I got a character I am working on (600 bp redo of my current tm) and one of the things I am sticking to is nothing she can't carry with her.

Doesn't need much, but follows the rules of the one guy from Heat "be ready to walk away from it"

But with her it's more she's never had anything, and really doesn't worry about things that don't matter for survial right now (long story, but short version is most of her life in a lab with no personal ownership of anything... so never really developed the connection to material goods most have)

So your question is how many people follow this "rule"?

I don't think I've ever seen a character at my table that would qualify.

It seems to me like it would be difficult to spend 600 BP and not buy some gear or equipment she can't carry...

The rule from Heat wasn't to only "own what you can carry". Several members of that crew there owned homes, large assets, etc.

The rule was never to get so attached to anything, that you couldn't walk away from it.




-karma

You'll be surprised.

5000 nuyen on gear

Most items are small and survial oriented (backpack, flashlight, lined coat, light pistol, walkign staff, medkit, etc) with a commlink (cheap one but still a good chunk of that 5k)

That's amazing. I guess she can make her own fake SINs or something?

I always allocate 2 BP for 2x fake SIN (rating 4) + 2 or 4 fake licenses (also rating 4).

Don't always need a fake SIN, if you have Sinner or stick to the barrens. (which she is doing at squatter lifestyle and does have Sinner)

Fake SINs take no space at all so uh? I understand you're disputing the 5k spent on gear but it still doesn't defeat his "carry everything I own" build.

It's easily doable since most things players buy, they bring with them on runs. But the things you're ignoring are all the fun fluff things like your lifestyle, workshops, vehicles, etc. I can see the appeal of the wandering drifter though, the roaming gunslinger or ronin who shambles into town and joins a shadowrunner team. But I'd still like a place to call my own

In her case it's a coffin hotel cell each night, but her aim is going to be spoofing up to a motel. Part of it is the cash for karma rules (TMs are karma sinks) and her prefering the digital to the physical world.

But the main thing is when you break ti all down, most characters only need a few items.. nothing fancy early on and maybe a few items later on (that can easily fit in a pack or locker)

If you want to play this type of character, sure. My players don't happen to enjoy playing homeless wanderers.

Reminds me of the conversation from Pulp Fiction, heh.

Vincent: What'cha mean, "walk the earth"?
Jules: You know, like Caine in Kung Fu, walk from place to place, meet people, get into adventures.
Vincent: And how long do you intend to walk the earth?
Jules: Until God puts me where he wants me to be.
Vincent: And what if he don't do that?
Jules: If it takes forever, then I'll walk forever.
Vincent: So you decided to be a bum?

I'm actually playing a TM right now that can carry (most) everything she owns, not counting her lifestyle stuff. I think her equipment list contains... maybe a dozen items. Shes actually one item away from being able to carry everything she owns without pockets or a bag.

I had a character that started out like that. At the end she had a semi with the maintenance facility for the team tbird that she kept parked in the abandoned geothermal plant on the lava plain....

I find most of this sort of thought a bit boorish because it lacks the weaknesses humans can't seem to get away from. It makes for dull characters who's only claim to fame is being able to tell the DM: "you can't hurt me indirectly and since I'm so (most likely but not always)min/maxed you can't hurt me directly either so I win SR!". Mostly it seems a bit pointless. If its a game that only involves the tactics of running and no intrigue or background RP then why bother having a description of where the runners stay when not at a run. If its a game that does involve background and such then yer not even playing half the game. Or if you are then its probably as a couchsurfer staying at one of the other player's high lifestyle pads.

Heheheh...
Isn't that always the case?

Wow. You assume alot.

My TM is actually fairly easy to hurt by shooting her (4 armor, 2 body, a defense DP of something like 6) or punching her (0 armor, 2 body, a defense DP of something like 6-. She doesn't stay closeted in her medium lifestyle apartment, and has a love interest that could easily be used to hurt her as she isn't particular secretive about it. So yeah, just because she doesn't own a ton of stuff (and takes even less with her on missions) doesn't mean shes some min/maxed storyless character.

