I really dislike the second part. It means that in some some cases, an untrained and unskilled guy is a better choice to do something, because he can't fuck it up really bad if he's allowed to prepare.
But only if dynamic bonus applies to rolls, instead of skill modifier, which is what I would use (though personally, I think we should do away for now with dynamic bonusses, and if we later see they're really needed we can consider bringing them back).
The first part of this, making people specify what they're doing, I like. That's a good system that would work cleanly and without hassle, but it's also the original system we had. If it's actually held to, it's good, but I don't see any reason we wouldn't fall to the same old pitfall of "Ehh, close enough".
To solve this pw could allow the Council to call out posts that try to do this, after which the bonus isn't charged and the turn lost. Not the most elegant solution, but it might help. Though again, I personally think we could do away with them for now.
Honestly, speaking from experience, knowing how to use your strength is easily just as important as actually being strong. It makes just as much sense as with dex. I'd say the same for charisma- knowing how to carry yourself, when and how to smile, laugh, frown, etc. is much more important than just being naturally pretty. You're correct for endurance though, unless somebody here is a monk who can control their vascular system through concentration or something.
Sure, as I said, for some things it makes some sense. But knowing how to use it only carries you so far, and isn't that applicable in some situations. If you need to roll that boulder up that hill, knowing to 'bend with your knees!' will only carry you so far. In a system where robobodies can increase stats at infinitum, you have two equally strong bodies, one lifting dozens of kilos and the other hundreds. And sure, charisma is more than looks, but a huge amount of human conversation and charisma is facial expression. The smallest muscle in the face can influence how people perceive you.
Meanwhile, robopeeps get smileyfaces. If nothing else, they should logically get a massive charisma penalty. All that said, I do not think limiting people like this would be a very nice thing to do, and bad for gameplay.
If they get their head blown off, it isn't as bad, because their brain is in their torso.
Small thing: in real firefights, the torso is hit far more often that the head (it's a much easier target and such). If anything, putting the brain in there (and not armoring the torso) would be a disadvantage!
With human body mods, you either have to go with hilariously overprices gene treatments (See: Bishop, who's spent enough on gene treatments that he could have bought an Avatar, but is currently only slightly superior to a robobody) or risking your body on Doctor Roulette. The pill machine is basically scientific suicide right now.
I agree that gene treatments are too expensive for the relatively meager boons they give, especially considering the alternatives.