Shadowrun
Shadowrun General => Gear => Topic started by: Teyl_Iliar on <01-28-11/1626:40>
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Alright people this is a subject that actually I think gets a little over looked, Safe houses.
Nobody in the shadows can live long without one, because lets face it, we spend our days pissing off people with power on par with most 6th world countries. If they want us, they'll come get us. But everyone needs a place to sleep and eat at the end of a long run, so how do you keep your safe house safe? know some special trick that's served you well? Share it here!
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Sewers - the classical approach. You find a forgotten dry section with easy enough access (for you, that is), and go from there. With drones and spirits at the average shadowrunning group's disposal that's a pretty average task. :)
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Sewers - the classical approach. You find a forgotten dry section with easy enough access (for you, that is), and go from there. With drones and spirits at the average shadowrunning group's disposal that's a pretty average task. :)
Just watch the occasional drenching downpour that may flood you out.
My call? Warehouses, preferably near shipping ports. Lots of space that many do not notice (and easy to bribe those that do). Heck, you can make a pretty decent apartment out of an abandoned shipping containers. Get some portable generators and hack a nearby landline or wifi and you're good to go.
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That's why i mentioned dry sections. Smart shadowrunners will build a proper drainage system.
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That's why i mentioned dry sections. Smart shadowrunners will build a proper drainage system.
seems like that would require time, materials and skills that not everyone might have...
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That's why i mentioned dry sections. Smart shadowrunners will build a proper drainage system.
seems like that would require time, materials and skills that not everyone might have...
That's what makes it a good safe house. You put the time and effort into building a drainage system, you also learn the lay of the land, the locals and how to defend the terrain.
On top of that, the effort required also means that most security forces will write it off without investigating when they start hunting the runners.
Imagine:
"Hey, shouldn't we check this sewer out? The guy we're looking for hangs out in this neighborhood."
"Yeah, but after last night's downpour, no one would stay there. Let's try the warehouses down by the docks, easy access, lots of space, few people, it's perfect!"
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A valid point. But then again it's kind of specific. What makes it any better than the barrens? or some equally desolate place? Also, I have a feeling that not everyone is willing to stay in the sewers. What about other options? Of course it's true that a warehouse can be a good place to hold up, but it's a big space... how would you secure it? Any ideas?
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Better than the Barrens? Slightly lower devil rat population, fewer transients, same number of ghouls. Probably fewer gangers in general.
Other good places? Cheap apartments, warehouses, abandoned buildings, or anywhere else not immediately associated with the character in question.
If your character is typically a low-lying street samurai scum-bag, no one will look for him at a pent-house apartment, attending the social event of the season.
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And even when people do suspect high-society types, they tend to get much different treatment, basically gossip instead of police raids. See also: Bat Man, Green Hornet, Jack the Ripper, etc.
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A valid point. But then again it's kind of specific. What makes it any better than the barrens? or some equally desolate place? Also, I have a feeling that not everyone is willing to stay in the sewers. What about other options? Of course it's true that a warehouse can be a good place to hold up, but it's a big space... how would you secure it? Any ideas?
Well, the warehouse is an obvious way to go. But that works better as a Team Meeting type of place. What I was think of is just a shipping container. Great camouflage and big enough to crash and stockpile necessities.
(http://www.2012shelteredtechnologies.com/resources/Shipping%20Container%20Shelter.jpg)
(http://www.johnlsayers.com/Studio/Images/Container/plan.jpg)
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And as a bonus, easy to move if you need to ! The only trouble is that it's a bit small to be troll-friendly.
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Well, the warehouse is an obvious way to go. But that works better as a Team Meeting type of place. What I was think of is just a shipping container. Great camouflage and big enough to crash and stockpile necessities.
That is actually pretty awesome. never thought of it! *scribbles down notes* I'd have a few extra measures in place too though, shotgun trap for instance, or if it was a place i kept sensitive info rig it to burn unless right buttons get pressed within 30 seconds or something along those lines....
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Coffin hotels, fake SINs with their own lifestyle... still, there's no substitute like leaving town if things go bad - or are expected to. Can sleep on a train, boat or bus easily enough. Hire a smuggler to get you out a little less publicly, if needed. Go camping, either urban (finding a nice box in an alley) or rural (a little scarier in the sixth world, but that's how it goes).
Contacts are good, too. Crash at someone else's place for a day or two, then move on. Return the favor when possible. Helps build relationships. Owe someone and they'll want to keep you around to pay them back. Just be a good guest so the balance doesn't tip toward "worth more to them than me".
Assuming you're not encumbered by high morals, just break into someone else's home and make it your own for a while. That's no small amount of potential trouble, but few people can plan for you to do something like this, let alone know which one you'll choose.
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Have your Hacker check travel agencies for long term trips track the perchance to the home, hack the home firewall to check if you can use it via the spyware installed in the appliances to make sure no one is making regular house calls, have the house cleaning drones make a map of how the house looked before you got there and have them put it back when you leave, use an automated food delivery system to bring supply when no one is around to notice(repeat as needed) it is not perfect but nothing ever is
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The whole of the barrens is a safehouse.
