combination of physical fitness, spatial awareness, and natural athletic or gymnastic talent. While the character may not be a world-class athlete and may require training to achieve peak performance, he is in prime physical shape for his size and weight class. The Natural Athlete adds a +2 dice pool modifier for Running and Gymnastics skill tests.

Natural Hardening

COST:10 KARMA	Biofeedback Filtering +1 Point
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:Core

This quality makes the character’s neural structure resistant to feedback. This gives her 1 point of natural biofeedback filtering, which is cumulative with a Biofeedback Filter program or a technomancer’s firewall (p. 251).

Natural Immunity

COST:4 OR 10 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:Core

The ability to casually sip poison can never be overrated. A character with Natural Immunity has an innate or developed immunity to one single disease or toxin. This quality is available at two levels. If purchased at the 4 Karma level, the character is immune to a single natural disease or toxin. If Natural Immunity is purchased at the full 10 Karma level, the character is immune to a single, synthetic (artificially created) disease or toxin. Natural Immunity does not affect diseases or toxins that are magically based, such as HMHVV.

The player and gamemaster must agree on the disease, drug, or poison to which the character is immune. The character can take one dose of the drug or poison and experience one exposure to the disease every six hours with no ill effects. Any subsequent dosing or exposure during the next six hours causes normal damage, but the character’s recovery time is halved. Note that characters with Natural Immunity to a disease can be a carrier, infecting other characters while suffering no ill effects.

Photographic Memory

COST:6 KARMA	Memory Tests +2 DP Modifier
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:Core

A character with Photographic Memory can instantly recall facts, dates, numbers, or anything else he has seen or heard. The character gains a +2 dice pool modifier to all Memory Tests.

Quick Healer

COST:3 KARMA	Healing Tests +2 DP Modifier On/for/by individual with Quality
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:Core

A character with the Quick Healer quality receives a +2 dice pool modifier to all Healing Tests made on/for/by her, including magical healing.

Resistance To Pathogens/Toxins

COST:4 OR 8 KARMA	Resistance Tests +1 DP Modifier
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:Core

A character with Resistance to Pathogens/Toxins can fight off diseases and drugs more easily than other characters and receives a +1 dice pool modifier to Resistance Tests. This quality comes at two levels: at 4 Karma the character is resistant to either pathogens or toxins, not both. If the character purchases this quality at 8 Karma, she receives the +1 modifier for resisting both.

Spirit Affinity

COST:7 KARMA	Binding Tests +2 DP Modifier Spirit Services +1 Service for predetermined Spirit Type
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:Core

Available only to magic users, the Spirit Affinity quality allows a character to be attuned to one type of spirit (see Spirits, p. 303). These spirits find the character interesting, are drawn to her, and are more inclined to assist her. They may be reluctant to attack the character, and if forced to do so they are likely to use nonlethal power. Watchers and minions do not count for this quality as they are constructed and are not summoned like normal spirits. Spirit Affinity provides magicians with 1 additional spirit service for each spirit of that type, and it also provides a +1 dice pool modifier for Binding Tests.

Magic users may possess this quality for a type of spirit that is not part of their magical tradition.

Toughness

COST:9 KARMA	Damage Resistance Tests +1 DP Modifier from Body
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:Core

Characters with the Toughness quality shrug off damage more easily than others. Such characters gain a +1 dice pool modifier to their Body when making Damage Resistance tests.

Will To Live

COST:3 KARMA PER RATING	Overflow Damage +1 Damage Overflow Box per Rating
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:(MAX RATING 3)
SOURCE:Core

For each rating point in Will to Live, the character gains 1 additional Damage Overflow Box (p. 101). These additional boxes only allow the character to sustain additional damage before dying; they do not raise the threshold at which the character becomes unconscious or incapacitated, nor do they affect modifiers from the damage the character has taken.

The Artisan’s Way

COST:20 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:Adept
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:SG

In keeping with their affinity for all things technological, adepts of the Artisan’s Way are able to alter the standard Adept Centering metamagic ability (p. 325, SR5) to grant bonuses for either Active Vehicle skills or Active Technical skills. Bonding a qi focus (p. 319, SR5) that enhances the adept’s Improved Ability (any Technical and Vehicle skill) power costs two Karma less than normal.

Artisans may choose to use their Way discount bonus on the following skills: Analytics, Enhanced Perception, Heightened Concentration, Improved Ability (any Technical or Vehicle skill), Improved Potential (Mental only), Metabolic Control, Three-Dimensional Memory.

The Artist’s Way

COST:20 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:Adept
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:SG

Master creators or entertainers, those who follow the Artist’s Way channel their energies into inspiring people and showing them the beauty of the Sixth World. As such, they’re able to use standard Adept Centering to negate any negative modifiers during a Performance Test for an artistic performance or an Artisan Test for the creation of an artwork. They can also bond a foci that enhances their Improved Ability (Artisan) power for two Karma less than normal.

Artists may choose to use their Way discount bonus on the following skills: Astral Perception, Cool Resolve, Enhanced Perception, Improved Ability (Artisan), Kinesics Mastery, Metabolic Control, Nimble Fingers, Voice Control.

The Athlete’s Way

COST:20 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:Adept
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:SG

These adepts focus their energy on only one thing: honing their bodies for maximum performance to become the absolute best at whatever sport, game, or competition they’ve chosen. As such they receive a +1 effective initiate grade while using the Adept Centering technique for any skill from the Athletics skill group.Athletes may choose from the following skills for their Way discount bonus: Great Leap, Improved Ability, Improved Physical Attribute, Improved Potential, Pain Resistance, Skate, Spirit Ram, Rapid Healing, Wall Running.

The Beast’s Way

COST:20 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:Adept
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:SG

Adepts who follow this path are under the guidance of an animal mentor spirit, which they refer to as their totem, similar to some shamans. Through the emulation of their totem, these adepts seek to improve themselves, and like followers of the Spiritual Way, they’re considered to be more spiritual than the average adept. As such, they receive all the bonuses and drawbacks associated with their personal totem.

Because of their unique outlook, followers of the Beast’s Way have an above-average rapport with nature and gain a +1 situational bonus to all Animal Handling Tests; however, if the adept’s totem is a predatory one, this bonus does not apply against animals that totem would normally consider prey. When dealing with the same animal as their totem, the adept gains an automatic +4 for any Animal Handling Tests involving them.

Followers of the Beast’s Way may choose from the following skills for their discount bonus: Animal Empathy, Astral Perception, Berserk, Combat Sense, Elemental Strike, Enhanced Perception, Killing Hands, Magic Sense, Mystic Armor, Motion Sense, and Traceless Walk. In addition, Beast’s Way adepts are able to choose one power other power for the discount.

The Burnout’s Way

COST:15 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:Adept
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:SG

Those who have embraced technology in all the wrong ways or felt the need to take shortcuts to achieve power and performance find themselves on this “Way.” Often they become mere shells of themselves. Most do not start as a Burnout; it’s usually something that happens to them. To start this path after character creation, the adept must have lost or sacrificed at least 2 points from their Magic rating to any kind of augmentation that lowers essence.

