[Bike_Samurai]

    Hey guys, I need some help building my character. The 5th edition book is a bit of a mess with important info scatted through out and I'm starting to get frustrated.

    Here's what I want to do: Have a Human or Elf Street-Samurai and team Driver. He's a Combat Biker when not running the shadows. He's also got some bad blood with the Yakuza who want him dead.

    Skills and skill groups I'd like to see:

    Athletics (or at least gymnastics for defense reasons, but the others look useful too)

    Firearms Group (I plan on using Automatics but I won't discount the idea of using shotguns or Pistols)

    Unarmed skill group (I want him to be able to fight unarmed, and expect him to use clubs at the least. Maybe not blades but if the GM permits it a Exotic Melee Weapon (either monowhips, or a crazy mono-chainsaw)

    Operate Ground Vehicle (He's a combat Biker after all)

    Armorer (build/maintain weapons and armor)

    Sneaking (has had to learn when to lay low for exact moment to strike)

    Etiquette (some level just to keep him out of trouble if he has to talk to some one)

    Intimidate (he'll be the party muscle so he'll take care of this)

    Perception (will be augmented with vision/hearing augs or goggles/buds but still)

    Automotive Mechanic (this and driving are the primary things he does when he's not running. So enough to be able to get a job in a mechanic shop)

    First Aid (to stop himself or others from dying in battle)

    For attributes I want his Body and Will to be high enough to let him take hits for the party. Agility will be important for all his combat skills, Str to some degree would be nice but not as important, Reaction will be augmented but needed to go as fast an often as possible. Logic, enough to support first aid, armorer and mechanic. Intuition high to let him have a fast initiative score and Cha can be low he's not a talker he smashes people and drives real fast. Edge is always nice

    I'm thinking priority will be like this
    A= Resources (lots of augmentations)
    B=Skills (only way I can figure out how to get all the skills I want and not have them all be at rank 1 and 2)
    C = Attributes 16 really hurts but what can I do?
    D= Metatype (human with 3 edge or Elf with 0 edge but 3 charisma and 2 agility)
    E= Magic/Resonance

I'd raise skills attributes up but I fear I may need that 450,000 nuyen for all his cybernetics, guns, bike and such.

Please any help or suggestions you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

[Stainless Steel Devil Rat]

Thematic:  If you don't have access to shadowbeat, there should still be the WCCL teams of North America up on the web somewhere you can access and figure out which your character will play for.

Picking what position you play would also be important.  Something interesting: the goalie doesn't ride a bike.  If you're making a tank niche, that'd probably be a great hook for your character.  Goalies are heavily armored and wield tetsubos with which to block shots (and thump opposing players).  Obviously, you'll want some melee combat skills for this hook.

Across the other positions, there is some firearm use but the flash of the game is in the melee attacking.. especially the lancers jousting each other.  If you're going to be a combat biker armed melee combat is going to be more important (in the arena) than unarmed combat.  So, if you don't have the skill points to cover the trifecta of armed, unarmed, and ranged combat, I'd drop ranged combat.   Not necessarily for effectiveness' sake but for thematic appropriateness.

With regards to priorities, making a combatant (especially a tank) with C for attributes sounds like disaster.  I'd really find a way to make A for attributes fit.  Personally, I'd change your scheme to:
A Attributes
B Resources
C Skills
D Race
E (no)magic

You're already grabbing for too big of a pie in skills for the niche you want to fill.  You'll have to make hard choices about what to omit/save for later development, but B for resources will still give you plenty for a vehicle and great cyberware.  (A is overkill, only take that if you really want to have NUMEROUS vehicles)

[Csjarrat]

ok, so i think devil rat is nearer the priorities you'll want to go for.
Stick with human so you get +3 edge for a total of 5, C skills gives 28 individual ranks + 2 skill group ranks.
i'd go with something like:
Pistols 6 (semi auto +2)
Pilot ground 4 (wheeled +2)
Perception 3               
as a base to work from, that uses up 15/28 skill ranks and makes you decent at riding/driving and fairly lethal with a pistol. you've got plenty of spare points here to spend on whatever you like but your main specialities are covered.
Swap out pistols for whatever weapon class you want to use, but bear in mind you can't walk down the street with an assault rifle without drawing a lot of heat. Pistols are plenty deadly and most importantly, concealable.

Your main stats are going to be AGI + REA, make sure you have a reasonable score into int as well as it helps with your initiative. A LOG of 3 minimum is needed if you want to do any serious build/repair skill tests, though you might be better off taking your free contact points and putting them into a well connected and friendly mechanic contact. This will free up your skill points for other stuff.
also to second devil rat's advice on melee: any front line combat char should have some skills in a melee discipline. Consider what would be appropriate for your char and pick one. I like stun batons myself, helps keep the body count low which johnson's tend to appreciate.

as for augs, i'd consider a control rig. even a level 1 used rig will give a big boost to your driving ability. You'll need a set of wired reflexes and probably want some reaction enhancers too. Muscle toner/muscle replacement augs are almost mandatory for a combat char, so make sure you get a couple ranks of these or consider going for a customised cyberlimb or two.