Difference between revisions of "Nova Kid"

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{{Infobox
{{Infobox
|title = Waspkeeper
|title = Nova Kid
|image= [[File:Placeholder.png]]
|image= [[File:Placeholder.png]]
|header1= Ex-Firewatch Support Staff Technician
|header1= Young Decker
|header2= Known Ex-Ares Bug Research Staff
|header2=  
|header3=  
|header3=  
|header4=  
|header4=  
|label6= Metatype
|label6= Metatype
|data6 = Ork
|data6 = Human
|label7 = Street Cred
|label7 = Street Cred
|data7= 0
|data7= 0
|label8 = Notoriety
|label8 = Notoriety
|data8 = 3
|data8 = 1
|label9 = Public Awareness
|label9 = Public Awareness
|data9= 0
|data9= 0
Line 17: Line 17:
|data10 = 0
|data10 = 0
|label13 = D.O.B.
|label13 = D.O.B.
|data13 = September 11, 2053
|data13 = June 16, 2061
|label14 = Drive Link
|label14 = Drive Link
|data14 = https://drive.google.com/open?id=1yIq47W4R3WQ2pv9VzN-nrpMO1kKvASCj
|data14 = [https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/17Yr4GnYbtwe2fRY7-7Ou13_J8AlguWZk?usp=sharing Drive]
|label15 = Approved?
|label15 = Approved?
|data15 = [[Has CharGen Approval::Yes]]
|data15 = [[Has CharGen Approval::Yes]]
|label16 = Priority  
|label16 = Priority  
|data16 = Metatype - B <br /> Attributes - E <br /> Magic/Resonance - E <br /> Skills - B <br /> Resources - A
|data16 = Metatype - D <br /> Attributes - C <br /> Magic/Resonance - E <br /> Skills - B <br /> Resources - A
}}
}}


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===Summary===
===Summary===


Ex-Firewatch support staff technician & combat engineer rescued from Ares. Known Ex-Ares bug research staff who regrets her part in Ares' experiments.
A wiz kid decker who grew up in a single-parent household and is now responsible for his mother's welfare. Reasonably good at working with faces and B&E for the coveted on-site direct connection hacks.


===Goals===
===Goals===
Make things right, fight bugs, and support Ex-Firewatch. Gain allies and resources for the fight. Save or destroy Ares.
Support his sick mother, save up for a major medical treatment, avoid the notice of Aztechnology.


===Personality===
===Personality===


Shy, soft-spoken person with the discipline and drive instilled by her military background. She gets excited by new technology, even if she doesn't fully understand it. Has a sweet tooth. Won't say what happened to her flesh arms.
Both a talented young man and someone who barely scraped by in a tussle with a corporation's cybersecurity, Nova Kid waffles between confidence and anxiety. He can be naïve about shadowrunning, sometimes.


===Appearance===
===Appearance===
Prominently visible are her shiny chrome arms, highly dexterous, and bulked up with built in tools and medical gear, and the Ares Thunderstruck she slugs around when the situation calls for the really big guns. As an orc with obvious, somewhat bulky cyber, some might underestimate her technical expertise and astounding logical faculties.  
Nova Kid is a young human male with brown eyes, black hair, and tanned skin.  


====Clothing====
====Clothing====
Camo patterned armored coveralls and kneepads. Not quite the right fit for a high society party.
He often wears an Ares Victory: Industrious jumpsuit with a pair of sensor goggles strapped to his head, easily looking like the matrix security professional he often claims to be. He is otherwise fairly unremarkable in appearance, which works to his benefit on the job.


====Matrix Persona====
====Matrix Persona====
Runs an Ares Firewatch avatar with stripped insignia. Her icons are themed on modern, realistic objects.
Online, Nova Kid appears as a humanoid figure in which outer space can be seen. His icons are space-themed. His marks are stars.


==In Play==
==In Play==


===Legwork: Knowledge Skills & Matrix===
===Take Your Medicine===
Her knowledge about Ares, Biotech and Bugs seems quite specific, but her Skilljack and Skillsoft subscription let her download many conceiveable knowledge skills straight into her brain, and roll 13 dice for any professional and academic skills and 8 dice for any interest skills, as long as she can find them in the database.
Nova Kid has an addiction to '''psyche''', a pill that boosts Logic and Intuition. Because he has the genemod '''Narco''', he gets +2 to resist addiction to it, giving him a total pool of 8 Logic + 5 Willpower + 5 rating bonus + 2 Narco = 20 dice! The threshold is only 2, so it's extremely unlikely his addiction will worsen. In addition, Narco adds 1 to each of the attribute bonuses, giving him +2 Logic and +2 Intuition while under its effects.


