[the shape]

For fighters there is a background "ran away with the circus". It boosts your strength while taking from other stats so that you could probably gain 2-3 points in the long run. If you are playing half-orc however you might stick to the plain simple "factory escapee" +1 ST.

What stroke me when I was going through the backgrounds firstly was "Escaped Lunatic". It's a human background that gives you 25% normal, FR, ER, PR for a mere cost of 25 reaction modifier. What lacks here is that you could probably achieve 95% normal damage resistance even without your bonus 25%. Fire and electrical may come in handy, but there's just not enough creeps that strike you with lightning and... fire... well... if you wanted fire resistance you would probably need more than your 25 bonus thus making your equips somewhat specific. That's why in the long run I prefer taking some other background.

For mages "Only Child" background is a killer. I think it should be unavailable for Half-Ogres. I like "technofobia" for mages also, but it doesn't quite live up to "Only Child". "Sold Your Soul" is nice, but you might miss out on a quest or two. Personally I like bonus MA, because I use rather few spells.

For tech characters I usually go for a simple bonus on a stat, because I hybrid them to melee instead of going firearms. Also I've found skill bonuses to be pretty crappy. I never get such backgrounds. Maybe "barbarian" or something. Dunno.