If the Burnout previously had a true Way, then they must pay back any discounted powers by rearranging or sacrificing current powers until the values match the adept’s new Magic Rating. They are, however, allowed to keep whatever metamagics they may have previously earned through initiation. To compensate for this loss, Burnouts are considered to be more compatible with augmentations: treat any standard augmentations the adept acquires after burning out as being alphaware grade for purposes of Essence loss, though not for purchase costs. (All other grades function as normal). Note that lost Essence due to new augmentations will reduce Magic as normal (p. 54, SR5).

As long as the adept still has a Magic Rating, he can still continue to initiate and gain more Magic and adept powers. Once he gains two Magic Rating points after taking the Burnout quality, he loses the quality, though he keeps the benefits gained up until that point (meaning the Essence cost of his augmentations do not change).

The Invisible Way

COST:20 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:Adept
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:SG

Master spies, infiltrators, and assassins—all are common followers of the Invisible Way. What more can be said?Because a follower of this way generally prefers stealth to direct, open combat, bonding a focus that enhances a physical non-combat skill costs two less Karma than normal.

Followers of the Invisible Way may choose from the following skills for their discount bonus: Blind Fighting, Combat Sense, Critical Strike, Enhanced Perception, Great Leap, Hands, Motion Sense, Nerve Strike, Skate, Three-Dimensional Memory, Traceless Walk, Wall Running.

The Spiritual Way

COST:20 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:Adept
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:SG

Those who follow this path are under the guidance of a mentor spirit, similar to shamans. Through the emulation of their mentor spirit, these adepts seek to improve themselves and are considered to be more spiritual than the average adept. As such, they receive all the bonuses and drawbacks associated with their particular mentor spirit.

Because of their more spiritual outlook, adepts of the Spiritual Way have an above-average rapport with spirits, which conveys a +1 situational bonus to all Conjuring Tests. And when dealing with other magicians who follow the same mentor spirit, the adept gains an automatic +2 dice pool bonus for any social tests involving them.Followers of the Spiritual Way may choose from the following skills for their discount bonus: Astral Perception, Elemental Strike, Elemental Weapon, Enhanced Perception, Killing Hands, Magic Sense, Mystic Armor. In addition, Spiritual Way adepts may choose one power from another Way’s list for the discount.

The Warrior’s Way

COST:20 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:Adept
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:SG

The Warrior is the type that most mundanes associate with the word adept. These elite combatants dedicate their lives to forging their bodies into lethal weapons or engines of war. Combat is their calling, and they excel at it, accomplishing through skill and magic what others use augmentations to accomplish.

Bonding a weapon focus costs two less Karma than normal for those following the Warrior’s Way. Warriors can choose from the following list of powers for their discount: Blind Fighting, Combat Sense, Counterstrike, Critical Strike, Improved Ability, Improved Potential (Physical), Killing Hands, Missile Mastery, Motion Sense, Rapid Draw.

The Magician’s Way

COST:20 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:Adept
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:SG

One of the most popular Ways for mystic adepts, the Magician’s Way seeks to find balance between physical and magical abilities—or at least find what works best for the adept. Because of the time the adept spends on her sorcery and spellcasting abilities, many feel that she is not truly embracing either aspect. Adepts who practice this Way feel they are simply trying to either make the best of what they have or find the best of both worlds.

Unlike their physical counterparts, mystic adepts following this Way have access to all non-adept metamagic abilities for which they meet the prerequisites. And because they do not specialize as much as other adepts (and do not receive a bonus besides the discount on Power Point cost), followers of this Way are able to choose any power they want for the discount, with the exception of Improved Reflexes.

The Speaker’s Way

COST:20 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:Adept
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:SG

Often called social adepts, Speakers are some of the best faces in the biz. Adepts of the Speaker’s Way are highly talented negotiators, fixers, and motivators. They use words the way a samurai uses his sword, talking themselves in and out of situations that would kill others. When it comes to changing people’s minds or getting them to do something, accept no substitutes. Speakers receive a +1 to their dice pool when using flexible signature and masking metamagical techniques. In addition, the Karma cost for bonding foci that increase their Improved Ability (Social skill) power is two less than normal.

Speakers can apply their Way discount bonuses to the following powers: Analytics, Cool Resolve, Enhanced Perception, Improved Ability (Social skill), Improved Potential (Mental or Social), Kinesics Mastery, Three-Dimensional Memory, Voice Control.

Spirit Champion

COST:14 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:Able to Summon
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:SG

Something you did had a lasting, positive effect on the astral plane, and the whole spirit world is talking about it. Characters with this quality may spend (Force x 5) drams of reagents when performing a Summoning Test to receive a +1 dice pool modifier, in addition to any reagents spent to set the limit for the test. Also, Binding Tests require only (Force x 20) drams of reagents, and the summoner receives a +1 dice pool modifier.

Acrobatic Defender

COST:4 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:R&G

Duck, dive, twist, and twirl, just put on a good enough floor show to keep whatever is coming your way from landing on your face. This quality allows the character to use their Gymnastics skill in place of their Willpower while using Full Defense. Including this skill in the Defense Test means that their Physical Limit also applies.

Agile Defender

COST:3 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:R&G

Speed kills, but quickness and agility can be the key to avoiding a speedy death. This quality allows the character to use their Agility in place of their Willpower attribute while using Full Defense.

Brand Loyalty

COST:3 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:R&G

Brand loyalty is taken to extremes in the Sixth World with individuals brainwashed by their megacorporate masters, especially when it comes to firearms. But sometimes being loyal to a brand can be a good thing. Characters who are brand loyal know the products of their favorite brand inside and out. The quality has two levels; Manufacturer and Product. At the Manufacturer level, characters choose a corporate or manufacturer brand, i.e. Ares, Saeder-Krupp, Krime, H&K, Novatech, etc., and gain a +1 dice pool bonus on every roll involving gear made by their manufacturer. At the Product level the bonus is only conveyed on a single item, i.e. Predator IV, S-K-Bentley Concordat, Krime Kannon, HK227, Novatech Airware, etc.

On the downside, due to this narrow focus the character suffers a –1 dice pool penalty whenever working with a piece of gear not made by their preferred Manufacturer. At the Product level the –1 dice pool penalty is applied to all products of the same type, i.e., heavy pistols, cars, SMGs, assault cannons, commlinks, etc.

One Trick Pony

COST:7 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:R&G

You’ve watched the same action trid or chipped your way through the same simsense so many times you actually know how to do that really cool move the star always uses. This quality allows the character to choose one Martial Arts technique they can do without first learning the associated Martial Arts style.

Perceptive Defender

COST:4 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:R&G

Sometimes keeping yourself alive is about staying alert and keeping an eye out for incoming trouble, about knowing what’s coming before it’s time to duck or dive for cover. This quality allows the character to use their Perception skill in place of their Willpower attribute while using Full Defense. Including this skill in the Defense Test means that their Mental limit also applies.

Sharpshooter

COST:4 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:R&G

Through focus and vigilance it’s possible to hone a shooting skill to the point of an excess of precision. This honing means that specific techniques are trained to the point of perfection, but in that training, other, more basic maneuvers are skipped over. Characters with this quality are more skilled at making Called Shots, but at the cost of their basic shooting skills. Penalties for Called Shots are decreased by 2, while all other Ranged Attack actions suffer a –1 dice pool penalty.

