TEXT: CYA TIPS FOR SHADOWRUNNERS
  Writing 
  Raymond Croteau
  Development 
  Peter M. Andrews Jr.
  Art 
  Robert Ruffolo, Chris Lewis, 
  Kjell Eriksson
  Proofing 
  Patrick Goodman
  Layout & Design 
  Matt Heerdt
  Art Director 
  Brent Evans
  Shadowrun Line Developer 
  Jason M. Hardy
  CREDITS
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  trademarks of InMediaRes Productions, LLC.
  
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  Today’s Heads Up
  * /dev/grrl was a good student and 
  did all of her homework, which is 
  now posted to the rest of the class 
  and up for peer review. Given what 
  she accomplished in her recent exploits 
  with Kane, this is something you should pay 
  attention to. She worked hard on it. She gets a cookie.
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  Urgent Message.........
  “I can’t see a thing in this helmet,” Kane complained again. His 
  voice was only audible through an encrypted connection; his helmet 
  carried a full cornucopia of integrated systems to make it effective in 
  nearly any combat situation. The only problem with the thing was 
  a complete lack of peripheral vision. The most wanted man in over 
  seventeen countries was trying to scan the crowd for trouble while 
  trying to blend in at the same time, and that’s the kind of job for which 
  it’s nice to have a full range of vision. It helped that he was not the 
  only person wearing this type of armor, as a dozen people or more in 
  varying degrees of physical condition walked around in similar outfits. 
  Of course, theirs were plastic; his was armor-grade ceramics that could 
  stop a rifle round.
   “It was designed for a science-fiction flatscreen vid a century 
  ago, dear, not for real-life combat situations,” Kat said, “And with 
  your face, even a good nanopaste disguise wouldn’t work.” Kat, by 
  contrast, could get away with the nanopaste. The disguise she was 
  wearing had given her skin a greenish tint and ceremonial scars while 
  adjusting her facial biometrics to get by the rotodrones that were 
  scanning random faces in the crowd and comparing them to criminal 
  databases. Her face had already been surgically changed since she had 
  arrived in country, so the nanopaste served as icing on the cake. Her 
  face’s current appearance worked with what she was wearing. She 
  had simple brown robes that were accented by a synthleather black 
  belt holding a sword hilt with a memory blade. Kat had modified the 
  blade to have a green tint when it was extended—Kane figured she 
  did it just to give it a futuristic look. She carried a few other pseudo-
  futuristic items that had no function whatsoever, and her commlink 
  was mixed in with them. They were simply two individuals in a crowd 
  of people wearing armor and robes or other odd clothes, walking 
  around in the heat of the midday sun.
  San Diego had gone to hell after Aztlan had taken over the city, 
  but the nerdfest convention allowed for lots of opportunities to move 
  around in public without drawing undue attention as people dressed 
  as science-fiction and fantasy characters from centuries of media in 
  celebration of their “unique lifestyle.” They got to feel special, the con 
  got to make money, and the Aztechnology PR machine got tons of 
  images of tourists happily visiting one of their cities.
   “Can I just take this off and be noticed? Maybe kill a few of them 
  once they notice me? I’m pretty sure that would clear up some of the 
  crowds for us,” Kane said. He fingered the century-old SMG on his hip. 
  The gun was a clever piece of gear. It had a few add-on pieces that didn’t 
  do anything at all, but they made it look like everybody else’s fake gun. 
  It also had an exceptionally well-concealed guncam linked to the optics 
  in the helmet. It wasn’t a smartlink, but it would do. The stubby little 
  magazine in the SMG only held a half-dozen rounds of old-style cased 
  ammunition, with one round in the chamber. But the larger, curved 
  magazines held 34-rounds of death in the pouches of his belt, and he 
  had six of those ready and waiting.
  Kat chuckled and tickled Kane’s helmeted chin, “You know, 
  there’s a way to live that does not involve always having people chase 
  you or shoot at you,” she said. Then she kissed his faceplate
  Kane sighed. He hated Aztlan, detested bringing Kat back here 
  after all that had happened to her when they had both been cut off 
  and abandoned by the officers that ordered them into the country. The 
  thought of leaving a job with a full load of ammo and no kills made 
  his face twitch into a scowl. It helped, a little, that many of the people 
  who had been responsible for that betrayal were going to be publicly 
  embarrassed by this job, possibly so much so that one might even eat 
  her own pistol. There was some satisfaction in that, but Kane would 
  have rather have fed it to her without bullets, and let her choke on the 
  barrel. But Kat’s plan had a larger chance of success. And Kane had 
  shed rivers of Aztlan blood in the past, and he had confidence that he 
  would do so again some other time.
  Now they just had to survive long enough to get out of the 
  country again. They entered the hotel, walking like just another couple. 
  Kat talked to the desk clerk in Spanish and a little bit of hushed Latin 
  as Kane scanned the crowd. He hated that she only had that funny 
  sword to protect herself. He had seven shots in the gun, which would 
  mean seven dead men, but then he’d have to reload, and reloading 
  while other people were shooting back was never a fun thing.
  Finally, Kat got the keycard, and they went to a freight elevator 
  marked “Out Of Order” in hovering words of Spanish, English, and 
  Japanese. After making sure they were safe and not being observed, 
  she swiped the card, and they moved to the floor labeled “Under 
  Renovation.” The walls were unfinished and unpainted. The lamps 
  were bare, long LED bulbs, and the carpet had been ripped up. The 
  rooms were barely serviceable, but they were rooms, and in this city, at 
  this time, that was worth something. Kat and Kane had paid almost 
  as much as the people in the penthouse were paying, and despite the 
  quality of the room, they were happy to do so. They didn’t have many 
  amenities, but they were where they wanted to be. And they had access 
  to room service. 
  Once they were in the room, Kane passed a few sensors to Kat 
  from his utility belt as he slowly peeled off the bulky suit piece by 
  piece. She took the equipment and scanned the room for bugs or 
  transmitters. 
  “Clean,” she said after a few moments.
  He sat on the double bed, naked from the waist up. “So, what 
  does your, um, ‘order’? Is that the right word? Yeah, what does your 
  order wear under those robes?” Kane asked. He’d heard the same lame 
  pick-up line as they walked down the street. But in his case, the line 
  worked.
  ... WHEN IN ROME ...
  
  4
  Safehouses
  SAFEHOUSES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
  LIgHT IN THE SHADOWS
  Posted by: /dev/grrl
  > So, you’re on the job. You’re doing well. You’ve made it into some-
  place you’re not supposed to be, and so far no one has noticed. 
  But then, the job goes bad. We all know that can happen in a 
  million ways, but for whatever reason, the dark corners you were 
  trying to work in are now bathed in light. People are looking for 
  you. Cops kicked your door in, and one of them’s giving the third 
  degree to your kaff machine while another’s grilling the toaster 
  in the bathroom. No-necked hired goons are asking pointed 
  questions at your favorite bar and roughing up the drunks there 
  just for kicks. No one wants to touch you with a three-meter stun 
  baton—except for the folks trying to collect the price on your head. 
  It’s time to lay low, but even the third storm drain on the right 
  seems like it’s too obvious a hiding place.
  You need a safehouse. /dev/grrl has graciously researched 
  and written this report for us. Some of you know this stuff, some 
  of you don’t, but it’s always good to have a refresher, especially 
  for our less-experienced newcomers.
  > FastJack
  > “Graciously” my skinny ass! You came down on me harder for 
  this than all my teachers, parents, and “Edu-Tainment and 
  Employment Future Advisers” combined! I had to write this as, 
  ugh, hard copy. With some torture instrument called a “number 
  two pencil.” My wrist still hurts.
  > /dev/grrl
  > ‘Jack, what’s this about “less-experienced newcomers?” We got 
  some new blood coming in?
  > Stone
  > Not at the moment. Sorry, I misspoke. Anyway, /dev/grrl, here’s 
  your final grade: Pass on the research, fail on penmanship. I want 
  100,000 lines saying, “I will make my handwriting legible” by the 
  end of next week.
  > FastJack
  > Harsh. Can’t she tag some stuff instead?
  > Slamm-0!
  > I must be getting soft, or remembering my roots. Fine, 100,000 
  lines or 100 transit vehicles spray painted. No stencils, no ARO 
  gadgets. Traditional, old-fashioned spray paint.
  > FastJack
  > Ew. Rough choice.
  > /dev/grrl
  Around two months ago, my parents had to go on an unpaid 
  mandatory chaperoned networking and training vacation in Las 
  Vegas at the Daniel Howling Coyote Memorial Convention 
  Center.
  
