I wanted to ask the community what they felt were the most important contacts one can spend precious BP on at Chargen?

I just wrote a character who has four contacts. A hacker, fixer, street doc, and information broker. I felt these were the most important contacts for me to pick, but i wanted to know what you guys would do if you were writing a character right now and had 24BP left to spend on any contacts you wanted.

Fixer is the obvious one, a street doc for all your ware and healing needs, anything else depends on the group. If you don't have a mage then some sort of mystic contact is a good idea. No matrix support means a hacker contact is a must have. It really depends on what role I play and what my fellow PCs can cover.

I think its entirely dependent on the character and their background. The hacker/fixer/street doc combo is kind of a no brainer, but maybe you could tell us some more about the character in question...

Fixer is the most important. If you can only take one contact then take a Fixer. From a Fixer you can get connected to whoever else you need, but you can't even start unless you have a Fixer.

I'd argue that Fixers are less important, as the "game" requires that someone arrange clients to contact runners, and you can can develop them as a contact in game.

We very rarely got people so hosed that they needed formal medical attention after the team medic and mage(s) had a chance.

The next question is whether you want to design a character that buys stuff or gathers info. Realistically you should need contacts to buy illegal stuff reliably, but has anyone actually found their characters trying to buy alphas from the ATF? All the contact does is reduce the cost and the time, you'll eventually get it.

So I'd go for contacts that can provide information.

None. They cost too much.
So you don't even get a fixer at chargen, and then when the GM tells you "you get a call from your fixer." you answer "I don't have a fixer" so your GM will say something like "You still have someone who gives you jobs" and you get your fixer for free!

Just kidding.

Don't all contacts charge a 5% premium per each point of their connection rating? Meaning that the contact just charges more than it costs your face to do the same thing?

I generally go for:

- Fixer
- Street Doc (especially if the doc is able to repair/install/obtain cyberware)
- Supplier (Weapons and ammo for a street sam, talismonger for a mage, warez dealer for a hacker, etcetera)
- Neighborhood info (local gangster for example; for keeping an eye on what's happening near my home. Could also be a bartender or suchlike)

At a minimum, a fixer is required. As a GM, if there isn't at least 1 fixer contact in the group, things don't go smoothly for the guys

Fixer
Doctor
Information Expert (Media figure, cop, etc)
Last one has some tie in to the character. My Technomancer has his "teacher/mentor" and hopefully the person that will help him into a Resonance group. The mage I rolled up has a Talismonger. The former cop I rolled up had his former partner that helped get him some weaponry.

A specialty supplier of equipment necessary for your chosen profession.
Debatably, information contacts.

For most groups, everything else is icing. Like kzt said, street docs are rarely necessary, and generally at least one guy in the party knows one, so why buy a second street doc contact? Fixers you can drop for more metagame reasons. Like kzt said, the GM must arrange a way for you to get a job. Having a fixer makes his life easier, at the cost of a contact for you. Why? Let him suffer a little, he's going to bring it back on you anyway. Take advantage of someone else's fixer.

I will say that each PARTY should have one fixer, street doc, decker/data search guy, vehicle repair guy and someone to fill any skill gaps in that group. Rarely will you benefit from having two. Talk with your party members beforehand and figure out who is taking what 'group contact'.

As a GM I find myself looking at the players contact picks for inspiration. If you want to abuse that, choose a contact with a strange personality as a local info source or something. It'd be awesome to have a BTL addict that acted like Golom all the time

It all depends on your character concept. A fixer isn't a requirement to run an adventure; a Johnson can contact PCs directly. And for some concepts, a fixer would be an odd choice and a bit of naughty metagaming on the player's part.

However a fixer is probably the most versatile contact as he can link a character to whatever or whoever he may need.

I enjoy playing face-type characters with a large address-book of contacts. Not only do I flesh out a background for my own PC, I write up the personalities of several NPCs as well (I leave the actual stats to the GM). That's a tremendous bit of creative fun for a player.

As a GM, I have no problem with the group coordinating during chargen to avoid overlap on Contacts. It's already been said that any given team only really needs one fixer and one street doc, one arms supplier, and one hacker collective. My motive in this is to let the characters feel like they can spend some points on a couple Contacts more for story and character background reasons rather than focusing exclusively on utility.

A fixer or fence to take the goods.
A ghoul to take the evidence.
A beat cop to tip you off when the fix is in.
And a smuggler to take you out when it is.

if you're a technomancer, a free sprite (ideally low-rating) is probably one of the most valuable contacts you can have. much more important than a submersion group, which you can get together online with relative ease.

With just a little more polishing this might make a nice shadowrunners' nursery rhyme

I always figure in a Fixer first. as has been noted, a fixer is a general purpose contact. they can put you in touch with people who know people.

Second I pick a fence or black marketeer.

third,fourth,ect I pick bouncer ,joygirl/guy. taxi driver, stuffershak manager, reporters, street snitches, pawnshop owners, ect

If I still have a point or two I pick up a gang member or two...

Rule of thumb: If it's still useful after you hopped one border, go for it. (Yep, that rules out the Street Doc as pure medical provider for obvious reasons)
International Group Contacts are especially useful, if expensive. The Cutters are the easy way, in that case.
Keep in mind that contacts know other people depending on their Connection Rating, no matter if they are labeled "Fixer" or "Mr. Johnson" or not.

Important Examples:

An Info Broker is a good Job Fixer, too, and will know Hackers.
A Smuggler will not only get you somewhere, but sells illegal goods, too. A Smuggler Network is even better.

Personally, I find "a fixer" quite boring, even later - go for a bit more specialized individual connections:
Say, a high society florist might not only provide the in's and out's, but arrange "special favors" for his clients... and can open doors.

To move hot goods you have to have a fixer or a fence,
Always have a ghoul on hand to eat the evidence,
A friend inside can tip you off when cops come to take you down,
And a smuggler knows the fastest routes to get you out of town.

Good one, Method!

If you're taking four contacts, take two of the four you listed, and two different ones. If everyone on the team had those same four contacts, you'd probably have a little trouble getting things done.

All are good choices.

In addition to the others:

Laywer.

I also like having a foot in with a useful organization. (Though knowledge skill and some social skills can accomplish the same thing in game.)

I don't think it really matters as long as a GM designs runs with the character's contacts in mind.