[Che]

I'm working on a fairly high-powered elven Face and a lot of my extra points are going into Contacts, Language, and Knowledge Skills. However, I'm drawing a lot of blanks on just what I should choose beyond a couple basics. I picked up the Bilingual and Linguist qualities, so she's a native speaker in Cantonese and English, as well as having Arabic, German, Japanese, and Spanish all at 4. Contacts-wise, she's got a fixer she's built a respectable rapport with and her usual bartender, but nothing beyond that. I don't have anything for Knowledge Skills. One last thing: I'm not necessarily interested in anal-retentively using every single point at the expense of characterization, so flavor is a consideration for me.

So, do any members have ideas or suggestions?

[Ted Fast]

I don't know how well it would fit with your view of your fixer but an armorer could come in handy if you (or your team) need to modify or repair your weapons/other gear.
A police could warn you if your team is being investigated and could give you other useful info.
On the flip side to have a friend in a gang or criminal organisation could come in handy as well.

[The Big Peat]

Couple of thoughts...

You're the Face. You can talk to anyone. To use the Face example in the corebook, he can talk Urban Brawl to the go-gangs, he can take the big rolling clients to as good a dinner as they've ever had with his Fine Dining knowledge. A wide range of interest skills is no bad thing.

Contacts is almost 'You want that? I can get that'. Obviously you can't get them all, and most characters have their own contacts for their most useful things, but being able to get into clubs (Socialite), medical attention (Street Doc), fake IDs and shit (Forger) and the latest news from the underground (Go-Ganger) seem good possible ideas.

However, really, this depends on your Face. Without knowing something of the character's background, type of campaign, its difficult to make suggestions.

[crisses]

I've got some consolidated contact lists for you here:
http://eveslist.crisses.org/Contact/Listing

and knowledge skills here:
http://eveslist.crisses.org/KnowledgeSkills/KnowledgeSkills

Hopefully that can seed your brain....  (I've had this problem before, so I consolidated lists and added some of my own ideas...)

[Che]

I've got some consolidated contact lists for you here:
http://eveslist.crisses.org/Contact/Listing

and knowledge skills here:
http://eveslist.crisses.org/KnowledgeSkills/KnowledgeSkills

Hopefully that can seed your brain....  (I've had this problem before, so I consolidated lists and added some of my own ideas...)

Wow! That's crazy-helpful. Not to overplay my hand or anything, but do you think you could suggest plausible Loyalty/Connections ratings? I've always been a bit hazy on what is and isn't a reasonable rating...

[crisses]

I've got some consolidated contact lists for you here:
http://eveslist.crisses.org/Contact/Listing

and knowledge skills here:
http://eveslist.crisses.org/KnowledgeSkills/KnowledgeSkills

Hopefully that can seed your brain....  (I've had this problem before, so I consolidated lists and added some of my own ideas...)

Wow! That's crazy-helpful. Not to overplay my hand or anything, but do you think you could suggest plausible Loyalty/Connections ratings? I've always been a bit hazy on what is and isn't a reasonable rating...

A glance at the loyalty and connection charts in Shadowrun ("Contacts by the Numbers" p. 286 in SR4A) can help.  Firstly, I can't tell you what loyalties would be reasonable for anyone.   They could be your spouse -- and even if they are it doesn't automatically imply a loyalty of 6   Another great chart to look at to judge loyalty is the Favor rating table (about 2 pages after the other 2 charts...).  If that person could not pull off a Rating 6 favor, they're probably not a Rating 6 connection or loyalty.

As for Connection:  6 is usually international ties but can also be a position of leadership (and should be a leader over a considerable amount of power & numbers of people or regions...) -- the guy who can always "get things done" for you -- if he/she is loyal enough to you.  The chart is pretty clear, I think -- so you have to think:  would "Ice Cream Vendor" be a 6?  Probably not.  But the Ice Cream Vendor COULD be a 3 ("Meets people on a regular basis and has some personal pull.") -- especially if he's not JUST vending Ice Cream from that truck....   Would a Mafia Don be a 6?  Could be -- especially if it's a large mob and the Don has pull &/or connections of his own in other regions as well as local.

Loyalty?  Is that Don willing to cash in "favors" on your behalf?

1) strictly business
2) frequent customer
3) friendly acquaintance
4) friend/buddy/chummer
5) BFF/got your back
6) Owes you big/willing to take the bullet for you

I'd say a mafia don would cash in his own favors with other dons at loyalty 5-6.  But even the Ice Cream Vendor could be a 5-6 contact.  He'd be willing to pick-pocket a 6 year old for you, or would put himself at risk to get the word to you that the local go-gang is looking to cash in a bounty on your head.  Is a 6 wasted on the Ice Cream Vendor?  Perhaps -- until he drives his cart real slow between you and the Lone Star cops that are on your tail....

It's actually up to you and your GM to play this out right -- not the numbers.

[JustADude]

*SNIP*

Very nice description, there.

Should also mention, though, that you need to ask why the person is so Loyal to you.

For example; I've got a contact for an upcoming character that's a Spider/Data-Analyst working for Lone-star. He's only Connection 2, but it's what he, himself is in a position to do that makes him important, so that doesn't matter as much as the fact that he's Loyalty 6.

Why is he willing to do just about anything for my guy, though?

The answer, here, is because the two of them served together for years in the UCAS army starting just before Crash 2.0, and have been through hell together.

[crisses]

To me, what's not clear about Contacts is how to gain them after game play begins.  I don't see any mention of spending karma to acquire them, someone said that in Missions you rack up lots of contacts, and I've always considered them a "reward" of actual roleplay -- you save someone's life and they're inclined towards more than just "Stranger".

But is there actually any RAW about gaining contacts after gameplay?

I know you're supposed to upkeep them between adventures --wine & dine or at least ask after the kids and listen to them gripe about their problems, etc. (depending on loyalty level).

[JustADude]

To me, what's not clear about Contacts is how to gain them after game play begins.  I don't see any mention of spending karma to acquire them, someone said that in Missions you rack up lots of contacts, and I've always considered them a "reward" of actual roleplay -- you save someone's life and they're inclined towards more than just "Stranger".

But is there actually any RAW about gaining contacts after gameplay?

I know you're supposed to upkeep them between adventures --wine & dine or at least ask after the kids and listen to them gripe about their problems, etc. (depending on loyalty level).

Basically, if it's a Named NPC that the GM has had you introduced to and you're not on their bad side, boom, Loyalty 1 contact. That means they know your name and are willing to deal with you, but that's it.

Moving up and down on Loyalty levels from there is GM's discretion.

[ArkangelWinter]

Thats another fun part of playing a face, schmoozing (maybe romancing) contacts that would shoot you for being involved with others of your contacts. Especially when it gets bloody and you gotta try to.keep both contacts.

[Henzington]

i personally like to have famous runners as a knowledge