Test to survive in an urban environment without spending a yen is Willpower + Survival (1).
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The whole of the barrens is a safehouse.
Test to survive in an urban environment without spending a yen is Willpower + Survival (1).
;D true story!
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The shipping conatiner is a really cool idea!
They cost about $1,500 to $2,000 so they are cheap and you can do lots of interesting modifications to them!
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I had an early 3E character that lived in two containers on top of each other. the bottom was a garage for his bike.
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That would work out perfectly. Hey, in RL that wouldn't be a bad idea for a storage/shop of some sort either!
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Expanding on the cargo box idea:
http://www.hybridseattle.com/cargotecture.html (http://www.hybridseattle.com/cargotecture.html)
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I'm reading a lot of good stuff! But what about the high end stuff? Anybody break into a safe house and see a trick they liked? I have so I'll share. ;) My team and I had been working together for 11 months, we had plenty of nuyen from all the work we'd been doing and a generous sponsor to boot. So we planned to build ourselves a team hideout. Since we had a street Doctor, we were going to renovate a run down 2 story building that had a basement and turn the place in to a doctor's office/ safe house/ armory. We wanted to make it look like an ordinary apartment building on the outside and make it a medium group lifestyle equivalent fortress. the outside door had a buzz panel (like most apartments) with a camera. (as to play the part.) Which was linked only to the monitor at the reception desk. On the main floor was the doctors office, lobby of which was going to be watched over by a smart turret shotgun with an extended drum magazine and an armored and chemically sealed reception desk. along with a false ceiling panel that was hiding a pair of Breath Taker grenades. (In case of something the shotgun couldn't handle) along with 3 rooms with valkyrie beds and an ER where our Doctor could work. All hallways had double coverage from two turrets. A staircase in the back lead to the upstairs which contained the group apartment covered by a light machine gun turret and more Breath Taker grenades and flashbangs. The upstairs had 4 bed rooms and a communal bathroom (showers kept separate) with beds, an open kitchen, Trid area, table, all the usual living room and kitchen stuff, and at the end of the hall a safe room that held the controls for all the automated defense systems and cameras in/on the safe house (including a rating 6 smart jammer.) Operating on a closed wired network, as well as the armory for the upstairs, and the failsafe trigger to be set in case of a full scale assault on the building. ;D The basement would have acted as the machine shop/garage/loot storage area. All the vehicles got stored there along with stolen, or otherwise procured armor, equipment and weapons. (After their RFID tags had been burned out.) Our mage provided the building with a second level of security, providing Watcher spirts to tell her when anyone tried to look around inside our place astrally. I thought it would stand up pretty damn while in the case of anything short of a KE SWAT team showing up. But I'm interested in other people's ideas on it. So Tell me folks, what do you think?
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Oh, well, if you're going to go the nuyen's no object route... ;)
That actually sounds pretty good. Reminds me a bit of the Leverage team's home base (minus the doctor, plus a bar).
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I'm a bit leery of keeping the group in one location and of making that location static. The more you go to any one safehouse, the less safe it is. People will notice you, friends will know where to find you, your datatrail will show repeated use in the area, and if you go there and stay there as a group it'll be easier to identify. At that point, your safehouse is little better than a plain old house. You can arm and armor it as much as you want, but siege tools/tactics tend to win out.
In my opinion then, a good safehouse should be used only once, preferably by only one person. The fewer people that know, the better ("three can keep a secret if two are dead" and that sort of thing). There are too many potential boltholes out there to bother with keeping any one of them.
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I can understand that a well used safe house is no longer a safe house. the only extra considerations i can add were that It was mainly to be used as the street doctor's office and nothing else unless need be. It's located in Everett since they area was largely disputed by corps and other people there is very little actual KE over-site of the area and a Huge squatter population, which helps it hide in plan sight. Beside the squatters making it look less like anything odd is going on, the fact that it's the only doctor's office in the area willing to help people with serious injuries. (some community hooding.) Which has the the locals on our side. if someone comes looking for the place we'll know. Beyond that... it is what it is.
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Community ties are good all around. If anyone who might come looking for you sticks out in your community, then they'll have trouble getting anywhere. Good advice!