  5
  Safehouses
  SAFEHOUSES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
  > If I ever needed another reason to never become a suit, this place 
  is it. It’s the only place in Vegas without a slot machine. That’s like 
  watching a BTL with a standard sim module input, for God’s sake. 
  If you’re going to go there, go all the way!
  > Turbo Bunny
  As is usual for convention seasons the hotels were over 
  booked, and because they don’t understand the power of bribing 
  the staff, my parents ended up being sent off to a sleazy motel well 
  off the strip rather than the ritzy place they saved up for. They 
  didn’t get their deposit back, either.
  Well, they found themselves and their “security expert” (who 
  was just as lost outside of corpville as they were) surrounded by 
  gamblers, low-lifes, prostitutes, and other trying to hustle their way 
  through the city, including some people that they were sure were, 
  gasp, blood-soaked shadowrunners (but were probably just some 
  kids looking to catch a show at Cranial Blow). They had never 
  been so scared in their lives, and much of their expense account 
  that the company had “graciously” given them was dedicated to 
  taxis helping keep them as far away from the fleabag as possible 
  at most times.
  Needless to say, I had to bite my tongue to keep myself from 
  bursting out laughing when they told me about “how close they 
  came to death” and “that they could see the massive amount of 
  guns under the armor-plated trenchcoats” that the “terrorist shad-
  owrunners” were wearing. I decided instead to share the joke with 
  FastJack, who just nodded.
  Instead of laughing, he asked a few questions about safe-
  houses and bolt holes and other things that I have to admit I didn’t 
  know nearly enough about. So, instead of sharing a joke with the 
  old man, I got homework instead. One I can’t fob off on a custom 
  agent program to do because he wasn’t looking for things you can 
  pick out of standard textbooks.
  So I did it. It wasn’t as fun as tracking down Kane, but I did 
  it. And now you get to read it.
  BOLT HOLES, SAFEHOUSES,  
  AND gOINg OFF THE gRID
  When it comes to finding a place to stay out of sight while 
  the streets are too hot, you better know what to ask for. There are 
  a lot of jargon terms, and if you don’t know the lingo you won’t 
  get what you need. In North America, there are three major ways 
  of defining laying low: bolt holes, safehouses, and off the grid. In 
  other areas—well, I don’t know. North America is where I live, so 
  that’s what I’m covering now. Sorry.
  > Well, at least you admit that there’s more to the world than North 
  America. I’ve had to deal with the opposite opinion far too often.
  > 2XL
  Bolt Holes
  Bolt holes are prearranged places that have been set up by an 
  individual or a team for the strict purpose of disappearing off the 
  face of the earth. They are usually set up in advance for that specific 
  purpose; someone uses a SIN to arrange for the place, pays for it 
  in cash, stocks it with non-perishable supplies, then never visits it 
  again until it’s needed. If someone is shadowing you for months in 
  anticipation of hitting you, they still won’t know anything about 
  
  6
  Safehouses
  SAFEHOUSES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
  Everyone that has been willing to talk to me has had their 
  own idea of what makes a good bolt hole. The only common 
  theme is that the equipment inside has to be protected from the 
  normal, everyday process of decay, and any security it has should 
  be extensive and disguised as something far different. Obscurity 
  and normalcy are the main defenses of these set-ups.
  > Maintenance lockers and closets in subways and steam tunnels 
  are very popular bolt holes. They’re rarely visited, and a quick 
  time-destroyed memo will make the person in charge of it think 
  it’s been transferred to another person or outright shut down 
  the existence of your bolt hole, because you don’t go there. That’s 
  the way you want it. 
  Bolt holes are almost always in low-traffic areas that can be 
  hard to get to. They often have extensive booby-traps or alarms set 
  up to alert someone to the fact that they have been discovered. The 
  good news is they are often places that no one knows about or can 
  even guess you have gone to. The bad news is that if something 
  happens to you or you are found, bad things happen. People don’t 
  know you have this place, and they won’t know to look for you 
  there. You’re on your own. The best defense, then, is to make sure 
  your place never gets found.
  Urgent Message .......
  WEDgE’S BOLT HOLE SUPPLY LIST
  > My old chummer Wedge had some time to recover from an 
  incident with a modular infantry weapon system, and he spent 
  it teaching himself to shoot left handed, play the harmonica, 
  and extensively test out equipment for bolt holes. I kept the list 
  he posted years ago, and either stripped the name-brand items 
  he’s suggested for the generic stuff you can get anywhere, or 
  updated it with stuff that’s on the market today that wasn’t 
  even thought of in the ‘50s. So read this, and raise a glass to 
  Wedge if this helps you out.
  > FastJack
  • One month’s worth of non-perishable food (military 
  surplus combat rations preferable)
  • Two month’s worth of potable water (contained in vapor-
  resistant cans or bottles, such as Ares HuntMaster™ 
  camping bottles)
  • One army- or marine-surplus cot with synthetic fabric 
  bed holster
  • One dozen disposable sterilized sheets (Fibra-Wear™ 
  Medico® brand)
  • One dozen disposable sheets (Fibra-Wear™ Bedmates® 
  brand)
  • Two dozen sets of disposable clothing (Vending Machine 
  “Flats,” any brand, with extra white socks)
  • Two sets of street wear (Vacuum sealed in plastic or foil. 
  Horizon 6 Tees)
  • One suit (vacuum sealed in plastic or foil), with hanging 
  steam press to get the wrinkles out
  • One armored jacket, slightly larger than your current size 
  (CAS army surplus preferable)
  • Low-grade medkit (DocWagon HomeSafe™ or Crash Cart 
  HomeCare®, Horizon Natural Health® for Awakened); 
  dispose of perishable items within and replace with 
  nonperishable medicines if possible; stock extra 
  bandages in foil wrapping (military surplus again)
  • Dynamo-powered camping light (low-light or infrared 
  if your sight provides for that); secondary light sources 
  to be kept within reach at all times (chemical lights 
  suggested)
  • Loaded stainless steel revolver treated with dry lubri-
  cant (as they are better for long-term storage than 
  an automatic), five speed-loaders with a variety of 
  specialty rounds (keep in bed holster or on body), 60 
  rounds of loose ammo (hidden around bolt hole or kept 
  on your person)
  • Combat blade or machete, stainless steel or protected 
  by a high-quality oil-treated sheath (large Cougar 
  Fineblade)
  • Firearm cleaning kit (Weapons World “Care-4”® series; 
  replace gun oil with dry lubricant)
  • Industrial kitchen whetstone or steel (S-K Dragon’s 
  Choice Kitchen Products highly suggested)
  • Signal Jammer or WiFi defeating paint on the walls (MCT 
  Radiodamp paint)
  • Various types of grenades and mono-filament for booby-
  traps or distractions
  • Entertainment of personal choice in large amounts
  • Sensor systems around entrances and exits set up to 
  silent alarm (Horizon “HomeSafe”® Sensors)
  > With hacked custom software (my personal suggestion).
  > FastJack)
  • Snivel Grub in small amounts with camping stove (elec-
  tric or gas fuel)
  • Paper, laminated hardcopy maps of the city, erasable 
  markers, and a hard on for revenge
  > Dear Ghost, yes! Entertainment! I was stuck in a Mormon-run 
  safehouse in—well, nevermind where. No booze, no kaff, no cigars, 
  no women (Kat was still in Aztlan at the time), nothing but a King 
  James Version, the Book of Mormon, and a copy of Catcher in the 
  Rye. I read that last book cover-to-cover three times.
  > Kane
  > How was it?
  > Aufheben
  > The trid it was based on was better.
  > Kane
  > Spirits grant me strength from the ignorant.
  > Traveler Jones
  
