[Officerzan]

Sounds like something that falls under GM worldbuilding...don't like the background count? Change it. Don't need to stop using them entirely.

Fluff wise, dual-natured creatures solve the problem by avoiding such areas. Have a dual-natured runner? Well, everything has a cost.

That's said, I actually just allow all dual-natured characters to freely turn off their astral perception for the -2. It hasn't affected my game balance at all this far because it is so rare and because my games are usually very astrally populated. Often times my player/s would rather take the penalties to see the astral threats. I tend to play my NPCs the same way so my conjuring specialists don't steamroll the sessions.

[Rosa]

Most background counts should be in the 1-3 area, and - 3 dice shouldn't cripple a build.

And easily overcome by cleansing at least for a short period.

Not everything that is dual natured has the option to initiate into cleansing metamagic.

No, and you're right in that case -3 isn't a huge deal.

[SpellBinder]

There used to be a metamagic available to magicians and mystics called Filtering, which required Cleansing.  For a Complex Action you made a Magic + Counterspelling test with a threshold equal to the Background Count - Initiation Grade (minimum 1).  Each net hit negated one point of the background count for you, and lasted for a number of turns equal to your Magic.  Guess it was too powerful to bring back into SR5.

Mind this was also a time when background count didn't penalize your [Magic] skills and such, but actually reduced your Magic attribute.  If that dual natured critter had a Magic of 5 or less in that background count of 5, it'd no longer be a dual natured critter while it was in that background count.

[Kiirnodel]

SpellBinder, that's how Cleansing works now. Filtering became the baseline ability, and what used to be Cleansing (cleaning up an area around you) is now a ritual.

[Shinobi Killfist]

SpellBinder, that's how Cleansing works now. Filtering became the baseline ability, and what used to be Cleansing (cleaning up an area around you) is now a ritual.

That's one of the changes I like.

[SpellBinder]

SpellBinder, that's how Cleansing works now. Filtering became the baseline ability, and what used to be Cleansing (cleaning up an area around you) is now a ritual.

Alright, my mistake.  Interesting how some things are reversed.  Would think it'd be easier to learn how to clear large swaths of background count before one learns the finer details of making a body tight barrier against it.

[Kiirnodel]

I guess the idea here is that picking up the metamagic means that you've developed the ability to (extremely) temporarily mitigate background for yourself. And the ritual (which doesn't require a metamagic (or extra initiation) to learn expands that to a much longer term effect for a huge area.

[SpellBinder]

The Circle Of Cleansing ritual requires you to know the Cleansing metamagic first, then you can pay 5 karma to learn the spell.  It just now takes hours to perform and requires you to expend a lot of reagents, likely twice the number equal to the background count at a minimum.

[UnLimiTeD]

Dual Natured Adepts might also use the focussed concentration ability to ignore some background count. Of course, that means they can't ignore other annoying distractions.
Reason I consider any Infected that isn't an Adept (or actual mage) to be unplayable.
After all, shadowrunners might occasionally kill, and a violent death would already pollute the astral. Though I guess the aforementioned Adept also has an option for that.