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I'm reading a lot of good stuff! But what about the high end stuff? Anybody break into a safe house and see a trick they liked? I have so I'll share. ;) My team and I had been working together for 11 months, we had plenty of nuyen from all the work we'd been doing and a generous sponsor to boot. So we planned to build ourselves a team hideout. Since we had a street Doctor, we were going to renovate a run down 2 story building that had a basement and turn the place in to a doctor's office/ safe house/ armory. We wanted to make it look like an ordinary apartment building on the outside and make it a medium group lifestyle equivalent fortress. the outside door had a buzz panel (like most apartments) with a camera. (as to play the part.) Which was linked only to the monitor at the reception desk. On the main floor was the doctors office, lobby of which was going to be watched over by a smart turret shotgun with an extended drum magazine and an armored and chemically sealed reception desk. along with a false ceiling panel that was hiding a pair of Breath Taker grenades. (In case of something the shotgun couldn't handle) along with 3 rooms with valkyrie beds and an ER where our Doctor could work. All hallways had double coverage from two turrets. A staircase in the back lead to the upstairs which contained the group apartment covered by a light machine gun turret and more Breath Taker grenades and flashbangs. The upstairs had 4 bed rooms and a communal bathroom (showers kept separate) with beds, an open kitchen, Trid area, table, all the usual living room and kitchen stuff, and at the end of the hall a safe room that held the controls for all the automated defense systems and cameras in/on the safe house (including a rating 6 smart jammer.) Operating on a closed wired network, as well as the armory for the upstairs, and the failsafe trigger to be set in case of a full scale assault on the building. ;D The basement would have acted as the machine shop/garage/loot storage area. All the vehicles got stored there along with stolen, or otherwise procured armor, equipment and weapons. (After their RFID tags had been burned out.) Our mage provided the building with a second level of security, providing Watcher spirts to tell her when anyone tried to look around inside our place astrally. I thought it would stand up pretty damn while in the case of anything short of a KE SWAT team showing up. But I'm interested in other people's ideas on it. So Tell me folks, what do you think?
Ive done things like that with past groups. We learned its all fun and games untill some one brings home a stripper with a big mouth. If you get burned you loose it all. It makes you a target.
damnyankee
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Ive done things like that with past groups. We learned its all fun and games untill some one brings home a stripper with a big mouth. If you get burned you loose it all. It makes you a target.
damnyankee
Yup - but also makes for great stories too ;)
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Ive done things like that with past groups. We learned its all fun and games untill some one brings home a stripper with a big mouth. If you get burned you loose it all. It makes you a target.
No offense Omae, but you or one of yours brings a stripper/prostitute to the safe house you deserve to be targeted. Having a good safe house is one thing. Using your brain when you need to lay low is another. If you have a good place to hide and you bring parties untrust worthy (read: any/everyone who doesn't need to know.) to that safe house, it is NO LONGER SAFE. Therefore defeating the entire purpose. :-\
Moral of the story, if you need to get the rocks off when you're trying not to be killed 1. wrong priorities, 2. Go to eat in not take out.
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Regarding Leverage: They don't really use safe houses; the Leverage office is a base of operations (and front business). Instead, they rely on grifting to protect their identities and assets. Ideally, their targets never know who burned them, at least not until they're in a position where they can't retaliate. Their enemies occasionally see through the deception and hit them where they live.
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Ive done things like that with past groups. We learned its all fun and games untill some one brings home a stripper with a big mouth. If you get burned you loose it all. It makes you a target.
No offense Omae, but you or one of yours brings a stripper/prostitute to the safe house you deserve to be targeted. Having a good safe house is one thing. Using your brain when you need to lay low is another. If you have a good place to hide and you bring parties untrust worthy (read: any/everyone who doesn't need to know.) to that safe house, it is NO LONGER SAFE. Therefore defeating the entire purpose. :-\
Moral of the story, if you need to get the rocks off when you're trying not to be killed 1. wrong priorities, 2. Go to eat in not take out.
First...stripper does not equate to hooker.
Second...I like the idea of never sleeping in the same place twice. Autopilot and a van can be your friend.
Third...Yeah, don't be bringing anybody back to your super secret hideout...Alfred screwed up when he let Vicki into the Bat Cave. 8-)
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First...stripper does not equate to hooker.
Just trying to lump all the, tempting, and talkative entertainers in all at once sir, didn't mean to offend.
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@ Teyl_Iliar
No offense taken. ;D
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Yeah it was bad. but the player was playing his character...
the autopilot thing reminded me of a guy who had a bus as his house/hideout. it was a normal bus with the "out of service" sign... went everywhere no one thought twice about it. Big too. lots of room for stuff.
Damnyankee
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As a GM...I am willing to cut players a lot of slack if they are rp'ing their character. ;D
Hook into grid guide and you got yourself a moving target. A city bus would be a bit bigger than I would personally need. Something along the lines of a U-Haul truck would be more than sufficient for my meager needs.
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A valid point. But then again it's kind of specific. What makes it any better than the barrens? or some equally desolate place? Also, I have a feeling that not everyone is willing to stay in the sewers. What about other options? Of course it's true that a warehouse can be a good place to hold up, but it's a big space... how would you secure it? Any ideas?
Well, the warehouse is an obvious way to go. But that works better as a Team Meeting type of place. What I was think of is just a shipping container. Great camouflage and big enough to crash and stockpile necessities.
(http://www.2012shelteredtechnologies.com/resources/Shipping%20Container%20Shelter.jpg)
(http://www.johnlsayers.com/Studio/Images/Container/plan.jpg)
BEST IDEA I'VE EVER SEEN!
