[X] My Assistant

[Dread Moores]

So, I've been running my first non-Seattle campaign in a long while. We've been working (with a merry-go round rotating group lately) based in Tampa. And I'm starting to realize, that my lack of ever living somewhere so warm and my long time love of Seattle as a setting has left me lacking in some things as a GM. What changes when you're dealing with the warmer climates?

For example: When you're running in the rainy hell that is Touristville, it's easy enough to know that concealable holster and Predator doesn't register too much underneath your trenchcoat.

But all that changes in the drastic differences found in a place like Tampa or Miami, both in terms of clothing/fashion and climate. I mean, who's wearing a trenchcoat as often as you might in Seattle?

What I'm asking, is what other little quirks am I missing, having moved the game to a warmer clime? What else would be different for runners, their usual habits, attire, etc.?

[FriendoftheDork]

I'd get some inspiration from series and movies from warmer climates. Miami Vice (the good 'ol stuff), CSI Miami... gangster movies from LA.

That trenchcoat might be replaced with a suit or just a thinner kind of coat. Or maybe you'll want people to notice your bulge. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

That said you'd be surprised how much people from warmer climates may dress. I for one could never wear a leather jacket or even a full suit all buttoned up in 30 degrees celcius, but some people do. Still there will be more loose clothing, sandals, bare-chested people etc. when it's hot. And people will still be packing.

[Dread Moores]

Sure. And I've looked at some of those sources already. The clothing thing seems to be covered well in our game already. And it is CAS afterall (at least in Tampa), so packing is sort of expected. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

What I'm wondering is, what else am I missing outside of clothing? I've never lived anywhere near that warm, so I'm not sure of the little things that make life, well, life there. I'm imagining more outdoor meetings, due to more outdoor cafes/decks/etc. But that also offers up a whole new host of problems for runners (open sight lines, far less secure, easier for surveillance, etc.)

[kjones]

During the summer in FL, it's too hot to be outside. Myths of habitation before the invention of air conditioning have yet to be confirmed. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

[Digital Heroin]

For an excellent take on life in Florida, and all the fun it can mean to less than licit dealings, check out Burn Notice. Hell, check it out because it's fun to watch and has Bruce Campbell

One thing I will say, having lived a few summers in Florida and Georgia, and being Canadian in the 'raised in ice and snow' sense, the climate is muggier; you can feel the water being sucked right out of you some days it gets so hot. One implication that has for SR-type situations is that Rent-a-Cops get really hot, too, so they get distracted or tired.

[Ol' Scratch]

Keep in mind, too, that clothing has become high-tech in the 2070's. Read over the first couple of paragraphs of the Clothing And Armor section in the gear chapter. It's not hard to imagine that in the South some minor climate control devices are incorporated into your gear, especially since they're powered by solar energy as per those rules. Combined with the stylish types of armor you can buy in Arsenal, several of which include concealable holsters and the like even without a trench coat, and having runners running around in a nice suit or other formal wear won't be that unusual or intolerable.

But yeah, trying to keep a Colt Manhunter hidden from view when you're walking along the beach is going to be tricky. In reality, though, it's not all that different from similar situations in Seattle. There's quite a few places where bringing a weapon is a bad idea. The only difference is the latter relies more heavily on scanners rather than the naked eye. The end result is the same, though.

[toturi]

I have either lived in or been to 3 places where the weather is hot.

1) Singapore - I live here. Most people do not wear a coat, a jacket or any kind of over-covering due to the humidity and heat. There are days when people do wear them but it is more during the monsoon season and it has been raining the entire day.

2) Thailand - Hot and sticky. When I was there, in the interior of the country, it was hot and humid. No rain to cool things down either. Most of the guys were wearing light clothing, the only exception were the guys on duty who had to wear the uniform. The heat simply sapped our energies, we felt pooped even with skeleton gear on.

3) Australia - Hot but dry. The temperature was supposed to be hot, 30+ celcius. But due to the dryness of the weather, most of us didn't feel it. Walking around in full gear (for me was quite a bit given I was an GPMG gunner) felt fine.