  7
  Safehouses
  SAFEHOUSES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
  > With the outright mercenary methods and tendencies some use, 
  I’m not surprised that not all the work is outsourced. That’s the 
  dictionary term of mercenary, Picador, no offense meant to you 
  and your crew.
  > Netcat
  > None taken.
  > Picador
  Sometimes a Johnson will have a shadowrunner team use an 
  old or “slightly discovered” safehouse for their own planning or 
  recovery, but these are to be used cautiously. All too often, Mr. 
  Johnson is the person you need to hide from when you go to a 
  safehouse, so having a safehouse whose location he knows well can 
  work against you. 
  Masters and madams of the house (housemasters/house-
  madams for short, though the ones I talked to tended to prefer the 
  full term unless you were on good terms with them) are specialized 
  fixers; people who develop, build, maintain, and run safehouses 
  designed for non-affiliated criminals and other people on the run. 
  Knowledge about safehouses run by these fixers spreads by word of 
  mouth, and usually only to people in good standing with whoever 
  they are being referred by. These places cannot advertise, and they 
  often change doorways, pass-phrases, and even locations, as well 
  as constantly updating security. They are often fitted with various 
  types of passive security that prevent electronic communication 
  in or out of the rooms, if not entire buildings, except through a 
  controlled and hardwired jackpoint.
  > Let me clarify a little about the “non-affiliated” part. A lot of 
  these places are actually set up by an organization that isn’t a 
  government or criminal enterprise. The Salvation Army Fortresses 
  that cater to abused spouses are technically “safehouses,” for 
  example. Many policlubs also have safehouses for political refu-
  gees. And, to touch back on the Underground Railroad of old, a 
  lot of ostracized minorities are kept safe in such places, including 
  technomancers today on a broad basis, and Anglos when the 
  NAN came into power or metahumans in San Francisco during 
  the Japanese occupation on a narrower basis.
  > Netcat
  > I have a special name for those technomancer safehouses: “piggy 
  banks.” They’re just waiting to be broken open and have every-
  thing inside them fall out.
  > Clockwork
  > Despite the in-roads made in accepting the Infected, a lot of 
  safehouses are still in place for ghouls, vampires, and other 
  people who have special needs. And, no, not all of them are run 
  by Tamanous, either.
  > Hannibelle
  > Nothing personal, Hannibelle, but it doesn’t help that some of the 
  progress being made for the Infected is being pushed by groups 
  who just want to lull humans into a false sense of security. They 
  don’t really want equality; they want tamer livestock
  > Haze
  due to lack of funds. Just make sure you change the locks, and 
  put a security system in place disguised as an electrical panel or 
  something similar. There’s probably something nearby that you 
  can tap into or adapt. Just don’t get caught sneaking around in 
  those areas, since usually no one belongs there except employees 
  and they’re fairly quick to notice a stranger.
  > Kay St. Irregular
  Safehouses
  One of the surprises that came from my parents’ trip to Vegas 
  is that they knew the basics of what a safehouse was. They used 
  the term in describing the motel they were in, and they knew that 
  basically a safehouse was a place for criminals. Turns out they 
  had learned about something in school called the “Underground 
  Railroad,” which was scrubbed from my history classes. It was 
  apparently a system for getting escaped slaves a couple centuries 
  ago from the USA to Canada, where they didn’t have any slavery 
  laws. They couldn’t remember anything more about it, and of 
  course they didn’t have their old textchips from school anymore.
  > Ah, the joys of a corporate education. Good thing you got us, huh?
  > Clockwork
  Safehouses are purpose-built places that are arranged by 
  various officials for a variety of reasons; sometimes they’re taken 
  over by criminal types after they are deactivated, while other times 
  they’re scratch-built by organized crime, disorganized crime, or 
  fixers that specialize in letting you disappear for a while. Often 
  these people are called “Masters of the House” or “Madams of the 
  House.” They range from entire buildings specifically designed to 
  be as obscure and hard to find as possible while allowing a good 
  view of the entire neighborhood to hidden rooms that can only be 
  accessed from doors that can only be opened from the inside of a 
  building to secret basements or entire hidden floors. The infamous 
  “non-existent” thirteenth floor is one example of a missing space 
  that has been around forever.
  > Sorry kid, but that last one has gone away. Anyone with a simple 
  math SPU can figure out the timing on the elevator is wrong 
  while going past a floor that’s not supposed to exist. Not to 
  mention OCD folks that will count windows and find there’s an 
  “extra floor” on the building. One guy I work with suffers from 
  low-level AIPS that presents as a compulsion to count every-
  thing. He figured this one out for us quickly on one run. I gave 
  him a candy bar and he was happy.
  > Haze
  > Elevators can be rigged to speed up past the floor to get past the 
  time lag a math SPU can detect, but some people can naturally 
  notice that acceleration or deceleration, or they have cybernetics 
  that do. A balance augmenter (if you’re paying attention) and 
  accelerometers in various types of drones can sense the accelera-
  tion and deceleration even if a normal person can’t.
  > Clockwork
  Organized and disorganized crime safehouses are almost 
  always used by the people that built them to protect or hide 
  persons of interest, or as staging areas for their own black 
  operations.
  
  8
  Safehouses
  SAFEHOUSES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
  > Putting “nothing personal” in front of a comment like this doesn’t 
  really help.
  > Hannibelle
  The buildings themselves include derelict old tenements, 
  warehouse offices that have been closed off from the rest of the 
  building, very nice hotels that have been marked as “under main-
  tenance,” and simple dive motels like my parents were stuck in.
  > I wasn’t sure if I wanted to share this or not, but I figured why not. 
  The Catholic Church has a series of safehouses run in countries 
  that have heavy anti-Christian attitudes by an unconfirmed and 
  completely denied group called “The Knights of Saint Nicholas,” 
  which will also provide safety for persecuted Jews and Muslims, 
  and occasionally to shadowrunners that have proven that they 
  are “of good moral fiber and friends of the Church.” Nicholas is, 
  apparently, the patron saint of shadowrunners.
  > Plan 9
  > You’ve asked us to swallow a lot of big stuff over the years, Plan 
  9, but are you telling me, with a straight face no less, that Santa 
  Claus is the saint of shadowrunners? I ain’t buying.
  > Slamm-0!
  > Makes sense in a way. I mean, most if not all of us have gone 
  down a chimney at least once in our careers, haven’t we? Well, 
  HVAC systems—close enough.
  > Mika
  Off the grid
  When it comes down to it, what you are trying to do with 
  a safehouse is to be as unnoticeable as possible. Sometimes you 
  cannot do that with places you set up yourself or any professionally 
  run operations. You are too hot. The only way to go is living in 
  a method that prevents any trace of you to be found whatsoever 
  in the system, both legitimate and criminal. “Living off the grid” 
  has been a term used for living without government knowledge 
  for a long time, employed more by paranoids who figure that the 
  government is out to get them than by actual criminals.
  > The government is out to get us, /dev/grrl. For tax evasion, if 
  nothing else.
  > Mr. Bonds
  The hacker option for living off the grid is to simply spoof a 
  lifestyle. They become somebody else entirely, which is especially 
  easy when all your interactions are online. You can even put your-
  self down as a different metatype. The problem with trying to live 
  like this while being actively hunted is that hackers tend to have a 
  series of unique habits, techniques, and styles that they use in their 
  work. That’s the sort of thing that can be traced back to them. Even 
  if they erase their backtrail to prevent any evidence of the system 
  being hacked in the first place, a diligent-enough Matrix search 
  party can still search for their “fingerprints.” A hacker can try to 
  change their own habits, but that means they have to constantly 
  double-check their work and make sure they are doing things in 
  