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So... anyone have any other methods not yet shared? I'm sure there are a few people out there with other ideas.
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A zeppelin-safehouse! That would be totally awesome. :)
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A zeppelin-safehouse! That would be totally awesome. :)
that could totally work, slap a sun cell on it, with enough cargo room you could keep a whole team out of sight for a week or 2. seems like it might be vulnerable to attack if picked out though... solutions?
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Speaking as someone who is in the construction business, in the management/engineering sector...
I have never understood these folks designing long term buildings and structures using cargo shipping containers. The containers are constructed of the absolute lowest quality crap steel, and simply are not designed to last. If you scrape off the multiple layers of paint on any container more than a few months old, you'll often see a wall of rust. Usually they're only good for maybe a half dozen trips across the ocean before they're broken down for scrap.
-k
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"Burn Notice" likes to use abandoned construction sites and unoccupied homes for safe houses. They also use the hero's childhood home a lot. :)
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Speaking as someone who is in the construction business, in the management/engineering sector...
I have never understood these folks designing long term buildings and structures using cargo shipping containers. The containers are constructed of the absolute lowest quality crap steel, and simply are not designed to last. If you scrape off the multiple layers of paint on any container more than a few months old, you'll often see a wall of rust. Usually they're only good for maybe a half dozen trips across the ocean before they're broken down for scrap.
-k
That's something very worth noting! At least to those who where going to use them more than once. :P
thanks for that Info Karma!
"Burn Notice" likes to use abandoned construction sites and unoccupied homes for safe houses. They also use the hero's childhood home a lot. :)
The construction sites, and abandoned buildings make sense, as long as you figure that while some of those places aren't guarded 24-7 they are usually monitored by one security company or another... but i'm not so keen on the idea of using your family's place. That personally doesn't seem the safest move to me... unless you know you don't give a shit about exposing your family to those kinds of risks.
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A zeppelin-safehouse! That would be totally awesome. :)
that could totally work, slap a sun cell on it, with enough cargo room you could keep a whole team out of sight for a week or 2. seems like it might be vulnerable to attack if picked out though... solutions?
Nothing with a Body of 36 should ever be called "Vulenrable" to anything. ;)
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A zeppelin-safehouse! That would be totally awesome. :)
that could totally work, slap a sun cell on it, with enough cargo room you could keep a whole team out of sight for a week or 2. seems like it might be vulnerable to attack if picked out though... solutions?
Nothing with a Body of 36 should ever be called "Vulenrable" to anything. ;)
A few things come to mind, a 3 rail gun broadside for instance.... or how bout a few AIM-27 sparrow hawks? maybe a tactical nuke or an orbital strike? :P but then again if you've got the cred to buy an 800,000 nuyen zepplin, and keep it flying i guess you kind of deserve it. ;)
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To Teyl_Iliar:
What if the runner has no family? What benifit does a family serve to a criminal anyway if all they do is give your enemies ammo? Many a aspiring dictator have killed their families to resolve this issue. OOOOO would that be a great back story for a druggy character?! Kills family so they can better pursue a shadowrunning career!
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To Teyl_Iliar:
What if the runner has no family? What benifit does a family serve to a criminal anyway if all they do is give your enemies ammo? Many a aspiring dictator have killed their families to resolve this issue. OOOOO would that be a great back story for a druggy character?! Kills family so they can better pursue a shadowrunning career!
that's a good point... if they don't care then why not?
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Going with the vehicle safe house idea, I came up with a what i think is a dosey. so after I share I'd enjoy opinions on how to maybe improve it.
Take a Zemlya-poltava Crest,
Assembly time improvement
Smuggling compartment (where better to hide your gear?)
then add on:
1. Sun cell: doubles operation in the sun. 6,000
2a. Pilot program: pick your ratings as you can afford them.
2b. Clearsight program (if you want)
2c. Defense program(if you want)
2d. ECW program(if you want)
2e. Manuver program(if you want)
3. Amenities High: Bed, kitchen, shower, living space. 1,000
4. Ballast tanks level 1 or 2: (lvl1) vehicle can submerge down to 100m, 24,000 (lvl2) you can submerge as deep as the vehicle can withstand the pressure. 120,000
6. Life support level 2: you can now hide underwater! 24,000
7. ECM: Rating as you can afford. I went for 10. 10,000
8. Satilite communications: Have comms where ever you go! 500
9. Valkyrie module: On board medical facility and stabilization unit. can be controlled by remote. 2,000
10. Signature Masking: reduces the DP of any sensors to locate or lock on to the craft. 2,000
you now have a mobile, easily hide-able, only board-able if you choose, safe house that could be, anywhere over 3/4 of the earth's surface, that uses the sun as fuel, and is easy to take apart and fix, with enough space to fit at least 3-5 people and their gear. No weapons, as to not arise suspision from security/law enforcement/military personnel. better than average armor, but nothing externally unusual about the model other than it being submersion capable. The signature masking, and ECM can be concealed inside of the ship hull and mixed in with other vital parts as to not make them obvious. otherwise.... I'm at a loss about what i can do to improve it, but since i don't know all of stats and mods by heart i might be wrong. So, I'm open to suggestions.