She can also scour the matrix for information, rolling 18 (20 if she's feeling like risking hot-sim) dice for '''Matrix Search''' and cutting search times in half or quartering them with her programs.
He also has several doses of '''cram''', an inhalant that gives additional Reaction and initiative. Because he isn't addicted to it yet, Narco imposes a -2 on his addiction test. This gives him 8 Logic + 5 Willpower + 7 rating bonus - 2 Narco = 18 dice. The threshold to avoid cram addiction is 3, so he's still pretty unlikely to be addicted. Narco causes the bonus to be +2 Reaction, though the +1d6 to physical initiative remains in place.


===Locksmith & Hardware===
If you take both drugs at once, roll 1d6. On a 1, the duration of all drugs is doubled. On a 2-4, nothing happens. On a 5-6, the duration of crash effects is doubled, which doesn't mean anything for these particular drugs.
Waspkeeper can open a lot of physical barriers nondestructively with these two skills. Her Maglock Passkey lets her or one of her allies attempt to do it even faster, while almost looking like they belong.


===Juryrigger===
Both cram and psyche last 9 hours and take 10 minutes to take effect, so make sure you take them in advance of any action. The following section will assume psyche has been taken in its calculations.
If you can imagine it, there's a good chance Waspkeeper can make it work, somehow. On a wing and a prayer, with bubblegum and a few spot welds, or some extra electronics haphazardly soldered into a device. Check out SR5 page 75. Temporarily boosting the rating of the Maglock Passkey is a neat trick, for example.


===RCC===
===Cyberdeck===
Comlinks are for casuals. Waspkeeper runs with an RCC, closer in size to a laptop than to a smartphone. It controls her drones, and provides access to the matrix. Her datajack+ lets her use a direct neural interface. Where that (or the drones, or a hilariously illegal gauss rifle) may draw unwanted attention, she can use the '''Wrapper''' program to disguise the matrix icons as innocuous devices.


The RCC and datajack together can run 7 programs, 9 when one of those 9 is '''Virtual Machine'''. Quick descriptions of their functionality are given on the sheet, check the books for full details. Programs marked with "Always" are a good idea to always have running, while those marked as "Situational" can be swapped in when appropriate.
====Lightning Fast====
Normally, any matrix attribute in the cyberdeck can be swapped with another one as a simple action. Similarly, any cyberprogram running on the deck can be swapped for one that isn't running as a simple action. Nova Kid has the quality '''Quick Config''', however, which allows him to make two swaps as a free action instead of one as a simple action. He also has the quality '''Perfect Time''', which gives him two free actions on his turn. On top of that, he has the quality '''Overclocker''', which lets him raise a matrix attribute of his choice by 1 when he reconfigures matrix attributes. (This isn't cumulative, it's just a +1 that can be reallocated when a swap is made.)


Check out Core p267, "Noise Reduction & Sharing". Basically you get extra Noise Reduction to the tune of 5 - [# of Autosofts you run]. The Swarm program does not count against this number.
====Expanded Program Limit====
Nova Kid can run '''6 cyberprograms''' at a time thanks to his '''Datajack Plus'''. Make sure to take full advantage of that!


===Drones & Vehicles===
====Super Sleazy Stealth Mode====
'''GMC Bulldog''': A sturdy truck for heavy loads. Equipped with an improved pilot software and all the mods you need to change identity on the fly and shake off tracking and pursuit. Doesn't have a nail strip ejector yet, though.
Nova Kid uses an '''Aztechnology Shadow Warrior''' cyberdeck, which is extra good at being sneaky on the matrix. Because of the deck's special rules, all matrix actions tied to the '''Sleaze''' attribute receive +1 to their limit; in addition, Sleaze is increased by 1 if it's configured to be the highest attribute in the array. The cyberprogram '''Smoke & Mirrors''' increases Sleaze by 1-5, imposing an equal amount of noise; however, Nova kid has 3 '''antennae''', a piece of cyberware that reduces noise by 1. His datajack also reduces noise by 1. For the full bonus, the cyberprogram '''Signal Scrub''' reduces noise by 2. This allows Smoke & Mirrors to be run at a very high level without a drawback. The cyberprogram '''Stealth''' grants +1 to Sleaze as well. With all this and Overclocker, Nova Kid's Sleaze can run up to 15! Combined with his augmented Logic of 10, he'd have ''25 dice'' to avoid being spotted when running silent. It's extremely difficult for anything to see him in this mode. Make sure to run '''Baby Monitor''' though. It will tell you your overwatch score.


