Lifestyle and your game., How much of a role does it play. Options

[Paul]

In my games people who can't manage a squatter lifestyle usually don't live very long.

I currently have a player who's character is a homeless veteran. I've got some ideas on how this will affect him, and why-but what about in your game? How does lifestyle play into your games?

[toturi]

I currently have a player who's character is a homeless veteran.

Going by the name of John Rambo perhaps?

[Lantzer]

It really depends on the particular game.

Now, in most games I've been in/run, I wouldn't reccomend a homeless lifestyle for a runner. Even squatting or coffin cubicals are better, because you have somewhere where you can get out of the weather, wash, store your stuff, and not get knifed in your sleep by a wire-head looking for his next fix.

It's rare to see a true homeless character - Even someone who sleeps regularly in a hobo camp or dry culvert is technically a squatter.

If you have no stuff to worry about losing, good luck finding a team for any role other than shaman.

[Paul]

Going by the name of John Rambo perhaps?

Heh. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) No, actually "Buck". And he's not nearly as effective as ole' Johnny Boy. He's more like a second hand copy.

[Traul]

Why is he homeless? The money from runs should be enough to afford some lifestyle. What does he spend it on?

[Faraday]

A related question. What level of lifestyle would the folling be: Sleep/store stuff in a storage unit, then eat/drink/lounge/cat nap in a bar.

[Paul]

Why is he homeless?

This is major concept for him to explore. He's homeless because like so many veterans he's slipped through the cracks. He's slightly mentally ill, and has no support network. He's an old soldier, who doesn't know how to do anything else.

The money from runs should be enough to afford some lifestyle. What does he spend it on?

This was our first game, so we'll see as we go. He actually traded the payment from the first run for some firepower, because he started the game with no weapons. From an OOC perspective the player who designed the character actually purposefully shorted the character points. He's 370 or 360 compared to 400 build points for everyone else.

[Paul]

A related question. What level of lifestyle would the folling be: Sleep/store stuff in a storage unit, then eat/drink/lounge/cat nap in a bar.

I'd say you could split hairs for that be Squatter or Low Life Style. Maybe even middle if you really wanted to push it.

[CanRay]

Squatter. Unless you use the Advanced Lifestyles Rules in Runner's Companion.

[Medicineman]

2-4 of my Chars have Upperclass /Luxury Lifestyle and they know how to use it(renting VIP Rooms for the Meeting with the Johnson,Bodyguards in the Background,bribing the Security during the Meeting,after "Delivery",etc)

with a luxury Dance
Medicineman

[Mardrax]

We currently have a campaign going where we have a group Lifestyle that heavily determines the game. We're basically squatting in a partially repaired and redecorated Barrens mall, that's been flooded and subsequently abandoned decades ago. With another 50 gang members (ranging from Ideal Housemates to Concerned Neighbours and Crash Pad crashers, who are also a Group Contact for all of us) with whom we forced the previous inhabitants out (Enemy, yay!). It's currently being used as a gang HQ and largely self-sustainable community housing project. A lot of our income goes into keeping and improving its shape.

[HunterHerne]

We currently have a campaign going where we have a group Lifestyle that heavily determines the game. We're basically squatting in a partially repaired and redecorated Barrens mall, that's been flooded and subsequently abandoned decades ago. With another 50 gang members (ranging from Ideal Housemates to Concerned Neighbours and Crash Pad crashers, who are also a Group Contact for all of us) with whom we forced the previous inhabitants out (Enemy, yay!). It's currently being used as a gang HQ and largely self-sustainable community housing project. A lot of our income goes into keeping and improving its shape.

Not a bad idea.

In my game, I use the advanced rules, and one PC does his own security (rigger). that said, his neighbours don't like him there and the cops are on to him.

The others pretty much revolve around him (The hacker lived with him for a while, then moved out, and the mage lives there now), but the Phys. Ad. took residence within a low rent area around the Airforce base. An attempt to keep his enemies from hitting him too hard.

[Faelan]

In my game several characters have food allergies or preferences, and lifestyle has become a surprisingly important part of the game. They will do anything to keep from slipping back to squatter, and want as many fake sins with decent lifestyles as possible.

[Kesendeja]

We used the advanced rules for the game I'm playing in. It took some time but this is how my mages place ended up.

My mage lived in an old church/school that she'd converted. It was in the middle of nowhere and had a reputation for being "creepy". Maybe had something to do with the local gangs and crime syndicate using it's cemetery to dump bodies. Or the pack of ghouls she pays for security. Then again it is haunted. But it also exists on a place of power that helps her ritual casting, and what neighbors she does have like her.

A solid chunk of the interior is given over to a "garden" which she uses to supplement her lifestyle, and an impressive library plus work area. It's almost totally self sufficient power wise due to solar panels and wind turbines, water's the only thing still connected to the city.

The Decker has even converted part of the basement into a techno sanctuary, adding security and household drones to the place.