Too Pretty To Hit

COST:3 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:R&G

It’s more about force of personality than actually being pretty—sometimes a character just has a presence about them that keeps people from shooting straight. The character can use their Charisma attribute instead of their Willpower attribute while using Full Defense.

Radiation Sponge

COST:5 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:R&G

Something about the cells of characters with this quality makes them more resistant to radiation’s harmful effects, but it also makes them hold onto that radiation for longer. The character always faces one less step for Fatigue from Environments in Radiation environments, and therefore never faces a Deadly environment. If a character spends time in a Deadly environment, treat it as an Extreme environment for Fatigue purposes; use the Deadly environment times and double the length of time for carrying Radiation with them.

For example, Glowboy is a Radiation Sponge who makes a two-minute jaunt into the heart of Glow City in Redmond to prove a point. He comes out a little tired but excited to tell his pals all about the trip. When his pals start falling over, Glowboy tries to help them but they only seem to get worse. Glowboy is carrying a Deadly environment around with him for 4 minutes after he leaves, plenty of time to kill his less-radiation-friendly pals. He will also be carrying around a Harsh environment for 48 hours and a Mild environment for 48 more. Best he keeps away from other people for awhile.

Rad-tolerant

COST:3 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:R&G

Sometimes characters are just different. Being able to stand on the outskirts of the Cermak Blast and just stare into the nothing for days on end, or even living there with no ill effects can be a blessing in disguise. Characters with this quality double the time before they gain the Blighted quality. Characters also always face one less step for Fatigue from Environments in Radiation environments, just like the Radiation Sponge. This Quality is incompatible with the Radiation Sponge Quality.

Spacer

COST:3 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:R&G

Some people are just naturally comfortable in alternative-gravity environments. They perform every action with a certain additional grace and style. These characters gain a +1 dice pool bonus to all Physical actions taken in a gravity other than Earth norm.

Adrenaline Surge

COST:12 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:RF

Hit first, hit last, that’s your style. Adrenaline Surge allows a character to act first in the first Initiative Pass of a new combat even if they don’t have the highest Initiative Score. If other characters involved in the combat have the Adrenaline Surge quality or use their Edge to Seize the Initiative so that they may act first in the same Initiative Pass, characters act in order of their Initiative Scores. This quality does not allow a Surprised character to act first in an ambush, but it can allow a character who is not surprised to strike first.

Animal Empathy

COST:3 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:RF

Characters with this quality have a natural knack for working with animals. The character gets a +2 dice pool modifier for all tests involving the influence or control of an animal (including riding), including Awakened species.

Black Market Pipeline

COST:10 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:RF

During character creation, the player chooses one existing individual contact and a single category of merchandise (e.g., vehicles, weapons, electronics, armor, etc.). The selected contact can always buy or sell goods in that category through the black market with better-than-normal rates for the character. Purchases through this contact get a ten percent price reduction and a +2 dice pool modifier for the Availability Test. When looking to sell goods through the contact, the character gets (7 percent x Loyalty) of the item’s original value instead of the standard 5 percent. The contact has to be appropriate to the category chosen, though creativity can be king here.

Born Rich

COST:5 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:RF

Richie Rich has fallen into the shadows. The character came from an affluent background (e.g., high-level corporate kid, old-money family, Mafia princess, lottery winner), but is not necessarily still wealthy or doesn’t have access to this additional wealth. During character creation, characters can normally gain extra resources at a rate of 2,000 nuyen per Karma point, up to 10 Karma maximum (p. 94, SR5). With this quality, available only during character creation, characters may exceed the usual 10 Karma limit and instead trade up to 40 Karma total at the same exchange rate of 2,000 nuyen per Karma point, for up to 80,000 nuyen of additional funds.

City Slicker

COST:7 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:RF

A character with this quality has the asphalt and concrete of the sprawl in his blood. They would choose the noise and chaos of the city over the suburbs or rural areas any day of the week. They have an instinct for navigating urban environments. This quality provides a +1 dice pool modifier for all skills in the Outdoors skill group when in an urban environment. The downside is the character suffers a –1 dice pool modifier to Perception and Survival Tests when in any non-urban environment.

College Education

COST:4 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:RF

The halls of academe are well known to your character. Thanks to time spent actually studying while at college instead of partying, the character can buy Academic Knowledge skills at half price (rounded up) during character creation. After character creation, Academic Knowledge skill ranks of 3 or higher receive a 1 Karma cost reduction for each rank.

Common Sense

COST:3 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:RF

“Common sense is not so common” as they say. It’s nothing supernatural, just a keen sense of knowing when something is just a bad idea. Any time a character with this quality is about to do something the gamemaster deems foolish, the gamemaster must act as their proverbial inner voice of reason and issue a little warning. The gamemaster can only give a number of warnings per session equal to or less than the character’s Edge rating. After that, they’re on their own.

Daredevil

COST:6 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:RF

Better to be lucky than good, when you’re living on the edge. A character with this quality is particularly lucky when it comes to doing the outrageous. Whenever the character performs an exceptionally daring action (gamemaster’s discretion), she gets two points of Edge back instead of one.

Digital Doppelganger

COST:7 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:RF

The Matrix is a big place, and with a world so connected and so tied to identity, there are bound to be some crossed signals somewhere. The character’s digital identity, including their spending habits, licenses, travel records, and data trail have all been cross-linked with someone else’s identity. Anyone doing research on him has a hard time locating any information and faces a +2 threshold for Matrix Searches for tracking the character on this ID. The character must be a SINner, and this quality should be linked to a particular SIN.

Disgraced

COST:2 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:RF

The character used to be a figure of authority, feared in the streets and publicly lauded as a hero until his reputation got tarnished (justly or unjustly), and he was cast out of his community. Such was the character’s fearsome reputation that criminals (gangers, organized crime members, and so on, as determined by the gamemaster) still treat him warily. The character receives a +2 dice pool modifier when attempting to intimidate such individuals. However, any upright citizen will treat the character with the disdain reserved for disgraced heroes, being treated as Prejudiced in any Etiquette Test.

Erased

COST:8 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:RF

There are characters who lack a SIN because they never had one, and then there are those who had a SIN but had it actively and thoroughly erased, to the point where legwork can only be done via word-of-mouth contacts, and Matrix searches turn up nothing. Also, the quality prevents Public Awareness for the character from ever going above 1.

This is a double-edged sword. The character can never maintain a Lifestyle higher than Middle, and can never used a fake SIN or any attached licenses for more than three months. Living under the radar is expensive. If a character chooses to have a High Lifestyle for a month, she’ll need to bail on it and lay low for a bit with a Low or lower Lifestyle for at least a month. If they fail to do so, the systems in place start to slip, making the character locatable via the Matrix and possibly building a Public Awareness—which means that whatever they were hiding from might have a chance to find them.

Fame

COST:4 TO 16 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:RF

Now if you can just get fortune and money you’ll have the trifecta. The problem is you’ve got the element that is not particularly cherished in the shadows. Whether you’re a former trid star, a local politician, a retired or injured sports star, or the latest up-and-coming rocker, your face is well known. It may be just the local community, a single nation or corp, or possibly the world that knows your ugly mug. No matter who they are or how many folks know your profile, being so recognizable has its pros and cons.

