Safehouses out now--new PDF product, Where the elite meet to not get geeked Options

[Nebular]

Pretty neat stuff. Are the Qualities in the Safehouse Qualities section only intended for Bolt Hole and Safehouses, or can they also be applied to Advanced Lifestyles from Runner's Companion (naturally excluding those that actually say "safehouse only")?

[Patrick Goodman]

It's nice to see Dev/grrl/ is moving up a bit on Jackpoint but is any one else wondering how much longer She can lead this double life before She gets busted or som thing and has to arrange her own extraction?

This question has come up. I don't know if any answers were arrived at, but the question has come up.

[CanRay]

Pretty neat stuff. Are the Qualities in the Safehouse Qualities section only intended for Bolt Hole and Safehouses, or can they also be applied to Advanced Lifestyles from Runner's Companion (naturally excluding those that actually say "safehouse only")?

They're not Missions-Legal, but I don't see why they couldn't be included with regular Advanced Lifestyles with GM approval.

It's nice to see Dev/grrl/ is moving up a bit on Jackpoint but is any one else wondering how much longer She can lead this double life before She gets busted or som thing and has to arrange her own extraction?

This question has come up. I don't know if any answers were arrived at, but the question has come up.

This is very much at the forefront of my thoughts, and, yes, I have a lot of ideas. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Sengir]

They're not Missions-Legal, but I don't see why they couldn't be included with regular Advanced Lifestyles with GM approval.

Looks like it fits perfectly with the original lifestyle rules...I sometimes wonder why I love RC so much despite all the rough edges it has...

[Fabe]

This is very much at the forefront of my thoughts, and, yes, I have a lot of ideas. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Cool,care to share any of them/

[Sengir]

OK, I got it and had the most fun with an SR product ever since the original lifestyle rules ("yessir, the house is on fire, Anything else you require?" (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)
All the fun also is quite well garnished with rules, didn't run the numbers but it looks all solid on the first glance and anyway it's nice to see rules are there .
So congratulations to CR, way to start a new job (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cool.gif)

---

One small complaint, though:

Each rank of neighborhood
increases the threshold to find the person by two. No one expects
a bunch of shadowy criminal types to be hiding in corpville, after
all. Z-zones and barrens decrease the threshold by two, as the folks
there will sell out anyone at even the cheapest price.

The "ranks" should be "levels", and since 0 also is a rank/level, that would mean barrens get a threshold modifier of 0 (-2 for barrens, 2 for one level/rank). Looking at p. 15, the first sentence should read something like "Each level above street increases the threshold by two" (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[CanRay]

I blame the editors, it was my first book. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif) That's my story and sticking to it.

Thanks, Sengir, good catch. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) It's understandable however, but still a good catch and one should use the proper terms.

[Sengir]

Well, the thing about the thresholds sent me into "huh?" mode for a minute...

[almost normal]

I feel like the only person rooting for Clock =/ stupid netcat flaunting her family.

[Fatum]

Loved the book for little touches here and there, like that book on paranoia middle entertainment boltholes have, or Hotel California and Hell’s Waiting Room qualities, or those missing remote and rent-paying mold.
It's as if you're writing all the horrors from experience :3

[CanRay]

Well, the thing about the thresholds sent me into "huh?" mode for a minute...

Sorry about that. I thought I had it ironed out. It is complex as it's hard to figure out all the ways to track someone in the 2070s.

I feel like the only person rooting for Clock =/ stupid Netcat flaunting her family.

Him going after Netcat is one thing, including a one-year old (or less) child in the fight? That's going a bit far even for Shadowrunners. Even Kane wouldn't... Well, he might if paid enough. But it wouldn't be personal with Kane.

Loved the book for little touches here and there, like that book on paranoia middle entertainment boltholes have, or Hotel California and Hell’s Waiting Room qualities, or those missing remote and rent-paying mold.
It's as if you're writing all the horrors from experience :3

Funny enough, no. I've been lucky in places that I've lived. That said, I've had to help friends move into some places that... Yeah. So got it second-hand.

"Hell's Waiting Room" I did experience when helping a friend with a concussion. I spent all night awake to make sure he was OK. Don't regret it, but it was a trial.

[Sengir]

Sorry about that. I thought I had it ironed out. It is complex as it's hard to figure out all the ways to track someone in the 2070s.

Don't worry, the text on p. 15 is good and IMO leaves no questions. Just the quoted bit from p. 13 was like "ok, so the modifier for Barrens is +2-2=0...for Street is it 4 since Street is the second level, or just 2 because it's basically the same level as Barrens...or 0 for Street and -2 for Barrens because both are worth 0 LP?"

