Well, if new editions have these, then maybe old should do!
Like any edition, character creation has its pitfalls, though IMHO, there's a lot less-on average-in 3e than there is in newer editions. A few reasons(not an extensive list):
-No Perception skill to remember. I dunno how many times I've seen people build and forget this. (Note: on the odd event that I DO run 5e-which I don't think I've done since the year it came out, maybe a few months later-I have ditched the skill and just make you roll Intuition and Logic, like the old days. Yes, this gives people a couple of extra skill points. No, I have no issue with this.) In 3e, it was an Intelligence roll vs. a particular TN determined by the GM/situations. The Perceptive Edge gave you a -1. Bits of 'ware could lower the TN or add extra dice, depending.
-Con was rolled up into Negotiations. In most games-even a little more mohawk-based ones-being able to fumble a quick lie is kinda nice to do. All you needed to do was plug 2 points into Negotiation, or even specialize for 1(3), and 3 dice is actually nice.
-Palming was rolled into Stealth.
-Glitching wasn't a thing in most cases; there were a couple edge cases(like a failed Monowhip roll) that it could come in. If you rolled a ton of 1's you could fail horribly(GM discretion) but generally speaking you weren't worrying about 'small uneven die pools.'
-The fact that skills stood on their own, and the average TN being 4, meant you could grab like a couple of points in some of those other skills and call it a day. You didn't need to push for very high numbers and die pools.
-No worrying about odd/even numbered Will/Body because everyone had 10 boxes to a condition monitor, end of story.
-In 3e, Initiative was less end all be all than the earlier(or 5e). You could get away with 2 dice and a decent Reaction as a combat character due to how things worked, particularly in melee. Sure, higher Initiative was great(particularly for a gunner), but it was less 'pushed' in those days, where now if you're not sporting 3d6 as combat, it's sorta like the older days(apparently.)
Now there were a few pitfalls, of course:
-Riggers and Deckers could run into some issues assembling their gear.
-Mages could sometimes run into bits(despite being extremely powerful.)
-Speaking of magic, unless there's a specific character reason, Willpowers of over 3 were highly desirable, because that was the TN a mage had to roll against to fry you with a Mana spell. (Body was for Power-based spells, and it was probably desirable to aim for a 4 there too if you could. Low Willpower could be quite painful.
-Like any game with a lot of crunch, a few things could get a little overwhelming.
-Because Skill cost was determined on your Attributes(raising a skill past an attribute cost 2 for 1), players could end up spending too much on skills when they wouldn't have had to if they had just, say, upped a particular attribute by 1 more point.
With that said:
Basic Chargen Advice
Some of this will vary depending on chargen system used. I'll base this mainly on Priority since it's the main way, but I'll drop tidbits for point-buy and BeCKS as well.
1. If you're going Rigger or Decker, you're highly suggested to look at Priority A Resources. Decker, certainly. Rigger, you'll be the most comfortable. Both archetypes need some expensive gear(cyberdecks, vehicles, drones, programs, other bits), and Riggers need some sort of costly 'ware as well(VCRs are hefty in Essence cost, and if you can get them Alphaware, it does wonders.) Deckers need less in terms of 'ware but there are certain bits that are wonderful for them, and given you'll be pushing a lot of nuyen for a deck and programs, you'll want as much cred as you can do mess with. (Street campaigns notwithstanding, of course.)
2. Samurai are tricky when it comes to nuyen. You'll probably find yourself, if you want bioware, needing more than 400k(once you add in lifestyle, weapons, ammo, armor, gear, and maybe a vehicle), but sometimes 1,000,000 is too much. This is where point-buy or BeCKS win out; you get the 650k price point or fully customizable nuyen. That said, the 'samurai' archetype can run a rather wide gamut of 'types'-razorboys can get away more with the 400k since they tend to basically go spurs, reflexes, and some light muscle augments. A typical Sam is probably better sitting at the million in Priority(or 650k+). As someone who plays sams a lot, I've had them go from 400k to around 800k, depending on how much bioware I get.
3. Spellslingers can be made either way; you can go low Resources, higher on the Skills/Attributes and get your foci and libraries and stuff in-game(Hermetics have a higher cost), or you can pump Resources and use them to get foci, extra spell points(25k/point, yes, they're expensive, Sorcerers can make out pretty insane here). Both ways are perfectly viable. Even min-maxing this can be tough, since Attributes and Skills are tougher to raise in game than the start(unless you're doing BeCKS), but foci and the like you'll have to go through talismongers to get and bonding foci costs Karma as well. I'd just make the 'character call.' My own personal preference is to go richer for Hermetics and lower-Resources for Shamans.