  9
  Safehouses
  SAFEHOUSES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
  some kind of local fake SIN in case the officials at your destina-
  tion ask for ID, you are almost always golden, as extradition 
  treaties are complicated and wrapped in gobs of red tape at the 
  best of times. Some of this, of course, depends on the crime for 
  which you are being sought. I should note, though, that this only 
  protects you from the people going after you through official 
  channels. Unofficial types just do not care. A shot in the back of 
  the head, either in the spot where you did the deed or halfway 
  around the world, works just fine for them.
  One final option I’ve heard about is “roaming the earth,” just 
  constantly traveling from place to place, no direction, no destina-
  tion, always on the move. Makes for a hard target to track. It’s also 
  a popular option for Awakened people on the run, as it allows time 
  to do meditation and other magical stuff (one shaman told me he 
  loved it as it allowed him to “take Dog for a walk,” and I had to 
  think about that for a while until I understood where the capital 
  “D” was supposed to be in that sentence). It can also provide an 
  important break for runners who are worried about becoming too 
  well known (you know, the ones who don’t care about having a high 
  P2.0 rating). The travel can come in a number of ways, ranging from 
  walking and hitchhiking, to driving in a motorcycle or car. This 
  tends to be just as expensive as a regular lifestyle, but less comfort-
  able. Take, for example, the bathroom issue—they tend to only be 
  available in places like truck stops, roadside restaurants, or a motel 
  rooms if you decide to take that chance.
  > Las Vegas-to-San Francisco on horseback was a great time for 
  contemplation. Lots of secrets learned in the thoughts of nothing 
  and the sounds of silence.
  > Man-Of-Many-Names
  > Aren’t those old rock lyrics?
  > Kat o’ Nine Tales
  > Oh, come on, that sounds nice. What did you call the horse?
  > /dev/grrl
  > I do not believe he had a name.
  > Man-Of-Many-Names
  > Seriously?
  > Kat o’ Nine Tales
  TO SUm UP
  The heat will eventually be on you. How well you handle it 
  will be based on how well, and how far ahead, you prepare. Have 
  a bolt hole or two ready. Know a couple of safehouses, or at least 
  know a master/mistress of the house. And, if none of those are 
  available to you, be ready to hit the road running and not look 
  back. Preferably in a vehicle that you can live in with a shower and 
  a toilet. Life can be disgusting otherwise.
  new ways. It can be a learning experience, but it can also be rather 
  challenging and can make a hacker a step slower than they usually 
  are, which is often not a desirable thing.
  > It’s worse for technomancers. A hacker can try and stop his “tells” 
  (to use the gambling term I prefer), but a technomancer works 
  from their very personality on all hacks. Their tells are always in 
  effect, even when sprites are being used. One trick I learned in 
  LA gets around that, though. Method acting, if done in-depth 
  enough, can change the way you access the Matrix enough to 
  throw off any trails. Personafix software can also be very helpful. 
  Me? I pick someone disgusting, someone as opposite of myself 
  as I can be, then I try to act as that person. 
  > Netcat
  > Clockwork?
  > Aufheben
  > That would be my guess, too.
  > Clockwork
  > Slamm-0! actually.
  > Netcat
  > Hey!
  > Slamm-0!
  Mobile living is another option. The availability and even 
  commonality of recreational vehicles, houseboats, or even some 
  zeppelins for those with big pockets, which are designed to be 
  domiciles while traveling, gives people the chance to disappear in 
  relative comfort, or even splendor.
  > Zeppelins? Aren’t they a little large and, you know, noticeable? 
  Doesn’t that defeat the purpose?
  > Netcat
  > Go big or go legit!
  > Kane
  While these vehicles are occasionally used in criminal 
  enterprises, they are not often affiliated with shadowrunners by 
  the average Joe or Jane. Runners, as we all know, are supposed 
  to live in squalid barrens squats (although in the trids, some of 
  those places have been fixed up pretty nicely). That, though, can 
  only work to your advantage, since it’s good to hide where people 
  aren’t looking. A popular trick I’ve heard is having a smuggler or 
  courier you trust spoof the registration of a particular vehicle 
  to themselves and then drive it out of the jurisdiction in which 
  you are being hunted while you are hidden away in a concealed 
  compartment, effectively smuggling yourself. As long as you have 
  
  Urgent Message.........
  Kat o’ Nine Tales stumbled under the weight of Nigel Heathwick, 
  Baron Cartford, as he blundered through the butler-operated front 
  door. Despite being, literally, drunk as a lord, he had perfect pitch as 
  he sang some sort of bawdy tune called “The Hedgehog Song.” She 
  thanked her luck that the typical London rain had washed away most 
  of the smell of smoke that otherwise would have clung to her. She 
  hoped the clothing she had been wearing would prevent the incessant 
  and omnipresent surveillance systems in the city from identifying her. 
  An alibi from a peer of the realm, however, would go a lot farther than 
  some circumstantial evidence. She was already pretty sure that she had 
  convinced him that they had been talking for hours longer than they 
  really had. When he was drunk, his memory was clearer than you’d 
  expect (though still somewhat fuzzy around the edges). People knew 
  this about him, and few would dare contradict him without hard 
  evidence, or else they would face his political ire. His powers might 
  be quite limited, but he had a gift for being a pain in the arse when he 
  wanted to.
  The bad news, however, was that Lady Cartford was still awake, 
  and she seemed to be working madly to tear strips from her wayward 
  husband’s hide. Luckily, the couple had met Kat years ago, and they 
  had worked out the typical problems of a beautiful woman dealing 
  with a couple whose existence was based on political expediency. The 
  plump, red-faced woman’s anger bled away at the sight of their “old 
  friend,” and old rules of hospitality started to obviously fill her mind.
  “Kat, my dear girl. So good to see you here, away from the colo-
  nies at last!” the Lady said, with only a slight upper-class British accent, 
  “It’s been simply ages! I’m so, so sorry you’ve had to meet and deal with 
  Nigel when he is in such a state.”
   “... with looking-glass ties,” Nigel sang out, having changed from 
  drunken pub songs to classic rock, before giving out a monstrous snore 
  that was probably the envy of the House of Lords.
  “Actually, it’s my fault that he’s like this, m’Lady,” Kat said, her 
  voice full of sincerity and charm, “As I remembered him saying that he 
  was part of the oversight board for the ministry of tourism, I sought 
  him out due to some customs issues that were tying up my instruments 
  and recording equipment. And the hotel I was booked at lost my reser-
  vation, and …”
  Lady Cartford began to laugh musically, interrupting the younger 
  woman, “My dear, consider all of your issues resolved. We shall put 
  forth the finest resources of the British government to working as effi-
  ciently as possible to solving most of those. But I am insulted that you 
  thought of a hotel when you had perfectly good friends here! Come, 
  I’ll put you in the Dunkirk Room. You see, my family organized the 
  boats there that...”
  Kat smiled, exhausted. But thanks to one lucky encounter, she 
  had an alibi, a safe place to stay, and friendly company all at once.
  ... HOUSE PARTY ...
  
  11
  Safehouses
  . . . GAME INFORMATION . . .
  This section offers additional optional rules to the advanced 
  lifestyle rules presented in Runner’s Companion (p. 150). These 
  rules add different lifestyles that can increase a character’s security.
  BOLT HOLES
  These are either additional lifestyles purchased under the 
  same rules as found in p. 267, SR4A, or they fall under the same 
  rules found in the Advanced Lifestyle Rules on p. 150, Runner’s 
  Companion, including the lifestyle points/cost table. The differ-
  ence is that the description of the categories has changed, and 
  certain qualities cannot be applied to them. Some of the qualities 
  documented here can be applied to them, and those that are not 
  will be explicitly stated as being incompatible with character-
  created safehouses. The safehouse described on p. 165, Runner’s 
  Companion, is a prime example of the creation of a bolt hole 
  using those rules.
  SAFEHOUSES
  Safehouses are temporary lifestyles set up by NPCs for the 
  purpose of securing items or people of importance away from 
  public view. A number of these are also designed for business 
  use by individuals who will exchange money or favors for the 
  ability to disappear for a time. Gamemasters are encouraged to 
  have a few pre-generated safehouses that will suit their campaign, 
  creating one for any criminal, fixer, or masters of the house 
  contacts the players have. They should also have a few on hand 
  for any Street Knowledge: Safehouse tests that might be made. 
  They have the same quality restrictions that bolt holes do and 
  may make use of the new qualities below. Players should not 
  build professional safehouses for themselves, but they have the 
  option of building one for their own business if the gamemaster 
  permits such an act, or as an option for retiring a character. The 
  costs listed in the sidebar can serve as a guideline for purchasing 
  time at a safehouse.
  OFF THE gRID
  Living off the grid can be done by dropping a character’s 
  lifestyle down to squatter or street level using the rules laid out 
  on p. 267, SR4A, and specifically avoiding contact with anyone 
  whenever possible. The public awareness portion of reputation 
  Game Info ....................
  SAFEHOUSE POINT/COST TABLE
   
   
   
