Design Notes
I enjoy making characters that are “off type” at times, and Anna is no exception. Making a Troll Shaman is certainly not the most “optimal” allocation of points, but Anna had already taken root in my head. Some things are easy to determine when you have this image – magic was going to be a high priority and money wasn’t a very important thing. I used standard character generation with “A” – Magic; “B” – Metatype; “C” – Attributes; “D” – Skills; and “E” – Resources.
Summoning was going to be a priority here because Anna talks to his spirits a lot and Summoning took the front in the regular skill selection. As a magical support character, the sorcery and counterspelling skills were next. Because I wanted to use the Snake mentor spirit, I made sure that Arcana was also given a good chunk of skills. Spells were given a broad range of general support and utility while this is a Shaman who does do some binding to fully leverage the use of spirits.
Because I was making an indigent street shaman, certain things came quickly after that like the Spirit Affinity and Uneducated Quality. With a small amount of skills to throw around, Anna came together pretty quickly A few bound spirits, the knowledge skills, and contacts, and he was ready for play.
Anna Character Notes
Anna is a surprisingly upbeat and curious troll from the streets of Seattle. He spends his time wandering around the barrens, collecting reagents, and pleasantly conversing with spirits. This is how he met Balance Sheet. Anna isn’t the first magical support member of Balance Sheet, and they stumbled across his favorite corner of the barrens on a run that was going sideways. Curious as to what he could learn, he lent a hand since their Mage had just gotten an up close and personal experience with an assault cannon round.
It turns out Anna didn’t even have a name. A SINless kid, Preesh thinks is about 15 or 16, Anna had managed to not be enough of a problem to any corporation or the U.C.A.S. to get a SIN. As a small troll, Anna found himself talking to a snake that he never realized others didn’t see. He would ask questions, so many that the snake took him as one of his own and Anna had his Awakening.
Never needing a name, and never needing a SIN, he did what he did on the streets of the barrens. He was a quiet but friendly presence who would trade his spellcasting skills for food to whoever came around his corner. His gleeful and toothy smile belied the scars years of malnutrition had left on his frail trollish frame, swaddled in a beat up armored jacket. It’s his cheerful demeanor that had Preesh give him the nickname “Anna” from some old flat-trid in the 20th Century. Po’Pay even chipped in for a fake SIN and a pistol, but honestly Anna couldn’t hit the broadside of warehouse if he tried.
Anna and Phoenix seem to get lost in conversation time and again. Their different backgrounds and different abilities mean that the conversations seem to be about the nature of reality and the Sixth World, though it seems at times that their spirits and sprites are just using them as a cut outs to talk to each other. Anna keeps asking Po’Pay questions, more than anyone else, and Po’Pay lets him without the short temper you would expect. It’s anybody’s guess why Po’Pay is so protective and accepting of Anna and why a street shaman troll shines so brightly in the astral … maybe he met up with Balance Sheet for a greater purpose.
Key – R&G = Run & Gun; RF = Run Faster; DT = Data Trails; CF = Chrome Flesh; CA = Cutting Aces; R5 = Rigger 5.0; HT = Hard Targets
Balance Sheet Overview Here.