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Dumpshock Forums _ Shadowrun _ The real Humanis thugs

Posted by: Omer Joel May 2 2006, 05:06 PM

SR4 p.275 describes quite weak, very-low-level part-time thugs as the Humanis goons; even their Lieutenant is hardly a match for most serious gangers, not to mention the more militant metahuman-rights organizations. Sure, as long as beating up innocents (especially the more traditional, eledrly-woman type MOM demonstrators, rather than the younger and stronger pro-Meta activists) and carrying placards at demonstrations are concerned, they work well; but in any real conflict they'll just be mowed down, even by lowly gangers. And, from a game perspective, they aren't useful adversaries for the avarage runner.

Ofcourse, any real hate-group such as Humanis is bound to have something more serious to use for real street-fighting and even some quasi-terrorist work (i.e. attacking Metahuman neighbourhoods). I wasn't thinking about something really Runner-scale (this is where Alamos 20,000 and/or The Hands of Five and/or Human Nation come to the picture), but these thugs are still serious body-building, gun-loving fascist goons, and, in a well-organized group, they still pose a threat to runners.

Humanis Policlub Militia
Professional Rating: 1
Grunt Condition Monitor: 10

CODE

B A R S C I L W EDG ESS Init IP
4 4 3 4 2 2 2 3 1 6 5 1

Active Skills: Firearms Skill Group 2, Close Combat Skill Group 2, Throwing 1, Dodge 2, Etiquette (Street) 2(+2), Intimidation 3, Pilot Ground Vehicle 1.
Knowledge Skills: Humanis Policlub 4.
Gear: Colt Manhunter w/2 additional clips OR Remington 990 w/16 additional Shot shells, Leather Jacket [2/2], CMT Clip commlink w/Vector Xim OS, Wireless Earbuds, Contact Lenses w/ Image Link.

Coming next:
Lieutenant, Anti-Meta Terrorists (Human Nation?), a Humanis Hacker and a mage who doesn't think he's a mage...

Posted by: dcpirahna May 2 2006, 05:15 PM

I don't think the Policlub members would want to shoot meta's with a Colt Manhunter.
Maybe if there was a Colt Beast-hunter.
I doubt they would really think about it that much but it just seems philisophically wrong for that to be their standard issue weapon since their stance is that Metas are not men and women, but animals to be put down.

I could just be being silly though:)

Posted by: TBRMInsanity May 2 2006, 05:30 PM

I think the idea of the Humanis is not that they are stronger one on one but that they have more members then the average gang plus they have more resources to poll. I would probably just give the stats for a standard human and give them whatever equipment they need. It is also key to point out that members of the humanis pol club come from all walks of life and will be a part of the club as an extra activity. Even Kennith Blackhaven is a buisnessman 90% of the time.

Posted by: GrinderTheTroll May 2 2006, 06:00 PM

One of the biggest impressions I got reading SR4 was that being a Shadowrunner means more than being a regular-Joe. The fact that grunts and lieus alike have a single condition monitor means they are fodder in the way of the *real* story or the *real* target. We like to call them "clip-loaded bad-guys". Even drunk with a rusted-out Ruger, you could still clean house.

If you like you thugs more "SR1-2" flavored then beef'em up or just introduce more Prime Runners with hordes of henchmen, lol.

~GTT

Posted by: Shrike30 May 2 2006, 07:02 PM

I'd give 'em armored vests or long coats, not just leather jackets. If you're going into a place where you figure you're going to get shot back at, some token level of bulletproofing is usually desired.

Posted by: GrinderTheTroll May 2 2006, 07:04 PM

Yeah it's like bringing a knife to a gun fight.

Posted by: Kanada Ten May 2 2006, 08:32 PM

My favorite Humanis tactic is for the policlub to call the Star on a meta-rally while they incite it to violence. They don't engage in hand-to-hand with the metas, they throw rocks at them and explosives around them, staging riots and maybe inserting a "turn-coat" like corps do in anti-globalization marches. All it takes is one troll with a p'fix flipping cars to have the Star swoop in and arrest everybody.

Posted by: Dashifen May 2 2006, 09:41 PM

That's gold, k10. I love it!

Posted by: mfb May 2 2006, 09:58 PM

one of the nice things about SR4 is the fact that cyberware prices went way, way down. i think it's perfectly fair to give a few of those Humanis thugs a smartlink, or a level of muscle replacement or wired-1. it's the 2070 equivalent of a modern racist buying a gun to protect his family from them damn [insert racial epithet of your choice here]. some of them would even be legal, especially the white collar types who only moonlight as Humanis thugs, or who view their upgrades as a legitimate self-defense measure (which, racism aside, they are).

Posted by: SL James May 2 2006, 11:12 PM

Jesus, if you're going to make hardcore Humanis thugs (as opposed to Humanis runners), don't fuck around. I'd base them on some of the more interesting members of the Aryan Brotherhood. Guys who've practically grown up in prison, and have all the time in the world to read, workout and plot. They know more about warfare than most soldiers, more about the law than most cops and even some lawyers, have developed fearsome technical and b/r prowess, and are strong enough to break their handcuffs and take on a SORT push team. People who will kill without hesitation, and have no fear of prison.