[Khyron]

Living in Florida
You'll see less ties on business workers. Not typically a requirement as much as it is further north due to the heat.
Insects. black and red ants, bees, wasps, mosquitoes, houseflies and so on.
Anoles are everywhere. They look like little gekkos but they aren't. They live near bushes mostly.
There is no snow. There is never snow except the northern edge. There is rain instead. Hard rain and hurricanes.
Bring your sunglasses.
If you're a runner, you'd best know Spanish too.
Currently, Florida is a stand your ground state. If you can prove you felt threatened for your life, you can kill someone. This has probably changed in the 60 years between now and then, but it gives you an idea.
Chromed cyberware is going to suck. It's going to heat up like bitch in that dead heat and get covered in condensation when you go inside.
If there's a swampy lake, there's probably a gator in it.
Sweating, yeah!

[Dread Moores]

So how does this change things on the security side? I'd imagine that if you've got covert bodyguards (or at least discreet, rather than a full-on corporate security team), you've got to change the gear they're using much like the runners do. I realize CAS is less restrictive on firearms laws than Seattle, but I'm almost imagining you're going to see less emphasis on the bulkier heavy pistols. Also, I'd imagine that concealable melee weapons would be a bit more common. Bioware being more common, due to the issues with cyber (as mentioned) fit in well with the version of Tampa I've been using.

[Khyron]

You can also try and figure out what happens when salt water gets in a datajack the first time the hacker goes for a swim at the beach.

[kzt]

The last time we discussed this here the theory seemed to be that commonly clothes would have effective enough climate control that heat wouldn't matter.

[Ol' Scratch]

Except for the whole suspicion thing. Walking around a cold, wet climate like Seattle in a trench coat is perfectly reasonable. If you wear one in Tampa, it screams "what are you trying to hide?"

[Dread Moores]

Except for the whole suspicion thing. Walking around a cold, wet climate like Seattle in a trench coat is perfectly reasonable. If you wear one in Tampa, it screams "what are you trying to hide?"

Yeah, that's been a big issue with my own players. They're accustomed to Seattle (and most of us have lived in temperate or colder climes, mostly Northeastern Seaboard), so I've been trying to get some more input to offer in that regard. That trenchcoat allowed for all sorts of fun things to be hidden. However, even with climate control on clothes...I mean, why would you be wearing what's effectively cold weather clothing in such a tropical environment? It seems like it would run pretty counter to the prevailing fashions/clothing in that climate. Even with the climate control capabilities, a large number of people would have to switch for an extended period of time to make that "acceptable" fashion that wouldn't set off some mental alarms.

[kzt]

If your shadowrun is as crazy insane dangerous as the RAW one then people walk around in armored clothing all the time. If you assume that biker gangs can't stage robberies on interstates in the middle of town every night and you don't have a street gang made up of certifiable crazy people who run around with flamethrowers in the middle of AA rated security zones then people will not be so concerned about armor.

[Stingray]

Arsenal pg. 46. Globerotter line have designed clothes for all temperatures and enviroments.
for concealement: Synergist business line. -2 concealement for suit jacket and longcoat
(longcoat adds additional -2 concealement in items hidden underneath so -4 to concealement)

[Grinder]

I've run a Miami-based campaign once. High dodge skill and good unarmed combat skill turned out to be very helpful, as did knife fighting. Hiding weapons larger than a knife was hardly possible under thin Miami Vice-style suits. Gives a very good reason to finally get that cybergun implant, right? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[FriendoftheDork]

Sure. And I've looked at some of those sources already. The clothing thing seems to be covered well in our game already. And it is CAS afterall (at least in Tampa), so packing is sort of expected. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

What I'm wondering is, what else am I missing outside of clothing? I've never lived anywhere near that warm, so I'm not sure of the little things that make life, well, life there. I'm imagining more outdoor meetings, due to more outdoor cafes/decks/etc. But that also offers up a whole new host of problems for runners (open sight lines, far less secure, easier for surveillance, etc.)

Hmm well culture, people being hot-headed, etc. Just think about security guards with guns and cheap armor... hot and dangerous.

[KnightRunner]

Read House of the Sun, by Nigel Findley. Not only is it a great book in its own right, but the book takes place in Hawaii. The author covers this topic quite nicely.

[Kazuhiro]

My group's interests are relevant to yours. The group just got hired by Kingdom of Hawai'i law enforcement and we're planning on staying there a while after this run is over. The GM along with a couple of the players grew up there, so we have a wealth of amusing details to add.

