Shadowrun is About..., ... isn't this a matter of opinion? Options

[Tashiro]

I've noticed a few times on the board, when someone steps outside of the 'stereotype' of Shadowrun, someone will pipe up and say 'well, maybe you're playing the wrong game because Shadowrun is about...' And my first gut instinct is to say 'bull****'. Shadowrun is a setting ... an entire world filled with variety. That's like saying 'Earth is about making money'.

To me, Shadowrun is about exploring the 6th World, in any way you wish to do it. Period. It isn't about playing the 'street level guys trying to survive in the shadows' or about 'being a crack infiltrating team in a world run by the corporations', or about 'being a sinless no-one who is a disposable asset'.

These are, in my mind, facets of Shadowrun. I've played a runaway trying to make good for themselves, I've made an ex-military with a legitimate job and SIN who does illegal work on the side, and I've done police officers trying to do their job and work completely legit. I've considered running games far outside the normal comfort level for the typical group ... from hunting down medicine in some remote, dangerous place, to a team of rockers trying to make a name for themselves, to members of a sports team trying to survive in the cut-throat world of professional sports.

So... here we go: What do you see Shadowrun as, and how have you tried to break the mould?