Topic is pretty explanatory, does someone who has the books care to give us masses a list of the characteristics?

Characteristics?

Perhaps you are talking about what Edges & Flaws have been brought forward to Qualities?

Oops, they are called qualities now?

Coulda sworn they where called characteristics

So anyway, what qualities got brought over from SR3 edges/flaws?

Infirm meade it, but the mechanics are totally different.

Ambidextrous, animal empathy, aptitude, astral chameleon, blandness, codeslinger, double jointed, exceptional attribute, first impression was friendly face, focused concentration, guts, high pain tolerance, home ground, human looking, lucky, magic resistance, murky link was poor astral link, natural hardenning, natural immunity, photographic memory, quick healer, resistance to pathogens/toxins, toughness, will to live, allergy, astral beacon was astral impressions, bad luck is like cursed karma, codeblock, combat paralysis, elf poser, gremlins, incompetant, low pain tolerance, scorched, sensitive neural structure, sensitive system, simsense vertigo, spirit bane, uncouth, uneducated, weqk immune system.

New: addiction, ork poser.

No phobias or flashbacks, no bad karma.

What about Friends-in-high places and Friends abroad?

How do the contacts work at character creation and during game play? Do they still have the contact, buddy, and friend for life approach. I see they cost build points at character creation. That will make it easier on characters with low resources, but tougher on those who pick resources as a high priority (with my players almost every non-mage) I saw something about loyalty and level on the demo character sheets

Contacts are bought at a cost equal to their Connections + Loyalty level (a Connection 2/Loyalty 3 contact costs 5 BP). The old "Buddy" designation is about Loyalty level 3-4, while the old Friend For Life designation is about Loyalty level 5-6. Connection is how "uber" your contact is on the food chain. Level 1 means they only have access to their own skills and equipment attached to their profession (which isn't so bad if you're only asking for a beer from a Bartender, but don't try to ask for a Shotgun or a new Hacker program). Higher levels of Connections means either they have access to more and better equipment (Corporate Scientist with access to a particle accelerator) or they are willing to introduce you to their own contacts (Fixers with a low Connection rating do not necessarily have few connections... they just aren't willing to introduce you to them), or perhaps they are higher up on the food chain (Corporate Executive rather than Middle Management/Grunt).

I've got a face character with an insane amount of contacts. Under a system like that it would probably cost 100 BP just in contacts. Do you at least start with any for free?