Lets break down the character for ya:
1 - born to an unwed mother that died in childbirth so straight to Orphanage (no father on record)
2 - demonstrated TM ability early on, was sold by headmaster to a lab
3 - spent most of her life so far in said lab

Character has skills in two areas : matrix, interaction (face). Matrix was a given, face is from her training to interact with others while in the lab. Her knowledge skills also reflect a sheltered existance.

She has never had much of anything of her own, so never developed a need or desire to own a lot of things (unlike many that have a desire to own everything)

Each bit of gear has a logical use for her, she sees no need for fluff bits (except to blend in in regards to things like VR games and ARE software on her commlink, which is camoflauge for her TM ability)

Yes it means the GM can't hurt her economically like say a rigger losing all his toys, but that doesn't mean she isn't going to have other ways to be hurt. She just lives simply with as low of a profile as she can, but the money she makes is going to go towards things she feels deserve it (she has a strong rooting for the underdog mentality...and truely likes others regardless of what she has been through. She forgives but does not forget)

If a GM has to have a way to take away toys or otherwise harm the character, bye bye GM

It's not all about how can I screw up the character's lives, and thus no need for them all to be toy lovers with a horde of friends and family that can be taken away or abused just to screw with them.

I like the idea but there would be consequence. As far as carring multi-sins there would be questions should you get arrested "obviously" and your more than likely to get mugged at least once. Just my 2 cents.

My spirit/critter hunter mstic adept can carry everythink she owns, as long as she's allowed to drive her motorcycle instead of trying to carry it on her back
Her lifestyle will most likely be a custom one stailored to represend staying at hotels, instead of a pemanent home.

Nothing wrong with that at all... I have actually used this option a time or two myself.

We had a rigger who lived out of a converted camper but that's the closest we've come

I like a mix. There's a layer of stuff that my characters tend to be able to drop and run from if necessary, but at their core they like to also have something tangible that they'll be less inclined to just abandon.

We have several "I can carry what I need" characters, but none of the "only own what they carry" variant.

What about "Live from the Land - only use gear taken from your opposition"? If the whole group did it you could play a "Grand Theft" campaign.

Used to have a broke-down soldier turned urban super-predator style character who lived on the streets and carried everything he owned. He was the kind of guy who would case out a joint by hanging around and waiting for someone to mug.

Maybe it was our GMs, but we never got through a campaign without the runner's Lifestyle being violated in one way or another. So, we all got used to being as mobile as possible.

Only owning what you can carry shows a lack of foresight.

You should ideally have at least a half dozen alternate identities each with their own fallback safehouses, resource drops, and intellegence networks. All isolated and compartmentalized from each other. That way you can drop everything in your current persona at a moment's notice - you do it because you've planned for it, not because you're just reacting to events.



Besides, one of my characters is 15 inches tall with a Strength of 1. Just one box of her vintage comic book collection weighs more than she does. She can't leave that behind!

The other character is, of course, Batman.



-karma

So you have 6 SINs, keep up 6 lifestyles (and 6 safehouses), and have 6 different sets of contacts that think you are 6 different people?

That is definitely a lot of work...

The closest ive coem to beening able to carry every thing was my TM screamer had a motor bike and a few safe houses/ stashes (security on a few 6) though. His main fallback house was a small bunker with a satlink. He lived more full time in a flat a few blocks away the bunker under a small warehouse that on of his leagal only SINs owned emplying the SIN that lived in the flat as a delivery man cover for frequent vissites.

Why, doesn't everyone?



In all seriousness, my SRM "stone cold black ops pro" character does have at least one fully fleshed out fallback identity and enough resources sunk to make more fairly quickly if necessary. The question, "Why do you have so many disposable commlnks?" has come up before in games.

I don't think anyone questions why I use a picture of Old Bruce Wayne from Batman Beyond as my character's portrait, after seeing the way I play him.

My pixie, however, can barely remember where she left her pants when she wakes up in the morning.



