Some Positive Qualities to consider in addition to the ones you've listed.
Bilingual, Blandness, Catlike, & High Pain Tolerance-1.
I've got 23 Positive Qualities already, so I couldn't really fit Blandness, Catlike, or High Pain Tolerance, and Bilingual just strikes me as really inefficient.
I'd need to squeeze 5 Karma into the build, somehow, to get Bilingual. That would give me one language at native-level fluency... or I could spend those same 5 Karma buying one rank in five separate tongues. With my Intuition 5 I'd be throwing six dice any time I needed to try to understand something, and Language Tests are both pretty rare and generally low threshold. (Unless you're dealing with an encrypted code or some sort of ancient text from a long lost civilization... In which case you're probably not using a Language Skill at all.)
I figure I'll just rely on the culturally chauvinistic (and slightly xenophobic) nature of 2080's Japanese society and assume most of the people I interact with speak
nihnogo or aren't worth speaking too. When Ide was with the NTMP he'd have had access to translators, now that he's a private dick he'll have to make do without. (Although his "You Know a Guy" Quality can probably find me a translator for anything that isn't too exotic. If I gotta sweat a Seoulpa Ring thug, I can probably call in a favor from a Korean shopkeeper in the neighborhood.)
Really wish that Skilljacks weren't so stupidly expensive. ¥20,000 per Rating!? WTF!
Skills:
Group-Stealth-5
Con-6
Etiquette-6
Forgery-6 (Because I feel he needed a little something special, but Computer, Lockpicking, First Aid, or Tracking could also work)
Negotiation-6
Perception-6
Unarmed Combat-6 (Shock Gloves or switch to Clubs for Stun Batons) From what I hear Neo-Tokyo has a major NO-NO for guns.... so I went with stun weapons instead.
As far as the Stealth Group goes, I've got
Palming (Legerdemain) 4 and
Disguise 1. No
Sneaking though... I figure Palming should be good enough to stuff a hold-out pistol or a set of brass knuckles into a coat, but Disguise at such low ranks won't do me much good as an Active Skill... But it might be useful as a Knowledge Skill. Stealth is definitely on my "to do" list as I start earning experience.
Con,
Etiquette, and
Negotiation are all in my build already. Sixes for all three of them, plus the Fast Talking Specialization attached to Con. I also have
Intimidate (Interrogate) 6 So I can get my answers Columbo-style or Jack Bauer-style.
Leadership 6 rounds out my social skills. So I'm actually a pretty damn good "Face" for a mundane character. Throwing 12-14 Dice, base, before you account for any modifiers for reputation, attitude, and the like. He's not going to out a dedicated "Pornomancer" Social-focused Mystic Adept out of work, but he's also doing it without any magical entanglements.
Unarmed Combat I don't have a six here, merely a five with a specialization in Boxing. Shock Gloves are probably something I'll buy
immediately after getting paid on my first `run, assuming I don't pick up a set
during the first run once the randomly generated starting cash dice get rolled.
2080's Japan has very tight restrictions on firearms and Neo-Tokyo is pretty much a panopticon. Use anything heavier than a pistol and either the NTMP or the Yakuza
will respond in force. Use a pistol in a way that is too messy or too noisy, same thing. Walk around with a concealed weapon in a neighborhood that's above your pay grade, same thing. The good news is, this applies to the opposition almost as much as it does to the `runners... So whilst security guards on the job site might be packing heat, they're usually not as heavily armed as guards you'd see in Seattle and they are much less willing to chase you.
Also, if you have appropriate Contacts in the NTMP and/or Yakuza, you can usually get any "misunderstandings" about illegal firearms cleared up with a comm call, some favor trading, and a few bribes. They probably won't take even your call if you whipped out an Uzi IV in the middle of Harajuku on a busy shopping weekend, but if you had to pull a pistol to defend yourself from some hired goons in a Chiba City back alley? Well, they can help with that easily enough for someone with Ide's Contacts and Reputation.
Ide doesn't have
Forgery, but I had strongly considered it. In the end I decided to go with
First Aid instead. I don't know how often I'll need to forge my own documents (usually any `run that requires them will have them provided by Tanaka-san or your Fixer), but I can reasonably expect that someone on the team is going to catch a bullet eventually. Throwing eight dice at First Aid (before any equipment bonuses) isn't exactly stellar, but it should keep someone alive long enough to drag them to the van.
Ide also has the
Electronics Skill Group at four, giving him decent dice pools for non-hacking Matrix activity. I can see him growing into a pretty good Decker once the money starts flowing in (to buy a `deck) and he's got some more Karma built up to start learning Cracking Skills.