First, on the pro side, Fame offers benefits within certain social circles and additional income if the character also chooses the Day Job quality.

That may sound nice, but being well known is not a great way to get work in the shadows, and therefore causes problems on the darker side of life. Characters with this quality are more likely to be recognized by passers-by or others who see them during a run, which can be a problem. And remember that Fame often involves strings; one of the biggest is having a SIN. Characters who choose this quality must have the SINner quality or a Rating 3 fake SIN.

Local Fame (4 Karma)

City politics, hometown sports teams, and local news stations are some of the most common sources of local fame. Select a single sprawl at character creation to be the base of the character’s fame. In the public eye of that sprawl, the character gains a 1-point increase to their Social Limit and a +1 dice pool modifier on all Social Skill tests to positively influence someone who knows of their fame.

The downside is that anyone from the chosen sprawl can identify famous characters with an Intuition + Logic (2) Test, so characters need to be careful about who sees them when they are on the job. The character’s Public Awareness is increased by 2.

If the character has the Day Job quality, they multiply their income by 2.

National Fame (8 Karma)

National politics, championship sports teams, and the entertainment industry supply the bulk of nationally famous folks. At character creation, select a nation to be famous within and a sprawl of origin within that nation (it needs to be a place related to the character’s story and the languages they speak—characters need at least four ranks in the native language of the country in which they are famous). In the selected sprawl, characters gain a 1-point increase to their Social Limit and a +2 dice pool modifier on all Social Skill tests to positively influence someone who knows of their fame. In the chosen nation, the character has a 2-point Social Limit increase and a +1 dice pool modifier as above.

Anyone from the character’s home sprawl can identify the character with an Intuition + Logic (1) Test; people from the nation need to make an Intuition + Logic (2) Test. The character’s Public Awareness is increased by 3.

If the character has the Day Job quality, they multiply their income by 4 and also increase their required workload by 10 percent.

Megacorporate Fame (12 Karma)

Megacorporate sports teams, the international entertainment industry, and megacorporate politics bring corporate citizens into the spotlight. At character creation, choose a home megacorporation, home sprawl, and home nation where the character’s fame originated and grew. In the character’s megacorporation, they gain a 2-point Social Limit bonus and a +2 dice pool modifier on all Social Skills tests to positively influence someone who knows of their fame. In the nation and sprawl they came from, the Social Limit increase is 1 and the dice pool modifier is +1.

Citizens of their megacorporation and their home sprawl need only succeed at an Intuition + Logic (1) test to identify the character. Citizens of other megacorporations and their home nation can identify them with an Intuition + Logic (2) Test. The character’s Public Awareness is increased by 5.

If the character has the Day Job quality, they multiply their income by 6 and also require a 10 percent increase in workload.

Global Fame (16 Karma)

This kind of fame is not easy to avoid. International blockbuster simstars, multi-platinum-selling music artists, megacorporate executives, and international political figures fit this kind of bill. Characters with this level of fame gain a 3-point increase to their Social Limit and a +3 dice pool modifier to all Social Skills tests to positively influence anyone who knows their identity. Identifying the character requires an Intuition + Logic (2) Test or any rank in an appropriate Knowledge Skill.

If the character has the Day Job quality, they multiply their income by 10 and also require a 25 percent increase in workload. The character’s Public Awareness is increased by 8.

Characters can create their own runner persona to try and hide their true identity, but it will involve a disguise or mask of some sort. Identifying the star becomes an Opposed Test with the initial Disguise + Intuition [Mental] Test, setting the threshold to identify the character with a Perception + Intuition [Mental] Test.

Friends In High Places

COST:8 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:RF

“So sorry, Damian, I can’t head out on the new Ares prototype ship with you this weekend, I have a run,” is something a character with this quality might actually say. This quality gives the character an additional pool of Free Karma for purchasing contacts, with a few stipulations. First, the character gets an additional Charisma x 4 in Karma to purchase contacts. Second, none of these contacts can have a Connection Rating less than 8. Third, any leftover Karma that the character cannot spend is lost. These contacts can’t be called at every turn; see the Who You Know chapter for information on what happens if the favors of contacts are abused. (p. 172).

Hawk Eye

COST:3 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:RF

Characters with the Hawk Eye quality have exceptionally keen natural vision. They can identify a face a block away without binoculars or spot a spent casing in a shadowy crack at five meters. Characters gain a +1 dice pool modifier to their Perception Tests and shift all Range Environmental modifiers up one category (e.g., Medium becomes Short). The quality is part of characters’ natural eyes and is not compatible with electronic vision enhancements and/or cyber- or bioware augmentations or replacements.

Inspired

COST:4 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:RF

Slapping paint on a canvas or words on a page is easy and requires only a medium and a mouth to tout one’s own amazing talents and insights. But to make something worthwhile, something that deserves to be called art, pieces that speak for themselves and stand the test of time, requires true talent. An Inspired character is touched by a muse (figuratively we hope, though gamemasters can see Street Grimoire for the literal) and is considered an artistic genius by his peers for his remarkable raw talent. The quality grants the character an additional Street Cred of 2 (p. 372, SR5) among fellow artists familiar with his reputation. Inspired characters also gain a +1 dice pool modifier for all Artisan skills or Performance skills they possess; the player must choose which category the quality applies to when it is chosen, and the quality can only be selected once.

Jack Of All Trades, Master Of None

COST:2 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:RF

The character has an incredible aptitude for learning new skills. Unfortunately, the character quickly gets bored and gets turned off when things start getting a little hard. Karma costs are reduced by 1 (to a minimum of 1) for learning skills up to Rating 5. Beyond Rating 5, however, it costs 2 additional points of Karma for each point of skill. This quality does not apply during character creation.

Lightning Reflexes

COST:20 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:RF

Some people are just born fast. This quality provides an unaugmented character the ability to react with astonishing speed. The character gains +1 to their Initiative rating and a bonus initiative die. This quality is not cumulative with any other Initiative enhancement, be it technological, chemical, or magical. They also receive a +1 dice pool modifier for all Defense Tests.

Linguist

COST:4 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:RF

Nothing impresses an out-of-town Johnson more than negotiating in their native tongue. And knowing when they’re telling their goon squad to kill you is pretty useful too. This quality represents a natural gift for learning and understanding languages. Characters with this quality halve the learning time for a language, and the quality also provides a +1 dice pool modifier to all Language skill tests the character makes. If this quality is purchased at character creation, the player purchases Language skill points at a 2-for-1 rate. After character creation, language skill ranks of 3 or higher receive a 1 Karma cost reduction for each rank.

Made Man

COST:5 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:RF

As a minor member of an organized crime syndicate, the character can occasionally call on its resources. At the time of purchase, select a crime syndicate as a free Group Contact (see Group or Organization Contact Options, p. 176). As the character is an actual member of the syndicate, Loyalty is increased to 3 instead of starting at 1. This status also allows him to use the syndicate as a reliable fence for stolen goods (they get thirty percent of the items’ value) or as a source for stolen and restricted goods (ten percent price reduction and a +1 dice pool modifier for the Availability Test). Everything comes with a price, though. The character is expected to participate in syndicate work, taking at least twenty hours of his time every week in a standard campaign, and costing the character one out of every four weeks in Missions play.