In the end most of the team ended up moving in with her. So far they've been scrupulous about keeping the area under the radar.

[Mardrax]

So far they've been scrupulous about keeping the area under the radar.

Good luck with that, with a church in the middle of nowhere, with a few neighbours, all decked out in solar panels and wind turbines. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/spin.gif)

[Kesendeja]

Good luck with that, with a church in the middle of nowhere, with a few neighbors, all decked out in solar panels and wind turbines. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/spin.gif)

Not the fact that no one lives there, that's impossible. But the fact that it has shadow runners in residence. So far they think we're some sort of commune, dedicated to making the neighbor hood safer. It's simply amazing what good will can make people ignore.

[CanRay]

Homefront shows how this can be done in the right circumstances.

Don't forget after VITAS and the NAN, there's lots of Ghost Towns in North America that you can set up as a base of operations.

Europe would also have a lot of little villages in the valleys and mountainous areas that are probably just as dead.

As long as you keep the Emissions low, you're golden.

[Paul]

Bribery and graft an be relatively easily overlooked by both Players, and IC by the community. "Sure they strange, but hey I can borrow their riding lawn mower when ever I want. So live and let live. They always have a bunch of dudes in and out there, dressed in leather. i think they're a butch swinger couple..."

[Ascalaphus]

I get the impression that places like Puyallup, there's lots of room in the ruins for people tough enough to survive the occasional marauding gang. Police has given up on the place, as long as a sector doesn't spawn any groups attacking paying customers, the rentacops have no reason to go there.

[CanRay]

All depends on the community and how "Subtle" your friends are. Some gutterpunk in a lined coat covered in paint spray and a pink mohawk isn't going to fit in a suburb in any way. Give him a hat and a jogging suit, however, even the piercings can just be "Well, he's just showing his individuality in a socially acceptable manner while off time.".

And bikers, well, bikers fit in everywhere. Especially if your neighbors know you're part of a RUB MC that does Philanthropic "Runs" for various charities (Which would probably look good on a Fake SIN, BTW.), so even a group of burly folks on bikes and leathers, as long as they're not flashing infamous "1%er" MC colours, could go completely unnoticed. Just keep the noise down after 11.

[Midas]

I currently have a player who's character is a homeless veteran. I've got some ideas on how this will affect him, and why-but what about in your game? How does lifestyle play into your games?

Sounds interesting, good luck with that. ...

Saying that, is he really still gonna stay on the streets once the shadowrunner level jobs start coming in? Noone really wants to live on the streets, so I imagine he would want to get a roof over his head pretty much after the first run.

In my game, I encourage folks to take at least a low lifestyle. Any lower and they run the risk of having gear stolen, getting mugged/hassled by assorted street scum etc. OK, you can live on a squatter lifestyle if you are paying extra for a locker for your duffel bag'o'gear, and pay out for a shower before you go and meet the Johnson, but you would have to have a very good IC reason not to upgrade to low.

Most PC's actually run 2 lifestyles, their "main" R4 fake sin one, and then a bolthole they can lie low in after runs or if someone is after them. They are currently saving for a group HQ that they can use after runs, so if the bad guys come after them at least they will all be together as opposed to alone and unsupported. Oh, and they also all have a locker stashed with a "new" fake SIN and a survival kit (med kit, std armour, pistol and smg) should they end up in real trouble.

[CanRay]

Most of the characters I've written have lifestyles quite mapped out, with a few even having diagrams of their apartments in my head. (I think all the time. I can't stop, so I aim at the nicer things in life. Like shooting people in the face for money.).

One is a SINner that has a High lifestyle and a two-bedroom loft in Downtown Seattle, the second bedroom for his "Office" of his "Legitimate Business" that explains why he has the licenses he does. He has a number of boltholes and hideaways set up around the city, and a Ford-Canada Bison for when he wants to go hunting. He charters a boat for fishing trips depending on his mood (Ranging from a bass boat to a whaling vessel.).

Another has a Low lifestyle in a dinky one-bedroom apartment that's really tight now that his boyfriend is living with him (It's causing some strife between the two.), and knows some smuggling hide-outs in the city where he can lay low without having to outlay extra cash to upkeep. He is looking at either a larger apartment or a bolthole, however.

Yet another has a family taking up a tenement building that they've claimed for themselves and fortified. An ork family, everyone is ready to fight and armed at almost all times. Dangerous group to mess with.

[Ascalaphus]

I've had a player with an Adept with Sustenance, who was really big on the Postmaterialist thing - not being tied down to possessions. He chose to have a minimal lifestyle. (However, when we found out about shared lifestyles, it turned out that sharing Middle is even cheaper than doing Low on your own...)

[Traul]

If he is still counting his nuyen, it's not called postmaterialist, it's called stingy (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

[Ascalaphus]

Eh. The adept snuffed it when we discovered that if the enemy uses burst fire, Reaction is no solution for Body 2. Sad really, it was a cool character, but the player didn't feel like burning Edge.