'''Evo Proletarian''': Two handy helpers that can teamwork a hardware test with 6 dice each. They also help to pass yourself off as maintenance worker.
====Cybercombat====
If Nova Kid engages in cybercombat, he's no slouch there either. He gets a +2 bonus to fight IC because of his cybercombat specialization. Make sure '''Attack''' is your highest attribute, because it'll set your limit on cybercombat actions and aid in dealing extra damage. Because Nova Kid is lightning fast, he has a crazy option at his disposal. He can use a free action to set Attack to his highest attribute and run '''Decryption''', which grants +1 Attack, then take a complex action to make an attack, then use his second free action to swap '''Firewall''' to be his highest attribute and swap Decryption out for '''Encryption''', which raises Firewall by 1. This allows him to raise his Attack without letting his Firewall down long enough for anyone to do anything about it!


'''MCT Fly-Spy''': Eleven sneaky little drones that can scout out buildings, watch exits and provide all sorts of other intel. Use the Swarm software for maximum effect.
In addition, the cyberprogram '''Hammer''' grants +2 damage to attacks on the matrix, and '''Blackout''' causes attacks to deal stun damage to any organic users he attacks. '''Fork''' allows a matrix action to be targeted at two icons at once, which can be very useful against multiple opponents.


'''Telestrian Shamus''': This special sensor drone uses a quicksilver camera to document magic phenomena invisible to the mundane eye, and sees through solid matter using X-Ray, among other sensor functions. This could also be used to back up a cover story for why you are where you are. May require support from a teammate with a good Con skill.
===Legwork: Knowledge Skills & Matrix===
Nova Kid knows quite a bit about the matrix, the city-state of Seattle, Aztechnology, finance, history, and a few other things. He can also scour the matrix for information with the '''Matrix Search''' action (SR5 241), rolling 15 dice (or 17 in hot-sim VR) to locate any information that might be publicly accessible, even if it's fairly obscure. Make sure you configure his cyberdeck to have good '''Data Processing''', because it will serve as the limit for the test. The program '''Browse''' will halve the base search time, and the program '''Search''' will give a +2 to matrix searches performed in a host. '''Toolbox''' will raise Data Processing by 1 as well.


===Combat Options===
===Working On-Site===
Her '''Thunderstruck''' is an electric railgun, aka a gauss rifle; the bleeding edge of Ares weapons tech. It's a serious piece of hardware for making uncomfortably large holes in things and people. She wields it well, rolling 19 dice (agi 9, skill 6, specialization, smartlink) before she even '''Takes Aim'''.
While Nova Kid isn't great at sneaking around or acting like he's supposed to be somewhere, he's not terrible at it. If you work together with your team's face or B&E, you can get physical access to devices. Doing so allows you to hack via a '''direct connection''', which makes devices much easier to hack and will grant access to anything they're slaved to, such as a host.


When the situation calls for it, '''Frag''' and '''HE grenades''' can deal with more targets than the slow firing Thunderstruck, or blow away minor obstacles. '''Flashbangs''' and '''Neurostun VII''' provide a non-lethal option and ('''Thermal''') '''Smoke''' can shield a retreat or provide a misdirection. Her 12 dice are enough to throw reasonably well.
Nova Kid is good at posing as a matrix security and/or maintenance worker. His synthetic cyberarm features '''improved synthskin''' (CF 87), meaning it's extra hard to detect as a cyberlimb, even realistic to the touch if he needs to shake someone's hand. A metal detector or cyberware scanner will find it, however; don't lie about it though, because his fake SIN has a restricted augmentation license in case anyone asks.


