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Disincentives for Squatter/Street lifestyles?

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Shaidar

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« Reply #30 on: <01-27-15/0304:03> »
Yup, in SR Seattle is a 3rd World Country with a few remaining 1st World sections.

Glyph

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« Reply #31 on: <01-27-15/0312:49> »
Okay, so the problem is a bit clearer.  One character is hoarding money and living like a bum, and you are worried the other players will follow suit if there don't seem to be any negative consequences.  I think in addition to playing up the perils and inconveniences of a street/squatter lifestyle, you should also play up the perks of the higher lifestyles.  Even a low lifestyle should mean cheap (but multiple) locks on your door, a sign on the building indicating protection from the local gang, the occasional trid matinee or dinner of fast food,  actual  spare clothing, and maybe even a cheap suit.  You can go to sleep on a futon in a place with no missing walls or broken windows, have an actual functioning sink and toilet of your own, etc.  Go through Reaver's post on the lifestyles again, and pick a few things to mention, or play up, about another character's higher lifestyle.

The Wyrm Ouroboros

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« Reply #32 on: <01-27-15/0335:10> »
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Shaidar

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« Reply #33 on: <01-27-15/0442:01> »
You might try to nail the point home by offering to feed all of your Players. Don't tell them they will be eating based upon their Character's chosen Lifestyle.

You cook in front of them and eat a T-bone steak with a salad and dessert.

Any player which chose a Middle Lifestyle order pizza delivery. Don't eat the crusts.

Any player which chose a Low Lifestyle gets a slab of Tofu over Rice with a single quarter-sized glob of Teriyaki sauce.

Any player which chose a Squatter Lifestyle gets 1/2 of an MRE.

Any player which chose a Street Lifestyle gets the pizza crusts at the end of the game session after having watched the rest of the players eaten their fill.

The Wyrm Ouroboros

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« Reply #34 on: <01-27-15/0533:45> »
*laughs*  That's painfully cruel.
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Spooky

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« Reply #35 on: <01-27-15/0910:40> »
Should be effective in driving the point home, though. Still, has potential to backfire, so be careful in application. Good luck....
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rednblack

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« Reply #36 on: <01-27-15/1130:19> »
Reaver nails it.  Namikaze also makes good points, though I'll add one alternative to staying on the run is to build connections with the poor and destitute in said techo's area.  Spreading around a little money and a little food can go a long way to making a hellhole a good place to hang your hat -- assuming you remember to pick it back up before you head outside.

I'm less inclined to go the taxation route.  That runs the risk of turning murder hobos into accountants with guns, and while I hate murder hobos, I'm more likely to want to play in that game than the latter. 

I also feel that there is an assumption that the techo is out to game the system.  That may well be true, but it's a dangerous assumption to make.  Let's go with the bias against technos as a thought experiment.  One could make the argument that a techno living a Middle Lifestyle would be faced with a greater chance of being abducted, killed, or extracted than one living in a squat, or on the street.  If a run against a corp gets said techno's face on video feed, that can be cross-referenced with the cameras that will undoubtedly litter the middle lifestyle areas, and then it's just a matter of time before someone sees which apartment building s/he enters and makes a move.  Living in the Barrens, though?  Chummer crosses over from Bellevue, and s/he's gone.  Chummer makes nice with the local hoods, poses as a decker who will hack in Urban Brawl for the neighborhood to watch, and otherwise keeps his nose down, and he stands a relative shot at peace.  Not only that, but s/he's playing the char in 1 of myriad "right" ways to do so.  Technos don't need those fancy gadgets, so if the techno is looking for a way to spend some hard-earned ¥, doesn't want to leave the streets, and is playing up the slightly off and unusual cliches for the archetype, I say go for it.  That's RP gold.  The OP said the player in question approached to talk about how to spend some money; I don't see why the only answer is to improve the lifestyle, when it's possible to effectively raise one's lifestyle -- including the expenses that come with it -- while RPing the char in a way that the player wants to.

Also, if you really want to tax the player, and make him/her think twice about living on the street, just have a random hood try to mug the PC.  Maybe the PC gets lucky, and runs off, or bests the thug, but s/he'll certainly think twice about walking around with 25k.  And if the PC doesn't doesn't get off that lightly, well hard lesson learned.
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Namikaze

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« Reply #37 on: <01-27-15/1217:00> »
You might try to nail the point home by offering to feed all of your Players. Don't tell them they will be eating based upon their Character's chosen Lifestyle.

You cook in front of them and eat a T-bone steak with a salad and dessert.

Any player which chose a Middle Lifestyle order pizza delivery. Don't eat the crusts.

Any player which chose a Low Lifestyle gets a slab of Tofu over Rice with a single quarter-sized glob of Teriyaki sauce.

Any player which chose a Squatter Lifestyle gets 1/2 of an MRE.

Any player which chose a Street Lifestyle gets the pizza crusts at the end of the game session after having watched the rest of the players eaten their fill.