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For quick one shot bolt holes my character keeps a couple of self storage units stocked with camping gear, food, and extra ammo. If you live near a port, a beatup looking house boat is awesome. Heat gets too hot, just take it out to sea for a bit :)
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With the zepplin, I'm thinking you could light it up like an advertising blimp. The sides coated with ruthenium polymers to show off ad-space, and enough wireless to noisily broadcast whatever viral ad is making the rounds.
Basically, hiding in plain sight.
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With the zepplin, I'm thinking you could light it up like an advertising blimp. The sides coated with ruthenium polymers to show off ad-space, and enough wireless to noisily broadcast whatever viral ad is making the rounds.
Basically, hiding in plain sight.
I wonder if you could use that add space to make some New Yen
Thoughts?
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hell yeah, just make some shell company registered to another shell company that promotes advertisements.
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For a temporary, short term stay, dead people's homes can work well. Preferably SINless since you don't want the LEO to give you trouble and investigating you just for being there.
Lots of ways to do this. Easiest is to just get your hacker to pull the address on some poor slot you had to ice and break in after about 5 min of research on their comm to find out about spouses/girlfriend/boyfriend/roommates.
Safer route is to search the Obits on local news feeds, pick someone and just check it out.
The poorer the easier to do this but more expensive neighborhoods are more secure if you can manage to get in without notice. Course, like I said, this is not a good long term solution, this is a "I need a place to hide that nobody knows about." type thing. Trying this long term invites tons of trouble. People tend to clear out a dead person's place a couple days after they find out their dead.
All that said though, it could be fun to try and prevent the world from learning the person is dead, that way the rent is free as a possible long term option. Best in a tongue and cheek game, Weekend At Bernie's style. 8)
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Ok I'm loving the zepplin idea as well as the boat but can a runner really start with any of that?
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Ok I'm loving the zepplin idea as well as the boat but can a runner really start with any of that?
I don't know about starting with it. that depends on your GM or it can certainly be worked up too. The boat itself 35,000. Upgrades at a minimum cost are 61,500ish. That's without the defense/ECW/clearsight/manuver programs and rating 1 pilot and ECM systems. That totals it at 96,500. so if you took 250,000 that's still leaves over 150,000 to do other stuff with. the zepplin costs 800,000 on the other hand and I don't see any starting characters getting one of those off the bat anytime soon. :P
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Ok I'm loving the zepplin idea as well as the boat but can a runner really start with any of that?
maybe not start but you would be amazed at what a team of shadow runners would steal and refit it is mostly about the prep work before you need to hide i.e. steal what you need and then hack the RFID tags to say what you want then edit the registry
why steal... sometimes it is better to have a crime report then a money trail
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Ok I'm loving the zepplin idea as well as the boat but can a runner really start with any of that?
I don't know about starting with it. that depends on your GM or it can certainly be worked up too. The boat itself 35,000. Upgrades at a minimum cost are 61,500ish. That's without the defense/ECW/clearsight/manuver programs and rating 1 pilot and ECM systems. That totals it at 96,500. so if you took 250,000 that's still leaves over 150,000 to do other stuff with. the zepplin costs 800,000 on the other hand and I don't see any starting characters getting one of those off the bat anytime soon. :P
that is a lot of nuyen! Steal is better but who'd have that just lying around to steal?
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]that is a lot of nuyen! Steal is better but who'd have that just lying around to steal?
a few matrix searches and you could find out
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now that's more like it. But what would I say? Ima data search for abandoned boats or whatever in the area?
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why steal... sometimes it is better to have a crime report then a money trail
True that.
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now that's more like it. But what would I say? Ima data search for abandoned boats or whatever in the area?
they don't have to be abandoned just parked or docked or whatever
and try to do it to a corp the local law dislikes i.e. take a Lone star car in Detroit most likely KE in motor City will just laugh it up
also just encase you need to run to your safe house get a good quality map and have your hacker overlay the extraterritorial zones and plan escape routs based on who talks to who the least and don't forget rabbit holes i.e. KE in Seattle is chasing you so go shopping in the mall at the aztechnology pyramid that way you can get a little time to plan your next move and maybe even some coverfire.
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Safehouse....could be a good idea for my players, they tend to live in their vans/trucks....too greedy to spend a nuyen on a good nights sleep
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Yea I love living out of the van!
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I would figure it'd be safer to live out in the wild than in your van. Set up your little shelter out somewhere, mark it so the wild life pays you a little respect, then line the perimeter with mono wire and proximity wire so to discourage the curious and to know when things are creeping around. Alternatively, if your character doesn't have those things, you can always take some ideas from nam`. There are plenty of ways to make someone not want to keep looking for you with nothing more than a knife, and some brain cells. ;)
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What about a barge with a foreign/extraterritorial registry? Many construction barges are partially submersible. Add some life support and living quarters and you have your own underwater appartment. Ingress/egress can be handled above or below water as discretion dictates. The whole thing can be towed anywhere in the world, or any above water elements (cranes, etc.) can be ditched and you can plant it on a riverbed. Point security can be handled by modified construction drones which have a reason to be operating in the area 24-hours a day.
