Killing people is rather easy in Shadowrun. The difficult part is not getting killed back.
For some of you, I'm probably teaching you to suck eggs a bit here, but for those of you whose rpg background is mostly computer games, you are probably still thinking a bit in computer game terms. I know I do from time to time. So there's a fair chance that you are thinking of characters in terms of tanks and dps. In Shadowrun, that's a big mistake. There are no tanks. Here's why.
Armour: it adds dice to your damage resistance tests, sure. But no matter how much armour you have, all its doing is adding dice. If those dice all come up less than 5, you might as well be naked. And that's if you get to use it at all; if a shooter declares a Called Shot, they can choose to ignore armour completely. And don't forget magic. Direct combat spells travel through astral space and hit you square in the Aura, again ignoring armour.
Dodging: Yes, if you are particularly ninja, and maybe have some magic or implants in there to speed you up, you can dodge bullets, matrix style. But remember: you get a -1 to your dodge roll for every attack that's been made against you that combat round (note, round, not phase). Not a problem when some mundane with a pistol takes a pot shot at you, but when a gun adept comes at you dual wielding uzis and trigger locks for all four phases in a combat round, you are going to find those -1's add up fast. More than one combat guy firing at you? Call DocWagon, stat. Don't forget also: you cant dodge an attack you don't know is coming. So be very, very scared of snipers.
Magical Protection: Spells like Armour are awesome, as they protect you from bullets and spells, and some of the magical armour is hellish tough. There's still chinks in it though: like normal armour, it just adds dice. Unlike normal armour, a mage with Counter-spelling can turn it off. Also, walking into a mana ebb can make it fizzle out too. Finally, its none too subtle: the previously mentioned Armour spell glows brightly, making you look like you are wandering around in plate mail made of light. People tend to notice stuff like that.
So what am I saying, that all the above stuff is useless? Hell no. It might not make you immortal, it might not even do anything in some situations, but its better than nothing. Just don't over-rely on it. Like in real life, far better protection from attacks than armour or reflexes is not getting shot at. Sneak attacks, decent cover, that sort of thing should always be plan A. Armour and dodging should just be what you fall back on when things go wrong, on the off chance that they save your ass.
Im going to do more of these little things, just because I enjoy being all preachy
If some/any of you find it interesting, all the better. If there is anything specific about Shadowrun you would like explained a bit, let me know!
All of that. In fact, I might do a little bit on extraterritoriality too, as its one of those things that's quite a simple idea but has a lot of complicated ramifications.