I used thermal 100% of the time it was available for the task at hand, day and night, when I was a gunner back in my Army days. Never bothered me, and I never felt the faintest annoyance with it or desire to turn it off. If I had it in my eyes or glasses, I'd always run it, and I think a lot of people would do the same. Sure, some people would only run it when they need it, but those people aren't generally the sort who would gouge out their eyes and put in robot parts, I think.

The players are supposed to represent professionals, so I see no problem with assuming that they have all their mission critical gear operating during the whole of the mission.

If it's a declared action, it's to be declared.

Same as if I'm summoning something big and state, "I'm gonna try for a great-form" with all that entails if I can't make the rolls.

Asking the adept with Killing hands (D) to "rough that guy up for some info" while assuming that he leaves his adept smacko powers on all the time is asking for trouble....Sort of like expecting the wired sammy to have his gun out "just in case".

Bad if you're in McHughs.
Worse if you're a sadistic GM and like to have kids come up to your runners and tug on their black overcoats asking loudly, "Are you REAL Shadorunners? Hey, Mom, look, real Shadowrunners!" and the adept accidently give the tykes a taste of delayed D damage.....

-Tir.

Yeah, cuz thats clearly what I said... I also make them declare their actions in writing and speak only in iambic pentameter. Otherwise they have to sit in the naughty chair.

My point is that characters aren't on "missions" 24 hours a day. And I find the hyper-vigilant ever-ready stone-cold professional meme boring. Real people don't live that way, and frankly I think it limits the players' ability to really experience the game world. But YMMV. Play however you want.

It is up to the player to tell me, the GM, if they have anything they are going to have "always on".

I don't find it unreasonable to have the player announce at least the first time he's using a power that "I'm going to be using this every time normally, unless I say I'm not."

Of course, I'm not above using this to have a player bite himself in the ass. If they later forget to state they are NOT using the power when it would be a bad thing to be using it, and they don't get the hint when I ask, "Anything else?", well... The best most satisfying player-screw is when they do it to themselves.






-karma

If you want to implement a more 'real life integrated' play style in your games, but you don't want to use the 'seamless augmented living' idea, do this: start using the 'stuff requires batteries' rules. If they have to charge up their Wires 3 or their Thermo goggles, they'll be more careful about always-on.

Just explain *why* you're doing it.

Depends: do you know how many dishes you can save if you keep the Wired reflexes on while cooking?

Day Job: sushi chef for the ultra-rich. Because otherwise, you don't cook in SR.

You still bring the dishes to the table, adn that's the dangerous part.

Soylent green is finger food.

Yeah, cuz thats clearly what I said...

As a player I actually make sure and play out the -consequences- of anything I leave on all the time - like the fact that my little speed demon was always tweaking and going a fast course to burnout (the mundane real version, not the one for awakened- although she could have hit that too the way she was going with the uppers). or the fact that certain kinds of vision will make blinding in odd ways easier (face full of steam for thermal..). Amusing things like the armor always being on under street clothing meaning her olfactory enhanced teammate nearly gags from the heavy fabreeze smell coming off her, heh.

There are times when declaring the use of a power is needed. Basically, any time you have to break out the Combat Turn Sequence rules, you are going to have to explicitly declare the use of powers, delayed actions, interrupts, etc. That being said, the only times I've seen the Combat Turn Sequence rules vigorously attended to are during player-vs-player fights, and then declaring powers is absolutely critical to battle tactics.