For self defense, should she find herself facing a low level threat unarmed, she can discharge electricity from her shock hand up to ten times before she has to recharge it. The 12 dice can be increased by charging (+1 die) and by declaring a touch attack (+2 dice, hits on a tie, but no bonus damage from net hits).
If he needs to do something sneaky, Nova Kid's cyberarm is helpful once again. Though he only has 1 rank in Palming and Locksmith, his arm has 9 Agility, giving him a dice pool of 10 for both of these. In addition, he has an '''autopicker''', which raises his limit by 4 for picking mechanical locks and grants +4 dice when wireless-on. Between this and his skill in Hardware, he is pretty good at picking locks and rewiring security mechanisms.


Waspkeeper can also take a support role boost her teammates with through the matrix using '''Target Device''' (R5 30) and '''Tag''' (KC 40) for offense, '''I Am The Firewall''' (KC 38) for defense, and '''Calibrate''' (KC 37) for initiative.
Nova Kid also possesses various sensors to help with any spy work. His '''goggles''' have a sensor array built into them with various visual and audio features, and he has a handheld '''laser microphone''' if he needs to record some sound that might be on the other side of a glass or vibrating surface. He can use Electronic Warfare instead of Perception when using his sensor array.


====Further Reading====
===Combat Options===
For those who want to delve further, we have an extensive [[Waspkeeper/In Depth In Play Example|Waspkeeper In Play Example]], which explores some mechanics in excruciating detail. It is by no means required reading.
In combat, Nova Kid will be best served by '''getting out of the way'''. Ensure your team's muscle is well between you and any threats. Nova Kid's '''Enhanced Augmented Reality Reflex System (EARRS)''' will allow him to be mobile while still gaining the full benefits of VR. It will, however, impose a -10 penalty on any combat, physical, social, or vehicle actions, so don't expect to hit the broad side of a barn with his gun while in VR mode. The EARRS does ''not'' give a penalty to defense against attacks, so he can still try his best to defend against attacks. With psyche and cram, his base defense pool is 11 dice; he can go Full Defense to make it 16.
 
==Background==


Waspkeeper was born to a working class family as an Ork in Detroit. Her parents worked in Ares factories, using their Ares SIN status to boost their daughter's education quality. In turn, they were highly demanding of her excelling in her studies, micromanaging aspects of her life such as friends and entertainment so she would not fall behind. However, once out of high school and out on her own, she was turned down from attending an Ares owned university, which her parents lorded over her while she struggled on her own as a mechanist, saving up for logic augmentations so she could finally attend school.
Nova Kid should primarily take a support role in combat, boosting his teammates through the matrix using '''Tag''' (KC 40) for offense, '''I Am The Firewall''' (KC 38) for defense, and '''Calibrate''' (KC 37) for initiative. If the team is facing enemy drones or vehicles, he may be able to destroy them on the matrix with the '''Data Spike''' action (SR5 239). Alternatively, he can cause them to malfunction with his '''directional jammer''' or through other matrix actions.
Once she graduated, she immediately began to work for Ares as a technician and a prototype machinist for almost a year. She felt that she needed to help further Ares' mission to help metahumanity thrive by doing something more progressive for the company; this came in the form of the Research team "Firewatch." She was one of the top picks for the team as a research engineer, fine tuning Ares weapons, bioware and cyberware, as well as modifying the specs and quality on their vehicles and bunkers.


As their work continued, Ares would feed them updates on the war with the bugs, often relaying that they were losing the war. This prompted a "last ditch effort" from corporate for a new project, code named: Hive. The project involved merging metahuman DNA with bug technology to create a superior hybrid to tackle the threat. Being without test subjects, Firewatch were expected to experiment on themselves for results. Waspkeeper was hesitant, but agreed for the greater good of metahumanity... Luckily enough, she did not draw the initial short straws to be a test subject, but this did not ease her nerves for what they had to do to the friends she had made and the people she looked up to.  
If necessary, Nova Kid can fire his '''Ingram Smartgun X''' pretty well. His '''synthetic cyberarm''' has 9 Agility, and he has 6 ranks in Automatics with a specialization in submachine guns. He also possesses a '''smartlink''', which when running the gun wireless gives it a bonus of 2 dice. Total, this adds up as follows: 9 Agility + 6 Automatics + 2 submachine gun specialization + 2 smartgun = 19 dice to fire! Be careful, though: his gun only has 5 recoil compensation, meaning he will suffer a -1 if he fires a long burst. That's not too bad, but each attack after that will accumulate recoil until he takes a simple or complex action to do something other than shoot, so it may occasionally be good to '''Take Aim''', which adds 1 die and reduces the range category by 1 thanks to his goggles and wireless smartgun.


