Evil overlording it over the peasants., What has SR taught you about oppression? |
Evil overlording it over the peasants., What has SR taught you about oppression? |
May 22 2006, 04:28 AM
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#1
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Dragon Group: Members Posts: 4,589 Joined: 28-November 05 Member No.: 8,019 |
One of the things about SR that I really like is its very nuanced portrayals of bureaucratic tyrannies and how to run them effectively. The corps aren't really held down by ideology when dealing with the SINless, so they have leeway to be really creative in keeping them from banding together and blowing up the Arc with black market explosives. Paying them to kill each other, providing the guns they do it with, flooding the market with whatever they want short of the necessities of life, etc. Circuses without the bread. Pretending not to be the government.
What other things have the writers at FanPro and Fasa taught you about burninating the peasants? |
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May 22 2006, 04:49 AM
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#2
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 903 Joined: 7-February 03 Member No.: 4,025 |
One theme I see is that people (and organizations: corporations, etc.) are becoming concerned only with what sort of person they appear to be, and to hell with worrying about what sort of person they really are. This is an expansion of the "it isn't illegal if you don't get caught" thinking, and by and large, shadowrunners seem to be the exception. It's like law has somehow replaced integrity, and so those with integrity are outside the law. I don't know if that's what I gathered from the fiction, or if it's something I've interjected without realizing it.
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May 22 2006, 05:02 AM
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#3
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Dragon Group: Members Posts: 4,589 Joined: 28-November 05 Member No.: 8,019 |
One thing I learned from 2XS is that corporations are in general really ambiguous.
[ Spoiler ] Also, always have a dragon to slay. When you think about it, knights are defenders of an oppressive feudal society; they're rich at the expense of the peasants, violent at the drop of a hat, and have the right to kill commoners who insult them. And yet they are regarded as heroes. Why? Because they kill dragons and barbarians. The only difference between the ogre and the knight is that the knight gets the girl. So do your best to be the knight, a piece of advice Ares has taken well. |
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May 22 2006, 08:02 AM
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#4
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Midnight Toker Group: Members Posts: 7,686 Joined: 4-July 04 From: Zombie Drop Bear Santa's Workshop Member No.: 6,456 |
Getting the girl isn't always a good thing. I read a comic strip once in which a knight was trying to rescue a virgin princess from a dragon who had already eaten several virgin sacrifices. He attempts to distract the dragon with a whore while he rescues the princess. It works. Of course, he gets to marry the princess as the knight does at the end of such stories. But the princesses true personality soon becomes obvious and the knight is doomed to spend the rest of his life with someone he really hates. The dragon and the whore, on the other hand, live happily ever after. The dragon never bothers the kingdom again because he was just looking for some satisfaction.
I don't think that shadowrunners necessarilary have integrity. Most of them probably don't. There are just a few rules that you have to follow to stay alive. The first rule of being a runner is 'don't put yourself into a position where you are likely to be mortally wounded'. Most of what appears to be integrity falls under this rule. Don't betray your teammates becasue paranoid teammates will kill you if you do and ectcetera. The thing about shadowrunners is that they are free. They can choose which jobs they do and if they can't then they've made a big mistake. No one else, except for the highest powerplayers (who are also the highest shadowplayers) is really free. Some people on Dumpshock have stated that the famous decker Fastjack is Damien Knight. He certainly has the skills for it. He was one of the members of Ecco Mirage. The current Empress of Japan did some shadow-work during her rebellious phase and she probably still has some contact with the AI Mirage. Lowfyr has been involved in some shadowruns. The Draco foundation controls Assets, Inc. and Ryan Mercury regulary plays with the nipples of a UCAS Vice President. The lower echelons of shadowrunners do not have much of a life expectancy or much of a life. However, the line between the best and the brightest shadowrunners and the Sixth World's real political power is very thin. In some places, it doesn't exist at all. I see two reasons for this. First of all, the people who write the novels and the metaplot books tend to think big. Big and epic adventures sell more, quite frankly. The second reason is a bit more complex. Power is fleeting. Absolute power is the most fleeting. The