Night Vision

COST:2 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:RF

The name says it all. This quality provides characters with the advantages of low-light vision (see Environmental Compensation Table, p. 175, SR5). There is a downside. Thanks to the extremely light-sensitive nature of the eye, the character suffers severely from the glare of the sun (Blinding Glare on a clear day, Moderate Glare on an overcast day, etc.) but can mitigate this with sunglasses per the Environmental Compensation Table. The quality is not compatible with cyber- or bioware augmentation or replacement (meaning if you get any such replacement, this quality goes away, and the character receives no Karma in return).

Outdoorsman

COST:3 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:RF

A character with this quality is often described as woodsy. They are far more comfortable in wilderness and rural environments than in the urban blight of the modern city. They are naturals at tracking and hunting, with a sense of direction even a compass could rely on. This quality provides a +2 dice pool modifier for all skills in the Outdoors skill group when in a rural or wild environment. The downside is the character suffers a –1 dice pool modifier to Perception and Survival Tests when in an urban environment.

Overclocker

COST:5 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:RF

The character is able to coax more juice out of his gear. The character may add 1 point of Rating to one of his cyberdeck’s ASDF attributes. This point can be reallocated as desired any time the cyberdeck is reconfigured.

Perceptive

COST:5 TO 10 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:RF

The devil is in the details, and you see those horns regularly. This quality is available at two levels. For 5 Karma, characters receive a +1 dice pool modifier on all Perception Tests, including Astral and Matrix Perception. For 10 Karma, the modifier increases to +2.

Perfect Time

COST:5 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:RF

Who needs a watch when you’re around? The character with this quality always knows the time, down to the minute, and has a perfect sense of rhythm and timing. This perfect sense can only be obstructed through prolonged isolation, unconsciousness, or distortion of temporal perception through drugs, chips, or an extended period in the Matrix. This quality provides two game benefits: a +1 dice pool modifier for Performance Tests involving timing and rhythm, along with an additional Free Action during every Action Phase.

Poor Link

COST:8 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:RF

There’s a haze to the character’s aura that makes connecting over a distance difficult. All ritual sorcery, including friendly efforts, directed at the character receives a –2 dice pool modifier for the Ritual Spellcasting Test during Step 7: Seal the Ritual. The character also has a +2 dice pool modifier for any Resistance Tests she might have to make against the ritual, including against friendly rituals.

Privileged Family Name

COST:7 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:RF

With this quality the character’s family is exceptionally well-connected, and his real name carries significant clout in his home sprawl (selected at character creation). Though probably known as a rich, spoiled brat, the name (and accompanying SIN and ID) is like a get-out-of-jailfree card for small misdemeanors (such as being caught carrying a weapon, casting an unauthorized mental manipulation spell, or driving a car without a license). Even when trying to act tough, local minor NPCs suffer a –2 dice pool modifier on Social tests against the character. In order to have this quality the character must also possess the SINner (National or Corporate) quality. Remember that this quality also makes the character very easy to identify if those not concerned with their family name start asking questions.

Restricted Gear

COST:10 KARMA PER ITEM
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:RF

Right place, right time, right friend, or the stars aligned. No matter the reason, the character has managed to acquire or get a line on one piece of really hard-tofind gear she absolutely had to have. The character can take this quality up to three times; only one of those times can occur at character creation. Selecting it at character creation allows the character to buy a piece of gear with an Availability of up to 24 (circumventing the normal Availability limit at character creation). After character creation, taking this quality lets the character purchase one piece of gear with an Availability up to 18 during play with just a single commcall. They do, however, have to pay an extra thirty percent for the item.

School Of Hard Knocks

COST:4 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:RF

The streets were this character’s classroom. Thanks to all the time spent trying to stay one step ahead of the next guy, and knowing that knowledge is power on the streets, the character can buy Street Knowledge skills at a rate of 2 for 1 during character creation. After character creation, Street Knowledge skill ranks of 3 or higher receive a 1 Karma cost reduction for each rank.

Sense Of Direction

COST:3 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:RF

Sometimes the compass asks you which way is north. This quality allows even the most citified character to always know true north. With even a single rank in the Survival skill, she can always retrace her path. She can also estimate distances traveled accurately within a few meters as long as she is alert and able to perceive her surroundings when traveling. The quality offers a +1 dice pool modifier on Navigation skill tests.

Sensei

COST:5 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:RF

You don’t know what you don’t know. This quality gives you someone who knows what you don’t know and has chosen you to be the recipient of their knowledge. The character selects a skill or skill group for their Sensei to have mastered when the quality is purchased. They must have a contact of Connection Rating 3 or higher with expertise in the area they will teach the character. If they choose a single skill, the Sensei has the skill at a Rating of 13, as well as an Instruction Test dice pool of 10 and a limit of 7. If a skill group is chosen, the Sensei has it at 12 and has an Instruction Test dice pool of 12 with a limit of 8. The Sensei charges nothing for her services to the character, and she generally should be available to the character, though the specifics of the relationship are under the gamemaster’s discretion.

Solid/legendary Rep

COST:2 TO 4 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:RF

The character has a solid (2 Karma) or legendary (4 Karma) reputation within a certain group. He did something amazing for the group once; old members talk about it with fond memories and new recruits want to find out all about it. The character gets a Reputation bump with a certain specific group; +1 for a solid rep, +2 for a legendary rep. Even if the character goes on to do negative things to that group, his reputation is such that people want to believe it’s a just a misunderstanding. The selected group should generally have around one to five thousand members. The quality can only be taken once.

Speed Reading

COST:2 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:RF

When you found out the professor was offering an open-book final that could count as one hundred percent of your grade, you covered a year’s tuition by betting you could ace it without ever attending a single class. With this quality, a character can read through a full page of written text (about 800 words) in about five seconds or an 800-page textbook in about an hour. The information read is not memorized (unless the character also possesses the Photographic Memory quality, p. 76, SR5, which allows a test for anything in the book after it is read), but the reader can gain a basic understanding of the contents. If attempting to locate a specific piece of information, phrase, or subject while in the process of reading, the character can attempt a Logic + Intuition Extended Test with a threshold and interval determined by the gamemaster based on the Tests she might have to make against the ritual, including against friendly rituals.

Privileged Family Name

COST:7 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:RF

With this quality the character’s family is exceptionally well-connected, and his real name carries significant clout in his home sprawl (selected at character creation). Though probably known as a rich, spoiled brat, the name (and accompanying SIN and ID) is like a get-out-of-jailfree card for small misdemeanors (such as being caught carrying a weapon, casting an unauthorized mental manipulation spell, or driving a car without a license). Even when trying to act tough, local minor NPCs suffer a –2 dice pool modifier on Social tests against the character. In order to have this quality the character must also possess the SINner (National or Corporate) quality. Remember that this quality also makes the character very easy to identify if those not concerned with their family name start asking questions.

Restricted Gear

COST:10 KARMA PER ITEM
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:RF

Right place, right time, right friend, or the stars aligned. No matter the reason, the character has managed to acquire or get a line on one piece of really hard-tofind gear she absolutely had to have. The character can take this quality up to three times; only one of those times can occur at character creation. Selecting it at character creation allows the character to buy a piece of gear with an Availability of up to 24 (circumventing the normal Availability limit at character creation). After character creation, taking this quality lets the character purchase one piece of gear with an Availability up to 18 during play with just a single commcall. They do, however, have to pay an extra thirty percent for the item.