After several horrific scenerios of experimentation, with morale low and mortality rates high, researchers began to complain to the higher ups, most would devolve into arguments, some drawn to acts of violence. Self defense manslaughter claims only kept getting more frequent. After several weeks, most of the researchers had had enough, trying to escape, few did, while others were captured and forced to undergo experimentation. The Ares officials wanted to make an example out of these would-be deserters, subjecting them to the most unethical treatments they could perform, creating the most grotesque monsters yet, a show of what a lack of loyalty would get you.
==Background==
 
Meanwhile, a plan was being hatched against the facility by Aztechnology to send in a group of highly skilled runners to eliminate the scientists and the prototype she had been tasked to work on. Waspkeeper surrendered quickly, having little loyalty left for Ares, pleading to take her with them. They agreed, fighting their way out of the facility, killing the head researcher along the way. She watched the place where she had spent the worst years of her life be destroyed in a pillar of smoke and fire. She shuddered, beginning to cry as her nightmare finally came to an end. The Aztechnology Johnson praised the runner team for their accomplishments, but condemned them for wanting to keep her from harm. This kindness opened her eyes, lighting the spark in what she would become after joining Ex-Firewatch.
 
Once she was in Seattle, she set her sights on Ares, taking up a shadow runner lifestyle, taking any bit of work that could harm Ares in any way. Rumors began to spread of her involvement with the Firewatch project, landing her a rather harsh nickname that she reluctantly embraced.


Nova Kid was born to an Aztlaner immigrant who moved to Seattle for work with Aztechnology. His mother worked her hardest to support him during his childhood, with the promise of promotion always seemingly just around the corner. Years of overwork led to deteriorating health, and as Nova Kid came of age, his mother fell very ill. He saw one way out: putting his tech skills to use. Nova Kid stole an Aztechnology Shadow Warrior, and with the help of his fixer, he got his family's SINs burned. His exit left his confidence shaken, but he and his mother are alive, for now. Today, he is working toward a treatment for his mother's medical conditions in addition to fighting for survival.
==Narratively Significant Qualities==
==Narratively Significant Qualities==


'''Bad Rep''' - I helped convert some of the Firewatch into bugs. I can't wash my hands of that.  
===Brand Loyalty & Emotional Attachment (Aztechnology Shadow Warrior)===
Growing up, Nova Kid always wanted to be a decker. He wanted an Aztechnology Shadow Warrior most of all, and when it came time for him to escape the corporation's notice, it was an Aztechnology Shadow Warrior that saw him through it. He is highly attached to it today. Because he knows his Shadow Warrior so well, he gets a +1 dice pool bonus on every roll with it, but a -1 on any roll made with a different brand of cyberdeck. If his Shadow Warrior is ever in trouble, he will do anything in his power to get it back.


'''Favored (Specific Target, Biased): Ex-Firewatch''' - The ex-Firewatch are the true heroes of Ares, they have given up so much and are truly good people.  
===Dependent (Demanding)===
Nova Kid's mother is in poor health and depends on him for financial support. He works his hardest to help her, and in return, she doesn't ask too many questions about what exactly his job is. She may periodically need something from him.


'''Flashbacks II: Bugs''' - How did Ares think that merging bug spirit biology into the metahuman form would give us any advantage. I remember the larvae...the squirming...the screaming...the suffering...it is too much.
===Frostbite (Computer)===
During his escape from Aztechnology, Nova Kid was discovered by a host he was attempting to erase files from. The IC attacked him while he was searching the database, and today, he suffers a -2 to Computer actions while IC other than Patrol are deployed.


==Run History==
==Run History==
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{{RunHistory}}
{{RunHistory}}


[[Hitting Them Where It Hurts]] 14000 nuyen, 1 hug, 4 karma, +2 rep OtherCon
<br />


==Affiliations==
==Affiliations==
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{{HasContact|
{{HasContact|
|Name=Mr Incognito
|Name=Jesse Pop
|Loyalty=4
|Loyalty=1
|Chips=Even
|Chips=Even
|}}
|}}
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===Allies===
===Allies===


Ex-Firewatch
None.
 