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I would figure it'd be safer to live out in the wild than in your van. Set up your little shelter out somewhere, mark it so the wild life pays you a little respect, then line the perimeter with mono wire and proximity wire so to discourage the curious and to know when things are creeping around. Alternatively, if your character doesn't have those things, you can always take some ideas from nam`. There are plenty of ways to make someone not want to keep looking for you with nothing more than a knife, and some brain cells. ;)
I don't know about that... first the wildlife (and I am NOT talking about the club habitue at Dante's) of the 6th World is bit on the scary side. Second, as cool as getting back to nature may be civilization has its perks that tree bark and granola just don't beat. Third, easier to setup a long term sniper hide in the wild than say in the DT. ;D
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I honestly don't know enough about how scary the wild life might be, I know that hell hounds aren't my favorite things to see, but at the same time, I would guess that any person with enough knowledge about animals in general and a good knowledge of the outdoors could find a way of not getting eaten in their first 10 minutes out there. it's just a matter of knowing how animals behave, and behaving in step with them. if people can live with wolves, bears, and wolverines in the wild to study them i'm sure the same can be done with magical animals; at least to the point where they aren't actively chasing you for a meal.
If you can't live without modern food then you can always just pack it in. Just cause you're out in the bush doesn't mean you have to eat tree bark. Go hunt something and eat it if you want meat. just make sure you don't drag your meal home and take what you can use leaving the rest away from your place as to encourage the wildlife to attack your left overs away from your camp.
I'm not sure I understand what you're getting at with the sniper hide comment, so please elaborate?
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Far easier to take somebody out with a sniper rifle in the wild than in an urban setting. I can set up a proper sniper hide and wait and wait. In the city, far less easy to do that.
I seem to remember a video with a guy 'living' with some bears...didn't we hear him screaming at the end?
There are behemoths, corpselights, dzoo-noo-qua, gargoyles, and more... ;D
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Far easier to take somebody out with a sniper rifle in the wild than in an urban setting. I can set up a proper sniper hide and wait and wait. In the city, far less easy to do that.
I seem to remember a video with a guy 'living' with some bears...didn't we hear him screaming at the end?
There are behemoths, corpselights, dzoo-noo-qua, gargoyles, and more... ;D
I'm just saying, if you're not picky, and you know your way around the bush, you should look at it as a good option. Since a significant portion of the world tends to live in the city, and most people, aren't avid outdoorsy folk, There's plenty of space out there, and it wouldn't necessarily be easy to hunt you down much less shoot you with a sniper rifle. (Thick forest doesn't allow for a large line of sight.) While I won't argue on the effectiveness of a hide in the wild, I'll point out that your snipers face the same natural dangers as the guy in hiding. Which could discourage them all together. Besides that, you don't have to worry about KE and LS on the street looking for you, much less other errand boys, bums, gangers, even everyday joe's. Also needless to say, in the wild, theres a lot less digital security. No RFID bugs jumping on your clothes, no cameras tracking your movements, no Matrix to get tracked in...
On the issue of urban sniper hides, that isn't entirely true at all. You can easily set up a sniping position in any building over looking your target even if you're shooting up at your target. If there is a residential building and clear line of sight within 1km of the person you're trying to snipe, just pick any unit on the side of said building, kill the occupant(s) quietly. Stake the place out. make it look like things are happening as normal on the inside, then transform a room facing the target into the hide. wait for your target to give you a clean shot. Kill him, pick up your brass, and then set the unit on fire as you leave. No muss no fuss. Do it well, and KE won't have anything but a ballistic path to figure where the shot came from and it'll lead them to a burned out apartment that won't give them much for solid evidence other than someone was there and now is not.
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Sadly the bush only works if you have the savvy for it, most runners that cross my game table are city slickers. So they normally check out the shadow beat on a city they have never been to before then steal a few rides to get there and fort up on arrival. However my runners are a little extreme. They loves them some wet work and structure hits as many as possible and if they can fudge it they will make it on the same day
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Sadly the bush only works if you have the savvy for it, most runners that cross my game table are city slickers. So they normally check out the shadow beat on a city they have never been to before then steal a few rides to get there and fort up on arrival. However my runners are a little extreme. They loves them some wet work and structure hits as many as possible and if they can fudge it they will make it on the same day
.... I like these folks already :D
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@ Teyl_Iliar
Get the trajectory path, determine where the shot came from and combine that with the time of death for the target. Now I know when the sniper left that building. Review security/traffic camera footage around/in the building and figure out who doesn't belong. Killed the apartment occupant? Now we can determine the time of death for them and continue building on the time line. What happens when Granny Lindelmueller stops by...does the sniper start stacking up corpses like cord wood? Does the sniper keep the rifle or toss it? If they keep it I can possibly match rifling on the bullet to other kills building slow but sure a dossier on the shooter.
