I have a player who wants as a backstory for their character that they are from a rich corp family and the player's character is the black sheep. So, they aren't running for the cash, but instead they are doing it to get back at the corps that they have come to hate.

The player wants to have basically unlimited funds through having a conduit to daddy, a highly placed VP.

Now, I know that major alarm bells are going off , but luckily this player isn't the type to abuse this setup. He wants to play an adept specializing in unarmed combat. I don't know of a concept less dependent on money. The only thing that I have been able to come up with that is in the rules is spending 200000Y on luxury lifestyle for 2 months (40 BP) and getting enough starting cash other than that to outfit the character with a nice car, nice clothing, etc. This really seems excessive, however, particularly given that in the rules the character is going to have to earn 100000Y per month just to continue to support that lifestyle.

Does anyone have any suggestions based on a player wanting to do something like this in one of your games in the past. Any reasonable work around that you could offer?

Take a look at the Favor table in SR4.

Also, there are plenty of things for Adepts to spend money on. Commlinks, vision enhancement glasses + contacts, hearing enhancement earbuds + headphones, armor (chameleon suit w/ all the trimmings + helmet), drones (controlled via captain's chair mode), etc.

Thanks for the suggestion of the favor rating table. I had just had the idea of the character making the dad a Connection 6 Loyalty 6 contact. For those 12 points, the character can have a contact that will undergo Major Risk for the character without a roll. The way I read it, that could allow the character to be put up in a high or even luxury lifestyle and have all of the little trinkets that come with wealth without having access to unlimited nuyen.

Seem reasonable?

IMO this isn't a very good idea. You are correct in saying, that there is a limit as to how much this character (a phys-ad) can spend to effectivly enhance his character. Although in SR4 this is less of an issue as some light cyber/bio augmentation is very much an option for an adept. However character advancment is not the only reason characters aquire money. Money is also a resource characters have to expend to achive their objectives, just like Karma in older additions. Now obviously you want them to end up in the black (most of the time) after a run, but the point still remains

The problem is that that character could use that money to potential short-cut alot of the problems you put before him. He would have no trouble buying top-noch info, aquiring guns/ammo/vehicles (especialy in situations wher you try and deprive them of them). This can de-rail alot of the fixes you might try and put them in.

Here's an example from a game I am working on. The characters have been smuggled into the Tir. Now while they might be able to bring in a little bit of equipment, they have to leave their vehicles behind. Which seriously effects there mobility. They can't afford to plunk down the cash for one, especialy considering they will have to leave it behind when they leave. So they have steal one or do without. This character wouldn't have that issue, buying and disposing of a car means nothing to him, and so the whole obsticle is avoided.

This not only cheats HIM out of the challange, but the other characters as well. Your players may not complain, but IMO a game where you can just buy your way out of any trouble is no fun. Their is also the potential of the other characters, who development may be more wealth dependant, leaching off this character in order to speed up their own advancment.

Not to mention the motivation issues for such a character. Greed/hunger/need for money is a primary motivater in any Shadowrunner. I don't think many people would risk their life commiting muder and other crimes if there wasn't any money in it. Or worse if they were spending more than they were making.

I would ask the player if he would modify his design to be a rich boy who just recently got cut-off from his parents and is shadowrunning both to survive and to spite them. Much more intresting IMO.

have the family seize his funds.

I would go the contact/favor route with the availibility of resources. Then in game make the character deal with the consequences.

Spending your rich corp dad's credit to buy information, well that can be back tracked...

When the opposition comes looking they may ask themselves why is shadowrunner X living at Corp VP's luxury apartment?

There are lots of ways of using this to generate plot hooks and work.

Basically the PC can start with access to a luxury lifestyle and resources, but has to do a lot of work to keep it safe and maintain it.

Corp VP can get fired, demoted, kidnapped, extracted, blackmailed, killed, indicted, or simply be using the PC to achieve their own ends....

Given most players I don't think the money supply will last very long, and you'll get a fun story line out of it.

I would go with an advantage : Rich dad, 40 point - twice the luxury life style price.

Dad would give money, plenty of money ... but not for everething :
The character comlink could use one of dad bank account - for legal purpose, and dad (the GM) could then temper even some legal stuf (like bioware / cyberware).

The character could then live with a luxury rate, without access to very unbalanced equipement / implant, or any other thing.

In other word : ok for being rich, but the GM (dad) has still legitimity to keep it balanced, and to say : "you are a fool ! you won't have anymore money from me".

Why not rent a car with your fake SIN while in Tir and then ditch the car and SIN when you leave?

As far as the adept goes the 6/6 contact for the father is good. Just use the rule that you roll a d6 everytime the PC contacts him and if you don't roll equal to or higher than the connections rating the contact is unavailable. Then say that he can only get money out of daddy if daddy isn't busy.

Another Idea: Allow the character to have the extra funds through his rich father contact for stuff like Lifestyle, Cars and such but limit him to the normal expenditure on gear. Gradually once the game starts the father's corp becomes aware of his activities and uses his father as leverage to push him in to being their company man. Then the character will have to make a big decision on protecting his family and selling out to the corp or staying true to himself and forsaking his family and the benefits that go with it.

The Tir was beginning to open up a little and get more lenient in SR3, in fact it was on its way to full scale civil war. I'd imagine that by 2070 it'd be pretty open. All you'd need was a UCAS SIN and proper immigration papers. The only problem is that the datatrail then leads that SIN to Tir, to that car, and to the crime that was committed. I.E. the Feds now have a picture of your character.

stevebugge has a pretty good idea. Give the money to him completely legitimately. Pay for lifestyle and anything else he wants but make it all stuff that is above board and is thus traceable to the character and the father/corp. That way the player can't use the money for runs without exposing himself and his father to the cops and arrest.

Just to update you, I put many of these suggestions in place. The dad was taken as a 6/6 contact. I made the character spend the points for 1 month of high class lifestyle and buy all of their gear with BP.

Then we agreed that the character needed to keep the shadowrunning from the family, so no expenditures that would clue dad into what was happening would be allowed.

Likewise, we agreed that the character had tried running in another city, but the runners that she worked with found out that she was a rich kid and they were hounding her all of the time to buy them gear, and whining and complaining when she wasn't. She has relocated to another city and another country, but this time has set up a fake SIN and has to keep her lives seperate. So Shadowrunning equipment has to come from nuyen earned from Shadowrunning. Dad will keep her in an apartment, and clothing, and food, and other reasonable expenses that a rich dad trying to buy love might furnish.

I think that this is going to work well and stays true to the rules (or at least the spirit of the rules.)

cool