By 2070, there should be quite a few people like them.

Posted by: Geekkake May 2 2006, 11:16 PM

QUOTE (SL James)

Thank you. I now have another group of NPCs.

Posted by: hyzmarca May 3 2006, 01:29 AM

There shouldn't be any Humanis thugs. This is a political party that regulary fields competitive canidates in Presidential elections and probably has seats in the UCAS legislature and on several state and local governing bodies.

Humanis publicly sending thugs to shoot metahumans as a policy matter is like the Democratic Party publicly sending thugs to shot pro-lifers. It shouldn't happen.

Posted by: Kanada Ten May 3 2006, 01:43 AM

"Publicly"? No, it's a bit more like a few radical members getting together and bombing clinics, spying on political opponents, removing opposition signs, intimidating voters or bombing polling stations, and so on. I mean fucking Hamas was elected to government. SR leans more to unstable government and radical groups than ye ole Democratic Party of 2006.

Posted by: BnF95 May 3 2006, 03:35 AM

QUOTE (hyzmarca)

Isn't that why the Humanis Policlub fields teams like Alamos 2000 and the Hand of Five? For "public" deniability.

Posted by: mfb May 3 2006, 03:36 AM

there are still thugs doing things in the name of Humanis, though. Humanis officially disassociates themselves from it, of course.

Posted by: Dissonance May 3 2006, 04:40 AM

Hey. Is Humanis a part of the Human Nation, or is the Human Nation part of Humanis?

Posted by: Kanada Ten May 3 2006, 04:42 AM

The Human Nation backs Humanis and similar groups. It's not a public group, really, more of a secret cabal deal.

Posted by: Dissonance May 3 2006, 04:45 AM

I kind of figured as much, re: not public alliance. I think that the Human Nation isn't even publically known about.

Posted by: Grinder May 3 2006, 11:51 AM

QUOTE (SL James)

To me these guys appear more as the leaders, than acutal thugs. But they'll make a great group of NPCs . thank you for the inspiration

Posted by: hyzmarca May 3 2006, 03:08 PM

QUOTE (mfb)

there are still thugs doing things in the name of Humanis, though. Humanis officially disassociates themselves from it, of course.

I can hold up a convience store in the name of Ricardo Montalban. That doesn't make me his thug. That just makes me a crazy thug who is obsessed with Ricardo Montalban.

Posted by: Omer Joel May 3 2006, 05:10 PM

QUOTE (hyzmarca)

The Democratic Party shouldn't be your reference for Humanis - they are more similar to far-right groups, that have no problem with both having skinhead thugs on the streets and running for public offices at the same time. There are several examples of this in Europe.

Sure, the official Humanis line is that they are a common interest group for Humans interested in furthering Human interests; and the major thugs will probably not be the visible political activists of the Policlub but (officially) only it's fringe. And the stats I've posted here is for Humanis thugs who border on Alamos 20K activity; the ones you'd see in demonstrations (provoking the counter-demonstration into violence and then calling in the 'Star and playing innocent like Kanada Ten suggested) or who beat up metas in a dark alley and then blame it on the meta are the ones that appear in SR4 p.275. What I had in mind when designing my thugs was similar to the Nazi S.A. in the late 1920's Germany (before the Nazis got to power) - street brawlers who attack people of different races or opposed political organizations and who might come handy when organizing a "Putsch".

The ones I've described in this thread are probably officially employed as "Policlub security", spend most of their time defending Policlub VIPs and protecting Policlub facilities from opposition elements (i.e. MOM, the MPA and Sons of Sauron); when they are "off duty" they might "get carried a little" and burn down Metahuman buildings, then recieving some "slap on the wrist" from the official Humanis; with the amount of money Humanis has, they would have no problem filing successful liebel (sp?) charges against anyone who blames them for these actions.

And IIRC, Alamos 2K, Human Nation and Hands of Five all have unofficial influence on different sections of Humanis, and might even be involved in financing the political part of Humanis.

Posted by: mfb May 3 2006, 05:25 PM

QUOTE (hyzmarca)

I can hold up a convience store in the name of Ricardo Montalban. That doesn't make me his thug. That just makes me a crazy thug who is obsessed with Ricardo Montalban.

sure. but if you regularly attend Ricardo Mantalban Club meetings, and the guy who drove your getaway car also attends, and you bought the guns for the holdup from another guy you met at those meetings, and the storeowner is very vocal about how Ricardo Montalban is the son of satan...

basically, Humanis doesn't officially sponsor anti-meta terrorism. but all the anti-meta terrorists are card-carrying Humanis supporters, and the network of Humanis supporters is the same network that a lot of the anti-meta terrorists use for their activities. and it's not like the Humanis leadership is crying itself to sleep at night over all the trogs, halfers, and keebs that their organization is largely responsible for hurting and/or killing.

Posted by: blakkie May 3 2006, 05:45 PM

QUOTE (mfb @ May 3 2006, 11:25 AM)

LOL, that is second subject i've noticed within 24 hours that you've posted on that i seem to fully agree with you about.

And i haven't even read all the threads around here yet.

Did you start on a smart pill protocol while i was away or something?

Posted by: mfb May 3 2006, 05:49 PM

lololol!!1!1!11!!1!