[rasmusnicolaj]

Ork only 20 BP and gives you +3 Body (everybody want to have more body) and +2 strength.
Very sound investment.

Rasmus

[ARC]

Yes but you also take a hit to Chrisma.

[Phylos Fett]

Ork only 20 BP and gives you +3 Body (everybody want to have more body) and +2 strength.
Very sound investment.

Rasmus

Makes sense. Cheers.

[Phylos Fett]

Yes but you also take a hit to Chrisma.

Pobody's Nerfect, I guess.

Unless Charisma is essential to your build, I can see living with a lower Charisma.

[rasmusnicolaj]

Ork's don't need Charisma.
Ork's need a big dakka.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MoreDakka

Rasmus

[squee_nabob]

Don't start with a backstory, start by asking yourself "What amd I good at? What do I bring to the table that helps the team". If you can't answer that, you will not be adding anything to the group. After you know what you want to do, build it. Then write a backstory that explains why you are built the way you are. Working in the other direction means you lose optimization for fluff reasons and can lead to frustration (if you care about optimization).

[Joush]

I agree with that, but I'd say that you can leave back story until later and instead try to think of what you want a character to be good at, then think of an in-game justification for why you would be.

For example, you decied you want to play a tech-enhanced fighter. You want to be good at violence and scary.

So brainstorm some concepts that could get there.

Maybe you are an ex-solider, leaving the military after a brutal injury required heavy cybernetic enhancement just to save your life and return normal function, on top of a military  enhancement your character received to be competitive on the 2070 battlefields. Give him a cyberarm and some scars, ranks in Military knowledge and maybe the Military specialty for Etiquette.

Or not a solider.. a cop that played by the rules until he was betrayed and had to duck into the shadows. Now he works the other side of the law using the skills he acquired on a lone star Hazardous Response Team. Local knowledge, the gangs of the sprawl, maybe a flaw or two like Enemy, to reflect criminals he busted that want to get some payback.

Maybe a highly ranked Yakuza, born into a criminal family as the heir of a powerful leader you have been called ojou-sama for so long that the gajin you work with think it's your name. Your father's death or dishonor has thrust you from the lofty heights, but you were always aware that one day you would need to stand alone, your body a work of art with the finest cybernetic and bioenhancement your father's loyal doctors could give you before your fall from grace. You still have connections with the local yakuza loyal to you and a hidden safe house, identity and money. One day you will take back your birthright, until then you will gather power, wealth and influence.

In game, all three would have similar stats and abilities but you'd customize and finish them up in very different ways. They'd also be more memorable then just another street sam.

[UmaroVI]

Yes but you also take a hit to Chrisma.

You don't take a hit to your charisma, you take a hit to your maximum Charisma (and Logic), which is very different. If you were going to have, say, 3 body, 3 strength, 3 charisma, 3 logic, and 3 edge, then being an ork gets you +1 body and also saves you 10 points while not lowering any of your stats.

[Glyph]

Orks are at a real sweet spot, both crunch-wise and fluff-wise.  They have slightly lower maximums to some Attributes, but not enough to be a huge hindrance, while getting bonuses that put them right about where most characters want to be.  A Body of 4 and Strength of 3 are good for even a non-combat character.  Overall, they gain 20 build points compared to a human (20 cost and lose a point of Edge, vs. 50 points of Attribute bonuses).  Fluff-wise, they are a relatively common metatype, suffer moderate discrimination, and can generally blend in relatively easily, not needing customized gear, or living spaces designed for a different size.

Dwarves, by contrast, cost 25 points, lose a point of Edge, and gain 40 points in Attributes, for a net gain of only 5 points - not really enough to balance the hit they take on Reaction and the requirement of gear modified to their size.

Trolls cost 40 points, lose a point of Edge, and gain 80 points in Attributes.  So their net gain in build points is even more than an ork's, but Body and Strength of 5 are getting to the point where they are too much for a non-combat build.  And they also are huge sized, need specially modified gear, and take hits to their maximums in Agility (one of the most important Attributes of the game) and mental Attributes - unlike an ork, the latter are enough to be a serious detriment in certain roles (face, techie, etc.).  They are great for certain builds, but handicapped outside of those narrow roles.  I admit, though, that I still like playing against type with trolls (stealthy faces, etc.), even though it is not very optimal.

Elves cost 30 points, lose a point of Edge, and gain 30 points in Attributes.  They are the only metatype that actually has a higher net cost than being a human.  But what you are paying for is the ability to have two very important Attributes at a higher rating (or, if you don't get a high Agility or Charisma, you are paying a "flavor tax" - the weapons specialist archetype is an example of this).

Humans, the baseline, are very versatile.  But their biggest weakness is that they are the only metatype without some kind of Attribute bonus.  Which means they are stuck with 200 points in Attributes, while, for example, an elf could, in effect, get 230 points worth of Attributes.  This can limit humans for some roles, ones where above average physical and mental Attributes are needed.

[Kontact]

Humans, the baseline, are very versatile.  But their biggest weakness is that they are the only metatype without some kind of Attribute bonus.  Which means they are stuck with 200 points in Attributes, while, for example, an elf could, in effect, get 230 points worth of Attributes.  This can limit humans for some roles, ones where above average physical and mental Attributes are needed.

I've said before that humans should have a higher upper limit to how many bps they can put into attributes, qualities or gear.  They make up an astounding % of the population, so a greater breadth of diversity makes sense.

If they could take 220bp in attributes, 40bp in pos/neg qualities, and spend up to 55bp on gear, then they wouldn't be "fluff guys" exclusively.

[Phylos Fett]

It does seem a little off that the other Metatypes get an effective bonus to Attributes, whilst Humans don't. That said, is raising the number of BP that a Human can spend on Attributes the answer, or would the way to go be to lower the number of BPs that the other Metatypes can spend? For instance, all Metatypes get to spend 200BP on Attributes and Metatype combined, maybe?

[UmaroVI]

Dwarves actually get much more of a raw deal than humans.

[CanRay]

Dwarves actually get much more of a raw deal than humans.

Hey, just because they can't see above the steering wheel... 

[ARC]

That's what phone books and platform shoes are for.

[Glyph]

It does seem a little off that the other Metatypes get an effective bonus to Attributes, whilst Humans don't. That said, is raising the number of BP that a Human can spend on Attributes the answer, or would the way to go be to lower the number of BPs that the other Metatypes can spend? For instance, all Metatypes get to spend 200BP on Attributes and Metatype combined, maybe?

Raising the number of BP that humans can spend on core Attributes sounds like a much better solution.  The problem is that humans can't spend enough on core Attributes.  Imposing limits on metahumans would only give them the same problem, not fix the problem with humans.