One major detail is tourism. Smiling receptionist ladies in buildings, possibly information kiosks. Stores everywhere that sell cheap junk. Nice splashes of green, real or fake, added to buildings and sidewalks. Give the location an ethnic flavor based on its real world census numbers. Douse them in the occasional unexpected rainstorm. Of course, this is in the nice parts of town; corporate neighborhoods and strip malls and such.

EDIT: And as a quick note, I get the impression from some of the little stories in the SR4A book that it's pretty common to walk around armed with a light pistol, holdout, taser, knife, or (small) cyberweapon.

[KnightRunner]

Yeah you definatly need to read the book. The author once commented that it was his favorite character in his favorite location. Findley spent quite a bit of time covering many details of the kingdom of Hawaii in the 6th world. The information that can be extracted for the novel would fill a sourcebook.

For example the main characters native guide explains that the second most common enhancement on the islands is Dermal Armor. The first? Sunscreen bioware. Yup, choose your SPF and never worry about burning again.

[Kazuhiro]

That's totally awesome. Bio-SPF 25. There was way more right about the Paradise Lost sourcebook than wrong, with one of the most amusing wrongs being that they figured out a long and cumbersome way to say "magic" in Hawaiian when really the Hawaiian word for magic is MANA.

Most of the local flavor in the runs we're doing are going to come from knowledge we gained from growing up in Honolulu. Hotels, malls, what certain areas are known for. Our first run is going to involve assassinating someone who's claimed royal lineage and taken up residence in a small, old, castle-looking thing called 'Iolani Palace, which has been kept totally unchanged since the 19th century as a historical site.

[Pepsi Jedi]

A few other things that people forget.

1) When people get hot, they get mean and nasty and their tempers raise and their patience levels lower. I grew up in the south and nothing worse than tension+A hot day. It's a quick way to get hurt. That's before you add in metahumanity, pollution, corp guards, private police force, over population and such.

2) Heat+Metahumanity= smell. Boy... smell. People reek when it's hot and humid and you can smell um. And not just right up on um. You can smell some people at 10.. 20 feet. You get a troll, with that extra weight, the extra mass, the body type, dermal deposits, size of their sweat areas. then you deck him out in hot combat armor... gear, weapons... and you're going to smell him a block off. And it's not just the trolls. The elves won't smell like roses either. So, you've got metahumanity+heat+Gear+High stress= big smell. Add in heightened senses, cyber sniffers and oh goddess please help us, parabiologicals like hell hounds or something patrolling and smell is a big deal. There's ways around it but it's not easy. Temps can be in the 80s at NIGHT in the south, and humidity up over 90% for months. Seems like a little thing but if a guard is walking his patrol and he smells your sweatin' rear. You're blown. if a hell hound smells you from a mile off. You're blown. If some guy with a cybernose records your smell, it's likely can be used aginst you later. ect

[Mongoose]

Except for the whole suspicion thing. Walking around a cold, wet climate like Seattle in a trench coat is perfectly reasonable. If you wear one in Tampa, it screams "what are you trying to hide?"

A trench coat with climate control is perfectly reasonable in a warm, wet climate. Seattle isn't really all that cold, either; it rarely drops below freezing. The do sometimes get frosts in Florida, so people (especially poorer people) would probably own one coat that is good against acid rain, moderate cold, and hot weather. The full coverage of a trench coat would also make it's cooling systems more effective, and also protects against bugs. Plus you have to remember how cold a the AC is in a lot of buildings; people in some office buildings need to keep sweaters at work! You might also have situations like in LA, where (non-poor) people don't really spend any time outside when its hot; they just go door to door in vehicles.

I suspect its only the poor and fashionable who would be showing a lot of skin, or concerned about how thick their clothing was.

[Mongoose]

2) Heat+Metahumanity= smell. ... There's ways around it but it's not easy. ...

If your body doesn't get hot, it doesn't sweat. If it does, there's Clean Metabolism bioware and (I'd bet a big seller) anti-persperant (or, more precisely, anti-odor) nanites. Hell, I own a few sets of sock treated with silver nanoparticles to prevent odors.

[Ol' Scratch]

There's also Scent-Masking Cigarettes from Arsenal. 10¥ a pop, though I don't know if that's per pack or per cigarette. Probably per cigarette.