In making a character for a recent game, I came upon a quandry. I'mmaking a private dick, so he needs wheels, but all the cars in the books are presumed to be new. I don't really see a desperate, live job to job PI having a brand new car, in fact the character's starting with the clothes on his back, an apartment with overdue rent, and the car... that's it. So taking 90k resources just for that, well it's overkill.

My proposed solution, reflect an older model, or beat the crap out of car by downgrading a statistic or two (reflecting wear) and reducing the cost by 1/2 the appropriate Improvement Cost a la Rigger 3.

Example: Jack Marshall's Ford Americar's seen better days. Hell, those better days were a good four years ago. The body's beat up, the muffler's shot, and she backfires. To represent the rattle, the clatter, and the backfiring, we raise the car's Signature by 1 point. The cost of a Signature Improvement is Rating to the 4th Power * 200 design points (1*1*1*1)*200 = 200. Since the markup for a Sedan is 1.0, and design points are multiplied by 100 to represent cost, a Signature improvement of 1 point would cost 20,000. Half of that is 10,000. Thus a beat up old backfiring muffler shot Ford Americar would cost only 10,000.

Thoughts, questions, comments... death threats?

I'd use the "Used Vehicle" quality factor in R3 as a guideline; it reduces the markup by .6 . Therefore that Ford Americar should cost 40% of its normal price, or at least it would in my game.

And rather than use vehicle stress (I've never even read those rules), I'd just treat it like a used car in a general way. Reduce its speed a little and have it break down from time to time. Having the cops find weed hidden by the original owners is a fun bonus, too

ed- And your idea of raising the signature is a fine idea, too

How thoroughly braindead am I... forgot to check for rules on used vehicles. Still, I like the idea that the car'd be radically screwed up.

Just use it like a flaw - get the GM to throw random mishaps at the car whenever he/she feels like it...

Should be interesting!

Speaking as the GM in question, if our lifestyle is above squatter, I believe youa re automatically entitlted to some mode of transportation, noting fancy but it has 4 wheels , at least 1 door and it'll usually move you from point a to point b.

The question then is, can you have the car used multiple times and continue decreasing the cost? End up with with your 2006 Ford Americar that's worth $300 and doesn't stop. Armor consists entirely of four and a half rolls of duct tape. May not look good, but it'll (occaisionally) get you there!

And the flaw with it is that it makes you a prime target for eco-terrorists the world over?

Hmmm Used Toyota pickups. game effects- NONE they survive everything! you might even lucky enough to find one thats had a few years combat experince..

Sorry Recently saw an episode of top gear where they tried to kill one.

I like the idea - We had a game of 'Runners who considered themselves professionals. High skills, high wages, high egos.

Mine had the POS van. It was slightly rusted, had no special features whatsoever, and ran on gasoline. Tended to have things like "Harvey's Plumbing" painted on the side. Contained enough space for the party and a couple of drones to rattle around in. Seats? Yeah. Driver and Passenger.

We loved it. It got a lot more mileage than the sportscars. Went to a lot of trouble to steal another just like it when it had to be dumped in a lake.

You could have them make a negotiation, or car b/r roll and use the results of that to determine how messed up the vehicle is. If they know cars or dealmaking they should be able to get a good used car. If they dont...

In the older Seattle books, where they go into detail, a vehicle or other means of transport is listed. That pass or car is tied tot he lifestyle, you commit a crime in a normal car and you loose teh lifestyle fairly quickly.

An insurance scam seems like a good idea for a run. How many of you have played Tony Hawk's Underground? There's one goal where you have to drive a broken car into a river so the owner can claim the insurance money. Best suited for a ganger campaign, you know?