All right folks, we all know the traditional methods 'Runners get around the cities and all that. Their own rides, called in favours from contacts, Combat Cab (Or their competetor, Ghoul Cab)...

But what about the Bus/Subway/Monorail? Still a viable option for the desperate 'Runner?

Opinions!

I use a combat taxi company called "One Eyed Jack's"(OEJ). Depending on you level of contact of One Eyed Jacks you can get a ride out of any combat situation.

Most of my players characters have used OEJ to get out of hot combat zone, but one set of players used extremely levels of contacts/favors to get delivered and picked up of a situation by a Thunderbird flown by One Eyed Jack himself. It put their financial reserves from black into deep red though. But they did live thru something that would have Trashed their own vehicles and more than likely gotten killed in.

WMS

...usually someone on the team has wheels (and the ability to drive). When on a job, KK usually bums a ride from a team-mate. Around her 'hood & in the DT district she usually rollerblades Violet usually hacks and then spoofs an automated Johnny Cab™ where GridGuide is available.

The best was my Baseball throwing Sammy Tomoe Sasaki who had a contact who owned Emerald Towncars. Always a reliable driver, a full tank, and a stocked wet bar.

Metro just doesn't cut it for runners.

Totally, as long as nobody is in hot pursuit of you. Getting underground is great, in particular, since you're probably under some regular dirt in addition to streets and pipes and stuff. As long as everyone changes their commlink IDs and you haven't been sprayed with RFIDs (or you have a good tag eraser), and someone can hack the cameras on the fly (or has planned in advance) you're good to go.

Best would be a decoy sort of thing, too. Physical Mask is good, but Fashion is probably better.

Usually, whatever's handy at the time.

Something to watch out for when running a game:

The wheelman usually wants to drive a cool sports card and get into car chases. What the wheelman usually ends up doing in driving an minivan holding the rest of the team (thus our penchant for calling wheelmen "minivan solos". And because the poor wheelman is quite often resource limited, he can't buy both a chase car and a minivan. Of course, every other person at the table wants him to buy the minivan, since none of the other slope-headed killers he will be running around with know how to drive, or own a car.

The implementation of rigging in SR help a little here, since the rigger deosn't need to acutally be in the car to drive it around, but most riggers end up driving a bulldog step van instead of a westwind anyway.

It's sad but true. Keep dreaming rigger boys/girls. I'm sure the run that requires a souped up Westwind will come your way... some day.

I actually have quite a few characters that take the "tube," as they like to call it. Occasionally cabs.

Usually, there's someone with at least a car or a van and usually one or two characters on motorcycles. Taht covers most of their needs. If they need air transport, they rent, steal, borrow something, usually a 'copter. Usually one runner can fly, tho' not too well, which inevitably adds a lot of hilarity to a run.

Wash: This landing is gonna get pretty interesting.
Mal: Define "interesting".
Wash: Oh God, oh God, we're all going to die?

-Serenity

Vlad

The answer, of course, is to call it an "SUV" instead of a "minivan." Ta da! Both parties can be happy.

No, this just shows that there are a few, very sad minivan solos who don't know what they've become. They drive a minivan with a V12, nitro boost, and sport tires; they spend a whole lot of time talking to their therapists about how their life is unfulfilling.

All right folks, I just posted the chapter last night which explains where I got this idea. Read the second novelette in my Sig to find out why.

Sigh.... and even when we get the nuyen to get that nice new (or old) car, we never get to drive it.... sigh...


My rigger recently aquired a "Classic" 1996 Viper GTO... and it just collects dust.

I hate minivans.... Oh, and whoever decided not to include at least the Appaloosa APC in arsenal know that riggers everywhere are very disappointed.

Yeah, I was noting a distinct lack of military vehicles in Arsenal. Another "Fields of Fire" that will include things like Light Scout Vehicles that would be difficult to explain driving around a city?

Depending on what you want from the group, simply buying the sportscar instead of the SUV might be a good plan. My prefered way of using an SUV leaves little passenger space after drones and an array of other gear are stashed. I´m not zick-zacking through town, collecting hardened criminals with illegal gear. Way to high profile.