School Of Hard Knocks

COST:4 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:RF

The streets were this character’s classroom. Thanks to all the time spent trying to stay one step ahead of the next guy, and knowing that knowledge is power on the streets, the character can buy Street Knowledge skills at a rate of 2 for 1 during character creation. After character creation, Street Knowledge skill ranks of 3 or higher receive a 1 Karma cost reduction for each rank.

Sense Of Direction

COST:3 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:RF

Sometimes the compass asks you which way is north. This quality allows even the most citified character to always know true north. With even a single rank in the Survival skill, she can always retrace her path. She can also estimate distances traveled accurately within a few meters as long as she is alert and able to perceive her surroundings when traveling. The quality offers a +1 dice pool modifier on Navigation skill tests.

Sensei

COST:5 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:RF

You don’t know what you don’t know. This quality gives you someone who knows what you don’t know and has chosen you to be the recipient of their knowledge. The character selects a skill or skill group for their Sensei to have mastered when the quality is purchased. They must have a contact of Connection Rating 3 or higher with expertise in the area they will teach the character. If they choose a single skill, the Sensei has the skill at a Rating of 13, as well as an Instruction Test dice pool of 10 and a limit of 7. If a skill group is chosen, the Sensei has it at 12 and has an Instruction Test dice pool of 12 with a limit of 8. The Sensei charges nothing for her services to the character, and she generally should be available to the character, though the specifics of the relationship are under the gamemaster’s discretion.

Solid/legendary Rep

COST:2 TO 4 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:RF

The character has a solid (2 Karma) or legendary (4 Karma) reputation within a certain group. He did something amazing for the group once; old members talk about it with fond memories and new recruits want to find out all about it. The character gets a Reputation bump with a certain specific group; +1 for a solid rep, +2 for a legendary rep. Even if the character goes on to do negative things to that group, his reputation is such that people want to believe it’s a just a misunderstanding. The selected group should generally have around one to five thousand members. The quality can only be taken once.

Speed Reading

COST:2 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:RF

When you found out the professor was offering an open-book final that could count as one hundred percent of your grade, you covered a year’s tuition by betting you could ace it without ever attending a single class. With this quality, a character can read through a full page of written text (about 800 words) in about five seconds or an 800-page textbook in about an hour. The information read is not memorized (unless the character also possesses the Photographic Memory quality, p. 76, SR5, which allows a test for anything in the book after it is read), but the reader can gain a basic understanding of the contents. If attempting to locate a specific piece of information, phrase, or subject while in the process of reading, the character can attempt a Logic + Intuition Extended Test with a threshold and interval determined by the gamemaster based on the

Trust Fund

COST:5, 10, 15, OR 20 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:RF

Everyone knows you’re in the shadows for the rush or to fulfill some kind of Batman wannabe fantasy. Every month your trust fund spills out enough to live off, but just living is boring. A character with this quality possesses a lifelong trust fund or inheritance that is managed by another party (a trustee). The quality has four versions depending on just how rich and shady a runner is willing to be. For 5 Karma, the trust fund income covers a Middle lifestyle with 500 nuyen left over each month. For 10 Karma, the income covers a Low Lifestyle but offers the character 2,000 + (3D6 x 100) nuyen each month thanks to a deal with their landlord to rip off the trustee. For 15 Karma, the income covers a High Lifestyle with 1,000 nuyen left over. For 20 Karma, the money covers a Middle Lifestyle and offers 3,000 + (6d6 x 100) nuyen thanks to one of those special deals. The character must also possess the SINner (National or Corporate) quality; additionally, the lifestyle they pay for cannot be paid for through other sources and is part of the records connected to the SIN. None of these lifestyles can be shared on a long-term basis, as the landlords are leery of anyone staying at the place and possibly ruining their deal. Note that there is a chance that if the character is caught breaking the law, the trustee may suspend benefits at the gamemaster’s discretion.

Trustworthy

COST:15 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:RF

There’s just something about your baby face, good manners, or personality that makes others want to trust you. This quality provides a +1 dice pool modifier to all Skill Tests for skills in the Influence skill group and increases the character’s Social Limit by 2 for situations involving trusting the character.

Vehicle Empathy

COST:7 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:RF

Sometimes you feel like your heart pumps 108 octane instead of simple blood. Characters with this quality have an inexplicable understanding of and connection with anything they drive. Whenever the character is in physical control of a vehicle, either through manual controls or jacked into the vehicle via cable (but not Jumped In), they gain a +1 dice pool modifier for all appropriate Pilot Skill tests and increase the Handling Rating by 1.

Water Sprite

COST:6 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:RF

You sure you’re not part merrow? This quality provides a +2 dice pool modifier to all Diving and Swimming tests, as well as tests related to holding your breath and treading water.

Witness My Hate

COST:7 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:Magicians Only
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:RF

All of a spellcasting character’s single-target Direct Damage spells are resolved at +2 DV. However, such reckless channeling of destructive forces wreaks havoc on the character’s system. The Drain code for any affected Direct Damage spells is increased by +2.

Data Anomaly

COST:3 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:DT

An incessant code tinkerer, you know very effective ways to hide your icon, making it look like nothing more than a piece of errant code. You gain +2 dice when resisting a Matrix Perception test while running silent. Unfortunately, whatever it is you’re doing to hide yourself has one little flaw—sprites, those mysterious creatures of the Matrix, can spot you instantly, exactly as if you weren’t running silent at all.

Fade To Black

COST:7 KARMA	Erase Marks and Hide Complex Action to Erase all Marks on you and Hide
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:DT

When the opposition starts getting marks on you, you know the hurt isn’t far behind. That feeling of the noose tightening around your neck, the race to get them before they get you … well, you hate that drek. So much so that you have developed your vanishing act technique. When making a Complex Action to perform the Erase Mark action, if you succeed in erasing all marks on you, you may then immediately perform a Hide action as part of the same Complex Action you just took.

Go Big Or Go Home

COST:6 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:DT

You don’t have time to mess around. When you strike, you strike to kill. Whenever you attempt to place three marks on a target using a single Brute Force or Hack on the Fly action, you suffer a penalty of –6 instead of the usual –10. Now, go get ’em, Tiger.

Golden Screwdriver

COST:8 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:DT

It happens to everyone: You meet more hacking opposition that you expected, and your shit gets bricked. Maybe it’s your deck. Maybe it’s your cybereyes. They just love to brick cybereyes, don’t they? Well, null persp, chummer, ’cause been there, done that. You are so used to fixing Matrix damage that you hardly think about it anymore. Every hit you get on your Hardware + Logic test reduces 1 box of Matrix Damage and reduces the time to do so by half—you do not have to allocate your hits to one or the other.

I C U

COST:6 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:DT

In the shadows, everyone always runs silent, right? To you, what gives them away is the obviousness of the lack of activity. You’re so used to this, you know exactly what to look for. So long as you have visual sight on a target that is running silent, or carrying silent-running devices, you get +2 to your Matrix Perception to spot their hidden icon(s).

