[ProfessorCirno]

Got bored and made a character for no raisin; thought I'd post it here to get thoughts (or to serve as a pregen for people who want it).  WHen I do this I tend to write an astronomical amount of words to go with it - general advice on how to play, how to improve after sessions, etc - since a decent number of people end up asking me if they can use the characters and how to do things and all that jazz.  So bear with me.

Main goal is Pistols/Face work focus, but overall edge based jack of all trades.

~*~
== Info ==
Street Name: Double Tap
Name: Unnamed Character
Movement: 18/36
Karma: 3
Street Cred: 0
Notoriety: 0
Public Awareness: 0
Human
Composure: 8
Judge Intentions: 10
Lift/Carry: 5 (30 kg/20 kg)
Memory: 9
Nuyen: 296

== Priorities ==
Metatype: C - Human, Dwarf, Elf, or Ork
Attributes: A - 24 Attributes
Special: E - Mundane
Skills: D - 22 Skills/0 Skill Groups
Resources: B - 275,000¥

== Attributes ==
BOD: 3
AGI: 6 (9)
REA: 5 (9)
STR: 2
CHA: 5
INT: 5
LOG: 4
WIL: 3
EDG: 7

== Derived Attributes ==
Essence: 1.10
Initiative: 10 (14) + 2d6
Rigger Initiative: 14 + 2d6
Astral Initiative:
Matrix AR Initiative: 14 + 2d6
Matrix Cold Initiative: 5 + DP + 3d6
Matrix Hot Initiative: 5 + DP + 4d6
Physical Damage Track: 10
Stun Damage Track: 10

== Limits ==
Physical: 6
Mental: 8
Social: 5
+Custom Ballistic Mask [+2] (Only for intimidation, Must be visible)
+Mortimer of London: Argentum Coat [+1] (Must be visible)
Astral: 8

== Active Skills ==
Con : 6 [Fast Talk] Pool: 12 (14)
Etiquette : 1 Pool: 7
Negotiation : 6 [Bargaining] Pool: 12 (14)
Perception : 1 [Visual] Pool: 6 (
Pistols : 6 [Burst Fire] Pool: 15 (17)

== Knowledge Skills ==
Alcohol : 2 Pool: 9
Bars and Clubs : 2 Pool: 9
Business : 6 Pool: 12
English : N Pool: 0
Fashion : 2 Pool: 9
MATHS : 4 Pool: 10
Security Companies : 1 [Knight Errant] Pool: 7 (9)
Sports : 2 Pool: 9
Trids : 2 Pool: 9

== Contacts ==
NAME; Street Doc (4, 2)
NAME; Reporter (3, 2)
NAME; Corporate Secretary (3, 1)

== Qualities ==
Agile Defender
Big Regret
Biocompatability (Cyberware)
Creature of Comfort (Middle)
Daredevil
Driven
Jack of All Trades Master of None
Poor Self Control (Thrill Seeker)
Prejudiced (Specific, Biased) (Lone Star)
Records on File (Ares)
Restricted Gear (Adapsin)

== Lifestyles ==
Fancy Shindigs 1 months
+High Lifestyle, Patron of the Arts (Private Club), Drone Maids/Manservants, Soy Processing Unit, Zen Den, Indoor Arboretum, Cleaning Service (Standard), Basic Skillsoft Network, Basic Mapsoft Network

== Cyberware/Bioware ==
Adapsin
Attention Coprocessor
Bilateral Coordination Co-processor
Clean Metabolism
Commlink
+Casemod Rating 1
Datajack
Flashback System
Math SPU
Mnemonic Enhancer Rating 2
Muscle Toner Rating 3 (Used)
Orientation System
Reaction Enhancers Rating 3 (Used)
Smartlink
Translat-ear Rating 1
Wired Reflex Optimization
Wired Reflexes Rating 1 (Alpha)

== Armor ==
Custom Ballistic Mask 2
+Flare Compensation
+Flashlight, Low-light
+Low Light Vision
+Respirator Rating 6
+Voice Warper Rating 1
Mortimer of London: Argentum Coat 14
+Chemical Protection 6
+Concealability
+Concealed Pocket
+Custom Fit (Stack)
+Gel Packs
+Insulation 6