  SR4A lifestyle
   Points 
  Cost per week 
  equivalent
   
  0 
   0¥ 
  Street
   
  1 
  75¥ 
   
  2 
  150¥ 
   
  3 
  200¥ 
   
  4 
  350¥ 
   
  5 
  400¥ 
  Squatter
   
  6 
  700¥ 
   
  7 
  1,000¥ 
   
  8 
  1,300¥ 
   
  9 
  1,600¥ 
   
  10 
  1,900¥ 
  Low
   
  11 
  2,600¥ 
   
  12 
  3,200¥ 
   
  13 
  3,800¥ 
   
  14 
  4,400¥ 
   
  15 
  5,000¥ 
  Middle
   
  16 
  7,500¥ 
   
  17 
  9,000¥ 
   
  18 
  10,500¥ 
   
  19 
  12,000¥ 
   
  20 
  13,500¥ 
  High
   
  21 
  20,000¥ 
   
  22 
  25,000¥ 
   
  23 
  35,000¥ 
   
  24 
  45,000¥ 
   
  25 
  55,000¥ 
   
  26 
  65,000¥ 
   
  27 
  75,000¥ 
   
  28 
  85,000¥ 
   
  29 
  95,000¥ 
   
  30 
  110,000¥ 
  Luxury
   31 or more 
  Add 35,000¥
   
   
  per additional level
  
  12
  Safehouses
  SAFEHOUSES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
  Walking The Earth
  This style of living off the grid stems from the wish to be as 
  unnoticed as possible. In this lifestyle, the character refuses to stay 
  in the same place for more than a few days at a time. They may have 
  a vehicle of some sort for travel, but they might also get around 
  using some animal mount or by walking. Security systems on most 
  trains have destroyed the chance at riding the rails like transients of 
  old, but some individuals still attempt to stow away on sea-going 
  freighters or cargo trailers. The character’s lifestyle is Street or 
  Squatter (p. 268, SR4A), with the added requirements of Survival 
  tests in order to find shelter, food, and potable water while on the 
  road. An Awakened character may perform the asceticism initia-
  tory ordeal (p. 51, Street Magic) while they are walking the earth.
  LIFESTYLE CATEgORIES
  Comforts
  This changes little from the descriptions found on p. 154, 
  Runner’s Companion except to add that all staffing positions are 
  performed by drones that do not have a wireless link in order to 
  prevent hacking.
  ENTERTAINmENT
  Street (0 LP)
  You are in a static zone and only have what you brought with 
  you for entertainment. You miss the graffiti on the walls. Sock 
  puppets anyone?
  Squatter (1 LP)
  You’ve got a few old chips with nothing more than text—
  text!—on them. There’s a novel or two, and apparently the Gideons 
  came by sometime to drop off a King James Bible chip. Or perhaps, 
  in an ironic move, someone stole the Bible from a motel.
  Low (2 LP)
  There is a trid, which is something, even though the color’s 
  a little off and won’t fix. There’s also a collection of classic flat and 
  trid shows that everyone has already seen a million times, even 
  though once was enough. For a change of pace, you could peruse 
  the drive with a bunch of scandal blogs from the 2050s if you want 
  to read about all the rumors of Maria Mercurial at her height.
  middle (3 LP)
  A new (if cheap) off-brand trid graces the room along 
  with a decent sound system and a fine collection of classic and 
  much-loved media. A good collection of books-on-chips is also 
  here—it’s mostly training and self-help materials that seem to 
  be aimed specifically at people like you. The one on dealing with 
  paranoia makes you think someone is trying to tell you something. 
  And that you are being watched.
  High (4 LP)
  You’ve got a name-brand trid that was the top of yesterday’s 
  line and a hacked broadcast feed that gives you all your favorite 
  shows as they come on (though no premium content—sorry). 
  Old but serviced sim-arcade machines line a wall, along with an 
  ancient pinball machine. A spoofed online library card allows you 
  to download any books you would want to read.
  can drop at the gamemaster’s discretion while living off the grid 
  for long periods of time to simulate the fleeting fame of the Sixth 
  World. Alternatively, the following optional rules can be used to 
  simulate a character dropping off the grid.
  Spoofing an Off-the-grid Lifestyle
  A hacker/technomancer can spoof a lifestyle using the rules 
  found on p. 99, Unwired. Hackers must double the threshold 
  for spoofing the lifestyle in order to ensure that their “electronic 
  handwriting” does not show up, which makes them traceable. 
  They are also unable to use any programs that they themselves have 
  programmed, as their handwriting is embedded in those items. 
  Technomancers are able to use the threshold numbers listed in 
  the table in Unwired, but they must make an equal number of tests 
  using the Artisan skill (the Acting specialization can be applied 
  to these tests). Alternatively, they can utilize a personafix chip to 
  adjust their personality sufficiently, but this requires doubling 
  the spoofing life threshold, since the technomancer is constantly 
  resisting the alien personality.
  Living on The Road
  Some vehicles are designed to be lived in (such as recre-
  ational vehicles and houseboats), and some larger vehicles can be 
  converted into use as a living space (such as the Ares Roadmaster) 
  with the amenities modification performed on them (see p. 131, 
  Arsenal). Living on the road requires using Lifestyle Points to 
  maintain any amenities purchased for the vehicle to represent the 
  cost of maintenance of the vehicle, fuel used, food eaten, utilities 
  used in various areas, and the occasional motel room. These costs 
  should be based on the level of amenities; for example, Amenities: 
  Middle costs 6 Lifestyle Points. Entertainment is purchased as 
  normal, but going out on regular dates with anyone is unlikely 
  (though there may be one-night hook-ups as you drift from town 
  to town). Other than that, you catch whatever entertainment you 
  can afford as you move along.
  If the vehicle is not designed for use as a home, it can still 
  be used as a small living space as you travel. The inhabitant has to 
  use washing facilities found in truck stops or motels and public 
  Laundromats, causing some extra expenses. There are also negative 
  modifiers imposed to social and healing tests, and possibly even 
  physical restrictions (such as temporary Agility penalties) stem-
  ming from the uncomfortable lifestyle that comes from sleeping 
  in a car or at camps for weeks at a time.
  While living on the road, Security and Neighborhood are 
  considered to be Street level. No qualities may be taken for living 
  on the road except the Poor Condition quality (p. 164, Runner’s 
  Companion). Gamemasters may also apply the Unsound/Unsafe 
  quality (p. 164, Runner’s Companion) to the lifestyle if the vehicle 
  is damaged, with no benefit or discount in lifestyle cost.
  If the vehicle in question is parked in a semi-permanent 
  location (such as a trailer park or marina), then Neighborhood 
  and Security lifestyles categories can be purchased as normal (no 
  higher than Medium), and the following qualities may be taken: 
  Concerned Neighbors, Easy-going Landlord, Friendly Neighbors, 
  No Neighbors, Nosy Neighbors, Trigger-Happy Landlord, Worse 
  Neighbors (see p. 161, Runner’s Companion).
  