[Patrick Goodman]

It's not outside the realm of the possible, Sengir, that I missed that in proofing. I thought I'd caught most of the things of that nature, but it seems to have slipped past me.

[almost normal]

Him going after Netcat is one thing, including a one-year old (or less) child in the fight? That's going a bit far even for Shadowrunners. Even Kane wouldn't... Well, he might if paid enough. But it wouldn't be personal with Kane.

That's what I like though, how human it is. Clock is just this passionate character who has such seething rage that he's losing focus and possibly losing support and friends in the process.

On the other side, you've got Everyone's favorite NetCat, who's fallen in love, has a kid, and daddy FastJack looking out for her. What self-respecting runner *wouldn't* want to see that crumble?

[CanRay]

Don't worry, the text on p. 15 is good and IMO leaves no questions. Just the quoted bit from p. 13 was like "ok, so the modifier for Barrens is +2-2=0...for Street is it 4 since Street is the second level, or just 2 because it's basically the same level as Barrens...or 0 for Street and -2 for Barrens because both are worth 0 LP?"

0 for Street, -2 for Barrens, as Barrens is 0 points, but technically a level below Street.

Z-Zone, baby, the bottom of the bottom!

[Redjack]

Safehouses. All runners need safe houses to operate from or hole up in. Over the years, I thrown a number of them together off the top of my head as a team has reached out to fixers or landlords or similar contacts. At $5.00, I snapped this up as soon as it came up. Initial impressions of artwork and content were very positive. Initial impression of quantity left me with a "what?". For $5.00, I didn't expect 250 pages, but neither did I expect 18. This under 20 page count is becoming a disturbing trend from CGL. For example, Burn, the latest Missions module weighs in at 32 pages for $3.95. I like bite sized content, but I feel like the bags of chips that are over 1/2 full of air... deep down I feel wronged for paying for air.

That out of the way, let's dig into the content. The artwork was very good and relevant to the product; the latter is just as important to me. Several short fictions to wet your appetite. I liked Wedge's list; it even covered the thing most people forget about: entertainment. The safehouse Point cost was a good addition. I haven't crunched the numbers, but at a glance they look reasonable enough. I especially like the qualities.

4.5/5 Artwork: Seven, good quality, mostly relevant pieces including the cover.
5/5 Content: Just what the runner ordered.
4/5 Additional Features: Qualities, cost tables, descriptions all in the format used in Runner's Companion. No new equipment/sensors/gear. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/frown.gif)
4/5 Overall Value: Page count is way low comparably. A well written rules book for a relatively frequently used topic combine to raise the value to me.

[Fatum]

I liked Wedge's list; it even covered the thing most people forget about: entertainment.

You know, this one I just don't understand. Any datachip in the seventies has essentially unlimited storage space, and there are pirates to provide content in the Matrix aplenty - with essentially unlimited download speeds. Hell, even if you're not into paying pirates/finding free stuff, getting corp libraries' contents should be easy enough for anyone Matrix-savvy.
So that leaves us with a question - why the hell would anyone with a commlink on him need any additional entertainment as long as he's hidden in his bolthole? For "civilian" life entertainment costs make sense, since they represent the money you pay to get into clubs, posh restaurants and such; but for boltholes I'm just not seeing it at all.

[Redjack]

If I put on my paranoid tin-foil hat... If I'm going to a bolt-hole, I've burned my most current SIN. If I burn my SIN, I burn everything licensed to it: leases, software, media... With corporations ruling the world and everything copy protected and update enabled, imagine being tracked because your subscription to a music service or movie download was linked from old SIN to new SIN. Of course, this assumes you follow forward that things like the RIAA and MPAA have gotten their way and no one "owns" a copy of anything, you license music, movies, books, etc for a finite amount of time.
Just my $0.02.

[CanRay]

This under 20 page count is becoming a disturbing trend from CGL. For example, Burn, the latest Missions module weighs in at 32 pages for $3.95. I like bite sized content, but I feel like the bags of chips that are over 1/2 full of air... deep down I feel wronged for paying for air.

I wrote both items. I'll work on being more verbose. Thank you for the positive review otherwise. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

You know, this one I just don't understand. Any datachip in the seventies has essentially unlimited storage space, and there are pirates to provide content in the Matrix aplenty - with essentially unlimited download speeds. Hell, even if you're not into paying pirates/finding free stuff, getting corp libraries' contents should be easy enough for anyone Matrix-savvy.
So that leaves us with a question - why the hell would anyone with a commlink on him need any additional entertainment as long as he's hidden in his bolthole? For "civilian" life entertainment costs make sense, since they represent the money you pay to get into clubs, posh restaurants and such; but for boltholes I'm just not seeing it at all.