== Weapons ==
Savalette Guardian
+Concealed Quick-Draw Holster
+Custom Look
+Electronic Firing
+Gecko Grip
+Improved Range Finder
+Smartgun System, Internal
+Sound Suppressor
Pool: 19 Accuracy: 7 DV: 8P AP: -1 RC: 4
Savalette Guardian
+Concealed Quick-Draw Holster
+Custom Look
+Electronic Firing
+Gecko Grip
+Improved Range Finder
+Smartgun System, Internal
+Sound Suppressor
Pool: 19 Accuracy: 7 DV: 8P AP: -1 RC: 4
Unarmed Attack
Pool: 8 Accuracy: 6 DV: 2S AP: - RC: 2

== Commlink ==
Pulse Wave (ATT: 0, SLZ: 0, DP: 6, FWL: 6)

== Gear ==
Ammo: Explosive Rounds (Heavy Pistols) x48
Ammo: Gel Rounds (Heavy Pistols) x48
Bug Scanner Rating 6
Contacts Rating 3
+Vision Enhancement Rating 3
Earbuds Rating 3
+Audio Enhancement Rating 3
Fake SIN Rating 4
+Fake License (Concealed Carry Permit) Rating 4
+Fake License (Career License) Rating 4
Reloading Slide
Restraint, Plastic x10
Tag Eraser
Tool Kit (Disguise)
Ultrasonic Noise Generator Rating 4
White Noise Generator Rating 6

== Vehicles ==
Suzuki Mirage (Racing Bike)
+Sensor Array Rating 2
~*~

You had it all, or at least most of it. A rapidly growing name in Ares, a lifestyle far better then the wage slaves that toiled beneath you, a mildly less empty and somewhat actually engaging career - the works. A lucky, lucky man. You were a company man who didn't look like a company man, sometimes a Mr/Mrs Johnson, sometimes a spy in your own company, and sometimes a simple project manager. It's the last one that did you in. One failed project - and the fallout it incurred - was all it took, and suddenly you found yourself tapping into secret accounts and running for it before you could be another liquidated asset. It didn't even fail because of you, not that it stopped the real culprit from giving you all the blame. Now you find yourself amongst the SINless, rubbing shoulders with the same rubes you took to the bank several times over, and trying to negotiate better prices as you saw countless others try to do with you. It takes a lot of luck to get by in this world, but that's fine. Luck's one thing you've never had a lack of. Besides, at least in this job, you can't complain about the lack of action.

THINGS TO DECIDE BEFORE YOU PLAY:
What's your name? Your REAL name?
Go on and fill out the other details - what do you look like?
What's the name on your fake SIN?
What job do you claim to have? Notable mentions go to bounty hunter, security contractor, and bodyguard as safe choices.
How about your contacts - give each a short description.
Where in town do your live? Remember - it's gonna be somewhere nice.
You hate Lone Star - is it for former professional reasons, because of their scummy reputation in most areas, or did they simply do something to you and now it's personal?
You have a good chunk of essence missing; does this effect you in some larger way? Not everyone with low essence suffers from cyberpsychosis (and indeed, you don't), but that doesn't mean they don't act or look different as their essence plummets.
Some of your 'ware is nano-based - a frightning thing to have in the era of CFD. Did you get it before CD went viral, and if so, does it frighten you to have it? Do you openly accept nanoware and scoff at those too terrified to utilize still useful tools?
What are you driven to do? The easy answer is "find who screwed up my project and ruined my name and make them pay;" revenge is always classic. But it could be something else. You could have a family member or loved one who went missing some time ago you desperately want to find, a vendetta against someone else, or trying to uncover a grand conspiracy.
What's the nature of the big project you were on that turned into a disaster? Whatever it was, it was bad enough that you want to avoid having your name connected to it (thus the Big Regret).
Important: Make sure to ask your GM their policy on regaining Edge through acts of daring; if your GM is going to be very tight on Edge renewal, this character loses a lot.

