SR5:Character Creation:Step 4

5th Edition Rules
Basics // Combat // Magic // Matrix // Driving // Character Creation

Step 1-CHOOSE CONCEPT

Step 2-METATYPE & SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES

Step 3-MAGIC OR RESONANCE

Step 4-PURCHASE QUALITIES

Step 5-PURCHASE SKILLS

Step 6-SPEND RESOURCES

Step 7-SPENDING KARMA

Step 8-FINAL CALCULATIONS

Step 9-FINAL TOUCHES

PURCHASE QUALITIES

This next step in the character creation process is finalizing the list of qualities the character will have at the beginning of a Shadowrun campaign.

Qualities help round out your character’s personality while also providing a range of benefits or penalties. There are two types of Qualities—Positive Qualities, which provide gameplay bonuses and require an expenditure of Karma; and Negative Qualities, which impose gameplay penalties but also give bonus Karma the player can spend in other areas.

As mentioned earlier, the character starts the character creation process with 25 Karma, and some of that can be spent to buy Qualities. Players can spend all of it, some of it, or none of it based on what they want their character to have and how much Karma they want to save for later. Additionally, at creation characters can only possess at most 25 Karma worth of Positive Qualities and 25 Karma worth of Negative Qualities.

After character creation, Positive Qualities can be purchased during game play, while Negative Qualities may be awarded to the character by the gamemaster based on events that take place in game. Negative Qualities can be bought off using Karma during game play. See Character Advancement rules (p. 103) for more about purchasing Positive Qualities or buying off Negative ones.

When purchasing a Positive or Negative quality, note the quality on the character sheet along with any bonuses or negative modifiers to skills in parentheses next to the appropriate skills or attributes.

EXAMPLE

CHOOSING QUALITIES

JAMES

In his planning during Step One, James had already decided he wanted the Natural Hardening quality, which costs 10 Karma. Looking over the rest of the qualities, James also decides to pick up Analytical Mind (5 Karma) and Resistance to Toxins (Tear Gas, 4 Karma) for his technomancer character. That’s a total of 19 Karma worth of qualities, leaving 6 from his original 25. James decides to pick up Negative Qualities to add to this Karma amount so he can have some left to improve his character at the end of the character creation process. James decides to pick Addiction (Moderate, BTLs) for 9 bonus Karma, Dependents (live-in girlfriend) for 6 Karma, and Prejudiced (Corporate Wageslaves, Common, Biased) for 5 bonus Karma. The Negative Qualities give him 20 Karma back, meaning his current Karma total is 26. His Qualities break down as follows:

ROB

Rob has already picked out the Exceptional Attribute (Strength) quality for 14 Karma and SINner (National) for a bonus of 5 Karma. The two of them combine for a reduction of 9 Karma. Rob wanted the SINner quality because his idea for the troll character is that he was a former soldier from the United Canadian American States. Rob then chooses the Quick Healer quality (3 Karma) and one level of Will to Live (3 Karma), for reduction of 6 more Karma. Rob has spent 15 Karma, which means he has 10 Karma left. He chooses Bad Rep (7 bonus Karma) and two levels of the Gremlins quality (8 bonus Karma) to give him back 15 Karma, meaning he now has 25, calculated as follows:

KYRA

At this point in character creation, Kyra has already designated her Karma pool for qualities and Power Points. In Step One, she targeted Mentor Spirit (5 Karma) and Focused Concentration (Rating 2, 4 Karma each for a total of 8 Karma). In step 2, she decided to spend 10 Karma purchasing 2 Power Points for adept powers. She has spent 23 Karma so far (5 + 8 + 10 = 23), leaving her with only 2 Karma. If Kyra wants more Karma at the end to improve her character, she must take some Negative Qualities. She chooses the following: Code of Honor (does not kill other elves, 15 bonus Karma), Distinctive Style (Gang Tattoos, 5 bonus Karma), and Mild Addiction (Bliss, 4 bonus Karma). For her mentor spirit, Kyra decides to have her character follow a spirit called Sea. Kyra also chooses the +2 bonus for summoning water spirits, which she notes on her character sheet. Kyra’s qualities and her remaining Karma are calculated as follows: