QUOTE (koogco @ May 12 2010, 10:36 PM)
Yes, if you take anything personal in here, you are screwed.
As for your character; Don't be afraid that its not 100% optimal. As long as you don't ignore general skillgroups and basic skills like perception, its easy to make a character that is playable. And if you are going to play it for a short time, sometimes its more fun to end up roleplaying something you where not really expecting, than to have a "perfect" character.
There are a ton of archetypes you can go for, but if you want to experience more of the game, don't be afraid to throw some differnet things in there. Some social skills, for example, isnt a bad idea at all. I find that while we talk about combat 80% of the time on the forums (and I think about it 80% of the time when making a character...) combat is more along the lines of 10% of the actual gameplay. The rest of the time is spent utilizing contacts, speaking to Mr Johnsons, planning with the team, sneaking about, or bluffing your way into places you are not supposed to be. In short, min maxed characters suck in this game, unless you are playing it "hack n slash" style, but I hope thats not what people do at concentions, as it would give a completely wrong picture of the game.
Hack n Slash can be fun, mind you. But not for long, in my oppinion.
I agree with just about all of this.
Biggest thing is to make a concept you will enjoy. Optimizing is fine, but sometimes you can limit your own play experience with it. I have a player in my game that is very good at getting the maximum power out of a character. Thing is, I'm not going to scale the difficulty just for him I'm going to base it on the group, so since he's more powerful then the other combat characters he tends to not be challenged much. Also, he is a bit specialized and sometimes can't contribute much outside of combat and stealth. It's a shame, he's a great player.
First, I'd find out what sort of game the GM is planning on playing. If it's going to be heavy combat, or if it's going to be much more dialog and cloak and dagger.
Also, as a GM I highly recommend taking one skill that seems a bit out of character/concept. It just seems unrealistic to me that just because someone is a "gun-bunny" they only know skills related to shooting, dodging, combat, or gun repair, etc. Toss 'em a rank 1 in Artisan, Survival, Navigation, Escape Artist, Lockpicking, Disguise, Swimming, etc. It would help make the character feel more "real" and you might be surprised how often that "odd-ball" skill might come up.