[Coldbringer]

So what do people think the non check point parts of the border between NAN and Seattle look like? A fence, a wall? A small no-man's-land buffer zone? I was thinking the latter since it  works better for my next story, but I was curious about what others thought.

[Trenchknife]

It would depend almost entirely on the terrain.  At least if they planners are smart about it. 

Open ground?  Easily covered with electronic surveillance and watcher spirits.

Mountainous?  Problematic at best.  Fixed sites have limited fields of vision and fences can be bypassed at these points.  Watcher spirits and roving patrols can help this, but these can be outsmarted as well and bypassed.

Forest?  Fixed positions do little to no good as they can't really see what's going on.  Those pesky watcher spirits can help along with roving patrols of metahumans, trained para-animals and cybercritters. 

Bodies of water/rivers?  Cover your near shore as above as well as emplace some submersible sensors and watchers.

Borders are usually long and impossible to really seal up.  Even if you throw up a pretty large wall, someone is gonna find a way over, under or through it.  (RW examples of North Korean tunneling as well as the same by smugglers on the Mexican/US border)

[Critias]

So what do people think the non check point parts of the border between NAN and Seattle look like? A fence, a wall? A small no-man's-land buffer zone? I was thinking the latter since it  works better for my next story, but I was curious about what others thought.

"Sure, whatever" is basically the canon answer.  In some adventures and sourcebooks borders are described as full-on Berlin Wall type of deals, in others it's just a line on the map in the middle of nowhere, and no one cares.  It all comes down to what sets the tone for (a) the country in question and (b) the story out to be told right that second.

If a no-man's-land works for you and your story, there ya go.  The upcoming year, recently elected Senator Blah Blah Blah has gotten into office on his "No Man's Land' platform for increased border security, and ta-da.  You're all set. 

[CanRay]

Could also depend on where you're going.  Major checkpoints are in place on major routes, but smaller access roads that can't be easily driven might have lighter security...

Also, even lazy/incompetent/corrupt border guards need to be put somewhere.  Do you put them in the place where the most damage can be done?  Or somewhere that only hicks go through smuggling cigarettes and moonshine at worst?