Ninja Vanish

COST:5 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:DT

Even the best sometimes get clipped. Maybe you’re in a host, holding off some IC, but there are just too damn many of them. Maybe you’re in the middle of a firefight and the enemy hacker is getting the best of you, and you’re moments away from having your deck reformatted, when suddenly, the Matrix glitches. A little localized reset saves your bacon. Just like that. What are the odds, neh? Maybe GOD is on your side? That can’t be you must just be that good. As a Free Action, the character can spend 1 point of Edge to remove all marks a single opponent has on him. Note that in cases where other targets were sharing marks with your target, such as IC in a host, the others also lose their marks.

Online Fame

COST:4 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:DT

Congratulations, you’re famous! Well, sort of. You are only famous as a Matrix persona. Maybe you’re a famous blogger, an online gaming hero, or a cyberpunk roleplaying-game freelance author (be still your beating heart). People know your icon and your signature, but even your most ardent fan wouldn’t recognize you if they passed you in the street on a brightly lit day. Further, none would actually believe you if you tried to tell them (quite the opposite, in fact). You gain +2 dice to your Social tests and +2 dice to your Social Limit when interacting with someone who knows you, but only when you interact with them via the Matrix. Characters who see your icon are able to identify you with a successful Intuition + Logic (2) Test.

Any character who is able to see both your icon and your physical self is thrown into a conflict. Either they will believe you are truly him, or they will refuse to believe and think you are trying to impersonate, erm, yourself. If they believe you, your bonus becomes +3 on Social Tests and Social Limit toward your ecstatic fan, which now applies to all interactions, not just Matrix ones. However, if they do not believe you, you suffer –4 to all Social interactions. In addition, the character may outright attack you or call the police to report you. To determine a character’s reaction, the gamemaster may roll a single D6. On a roll of 5 or 6, the character believes you. On any other roll, the character does not.

Otaku To Techomancer

COST:10 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:DT

You were an otaku, a child of the Matrix, bending the Matrix to the will of your mind alone, before it was cool to do so. Most of your kind, assuming they even survived this long, did not emerge as technomancers. But for you, lightning struck twice—you went from otaku to technomancer. Having known your abilities for longer than just about anyone else alive, dealing with these strange powers is second nature to you. You gain +2 dice when resisting Fading from any source.

Pain Is Gain

COST:5 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:DT

Virtual reality—especially hot sim—can be addictive. But what people don’t understand is how exhilarating slicing through the Matrix really is. Not just the simsense feedback. No. To you, it’s the thrill of the fight. You never feel more alive than that moment when searing white-hot pain hits you between the eyes as the IC tries to fry you. It’s the knowledge that your life is on the line as you redline it, all at the speed of thought, that gets you juiced up.

The character gains +2 to their current Initiative Score on any turn she suffers Biofeedback damage (Stun or Physical). This extra score comes into effect at the same time damage is incurred and lasts only for the current Combat Turn. The character may only gain 2 points of Initiative per Combat Turn in this way, no matter how many times they get slapped around.

Prime Datahaven Membership

COST:7 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:DT

JackPoint, the Nexus, the Helix—legendary sites of information sharing among the shadowrunner elite. Access to these sites is invitation-only, and guess what you’ve been invited! You’ll be a probationary member for a while, but that’s still not bad. You pretty much gain access to most of the information you might ever want, you’re just not necessarily privy to the administrative secrets of the haven and some of the more sensitive posts. These sites all operate on a give-to-be-given, information-should-be-free mentality. You will be expected to feed the dataHaven with regular posts sharing your expertise and detailing some of the things you encounter, though it is accepted as a mark of professionalism to censor your information so as to not include names or details that might lead to identification of the specific players involved.

When choosing this quality, pick one of these famous datahavens. It will act as a Group Contact (p. 176, Run Faster). The Group Contact is considered to have a Loyalty of 3 and Connection of 5.

Profiler

COST:3 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:DT

If you know someone well, you can often guess their actions. Simple enough in theory, and something that you have mastered. Given enough information about someone, you are able to get into their head and know what buttons to push and how to manipulate them. With an appropriate dossier on a person and one hour to study it, you gain a modifier to your dice pool and your Social Limit on all Social Tests involving that person, equal to the net hits on a Matrix Search test (maximum +3).

An appropriate dossier can be gathered via a Matrix Search test. The threshold is always at least 3, but depending on the individual may be as high as 6 (gamemaster’s discretion). The information required is always Obscure (–2 modifier) and may be On Another Grid (further –2 modifier, gamemaster’s discretion).

The downside to the character’s ability to profile others so well is an inability to react smoothly when unprepared. The character suffers –1 to their Social Limit in any and all situations where they could not prepare.

Quick Config

COST:5 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:DT

Maybe you’re just nova-hot at moving your fingers around, or maybe your mind is highly organized. Whatever the case, reconfiguring your deck is something you do with freakish rapidity. Whenever you reconfigure your deck (p. 228, SR5), you can make two changes with a single Free Action. So, you may switch two programs for two others, or you can swap two pairs of cyberdeck attributes. You can also swap one program and one attribute pair. Note that a single attribute can only be swapped once, so there is still a limit to how much the new config can achieve.

Example

Trix has the Quick Config quality and is currently running a Novatech Navigator with Attack 6, Sleaze 5, Data Processing 4, and Firewall 3 (6/5/4/3). She could use a Free Action to reconfigure her deck and swap Attack and Sleaze and then Data Processing and Firewall to end up with 5/6/3/4). What she could not do is swap Attack and Sleaze and then Sleaze with Firewall (5/3/4/6).

Chaser

COST:4 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:R5.0

Something about reeling in a car, boat, or plane that is trying to get away from you gives you a sense of urgency and intensity that makes you perform at your peak. The same thing happens when someone is after you. Any time you perform any Chase Action (p. 204, SR5), you receive a +2 dice pool bonus.

Dealer Connection

COST:3 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:R5.0

At some point in your wide travels and extra-legal activities, you met someone who has access to retail vehicles, and your connection means that you get vehicles at a discount. When selecting this quality, pick a class of vehicle (ground craft, watercraft, aircraft, or drones). Each time you purchase a vehicle of that class, you receive ten percent off the price. The discount is taken after the gamemaster makes adjustment to the price based on Availability. This quality may be taken up to four times, once for each class of vehicle.

Grease Monkey

COST:8 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:R5.0

When you were young, you would much rather make a trip to the junkyard than the toy store (possibly because kids in the barrens never have enough money to buy anything at the toy store). As you got older, the allure or discarded vehicle and machine parts on the heaps in junkyards was far stronger than the promise of some new toy. You not only loved monkeying around with these items, but you could often get the devices to work. Gain +1 dice on any skill test using skills from the Engineering skill group.

Speed Demon

COST:3 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:R5.0

Pushing your vehicle to its limits makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up, but in a good way. You feel alive, alert, and ready to do anything. This increased intensity gives you a +1 dice pool bonus to Pilot tests for a vehicle that is moving at a speed attribute of 3 or higher (4 for aircraft). Note that your character must either be directly in the vehicle he is piloting or jacked in; the bonus does not apply to vehicles that are simply being piloted remotely.