PLAY METHODOLOGY:
Your overall attributes and qualities should paint a pretty nice picture. You have absolutely massive Edge - use it. You can add 7 dice to any skill 7 times a day guaranteed, which means, in a pinch, you can do almost anything as a generalist. With Daredevil, you get that Edge back when you commit to acts of daring and potential lunacy. This means you are based around something of an Edge Economy; constantly spending Edge, then getting it back doing ridiculous stunts. It's worth it to take -2 to your shooting roll in order to do a dive off some stairs, guns blazing, and regain two Edge. Plus, nothing says you can't spend Edge on possibly idiotic dramatic acts you perform to regain your Edge. You may be a suave cool headed social networking spy on the outside part time, but on the inside, you really should be the devil-may-care stunt artist who constantly pushes the envelope. One important thing to know is when and how to spend Edge. Because your Edge is so titanic, it's almost always better to spend your Edge before you roll in cases where the odds are either against you, or even when the odds are, well, even. Mathematically the usual cut off point is 18/7*Edge, which for you is...18. That's right, when you roll less then 18, you should add Edge in advance. With your generalist nature, that's almost every time. On the other hand, this could also mean losing Edge in cases where it wasn't a hard roll to make in the first place, so the caveat to this rule is to always consider the difficulty. Remember that, on average, every three dice equals out to one success; if you have a 6+ dice advantage (or an assumed 2 hits advantage), you almost guaranteed do not need to spend Edge in advance. Of course, if you have a 6+ dice advantage, you're probably in one of your main specializations...and thus closer to 18 anyways.

You will almost always be dual wielding your pistols, but that doesn't mean you want to always be firing both on the same round; alternate between the two in most rounds so as not to split your dice pool. By doing this, you spread your ammo usage between the two guns, making it last much longer. When the drek hits the fan and you do need to fire both guns together, absolutely ALWAYS spend Edge before you roll; this allows you to split the edge into your various new pools, and gives each pool Rule of 6, increasing your chances of both barrels hitting by a huge amount. If you get a very high initiative roll, or you're up against baddies with not great aim, or you're up against enemies who aren't wielding automatic weapons, consider spending 10 initiative on a full defense maneuver to add your full agility to your dodge roll; you could very well end up being untouchable.

Outside of a fight, you have high negotiation and con, which means you are most likely the party face. Soak the Johnson for as much money as you can without being insulting, and try to be the character who can talk their way into anywhere with a suit and clipboard. Your contacts are there to be used; a street doc is always good not just for operating on you, but also for their knowledge skills regarding medicine or what's big in the medical community. A pocket reporter likewise is always useful; they can be a distraction, a bluff, or even your ticket into places if you don't mind posing as their cameraman. Lastly, the corporate secretary has most if not all the contact information not only for their corporate area, but likely for many, many people outside of their immediate sphere of influence; hit them up during your legwork sessions to know who works where and how to get in touch with them, be it to ask them some questions or flat out kidnap them to take their place as part of your infiltration. With your incredible negotiation you most likely don't need contacts to supply you with gear; consider that you start off rolling 14 dice to find anything before adding Edge to it. Once you make some important nuyen purchases, that becomes 17 dice pre-Edge. You ARE the contact the party goes to in order to find gear.

Your 'ware gives you a lot of advantages. Between your mnemonic enhancer, your high intuition, your tranlat-ar, and your skillsoft network, you essentially have 8 dice to understand ANY spoken language, which is extremely valuable. You have a wide plethora of knowledge skills at strong ratings thanks to your mnemonic enhancer, and your MATHS skill has a truly amazing array of uses once you realize how creative you can get with a head-computer that solves all maths instantly. You automatically record and remember everything, so say farewell to ever having to make memory rolls. With the orientation system and judicious usage of mapsofts and/or blueprints your decker might get you, you should never be running anywhere blind. The bilateral coordination co-processor is basically just the ambidextrous quality. Wired reflexes, reaction boosters, and muscle toner is simple, good old fashioned upgrades to important attributes. Lastly, the casemod and clean metabolism...well, what's the point of living if you can't look and feel good while doing so?

