What is a Shadowrunner?

This is a question that's come up amongst our group lately; what, ultimately, drives a Shadowrunner? Is there a specific type of person that tends to be Shadowrunners?

My two cents is that Shadowrunners are like any other slice of (meta)humanity; you've got people in it for the money, in it for the ideals, in it for the experience, in it for the action, in it for the fun. Shadowrunners have widely varied personalities, approaches, and methods of handling their work. There is room for psychotic head-cases as well as play-it-cool Batman types and everything in between. The only real commonalities between most runners is a certain amount of moral flexibility (if you aren't actively doing something horrible, you are usually supporting or buying from people who are) and a sense of practicality.

Beyond that, it's all (meta)human nature.

What do you think?

Well, mate you just summed it all up.
Whats more to say?

A miserable little pile of secrets.

Yes: people who lack better options.

Mmm. I don't think you can have people "in it for the ideals" if those same people are required to have "a certain amount of moral flexibility".

There's certainly room for a wide range between mirror-shade ice-cool operators and FUCK YEAH PINK MOHAWK, but nobody is a heroic Batman. They're either a disturbed, driven-by-crazy Batman or a desperate, law-of-last-resort Batman.

Yes: people who are the best option.

there is a whole chapter in Attitude talking about this.
Basically, people who were born in a criminal enviroment and keep the way of life and people who has useful skills but somehow got rejected by the "Light" world and now must rely to the shadows to the survive.

Shadowrunners are like the Borg, but with less empathy.
http://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/File:MPost11...ator8738167.jpg

Or adrenalin junkies who are in it for the rush. They can't get out of the life even if they do make "The Big Score" and are able to retire.

You've got a bunch of anti-fa and anti-corporate groups, runners could easily be running to fight against groups they see as evil or in need of destroying.

Sort of. Those people might resemble or interact with runners, but runners 'at their very base' are deniable assets in it for the money. They may be in it for other things *and* money, or they may be mercenaries available only to certain causes or for certain jobs (no wetwork, only wetwork, etc.), but they're freelance criminal mercenaries. They're not organized crime, corp-sec, revolutionaries, PMC, or anything like that.

Here's my take:

The police often question him,
just because they find him interesting.
His beard alone,
has experienced more than a lesser man's entire body.
His blood,
smells like cologne.
He is,
the most interesting Shadowrunner in the world.

"I don't always take jobs, but when I do, I prefer Mrs. Johnson."
"If you know what I mean."

There are those would rather live life as a SINless criminal, etching out a living anyway they can in the violent underworld of the shadows than give up their free will for the safe, easy, mindless, oppressive life of a corporate wageslave. That is an ideal and kind of the basic premise behind Shadowrun (the Shadows referring to those places outside the corporate sphere of influence where your PC is supposed to reside).

Plus there is a long tradition of "Hooding", which is cannon.

Saying that all Shadowrunners are emotionless, morally-void killers is boring. Ideals allow for shades of grey- like what lengths will your character really go to [find his long lost love] or [save his mom from that cancer] or [keep the kitten orphanage running]. Ideals are very much a shadowrunner trait, depending on the shadowrunner.

I feel like this is correct. To understand the underlying concept of the shadowrunner it is important to understand the themes from 80s cyberpunk fiction and the anti-corporate cultural zeitgeist present in popular science fiction of the time.

You don't have to lack better options; some Shadowrunners do quite well for themselves and really enjoy their work. Furthermore, you can be morally flexible and still have ideals. For example, you could be morally flexible in some ways but an idealist in others, or you could be a hypocrite (I can just imagine a human supremacist who goblinizes or SURGEs and continues to rail against metahumans).

I think at the core a shadowrunner may be a freelance criminal, generally hired for corporate espionage and sabotage as a deniable asset - some will be desperate, some will be idealistic, some will be professionals, and some will be deranged.

But the term shadowrunner also implies an elite status. This is why small-time criminals will hunger to be called shadowrunners, and why there will be endless debates about what a "real" shadowrunner is, among the criminal community.

A Shadowrunner is someone that shoots people in the face for money. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

They're whores, essentially. Their primary source of income is giving back-ally handjobs to megacorporations, metaphorically speaking.

It's good money, surprisingly. More importantly, it gives them a degree of freedom that people who live within the system never experience.

Meraphorically?

Wow, have you been lucky dealing with the Mr. Johnsons.

A Shadowrunner is a modern day Ninja.

They are criminals for hire. Most often employed when you don't want people to know it was you that set them on their task, often stealthy jobs of theft or murder.





-k

And when the shadowrunners are also ghouls, you get this ^_^

I've often described them as "somewhere between a prostitute and a military contractor," myself.

In other words, a mercenary (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

Please, "Private Military Contractor".

...

Oh Ghost, I want to wash my mouth out with bleach now for that PC Garbage!

Speaking as an American, Blackwater is a disgrace (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sarcastic.gif)

And yes, I know you're an American too, CanRay. UnitedStatsian doesn't sound right, and Estadounidense makes most people scratch their heads.

It's not Blackwater, it's 'Xe', right?

Anyway, I specifically pointed out that shadowrunners are mercenaries, but not PMCs. The latter is too organized and military for the core meaning of 'shadowrunner'.

Remember, the run isn't over until the Johnson has screwed you twice. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)