[CanRay]

Thank you, thank you!  I'm here all week!  Try the veal!

All of my characters have hobbies, lives, people they meet, hangouts, the whole nine-yards.  A lack of playing means that I never get to show those things. 

But, as an example:  Nas watches NASCAR, Combat Biker, and has his buddy from upstairs over to watch all the Seattle Mariners/Seadogs Baseball games as the wife doesn't like the sport and has her own shows to watch (Nas also has a better 'Trid and sound system.).  He's got a few bars he hangs out at, some of which are for business as well as pleasure.  Sometimes, he just drives around Seattle, trying to learn new ways, traffic patterns, construction sites, and so on.  He also maintains a written correspondence with his Brother in Texas through some Smugglers that his Brother knows, despite living in the Light.  On rare occasions, and sometimes as additional payment for services, he'll speak out about the dangers of drug abuse at Sam's Surgery and Deli on behalf of the owner.

Maybe I put too much thought into my characters?

[LonePaladin]

Heck, if only I could get the other players in my game to put this much into it. Most of them are new to SR, though, so I'm just giving them time, letting them figure out the setting and mechanics.

[Rockopolis]

Man, I wish I could put that much that much thought into my characters.

[CanRay]

Currently working on what Pup the Dog Shaman does with his downtime and such.

[Charybdis]

When I was playing twice a week, my Gun-Fu physad (aka Crossfire) got a lot of backstory and downtime

Note: This was before Fallout: New Vegas came out...

Born into a middle-class Las Vegas crime family (Mafia goodfella and a showgirl), odds were good that he would end up on the wrong side of the law. When his mother was killed in an unrelated drive-by, and his father went rogue (and was 'forcibly retired'), he left Las Vegas as a teen and hitched his way across America several times (getting into various levels of trouble on the way).
His first real run left him spending two years in an unlisted corporate detainment facility.
As a shadowrunner in Seattle (and an orphan), he has a soft spot for disadvantaged kids and during downtime volunteers at the local 'Y' to teach first aid, self-defense, languages and assistant-coach some sports teams.
He refuses to share board with shadowrunners (keeps work and home very separate), and maintains a middle-class home and FakeID (R7⁺)  in the outer suburbs, regularly heading into the hills with a beat-up 4wd and a rucksack.
Through nefarious means, he is still in contact with some shady people in Las Vegas, but with his good looks and charisma (thanks, mom!) he makes it easy to add new contacts to the roster, both legitimate and criminal.
During campaign, he also qualified as an ambulance-paramedic and volunteer firefighter, and he dreams of buying a thousand-acre ranch in the Rockies to retire to.

One day I might post the novellas for his downtime activities... once I dig them out of the archives

[Petal]

Usually my SINs are names with the same initials for newbie runners. To show they don't know much. 

But the people that know their stuff, they have more complicated names.

[CanRay]

FYI:  Spy Games dictates EXACTLY what is in each rating of a Fake SIN, which I appreciate a whole hell of a lot!

[Petal]

That's the newest book, right? I still have to buy that one. 

[CanRay]

That's the newest book, right? I still have to buy that one. 

It's a bit flawed for Crunch, but the Fluff is damn fine!  And, as I said, it spells out EXACTLY what level of Fake SIN will give your datatrail.

[CanRay]

Currently working on what Pup the Dog Shaman does with his downtime and such.

OK, Pup has a pretty simple life.  He mostly meditates, studies magic, walks the streets to get a good view of them, visits his favorite strip club ("The Healthy Spirit"), and cooks.  He typically pays the kids in his apartment squat for whatever meat they can catch, and tries to figure out how to substitute flavors.  Currently, he's working on perfecting Cat A La Tang, the Ghetto equivalent of Duck A L'Orange.

[George]

In my group we tend to put a lot of detail in SINs with rating of 4 and higher. Hobbies, Likes, Dislikes, Style, MMO-rank and so on.

We even reuse them quite often, if we managed to get the SIN out a run untempered, because "age" brings life to SINs.

As with names, 4 and above get buyer pick, below seller pick or extra fee.

I personally like "Corban Dallas" .... yep, "Multipass" 

[Red Canti]

I like to use the names of musicians and characters in songs. So Johnny B. Goode or Dick Valentine or something like that. Though the reason one gets away with using these names is that they've forgotten the bands, which is a little saddening.

[CanRay]

On trick I like from the "Reacher" series is that he uses baseball players names from his childhood.  I mean, honestly, who remembers the shortstop for the Yankees from 1972?

[Red Canti]

On trick I like from the "Reacher" series is that he uses baseball players names from his childhood.  I mean, honestly, who remembers the shortstop for the Yankees from 1972?

Probably a good idea to make sure not to use a team that's local, less chance of someone recognizing the name and blowing your cover. Along with avoiding sports bars in general.

[CanRay]

On trick I like from the "Reacher" series is that he uses baseball players names from his childhood.  I mean, honestly, who remembers the shortstop for the Yankees from 1972?

Probably a good idea to make sure not to use a team that's local, less chance of someone recognizing the name and blowing your cover. Along with avoiding sports bars in general.

He's "Walking The Earth", so not that big an issue.  And that's just one of his tricks.

No, really, the guys told me this is lightish red.  Not pink at all!