UPGRADES:
Karma wise you want to have a single point in a very large number of skills. Your Jack of All Trades quality means it costs a single point of karma to gain +2 to any skill - an amazingly good trade off. With your high Edge, you will likely end up as a generalist, so take advantage of it. Once you've gotten a very well rounded number of skills, start raising the ones you use most often (and immediately break those skill groups - now that you're in-game, it's cheaper to raise the skills on their own). Agility and Charisma based skills are likely your key abilities; disguise, etiquette, gymnastics, impersonation, intimidation, palming, and sneaking are all things you'll find yourself using a lot as your growing status as a social infiltrator. Remember, skills are cheaper to you then they are to other players up to level 5, and then more expensive afterwards; you'll likely end up with a lot of level 1 skills, a good smattering of level 5 skills, and maybe one or two specialized skills you might take past 6. If your GM doesn't give many opportunities to gain new contacts in-game, then purchasing contacts likewise can be a good option. Lastly, you can always upgrade your attributes, though this will cost a substantial amount of karma; do this after you have your key skills at 5. Martial Arts I tend to be real down on; you pay a lot of karma for not great bonuses. That having been said, Firefight / Gun Kata have a few maneuvers that might be useful to you if you find yourself fighting in melee often, and parkour can give a few boosts to mobility if needed. Still, I put them at low priority at best.

For nuyen, things are more complicated. First and foremost, buy another fake SIN, maybe even two more. Once you have that out of the way, the big prize for you is tailored pheremones bioware. Unfortunately, that's going to be heavy on the essence, so you should first upgrade your reaction enhances to alphaware for about 18k, and also possibly also your Flashback System for 1.2k. Now that you have that installed, it's time to make some decisions.

Lets talk gear. Honestly, you really can never have too many fake SINs. Investing in some spyware could also be good; an autopicker, cellular glove mold, smart wig, synthskin face mask, biometric reader, and card reader, along with some small cameras. Most of these can also come in nanoware, which is more expensive and harder to get, but smaller and faster. Going up to ex-ex ammo will give you literally more bang for your gun, and it may be to your best interest to buy a good sneaking gun; a holdout pistol fits right in your suit's secret pocket. I recommend either the Streetline Special with a silencer attached and hi-de rounds, or the Fichetti Tiffani Needler with ceramic/plasteel components. It might be wise to invest in a large number of linguasofts; I haven't done the math on when it's cheaper to just have linguasofts for almost everything then to just keep using the skillsoft network; likewise with mapsofts. Lastly, for those who worry incessantly about enemy deckers, it will cost an extremely high amount of nuyen, but a stealth dongle for your commlink will make it substantially harder for any spider or IC to see you.

For 'ware, first thing's first: upgrade what you have. It won't be cheap, but you need the essence. The big one is your muscle toner; it'll cost you a lot, but making that Standard or Alpha will free up some space. For those who want to focus more on combat , upgrading your Wired Reflexes to rating 2 will put a large dent on your essence, but will make you better at dodging and faster in initiative. On the offensive side, you could go for a reflex recorder bioware to pistols, or, if you get a nice landfall of nuyen, finish bringing your muscle toner to rating 4. Synch geneware is a good, but probably a purchase you make after the reflex recorder. If you do purchase the reflex recorder, consider the reflex recorder optimization geneware; it essentially acts as +1 to the other two firearm skills, although with Jack of Trades it might be far better to simply put a point of karma into them. For those who want more utility, consider the rader sensor cyberware; combined with your other 'ware, it gives you an actual literal minimap you can use to keep track of the building, who's in it, and where they are. For those who want to focus more on infiltration, the voice modulator cyberware is a must-have. It's expensive, but retinal adjuster nanoware could be important. False face nanoware is somewhat less important, and more easily replaced with gear; likewise with dynamic handprint nanoware. They aren't BAD to have, but should probably be considered secondary priority (unless of course you often find yourself in situations where you need to change your disguise and prints while on the move and can't access gear). Sneaking is no good if you get caught, so the genewipe geneware isn't a bad purchase at all. Lastly, if you simply find yourself being knocked around and need to take less damage, orthoskin bioware, bone lacing cyberware, and the always beloved pain editor will let you take way more hits and keep going. If you somehow have an absolutely absurd amount of nuyen, the Cerebellum Booster will improve a wide variety of skills on top of raising your dodge and initiative, at a stupifying cost compared to other means to do so. If you ran out of things to spend karma on, you can always get genetic optimization. Neo-epo geneware helps a lot of nice stuff, but none of it is critical to you. Reakt likewise is a very expensive way to increase your dodge (albeit cheaper then Cerebellum Booster, but with none of the skill improvements).

