Lifestyles And You, Instead of derailing a great topic more Options

[Christian Lafay]

Alright, so I sat down one day and was flipping through the Runner's Companion when I came cross one line that made me squeel with joy. I'm telling you, it sounded like GIR had taken over my brain.

Note, however, that the lifestyle remains at the level of categories chosen; the final LP tally with Positive and Negative qualities effects only the final cost, not the level of lifestyle.

So we take that with the Trust Fund quality, which gives us a "free" High Lifestyle and we go nuts. Like so....


Comforts - High (4 Pts)
Entertainment - Middle (3 Pts)
Necessities - Middle (3 Pts, Food and Size are Luxury thanks to positive qualities)
Neighborhood - High (4 Pts)
Security - Luxury (6 Pts)
20 points of Lifestyle for the High provided by Trust Fund

Astral Repellant +5
Concerned Neighbors +2
Easy-Going Landload +1
Escape Tunnel +3
Feng Shui +5
Free Access +1
Friendly Neighbors +1
Hasty Exit +2
Homegrown Farming (Plus two levels food Necessities) +1
Inconspicuous Housing (Matrix) +2
Inconspicuous Housing (Physical) +2
Perfect Roommate +2
Privacy Screen (Astral) +3
Privacy Screen (Matrix) +3
Privacy Screen (Physical) +3
Quiet Neighborhood +1
Rad Pad +1
Security Conscious +2
Well Made +1
Worplace (Plus two levels size Necessities) +1
Total = +42 positive qualities


Now the quick and dirty math of this is 20 Pts Lifestyle + 42 Pts Qualities = 62 Pts Total = 1,150,000 New-Ones a month for rent, which is essentially free thank so 20BP. Again, all this was quick and dirty.

[hermit]

Ithink there is a limit to the qualities a lifestyleca take, much as with Characters. Used to be 5 qualities of any price in SR3, dunno what it's now. If there is none, the rules writing is crap (suprise anyone if it is ...) and there ught to be one to prevent exactly that kind of thing.

[James McMurray]

Good luck getting it past the GM! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

If it works, don't forget to grab Animal Lover Two +3, Outbuildings +2, and Reinforced Housing +3 (from Running Wild). That'll give you a landlord who likes pets, a place to keep them, and a house built to withstand them (just in case).

Depending on the character, you might prefer Animal Lover Three +5 and Rural Neighborhood +2 instead of Concerned Neighbors +2.

[Critias]

Good job. You live a thirteen million nuyen a year lifestyle of the rich and famous...You beat Shadowrun. Retire your character and make me a Shadowrunner, this time.

[suoq]

I'd remind the player that the character doesn't manage the trust fund. The trust find is managed by an NPC and as such... here's your high lifestyle.

Mentally, I'm thinking "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" for my inspiration for trust fund manager.

[Christian Lafay]

Good luck getting it past the GM! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

If it works, don't forget to grab Animal Lover Two +3, Outbuildings +2, and Reinforced Housing +3 (from Running Wild). That'll give you a landlord who likes pets, a place to keep them, and a house built to withstand them (just in case).

Depending on the character, you might prefer Animal Lover Three +5 and Rural Neighborhood +2 instead of Concerned Neighbors +2.

I LIKE IT!

Good job. You live a thirteen million nuyen a year lifestyle of the rich and famous...You beat Shadowrun. Retire your character and make me a Shadowrunner, this time.

Like I mentioned in another thread this was based more off of the 'villain' from Ocean's Twelve.

[baronspam]

Ithink there is a limit to the qualities a lifestyleca take, much as with Characters. Used to be 5 qualities of any price in SR3, dunno what it's now. If there is none, the rules writing is crap (suprise anyone if it is ...) and there ught to be one to prevent exactly that kind of thing.

The limit is the GM pulling out his rusty nail pierced beatstick and "suggesting" that the player try again. Followed by blood loss and staph infections if they do not.

[hermit]

If it works, don't forget to grab Animal Lover Two +3, Outbuildings +2, and Reinforced Housing +3 (from Running Wild). That'll give you a landlord who likes pets, a place to keep them, and a house built to withstand them (just in case).

And while you're at it, declare your cybered battleform tigerdragon thing the Perfect Roomie.

[Yerameyahu]

Nope. You don't get any qualities for your 'free' lifestyle, just a plain vanilla High.

[CanRay]

One of my Players had a house that he used as a Bolt Hole.

The place was called "The Hell House" and lived up to it's name. A wild Hellhound stayed in the back yard chewing on an old transport truck tire, the house was haunted to the gills, and the roommate was a driver for Ghoul Cab who wore a housecoat that was two sizes too small and nothing else.

The group refused to spend more than a single night there, despite the heat being on. The house was worse.

And then the roommate had the company BBQ over. The group refused to partake of any of the meal, no matter how much was offered to them, especially as they saw he was wriggling on a spit next to the fire, but not actually *ON* the fire.

He was able to pay and own that Lifestyle at character creation. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/vegm.gif)

[Fortinbras]

It can be argued that the High Lifestyle is paid for, but the Qualities aren't.
In any event, since the Lifestyle is managed by a trustee(NPC) then the Qualities of that Lifestyle are determined by the GM, not by the player.

[James McMurray]

If a player showed up with Trust Fund I'd just randomly generate the lifestyle, print it out, and hand it to them.

[Tymeaus Jalynsfe...]

Nope. You don't get any qualities for your 'free' lifestyle, just a plain vanilla High.