Project Pyro Detractors in Ares


===Enemies===
===Enemies===


Project Pyro Supporters in Ares
Aztechnology: Strained relationship.


=In Character Information=
=In Character Information=
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==ShadowGrid Profile Comments==
==ShadowGrid Profile Comments==


{{#set:Has Personality=Shy}}
{{#set:Has Personality=Cocky}}
{{#set:Has Personality=Disiplined}}
{{#set:Has Personality=Enthusiastic}}
{{#set:Has Personality=Driven}}
{{#set:Has Personality=Naïve}}
{{#set:Has Personality=Nerd}}
{{#set:Has Personality=Heart of Gold}}
{{#set:Has Personality=Loyal}}


{{#set:Has Sex=Female}}
{{#set:Has Sex=Male}}


{{#set:Has Role=Technician}}
{{#set:Has Role=Decker}}


{{#set:Metatype=Ork}}
{{#set:Metatype=Human}}


{{#set:Has Expertise=Gadgeteer}}
{{#set:Has Expertise=Matrix}}


{{#set:Has Expertise=B&E Expert}}
{{#set:Has Expertise=B&E}}


{{#set:Has Expertise=Heavy Weapon User}}
{{#set:Has Expertise=Fire Support}}


[[Category:Pregen Runners]]
[[Category:Pregen Runners]]
[[Category:Player Characters]]

Latest revision as of 16:23, 12 February 2022

Nova Kid
Placeholder.png
Young Decker
MetatypeHuman
Street Cred0
Notoriety1
Public Awareness0
Titles and Awards0
D.O.B.June 16, 2061
Drive LinkDrive
Approved?Yes
PriorityMetatype - D
Attributes - C
Magic/Resonance - E
Skills - B
Resources - A

Character Information

Summary

A wiz kid decker who grew up in a single-parent household and is now responsible for his mother's welfare. Reasonably good at working with faces and B&E for the coveted on-site direct connection hacks.

Goals

Support his sick mother, save up for a major medical treatment, avoid the notice of Aztechnology.

Personality

Both a talented young man and someone who barely scraped by in a tussle with a corporation's cybersecurity, Nova Kid waffles between confidence and anxiety. He can be naïve about shadowrunning, sometimes.

Appearance

Nova Kid is a young human male with brown eyes, black hair, and tanned skin.

Clothing

He often wears an Ares Victory: Industrious jumpsuit with a pair of sensor goggles strapped to his head, easily looking like the matrix security professional he often claims to be. He is otherwise fairly unremarkable in appearance, which works to his benefit on the job.

Matrix Persona

Online, Nova Kid appears as a humanoid figure in which outer space can be seen. His icons are space-themed. His marks are stars.

In Play

Take Your Medicine

Nova Kid has an addiction to psyche, a pill that boosts Logic and Intuition. Because he has the genemod Narco, he gets +2 to resist addiction to it, giving him a total pool of 8 Logic + 5 Willpower + 5 rating bonus + 2 Narco = 20 dice! The threshold is only 2, so it's extremely unlikely his addiction will worsen. In addition, Narco adds 1 to each of the attribute bonuses, giving him +2 Logic and +2 Intuition while under its effects.

He also has several doses of cram, an inhalant that gives additional Reaction and initiative. Because he isn't addicted to it yet, Narco imposes a -2 on his addiction test. This gives him 8 Logic + 5 Willpower + 7 rating bonus - 2 Narco = 18 dice. The threshold to avoid cram addiction is 3, so he's still pretty unlikely to be addicted. Narco causes the bonus to be +2 Reaction, though the +1d6 to physical initiative remains in place.

If you take both drugs at once, roll 1d6. On a 1, the duration of all drugs is doubled. On a 2-4, nothing happens. On a 5-6, the duration of crash effects is doubled, which doesn't mean anything for these particular drugs.

Both cram and psyche last 9 hours and take 10 minutes to take effect, so make sure you take them in advance of any action. The following section will assume psyche has been taken in its calculations.

Cyberdeck

Lightning Fast

Normally, any matrix attribute in the cyberdeck can be swapped with another one as a simple action. Similarly, any cyberprogram running on the deck can be swapped for one that isn't running as a simple action. Nova Kid has the quality Quick Config, however, which allows him to make two swaps as a free action instead of one as a simple action. He also has the quality Perfect Time, which gives him two free actions on his turn. On top of that, he has the quality Overclocker, which lets him raise a matrix attribute of his choice by 1 when he reconfigures matrix attributes. (This isn't cumulative, it's just a +1 that can be reallocated when a swap is made.)

