So there is soon to be a SR3 game in my future, and I was looking forward to playing a Face type character. Someone who can blend in, walk the walk, and tell you the sky is a nice shade of pink believably whilel still being able to provide some support. What I came up with is the following:

Attributes - A, Skills - B, Resources - C, Magic - D, Race - E

Human Face

Body - 4
Quickness - 6
Strength - 4
Intelligence - 5
Charisma - 6
Willpower - 5

Reaction - 5
Essence - 4.23

Active Skills:
-Pistols - 5
-Shotguns - 4
-Unarmed Combat - 4
-Stealth - 4
-Athletics - 4
-Electronics - 4
-Etiquette - 5
-Negotiation (Bargain) - 4(6)
-Interrogation - 3
-Intimidation - 2

Knowledge Skills:
-Criminal Organizations - 3
-Corp Society - 3
-High Society - 3
-Psychology - 3
-Drama/Acting - 2
-Politics - 2
-Lone Star Tactics - 2
-Police/Security Procedures - 2
-Law - 2
-Music (Guitar) - 2(4)

Languages:
-English (R/W) - 4(2)
-Japanese (R/W) - 2(1)
-Sperethiel (R/W) - 2(1)

Cyberware/Bioware: Tailored Pheremones L1, Cyberear Recorder, Cybereye Replacement (Low-light, Image Link, Retinal Clock, Camera), Smartlink-II, Datajack, Head Memory (50mp)

Weapons: Walther PB-120 w/ Ex SL-II, Int. Gas Vent-II, Silencer, Conceal Holster, 50 rds in clips
-Ares Predator III w/ Int. Gas Vent-II, Silencer, Conceal Holster, 60 rds in clips
-Franchi SPAS-22 w/ Gas Vent-IV, Shock Pads, 50 APDS rds

Armor/Gear: Auctioneer Line (Suit Jacket, slacks, hi-collar shirt, long coat), Form Fitting Body Armor (Half-body), Securetech Long Coat, Ordinary clothing, Earbug Cellphone, Pager, NavDat GPS

Contacts: Fixer (L1), Cop (L1), Bartender (L1), Clothier (L1)

Lifestyle: 2 Months Middle, 3 Months Low

Roleplay wise I was looking for something similar to 'Gentleman' Johnny Marcone from the Dresden Files, but with a cyberpunk flair. As for the Guitar skill, I was looking at having a guitar case that held the shotgun (because carrying it around in plain sight isn't the smartest of things) and I could play it as a roleplay/possible cover story if necessary.

So any ideas?

I'd do without the intimidation skill and put those points in interrogation (or vice versa) since you can default to the other skill. Psychology is a good choice as a knowledge skill because you can use it as a complementary skill for social skills (cf. SR3, p.97).

However IMHO your character seems to have very few contacts for a "face" type. I'd maybe choose Ressources at B and Skills at C, buy some additional contacts and get those implants as alphaware and some additional gear.

Where is the campaign set and what style of play is your group aiming for?

Its going to be set in Seattle. As to what kind of campaign it will be...I don't know. I do the idea of switching the resources and skill slots around. I'll work with that and see what I can come up with.

Intelligence is your most important stat, more important, far and away, than Charisma. You can play a Charisma-1 face. All it affects is the cost of charisma-linked skills (and with so few, I'm guessing it's in your favor to bump it down).

The way SR3 works is it's better to have your skills at 6 or at 0 at chargen. A 4 has a pretty high chance of failing, and because the karma cost is one of diminishing returns while at chargen it isn't, maxing stats out is important. So I'd strongly suggest maxing out negotiation (don't specialize) and etiquette, and perhaps either interrogation or intimidation (probably interrogation, it comes up more and is harder to get bonuses for). As a trade-off? Go with one firearm. Handguns are the popular choice, but if you can get a sawn-off shotgun to a reasonable level of concealability, that's a better weapon for someone who isn't especially combat oriented.

I *think* tailored pheromones aren't available at chargen, but I'd have to double check. If they are, obviously, max them out.

See if you can save a little chink by putting extra memory somewhere else on your body and just getting a DNI interface. Headware memory is hugely overpriced.

For your unarmed weapon, you'll want a shock glove.

You're losing a lot of points by doing a mundane human. See if your GM will accept sum-to-ten. Otherwise, I'd seriously consider either going with a dwarf, or making your character a summoner or something.

Yes, your contacts are seriously limited. Definitely put some cash into that.

Good points. However I'd rather decrease Strength to 3 than decreasing Charisma. Otherwise maxing out social skills might cost more than you save by decreasing Charisma.

I guess I'd also ditch Sperethiel and put those language points into Japanese. At least in the games I've been part of (both played and run) Japanese came up far more often than Sperethiel. YMMV



I've checked the FAQ and my books. Tailored Pheromones have an availability of 12, so by RAW they aren't available. If I were the GM, I might be more lenient, since they're legal.

And I'd suggest getting a vehicle.

Quick points;
Tailored Pheremones are cultured, which also limits them from beginners, as I recall.
For a face PC you could take the path of the social adept from SOTA64 but I prefer your wired-face with that dash of mnemonic courier.
Does an ext SLII detract from concealability? (on the Walther)
Rig up the SPAS-22 guitar case similar to a briefcase gun ala Desperado's. On that note, what about a cybergun? Total concealment and good cyberpunk quality, though it may not fit your plans (dunno know much about Dresden Files).

No, they aren't, although you can buy cultured pheromones, which have increased effect and range along with reduced bio-index cost.



Yes, it decreases concealability by 1.

Also concerning both pistols: IIRC you can't fit an internal gas vent to an existing gun. So it would have to be external, further decreasing concealability. Secondly the Gas Vent-2 is "oversized" for both pistols, since a semiautomatic gun will have a recoil modifier of +1 at most. So I'd ditch the gas vents and go with the personal grip modification, which is cheaper (200¥), doesn't affect concealability and is compatible with the silencer.

Also worth considering: By the book, you can't get a permit for the SPAS.

I have no idea who Jonny Marcone is.
Lower strength to 3 and raise intelligence to 6. Besides giving you more knowledge skill points, it will also raise your reaction to 6. Get rid of shotguns, you can buy it later, put pistols at 6 and stealth at 6. Put the last skill point into Negotiation and take away the specialization. You're strength is so low, it's better to back off and shoot people. Put unarmed combat at 3, so you can defend yourself, but do not get into a prolonged fist fight and add the extra point to athletics. I would drop intimidation and interrogation at the beginning and pick them up later. Why? Because you can't drive. Pick up car or motorcycle at 3, the same as a Lone Star patrol officer, use the 2 extra points for etiquette 6 and athletics 6, your body is low, so you want to avoid getting shot. Drop Sperethiel and put those points into Japanese. With your extra knowledge skill points, I'd buy gang ID at 3 and bump up politics to 4, you can try to get in good with a mayor or someone with political clout. On the same note, I'd drop the clothier contact and pick up a street doc or a corp middle manager.
Start purchasing Intimidation with your first awarded karma points and more contacts with your first bit of nuyen.
That's my 2 cents.

Another thing to consider is getting voice mod/retinal duplication/fingerprint duplication. Getting into places without the alarms going off would be nice.