What's your take on megacorporate executives?, Brought to you by EMO SAMURAI. Options

[emo samurai]

What do you pc's think of megacorporate executives? There seems to be very little of the "fight the power" mentality among shadowrunners, which is a shame, since my early cyberpunk upbringing was based on the Matrix more than it was on Neuromancer.

So what do your characters think of executives? Are they simply clients? Do they think of them as the devil? Do they try to be them, or are they fawning sycophants towards them?

Maybe a poll isn't right for this discussion; I can think of a few combinations of the above options that aren't mutually exclusive by any means.

[warrior_allanon]

had to say "Eh, they pay well" simply because you didnt have the choice "Depends on the corp", Honestly, Kill all the Azzies, DI pays so damn well i want to join otherwise they just pay decently, and dont try to double cross us to often. Those that do end up dead and the corp gets a little lesson in why you dont try to double cross you troubleshooters, usually emphasis on the Shooter part

[emo samurai]

"DI?"

[nezumi]

C&D. Ultimately you don't get to that spot without being willing to step on some underlings and get involved with some dirty biz. So generally (and we're talking about top executives, not middle management) they're by and large the scum of the earth.

That said, they get some great pay and benefits, and considering most runners aren't exactly girl scouts, it wouldn't be too bad of a deal to jump from one team to the other.

[imperialus]

most of the time my PC's look at them the same way they look at the triads, the mob, insect shamans or anyone else with a few decimal places in their bank account. That is to say "how much can I get out of this deal and will it get me killed in the process." Sometimes touchy feeley crap enters into the equation if they want to pay me to blow up an orphanage or release a nurotoxin into a subway but usually they are just a paycheque.

My current character is a little different though. I made him a Cross company man born and raised. He's more interested in seeing Cross regain AAA status and becoming a major member of the Serepham than anything else. So in his case it would be Cross execs = fanatical personal loyalty, Ares execs = Undying emnity, and everyone elses' execs = competition.

[RainOfSteel]

[RainOfSteel]

None of the campaigns I've run in have focused on anti-authoritarian issues.

The last two have been heavily magic-related, with heavy end-of-the-world overtones.

The MegaCorps have been viewed as so all-powerful that opposing them directly is viewed as a little like standing in the Bay of Fundi and hoping the tide will turn back when, in fact, it is scheduled to come in.

I suppose you could run a Hardwired type campaign, but while it was a fantastic book, it might not go over well with a lot of players.

[emo samurai]

Hardwired?

[SL James]

[Anythingforenoug...]

In every game I have run, and most of the ones I have played in, the corp. dudes, as well as the organized crime lords and every other person in authority has been a real grade one asshole. So most of my characters have had a kill them all and let satan take over.

AFE :nuyen:

[emo samurai]

In my games, they're more or less rational with the occasional glimpse of lawful evil.

[Jestercat]

I write corp execs very realistically. Most of them care about themselves, and absolutely nothing else. About half might have a family they wouldn't sell out, the rest either never had one or never cared. Co-workers are viewed as either opponents or slaves.

Player solution? Where'd I put that C-12...:P

[Cleremond]

My characters typically tend to view the corporate elite exactly how I view the corporate elite in RL, that they are entirely self serving, protected by law from the wrath of those beneath them, and not to be trusted under any circumstances.

So, here is my chance to rant a little bit about the RL corporate elite and I'm gonna run with it.

Corporate excutives have next to ZERO accountability to the employees and retirees of the companies they run, or their companies' shareholders for their business decisions or conduct.

Because its legal for an executive sit on multiple boards for multiple companies, this allows for the whole "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" game between executives of different companies. This reaps untold corruption at business's highest levels. It allows them to immunize themselves from risk while driving their companies into the ground, sacrificing the long term outlook for the short term gain. They make their own rules and because they are so far removed and seperate from what an average worker has to deal with on a daily basis just to get by....they just don't have a clue. They may not all be "bad" people, but they live in a different reality than the rest of us.

Having money is having power over those who don't have it and want it. With enough of it, you can do anything you want and get just about anyone to go along with you.

I approach execs in the SR world very similarly and my characters very much adopt the statement made mention to in a previous post: "How much can I make off this deal without getting my hoop fragged?"

For me, in general, top level corporate executives rate right up there with laywers and whale shit laying at the bottom of the ocean as the lowest forms of organic matter on the planet.

[RainOfSteel]

[Slump]

I view corp execs as both paychecks and prey. The only company loyalty my guy has ever had was to Ares, mostly because he got a pretty sweet deal early on -- Will Run for Guns.