4. Out of all the attributes, Body, Quickness, Intelligence, and Willpower are good for any and all archetypes. Strength and Charisma are the two more 'specialty' stats that fall to more limited archetypes. You're free of course to make lots of 'hybrid' characters if you take the appropriate steps(and they work quite nicely in 3e!) 3e, for the first 3 Priorities, is fairly kind with the attribute points, so you probably won't have to 'dump' anything unless you're doing a very specific specialty build(like the Magic-Using Dwarf who is resistant to a lot of magic. Or, hell, what I did with Adramelek boosting his Strength.)
You can almost never go wrong with a good Body and Willpower for any build.
5. That being said, throwing 1's in stats should be a very 'character centric' thing, IMO. I mean, an actual 1. Playing a Dwarf with 3 Strength might make him a low-end Dwarf, but he's still as strong as an average human. He's not sickly. (I imagine a sickly Dwarf, Ork, or Troll would be even weaker than that-the Infirm flaw would actually make this possible.) A 3 Charisma Elf is a little surly for an elf maybe, or not as 'magnetic', but he's still, again, on par with a typical Human or Dwarf or something. I'm not saying don't use 1's-I'm saying use them for specific character bits. Otherwise try to stick to 2's for your 'lower stats'.
6. Skill-wise, for a regular powered game(ie; not a street/ganger level game), I like to have a primary skill at 6 and a couple of others at 4-6. After that you can divvy up depending on skill points. For people coming from more recent editions, you often don't need the bigger die pools, since it's the Target Number you're looking at, and the average TN in SR3 is 4(and can be adjusted up or down, making things harder or easier.)
Good skills for any archetype to take 2-3 points in: A ranged weapon(Pistols is good since it opens up everything from tasers to heavy pistols, which are actually quite dangerous in this), Computer(back in these days, a point or two here is quite common for almost anyone), Negotiation. For a good melee backup, Clubs(so you can have Stun Baton access), or Unarmed(you can get shock gloves if you're of more moderate Strength.) Stealth and Biotech(First Aid) are also nice if you have a couple of points left from taking skills at a higher priority, though you can usually get away with defaulting to a decent Quickness with Stealth(since most Stealth is an open test.) I didn't list Etiquette since that's common for any build to take.
Naturally this is easier or harder depending on your skill priority. Even if you're at the last 2 priorities(D or E), you can usually afford a few points to throw around. The beauty with SR3 is that most archetypes get their main bit covered in 2-4 skills. A great example is the Troll Combat Mage sample character; his skill points are 27, and he's maxed out on his Sorcery and Conjuring, while still having an Etiquette skill, a melee skill, a gun skill, and Intimidation to boot. Nothing fancy, but he's not a one-trick pony and he covers decent ground.
7. Cyberware and Bioware. Some 'all-purpose' 'ware for any archetype includes(you do not HAVE to buy these, mind you, but they're nice to have if someone asks 'What is good all purpose cyberware'):
-Datajack. It's a wired world, and datajacks allow you to access a lot of stuff. 1k for a regular version.
-Knowsoft Link. This enables you to load Linguasofts and Knowsofts(you need Skillwires for Activesofts). Both of these are inexpensive(the softs themselves can run money; average level 3 soft is about 2700 a pop.) Also 1k for a standard.
-Smartlink. Even if you're a non combatant, a smartlink(not an eye mod these days but more of a full piece of headware and it runs .5 essence), can help you cover yourself very efficiently in a firefight. That -2 to the TN is wonderful; it reduces short range TNs to 2, medium to 3, and long to 4(which is the average TN!) This is big and it allows someone with 3-4 points in a backup firearms skill to be legitimately deadly with their piece(and it even enables smaller arms like light pistols, especially in conjunction with good ammo, to be a little more dangerous) It's only 2500 for a Level 1.
-Cybereyes. In these days, cybereyes were nice. They were only .2 essence(they didn't come in levels), and instead of capacity, they allowed .5 essence of modifications for free, making them a much better deal than now(where they take capacity, and you end up saving Essence a lot of times just getting eye mods unless you literally buy everything on the list.) A standard cybereye loadout would be the eyes, with low-light, thermographic, a display link, and flare compensation. Standard wise this would come to a total of .3 Essence(.2 for the eyes, .1 since there are .6 worth of mods), and it runs a total of 14k. If you get Alphaware, double this cost but it's only .16 Essence total(since the eye mods won't 'run over'.) An Image Link runs 600 more nuyen and a base .2 essence cost, but it enables images instead of just the text of the Display Link.
This standard 'Any-Archetype Cyberware Loadout' will run 18,500 and 1.1 Essence. Alphaware doubles this cost, but will lower the Essence cost to under 1.