Indeed, Your Free Lifestyle is just that, a Basic Lifestyle. Anything above and beyond is paid out by the character, the user of that lifestyle. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wobble.gif)

Additionally... A Lifestyle bought with amenities is still Listed as the Lifestyle purchased. So, a High lifestyle with 1.4 Million Nuyen in Amenities is still a High Ligfestyle, that you are paying 1.4 Million Nuyen/Month to maintain. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) Somewhat academic, to be sure, but there you go...

[Fortinbras]

If a player showed up with Trust Fund I'd just randomly generate the lifestyle, print it out, and hand it to them.

If you haven't used Mr. McMurray's random lifestyle generator yet, I highly recommend it. A lot of my players don't like to stay in the same place week to week, so I use this thing at least once a session to determine what they can find on such short notice.
Some weeks, they get a Resonance Well. Some weeks, the Blood Mountain Boys steal all their stuff. It's good times!

[Christian Lafay]

All have made valid points but, like most extreme stupidity on these boards, it all comes down to logic and RAW VS RAI. Still, but still a fun thought. Like the Pornomancer or the extreme wall climber.

[Ghost_in_the_Sys...]

I think the more interesting aspect of that line is that you can get a luxury/high lifestyle's starting cash but only pay a middle or so price for it.

[CanRay]

By living in the Luxury place that no one else wants to.

[Tiralee]

The Vannacutt Psychiatric Institute for the Criminally Insane, perhaps?

(The House on the Haunted Hill - if you were wondering about the reference)

-Tir (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[CanRay]

The Vannacutt Psychiatric Institute for the Criminally Insane, perhaps?

(The House on the Haunted Hill - if you were wondering about the reference)

-Tir (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Ooooooooooooooooooooo, I think I just found a new place for the group to have to pull an... Extraction. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/vegm.gif)

[Ghost_in_the_Sys...]

By living in the Luxury place that no one else wants to.

True, but that's why you ditch it right away and buy a medium/low lifestyle with decent options with all that bonus starting cash you got. Or just get that secondary lifestyle right away in chargen and drop the luxury as soon as the month is up. Either way you end up with a hefty starting cash bonus and a reasonable lifestyle.

[CanRay]

Bah. Shadowrunners should start in the gutter, and get kicked down from there!

Builds character! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/vegm.gif)

[Dez384]

True, but that's why you ditch it right away and buy a medium/low lifestyle with decent options with all that bonus starting cash you got. Or just get that secondary lifestyle right away in chargen and drop the luxury as soon as the month is up. Either way you end up with a hefty starting cash bonus and a reasonable lifestyle.

I feel like that would negative affect your reputation. "Look at that slop, he can't even afford to keep his house!"

[Ghost_in_the_Sys...]

I didn't say there weren't ways the GM could turn it against you (Then again, there isn't much of anything the GM can't turn against you if they really try)

That however doesn't seem too likely as it should be purchased under a fake SIN and not really considered much different from dropping a spare safehouse. Or it could have been an 'investment reality' that paid off. Overall in the shadows though, I don't think dropping a lifestyle is anything to be concerned with, especially as that is how some people get into the shadows in the first place, and shadowruners aren't often associated with being rich anyway.

Overall though, it was just an idea based off the wording of the rules as opposed to something I thought wouldn't prompt some sort of (real or IC) violence from the GM.

[Irion]

The extended life style rules are a load of crap, sorry.
Just get you a runner who has no home (or even have a shak and load it up with negative modifiers) and get a high only on entertainement.
Than again get a second lifestyle for your home and food.
Lets say around high but without entertainement.
Now you got yourself close to a high lifestyle at 5000 + 1100 at most instead of 10.000.
If you add all the modifiers into it, it gets even worse.

That is one fine example of making basic rules which work fine and overload them with new possibilities which simply let them break apart.
This point was raised concerning war too. But my take is that RC is a lot worse in this aspect.

I do not get into the stupid idea of buying permanent aspects of lifestyles like a home.

[Kyrel]

You know, while I agree that you can probably abuse the advanced lifestyle rules in Runners Companion, I like them a lot. Negative aspects of a home are IMO just gifts to the GM, with regards to generating events in the campaign and bringing the world to life. Personally I prefer to try and build a lifestyle that makes sense with regards to the character in question, even if it means on occasion loading it up with different positive and negative qualities.

As an example I'm in a game where I play a female elven Banshee mage. Used to work for Saeder-Krupp doing research into the HMHVV virus and ended up getting herself infected, causing her to have to go underground. She's currently holed up in the following place:

Situated in the southwestern part of the Old Everret district, near Mukilteo Boulevard and Beverly Park Road is a district of more or less abandoned appartment and office buildings. The primary inhabitants are squatters, gangs, and criminals that have simply taken over a number of the run down buildings, and now use them as hideouts and crash pads. Amenities such as water, power, and heat are very basic, but they exist...at least some of the time.

Comforts: 1 (Squatter)
Entertainment: 1 (Squatter)
Necessities: 3 (Middle)
Neighborhood: 1 (Squatter)
Security: 2 (Low)
Qualities:
- Hasty Exit +2
- Inconspicious Housing +2
- Crash Pad -1
- Green Plan -1
- Haunted -4
- Lax Security -2
- Network Bottleneck -1
- Rough Neighborhood -1
- Worse Neighbors -1
- Infected Lifestyle +30% cost

Total Living Points: 4

Total Cost of Living/Month: 400 (living costs cover mainly the special dietary requirements, along with the pay-off to the dominant gang in the area, in order to have them keep an eye on the appartment.)

The place is a dump, but cheap, and IMO it suits the character.