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Lifestyle ratings

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JoeNapalm

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« on: <02-22-18/1107:28> »

Is there somewhere it breaks down the actual numbers for things like Comforts/Necessities/Security like it does for Neighborhoods?

Plenty of general flavor text, but would be nice to know what, exactly, you get for those points.

-Jn-
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Stainless Steel Devil Rat

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« Reply #1 on: <02-22-18/1119:42> »
Prior editions used to treat lifestyles kind of like a threshold.  At a certain lifestyle, certain things are presumed to be available.  One of the most relevant-to-players things was clothes.  To get into a fancy club, for example, you might need either to have a high lifestyle or spend some out-of-pocket nuyen on a fancy outfit above the means available at your actual lifestyle to LOOK like you have a high lifestyle.

It's a concept that 5E could stand to bring back, imo.

Not sure however that it'd be beneficial to provide an explicit laundry list of things you have at given lifestyle tiers.  Because once you have such a list, then there's only going to be quibbling over why this certain item is or isn't on it.  A blanket tier system works well.  GMs are there to provide discretion; a GM can decide fairly quickly and easily (much faster than flipping through a resource to find a hypothetical list) whether any given asset is available to a shadowrunner based on lifestyle.   

Of course, the GM can also still use lifestyle tiers as a way to figure out what kind of harassment NPCs might give a shadowrunner based on lifestyle.  Squatters and Street lifestyle runners LOOK like they're squatters or live in the street; in nice areas they'll be watched/harassed just because of that.  Medium/High lifestyle runners LOOK like they have more money than most people; street gangers and alleymuggers will react accordingly.  etc.
RPG mechanics exist to give structure and consistency to the game world, true, but at the end of the day, you’re fighting dragons with algebra and random number generators.

ShadowcatX

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« Reply #2 on: <02-22-18/1132:52> »
There's no need to bring it back, it has been in 5e for a while, see a sidebar on page 217 of run faster about how lifestyle impacts fashion. Also there is rules text in that section about what the numbers for comforts, necessities and security do. (Ie. Security helps keep your stuff from being stolen up to availability = security * 2.)

Tecumseh

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« Reply #3 on: <02-22-18/1244:37> »
Joe, I think 4E's Runner's Companion (p. 154-8) has what you're looking for. Each rating (squatter/street/low/etc.) gets about a paragraph of description for each lifestyle category (comforts, entertainment, necessities, neighborhood, security), plus examples for each combination. I find it hugely helpful; I just reread it a week ago for a new character I was making.

JoeNapalm

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« Reply #4 on: <02-22-18/1641:07> »
Joe, I think 4E's Runner's Companion (p. 154-8) has what you're looking for. Each rating (squatter/street/low/etc.) gets about a paragraph of description for each lifestyle category (comforts, entertainment, necessities, neighborhood, security), plus examples for each combination. I find it hugely helpful; I just reread it a week ago for a new character I was making.

Thanks. I'll take a look, sounds like exactly what I wanted.

[EDIT]

Yes, that's what I was looking for. Must have remembered it from SR4A days and thought I'd seen it in SR5 somewhere.

It's all well-and-good to have a DV mod and all that -- but when you want to know if your character can shower regularly, or has furniture, that doesn't really help.

-Jn-
« Last Edit: <02-22-18/1648:10> by JoeNapalm »