ROFL!  I love this.  This is just cruel and awesome.
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Rift_0f_Bladz

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« Reply #38 on: <01-27-15/1648:42> »
Better make sure you pick the right MRE's. Having a father that spend nearly 20+ years in military service, I was able to eat them almost whenever I wanted. Some of them are actually better than most school cafeteria food. Now, some are ok, and they do get old after about a week. Also, 1/2 a MRE has a large amount of calories, 3 MREs equates to 3000 Cals.  Otherwise, I like the the meal idea, but would switch the squater and low meal idea.

Quote- Mirikon on 7/30/2019 at 08:26:51
Agreed. This looks like a 'training wheels' edition, that you can use to introduce someone to the setting, and then shift over to something like 5E or 4E. Like how D&D 5E is best used as training wheels for D&D 3.X.

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MijRai

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« Reply #39 on: <01-27-15/2137:29> »
Make sure they get a cold Veggie Omelet MRE main meal.  They'll really know the difference then.  That or Veggie Burger are generally the lowest tier when I was in; Veggie Tortellini and Brisket were some of the best. 
Would you want to go into a place where the resident had a drum-fed shotgun and can see in the dark?

Sterling

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« Reply #40 on: <01-28-15/0306:39> »
Make sure they get a cold Veggie Omelet MRE main meal.  They'll really know the difference then.  That or Veggie Burger are generally the lowest tier when I was in; Veggie Tortellini and Brisket were some of the best.

The cold Veggie Omelette - is that the one that looks like someone has already eaten it once before and it disagreed with them?
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MijRai

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« Reply #41 on: <01-28-15/0444:40> »
Make sure they get a cold Veggie Omelet MRE main meal.  They'll really know the difference then.  That or Veggie Burger are generally the lowest tier when I was in; Veggie Tortellini and Brisket were some of the best.

The cold Veggie Omelette - is that the one that looks like someone has already eaten it once before and it disagreed with them?

Pretty much.  I know the few times I had it, it disagreed with me. 
Would you want to go into a place where the resident had a drum-fed shotgun and can see in the dark?

Longshot23

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« Reply #42 on: <01-28-15/1120:38> »

Addendum: remember that 'squatter' is shorthand for 'I found a dry place where I can maybe put a lock on the door'.  It doesn't mean 'nobody else is gonna try taking it over.'  For my money, you should simply have him harrassed.  If it's in a lower-end zone (C or worse), make it by a local gang, ghouls, or Bubba the Troll fresh out of prison who used to squat there and wants his place back.  If it's a better area, then maybe he gets harrassed - read 'kicked out' - by the owner of the property, by Knight Errant doing a routine check, or even just by the neighbors.

To further screw with your PCs, switch Bubba for Mungo . . .  :o  ::)

Emperors Grace

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« Reply #43 on: <01-28-15/1249:31> »
You might try to nail the point home by offering to feed all of your Players. Don't tell them they will be eating based upon their Character's chosen Lifestyle.

You cook in front of them and eat a T-bone steak with a salad and dessert.

Any player which chose a Middle Lifestyle order pizza delivery. Don't eat the crusts.

Any player which chose a Low Lifestyle gets a slab of Tofu over Rice with a single quarter-sized glob of Teriyaki sauce.

Any player which chose a Squatter Lifestyle gets 1/2 of an MRE.

Any player which chose a Street Lifestyle gets the pizza crusts at the end of the game session after having watched the rest of the players eaten their fill.

My college used to do this back in the early 90's.  As part of a world hunger course (anthropology) they held a dinner where you bought a ticket ahead of time but only found out what country you represented at the dinner.  End up with a first world country and you might get appetizers, salad, and a nice steak/potato.  End up with a third or fourth world country and you're probably eating a yam or small bowl of rice.

If he likes the neighborhood but wants to spend, he could always fix the inside up (make it a Middle lifestyle place that looks squatter on the outside).

Or, if he really likes the neighborhood, he could start brokering some deals (through a fixer to avoid scrutiny) to fix quite a bit of the neighborhood.

(For example, arranging for the building to be sold to him, and then paying to have the water, electricity, and matrix repaired and outfitting the local protectors with new gear.)
« Last Edit: <01-28-15/1254:57> by Emperors Grace »

DigitalZombie

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« Reply #44 on: <01-28-15/1520:07> »
I hated when my players/ fellow runners chose street or squatter lifestyles. 80% of the time they did it because they didnt care about RP part, and would rather just spend the cash on better gear. And now with "hobo with a shotgun" quality you not only have more money for gear, you also have more karma.

What I did to counter it: At low  lifestyle the player got a free rating 2 SIN, at middle, he got a free rating 4, and at high he got a free rating 6 (or 5 if he chose not to give his DNA to strangers)

That way you could still choose to be a hobo, you just got rewarded a bit if you didnt.