Help - Search - Members - Calendar
Full Version: Lifestyle and your game.
Dumpshock Forums > Discussion > Shadowrun
Paul
QUOTE (Whipstitch @ Sep 21 2011, 02:52 PM) *
In my games people who can't manage a squatter lifestyle usually don't live very long.


I currently have a player who's character is a homeless veteran. I've got some ideas on how this will affect him, and why-but what about in your game? How does lifestyle play into your games?
toturi
QUOTE (Paul @ Sep 25 2011, 09:29 AM) *
I currently have a player who's character is a homeless veteran.

Going by the name of John Rambo perhaps?
Lantzer
It really depends on the particular game.

Now, in most games I've been in/run, I wouldn't reccomend a homeless lifestyle for a runner. Even squatting or coffin cubicals are better, because you have somewhere where you can get out of the weather, wash, store your stuff, and not get knifed in your sleep by a wire-head looking for his next fix.

It's rare to see a true homeless character - Even someone who sleeps regularly in a hobo camp or dry culvert is technically a squatter.

If you have no stuff to worry about losing, good luck finding a team for any role other than shaman.
Paul
QUOTE (toturi @ Sep 24 2011, 09:40 PM) *
Going by the name of John Rambo perhaps?



Heh. smile.gif No, actually "Buck". And he's not nearly as effective as ole' Johnny Boy. He's more like a second hand copy.
Traul
Why is he homeless? The money from runs should be enough to afford some lifestyle. What does he spend it on?
Faraday
A related question. What level of lifestyle would the folling be: Sleep/store stuff in a storage unit, then eat/drink/lounge/cat nap in a bar.
Paul
QUOTE (Traul @ Sep 24 2011, 08:59 PM) *
Why is he homeless?


This is major concept for him to explore. He's homeless because like so many veterans he's slipped through the cracks. He's slightly mentally ill, and has no support network. He's an old soldier, who doesn't know how to do anything else.

QUOTE
The money from runs should be enough to afford some lifestyle. What does he spend it on?


This was our first game, so we'll see as we go. He actually traded the payment from the first run for some firepower, because he started the game with no weapons. From an OOC perspective the player who designed the character actually purposefully shorted the character points. He's 370 or 360 compared to 400 build points for everyone else.
Paul
QUOTE (Faraday @ Sep 24 2011, 09:11 PM) *
A related question. What level of lifestyle would the folling be: Sleep/store stuff in a storage unit, then eat/drink/lounge/cat nap in a bar.


I'd say you could split hairs for that be Squatter or Low Life Style. Maybe even middle if you really wanted to push it.
CanRay
Squatter. Unless you use the Advanced Lifestyles Rules in Runner's Companion.
Medicineman
2-4 of my Chars have Upperclass /Luxury Lifestyle and they know how to use it(renting VIP Rooms for the Meeting with the Johnson,Bodyguards in the Background,bribing the Security during the Meeting,after "Delivery",etc)

with a luxury Dance
Medicineman
Mardrax
We currently have a campaign going where we have a group Lifestyle that heavily determines the game. We're basically squatting in a partially repaired and redecorated Barrens mall, that's been flooded and subsequently abandoned decades ago. With another 50 gang members (ranging from Ideal Housemates to Concerned Neighbours and Crash Pad crashers, who are also a Group Contact for all of us) with whom we forced the previous inhabitants out (Enemy, yay!). It's currently being used as a gang HQ and largely self-sustainable community housing project. A lot of our income goes into keeping and improving its shape.
HunterHerne
QUOTE (Mardrax @ Sep 25 2011, 06:51 PM) *
We currently have a campaign going where we have a group Lifestyle that heavily determines the game. We're basically squatting in a partially repaired and redecorated Barrens mall, that's been flooded and subsequently abandoned decades ago. With another 50 gang members (ranging from Ideal Housemates to Concerned Neighbours and Crash Pad crashers, who are also a Group Contact for all of us) with whom we forced the previous inhabitants out (Enemy, yay!). It's currently being used as a gang HQ and largely self-sustainable community housing project. A lot of our income goes into keeping and improving its shape.


Not a bad idea.

In my game, I use the advanced rules, and one PC does his own security (rigger). that said, his neighbours don't like him there and the cops are on to him.

The others pretty much revolve around him (The hacker lived with him for a while, then moved out, and the mage lives there now), but the Phys. Ad. took residence within a low rent area around the Airforce base. An attempt to keep his enemies from hitting him too hard.
Faelan
In my game several characters have food allergies or preferences, and lifestyle has become a surprisingly important part of the game. They will do anything to keep from slipping back to squatter, and want as many fake sins with decent lifestyles as possible.
Kesendeja
We used the advanced rules for the game I'm playing in. It took some time but this is how my mages place ended up.

My mage lived in an old church/school that she'd converted. It was in the middle of nowhere and had a reputation for being "creepy". Maybe had something to do with the local gangs and crime syndicate using it's cemetery to dump bodies. Or the pack of ghouls she pays for security. Then again it is haunted. But it also exists on a place of power that helps her ritual casting, and what neighbors she does have like her.

