It's my first time playing Arcanum and I'm trying to plan out my character. The two aspects I'm most interested in exploring are dialog options and tech. I'm not sure if I want a social character that has a way with explosives, a Moriarty like scientist with robots and tesla coils, or a charismatic mecha knight. To clarify I'm interested in using tech, I don't necessarily feel the need to make it myself. Any build suggestions or ideas would be appreciated.

There are also some general question that could help:
1). I know you need 20 charisma and master persuade to have all dialog/social possibilities. Is there a middle ground number that gives most of the dialog options?

2). Intelligence is just to unlock technology tiers right? So if the items I want only require level 5 in a discipline I could stop at Int 15 right?

3). How much throw skill do you need to throw explosives effectively? I'm sure more is better but if you had high tech, high dexterity could you get by with expert throw? apprentice?

4). Can I count on companions/stores/theft to give me any of the items above and save points/limit tech disciplines?

5). Does any of the tech melee gear look interesting (in game)? Or does it just look like normal equipment?

6). If you made a mad scientist what would be the most fun loadout for him/her?

To use tech effectively, you have to have a decent technological aptitude (TA). That means spending skill points on tech skills (Repair, Firearms, Pick Locks and Disarm Traps), on tech skill trees, and/or by being a Dwarf. It also means forsaking magic, both learning it and using it once your TA is sufficiently high.

You can learn and use purchased and found schematics without spending skill points, though you'll have to find or buy the necessary components. You'll probably also have to invest in tech manuals: heavy, expensive books which boost your skill in a tech college while in your possession. 1) Yes and no. Intelligence is another important factor in unlocking dialogue options; and different encounters require different minimum combinations of Charisma, Persuasion and Intelligence to get the best possible result. Fortunately, there are potions of Intelligence you can buy and drink to give you a (one real-time minute) boost of smarts as needed.

However, many (though not all) dialogue options and their related quests can be unlocked with no more than two ranks of Persuasion (which generally requires at least 9 Charisma) and anywhere from 8-11 points in Intelligence. 2) I partly answered this above. Here's a fun trick: quaff a potion of IN (which will give you a +10 boost for one full minute, up to your PC's maximum [usually 20]). Buy skill points in whatever tech colleges you'd like. When the potion wears off, the extra ranks in those colleges will appear to vanish, only to reappear the next time you drink a potion — or if you decide to naturally raise your IN by investing skill points after the fact.

You can use a similar trick to cut down on the number of tech manuals you need to buy: their effectiveness is multiplied by your intelligence at the time of use (or at time of purchase, if you're using the unpatched version... which in all honestly, you shouldn't be. Patch the game ASAP with the Unofficial Arcanum Patch, before even starting).

For the record, IN is also required for the Heal and Gambling skills, and an IN of 20 adds +10 to your chance of success at anything, from lock picking to sword swinging. 3) Two ranks of Throwing are generally enough, although three is better. One huge advantage of grenades such as Molotov cocktails is that your party is immune to friendly fire, so you can throw from melee distance if necessary. Apprenticeship adds speed to your throws, and expertise/mastery affects your range and range penalties. Apprenticeship/expertise/mastery are separate from ranks: they add value to a skill, but don't by themselves affect the base chance of success. 4) Four companions will eventually learn up to level 4 of two different tech skill trees. For example, Magnus knows Smithy and Mechanical, while Jayna Stiles studies Herbology and Therapeutics. Only you can learn level 5 or above.

Higher-level tech items can often be found, if you know where to look. Almost always in limited quantities; sometimes there's only one. There are wikis and cheat sites out there, if you're looking for a particular item. Or you could always ask here. 5) YMMV. I think the mechanical arachnids look really cool. But armors and weapons are by and large limited to the already existing game sprites. 6) I don't understand the question. If you mean backgrounds, Escaped Lunatic is a fun one. There's also one that's actually called Mad Doctor. Beyond that, where you spend your skill points is your call; you can even save them up. However, a minimum of two ranks of an attack skill early on (Throwing would count; just equip a boomerang) is a very very good idea.

First thanks for the helpful reply.

1/2). So I could get most of the dialog options with Charima 9, Persuade 2, Intelligence 11? Also I could max tech disciplines and create advanced items with 11 intelligence if I'm willing to use potions?

3). Great to know

4). Let me ask a slightly different question. Is it true that arachnids, flamethrowers, tesla guns, pyro axe and most explosives can only be created by the main character (as opposed to bought/found/npc crafted)?

5). No sparking armor or flaming axes makes the mecha knight sound less appealing.

6). By loadout I meant offensive equipment. What would your ideal mad scientist be shooting/throwing/commanding around the battle field?

I think I'm narrowing on more of a mad scientist build and debating if he should throw, use firearms or both? Does anyone have a build/stat recommendations for a character like that?

Personally I'd go higher than this, CH 12 and Per 3 allow you to do two quests that figure into the ending slides when you complete the game. IN 11 should be okay however.

It's worth mentioning that you can receive blessings from gods to save on character points. If you know what you're doing you can get three character points worth of Persuasion towards the end of the game and then go and do a lot of Persuasion quests you didn't have the skill for previously. The best blessing is given in more or less the penultimate dungeon however and requires legwork, so a lot of people don't go in for it. This is true yes, only the player can create them. As mentioned in terms of throwing Molotov Cocktails are pretty good, particularly on Turn Based. For the Pyro Axe however, you can buy Featherweight Axes in game (or get someone like Magnus, a companion, to make them for you) and then if you but a Explosives manual you can make a few. You also do get one Medical Arachnid from doing a late game quest. Very few melee weapons have unique sprites from what I remember. On the other hand Machined Platemail does have a unique sprite at least for the small and medium sized characters (I guess the devs didn't get round to doing the same for Half-Ogres, even though they can make and wear the armor - it just looks like plate mail for them), resembling Fallout Power Armor to an extent. You can find a few variants of Machined Platemail for small and medium characters, or you can create it yourself. The Tesla Gun is always pretty sweet IMO, or you could go with something like Electrocution Grenades but you have to make them yourself. I think you can also make acid to throw at people, and there's an acid gun too. Personally I'd pick one or the other, and save which ever you don't play for another playthrough.

In terms of character building, in the purest form you'll want to max DEX (PER 18 is okay for Firearms, you don't need to max it), max the skills, take ST to a level where you're not always encumbered and put skills into the tech that lets you build the gun or throwing item you want to use (there is a schematic guide on Codex here to help you figure that out: http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/guide-to-arcanum-schematics-complete.54412/).

Some detailed builds I've done before are Gunslinger that can make any gun in the game and uses a bit of magick too (http://www.terra-arcanum.com/forums/index.php?threads/ridonculous-builds.18834/ - the second build) and a Backstabbing Paralysis Grenade using Thief (http://www.terra-arcanum.com/forums/index.php?threads/ridonculous-builds.18834/page-2#post-270816). I'm not saying either of these are things you should play but they might give you a little inspiration.

You've gotten some good advice so far. At this point I recommend just jumping in and trying things out before you spoil the game too much.

If you get in to it a bit and decide you want to start over with a different character, go for it. Once you actually see how the mechanics work, you may change your mind about how you want to approach things. There's no harm in that.

Besides, the chargen in Arcanum is extremely fun.

I support this statement. Half of the fun of Arcanum is building new characters and trying them out, and roleplaying them differently. The game adapts and responds really well to different choices and attitudes.

The character system in Arcanum looks complicated initially, but in practice it's simpler than it seems. You'll realize you want skills or tech disciplines, but they will require certain levels in your stats, so you'll quickly see a logical progression for where to spend points. So just go ahead and get started!