more powerful one becomes the more difficult it is to hold onto that power. The powerful need to take certain personal risks to keep themselves afloat. They need to decieve their enemies. They need as much information as they can possibly get. They need to destroy those who wish to destroy them. Most importantly, they need people who aren't going to betray them to do this. To ensure their safety they either use a complex series of cut-outs and middle men who ultimatly prove untracable or they cultivate strong relationships within the shadow community. The latter is safer in the long run since any of the middle men can turn traitor. Likewise, to actually obtain power you have to be willing to take risks and do some things that might not be legal. This itself usually involves shadow-work and those who are willing to run the shadows are likely to claw their ways past the privilaged but complacent if given the chance. And, of course, in the case of Lowfyr there are just some things that you have to do yourself when you are one of the most powerful magical beings on the planet. |
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May 22 2006, 02:42 PM
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#5
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 903 Joined: 7-February 03 Member No.: 4,025 |
Neither do I, but I was suggesting that many people with integrity become shadowrunners because they don't fit the system. And like I said, it's just a theme that I've noticed, not a rule. |
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May 22 2006, 10:51 PM
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#6
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 6,640 Joined: 6-June 04 Member No.: 6,383 |
Well, for me the overall SR world was more of an 80s pastiche and less of something that would be economically or politically viable. It's not to say that I totally disregarded economic or political viability but instead those things were just a bit less important with me.
Therefore, the oppressed masses are usually too stoopid to see what's going on and in terms of corporate control and environment I like to rip off incoherent bits of the novel The Running Man and Blade Runner and ninja movies. |
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May 23 2006, 12:45 AM
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#7
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Dragon Group: Members Posts: 4,589 Joined: 28-November 05 Member No.: 8,019 |
Did we ever find out who FastJack was? And would a technomancer be able to kick FastJack if she was submerged and had really high level complex forms?
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May 23 2006, 01:00 AM
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#8
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 5,430 Joined: 10-January 05 From: Fort Worth, Texas Member No.: 6,957 |
Fastjack in a game would either be a statless "this guy is an unstoppable badass" or a statted "this guy is a nigh unstoppable badass." If it's the latter then he could be beaten by somebody with high enough skills and gear, whether they're a technomancer or not. If it's the first then he's only beatable if the GM decides it would be beneficial to the game for him to be beaten.
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May 23 2006, 01:02 AM
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#9
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,379 Joined: 16-April 02 From: the LI shadows Member No.: 2,607 |
Sometimes you have to compromise. Situations, people, your own morals.
What appears evil isn't necessarilly evil, except for toxic & insect shamans, toxic & insect spirits, and shedim. The 'happy ending' (hero gets the girl, everyone gets paid, no-one dies, ect.) 98% happens ONLY in a trid-show. Survive by being smarter than your opponents. If you can't trust your team, don't 'run with them. Don't trust Mr./Ms. Johnson as far as you could physically pick said person up & throw them. Do the job right, or don't 'run. |
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May 23 2006, 01:07 AM
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#10
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 668 Joined: 15-February 05 From: Ontario, Canada Member No.: 7,086 |
Don't trust Mr/Ms Johnson as far as you could toss a Great Western Dragon. Remember, those trolls are strong. |
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May 23 2006, 01:11 AM
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#11
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Immortal Elf Group: Members Posts: 11,410 Joined: 1-October 03 From: Pittsburgh Member No.: 5,670 |
fixed! |
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May 23 2006, 01:26 AM
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#12
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,401 Joined: 23-February 04 From: Honolulu, HI Member No.: 6,099 |
Fastjack mentions in the SR4 prologue that people think he was invovled with Echo Mirage, but he claims he wasn't. How much you can trust him on that, its unclear. Heh what is clear is that he's like 71 years old (if he was telling the truth of his birthdate) and he still would knock the crap outta the 'hot new things' in 2070.
