To answer a few things that have been brought up...

1. More than likely, Lee would not have had much interaction, really NONE before joining the gang. He grew up in a middle class, suburban environment. So popular circles would include corp circles, academic circles, suburban upper class circles, that kinda stuff. The only experience he had with shady places was when he bought Cassandra's contract from a bunraku parlor. Other than the visit, subsequent negotiations, and quick exit, that's about the long and the short of his time there.

2. As far as his role, well that's kind of the point. He's an anomaly. The gang didn't expect him to make it in, in fact, they only let him try for laughs cause they figured he'd never cut it. The fact that he did is both puzzling and intriguing, because they can't understand how a quiet, sort of bookwormy, well, almost a nerd, could kill seven people in seven days, and feel really no afteraffects (that anyone can see). It's just not normal behavior, especially from someone with his background.

That said, he obviously has a talent for killing people, and on top of that, he's smart. Compared to everyone else, he's probably a genius. Intelligence ratings aside (I'm thinking in role-playing terms) he has a college degree. Actually, two of them. And a masters. He's a CPA (or whatever the equivalent is in 2064). Probably has more schooling that the rest of the gang put together or close to it.

Frankly, I envisioned his role being four things:
- Killer: He's obviously good at it, somehow, someway. And more interesting, doing it quietly and unnoticed. He's not big and scary and mean, and he doesn't have a body count like Legion or Bad-Bones, but he's definitely good at killing people, just in a different way than them. He has not taken credit for the murders, so really the only ones who know he did it is the 7 Serpents. Everyone else is at a loss as to the killer and his methods. So that's definitely a role for him, silent but deadly (and scary as a result) killer.

-Accountant/Businessperson: He knows business. He's good at numbers, he has an education. Frankly, not many want to do the bookkeeping and numbercrunching, but he's not only good at it, he likes it. Probably this would lend him to a strategist/planner time as far as potential operations.

- Mystery Man: Since he's new to the gang, they really haven't figured out what to make of him. He's tough, but not street tough. He doesn't brag, he's not intimidating, he's bland and really under the radar. That's a rarity in the gang world and they're still trying to figure out what to do about it. Does anyone remember that old Simpsons episode where Homer hires the Mafia to help Marge's pretzel business and the competition responds by hiring the Yaks? In the fight at the end, the one small little guy who stands there doing nothing and Homer says, "Marge, we gotta watch him, he's gotta be able to do something cool cause he's just standing there." Kinda like that. People figure he can do something or else he wouldn't be running with the gang. What that something actually is, however, is a big unknown to most.

- Alternative solution: Finally, one thing they have figured out is that he's not your typical ganger. Surprise surprise. Hence, when they need to 'think outside the box' and employ tactics that are not normal for gangers, he's the guy they call, because he comes from a different place and thinks differently than most gangers (and thus their opposition) and so is a useful 'troubleshooter' so to speak when they need something different than 'here's your target, smash 'em and get the stuff.'

3. Lastly, a quick concern I had in building my character. Is this game going to have an abundance of 'super NPCs' who are really just plot devices that we cannot affect if it's not in the story? For example, reading about Hobbe's comments on Bad Bones. Say Legion wants to kill him and take his spot. Assuming that he makes the rolls and wins fair and square (per the SR rules and rolls) would you let him kill him and take his place, even if perhaps that is not the way you wanted to story to go?

The reason I ask is because I'm trying to select powers, skills, and attributes in accordance with what he should have according to his background. That means that he's not going to be as powerful as if I made him...well as powerful as I could make him. If this is going to be a 'plot driven' game (hence my earlier questions on pg. 1) then in my experience it's more important to go for power since all we really do is follow the story anyway, and we won't have the chance to explore any of the 'character driven' aspects of our characters.

Not trying to offend you Hobbe, I just wanted to be clear because it seems the others know your style of game a bit better, and if I'm running around with a shapeshifter, bad ass troll, and bad ass warleader, and this becomes a 'bad ass destroy everything that moves game', this character really isn't going to work very well.

He's designed as an interesting twist on what could happen if someone who has the skills to survive but not the exposure to the world were dropped into gangland, for different reasons than your 'typical' ganger. He's got the toughness to survive and even thrive, and the smarts to adapt and overcome, even make use of the fact that he's not a 'native' of this world, but if it becomes a raw power game, well an adept of the Invisible Way who grew up as a suburbanite turned college boy might not be able to keep pace.

Essentially, I'm buildling him with the ganger creation rules in mind, and it's a big difference if our opposition is running around averaging 2-4 in attributes and skills, with a couple 1s and some 5s and 6s, vs. every enemy we meet having all their attributes and skills on the 4-7 range, you know what I'm saying?

Whew. Well that should be a fairly comprehensive update, I think I've covered every major point brought up by people thus far. I hope I haven't given offense Hobbe with my question/clarification, apologies if I have, again, I'm simply seeking clarification for the type of gang so I can build my character appropriately. No hard feelings?

Lastly, at this point as far as character interaction, Lee is staying reserved for the most part, but trying to get to know everyone, especially his fellow hardcore members. In particular, he's trying to learn as much as he can as fast as possible about 'life on the streets'. Most likely he has their respect for his accomplishments, especially given his decisive and impressive (all the more so for their surprise) audition to the gang, but definitely curiosity and the desire to make him more of a 'known' quantity. And oh yeah, he hasn't told anyone he's a physad, just to be clear. Although Survivor can probably tell, being dual natured, since Lee can't mask.

That's a lot of what most gangs are. That more than makes you the odd man out.