-karma

Old Bruse Wayne was awesome

Hopefully not too far from her bed

SOME DAYS YOU NEVER KNOW.

You know how most humans with low body mass tend to get more affected by alcohol?

Yeah.





-karma

Well the thing with multiple sins and identies is what happens when you get caught, suddenly contacts A and C know you as both Bob and Joe... and it spreads.


With only what she has on her, it's a lot easier for her to just disappear into the shadows (most shadowruns and such are going to be matrix interactions adding a stronger layer of cover early on)

She is likely going to get some things that are big and bulky (one thing she wants is a nexi or the like to use as an online storage module, and maybe a couple decent commlinks secured here and there as routers) including a vehicle of some sort (likely barely modified and cheap)

She wants the ability to walk away without worrying about recovering from the loss of anything left behind. (and not really a mugging target, she doesn't have anything worth taking for a mugger... )

I tend to play that sort in "hard" Cyberpunk (CP:2020) moreso than in Shadowrun, for some reason. Maybe it's the vending machines with one-shot polymer handguns in CP:2020, or the recurring "fuck you, life's cheap, yours included" theme in the rulebook, or something...but I've had a much stronger tendency to do so in a proper Cyberpunk game than in Shadowrun.

Yeah, in SR it is a blend of the hard cyber and fantasy. Most go for a decent blend of hard and soft, but I tend to view things as the character in regards to how they behave.

The psychotic rigger has his big baby Van and his little baby drones all tweaked and modded to the max and feels the pain losing one of them (the van.. is really a souped up roadmaster)

The spellslinger bunny surge girl tends to worry less about losing things, she gets what she can and if it's gone tommorrow it's no biggie. She'll buy the fancy pistol just cause it's cool looking and does the job right. Spends a lot on fluff items

The TM, well she's been in a lab all her life. The real world is a big culture shock, she's scraping by as best she can and focused more on stealth (she isn't being hunted by the lab owners per se, so much as a target for observation by them) and survial. Everything has to be durable, easily maintained, and functional (even if just to blend in some). She has to stay mobile, hence bouncing around squats and coffin motels.

I'm surprised that no one has suggested cruising the Earth, Anton Chigurh style.

The only thing more anonymous than having 6 SINs is having none and just borrowing one as needs dictate.
Hack a random guy's PAN to hell so that you own him, record then Spoof his biometrics (retinal dupe, voice modulator) Command his car over into an alley, walk up, open his door with his own passcodes, then violence (lethal, non-lethal, or magically mind-bending.)
Now you've got a ticket to fancytown. A chameleon type Adept could even turn that ticket into a work visa.

Mugging, maybe not. But kind of confused solitary young women who doesn't really understand how the world works and live in places full of not very nice people are likely to find that some people have plans for her that she probably doesn't want to participate in.

She knows that part, and did luck up a bit on making friends (contacts) in the area.. she also does carry a gun and what not for defending herself. Not an easy mark, and her clothing is more surplus army wear that hides gender well (combined with goggles and resperator) that make her seem more boyish than female

Mine owns a few more things than she can carry.. stashed around the city in various hidey holes so she can grab an Ident if she needs it- otherwise she wears her armor under her clothes, and carries a back pack with everything she wants.. and stays in a different coffin or love motel every night, switching up the pattern and faces she registers in under constantly.


Girl has a touch of paranoia.

Now my pixie hacker on the other hand.. three drones, a commlink, ffba and a tool kit, and he goes wherever his partner takes him. He spends most of his time on the matrix anyhow, what does he care?

One way to be "ready to walk away from it" is to have a backup to walk towards.

My AI superdrone (Renraku combat form) carried everything with him for a while, mainly because I couldn't afford a second lifestyle at chargen. It was fun to walk around with restricted and forbidden items in a duffel and walk around hoping you'd be overlooked. It worked, largely.

Yeah, pretty much all I was trying to say.



