Ok, I've done some more thinking and juggling of ideas, and I've come up with this so far for my Dwarf Shamen. (SR3)

A Rastafarian "Rastas", DragonSlayer, "Fight hard, play hard, and dance through both". Who has just arrived in the country, having left Jamaica for 'reasons unknown'.

Stats:
Body - 6
Quickness - 5
Strength - 3
Charisma - 5
Willpower - 7
Intelligence - 5

Skills:
Note: This is where I really need a hand, magical skills and what I need are rather confusing me

Active
Athletics - 2
Pole Arms - 5
Centering - 4
Conjuring - 6
Sorcery - 6
Etiquette - 5
Rastafarian Dance - 4

Knowledge
Mythos (Folklore) - 5
Magic Background - 5
Sorcery - 5
Music - 3
Local Neighborhood (Melbourne) - 4
Paranormal Animals - 3

Language
English - 4
Patois - 3

I am as yet unsure on spells, I was thinking primarily combat spells, with a little healing and 'utility' thrown into the mix. I also have no idea what equipment to get, but since I only have Resources "E" ( 5000) it wont be much. Edges I think Focussed Concentration is a must, and possibly Astral Chameleon or Resist Pain.

Any ideas/advice?

The 'Dance' skill would be a Knowledge Skill.

As of SotA '63 (or '64?), performance-type skills fall into the Knowledge category. This is especially pointed out in the case of skills linked to Centering (as I assume is the case here).

In Shadowrun, Active Skills can usually be defined as 'normally-useful-on-a-shadowrun' skills (hence the premium cost), while Knowledge Skills fill in the rest (with a lower price) .

You also probably don't need the Sorcery Knowledge Skill, as Magic Background should cover that type of thing. Unless, of course, you were meaning Spell Design, or Magic Theory.

the sorcery knowledge skill, IIRC, is for mundanes doing spell design, (i think)

Background Knowledge: Sorcery is basic theory of sorcery, as with all knowledge skills of that class. It is redundant with magic theory.

The skill used for "spell design" has a very surprising name

You would need the metamagic of centering before you can learn the active skill centering (sometimes houseruled to be allowed, ask your gm)

Get athletics to a level you would trust your life on. Literally. Climbing test + snake eyes = not good.

Wich polearm do you intent to use?

there was some connection to mundane spell design and sorcery knowledge skill, i thought?

ofcourse, maybe i'm just going totally loony and thinking of talismongering?

I know this isn't what you're asking for, but....

I'm hoping you have some idea of what the "reasons unknown" were, or at least want to work them out during game play.

Have you done a little research to role-play a rasta? (I know this sounds preachy, for all I know, you are rasta!) I mean, if I were playing with you, I wouldn't know what "rastafarian dance" looked like, so it would be cool if you were able to describe it. (or demonstrate, for that matter.) So glad to see someone willing to invest active skill points in dancing, though....

If he's just arrived from Jamaica, could he effectively be "hung out to dry?" Perhaps starting with no contacts?

local area= Melbourne. This is in Australia? Or is that a neighborhood in Seattle? If he's new, how does he know it so well? Or maybe Melbourne is in Jamaica, in which case you gotta ask yourself if that's a practical application of knowledge skill points. Maybe expand it to something more useful, like Caribbean Geography or Rasta Networking.

For gear, I suggest you voluntarily give yourself an availability restriction, or negotiate with your GM for points for one, since he's just arrived, presumably by commercial travel. (Or maybe spend your money on a hydroponics shop and some "expendable fetishes". ) Really though, this guy seems like he travels light, so consider easy, mostly legal type stuff. Survival kit, cell phone, utility knife. If he actually owns a pole-arm, it's probably something ceremonial he keeps in his lodge.

From what I can see here, this looks like a fun character to play. Good luck.

I think spell design can be applied by mundanes. I will check tonight.

Spell Design is its very own Academic Knowledge skill, at least in SR3 / MITS.

A mundane can have it as a Knowledge Skill, but he can "only" understand the basics of Spell Design. Same goes for Spellcasting iirc.

As to what polearm I'll be using, most likely a collapsable staff, since I'm planning on having this guy appear (at least) to be law-abiding. No carrying around heavy weapons.

As to the whole cash & equipment thing, I'm considering having him been washed up ashore after his boat was attacked by a kraken, hence, all he's got is what came ashore with him. It also explains why he has no ID "I'm sorry officer, I washed ashore after my boat sank, and all my ID went along with it"

I'm not sure if I'll go with this path, but one idea I did have is he was part of a small corp/large magic group, was KOed and lobbed onto the nearest boat, which happened to be heading to Aus, it sank, he washed ashore, and woke up with Amnesia. Gives the GM plenty of plot-hooks with my Corp coming after me to figure out what went wrong

Cool. Just don't use the amnesia as an excuse to not develop a background. Sounds like you won't.

If I were you, (and be thankful I'm not,) I'd write a short story about his experience on the boat, like a prologue. (Did he get amnesia when he got tossed onto the boat or when it sank, I wonder.) He can interact with some of the sailors and maybe develop a contact or two from them, if they also survived the kraken. This could give you some additional plot hooks as well.

MITS, pg.48, design. A mundane can use spell design, or default to magic theory.

Take 500¥(-5pts) and only have the clothing on your body. Yes, its that easy.