There seems to be some overlap between buying Allies, and coming up with a custom Reputation network. Allies costs 30 CP; for that cost, a character could also pick up a custom-Rep of 80 and Networking: custom-group of SAV+22, most likely around 35-40. (Though I am considering a classic-geek PC with Feeble in Savvy...)
Are these essentially equivalent? That is, does the 30 points dropped on Allies give you pretty much the same thing that dropping the points on Rep and Networking would; or is one obviously a better choice than the other? Might there be some benefit in buying both, or do they overlap sufficiently to not really be worth the cost?
(Part of why I ask is that with a limit of 50 CP in positive Traits, the 30 for Allies takes up an awful lot - while tossing 8 CP in a Rep network may not bump up against the limit of 35 so easily.)
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Thank you for your time,