Out in the wild...you might get a half-assed composite sketch from an owl. ;)
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By the same token, a dead body in an alley with no SIN can be a mountain of police work or quietly nudged into the gutter. I don't know how you guys view the setting, but the latter is a bit more likely in my view.
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@ Teyl_Iliar
Get the trajectory path, determine where the shot came from and combine that with the time of death for the target. Now I know when the sniper left that building. Review security/traffic camera footage around/in the building and figure out who doesn't belong. Killed the apartment occupant? Now we can determine the time of death for them and continue building on the time line. What happens when Granny Lindelmueller stops by...does the sniper start stacking up corpses like cord wood? Does the sniper keep the rifle or toss it? If they keep it I can possibly match rifling on the bullet to other kills building slow but sure a dossier on the shooter.
Out in the wild...you might get a half-assed composite sketch from an owl. ;)
So wear a disguise. there are plenty of ways to not look like yourself, from make up, to nano paste, and plenty of doors that aren't the front to exit and enter from. If you have gecko gloves and a chameleon suit for instance, why go in the front door, when you can go through the 2 floor? You could just as easily break into said building, or even follow in someone who lives there. also, when you leave that building is on fire, I think if KE can pick you out of a crowd of people fleeing a burning building that could have had guests over at their place, you're screwed anyway. Bring a collapsable rifle, after you get away, destroy the barrel, and buy a new one on the black market. If someone without a key stops by, IGNORE them. If they have a key they have to die. Hide security must always be maintained. Hell, the complexity of the amount of data floating around would make it difficult to sift through just to pick a person out. Not to mention the numerous other things anyone with a grain of experience could cook up to screw with detecting them ever being there, but that isn't what my topic is about. If you want to continue this discussion elsewhere I am most willing; but this is about safe houses, not where is it easier to get away with sniping people.
That being said, anyone have other safe house ideas to share?
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By the same token, a dead body in an alley with no SIN can be a mountain of police work or quietly nudged into the gutter. I don't know how you guys view the setting, but the latter is a bit more likely in my view.
Also a good point. :D
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Get the trajectory path.....
this is the tricky (near impossible) Part: a difference in the Stance of the victim of only 1/2 a Centimeter can mean a difference of about 3-400 Meters at a Distance of 600-800 Meters (medium Snipers distance).
And once the victim is down its nearly Impossible to get his exact Position and thus the exact trajectory Path.
If you have a missed Bulled in the Wall thats ok, You can work with that one but not if the Killer hit the Victim
with a nearly impossible Dance
Medicineman
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There is a spell in the 4th world that allowed the caster to view the last few moments of a corpses life from their point of view. If the 6th world could cook up something like that, it might make a lot of forensic magicians wet their collective pants.
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......... I'll say it again.
DOES ANYONE ELSE HAVE SAFE HOUSE IDEAS/CONCEPTS/CONTENT TOPIC RELATED TO SHARE?
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If you work magic at your safehouse, always always always mute the magical signature before you leave. So that if someone does crash it, they can't use that against you. It might be too late if they are hitting your safe house, but it always pays to play it safe.
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Okay, I'm in a creative mood, so I'll try to come up with a few. They're obvious, but I hope my ideas would be of use to someone.
1. A shop. Obviously, this is a great cover, whether it would be a talismonger, or used electronics shop. Or even a pawn shop, or grocery. It would need some work, but still, having a legitimate, or semi-legitimate business cover would be great, especially if you register all the teammates as workers/owners. You can stash your gear in the basement, or attic, and have a living area, or just a bunk or two in the 'staff room'. Besides, if handled correctly it could be a steady and significant source of income, and you could easily use it for the 'Day Job' negative quality. It would be great if the whole team takes that one, and you'd have a full, reliable staff. Any other kinds of business should work too - even a medical clinic, cyberware parlor, machine shop. Anything you can fit in the frame above. And a few optional choices of safehouse qualities from Runner's Companion would be a nice addition. If you'd create it along with your characters, a few of them taking 'Day Job' would be enough to cover the bills (lifestyle cost for the entire team), and depending on how much time you'd have to spend (for example without any staff to hire), you could make it even a primary source of income. Or, on the other hand, that kind of a safehouse would be a great background for a high-end contact (with high Loyalty at least), like a fixer who uses the 'ordinary shop owner' act as a cover for his less ordinary business, and who's hiring your characters on both sides of his establishment.
Besides, that kind of facade would be a great opportunity to tune the safehouse security, but with care - nobody would take a grocery with killer drones and military-grade matrix security for normal.