My character's a city shaman. He always uses the monorail when he can. It's just good for keeping in touch with the people. When he has to, he uses a taxi. But he doesn't like doing that, because it's his taxi, and he uses it for his day job (which is easy, because with the pilot program he gave me, the rigger of the group swears it's safe for me to sleep on the job...).

For just getting around town, it's really dependent on the Characters lifestyle. If the character has a street lifestyle and an extensive record, he pretty much walks or bums rides from people he knows. If the character has a bit more resources they may hire cabs, take buses, hire limos, steal cars, drive their own vehicle etc. I think I've had characters do just about all of these. Additionally some types of heavily cybered characters or athletic adepts may actually be faster getting around town on foot than riding. I've had mages who use low force Air Elementals with the movement power fly them around town (it's a little flashy though and that can cause problems).

We had one samurai in a game of ours who's preferred transportation was his extensive knowledge of the bus system (Bus schedules knowledge of 6) and his magnetic cyberarms.

In ye olden days of 1st and 2nd Edition, my rigger (Speed Wraith, heh, go figure) stuck to the low-end limos (Nightsky, specifically). It was cramped, since more room was designated for her drones than passengers, so most of the rest of the team would use their own rides whenever possible. The only times I can remember us using public transportation involved the run or adventure they were involved in specifically. It is far easier to pass yourself off as Joe Public when you need to infiltrate some location if you take the bus...In the game I'm currently running, I had already assumed that the 14-year-old street kid that has hooked up with the runners and her troll companion tend to take the bus frequently (he just won't fit on her segway!)

It depends. Desperate will always use what is available. If you've got room to quibble you're not desperate.

The thing is that so many of you mega nuyen types have never tasted desperate or you've forgotten desperate so you dis the poor mans refuge. When you're a quart or two low on the old red stuff because something with teeth like serrated razors and jaws that could snap plastic laced bones like chicken bones just did a nasty number on your leg and you're still trying to get away from the wee beasties owners while fading in and out of consciousness as you half fall down the stairs to the tube, nothing sounds as beautiful as those doors wooshing open...except when it wooshes closed behind you and the thing pulls out of the station.

Yeah, you're likely to have trouble on the other end too, when she pulls in to the next station, but if you're not able to afford better those few minutes in between can be life savers by themselves.


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(((And as a GM pulling a combat scene on a subway train is just way cool anyway.)))

Isshia

...I've always felt that most SUVs (particularly the so called "Luxury" ones) were nothing more than minivans in disguise for people who don't want to be seen driving an actual minivan. Really, off-roading in a Lexus, Lincoln, Porsche, or Cadillac SUV?


...or have enough resources left over to buy one.

Everyone in my game buys their own transport. Far, far to often everyone needs to go do separate things all at once.

OK, next question...

Dodge Scoot? Does any Shadowrunner even think about even driving one of these? Even if despirate and it's the only ride around to jack?

Disposable car yes? Like 10k brand new?

Yeah, they should be using them,

I think a big factor in this is the tendency of GMs to model a Lonestar car chase by sending Cooter and Enos after them in cars.

If anything

So even if the rigger did bring his sports car it would be overkill. Any well driven Soccar Mom Mobile will be plenty. Or perhaps some eight year olds moped if you need to pick something up fast.


However as you increasingly don't model LS and corperate security forces as a total joke who think reinforcements is slang for a bra the players start looking a whole lot more seriously at their vehicle choices. And then the rigger can get a chance to play with the fun toys.

Getting back to the OP it also results in more public transportation as runners consider the possibility of losing a vehicle and look for other methods of escape, like ducking into the Orc underground, using magic to vanish into crowds, hitting the sewers, taking a dive(with mini air tanks). And so forth.

Public transport will sometimes be used for delivery or exit in such cases. Especially if the runners are traveling light.

It also comes up when their escape plan involves a cheap vehicle they plan to ditch.

...for some of us that's almost two runs to make up. If you keep having to replace your ride every mission or so it becomes a lesson in diminishing returns.

