[The_Hyphenator]

So I'm creating an Adept character who's going to be a Face/Infiltrator hybrid (combining the social skills and con man abilities of the Face with the stealth of an Infiltrator and rounding out the combat rough edges with a few Adept powers), and I'm having a hard time deciding how many contacts I should buy at chargen. Per the rules, I have 24 bonus Karma to work with (8 Charisma x 3), but what works better; having a few contacts with high loyalty and connection (or at least as high as you can buy at chargen, which is 7 karma per contact), having a lot of contacts with low loyalty and connection, or taking the middle ground? And what's generally better to emphasize when making a contact, their connection or their loyalty?

Thanks in advance.

[martinchaen]

One contact at Loyalty 6 is good for fencing (flat 30% rate), but with that kind of Charisma you might be able to get better deals yourself.

I'd argue that middle ground is a good way to go. Can't beat a Beat Cop for useful skills, and knowing a Bartender, a Mechanic, a Fixer, and a Street Doc as well might be really helpful at times.

Personally, I'd go the middle ground. High loyalty contact to sell gear to, and others with mid-to-high Connection and whatever loyalty you can scrounge up.

[Top Dog]

I'd say go with the high quality contacts. Especially with 24 points, you can get 3 good quality contacts plus a fourth low-level contact for some streetlevel information (your basic beat cop or ganger or such). You could get a high contact fixer, something related to your specialty (talismonger, matrix contact or whatnot) plus a third good contact to be a bit more rounded, and you'll be set.

Although, I'd consider dividing it 7/7/5/5 as well.

It's always nice to have a lot of contacts, but in the end, having a small amount of contacts you can really count it is worth more for me.