2. A bar, or other kind of business like it - restaurant, hotel, etc. That's not exactly like the former, because it's a lot more public. But this can be turned to your advantage. If your characters are regulars, and they either work there, or know the owner/staff really good (like above, Day(or night) Job, or Contact(s), they can easily live there. On sythanol and krill wafers bar diet, or even having a 'on the house' policy on food, as long as they keep their end of the bargain (doing a good job, contact's loyalty). The owner doesn't even have to know what the characters dabble in. He can be a good friend, family member, or even an old acquaintance of theirs, who owes them enough to let use his business as a safehouse. The public nature of the place would be both good and bad. Good, because you could easily hide in the crowd, or meet the people you need. Bad, because there are always eyes and ears in the public. And because the owner would be in trouble if the characters are on the run.
3. A house. Seriously, the usual regular apartment, or penthouse would serve as a great safehouse. Especially if it's not used all the time. If your characters just buy and secure one, you can always put one of your friendly NPC's or even contacts in it, to serve as both caretaker, and cover. Or they might crash at one of their teammates family members, sensei, or lover. The security would be a problem, but it's nothing they couldn't fine-tune. Or, the place itself could be on corporate ground - for example, on S-K property, if they never, ever would run against the dragon. Or deep in gang territory, on a highly private housing area, or even tribal lands.
4. Squatting. Yeah, it's covered in the rulebooks already. But with enough money and time one could turn a half-ruined church, or an old power station into a private little heaven, with stolen (or half-legally acquired), or improvised water, electricity and matrix. The amount of places that can be used for this kind of a safehouse is huge. From severs, to old military outposts, every place can be turned into a comfy little fortress, and supplied with all you want for your alter egos. For example:
Your characters decide to take over an old fire station. They have a small, two-story building with a huge garage space and basement. Enough for the rigger's workshop and drones, magicians lodge, an armory for the samurai, and even training room for the adept, and a server room for the hacker. You just find a way to repair it, supply it with power, water and matrix coverage, and all the luxury and equipment you need, and then apply security. And bam! - you have a home sweet home.
It could even be a full-fledged campaign objective - turn the fire-house into a luxury-fortress. With runs to either get the money, or pay for stuff with favors.
Damn, I'd play in a game like this... :P
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A cool idea some friends and I had a long while ago when Armageddon would come... goto school. Abandoned school buildings (elementary, JHS, HS) had classrooms, gym facilities with showers, some had chem labs. Not many kids goto school anymore post 2050. So those buildings are either abandoned, or rarely used. Little to no valuable there, so security would be lax. Even if the building was still being used, during the Summer or at night... a decent place to hole up for a few hours (or days).
Another idea was dorms at universities. Pay some college kid off to use his dorm suite as a hide for a few days. He'd be off partying and runners could pretend to be college staff, students, etc... on the campus.
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And hey, a firehouse even has a firepole. Whee!
How about an RV? There was one in Arsenal that I had my eye on, though it might have a problem with being offroad. The Tara Hotspur might have room for a cot and chamberpot.
How about modifying a semi truck? Rather reminiscent of Die Hard 4, but it's got plenty of room and I can see programming it to drive around like a drone truck (that doesn't go anywhere in particular).
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That's all okay. Especially with a road trip campaign. :)
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I like the school idea
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Just make sure your GM doesn't feel like taking the campaign into a horror-themed direction.
:)
-k
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HAHAHAHA thats kinda where he wants to go
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Come play with us, forever and ever and ever...
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At first i was like "who? me?" then i realized you were quoting a movie. But those ghosts' ass be grass. lol ;D
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Just wait til you start hearing the air raid sirens, and the walls start dissolving into rusty grates... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-W_ArPy2yE)
-k
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Oh god or some dude picks up a girl and rips her skin off
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To Teyl_Iliar:
What if the runner has no family? What benifit does a family serve to a criminal anyway if all they do is give your enemies ammo? Many a aspiring dictator have killed their families to resolve this issue. OOOOO would that be a great back story for a druggy character?! Kills family so they can better pursue a shadowrunning career!
Sure, if your into a campaign where the players are nutcase killers and psychopats.
Also keep in mind how this would be interpreted by people around the character, loyalty is going to be hard to win if its a known fact you offed your family like that.
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Safehouse....could be a good idea for my players, they tend to live in their vans/trucks....too greedy to spend a nuyen on a good nights sleep
Hit them with fatigue, penalties to certain social rolls (wrinkled clothes, no hygiene that sort of stuff), possibly also some psychological effects of being crammed into a car for awhile with no real room to stretch.
Its fine for a few days, but not really a good option for staying low for a week or two.
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By the same token, a dead body in an alley with no SIN can be a mountain of police work or quietly nudged into the gutter. I don't know how you guys view the setting, but the latter is a bit more likely in my view.
I think there was a bit about it in Vice - if its a crime which doesn't attract media attention, and no high-profile people are involved, its really not something Law Enforcement will spend time (aka, money) on.
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I loved that write-up in Vice. I even used it in a few of the handouts I gave my group when they wondered why some crimes had them chased more than others.
Although, they were confused when crippling a nun didn't get more after them...