Front companies., For your runner cover. Options

[Jack Kain]

I had this idea about using front companies. Shadowrunner's would have a fake company with which to help mask there activities. This would help explain why you have a team of armed individuals who just happen to be traveling together.

I got this idea from apollo124
"Paranormal Investigations and Eliminations."
When Paracritters attack who you gonna call

G.M.M.S
Guns, Matrix and Magical, Security.
Providing protection and security in all forms.

Red Shirt Delveries.
Are Delivery men are expendable your package isn't.

Big Friggin Troll.
When your security must be scary, call Big Friggin Troll

Starbucks Heavy Arms Security
Because selling coffee just wasn't enough.

[Cheops]

Private eye firms are always great.

[Mistwalker]

Have used private eye set up in the past
even had the chars do a few low pay, investigate the possible cheating spouse jobs, to keep the star and others happily believing that they were just PIs.

[Thane36425]

A bounty hunting company can also be a cover, particularly one that deals with nasty paracritters.

A mage could also front through an alchemist or talismonger. By setting a contact they can trust with a shop, or providing a portion of the startup money, they can have access to those services, have an extra set of ears out for magical goings on, and take a cut of the profits due to their share of the startup money as well. This would also give good cover for a magically talented smuggler. While travelling to procure materials for the shop, they could slip in a couple of data chips or sneak through some orichalcum or radicals.

Still another option: The Red Team. This is a team of runners who, for a price, will attempt a run on a site to test its security. The runners will then provide a critique and make suggestions for improving security. In the interim, they can pull real runs. However, it wouldn't be a good idea to run against a site you have worked on or get caught selling that information. That would be a sure way to go out of business and probably out of this life too.

[cetiah]

I love the idea of an armed delivery service.

[Konsaki]

Mysteriously Efficient and Reliable Curior Service
M.E.R.C.S.

[Kyoto Kid]

[PBTHHHHT]

The Cleaning Crew - Professional cleaners. (A bit obvious...)

Contractors - Such as electronics.

I was writing up a short story which I never finished which described a pair of armed pizza deliverymen for a parlor that catered fast deliveries into the Barrens for a premium price.

[Leehouse]

A simple one for a rigger would be a mechanic shop. It doubles as a place for you to repair your vehicles and drones.

[TheOOB]

I ran a pest extermination buissness once, though we didn't eliminate the bugs and rats people would have thought we did(well except for that time with the insect spirit).

[Kyoto Kid]

...Violet has an Electroncs "Fix-It" shop.

[Jaid]

[cetiah]

[mfb]

<Name>'s Imports and Exports is the one i use a lot.

[Leehouse]

[kzt]

Security Contractors. Gives an excuse for having lots of weapons and controlled devices. And we actually made money at this, though we did better with our off-the books operations. We were very careful to never do runs against customers, ex-customers or our unofficial sponsors.

[Mistwalker]

How did you manage to not do any runs against clients, when normally, you don't know who the target is until after Mr Johnson has your word that you will take the job?

Unless your fixer "screened" the runs?

[Onyx]

Because our group all had the 1st Aid Skill, 2 characters had the healing spell, and one was actually trained in Medicine, we decided to take the contracted High Threat Response Team angle. It made it extremely simple for us to carry our weaponry, armor, cyber/bioware, etc. and get little trouble from local law enforcement. We basiclly sold medical insurance to private contractors (which of course was 0). Basically we were like a smaller version of DocWagon. We have a base that is equiped for medical emergencies, with an arsenal, living quarters, and with complete lisensing for our front. Even if the place was raided for some reason, everything in the place is pretty much perfectly legal.

[Cheops]

[Kyoto Kid]

[Lantzer]

My wife's characters like the cover identity of a plumber.

It works quite well.

• Ubiquitous
• Socially invisible
• Expected to carry around a variety of tools and supplies
• Has a van full of metal tubular things of various sizes and lengths, as well as a variety of chemicals.
• Works the gray market economy as it is, so is less likely to be flagged for doing large cash transactions.
• Don't get looked at as hard as PIs, Bounty Hunters, etc.

It's handy to have a throwaway ID as a PI, Bounty hunter, or the like, but I think for a group corporation, something less glamorous like a service profession is best. PIs and bounty hunters get the hairy eyeball from the authorities more often than civilian corporation #543.

If you want to Be really really canny, A smart runner team could do something really sneaky as follows:

(disclaimer - I thought of this, but have not tried it)
• Form a small service private corp. Call it 'General Services, Inc.' (We also walk dogs) or the like.
• Issue a large chunk of preferred stock.
• Do runs to quietly get a small sub-subdivision or two of Ares to buy up the large hunk of stock.
• Discretely add a a small Ares logo to your logos.
• Properly label your facilities (see corporate download).
• Do occasional legit jobs.
• Keep two sets of books.
• Remain barely profitable enough to send small regular dividends to the corporate coffers.

The benefits: You are now part of an extraterritorial AAA, with the rights and priviledges that go with it.

• Ares citizens have the right to bear arms on Ares property. No one is suprised to see an armed Ares citizen. Many cops will simply assume you are properly liscensed and all when they see your ID.
• Extraterritorial corps are able to bypass Customs/Border Searches in many cases.
• Corp security forces and local/federal cops often have juristictional disputes. This leads to a more favorable environment for shadowrunning.
• Try to arrange discounts at Weapons World?

The dangers

• Getting caught during the takeover setup
• Getting the attention of some accountant with something to prove who thinks he can make this itty bitty company more profitable.
• If you screw up and get caught on a run, Big Attention will become focused on your little company. This is true for any cover company, to be honest, but in this case, you will have at least 1 embarassed Mega looking for your hide. On the other hand, if you keep the charade up for long enough, they might be impressed enough with your chutzpah to offer you a job as a company man.

Variations:

• Use common stock and get a ambitious middle manager stuck over your little corp during takeover. Although a security risk, it has possible benefits if the salaryman is approached correctly. He/she could very quickly be placed in a position where they want to protect your independence and secret business in order to advance/save their own career/skin. This has certain advantages in that the salaryman could be leveraged into protecting your interests and covering your tracks on the corp side of things. This kind of contact could be useful even after he/she finally manages to get transferred out and up the business ladder.
  
• Set up as an Ares subsidiary, but don't tell Ares. Instead, fake the records and plant them in various places. The nice thing about mega-big business is often the left department doesn't know what the right department is doing. This is easier to set up, but potentially very hazardous in the long run.

[Chrome Shadow]

I have used PIs, but my favorite is the Bounty Hunter... Always moving to get some prey...

[MaxHunter]

My players, a few runs ago: "Petro Clean", a front petrochemical subcontractor and a fairly good reason to carry heavy bags with "tools, pipes and cans" all around the Middle East.

Foreigners would stand out in some cities. Foreigners working for some oil company moving around in corporate overalls and a truck were a fairly common view.

Cheers,

Max