[gradivus]

Without a karma expenditure section it's hard to tell whether or not this character is legal.

None of your augmentation is showing grade therefore we must assume standard making for example reaction enhancers [3] availability 15.

I've always found The Mr Luck concept to be quite interesting.

[ProfessorCirno]

Ahhh.  Wired Reflexes are Alpha, Muscle Toner and Reaction Enhances are Used.  Also, in looking back, I noticed that I cannot take Adapsin as it has availability 16; to mend that, I removed Agile Defender and the skill groups, and added Restricted Gear.

For karma:
Start at 25, +25 more from negative qualities.  -10 to raise strength from 1 to 2 (40), -4 from raising Etiquette and Perception to 1 (36), -10 to nuyen (26), -23 to positive qualities.  That leaves 3 karma - perfect for putting points into those now missing skills I had to remove.

[Marcus]

Are you asking for a review of the character?

[Facemage]

Edge pool is high but is it enough? Note that by resting you get only 1 point back. So the returning rate of the edge is  ~3 per day (a warm meal gives also 1 point back) without any effort. Is it possible that during a long campaign you have to survive without the edge If you comsume it greedily in your first day? You need to use edge when you have to use:
Perception
Sneaking
Intimidation
Impersonate
Disguise
Negotiation
Palming

And in fact often in social encounters with other faces or someone like that, your social limit is too low to survive => you need edge. I have not played mr. luck but I have played a face which needs ~10 social throws against johnsons and other faces during a single day + fights, several perception throws and so on.

[ProfessorCirno]

Edge pool is high but is it enough? Note that by resting you get only 1 point back. So the returning rate of the edge is  ~3 per day (a warm meal gives also 1 point back) without any effort. Is it possible that during a long campaign you have to survive without the edge If you comsume it greedily in your first day? You need to use edge when you have to use:
Perception
Sneaking
Intimidation
Impersonate
Disguise
Negotiation
Palming

And in fact often in social encounters with other faces or someone like that, your social limit is too low to survive => you need edge. I have not played mr. luck but I have played a face which needs ~10 social throws against johnsons and other faces during a single day + fights, several perception throws and so on.

I mention pretty clearly that the build is indeed based on a GM who isn't extremely tight fisted on Edge renewals.  I've found runs rarely happen every day - you get a big Run (or a few small ones), you rest up or a week or mybe more before your next.  The vast majority of Edge is intended to come from the Regaining Edge rules via page 56.  You'll note this character fulfills most of the listed requirements on page 56, and the Daredevil quality (which I feel is the true lynchpin to this character) gives two Edge instead of one.  It's what I called the Edge Economy; you spend Edge as you get yourself in trouble, and regain that Edge on getting yourself out.  Again though, as I say in the advice section, if the GM is going to be very tight on renewing Edge, this will end up likely being a somewhat poor character.

Most of the skills you listed are ones I state should be higher then just one point.  Again, Jack of All Trades provides a discount for skill ranks 5 and below.  It isn't until 6 that it charges you more.

Again, I state somewhat clearly that Tailored Pheremones should be one of your first major purchases.  That having been said, what on earth runs are you going on where your completely new and fresh characters are expected to hit 6+ successes consistently?  A completely maxed out human is going to be rolling 14 dice for an average of 4-5 hits - that's completely maxed out.  Nowhere near the standards set by the pregens or the listed threats and sample TNs in the book.  A TN of 4 is hard, 6 is very hard, and you're telling me you're expected to beat that ten+ times?  Furthermore, rolling 10+ social tests in a single day reeks of GMs that have you roll for every word you say in hopes of intentionally making you fail  - I'm comfortable in saying that is not the norm.

This character is not meant to be the best at everything always.  They are, for most cases, Plan B.  They're a good face and a good pistoleer, but in most other cases, they're the spackle that fills in any gaps the group might have.  They aren't ALWAYS the best - but every so often, they can be.

Are you asking for a review of the character?

Certainly!  Reviews, comments, nitpicks, things I screwed up on (like the previously seen adepsin), whatever.  Not just on the character but for the general advice I listed as well!

[Marcus]

Ok.
You have a little too much face on that skill list, with that much edge, getting a fair number of skills at 1 can result in an effective pool. Negotiation should be left to the face, yes this character has a decent pool, but not one that's gonna win that roll when it really counts.
So I'd redistribute those points.

