Just how capable is a starting character? Various games I've played seem to have different answers to this question. In Legend of the Five Rings, a starting character was most likely a fifteen year old who had just passed their graduation ceremonies. They were skilled in profound fighting arts, but a road bandit still represented a significant danger to them. In Dungeons and Dragons, a first level character seems to be about as capable as a regular soldier in the army. They are a bit better trained and have more tricks up their sleeves, but their hit points, defenses, and equipment were only about as good as a local town soldier. In Shadowrun, a starting character is a wildly capable character. If you were a Corp and had this person working for you, you'd be wasting your money to sit them behind a desk. Shadowrunners have at their disposal significantly more firepower than most first line security units they come across. In the New World of Darkness, a new character seems to be about as capable as a university graduate. Quite capable in their field of expertise, but not yet really capable enough to pull off a convincing astronaut or detective. How capable do you see Eclipse Phase characters being right out of the gate? Is the Brinker Genehacker a morph designer, a morph designer of some note, or a highly sought after morph designer people get on waiting lists to use their services? Is the Ultimates Merc the answer to all your bodyguarding needs, or do you need to hire a group of them to protect you while you do your Petal deal?