  13
  Safehouses
  SAFEHOUSES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
  faucets have a purifier attached, but bottles of emergency water 
  wait as well. The clothing is not fashionable, but includes a light 
  armor weave, just in case you feel like getting into a fight in your 
  boxers, housecoat, and slippers.
  NEIgHBORHOOD
  There are hideouts everywhere. Each rank of neighborhood 
  increases the threshold to find the person by two. No one expects 
  a bunch of shadowy criminal types to be hiding in corpville, after 
  all. Z-zones and barrens decrease the threshold by two, as the folks 
  there will sell out anyone at even the cheapest price.
  SECURITY
  Street (0 LP)
  “Um, chummer, where’s the door?” Anonymity is your only 
  security.
  Squatter (1 LP)
  A door that could be picked with a hairpin, or kicked in by 
  an anorexic elf (Armor 2, Structure 3) is your primary protection. 
  There is a chair you can wedge against the knob; too bad the door 
  opens out.
  Low (2 LP)
  This place sports high-end physical locks whose tumblers are 
  changed annually and a silent alarm that goes to your PAN and 
  whatever passes for the front desk. The door is a fireproof synthetic 
  pressure-formed model (Armor 4, Structure 5) that an ork might 
  have to kick twice.
  middle (3 LP)
  A decent but outdated maglock covers the solid vat-grown 
  hardwood door (Armor 6, Structure 7). If this is a safehouse, a 
  bouncer (Professional Rating 1) armed with whatever the game-
  master feels is appropriate is always on duty. He even does the 
  occasional patrol.
  High (4 LP)
  A steel door (Armor 6, Structure 7, fireproof ) with a series 
  of decent physical and electronic locks, as well as bullet- and 
  shrapnel-resistant glass for any windows, protects the room. The 
  location also has spall-defeating wallpaper. If it is a safehouse, 
  a team of thugs (Professional Rating 2, with a Professional 
  Rating 3 lieutenant) watches the place, equipped with whatever 
  the gamemaster feels is appropriate, and they patrol the area at 
  irregular intervals, with biomonitors (either cybernetic or built 
  into their clothing/armor) to indicate unconsciousness or death 
  as an alarm to be raised.
  Luxury (5 LP)
  A reinforced steel storm door with every lock you could ever 
  want covers the doorway. The Kevlar wallpaper is not fashionable, 
  but it is bullet-resistant and completely covers the room (making 
  it Armor 8, Structure 9). If this is a safehouse, the guards on duty 
  all have military training (Professional Rating 4) and know how 
  to blend into their surroundings. They are equipped with assault 
  rifles that have stun batons bayonet-mounted on them.
  Luxury (5 LP)
  Well, it is not a room in the Dancer’s Chant casino in Las 
  Vegas, but then, what else is? A forged executive’s account gives 
  you any show or special event you would want to watch on the 
  high-definition trid/simsense combination unit. A personal 
  trainer drone is available to help you stay in shape or even work on 
  some new skills, and a bath with a bottle of your favorite beverage 
  is waiting for you after your workout session. The only thing you 
  lack for is company.
  NECESSITIES
  Street (0 LP)
  The stock of food here would make a starving barrens rat turn 
  up their nose. No clothing of any type has been laid away; you only 
  have what is on your back. And you don’t have a washing machine. 
  The water ration is so low that it is barely enough to last a troll a 
  day, and its source is questionable at best. You wish you could go 
  back to your nice, full dumpster full of thrown-out food and drink 
  the acid rain as it falls from the sky.
  Squatter (1 LP)
  You’re stocked with third-rate military rations whose “best 
  before” date was worn away long ago and a few small cases of 
  bottled water, which is preferable to the brown water that comes 
  from the sink. A number of one-size-fits-none flats await your use.
  Low (2 LP)
  Recently expired high-end military rations and municipal 
  water with a shut-off timer await you, though no hot water flows. 
  Generic, knock-off clothing near your size promises to (hopefully) 
  not give you a rash when worn. Electricity is haphazard at best, 
  and there’s rarely a warning when it’ll go off, or when it will emit 
  a device-destroying surge.
  middle (3 LP)
  A variety of food-like substances accent the nutrasoy that 
  comes with all the flavoring you could want, except for the ones 
  that actually taste decent. The water ration allows for two quick 
  showers a week in lukewarm water that might even be clean. 
  High-quality knock-off generic streetwear keeps you from being 
  naked, and a housecoat stolen from a major hotel chain can work 
  as a smoking jacket to provide a small simulacrum of culture and 
  refinement.
  High (4 LP)
  You’ve got military rations that just fell off the back of a truck, 
  along with a lot of hot sauce to make them almost palatable. The 
  hot water is rationed, but you can have as much cold water as you 
  want, along with a good supply of bottled water for emergencies 
  (and having a system that has not adjusted to the local water may 
  count as an emergency). Low-end name-brand clothing fits you as 
  well as off-the-rack provides, along with an ill-fitting suit in case 
  you have an emergency business meeting.
  Luxury (5 LP)
  Prepared food packed full of preservatives and flavor are a 
  nuke ‘n’ serve away, along with all the hot water you want. The 
  
  14
  Safehouses
  SAFEHOUSES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
  ROOmmATES
  Multiple people sharing the same living conditions increase 
  the lifestyle cost by 10 percent per person. Bolt holes and safe-
  houses tend to be pretty snug living, so hopefully everyone gets 
  along well.
  PAY UP, PERIOD
  Bolt holes are treated as a secondary lifestyle but require a little 
  more finesse in upkeep in order to ensure that they remain unknown. 
  Physical rent payments by way of local currency, corporate scrip, 
  or certified credstick mailed into the payment office are typical; a 
  spoofed payment (usually at a threshold of 6) through electronic 
  transfer can also be done. Going in person while disguised, or having 
  a trusted contact do the payments and upkeep of stored items are 
  also options, but that brings with it the possibility of a runner being 
  recognized near the bolt hole or being tracked to it, which would 
  remove its secrecy (and thus much of its value). Purchasing the 
  lifestyle with a clean fake SIN is the most reliable way of ensuring 
  the bolt hole remains safe and secure.
  Safehouses require cash upfront, with rarely any provision 
  for extending the stay at a later time. Negotiating a longer stay 
  usually denotes desperation, giving a –2 dice modifier to a player’s 
  Negotiation + Charisma Opposed Test.
  Off-the-Grid living requires runners to abandon other life-
  styles and live with what they can grab on their way out the door, 
  or window. The fertilizer has hit the ventilator, and this is a last-
  ditch attempt to keep from getting caught by whatever is hunting 
  the runner. On the bright side, it is cheap and quick.
  FINDINg A SAFEHOUSE
  Every fixer and most underworld contacts know of a safe-
  house or two; the main questions have to do with price and trust. 
  These are safe places, which are rare and valuable commodities, 
  even for people who are not a bunch of anti-social borderline-
  sociopathic neo-anarchistic mercenaries.
  Getting someone to provide the location of a safehouse 
  requires an Etiquette + Charisma (12, 1 minute) Extended Test 
  with the contact’s loyalty and character’s Street Cred (p. 265, 
  SR4A) added to the dice pool, and the character’s notoriety and 
  public awareness added to the threshold. If searching for a safe-
  house for a group, the highest Notoriety and Public Awareness 
  levels among the group are taken into consideration, while the 
  lowest Street Cred is used. Additional modifiers can be applied as 
  the gamemaster sees fit to the situation. If the contact is a house-
  master/mistress, the loyalty bonus is doubled, and the connection 
  level can also be applied as a bonus. All the typical rules for getting 
  information or services from a contact apply as normal (see p. 287, 
  SR4A), though future services may be suggested as alternative 
  payment. If that’s the case, that debt should come due soon.
  Alternatively, the character may make use of the Street 
  Knowledge skill Safehouse Locations + Logic (18, 1 hour) 
  Extended Test to find a professional location that they have 
  noticed and possibly been a reliable customer for in the past. This 
  test has a negative modifier based on a combination of the charac-
  ter’s notoriety and public awareness. Again, if a group is looking 
  for a safehouse, the highest Notoriety and Public Awareness levels 
  are added together, even if from separate characters.
  