My thoughts on your List
== Cyberware/Bioware ==
Adapsin (Very Nice)
Attention Coprocessor (+1 perception is a little weak)
Bilateral Coordination Co-processor (if you really like d/w, it's fairly meh, given quick draw it's not really that interesting)
Clean Metabolism (why bother?)
Commlink (Easier to carry it, having one in your head just makes harder to replace when needed)
+Casemod Rating 1
Datajack (Why? you don't care about signal)
Flashback System (this has it's uses)
Math SPU (trajectory equations don't really need +4 to math to solve, why bother?)
Mnemonic Enhancer Rating 2 (Not stunningly useful, already have photographic memory, +2 on knowledge is interesting but it's not really doing much for ya)
Muscle Toner Rating 3 (Used) (See my cyberlimb point below)
Orientation System (Just why?, you don't even have navigation, or driving.)
Reaction Enhancers Rating 3 (Used) (Nothing wrong with this)
Smartlink (Put it in some cybereyes along with usual visual mods, save yourself sometime and a headache, you can get that perception bonus while your at it.)
Translat-ear Rating 1 (Easier just to have one with a higher rating, and the pair of ears to go with it)
Wired Reflex Optimization
Wired Reflexes Rating 1 (Alpha)

Why are you not running, a Pistol reflex recorder, one of the bone lacing options? (This character looks a lot like primary combatant, you should be planning on getting shot.)

You could get a lot more bang for your essence out dropping muscle toner and swapping to a cyberlimb. Your already pistol focused so it really doesn't matter. You would be looking at an average of 8, and that would still be solid.)

Doing those two things would also do a lot for survivablity, couple extra damage boxes, a little more soak.

Next Ballistic masks are cute, but helmet is easier to explain given a motorcycle, and has more capacity.

.

[gradivus]

Negotions DP 14 plus pre-Edge 7 should get you 8+ hits when it counts, so keep it if it fits your character concept.

I don't agree with the cyberarm comment- AGI 9 has it's uses.

Other than those two things, I agree on some level with all of the other critiques from Marcus.

[Kincaid]

I'd keep your natural eyes and put the smartlink and tetrachromic vision into them, buying the rest of the enhancements you need as accessories.

Edge should be allotted to skills that get used rarely but have a high penalty for failure.  That is, you should be prepared to Edge your Palming roll assuming the plan involves you getting the stealth tag on your mark.  You'll sometimes post-Edge your Negotiations roll, but if you're looking at a +/- 500 nuyen swing, it's best to save the Edge.  Which skills get rolled is largely a campaign-specific thing.  I don't generally feel like I need to roll Edge on Disguise because of the ways in which you can get extra dice/add to the threshold that are specific to that skill.  I also roll Sneaking and Perception too often to reserve them as an Edge-linked skills.  Stuff like Hardware, Palming, etc. on the other hand are very much "in the nick of time" skills and get Edged fairly often.

If you're keeping the Math SPU, pick up a Radar Sensor to go with it.  So so so useful.
iirc, the Mnemonic Enhancers don't stack with the Translat Ear.  I love MEs, so I'd drop the ear.
The Attention Coprocessor can be replicated more efficiently with other things--notably the tetrachromic vision and a nanohive.
Datajacks are amazing.  Don't think about dropping this.
I'm also not a huge fan of implanted commlinks.  I find I use an array of commlinks with different program carriers as it is.
Clean Metabolism I assume in flavor 'ware.  Nothing wrong with that.

It might be a price issue, but you're missing a number of fake licenses.

[Facemage]

Normal Johnson from corebook has 9 in negotiation and 5 in charisma, so to win him constantly you need more dices than basic 14. Face archetype has 7 in charisma, 4-6 in all face skills and first impression. Total is 13-15. 12 dices in perception pool and 6 in limit are more than enough but not in social tests against other social characters.

Rising a skill from 0 to 5 needs 25 karma, which means surviving with defaulting and low skills many many runs. Even high karma rewards (10 karma per run) cannot give enough to rise every essential skills to 5 after couple runs.