That may be true but why on Earth would you be buying a Scoot brand new? Bet you can find a decent beater for under a grand and use it for all your basic transportation needs.

I'm sorry if I made it sound like a car you bring on the run with you, it's hardly good for running the hell away. But if things go south it's nice to be able to step out of your 5k car, burn your fake SIN and step into a dark alley without hearing your rigger cry "But I loved that car..."

IMO public transportation can be an easy way to disappear. There is something very reminiscent of a 50's spy flick when your character pulls a job, walks out with the paydata, dumps his gun in a dumpster and disappears into the rush hour crowd jostling for space on the subway. Not good for all situations but even the richest runner will sometimes get use out of a bus pass.

That said my runners favorite ride is usually an armoured mercedes. Think a much faster more robust mercury comet.

Some of us are a bit on the large size for a Scoot. Even the supposedly reinforced ones make a big guy feel like he's a clown riding one of those tiny tricycles in the old circus flat vids. Now, in extremis...as long as I don't run faster than the bloody thing, looks be damned. I'm watchin' out for my hoop, not my style when things are grim.

Especially now that I'm no longer living on the ragged edge I want to live to be a very old troll. Nowadays when I have to use a car for some reason I've got an old 2049 Americar that we yoinked the front seat out of and installed a datajack lead in. (Yessss, I am that old.) It ain't rigging but I ain't a rigger... and after all those years as an anonymous detainee of the state (Richard Roe #S/U-14BHL-MH-T-3419762, or Ricky 762 for all my old chummers inside) I'm never likely to be anywhere near cutting edge again, but street smarts, experience and common sense can be bigger edges than the most cutting edge tech out there in the hands of a flamboyant jackass anyway, so, hey, the old troll is back in business again.


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Our Gunbunny has an old (2030s) Corvette, modded with an old racing engine made by a tuning legend (The original engine was the cause for that year's corvette's "lemon" rep, hence she got it cheaply. Funny enough, not many of the other runners want to bum a ride, since her favorite style of driving is called "I got wired reflexes, I can do this!". The mage of the group usually calls a cab, the rest was conned into buying expensive heavy racing motorbikes, which put them into debt with the mafia.

On runs though other vehicles are used - often yachts or helicopters. The runners are afraid to use "Becky" though, a beaten-up Floating Plane flown by a alcoholic rigger. Something about the parts falling off an inopportune times.

Depends on the time of day I suppose. During "rush hour" when everyone is trying to get to work or when everyone is trying to get home and the transports are full, I suppose it'd be okay. On the other hand, at 0400 hours, it might just be a little too obvious.

If you think a scoot is bad, imagine a human sized bicycle. We once had a run where all the runners ended up using bicycles (the 2 person stretch models) going from Edinburgh, all over Scotland.

Ahh Great Galloping C on a Crutch. That had to be a sight to see. I can just me me on the back seat of one of them tandems and our old daisy eating face man on the front, him pedaling his bum off as I try to keep my knees from crackin' my chin and thus doing almost none of the pedaling. Gha! The only thing I can't figure out is where you found extra heavily reinforced bikes to handle the load. If I sit on the back of a regular tandem with my 600+ pounds of gym enhanced muscle headed meat and old tech heavy cyberware in me, that poor bike ain't going to last long, if it doesn't die right off the bat.


BB

I did have one character that was fond of using the Seattle railway system. Tyler Widle, my mobility Adept, used to jump on top when they were sitting still and hitch rides around the 'plex for when he had to do stuff outside the Barrens. He was good enough with Athletics he could manage to just hop off and tumble pretty well when it reached the destination.

Other than that, of course, he just ran around the city on the rooftops. Sometimes fighting ninja.

Hehehe, the team at the time was composed purely of humans, all 12 of them. Still, the sight of 6 tandem bicycles going along the Scottish heath, pretty much all loaded for bear (toxic zone) was probably a sight to see.

How useable public transport is depends on the gear you need to bring. The Awakened and Hackers have little problems. Then come samurai, and last come riggers. Riggers should be able to handle private transports, so only the samurai will have to ask if PT is worth the effort.