I'm looking to create a charismatic gunslinger. Someone who tries to talk their way out of problems, but carries a big boom-stick and a bunch of friends if things go south. It's my first time playing, so how would I build this character?

I'm fine with any race besides gnomes.

To add to what SheBear said: as far as races go, your best bet is either human or half-elf. Elves are magical enough to make you work harder to overcome their anti-tech penalty; while half-orcs are so despised as to make the "talking your way out of problems" part itself problematical.

Don't sell dwarves short, though. (No pun intended; well, not much.) Their tech bonus is everything the elves' magical bonus isn't; and smaller neutral or tech armor can be found, crafted, or discovered at the end of a specific game-long quest.

Half-ogres can be an interesting challenge: to be persuasive, you'll have to invest a few points in Intelligence to avoid dumbspeak (I'd recommend the 'Rare Birth' background, which also ups your max IN) and scrounge together enough money to be able to afford your first rifle. Be aware that large armor is even less common than small, especially if you haven't installed the UAP (unofficial patch) which alters stores' inventories.

To save points for diplomacy (which requires Charisma and Persuasion) I might suggest foregoing most of the early crafting options: let Virgil heal you, and hold off on making your own bullets and repairing your own armor. Use your followers as knapsacks, especially at first: one really bad critical miss roll could cost you most or all of the bullets in your own inventory. And keep in mind that guns don't really become viable until you've invested at least 3 or 4 points in the discipline, which requires the corresponding investment in Perception.

Best of luck.