  15
  Safehouses
  SAFEHOUSES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
  Candyman (4 LP) can get any item of any legality with an availability 
  of up to 10 (or any availability drug) or less using his Etiquette dice 
  pool of 8, with a 25 percent delivery charge. That includes food, too.
  No Masters 5: The area is a neo-anarchist enclave that fights 
  against any form of control or dominion by others. By their natures, 
  the residents are against those that would attempt to rule them by any 
  means. You are required to help out the community, but they will not 
  sell you out either.
  Parabellum 1: Safehouse only. Everyone here is armed, including 
  the kids. Especially the troll grandmother that bakes everyone cookies. 
  The security guards at this site are two levels higher than they would 
  be otherwise. There is also a pistol range in the basement.
  High Traffic 1: The Purloined Letter approach. The site has an 
  entrance and exit that is in a public and busy place that is not easily 
  monitored by drones or cameras. It allows someone to enter or 
  leave the place without being noticed, provided they take adequate 
  precautions.
  Stocked Up 1: Either you prepared your bolt hole well, or you 
  knew who to bribe at the safehouse to get the good stuff. Your food 
  and water portion of the Necessities category is increased by two levels.
  Alternate Energy 1: This can be a bunch of car batteries, a 
  stationary bicycle, and an alternator from a 2047 Ford AmeriCar. This 
  ensures electricity is available during brownout/blackout conditions, 
  and it also provides exercise during the long, boring hours ahead. An 
  old music player is attached and loaded with songs to encourage you 
  to keep going.
  Magician On Staff 3/5: The bolt hole or safehouse is 
  protected by a ward that is maintained during your stay, as well as 
  a few watcher spirits to keep an eye on the astral plane and observe 
  anyone attempting espionage. For bolt holes this requires a magician 
  as a contact, which may be a weak link in any investigations into the 
  whereabouts of certain known associates. The cost for a bolt hole is 3 
  LP, and the cost for a safehouse is 5.
  Dug a Hole 2: However you did it, you disappeared with barely 
  any traces. Even the devil rats are having a hard time finding you. This 
  quality increases the search time of every extended task time by one 
  level (p. 64, SR4A).
  Legitimate 2: Safehouse only. Something about this place makes 
  it appear unlike a den of thieves. Be it the home of government official 
  or a suburban home that distinctly lacks a “dead trog storage” sign in 
  the front yard. Any legal searches have the threshold for the search 
  increased by 4.
  Shoemaker 5: Safehouse only. A SIN forger is affiliated with the 
  safehouse, and during your stay a new identity can be created or your 
  old SIN “stripped” (p. 96, Unwired; same cost as a new fake SIN) at 
  only 200 percent of book price (p. 331, SR4A).
  Nurse/Doctor/Healer Is In 3/4/5: Safehouse only. The site is 
  set up like a long-term hospital room with a health professional that 
  comes in to check on injured or sick individuals and provide treat-
  ment when necessary. A nurse (3 LP) has a Medicine (Extended Care 
  Specialization) dice pool of 8. A doctor (4 LP) has a Medicine dice 
  pool of 10 and a Cybernetics dice pool of 8. A healer (5 LP) has a 
  Medicine (Magical Health Specialization) dice pool of 8 and takes no 
  penalties for healing an Awakened person.
  Fully Stocked Bar 1: When your days are full of doing a whole 
  lot of nothing, a little libation can lighten the day. Part of your daily 
  rations is a small dose of your drug of choice to stave off boredom. Or 
  at least salve frayed nerves.
  THE OTHER END OF THE EqUATION
  Finding people that have dug a hole and pulled it in under 
  them is an arduous task at best, and nearly impossible at worst. 
  That does not mean it will stop those looking for you just because 
  you got yourself hidden away. Any known homes or properties that 
  the characters rent are going to be searched and probably trashed 
  as people look for hidden compartments or secrets that could be 
  used against the individuals in hiding in the future, as well as clues 
  as to where they might have run. Their known contacts are likely 
  to be questioned quite extensively, and loyalty ratings may take a 
  hit unless reparations are made quickly after the heat is gone. Some 
  contacts may disappear altogether; if these lost contacts are not 
  avenged, a level of Notoriety may be applied by the gamemaster.
  Runners may be tasked with finding someone who is using a 
  safehouse or something similar to stay out of sight. Attempting to 
  find someone that has gone to ground requires a complex combi-
  nation of skills that include, but are not limited to: Perception, 
  Shadowing, Survival, Tracking, Etiquette, Intimidation, 
  Negotiation, Chemistry, and Data Search. This last can be used 
  as the quickest way to abstract the arduous search. Perform a Data 
  Search Extended Test with a threshold of 18 and an interval of 1 
  day; the threshold may be modified by the neighborhood category 
  (z-zone/barrens subtract 2 from the threshold, street provides no 
  modifier, and every level above street adds 2 to the threshold per 
  level). The connection rating of the contact you used (if any) to 
  find the safehouse is also added to the threshold. The searcher’s 
  Street Cred and Notoriety are added to the dice pool.
  Attempting to locate a spoofed lifestyle using a hacker/tech-
  nomancer’s habitual techniques requires a Data Search (12, 1 day 
  in AR, 1 hour in VR) Extended Test if they have not used tricks to 
  try to eliminate their digital fingerprints. If they have done so, the 
  Data Search test is more difficult, with a threshold of 24.
  Additionally, using ritual magic (p. 184, SR4A, and p. 28, 
  Street Magic) to track someone mystically is always an option. 
  Some bolt holes and safehouses are secured against those types of 
  intrusion, but many are not.
  SAFEHOUSE qUALITIES
  INCOmPATIBLE qUALITIES
  Bolt holes and safehouses cannot have the following quali-
  ties that are described in Runner’s Companion (p. 161-164) unless 
  otherwise mentioned above: any of the neighbor qualities except 
  No Neighbors, Homegrown Farming, Rad Pad, Corporate 
  Owned (use Affiliated quality below), Crash Pad, Living by 
  Committee, Living with Parents, No Forwarding Address, No 
  Privacy, This Isn’t Big Bob’s Autos.
  NEW qUALITIES
  Positive qualities
  Deliveryman/Candyman 2/4: Safehouse only. There is a guy 
  that can constantly come and go discretely from the site to get take-
  out, and other things. A deliveryman (2 LP) can get any legal item of 
  availability 4 or less using an Etiquette dice pool of 6 (p. 312, SR4A), 
  with only a 20 percent delivery charge. Cash upfront is required. 
  He can also obtain regular, ordinary take-out with 15 percent tip. A 
  
  16
  Safehouses
  SAFEHOUSES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
  Mr. Johnson’s Neighborhood 2: Mr. Johnson helped arrange 
  for a location for you where he can help keep an eye on you and 
  misdirect those who are looking for you. The threshold to find 
  you is increased by 2—unless Mr. Johnson or someone connected 
  to him is the one looking for you, in which case the threshold is 
  reduced by 4.
  Negative qualities
  Hotel California 1: Safehouse only. Once you check in, you 
  are locked in for the stay. You cannot leave no matter how much 
  you want to, as the owners do not want a lot of traffic in or out. 
  Your exit only occurs at a pre-arranged time.
  Book Thumpers 1: Safehouse only. Hope you like 
  speeches—you get one every day on whatever the owner believes 
  in, be it religion, politics, conspiracies, or their fifty snot-nosed 
  grandkids.
  Affiliated 3: The area that you have set up is affiliated with 
  a corporation, political movement, or government agency and is 
  constantly monitored by them. Your room might not be, but the 
  remainder of the site is. As long as the group is opposed to the 
  people targeting you, they assist in concealing your presence, but 
  you might end up a pawn in “The Great Game.”
  Racist Hellhole 1-3: Safehouse only. The people that run 
  this place ensure only the “right” kind of people are kept safe; the 
  wrong kind—well, that’s the deal they had to cut to keep everyone 
  else safe. It’s all about watching your own, after all. If you’re the 
  wrong kind of people, the threshold for finding the safehouse is 
  decreased by 4. The cost for this quality depends on just how close 
  you are to the “wrong” kind of people.
  Middle of Hicksville 2: “This place is so remote you can watch 
  your dog run away from home for three days straight.” With the 
  balkanization of North America and the depopulation of formerly 
  heavily populated areas of the world by the VITAS plagues, there are 
  plenty of ghost towns to choose to hide out in. There is not much 
  company or municipal resources, but if someone new shows up in 
  town, you can be pretty sure what they are there for.
  Ultramodern 1: The best and brightest technology can be found 
  in your place; the cutting edge wishes it was as sharp as what you have 
  here! Increase the Device Rating of all the electronics by 1.
  Armory 3: Safehouse only. Part of the fee for the site includes 
  two firearms, with ammunition and clips for same. Please, use them 
  responsibly!
  Stunt Doubles 5: Safehouse only. You do not know how, but the 
  safehouse managers found people that roughly fit your gross biomet-
  rics and moved them around town a few times until they stopped at a 
  different site. The threshold to find you has been doubled, since you 
  appear to be in two different places at once.
  Made It to Mexico 5: Your bolt hole or safehouse is not just 
  hidden away from where your troubles were, it’s in a different country 
  altogether. The threshold to find you is increased by 4, and there are 
  politics to take into consideration when dealing with trying to get at 
  you, as even criminal types are territorial. On the downside, you have 
  to jump the border yourself in order to get there first.
  Inaccessible 3: Those monasteries in the Himalayan Mountains 
  are as convenient as Stuffer Shacks compared to your hideaway. It is 
  hard to get into, with lots of places to plant discreet sensors and traps. 
  This also means that it is hard to get out unless Hasty Exit (p. 162, 
  Runner’s Companion) is also chosen.
  
