 I want Grit!, SR4 is not Cyberpunk as I know it. |
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 Jul 28 2007, 07:29 AM
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Moving Target  Group: Members Posts: 192 Joined: 13-July 06 From: Long Beach Sacrifice Zone Member No.: 8,885  |
In the example above, you can go any step further by having the crying child looking for his or her mother, and right around the corner in the alley, just out of sight, the devil rats/ghouls/vampires/whatever are feeding on her. The passers-by don't even stop, they step around the child, even as a few of the things chewing on the mother eye the child as a yummy dessert. As the runners walk down the street at night, they're passed by two joygirls. Not more than five minutes later, the runners hear a bloodcurdling scream, then the sounds of a light pistol firing, then a second scream. You then describe the low, anguished sobs and shrieks the joygirls make as they are eaten alive by ghouls. But that's either grit or horror, and your take on it is yours. My best example of a character who's not a 'stone cold pro' or 'purple mohawk club member' started out as a runner when his corp dumped him. He had some skill and knew which end of a pistol you pointed at trouble, so he stepped into the Shadows. He had morals, he had ethics. And all he wanted was enough money to get out of the gray, dismal existence that was 'wake up, find a job, do the job, replace needed tools to do the job, get drunk, bank meager savings, get drunk, pass out, rinse, repeat.' He wasn't going to do this forever, just long enough to make enough money to set himself up in the life he deserved (think permanent middle lifestyle). But as time went on, life became a slippery slope. Sure, he wouldn't kill in cold blood, but those guards were shooting to kill! Kill or be killed was the question, and his death wasn't an acceptable answer. So datasteals led to extractions, extractions led to sabotage and the slide continued. And as he slowly sank into the 'I'll do A to survive, but not B... okay, I can do A and B, bu not C... well, C's also fine, but never D...' mentality, he was also descending into the morass of 'well, maybe this upgrade will give me a better edge'. So not only was he slowly losing the very ideals that defined him, but his humanity was being replaced by metal to match the corrosion of his soul. He ended up being a hardcore runner who would do anything (still resisted wetwork, but he'd drop someone in a heartbeat if he felt they 'deserved to die'... but he wasn't an assassin, right?) and was pretty competent, well-versed in surviving the streets, with enough cyberware to make him a serious threat... and he was completely consumed by the Shadows. That's Shadowrun to me. Your characters have lofty goals and raw naivete, but as they learn and grow (and hopefully survive) they trade in their hopes and dreams in order to survive in an environment that uses them harshly. A shadowrunner is a disposable lighter, when it's no longer useful it's tossed aside without a thought. They fight tooth and nail to work their way up the Shadow heirarchy to be able to undertake jobs with higher pay (and higher danger) because they don't want to end up a target; they can't afford to be seen as weak or they'll be pulled down and left hopeless and adrift like the chip-addled squatters they step over on the way to a meet. Your only goal is to elevate yourself to be prey to the fewest number of groups out there. Too weak? you're marginalized, a victim.. you'll be robbed, devoured, pimped out, turned into spare parts, or have your brains melted with drugs or chips. Claw your way to the top and set yourself up in the lap of luxury, and now you only have to worry about the people under you, runners eyeing you as the big prize, or the corps who will always be top dog. You can't possibly win, but you also can't ever consider losing. You're going to die, that's a given. But the trick is to live as well and as long as you can in the meantime. |
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Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 19th February 2026 - 08:30 AM |
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