Expanded Program Limit

Nova Kid can run 6 cyberprograms at a time thanks to his Datajack Plus. Make sure to take full advantage of that!

Super Sleazy Stealth Mode

Nova Kid uses an Aztechnology Shadow Warrior cyberdeck, which is extra good at being sneaky on the matrix. Because of the deck's special rules, all matrix actions tied to the Sleaze attribute receive +1 to their limit; in addition, Sleaze is increased by 1 if it's configured to be the highest attribute in the array. The cyberprogram Smoke & Mirrors increases Sleaze by 1-5, imposing an equal amount of noise; however, Nova kid has 3 antennae, a piece of cyberware that reduces noise by 1. His datajack also reduces noise by 1. For the full bonus, the cyberprogram Signal Scrub reduces noise by 2. This allows Smoke & Mirrors to be run at a very high level without a drawback. The cyberprogram Stealth grants +1 to Sleaze as well. With all this and Overclocker, Nova Kid's Sleaze can run up to 15! Combined with his augmented Logic of 10, he'd have 25 dice to avoid being spotted when running silent. It's extremely difficult for anything to see him in this mode. Make sure to run Baby Monitor though. It will tell you your overwatch score.

Cybercombat

If Nova Kid engages in cybercombat, he's no slouch there either. He gets a +2 bonus to fight IC because of his cybercombat specialization. Make sure Attack is your highest attribute, because it'll set your limit on cybercombat actions and aid in dealing extra damage. Because Nova Kid is lightning fast, he has a crazy option at his disposal. He can use a free action to set Attack to his highest attribute and run Decryption, which grants +1 Attack, then take a complex action to make an attack, then use his second free action to swap Firewall to be his highest attribute and swap Decryption out for Encryption, which raises Firewall by 1. This allows him to raise his Attack without letting his Firewall down long enough for anyone to do anything about it!

In addition, the cyberprogram Hammer grants +2 damage to attacks on the matrix, and Blackout causes attacks to deal stun damage to any organic users he attacks. Fork allows a matrix action to be targeted at two icons at once, which can be very useful against multiple opponents.

Legwork: Knowledge Skills & Matrix

Nova Kid knows quite a bit about the matrix, the city-state of Seattle, Aztechnology, finance, history, and a few other things. He can also scour the matrix for information with the Matrix Search action (SR5 241), rolling 15 dice (or 17 in hot-sim VR) to locate any information that might be publicly accessible, even if it's fairly obscure. Make sure you configure his cyberdeck to have good Data Processing, because it will serve as the limit for the test. The program Browse will halve the base search time, and the program Search will give a +2 to matrix searches performed in a host. Toolbox will raise Data Processing by 1 as well.

Working On-Site

While Nova Kid isn't great at sneaking around or acting like he's supposed to be somewhere, he's not terrible at it. If you work together with your team's face or B&E, you can get physical access to devices. Doing so allows you to hack via a direct connection, which makes devices much easier to hack and will grant access to anything they're slaved to, such as a host.

Nova Kid is good at posing as a matrix security and/or maintenance worker. His synthetic cyberarm features improved synthskin (CF 87), meaning it's extra hard to detect as a cyberlimb, even realistic to the touch if he needs to shake someone's hand. A metal detector or cyberware scanner will find it, however; don't lie about it though, because his fake SIN has a restricted augmentation license in case anyone asks.

If he needs to do something sneaky, Nova Kid's cyberarm is helpful once again. Though he only has 1 rank in Palming and Locksmith, his arm has 9 Agility, giving him a dice pool of 10 for both of these. In addition, he has an autopicker, which raises his limit by 4 for picking mechanical locks and grants +4 dice when wireless-on. Between this and his skill in Hardware, he is pretty good at picking locks and rewiring security mechanisms.

Nova Kid also possesses various sensors to help with any spy work. His goggles have a sensor array built into them with various visual and audio features, and he has a handheld laser microphone if he needs to record some sound that might be on the other side of a glass or vibrating surface. He can use Electronic Warfare instead of Perception when using his sensor array.