A solid chunk of the interior is given over to a "garden" which she uses to supplement her lifestyle, and an impressive library plus work area. It's almost totally self sufficient power wise due to solar panels and wind turbines, water's the only thing still connected to the city.

The Decker has even converted part of the basement into a techno sanctuary, adding security and household drones to the place.

In the end most of the team ended up moving in with her. So far they've been scrupulous about keeping the area under the radar.
Mardrax
QUOTE (Kesendeja @ Sep 26 2011, 01:56 AM) *
So far they've been scrupulous about keeping the area under the radar.

Good luck with that, with a church in the middle of nowhere, with a few neighbours, all decked out in solar panels and wind turbines. spin.gif
Kesendeja
QUOTE (Mardrax @ Sep 25 2011, 07:15 PM) *
Good luck with that, with a church in the middle of nowhere, with a few neighbors, all decked out in solar panels and wind turbines. spin.gif


Not the fact that no one lives there, that's impossible. But the fact that it has shadow runners in residence. So far they think we're some sort of commune, dedicated to making the neighbor hood safer. It's simply amazing what good will can make people ignore.
CanRay
Homefront shows how this can be done in the right circumstances.

Don't forget after VITAS and the NAN, there's lots of Ghost Towns in North America that you can set up as a base of operations.

Europe would also have a lot of little villages in the valleys and mountainous areas that are probably just as dead.

As long as you keep the Emissions low, you're golden.
Paul
Bribery and graft an be relatively easily overlooked by both Players, and IC by the community. "Sure they strange, but hey I can borrow their riding lawn mower when ever I want. So live and let live. They always have a bunch of dudes in and out there, dressed in leather. i think they're a butch swinger couple..."
Ascalaphus
I get the impression that places like Puyallup, there's lots of room in the ruins for people tough enough to survive the occasional marauding gang. Police has given up on the place, as long as a sector doesn't spawn any groups attacking paying customers, the rentacops have no reason to go there.
CanRay
All depends on the community and how "Subtle" your friends are. Some gutterpunk in a lined coat covered in paint spray and a pink mohawk isn't going to fit in a suburb in any way. Give him a hat and a jogging suit, however, even the piercings can just be "Well, he's just showing his individuality in a socially acceptable manner while off time.".

And bikers, well, bikers fit in everywhere. Especially if your neighbors know you're part of a RUB MC that does Philanthropic "Runs" for various charities (Which would probably look good on a Fake SIN, BTW.), so even a group of burly folks on bikes and leathers, as long as they're not flashing infamous "1%er" MC colours, could go completely unnoticed. Just keep the noise down after 11.
Midas
QUOTE (Paul @ Sep 25 2011, 01:29 AM) *
I currently have a player who's character is a homeless veteran. I've got some ideas on how this will affect him, and why-but what about in your game? How does lifestyle play into your games?


Sounds interesting, good luck with that. ...

Saying that, is he really still gonna stay on the streets once the shadowrunner level jobs start coming in? Noone really wants to live on the streets, so I imagine he would want to get a roof over his head pretty much after the first run.

In my game, I encourage folks to take at least a low lifestyle. Any lower and they run the risk of having gear stolen, getting mugged/hassled by assorted street scum etc. OK, you can live on a squatter lifestyle if you are paying extra for a locker for your duffel bag'o'gear, and pay out for a shower before you go and meet the Johnson, but you would have to have a very good IC reason not to upgrade to low.

Most PC's actually run 2 lifestyles, their "main" R4 fake sin one, and then a bolthole they can lie low in after runs or if someone is after them. They are currently saving for a group HQ that they can use after runs, so if the bad guys come after them at least they will all be together as opposed to alone and unsupported. Oh, and they also all have a locker stashed with a "new" fake SIN and a survival kit (med kit, std armour, pistol and smg) should they end up in real trouble.
CanRay
Most of the characters I've written have lifestyles quite mapped out, with a few even having diagrams of their apartments in my head. (I think all the time. I can't stop, so I aim at the nicer things in life. Like shooting people in the face for money.).

One is a SINner that has a High lifestyle and a two-bedroom loft in Downtown Seattle, the second bedroom for his "Office" of his "Legitimate Business" that explains why he has the licenses he does. He has a number of boltholes and hideaways set up around the city, and a Ford-Canada Bison for when he wants to go hunting. He charters a boat for fishing trips depending on his mood (Ranging from a bass boat to a whaling vessel.).

Another has a Low lifestyle in a dinky one-bedroom apartment that's really tight now that his boyfriend is living with him (It's causing some strife between the two.), and knows some smuggling hide-outs in the city where he can lay low without having to outlay extra cash to upkeep. He is looking at either a larger apartment or a bolthole, however.