  17
  Safehouses
  SAFEHOUSES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
  The Building that Time Forgot 1: The place never seemed 
  to have gotten out of the twentieth century. The tech in the 
  building is outright ancient, with copper cable still being used 
  for the telephone system. What is a telephone? Well, time to hit 
  the history bookchips. If only there was a computer in the place 
  that could read them. The device rating of every electronic item is 
  reduced by one, to the point where you actually have to manually 
  activate them! The remote control for the two-dimensional viewer 
  is also missing.
  Fresh Meat 3: “Can’t sleep, the ghouls will eat me!” There’s 
  a feral ghoul den near where you’re staying, and, to them, you’re a 
  walking three-course meal with all the trimmings.
  Maid’s on Vacation 1: Safehouse only. The previous tenants 
  left a mess that smells worse than the dumpster behind The Big 
  Rhino. The smell is horrible, the trash makes the place as sanitary 
  as a sewer, and you cannot get rid of the black mold because it pays 
  rent to the owners.
  SAmPLE BOLT HOLES
  Self-Storage/Shipping Container
  The most basic design and a starter bolt hole for a shad-
  owrunner, as well as a popular last resort for experienced 
  shadowrunners. Might also be used for storing large items!
  Categories: Comfort (1 LP); Entertainment (0 LP); Necessities 
  (1 LP); Neighborhood (2 LP); Security (2 LP): 6 LP
  Qualities: Inconspicuous Housing (2 LP); Ambushers Delight 
  (–3 LP); Not A Home (–2 LP); Trigger-Happy Landlord 
  (–1 LP); total -4 LP
  Total Lifestyle Cost: 200¥
  maintenance Closet
  Smaller and more cramped than a shipping container, it 
  makes up for it in absolutely no traffic! The smell of chemicals 
  leaves something to be desired however.
  Categories: Comfort (0 LP); Entertainment (0 LP); Necessities 
  (1 LP); Neighborhood (3 LP); Security (5 LP); total 8 LP
  Qualities: Inconspicuous Housing (2 LP); No Neighbors (1 LP); 
  Dug a Hole (2 LP); Not a Home (–2 LP); Hell’s Waiting 
  Room (–2 LP); Under A Rock (–3 LP); total –1 LP
  Total Lifestyle Cost: 1,100¥
  Concealed Apartment
  With some judicious work, a squatter apartment can be 
  broken off from the rest of the building and given access to a side 
  entrance that you concealed using such hard-to-find items as 
  burned-out cars and overfull dumpsters.
  Categories: Comfort (1 LP); Entertainment (1 LP); Necessities (2 
  LP); Neighborhood (1 LP); Security (3 LP); total 8 LP
  Qualities: Escape Tunnel (3 LP); Stocked Up (1 LP); Alternate 
  Energy (1 LP); Loud Neighborhood (–1 LP); The Building 
  that Time Forgot (–1 LP); total 3 LP
  Total Lifestyle Cost: 3,200¥
  Tree-Hugging Hippies 2: Safehouse only. The master/
  mistress of this house may dwell on the side of the shadows but 
  not the violent side. Open weapons are discouraged and might 
  even get you kicked out, without a refund, if you flaunt them too 
  much. The security level for any guards on site is two levels lower 
  than it would otherwise be. Worst of all, you can never get the 
  smell of patchouli out of the clothing you’re wearing.
  Loud Neighborhood 1: Either the walls are really thin, the 
  troll couple next door is throwing the furniture around, or the bar 
  downstairs considers “11” to be “quiet”. Earplugs or Sim-Dreams 
  V2.7 might be the only ways to get some sleep.
  Not a Home 2: The place was not exactly designed for meta-
  human inhabitation. There is no shower, the toilet is a chemical 
  camping model, and it is one single room with no dividers. The 
  area is considered to be a Street lifestyle for healing tests, and after 
  you leave you receive negative social modifiers until you have had 
  a proper shower, shave, and you have burned the clothing you 
  were wearing.
  Hell’s Waiting Room 2: Imagine the worst wait for an 
  appointment ever. You wish you were back there. Pacing back and 
  forth appears to be all you can do as the atmosphere seems to bleed 
  any pleasure from anything except thoughts of vengeance.
  Cellmate 1-5: Your bolt hole has been compromised by 
  another person seeking a place to hide, or it is the busy season 
  in the safehouse you are in and they need to double up on the 
  occupancy. Either way, you are crowded in with another person(s), 
  and neither trusts each other as far as an elf can throw a troll. The 
  LP cost of this quality depends on how well everyone is able to 
  play with each other.
  Donut Shop 2/4: For whatever reason, cops hang around 
  near your hiding spot. At 2 LP, they are corrupt and can have 
  “vision and hearing issues” that might let them look the other way 
  if they are given sufficient cash as an incentive. At 4 LP, you found 
  one of the few untarnished badges in the Sixth World, and you 
  have to sneak past them to be safe. Nothing will help you if they 
  catch you after you killed a “Brother In Blue.”
  Witless Protection 3: Similar to Affiliated, but the security 
  that knows you are around has a hole in its system that you could 
  drive a supertanker through. This decreases the threshold of 
  searches to find you by 4.
  Under A Rock 3: “Is Dunkelzahn still president?” You are in 
  a complete media blackout. No Matrix connection is just the start. 
  No rumors, no gossip, no social networking updates, nothing! As 
  far as you know, you will crawl out and into a nuclear wasteland 
  with only your Ares Predator, a knife, and some road flares.
  Leaky Faucet 2: There is something about sleeping in a new, 
  strange place that unnerves most people. This place has something 
  that gets on your nerves for the short time you are there. It could be 
  an incessant dripping that just grates on your nerves or some barely 
  heard sound that keeps you on edge and checking your firearm 
  to make sure it is loaded and the safety off. The gamemaster can 
  choose to apply negative modifiers to skill checks due to lack of 
  proper sleep.
  
  18
  Safehouses
  SAFEHOUSES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
  Double-Front Establishment
  That teahouse that is really a bunraku parlor is actually a 
  safehouse?
  Categories: Comfort (3 LP); Entertainment (4 LP); Necessities 
  (3 LP); Neighborhood (2 LP); Security (4 LP): 16 LP
  Qualities: Free Access (1 LP); Well Made (1 LP); Candyman 
  (4 LP); Affiliated: Organized Crime (–3 LP); Loud 
  Neighborhood (–1 LP); Rough Neighborhood (–1 LP); 
  total 1 LP
  Total Safehouse Cost: 9,000¥/week
  Hell’s Suburb
  Granny Greerson is an old ork grandmother with twenty-
  seven children and countless grandchildren, all of whom visit and 
  bring their friends. Well, that’s what the neighbors think. The 
  truth is, Social Security won’t even pay the property taxes on the 
  house, and, well …
  Categories: Comfort (3 LP); Entertainment (3 LP); Necessities 
  (3 LP); Neighborhood (4 LP); Security (2 LP); total 15 LP
  Qualities: Quiet Neighborhood (1 LP); Well Made (1 LP); 
  Legitimate (2 LP); Book Thumpers: Kids and Grandkids 
  (–1 LP); Leaky Faucet (–2 LP); total 1 LP
  Total Safehouse Cost: 9,000¥/week
  SAmPLE SAFEHOUSES
  Criminal Enterprises Coffin motel
  Just like a regular coffin motel, only with even less checking 
  of IDs before you are let in! They tend to shoot the people that try 
  to steal the towels, though.
  Categories: Comfort (1 LP); Entertainment (2 LP); Necessities 
  (1 LP); Neighborhood (1 LP); Security (3 LP); total 8 LP
  Qualities: Inconspicuous Housing (2 LP); Candyman (4 LP); 
  Affiliated: Organized Crime (–3 LP); Loud Neighborhood 
  (–1 LP); total 2 LP
  Total Safehouse Cost: 1,900¥/week
  No-Tell motel
  For the price of the place, you would think it was a high-
  class hotel. But no, the place is a dump. On the bright side, the 
  security cameras are fake, just like the names in the check-in log.
  Categories: Comfort (2 LP); Entertainment (2 LP); Necessities 
  (2 LP); Neighborhood (0 LP); Security (1 LP); total 7 LP
  Qualities: Inconspicuous Housing (2 LP); Deliveryman (2 LP); 
  Security Conscious (2 LP); Poor Condition (–1 LP); Maid’s 
  On Vacation (–1 LP); total 4 LP
  Total Safehouse Cost: 2,600¥/week
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Shadowrun [multi]/4th Edition/Shadowrun 4E - Safehouses {CAT26S013}.pdf