As for Bioware, there are two 'all purpose' pieces that stand out for any archetype. Bioware, mind you, is more expensive than Cyberware, so probably won't be taken unless you're packing Resources B+, but you can keep this in mind:
Enhanced Articulation: Probably the 'Holy Grail'(or unholy, depending on your outlook) of bioware in these days. It adds one die to any skill that involves movement or precision. This means combat, athletics, stealth, and even B/R skills. Oh yeah, it gives +1 Reaction too. At 40k and .6 Bio Index I can't think of another piece of 'ware that's legit more bang for the buck. (I actually think this is better in 3e than the Suprathyroid, which I'll get to later. I think they're close, mind you.)
Mnemonic Enhancer: Another hated-by-GMs(okay, I don't care, but some do), loved by players piece of Bioware, this is not a combat or even action related piece, but helps with thinking and learning. At 15,000 nuyen and .2 Bio Index per level, it gives +1 die for Memory and Language Tests, and -1 Karma per level of learning new skills. Not just knowledge/language skills, mind you, but all skills. At level 2 and 3, you could also default to INT for Knowledge Skills at only +3 instead of +4, which was a nice bonus. At level 1, you got a +1 die to all Knowledge skills.
Both of these, maxed out, will run 100k and 1.2 Bio Index, but you could spend it worse.
This entire 'Any Archetype' package, non Alphaware or cultured, will cost 118,500 nuyen, 1.1 essence, and 1.2 Bio Index. Basically, if you're new, not playing a spellcaster, and are just asking 'What can I get that will help me no matter what I do almost', this is it.
As an aside, you can lower Bio Index cost, but the cost of culturing non cultured Bioware is a whopping 4x the cost, so you won't be doing it unless you're rich. It lowers the BI cost by 25%. You can't cultured already cultured bioware; it's already worked into the cost.
I suppose I couldn't get through this section without mentioning the Suprathyroid Gland. As the holy spirit to the father and the son above(or unholy, again, depending on your outlook), this has a hefty bio index cost of 1.4 and runs 50,000. It grants +1 to Body, Quickness, Strength, and Reaction. It's one of the best pieces, yes. (Increases to Quickness can ALSO increase regular Reaction.) It's downside is that you need to pay +40% for Lifestyle costs(which can actually add up; so your 5k/month Middle lifestyle becomes 7,000 a month, and if you happen to be sporting a high, you're paying 14,000 a month. Finally, it's not compatible with a Metabolic Arrester, which is actually a pretty nice piece for front-line types, so you need to pick stats or 'less chance of bleeding out if brought to D damage.'
8. Armor. Basically a Secure Jacket or Secure Long Coat will take care of most everyday armor needs for any archetype, and for an extra 250, add forearm guards for an extra point of Impact armor. The Jacket is 5 Ballistic and 3 Impact, and the Long Coat is 4 Ballistic and 2 Impact, but adds 50% to the Concealability of any item underneath of it.
Form-fitting body armor is also a nice bonus to grab. It goes with armor stacking rules in terms of halving the lower piece but doesn't count against any stats for layering. Also nice for any archetype.
A Security Helmet is nice but you will need GM approval for that given it's Availability. I can't understand why there is no bit of head armor for a lower Availability in SR3 but there you go.
9. Gear. For an all-purpose set of gear, good again for any archetype(I'll just go ahead and list everything including armor and such, note this isn't exhaustive or 100% required):
1 Firearm with concealable holster, ammo and spare clips(cost varies)
1 Melee Weapon(if applicable skill)(cost varies)
Armor of choice + forearm guards(cost varies but probably between 900-1100)
Pocket Secretary(2,000: Note if Resources E this is a bit stiff)
Phone of choice(between 50-150)
Pager(10)
2-5 50-100 nuyen certified credsticks for bribes, emergency funds etc
1 month of lifestyle of choice(from free to 100,000)
A Squatter lifestyle bolthole(100/month)
Forged Credstick(R1 to 6, which costs from 1,000 to 30,000)
Knife
Pocket Flashlight
Medkit
Trauma Patch
Survival Kit
Chemsuit(200 nuyen per rating up to 6 at chargen, nice for emergencies and even rainy days)
Respirator
A note on Forged Credsticks:
Back in the day, there was no constant wireless reading of your credsticks, so these were less vital to have at high levels. A lot of common places only have low level readers(talking Stuffer Shacks and the like, and I'll go as far as to say I houserule that buying Nukit burritos or BucketBurgers can be done via certified cred since these places just want your money). Due to this you weren't forced to keep them on hand(and indeed, the way SINs worked back in the day, you just basically said 'yeah, I have a SIN' or whatever to your GM, there was no flaw.) So you could go buy legal crap easily. Forged Credsticks are nice for the prudent, and it was cool to keep something on hand(hence why its on the list), but unlike today where it's 'Get a R4 Fake ID at all times', back then it was more 'If you have a SIN and want to protect it somewhat, look into one of these.' They are fairly popular with Faces, however, which I do suggest to get a couple of them at decent ratings.
That basically takes care of Part 1! In a second part, if folks want to see it, I'll cover more Character specific suggestions.
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