Context first: one of my players plays a surfer PC. Orc weapon specialist, a run now and then to pay for a lifestyle of fun and play. He left CalFree because the sea mines etc made surfing uncool there

1) Where can you actually surf near Seattle? The map looks a bit unlikely, it seems. How is the surfing that far north, anyway? Are there any good beaches?

2) The big one: what kind of cool surfing tech can you come up with for Shadowrun? Story ideas, gadgets, technologies.. gimme your ideas

If I remember correctly the surf in the sound is actually pretty sweet if you can stand the cold and avoid the rocks, so Orthoskin with smart insulation would be an obvious choice and usefull as a runner, probably some form of bone lacing or bone density augmentation too,webbed hands and feet, maybe gills, and you have a weapons specialist that is great for aquatic insertions. Maybe get th boart kitted out with some form of quiet propulsion for "getting out to the really big waves" and helping carry gear on those really big jobs....

Seattle has kiddie waves. Best place for waves is along the Australian beach, around the horn of Africa, and a few other places if you care to look. Even California has okay waves, but you want good ones you will have to go further.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rz1asTXhi4w

You can surf everywhere ! Event in St-Laurent River !

Dry suits are a must if you're going to surf around Seattle because that water is cold.

I'm surprised you could even surf around CalFree thanks to the radioactive water along the cost.

I think bone densitiy/lacing would be a really bad idea for a surfer because that stuff will make you sink.

I'm sure there could be some kind of powered surf board with a small propeller or some kind of hover tech to even let you go around on land.

There is no surfing in the Puget Sound really, we don't get large enough waves for it. We do have some of the best and toughest diving in the world though. (SCUBA only)

Keep in mind that Seattle is on an inlet - Puget Sound doesn't get the big ocean waves. However, the Washington coast might work for him, depending on the politics of the neighborhood. Based on the map in Seattle2072(pg. 14), it looks like Aberdeen is firmly in Salish-Shidhe Council territory, and the two beach towns I'm thinking of are just west of it. Ocean Shores and Westport both have surf shops in 2009. It's around 80 miles overland to get out to the coast, which means he could drive into Seattle, make a score, and then go home until the money's gone. Alternately, he could own a boat, and it looks like there's a small airport in Ocean Shores if he needs to get to Seattle fast.

If it were my character, I'd give him a SSC citizenship (perhaps taking the SINner quality for some points) and enough fake IDs to get him into the Metroplex to work. Have him consider the oceanside his real home, but money is tight. Like the bumpersticker says, he doesn't like violence, but he is very good at it. He keeps trying to go straight, retire, just catch the perfect wave...but he keeps getting pulled back in.

If you have the points left over, you might give him some aquatic skills and gear and talk to the GM about working it in - after all, amphibious attacks have been a major military tactic in the last century. Having a guy who owns a low-profile boat and enough SCUBA gear to give the team another insertion vector could be kind of awesome. Bond does it, the SEALs do it, and maybe you should consider it. Obviously, if your GM isn't cooperative the points will go to waste, but if he thinks it's a cool idea, getcher Commando on.

As far as surfing in the Sixth World, there are some f*n terrifying aquatic paracritters, not to mention the whole industrial sludge eating through your suit thing. My first instinct is to make high-tech wetsuits with chemseals, low profile anti-bite(impact?) armor, and maybe a shock frill varient system to get the big nasties to let go. On the other hand, a 10000y investment really detracts from the slacker lifestyle of the dedicated surfer (although those suits should really be available for those with the cash). Instead, I would probably take the 'lifeguard' concept and ramp it up - any beach town that wants tourism has a team on staff equipped for amphibious guard work - they would have the big-money suits, personal submersibles, effective underwater weapons, and spend time keeping the beach clear of nasties. From a story perspective, this gives you a reason to allow safe surfing, a neat new day job option, foreshadows any Sea Serpent/Megalodon/Merrow/Etc attacks the GM wants to work in down the line, and establishes a baseline for underwater guards if the PC decides to use SCUBA insertions on corp island bases.

So, that brings up the question: Do any SR weapons work underwater? I think there is a mod you can get for weapons that lets them operate underwater, but is there anything that is already designed to do so? Also on that note are there any listed penalties for fighting underwater (especially melee because it is impossible to punch something underwater with any real force)?

Well, spearguns should be roughly the same as crossbows, for which we do already have rules. A Heavy Crossbow is 7p and -1 AP, which is pretty decent, and you can give it trick bolts for extra punch or utility. I imagine sonic or electric weapons might be effective as well, based on XCOM2.

I think you're right about sonic weapons. Not so sure about electric mostly because you're likely to fry yourself. Taser cords don't work underwater because the electricity won't travel through the wires. No idea about melee tasers or SnS rounds tough.

FN-AAL Gyrojet Pistol. Arsenal, p. 40

Also the Colt M24A3 Water Carbine, Arsenal, pg. 24.

Tricked-out cybereyes for underwater vision, and an internal air tank to use in conjunction with a cybergill, are good things for underwater usage. Synthcardium and a balance augmenter (cyberear modification) would help with the surfing part.

Don't overlook the nanotech boosts in Augmentation - 3 hour emergency air supply, and anti-toxin 'nites might both be great upgrades for anybody out in the water.

Thanks for some very good ideas. For clarification: I'm to co-GM, and the surfer is the PC of one of the "normal" players. But using surfing during runs is something I hadn't thought of. But Seattle has a lot of corporate facilities on artificial islands and such, so there should be opportunities aplenty.

I'll go look at aquatic combat rules this afternoon I think. I'll advise him on some of the EQ and wares he might want to (re)consider.

For some reason, when I read this title, I thought of The Batman and The Joker surfing.

The Batman on the Batboard, perhaps?

And the Joker going, "Why so serious.... dude?"

Nah, more like this

Possible surfing ideas:

hidden 1 time torpedo launcher in the surfboard underbelly for underwater vehicles

harpoon gun for creatures/ppl

how would monofilament melee weapons work underwater? would they cut through water efficiently to the effect of no resistance?

underwater melee tasers sounds awesome although the rules would probably have to be made up by the GM

underwater sticky gernade shooting device? its more lethal than a harpoon no doubt and has a higher chance of killing if it hits.

Also another question: What kind of campaign is the GM running at the moment?

Awww! I want to know who won.

Did it look like they were actually surfing right there at the end?

I think the problem with monofilament melee weapons isn't that the weapon would be slow (Maybe a bit more so than normal), but arm wielding it would be. I'd imagine you could have an underwater blade style that focuses on jabs and flicks of the wrists instead of the more traditional swings.

He could always hop the border up to Vancouver every now and then. You should also encourage him to pick up a deepweed addiction
These waves are gnaaaaaaaarly

Ouch, that was baaad.

But the point's well taken, surfing might be a fairly fast way of low-tech travel.. if your suit is insulated anyway, might not show up on satellite/radar as much more than funky wave crests. I think I'm getting some ideas for some NPC surfers for him to talk to.