The idea is that it's books on chip, which might date from the 2050s when memory wasn't so easily had. Also, you may want to be in a static zone in order to prevent electronic tracking, so have no downloadables. Also, Wedge wrote this "When he wrecked his shoulder with a modular infantry weapon system", the old guard will probably recognize when that was and smile.

If I put on my paranoid tin-foil hat... If I'm going to a bolt-hole, I've burned my most current SIN. If I burn my SIN, I burn everything licensed to it: leases, software, media... With corporations ruling the world and everything copy protected and update enabled, imagine being tracked because your subscription to a music service or movie download was linked from old SIN to new SIN. Of course, this assumes you follow forward that things like the RIAA and MPAA have gotten their way and no one "owns" a copy of anything, you license music, movies, books, etc for a finite amount of time.
Just my $0.02.

All depends on the situation.

And I think FastJack wrote an essay on legally getting something in Attitude, and is still looking for someone to punch in the junk. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[TwoDee]

That's what I like though, how human it is. Clock is just this passionate character who has such seething rage that he's losing focus and possibly losing support and friends in the process.

On the other side, you've got Everyone's favorite NetCat, who's fallen in love, has a kid, and daddy FastJack looking out for her. What self-respecting runner *wouldn't* want to see that crumble?

What's interesting is that Clockwork is written as, if not a sympathetic character, at least a complex one that we're capable of understanding. Shadowrun has something of a history of making political conservatives--especially social conservatives--into caricatures, and it's kind of refreshing that, even though he's a complete heel and absolutely in the wrong, Clockwork comes across as a realistic person with understandable prejudices, and not some unhinged nutball screeching about eugenics or whatnot.

[Fatum]

The idea is that it's books on chip, which might date from the 2050s when memory wasn't so easily had. Also, you may want to be in a static zone in order to prevent electronic tracking, so have no downloadables. Also, Wedge wrote this "When he wrecked his shoulder with a modular infantry weapon system", the old guard will probably recognize when that was and smile.All depends on the situation.

Uh, the thing is, if I go into hiding right this instant with the closest thing to a commlink I have on me (namely, an Android phone), and the place for said hiding will have an electric outlet, I'll have movies for about a week, and books for no less than a month without downloading anything. For a runner who might go into hiding at any moment at all, and who possesses unlimited drive space and bandwidth it makes all the more sense to prepare in advance...
Well, it must be my hoarder perspective, I guess. I'm prone to stockpiling interesting baubles I know I'll never get around to reading/watching/listening...

[CanRay]

What's interesting is that Clockwork is written as, if not a sympathetic character, at least a complex one that we're capable of understanding. Shadowrun has something of a history of making political conservatives--especially social conservatives--into caricatures, and it's kind of refreshing that, even though he's a complete heel and absolutely in the wrong, Clockwork comes across as a realistic person with understandable prejudices, and not some unhinged nutball screeching about eugenics or whatnot.

I certainly tried to continue that, without purposefully antagonizing Netcat after the "And your little boy, too!" moment.

Uh, the thing is, if I go into hiding right this instant with the closest thing to a commlink I have on me (namely, an Android phone), and the place for said hiding will have an electric outlet, I'll have movies for about a week, and books for no less than a month without downloading anything. For a runner who might go into hiding at any moment at all, and who possesses unlimited drive space and bandwidth it makes all the more sense to prepare in advance...
Well, it must be my hoarder perspective, I guess. I'm prone to stockpiling interesting baubles I know I'll never get around to reading/watching/listening...

And what better place to store those baubles than in a place where you have nothing to do BUT read/watch/listen? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[SirFozzie]

Was I the only one who laughed when getting to the final page and seeing /dev/grrl's message to FastJack, courtesy of the bus?

[CanRay]

Was I the only one who laughed when getting to the final page and seeing /dev/grrl's message to FastJack, courtesy of the bus?

Everyone seems to love that pic! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) Including myself.

BTW, the first picture of the scared suits and their equally scared ork bodyguard are her parents, the first time we've seen them. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[snowRaven]

Everyone seems to love that pic! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) Including myself.

BTW, the first picture of the scared suits and their equally scared ork bodyguard are her parents, the first time we've seen them. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Cool! *goes to look again*