Ok, so yes I know it's odd for me to ask for help building a TM, but I have a fun concept in mind, and I want her to fill multiple roles (hacker/face/maybe a bit of gunner while someone else is driving) but here's my problem, I'm running out of BPs. Let me show you what I have and see what everyone else has to say.

Elf
Body 3
Strength 2
Agility 2
Reaction 2
Charisma 6
Intuition 5
Logic 5
Willpower 5
Resonance 5
Edge 1

Cracking Group 3
Influence Group 2
Data Search 1
Computer 2
Software 4
Compiling 3
Decompiling 1
Registering 3
Gymnastics 1

Positive Qualities:
Technomancer (Technoshaman)
Paragon (Idoru or IC)
Obscure

Negative Qualities:
Amnesia
Media Junkie (Mild)
Big Regret
Flashbacks
Spirit Bane (Nuclear)

CFs:
Shield 5
Stealth 5
Exploit 5
Attack 4
Analyze 3
Track 3
Spoof 3
Edit 3
Decrypt 3


Without getting any gear or contacts yet, I only have 16 BP left, and as you can see, my skills are lackluster, I have no combat abilities at all (beyond gymnastics to dodge), my CF's fail for all but the core 3 (shield, stealth, exploit), and my only good attributes are my mentals (which are most important, but reaction/agility would be nice). I'd like to have a guild to start contacts wise, plus a few others (a face without contacts fails). And I've been considering taking an essence point's worth of implants from before she lost her memory, but that dings her hacking abilities even more than they are now. She is the only dedicated hacker in the group, but there are a couple riggers, so there's some areas I can avoid focusing on to better make her more.... real. Any advice?

This is something you already know, but a jack of all trades is a master of none and systems whose xp cost of skills is exponential, but whose build point system isn't, secretly want you to min/max.
(Not the writers, mind you, but the system)

That being said:

Skill groups are your friends. Even if you don't plan on using Hardware, with 2 more points you've got a 3 in Data Search, Computer and Software, a net bonus of 3 dice across the board. Same goes with Decompiling.

"Analytical Mind" from Runners Companion. +2 to Data Search and Software rolls, plus other stuff you can debate your GM for in given situations.

Specialties are good for getting more dice out of the gate, tough they are cheaper with Karma.

Once play begins, register sprites. Register the crap out of them! Low level ones to sustain some threaded CFs can overcome anything you lack in that area.


I know it seems like having really low physical stats sucks, and you want to be able to shoot a gun or two. But if you want to play the kind of gal who can multi-task, you're got to accept the fact that you aren't going to be a bad-ass hacker. Subsequently, if you're a terror in the Matrix, then any time a gun fight breaks out, you should want to go full VR and hack the guy's car/smartlink rather than return fire. Otherwise, you're playing a Mary Sue.
So I'd say if you want to multi-task, knock some of your mental stats down a peg and relocate or give up the ghost, toss that Str and Reaction and just be a TM/Face.
That is a much harder character choice than simply allocating points.

I am a fan of multi faceted characters myself, and your build seems to try to specialize in a lot of things, instead of trying to do passably well in them.

I'd say drop the "Obscure" positive quality, buy the group Electronics: 3 and drop Resonance, Logic and Intuition by 1 point each. Split the cracking group to EW: 3, Hacking: 3, Cybercombat: 1. This shift will net you 35 BP's. Get the tasking group at 2. This will net you another 8 points. Drop Gymnastics and get the athletics skill group and stealth group at 1 each, for 20 BP's.

The current net total you'd start with is 27 Bp's, Analytical Mind is a great quality for you instead of the Obscure one -in my opinion-. That leaves us with 22, and we haven't touched the remaining 16 Bp's you mentioned.

With those points you can go 10Bp's worth of gear, 10 Bp's worth of contacts and 10 Bp's to get perception 1, Pistols 1 and 2 free roaming (Extra 10k yens, a specialization -rather get this one with Karma later- or another 2 points in contacts, or lowering your satrting nuyen to 7 Bp's and you can get first impression too, which is great for your facey stuff).

And you will still have 8 BP's left to customize your character however you want.

You have to know that it will make you start "weaker" in many senses, but more spread around and with wider advancement choices.
Also you will be a karma sink pool to raise some skills to the 2-4 ratio.

And if you're a face, why don't you get Emotisoftware as a CF instead of the Attack one? Just avoid cybercombat yourself, use sprites for that, and it will give you 4 more dice -and can be threaded for a higher bonus- for your facey things. This will be quite synergistic with lowering cybercombat to 1, that I suggested before.

Also I'd forego the cyberware and bioware, unless you really, really, really want it. If you do, Math SPU is deffinitely one of teh best ones oyu can get, and if you can mix in a cerebral booster you can compensate the dropping of logic.

Your sheet would look like this, without any cyberware:

One problem with the build you showed is that I can't keep the 5's in Stealth, Shield, and Exploit, and as a TM I rarely need more than 5 BP worth of gear (I am my own commlink so I just get a cheaper fake one). But interesting suggestions, I'm not sure if the GM would allow for EmotiCF, but it's worth looking into.

No problem.

And if you only need 25k worth of gear, then: BAM!

Use the 8 remaining and the 2 from gear to raise resonance back to 5. You can keep your CForms at 5.

