Flesh out those boring SR3 generic contacts!, Introducing Tracy the drunk informer Options

[Wounded Ronin]

I've had an idea for a NPC contact which is a little bit messed up.

See, in my opinion, the big problem with SR3 contacts is how they force everyone to take contacts (unless you take the Hung Out To Dry flaw) and the party then has an army of faceless level 1 contacts that all behave in the same way.

It would be better, ideally, if the GM had a dossier of generic contacts so that he or she could play these characters when controlling the contacts.

So, I have an idea for an informant contact which is ripped off directly from the XBox game "Beat Down: Fists of Vengance". Beat Down is basically a cliched martial arts manga game set in t3h str33t; I was always amused when reviews critiqued the storyline and characters as being asinine because clearly the reviewer didn't appreciate the regurgitated schlock of tough guy urban martial arts manga. Myself, I've beaten the game five times and I always watch the full cutscenes.

Anyway, one major NPC in Beat Down is this woman named Tracy. Tracy wears a gaudy brown suit with white stripes that's a bit baggy on her and on her legs are fishnet stockings held up with a garter belt. She's an alcoholic who is always either drunk or suffering from a headache and she spends the entire game sitting in a seedy bar called "The Hole".

Tracy is an informant character. I guess the rationale is that because she spends all her time at the bar she overhears all the gossip, which would make a lot of sense actually in the SR world if you stuck her in a shadowrunner bar.

Tracy would be pretty bland but for one thing. After I beat the game for the fifth time I got Tracy as a playable character. Whereas all the other characters had a lot of unarmed martial arts moves most of Tracy's moves concerned using various weapons, and whereas the game is really about martial arts beatdowns Tracy has a shotgun, the most powerful weapon in the game. (In the normal game there's only 2 shotguns, and only 1 of which you get before the last battle of the game; each one has only five rounds.) Because of the way the game engine works, if you have Tracy in your party she will just keep spawning unlimited shotguns for the whole game. The best part out of all of this is that Tracy's voice always sounds drunk. If you use Tracy to defeat a boss in a one on one battle she bellows a drunken victory speech. It's extremely memorable.

So, instead of having a player take a Level 1 Bartender contact, I'd tell the player that their contact is Tracy, the drunken partygirl informant.

Tracy, drunken partygirl informant
B 4 (she looks slightly fat from all that alcohol)
S 2
I 5
W 2
Q 4
C 3
R 4
Init: 4 + 1d6

Skills:
Shotgun 4
Clubs 4
Edged Weapons (knives) 2 (4)
Ettiquette (bar) 5 (7)
Interrogation 6
Unarmed Combat 2
Taser 4

Gear:
Asashi 12. oz beer bottle
Defiance T-250 shotgun w. shortened barrel customization
20 regular shotgun rounds
12 hangover pills
Stun baton
Stun baton extra battery pack
Colt Asp Revolver
12 cartridges for Colt Asp
1-quart Gekkigan sake bottle
Defiance super shock
6 capacitor darts
Ceramic pocket knife (L damage code)
1-quart Suntory scotch bottle
Gaudy brown suit w. white stripes that is baggy to hide both flab and all these weapons (+50% to weapon concealability, +1 TN to all social rolls because of extreme tastelessness)
Fishnet stockings + garter belt

RP notes:
*Tracy's voice always sounds drunk. If the GM rolls that Tracy dosen't have the information the PCs are looking for, instead of role playing Tracy telling the party that, the GM should role play Tracy being hung over and incoherent.
*Tracy is likely to use blunt language with the PCs due to her drunken state. (From the game: "When you're up shit creek you have to pay out the ass for a paddle. Don't look at me like that.")
*Tracy gets all her information by spending all her time in a shadowrunner bar and overhearing gossip. Since many people approach her for information and trade information with her she's also something like a word-of-mouth bank.
*Tracy looks helpless but she always has a small armory bulging out from under her suit. Because she's a super regular at a shadowrunning bar (she appears to never leave) the manager lets her sit there with all her weapons. The manager figures that her presence probably draws in more customers who want to chat with her for information.
*Because of her drunk and uninhibited state Tracy won't hestitate to attack if she's being threatened.
*Lastly, Tracy is always either drunk or hungover. All of her physical actions should get TN penalties which the GM feels is appropriate for unhealthy levels of intoxication.