[ZombieAcePilot]

Is there a description of the breaking points based on lifestyle for what you can assume to have at your place of residence? I've seen people recommending the buying of backpacks, duffel bags, and other such sundry items I would expect most people to be able to have for free on character gen suggestions.

What is the point of having lifestyle cover small expenses if we are buying and tracking every data chip and credstick for our character anyhow? I know it makes sense to keep track of how many of an item we have on our person, but when does the shopping end so the game can get under way?

P.S. So a little bit of venting tacked onto the actual question I have. Still, if you have this much needed info or want to commiserate with me, leave a reply.

[farothel]

in the 4th edition book Runner's Companion (I don't know if there's a 5th edition equivalent out already) there was a section on advanced lifestyles and this included some examples of what was covered.  It was fairly simple, but from there you can easily extrapolate.  And the system was build so that if you for instance choose middle in all categories, it costs the same as simply taking middle in the basic system.

Also, check with your GM what he thinks about it.  Some GMs are more lenient in this than others.

[Jack_Spade]

Imagine how you or someone you know walks down the street, gets into his house/apartment and sits down to eat, gets some entertainment followed by going to sleep.

All that is part of your lifestyle.

Going on a run that needs anonymity and should not be connected to your real life needs gear that is not associated with your official lifestyle - gear whose tags have been removed and that were bought through black market channels so they can't be connected to your credstick. Even the simplest gear has a serial number and an RFID tag. You don't want to use your real holiday backpack on a run, trust me.

[ZombieAcePilot]

Imagine how you or someone you know walks down the street, gets into his house/apartment and sits down to eat, gets some entertainment followed by going to sleep.

All that is part of your lifestyle.

Going on a run that needs anonymity and should not be connected to your real life needs gear that is not associated with your official lifestyle - gear whose tags have been removed and that were bought through black market channels so they can't be connected to your credstick. Even the simplest gear has a serial number and an RFID tag. You don't want to use your real holiday backpack on a run, trust me.

Where does this end though? Should I be buying seperate clothes for my shadow runs? I don't want my underwear snitching on me... But I've never seen it on anyone's sheet before.

[Jack_Spade]

That's your GMs call. But I remember a fluff piece from 4e that explained the problems of RFIDs with exactly that example.
I tend to hand wave that if your character wears any kind of armor - specialized underwear is included to minimize the chance of a bullet tearing cloth into the wound 

[ZombieAcePilot]

That's your GMs call. But I remember a fluff piece from 4e that explained the problems of RFIDs with exactly that example.
I tend to hand wave that if your character wears any kind of armor - specialized underwear is included to minimize the chance of a bullet tearing cloth into the wound 

I tend to think tag removal is more common than the book leads us to think. How many people would be mortified if everyone knew what underwear they were wearing? Think of how distracted everyone at school and in the workplace would be. "Oh, Stacy is wearing a Zoe thong. Man that's hot" "Dude, turn off the advertising on you banana hammock. I can't get the image of it out of my head!" "Kong mart t-shirts, available exclusively at Kong mart. Get yours today!" It makes a great commercial, but just like real life, no one is proud to shop at Kong mart.

If my clothes had chip in them spouting that stuff, I'd be zapping them right and left

[Jack_Spade]

I think you underestimate the pervasiveness of spam in the SR world. That's why most commlinks will filter such things right out to not overwhelm your AR vision.
A tag eraser is a restricted item which most people won't have access to.

[ZombieAcePilot]

Guns are restricted, but people seem to have no issue getting their hands on one. Even pets can be restricted (you need a license to own one in most urban areas even today), but plenty of people have them with or without the paperwork.

I see the actual availability and price as more of the prohibiting factor than the restricted nature in most cases. If I go to the store and want to by some sudofed, it is behind the counter and I need to show ID which gets scanned in order to make the purchase. I am limited and tracked (because people make drugs out of it). That said, I can walk into any drug store and buy it no sweat.

A tag eraser is like buying spray paint. It could be used to commit a crime. Buy too much or too frequently without a reason and you could come under suspicion. The restricted in this sense almost seems more like a term of service than a legit "you need an explosive license to buy explosives."

[Senko]

Take a look at http://forums.shadowruntabletop.com/index.php?topic=19504.0 there's a very nice analysis by reaver of the various lifestyles on the first page towards the bottom and an equally nice look at the divide between rich and poor on the 2nd page.

[Sendaz]

I don't want my underwear snitching on me... But I've never seen it on anyone's sheet before.

Real Runners go Commando.

That said, keep in mind it does increase the cost of your lifestyle by 10% since those pants need to be washed twice now.

[Novocrane]

If my clothes had chip in them spouting that stuff, I'd be zapping them right and left

To get a genuine test result, we're going to need to zap you with just a hair's breadth shy of illegal levels of addictive simsense advertising, then see if you feel the same way afterwards.

Not having tags marks you as the odd one out - to the point that even mall corpsec pay more attention.

[Herr Brackhaus]

How would mall corpsec pay attention to anything if they didn't have their spam filters turned to high just like everyone else? How do you spot a pickpocket or a shoplifter when all you can see are ads?

I take the approach that you don't stick out without RFID tags in your underwear (or the like) except in very specific situations. As for backpacks and the like, there's no real rule on it one way of another. As always, check with your GM.

Personally, I'd have no problem allowing a character with a toolkit have it take the shape of a small backpack, or a large one if he wanted to keep three toolkits, a flashlight, a crowbar, and rating 6 merlot on his person.

More often than not, I'd buy a survival kit and stuff various sundries in that as a good excuse for a useful backpack.

[Shadowjack]

The way I like to handle Lifestyles is to make a judgment call when expenses come up. Anything that is out of the ordinary for the character's lifestyle is something you need to pay for. If you have a High lifestyle you never need to pay for dining, prostitutes, sporting events with modest seating, etc. But if you want to fly to the Bahamas, that is going to cost you. If you want to sit in the front row to watch the highly anticipated heavyweight boxing title fight, that is also going to cost you. But let's say you only have a Low lifestyle, now things like prostitutes and fine dining are not free. You can have some potato chips and perhaps some cheap booze, but the moment you reach for that fine bottle of whiskey I'm going to let you know that it's not included in your lifestyle. It gets worse at the Street level, you now have to pay for everything, even things like a bottle of water or a cheap cigar.

Handling things this way makes players feel like they're getting their money's worth for forking over 10k+ per month for a High lifestyle. It also makes someone with a Street lifestyle feel the pain of being homeless. And at that level I'm going to make it tough for you to get by in general, you're going to be struggling for food, warmth, safety and even to get relatively clean to present yourself ot Mr. Johnson. People are going to treat you poorly, but your buddy with the High lifestyle is going to be treated rather well in most civilized places.