One thing I am -heartily- going to suggest is picking up a Free Sprite contact, as well as a Group Contact for a technomancer network.(unlike initiatory groups, they cost nothing to join)

Not only are they useful, but a TM is the only archetype who can -start- with both Submersion Discounts at their disposal (20% for assisting a free sprite recompile, and 20% for a network).

like mages, technomancers become very good once you can sink karma into them, so its a good idea to spend that karma as efficiently as possible. Since most of your resonance power comes from Echoes, being able to buy your first submersion for 8 karma is well worth scraping some BPs together.

Another good buy is a resonance bond(rating 1) to a free sprite(former tutor or machine). Use an Echo Bond(CF, Echo, or widget for a sprite power) and pick up Stability.(its Internet Guard). With threading and stability, you can rush job anything on the matrix without fear of glitching. Depending on how your GM handles it, being able to turn Decryption from Combat Turns to Init. Passes(2 or so?), that 5bp is -almost- as good as another IP.

Speaking of IPs, get some slap patches or an armor autoinjector with Jazz or Cram. They'll help you stay alive until you can pick up your other passes. Drugs will also help your matrix IPs, too.

Actually, you will need a real commlink. It just doesn't have to be a very good one, but you do need a real one. Reason being that TM's aren't assigned commcodes by a MSP (the SR4 equivalent of a phone number and/or e-mail address). You might be able to call out to a commlink, but no one would be able to call you. It's rather important that your fixers can get in touch with you if you want to work the shadows. Then there's your SIN, your ability to save and spend nuyen, and many more reasons you will need a commlink, none of which you can really do with your living persona alone.

That, and you can slave that low end commlink to your living persona and help conceal your TM nature (it'll route all communication to your living persona, including hacking attempts). From much of the fiction I've read, many people have a healthy (and likely irrational) fear of TMs. Did the same with a TM once, telling no one I was a TM and routing all my signals through the commlink. Once the team ended up against an antagonist TM, the team's only mage (who never got five hits on an assensing test on me) declared he was cutting all wireless devices right then and there. Depending on how involved you feel you need to make your cover (if at all), you may want to consider getting more gear, like AR gloves, trodes, some kind of vision wear with an Image Link, etc., but this will also depend on how your campaign goes (my own TM had a full hacking kit so he looked more like your conventional hacker).

Besides, what kind of face doesn't have a commlink to keep in touch with friends?

Oh, and to help cover your bit of gunner that you mentioned in the OP, do remember that you can thread a SmartLink form with only one hit and get a +2 DP modifier to shoot with any SmartGun equipped ranged weapon.

make him in karmagen.

I'm pretty sure you can buy MSP's and Commcodes on individually(unwired), and MSP connections come on lifestyle as well.(RC advanced lifestyles).

As for a commlink, while you ARE going to want one for your fake IDs, a fingernail datachip out of Arsenal solves a TM's data storage problems for 200 nuyen and no essence loss.

No argument about that as it's only 10 nuyen for a one-time commcode (and I don't see any reason why a TM couldn't use one of these for an outgoing call, either). But I was considering a few things...Commcodes are tied to access IDs so a MSP knows what device or devices to send a call to. If a MSP's equipment cannot find a TM, it cannot rout a call to a TM. Even if the access ID of a TM could be identified, in ten seconds (random choice of time frame) it could be different. Even being connected to two different nodes, a TM most likely has generated two different access IDs.

Besides, outside of game mechanics I'd be suspicious of a character that didn't have a commlink in most circumstances.

Otherwise, thanks for the fingernail datachip. That would cover a TM's need for hard data storage.

Doesn't maintaining the thread mean that you are -2 on all actions? including the ones that the threads are supposed to help?

Yes, but you don't suffer that -2 to the use of the thredded complex form. I take it to mean that you would take a -2 DP penalty to anything not related to shooting the gun with the SmartGun as long as the only sustained complex form is SmartLink. Obviously sustaining more complex forms is going to impose a penalty to your SmarLink assisted shooting, something that would be unwise to do in the first place while your meat sack is in a storm of bullets.

You might wanna think about changing your metatype to dryad, it gives you +3 dice to social skill for 15BP:s.

Attributes
If you want to play an Elf, slash Willpower to 3 and get Charisma 7. Better for the social stuff, slightly worse for fading, but 10 BP left.

Skills
There is little advantage to Decompiling, and less to Decomp 1. Forget about that. Influence 1 would net you the same DP as before with the attribute change, 14 BP.
Add one vote for Electronics please. Skimp on the rating (despite threading), focus on Compiling/Registering. Electronics 2 / Compiling 5?
Gymnastics 1 with your physical attributes will make sure that hillarity ensues.

Qualities
Have fun. The last would not be a good idea in our campaigns.

CFs:
Get those ratings up, you don´t want to do that with karma instead. Replace Decrypt with Encrypt. Consider to handle Edit and Track via Sprites. If you slash one, you can drop Logic to 4.

Worse?
Technoshamans resist fading with Charisma+Resonance

Ok, even less worse then. Only a stun monitor box less.

It may be easier to play a SURGE'D elf - dryad is 45bp, while Glamour is a 15bp metagenetic quality, which means you can grab it with either surge 1(using the 'if you're surged, you can always have more, but it counts against normal limits rule on p110) or surge 2.

If you're playing a TM, every point counts.

The upside to going Dryad is you can get another +1 to social tests through Symbiosis, and that getting glamour is part of your race: it doesn't count against your quality limit, if you wanted symbiosis and 35bp of positive qualities.

That works too, but that limits what other positive qualities you can afford and if you planning on picking Surge i would go with level 2 and take Metagenetic Improvement Charisma instead(or most likely as an addition to being a Dryad) because extra charisma is just better as its also helps with fading and intimidation.