Oookay, I think I'm at an impasse here. Using Chummer with Priority and Prime Runner, priorities are as follows:
Priority A: Skills
Priority B: Attributes
Priority C: Resources
Priority D: Metatype (Human)
Priority E: Magic/Resonance
So now I'm staring at the "Common" Tab at the Attributes and... what next? I'm planning on running a Street Samurai with a vested interest in less-than-lethal means of solving problems. Be it using his fists or words.
Note that a Street Samurai likely won't have high Charisma (due to not having the attribute points to spare), and Essence loss causes your Social Limit (=maximum amount of successes you can get on a check) to go down.
Still, that doesn't mean your Street Samurai shouldn't have good social skills.
My suggestion:
Charisma 3, Willpower 3 and Social Skills you want (Etiquette and Intimidate?) at 4. With an Essence of 2, that'd give you a social limit of 4. You'll roll 7 dice, maybe slightly more with modifiers, which is an average of 2 successes. If you boost your skill to 6, that'd be an average of 3.
That's useful, just don't expect to talk yourself out of tough situations with this. That's why you have specialists - one character can't cover everything.
Other Attributes:
Body should be at least 4. Else you're just too squishy.
Agility should be at least 4. Else you likely won't hit all that well.
Reaction should be at least 4. You need it for defense and Initiative.
Strength should be at least 3 - 3 allows you to add some nice armor add-ons without loosing dice. Not great for melee, but it'll do.
Willpower should be at least 3. You need it for stun damage boxes, and to have at least some defense against many spells.
Logic - you don't need it. You can spare the points there for now, and spend 10 Karma to buy it up to 2.
Intuition should be at least 3. You need it for defense and Initiative.
Charisma - see above, 3 if you can spare it.
All in all, that here would be 17 points - well within your allocation. Spend the other three points on Body, Agility and Reaction.
Alternatively, you could utilize Sum-to-Ten. Drop Attributes to priority C, boost Metatype to Priority C.
That way, you can either be an Ork or a Dwarf.
Dwarves get +2 to Body, +2 to Strength and +1 to Willpower - including higher natural maximums.
Orks get +3 to Body and +2 to Strength - also with higher natural maximums.
So either way, you don't actually loose out on any attributes - indeed, that shift actually gives you attributes (+5 attributes for 4 less attribute points). However, you will loose Edge - from your current (5) to 2 (Dwarf) or 1 (Ork). Still, if you make use of the higher maximums, that can be worth it. It does depend on how highly you value Strength basically - if you just want decent Strength to Carry gear, don't do that. If you want good Strength to go to town with ballistic shields or melee weapons, it's actually a pretty good deal.
(Alternatively, you could just swap out your Resource and Metaype priority, but that'd cost you 60K Nuyen, so it depends heavily on how much 'Ware you want).
As for Skills:
- 6 in at least one weapon skill. With Skills at Priority A, you might want to make it an entire skill group - Firearms 6 would mean that you are well-trained in Pistols, Submachine Guns/Assault Rifles and Shotguns/Rifles.
- At least 2 in Sneaking, at least 1 in First Aid (you really don't want to take that -2 untrained penalty when you're saving someone who is bleeding out), at least 2 in Etiquette and Negotiation. You'll likely want higher in the latter.
- Put some points into Gymnastics. Also, putting points into Running is generally a good idea, 2 or so should suffice.
- You'll probably want to choose one melee weapon type. That will likely depend on whether you have Cyberweapons (then its Unarmed Combat) or not (then you can either choose blades, or clubs. Blades are more stylish, but clubs are great due to stun batons or using your rifle as one).
Also, here's another thing:
Do you want your character to be a leader in combat?
Then you don't actually need much Charisma at all. What you'll want then is Intuition.
You can actually straight-up transfer points from Reaction to Intuition. Both are used equally for Initiative and Defense - sacrificing Reaction will lower your physical limit though (but your mental limit will rise this way, and you'll get more starting knowledge points).
Then, you take the Small Unit Tactics skill. It's a Knowledge Skill, so use your free points or just buy it with Karma. You'll also want the Leadership-skill and at least some Charisma (3 is enough), but that's mostly required if your unit is not actually trained properly in the combat maneuvers you are attempting.
If you get your team to train in the combat maneuver beforehand - which admittedly might be hard with Shadowrunners - then starting a combat maneuver is a free action, with no Leadership-test required. They're described on page 98+ of Run&Gun - and they can provide pretty nifty bonuses, such as +3 to Defense or +3 to attack rolls.
As usual, just a suggestion. But "combat leadership" is a good role for a Street Samurai, and sufficiently distinct from a Face's role that you won't step on each others toes. Also, it doesn't require heavy investment from you.