Combat Options

In combat, Nova Kid will be best served by getting out of the way. Ensure your team's muscle is well between you and any threats. Nova Kid's Enhanced Augmented Reality Reflex System (EARRS) will allow him to be mobile while still gaining the full benefits of VR. It will, however, impose a -10 penalty on any combat, physical, social, or vehicle actions, so don't expect to hit the broad side of a barn with his gun while in VR mode. The EARRS does not give a penalty to defense against attacks, so he can still try his best to defend against attacks. With psyche and cram, his base defense pool is 11 dice; he can go Full Defense to make it 16.

Nova Kid should primarily take a support role in combat, boosting his teammates through the matrix using Tag (KC 40) for offense, I Am The Firewall (KC 38) for defense, and Calibrate (KC 37) for initiative. If the team is facing enemy drones or vehicles, he may be able to destroy them on the matrix with the Data Spike action (SR5 239). Alternatively, he can cause them to malfunction with his directional jammer or through other matrix actions.

If necessary, Nova Kid can fire his Ingram Smartgun X pretty well. His synthetic cyberarm has 9 Agility, and he has 6 ranks in Automatics with a specialization in submachine guns. He also possesses a smartlink, which when running the gun wireless gives it a bonus of 2 dice. Total, this adds up as follows: 9 Agility + 6 Automatics + 2 submachine gun specialization + 2 smartgun = 19 dice to fire! Be careful, though: his gun only has 5 recoil compensation, meaning he will suffer a -1 if he fires a long burst. That's not too bad, but each attack after that will accumulate recoil until he takes a simple or complex action to do something other than shoot, so it may occasionally be good to Take Aim, which adds 1 die and reduces the range category by 1 thanks to his goggles and wireless smartgun.

Background

Nova Kid was born to an Aztlaner immigrant who moved to Seattle for work with Aztechnology. His mother worked her hardest to support him during his childhood, with the promise of promotion always seemingly just around the corner. Years of overwork led to deteriorating health, and as Nova Kid came of age, his mother fell very ill. He saw one way out: putting his tech skills to use. Nova Kid stole an Aztechnology Shadow Warrior, and with the help of his fixer, he got his family's SINs burned. His exit left his confidence shaken, but he and his mother are alive, for now. Today, he is working toward a treatment for his mother's medical conditions in addition to fighting for survival.

Narratively Significant Qualities

Brand Loyalty & Emotional Attachment (Aztechnology Shadow Warrior)

Growing up, Nova Kid always wanted to be a decker. He wanted an Aztechnology Shadow Warrior most of all, and when it came time for him to escape the corporation's notice, it was an Aztechnology Shadow Warrior that saw him through it. He is highly attached to it today. Because he knows his Shadow Warrior so well, he gets a +1 dice pool bonus on every roll with it, but a -1 on any roll made with a different brand of cyberdeck. If his Shadow Warrior is ever in trouble, he will do anything in his power to get it back.

Dependent (Demanding)

Nova Kid's mother is in poor health and depends on him for financial support. He works his hardest to help her, and in return, she doesn't ask too many questions about what exactly his job is. She may periodically need something from him.

Frostbite (Computer)

During his escape from Aztechnology, Nova Kid was discovered by a host he was attempting to erase files from. The IC attacked him while he was searching the database, and today, he suffers a -2 to Computer actions while IC other than Patrol are deployed.

Run History

NameGMMetaplotThreatDate of Run
Cleaning up the pastBulldogcThe Metroplex Governor Race of '84Deadly28 July 2084
30 pieces of Copper shacklesDraknicHigh13 January 2084
Politicians Always Have Some SkeletonsAuroraMedium12 February 2083
Smear CampaignDiscoMedium2 September 2082
Brodie J and the Flamesaw of LoveAuroraMedium30 March 2082
I Think I'm Sick and I Want to Go HomeSarcarianLow29 October 2081


Affiliations

Contacts

Contact Connection Loyalty Archetype Profession Aspects Chips
Jesse Pop 6 1 Fixer Trid Pirate Trid Pirate, Hacktivist, Fence, Networker, NEEEEEEERRRRRRRD, Electronics, Enormous Trove of Pirated Trideo Even


Organizations

Allies

None.

Enemies

Aztechnology: Strained relationship.

In Character Information

Symbols and Signatures

Matrix Search Table

Shadow Community Table

SINs

Media Mentions

ShadowGrid Profile Comments

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