An example run needs: a negotiation test to rise reward. You need to collect information from 2-3 suspicious gang members. You need etiquette, con and possibly intimidation. Next several disguise tests to mask yourself and your team members. An impersonation test at the gate and later fooling two separate guards and decker (looking cameras) with con and etiquette. I think that this contains more than 10 face skill tests.

If compared to kincaid answer this build needs edge on every other test but pistols, con and defense tests. In negotiation tests his success probability is ~50% and does not typically give high rewards even if succeeded. Note also that you cannot default palming.

But still this can work in correct team (including a good support mage) and with suitable gm. It is basically an interesting and cool concept.

I might change it to:
B: Attributes (log to 1, rea to 4)
B: Money
C: Skills (to get perception and stealth skill group 2).
E: Magic
C: Metatype
 

[Kincaid]

It's also important to factor the ease of teamwork tests into your consideration.  Since the generic meet with a Johnson involves the entire team, it's not too hard for them to chip in a few extra dice to the payment test.  For no default skills, or for solo skills like Palming, you're on your own.

[Soahl]

All of this advice is based off the thought that you're looking to Face first and Pistol second. If it's the other way around, go ahead and disregard. That'd be a different advice set.

The biggest change I'd want to make, were this my character, would be to Cyberware. Typically I feel that using Restricted Gear on Adapsin is a bit of a waste since it's only an Availability of 16. Set your Social Skills right and you'd be able to make that Availability Check after your first Run, at that point it's just a matter of having the money. But considering how much Cyberware you're wanting to start with, I can kind of see the appeal. I'm just iffy on it because I'm not sure if it's a great return on investment for you here.

So, here's what I'd do with the Cyberware Section (And it takes a fair amount of readjusting Nuyen):
Cyberware Essence: 2.55
Datajack
Reaction Enhancers (2) [Used]
Wireless Reflexes (1)

Bioware Essence: 1.65
Clean Metabolism
Mnemonic Enhancer (2)
Muscle Toner (3) [Used]
Tailored Pheromones (3)

Total Essence: 4.2 (1.8 Remaining)

To cut down on the Nuyen, I ditched the bike (can buy one later), dropped Lifestyle to Medium (Can upgrade if need be, but I can never justify 10k/month for a Runner), dropped a fair amount of the ancillary Cyberware in the initial draft, dropped Alpha status off of the Wired Reflexes, and lowered Reaction Enhancement by 1. Oh, I also didn't bother with the Adapsin. Didn't see the point of it with the above changes since it'd be 30k and 10 Karma to save .25 Essence. Not enough of a return on investment for me.

I tend to favor this adjustment because it trims some of the marginally useful stuff (although I tried to keep the Clean Metabolism, since it's low cost, low impact flavor that fits the character), but mostly because it'll give you three more dice in most Social Encounters, which is something your Dice Pool needs. I also like this because it gives you more Essence to start with (I greatly dislike playing characters with less than 1.5 Essence. I try to keep it above 2.).

And that's it for my suggestions, really. The Skills that are lacking can be picked up in the first game session or two, and otherwise it's pretty solid. Oh, I'd probably give the Pistols Personalized Grip with/instead of Gecko Grip, but that's just because I've never seen anyone try to disarm a character while I see Limits (Accuracy) get pushed all the time. But that may be a table thing.

[Marcus]

I base my comments off Pistol/Face and lastly Generalist as discussed in your post.

In my opinion your dropping a lot of essence into what will not be very useful to ether Pistol or Face.

To be clear I have no issue with a character starting with essence blow one or otherwise. But if your going to invest in Adaptsin and bioCompatibility, All major essence investments really should be into cyberware. Going into bioware to any large essence extent devalues your other investments. Even muscle replacement would be more useful then toner, at least with that you would get full value out of your essence savers. I still believe and Arm will take you further and give you  more options to play with. Capacity is a great thing you can fit so much tech into cyberlimbs.

When it comes to shooting builds the most common penalties you run across, after recoil are vision penalties. Having cybereyes takes care of the lion share of possibilities. Yes is possible to get those mods using other tech, but cybereyes are the most reliable way to insure they are always up.

Ears are kinda whatever but translator ear is really handy, and you can put raiting 6 transear into a raiting 2 cyberear no problem. It's also critical when attempt face related stuff.