-karma

I remember an old face/ sammy character of mine, named amusingly "Sam I Am". He was.... funny, charming, caring and an honorable guy when the world allowed him to be. even had a family till the group pissed off Renraku enough to get a Red Samurai team sent to their homes. Fortunately Sam was half a world away on business, unfortunately his family wasn't. This set off a spiral that resulted in much more use of Sam's intimidate skill and spurs. He walked away from his very nice home, all his non-work related stuff, his non-runner friends and went so deep into the shadows his own team "abducted" him and staged an intervention at one point, which only worked because the surprisingly pretty orc girl admitted to feelings for him.

I played a mage tramp who owned very few items, makes you alot harder to find if you dont have a home. Only down side was took fixers ages to track him down. Was fun character to roleplay as money didnt really matter so he did runs for other reasons

My coyote shaman character has had an enormous amount of stuff over his career, but since he doesn't really care about any of it he tends to lose or abandon anything he gets. Cars, apartments, even a yacht. It drove the rest of the team nuts due to the waste, but he just doesn't give a damn. He has a very short attention span and sooner or later will find something new to play with.

Shadowrunning Hobo with a Shotgun.

That's like being a homeless guy with a shopping cart. Hard for him to do tactical movement with the shopping cart.

No one expects that shopping cart to be packed with high explosives, and also no expects the hobo searching through the bins to be a runner who is doing leg work, hobo blend in a people avoid eye contact. (Bit like Rorschach without mask on, just ignored in the street).

I have a drwarven ...hacker/wepons guy, that's living out of a duffel bag, but that's just his situation at character gen, not really his way of life. To "walk the earth" or something, should require serious motivation from the characters back story. I'm not buying some pseudo secret agent catch phrase

I've thought about it too. Magicians and adepts would be the obvious kind of people to do this.. sort of a mystical contempt for the material world and all that.

If you're going to be "above materialism" though, you'll need to take a good look at your motivation for being a 'runner. Retirement money isn't likely to be the main motive.

...KK pretty much only had her Weapon Focus (Katana) two revolvers (Rugers), 2 speed loaders, one extra box EXEX ammo (24), 1 box (24) Gel Rounds, cheapo commlink (Pocket Secretary in earlier editions), her Armoured Jacket, Form Fit, Stetson, S**t Kickers (steel toed), custom flare comp/low light shades.

...and "Old Paint" (a Harley hog).

...her doss was a low lifestyle flat in the U District, where she kept extra changes of clothing (including a formal Kimono), one actioneer suit (which she could also keep in a duffel on the bike), and her "tea room".

As she was an Adept, she really had little she needed to spend lots of money on save for ammo. Karma was far more valuable to her, especially with the 4th ed initiation rules.


Leela on the other hand, had an electronics, demolitions, general mechanical shop, and chemlab. She also had a stash of explosives (C-6, C-12, various grenades, mines, and even an FAE bomb) an acoustic grand piano (9' concert Steinway), electronics, security, and survelance gear, a flame thrower, grenade pistol, Gyro Jet, her father's Cszeka, lots of regular, EXEX, and GyroJet rounds (including "plus" AV rounds), a wardrobe of chic armoured clothing, rollerblades, skateboard, and a Vespa she rebuilt out of parts (we had a group lifestyle and our "base" was an old junkyard in Denver).

When we ended up stuck in Seattle after a mission in the TT, (during which a Johnson left us hung out to dry with the Yaks in Denver) she felt so useless. All she had was a Preadator III with 2 clips regular ammo (fortunately smartlinked), her armoured jacket, form fit, electronics tool kit (with a rating 8 passkey), a couple standard IPE grenades, her micro transceiver, and Pocket Secretary.

Fortunately we were paid very well.

...before we left Denver, she did manage to rig the FAE bomb as a surprise for the Yak hit squad that was sent to the junkyard to take us out. Lit up the sky pretty good according to the news. There's now a scorched lot with a lot of melted metal and Yak soldier ashes where the junkyard used to be.

They don't call an FAE the "poor man's nuke" for nothing.