Stunt Driver

COST:4 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:R5.0

Whether it’s because you spent some time working for a trip studio in LA or because you taught yourself some fancy moves while passing time in the barrens driving some junker car, you developed particular skill behind the wheel/helm/control stick of a vehicle and can pull off stunts with a grace and ease that others envy. When making any vehicle Stunt test (see p. 204, SR5), you receive a +2 dice pool bonus.

Subtle (Vehicle) Pilot

COST:4 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:R5.0

Other riggers can be flashy or showy, but you know the value of getting your work done while appearing like part of the normal traffic—or like part of the background you’re passing. When you are piloting a craft on the ground, in the water, or in the air, anyone trying to spot you gets a –2 dice pool penalty to their Perception Test to find you. This includes drones, as long as you are directly controlling them instead of letting your software for the work. This quality can be selected once for each particular Pilot skill, including the various Pilot Exotic Craft skills. The type of craft it applies to must be selected when it is purchased.

Better To Be Feared Than Loved

COST:5 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:CF

You’re not running the shadows to make friends. It’s a dog-eat-dog world, and you intend to eat all the other dogs. Along the way, you’re going to meet people who have things you need, and you intend to take those things, because you can.

The character has such a fearsome reputation that all Contacts chosen as Blackmailed contacts (p. 178, Run Faster) are terrified of the character, having heard what he does to people who cause him displeasure. The character does not need anything additional to blackmail contacts—the sheer threat of the horrors he can inflict upon them is enough. Further, the character may add their Street Cred rating as a bonus to the Loyalty (Leverage) attribute of those contacts.

The downside, however, is that should a blackmailed contact gather enough nerve to turn on you, they aren’t going to do so lightly. Add the character’s Street Cred to the blackmailed Contact’s Connection Rating to determine the Professional Rating of the people who are going to come after the character.

Biocompatibility

COST:5 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:CF

Something about the character’s body is exceptionally accepting of either bioware or cyberware implants (choose one). Not only are the implants not rejected, but they seamlessly fit within the body, having less impact on its holistic integrity. In game terms, the Essence cost of implants of the particular chosen type are reduced by ten percent, rounded down to the tenth. This rebate is cumulative with the reduction offered by the chosen ’ware’s grade, if any (e.g., the reduction for alphaware of 0.8 is reduced by ten percent, or 0.08, to become 0.72, and is rounded down to 0.7). This quality can only be chosen for bioware or cyberware. This quality may only be taken once.

Cyber Singularity Seeker

COST:12 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:CF

In the Sixth World, many accept cyberware as a means to an end, as a way to augment their capacity. For most it is a trade-off between their sense of self and being more capable. For you, though, cyberware is the end. You believe that the more chrome you get, the closer you get to some sort of point of nirvana, of hitting a singularity where you blend man and machine to perfection. The character gains +1 Willpower for every two full cyberlimb replacements they get (partial limb replacements don’t count), up to a maximum of +2 Willpower.

Drug Tolerant

COST:6 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:CF

The character has a higher-than-average tolerance for drugs (sometimes called Ozzy Osborne Syndrome). This could be due to a hardy constitution, or a natural genetic mutation that allows for better absorption and filtering of foreign chemicals from their system. The character in question receives +2 dice to all Addiction Tests (p. 414, SR5) to resist addiction. They gain no bonus, however, for attempting to dry out after being addicted.

Prototype Transhuman

COST:10 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:CF

There are always rumors in the shadows of this or that megacorp or organization working to build an army of super soldiers. Those rumors always seem to persist, always seem to be around. Some choose to believe, others don’t, but for them, it’s a matter of opinion. For you, it’s a matter of fact. You are an extremely rare, genetically crafted, experimental post-human prototype.

Unfortunately, this has its ups and downs. You were built better than a normal human, so you may pick up to 1 point of Essence of bioware (not cyberware). While you must pay the normal cost in nuyen of the bioware and otherwise follow all character creation rules, you do not incur any essence cost. So, essentially, you gain up to 1 point of free Essence to be used exclusively on bioware. These special organs were genetically grown into you from your inception—they are as much a natural part of you as your liver or heart.

However, the downside of being a rare, one-of-akind transhuman prototype is that, well, something is wrong with you. As part of this Quality, you must also pick one of the following negative qualities: Wanted, Allergy (Common, Mild), Astral Beacon, or Insomnia (10). You do not get the Karma bonus for this Negative Quality. This additional Negative Quality represents that you are either wanted back by your manufacturer, or that there is something wrong with you (them’s the breaks for being a prototype).

This quality can only be taken during character creation.

Redliner

COST:10 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:CF

Any cyberlimbs you have installed are jacked-to-themax, with safety limits disabled and performance overclocked beyond what the warranty normally covers, and that’s the way you like it. You receive +1 Strength and +1 Agility for every two full cyberarms or cyberlegs installed, up to a maximum of +2 for both attributes (sorry, no super centipede-man builds). The downside to pushing your ’ware that hard, however, is that the strain is quite damaging. You lose three Physical Condition Monitor boxes per two full cyberarms and legs installed. Normally, every cyberlimb gives you one additional box, but with this quality, after two full limbs you end up with net one less box (i.e., –1 instead of +2).

Revels In Murder

COST:8 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:CF

Calling you psychotic might be going too far, but in any case it’s doubtful anyone is going to debate the point to your face. Killing brings you joy. Maybe it’s the thrill of the ultimate test of your skills, the ultimate redline, kill or be killed, and the triumph of victory that keep you going. Maybe you just like gore. The Sixth World is a cold place, chummer, and you get your kicks where you can.

When a character with this quality uses a point of Edge as part of an offensive combat action against a target and causes enough damage to send that target into physical overflow, the character immediately regains the spent point of Edge.

To qualify, the target must be aware of the possibility of damage and not willing to receive it, and they must be a metahuman (human, ork, troll, elf, dwarf, or any associated metavariant). Critters, spirits, and the like do not count. In case of doubt as to whether a target counts or not, the gamemaster has final say.

Uncanny Healer

COST:12 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:CF

The character has always been a fast healer, recovering from injuries with almost supernatural speed. Characters who embrace augmentation soon discover that it interferes with their unnatural healing ability, however. The character adds their current Essence attribute as a dice pool modifier to all Natural Recovery Healing Tests for both Stun and Physical damage (p. 207, SR5). This does not affect magical healing or First Aid tests performed by others. This quality cannot be combined with Quick Healer (p. 77, SR5).

Barrens Rat

COST:5 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:HT

Growing up on the streets, you learned quickly that to keep what little you had, you better get good at concealing the things you are carrying and that one of those things better be a weapon. Any objects you attempt to hide on yourself receive –1 to their Concealability modifer. A number of items up to half your Agility (rounded up) can gain this bonus.

Elemental Focus

COST:10 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:HT

Your magic manifests more easily with one element than the rest. Choose an elemental type when taking this quality. When casting spells of that type, you get a +2 dice pool modifer. Drain you may take from casting spells of that type is of the same type. You also suffer the secondary effects of that type.

Poisoner

COST:5 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:HT

Your experience with using poison has taught you a few tricks to make it more effective. Increase the Power of any Toxins you use by 1.

Practice, Practice, Practice

COST:2 KARMA
PREREQUISITES:NONE
RATING:NONE
SOURCE:SR5:HT

Constantly striving to perfect a certain ability has paid off. Increase your limit by 1 in a single non-combat skill.