Distribution of Power in Shadowrun, laying out the social scene.... Options Track this topic Email this topic Print this topic Download this topic Subscribe to this forum Display Modes Outline Switch to: Standard Switch to: Linear+

[Spike]

I've seen a few different takes on how Shadowrunners fit into teh world here on Dumpshock, some are fairly unique to my perspective. Rather than suggest people have bad ideas, I'd rather lay out how I see the distribution of power/social structure of the shadow world, and invite everyone else to post their takes as well.


At the top are the Megas and other corporations. These are the Apex predators, the entire food chain serves to feed them. Without them there are no actual Shadows to run. Not really anyway. On the other hand, they are also the bottom of teh pyramid, without them as targets, without their money, there is no profit to be had. The metaphor breaks down a bit because of that, but not fatally.

Just under them are the lesser powers. Governments actually fall into this realm. They are not powerless here, just ineffectual. Goverments can hire shadowrunners, but most won't for 'ethical reasons'.... or pride. Government men tend to be very patriotic, very dedicated, driven individuals... or hopeless cynics just collecting their beaurocratic paychecks waiting to retire and start 'double dipping' from their corporate overlords. Governments are often overlooked in Shadowrunning terms, few shadowrunners claim to be former Government men, and rarely does the Fed (or whatever you want to call them) seem to affect the lives of runners in any way. Any obvious way, that is. They can be, however, extremely influential in the lives of people who are not hopelessly caught up in corporation as government thinking... and that is a lot of people.

Fixers are the third tier here. Not because of power, but because of importance. They are the middle men, sure. Powerless in their own right, everyone needs them, everyone uses them. THe Corps don't want their hands dirty, and the fixer is their key to deniability, their expert in things best not known 'in house'. His power comes directly from the corporations that are his bread and butter, not the shadowrunners he hires for them.

Johnsons, while representative of the Corps, are actually fairly low men, totem wise. Like their bosses they tend to be expendable assets. Rare indeed is the CEO or VP of any department who is willing to get hands dirty dealing with criminals. Some former Johnsons, however, rise far in the corporate structure, and often they recall just how much a roll the Shadows had in their rise to power. These Johnsons are the dangerous ones, using Runners for their own personal ambitions, and playing the corporate powergame like masters. Johnsons typically only bother meeting directly with runners after the runners have proven themselves on more anonymous jobs arranged through the Fixer.

Of roughly equal power are the Company Men and the Organized Criminals. Company men are not, in this case, the ubiquitous Corporate Runner types, the Men in Black so often seen when deniability isn't the goal. No, these are the Runners who have risen to prominence working for a single corp, have become some sort of hybrid between company men and Shadowrunners, with their feet in both worlds. They are powerful because they are trusted and even supported by the Corps they work for. To attack them is often to attack the company. No one goes after them personally. They have become assets. What makes them really dangerous is the bankroll the corps can provide for these long standing assets. Deltaware is increasingly common as a reward for additional services, as are expert trainers and expiremental spells cooked up in Thaumaturgical R&D labs.

Roughly on par are the Organized criminals. Generally, most syndicates won't have near the money or power of the corps, and won't have but a few muscle types anywhere near on par with a Runner. What makes them powerful is their numbers and their ubiquity in the communities. IF a shadowrunner has pissed off the Yak, he might be able to handle the thugs that come after him without breaking a sweat, but the moment he enters Yak territory, every eye is on him, and sooner, rather than later some expert killer will ambush him and take him down. Generally the syndics respect shadowrunners abilities while requesting, or demanding, equal respect in turn. A team of angry shadowrunners can tear apart a single syndicate in an orgy of violence, true enough, but eventually they will be brought down in return. Most shadowrunners will understand this clearly, having been, in many cases, former syndic muscle themselves. Syndicates are not beyond hiring shadowrunners themselves, though unlike the corporates, they'd really rather have the work be done 'In House', so to speak.

Shadowrunners are near the bottom. They are the labor, the scum that get their hands dirty. Most shadowrunners have a high opinion of their place on teh food chain, and it is dangerous for them. True, compared to their fixer they are dangerous killers, compared to the meat that the Syndicates toss at problems, they are elite badasses. Compared to teh Johnson, they are experts and badasses both...
What the lack, however, is resources. They don't even really have a bargining position. There is no real organization of Shadowrunners, no official school of training to go to, no secret badges to be earned. If the corp doesn't like the runner's attitude or cost, they'll hire someone else. Anyone else. It might be cheaper to subvert a worker in a rivals secret facility than hire shadowrunners to break in. It might be easier to spend that same money on a Gang and get them to over run the place. Better yet, they could put the onus on the Fixers they've bought and paid for to find them better assets. The Megas don't have to put up with shit from anyone, not even other Megas... why would they concern themselves with a pack of petty criminal thugs with an inflated sense of self worth? They may not care overly much about the life of the disposable Johnson they sent out to handle the deal, but they DO care about their reputation. Scragging a Johnson for no good reason is a death sentence, and it's likely to be other shadowrunners who do the job. There is no honor among the shadows...

Below the Runners, however, lie the street gangs. Gangers are dangerous only to civilians, and even then often only because of numbers. Gangers are tappped by everyone above them in the chain, and often die messily for it. The Syndics use them as disposable assets, and as a recruiting ground, the Fixers use them for muscle of all sorts, teh Corps hire them as low rent Runners, often in large groups. Shadowrunners make deals with them or kill them depending upon attitudes and needs. Gangs only have one real asset in teh Shadows, and that is warm bodies. The money they make tends to get sucked up by the Syndicates that 'own' them, or frittered away on individuals, rather than invested in equipment or training. Some gangs do manage to grow in wealth and power, but they are more properly grouped as Syndicates in their own right, gangs like the Ancients, for example, are run more like illegal businesses, and have assets that normal Gangs can not hope to match.

At the very bottom are ordinary people. Worth mentioning because these people are either victims of the groups above them, or filter their way up the chain into one of the groups over them. They don't really have any power, though in large groups (mobs) they can be dangerous to nearly everyone, though in the sixth world this is increasingly rare as the Corps find ever more clever ways to pacify the masses they leech off of.



Oddballs include things like great Dragons, which can be often grouped with the Corporations (in Lofwyr's case) or as Governments in their own right (Hestaby, with her Shasta enclave)...

Did I miss anything?