Yet another has a family taking up a tenement building that they've claimed for themselves and fortified. An ork family, everyone is ready to fight and armed at almost all times. Dangerous group to mess with.
Ascalaphus
I've had a player with an Adept with Sustenance, who was really big on the Postmaterialist thing - not being tied down to possessions. He chose to have a minimal lifestyle. (However, when we found out about shared lifestyles, it turned out that sharing Middle is even cheaper than doing Low on your own...)
Traul
If he is still counting his nuyen, it's not called postmaterialist, it's called stingy nyahnyah.gif
Ascalaphus
Eh. The adept snuffed it when we discovered that if the enemy uses burst fire, Reaction is no solution for Body 2. Sad really, it was a cool character, but the player didn't feel like burning Edge.
Machiavelli
As we started playing a squatter lifestyle seemed to be fun, but nowadays a low lifestyle is the absolute minimum request. If you loot or buy, you can relatively quick gather expensive and for your everydays work required gear. So whatever lifestyle you buy, a lockable room is an absolute must. My current char. is homeless because his home was blown away, but the intention is defintely a medium home with higher-rated amenities. Everything below this makes more trouble than it grants benefits.
Mardrax
I've had a character who made his home and workshop out of his trusty rigger vanbulance. It had a bound Machine Sprite more or less permanently living in it, which tended to make rather gruesome offhanded comments about what went on 'in the back.' Especially when group members would ride in said back, which was often.
Ironically, his ambulance was the only place any of the crew had access to high ammenities, which was the main reason our troll vehicle wrecker never pulled a prank like tearing it up. "What? And screw up the only place I can get real coffee? That delivers too?"
It probably would have made a popular off-run crashpad if it weren't for his clientele being mostly Yaks.

Of course, it made for a really helpful tool on runs. A little ruthenium goes a long way towards diguising an ambulance, while an ambulance itself is quite capable of getting into places itself. Having an Orderly on call to pick up and stabilise people is great, while having access to a medical Shop makes those First Aid checks a bit less iffy. Plus, all of those storage compartments and miscellaneous medical gear can hide all sorts of goodies.
It made for a terrible resource-sink though, so it should have.
JanessaVR
I personally think the whole "born on the streets, living in the shadows thing" - cue soundtrack "You were born in the city, concrete under your feet..." - has become a ridiculously overdone cliché in Shadowrun. I always go with High Lifestyle as I tend to prefer living a double-life as a SINner. Let any teammates of mine who are foolish enough to want to live in the ghetto or the barrens do so. Not for me, thanks.
HunterHerne
QUOTE (JanessaVR @ Sep 27 2011, 03:43 PM) *
I personally think the whole "born on the streets, living in the shadows thing" - cue soundtrack "You were born in the city, concrete under your feet..." - has become a ridiculously overdone cliché in Shadowrun. I always go with High Lifestyle as I tend to prefer living a double-life as a SINner. Let any teammates of mine who are foolish enough to want to live in the ghetto or the barrens do so. Not for me, thanks.


To each their own. My characters, when I'm not GM, are usually middle lifestyle, but I've played all the lower end styles. High and luxury lifestyles just don't appeal to me.
Paul
I think it depends on the campaign. In some of higher end games, not necessarily from a build point perspective, the players have assumed the roles of everyone from rich kids looking to explore some excitement, to a corporate sponsored team of paramilitaries who had a lifestyle James Bond would be jealous of.

To me it's a tool. Right tool for the right job, or in this case story. There is no wrong way-as long as you're having fun. I just wanted to see where my game benchmarks, and as usual I see I fight into the spectrum at large, on what I see as the favorable end. Lifestyle plays an important part of our game, but it's not a case of the tail wagging the dog.
Traul
It's not only a tool, it's also a goal. Make 10 million Nuyen and retire in luxury. If you don't like the bling, 1 million is enough.
Snow_Fox
We are all very much into role playing and having well developed characters so it is a big paret of our games keeping things straight. I remember once playing a game with someone who had a very different lifestyle and our characters cordially disliked each other and went out of their way to annoy the others. It was being played in a club and some of the other people thought they were going to view a cat fight, like they started to move between us, soemthnig that amused the hell out of both of us because we knew we were just playing.
Saint Hallow
Depends on the characters, I would think. If you ahve a character with a High/Luxury lifestyle a majority of the time, then why are they shadowrunning? To keep up payments or for thrills?

My character's goal is get enough to earn a permanent High/Luxury lifestyle. Retire & live the good life.

For other folks, it's different.
Christian Lafay
One of character is currently rocking a Luxury Lifestyle (Advanced Rules smacked around with a Trust Fund) with his wife (perfect roommate) and still runs the shadows. He tends to fall somewhere between the villain from Ocean's 12 who is just rich and bored and the sniper from RED who just couldn't give up the life. This character's lifestyle is mostly just fluff as far as the story is concerned.

But then there is the other character who spends all of his money on attempting to claim Glow City, block by radioactive block. Again using the Advanced Rules. This character, however, has a lifestyle that both can and has added interesting missions and hooks.

Saint Hallow
So, as some folks pointed out, their character's lifestyle is either a goal for them (character development/plot) or something they just have & their goals are something else entirely.
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.
Dumpshock Forums © 2001-2012