“ls the character Gifted or Faithful or an equivalent? If so, raise Steel by one,” (p91 BWG). Does this include traits such as First Born or Twisted and Loathsome that grant Grief and Hate?
With the Gangs and Crew rules (p96 BWG), is there an appropriate way to buy things like Traits, Reputations, Beliefs, etc. for the members?
Elves are cheaty enough without giving them a free boost to starting steel. I’d reserve that boost for characters who have had regular exposure to magic BEYOND what a normal member of their stock would get.
As for giving your Gang traits and such, that’s just about talking to your GM. The GM is in charge of all the NPCs, even your gang, and the VAST MAJORITY of gang members don’t need a full burn. When you are making your character talk to the GM about what your gang is about (beliefs) and what kind of people are part of it. A cabal of mages is likely all going to have Gifted (or at least the high ranking members), but it is a bit more of a stretch to try and say “Yeah all the guys in my street gang have Massive Stature, Eldritch Sink, and Hands of Stone!”.
Steel: As Kyle says, no. But yes for an orc with Void Embrace or a Great Wolf with Mark of the Ancient.
Gangs: They are GM characters. You get to burn your 10-point bodyguard/squire/apprentice though.
Who generally plays the bodyguard/squire/apprentice? Do you treat them as just another player character or more like a secondary one?
That character generally belongs to the player whose bodyguard/squire/apprentice it is. Sometimes we’ll jump into those characters for a time.
Having been in a game where a player bought a 10 point character its a bit of both GM and player.
Player gets to put in beliefs and play it most times, but when it makes sense(usually in scenes where they are both there) I as the GM will take over but obviously be respectful not to do anything they probably wouldn’t do.