It's not reflected so much in the material directly, but in my own experiences playing runners, I find it hard NOT to end up 'the man' as you get more powerful/wealthy/influential. In games where I've ended character runs due to changes in edition, length of time, whatever, they've usually ended up high up in the fixer/johnson kinda role. It seems like a natural, logical progression as you've spent your time gaining contacts, rep, cash, etc. |
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May 23 2006, 01:50 AM
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#13
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 208 Joined: 3-May 06 From: On the Run Member No.: 8,521 |
Fixed ;) |
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May 23 2006, 02:03 AM
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#14
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Shadowrun Setting Nerd Group: Banned Posts: 3,632 Joined: 28-June 05 From: Pissing on pedestrians from my electronic ivory tower. Member No.: 7,473 |
Now, it's fixed.
So, basically what you're saying is that the only people who could trust a Johnson are probably stupid enough to do so anyway, being trolls and all. |
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May 23 2006, 02:24 AM
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#15
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 684 Joined: 8-April 06 From: My dorm room Member No.: 8,438 |
The only problem with this is that FanGirl has no intention of kicking FastJack. If she ever gets to meet FastJack, she'll live up to her name by letting out a brief squeal of joy and then bombarding him with a great many breathless adulations ("OMG, you're so awesome!") until he takes his leave. Glomphing (or attempted glomphing) might or might not be involved. |
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May 23 2006, 02:34 AM
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#16
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 6,640 Joined: 6-June 04 Member No.: 6,383 |
You mean you'd hack all his favorite websites to redirect to your AOL site complete with floating pastel hearts and too many animated .GIFs? You MONSTER! |
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May 23 2006, 02:42 AM
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#17
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 684 Joined: 8-April 06 From: My dorm room Member No.: 8,438 |
You don't know what glomphing is, do you? If you don't, here is a helpful guide. |
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May 23 2006, 02:55 AM
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#18
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 6,640 Joined: 6-June 04 Member No.: 6,383 |
Well, I figured a redirect to an AOL homepage would be the on-line equivalent of that. |
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May 23 2006, 02:58 AM
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#19
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Beetle Eater Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 4,797 Joined: 3-June 02 From: Oblivion City Member No.: 2,826 |
Not when simsense is the medium. |
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May 23 2006, 03:08 AM
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#20
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Dragon Group: Members Posts: 4,589 Joined: 28-November 05 Member No.: 8,019 |
Dude, his icon's a blurry man who you can't focus on. I'm not sure you can hug it.
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May 23 2006, 03:09 AM
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#21
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 684 Joined: 8-April 06 From: My dorm room Member No.: 8,438 |
When I glomph FastJack, rest assured that he'll be able to revel in every bone that snaps within his chest, every cubic millimeter of air that is forced from his lungs, every reverberation of exquisite pain that he sustains from the force of my obsessive ardor. :vegm: EDIT:
Not among those whom he considers to be his friends. |
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May 23 2006, 03:14 AM
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#22
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 6,640 Joined: 6-June 04 Member No.: 6,383 |
Lol, he's a Displacer Beast. |
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May 23 2006, 03:48 AM
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#23
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Dragon Group: Members Posts: 4,589 Joined: 28-November 05 Member No.: 8,019 |
Dude, you solved the riddle of the ages.
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May 23 2006, 03:52 AM
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#24
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Immortal Elf Group: Members Posts: 11,410 Joined: 1-October 03 From: Pittsburgh Member No.: 5,670 |
as of when? |
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May 23 2006, 03:56 AM
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#25
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 6,640 Joined: 6-June 04 Member No.: 6,383 |
This thread should cut to a scene of Fastjack the displacer beast sitting like a dog while wearing a pair of boxer shorts with several doggie bowls filled with mountain dew scattered around him. He's got a cyberdeck plugged into his blurry ole head and is executing a DOS attack to bring down DSF before the truth gets out. |
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