[David Chart]

The BP cost of the races has always been to reflect the rarity of those races within the world (hence why in earlier editions you have the More Metahumans rules).

Changelings, Drakes and Infected characters should be EXTREMELY rare. Changelings make up about 1% of the entire population of the Earth. Drakes and the Infected make up even less than that. People keep on with this idea that because it's listed in the game, everyone should be able to play it, no questions asked. Yes, you could build the Metahumans with the positive/negative qualities, at a much cheaper price. But, the way I see it, 1) you have to get the GM's permission to play Metavariants and other races and 2) there will be a lot of pointing and staring by 'ordinary folk' since you're NOT the norm. Which means that run you just pulled against Ares? Instead of "It was some wizzer with a halfer and two trogs." turns into "Dude! There was this really wierd looking THING with orange skin and intricate horns! Sure, I can give you a complete description, I'll never forget that face!"

Well, no, actually. Ogres and satyrs are cheaper as metavariants than as point cost, and ogres are 30% of orks in Europe while satyrs are dominant in Greece, so if you're playing there it's "it was a wizzer and a satyr". Changelings, of course, cost exactly what the points say.

I'm not complaining that the metavariants are too expensive, I'm puzzled that the relative costs seem to be all over the shop.

[Glyph]

The "rarity" argument doesn't quite hold up for me, because there are metavariants that should be equally rare that are bargains compared to the baseline metatype.  Wakyambi and satyrs are both bargains, getting 10 points' worth of positive qualities for a 5 point increase in metatype cost.  Oni cost 25 points more when the only difference between them and standard orks is a disadvantage.  Ogres cost the same as standard orks and get an extra advantage.  You can't even factor in "they stand out in a crowd" for all of the metavariants, since ogres and fomori are actually less brutish in appearance than standard orks and trolls.

In short, if you look through the metavariants, some of them are very cost-effective to play, some come out about even, and others are overpriced for what you get.

I guess it doesn't bother me as much because I am not really that interested in the ones which happen to be gimped.  If I were GMing and a player complained, though, I would probably drop the costs for some of the worst cases, such as oni or xapiri thepe.

[Frankie the Fomori]

um if you look in the list at the end of the runner's companion you will find a list of Meta variants that also have the Oni points at 20.... i saw something at dumpshock that it was the intended cost! Just food for thought though

Ork------------------- 20------------------ p. 72, SR4
Hobgoblin---------- 20------------------ p. 72
Ogre----------------- 20------------------ p. 72
Oni------------------- 20------------------ p. 72

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[Kontact]

Most effects will be pretty small, probably not even noticeable without a closer inspection. And the 1% is just a guess anyway - who knows REALLY how many ghouls, shapeshifters, etc. live in Seattle?

I'm a fan of the Surge I combination of biocompatability (cyberware) and Slow Healing.  It makes good internal sense, and it's certainly not something that an observer could pick out of a crowd.  Hardly the freaky-deeky changeling that is so hot on the club scene.

Anyway, statistics really shouldn't matter too much.  It's up to a GM to decide how many _____s there are in that particular 6th world.  Adjust accordingly.