Shooting People in the Face(tm) for money; Why?, What's your motivation? |
Shooting People in the Face(tm) for money; Why?, What's your motivation? |
Sep 10 2007, 12:49 AM
Post
#1
|
|||
Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,180 Joined: 22-January 07 From: Rochester, NY Member No.: 10,737 |
Let's face it; being a shadowrunner is a dismal, dark and overall morbid existence, and yet runners continue going on, even after they have the resources (i.e. the nuyen) to escape and retire. As was pointed out in the Shadowrunners in Luxury thread by Maxhunter:
Which is a good point; of my personal PCs, one is in it for the personal vendetta, one is an anti-corper, and one just loves blowing stuff up. None of them are in it for the money (although it certainly helps). But I have to wonder if that's typical or not. So, why does your current/primary character run the shadows, instead of belonging to the Olympic pistol team, or making oricalcum 24/7/365, or making NeoNET's computers a bad place for hackers to be? |
||
|
|||
Sep 10 2007, 12:51 AM
Post
#2
|
|
Immortal Elf Group: Validating Posts: 7,999 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 1,890 |
Closest entry was "being hunted by someone." With that "someone" being the Devil herself. Or at least he's convinced of that fact.
|
|
|
Sep 10 2007, 12:54 AM
Post
#3
|
|
Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,192 Joined: 6-May 07 From: Texas - The RGV Member No.: 11,613 |
Bulldog just happens to be good at the surival gig. "Survival" also seems to pay decent if it's for the right people. Of course, he's quite a bit of the "can't function amongst normal people" as well.
Mark(psycho)Phipps( HAHAHA! ) |
|
|
Sep 10 2007, 12:55 AM
Post
#4
|
|
ghostrider Group: Retired Admins Posts: 4,196 Joined: 16-May 04 Member No.: 6,333 |
I voted other. It depends on the character.
|
|
|
Sep 10 2007, 12:57 AM
Post
#5
|
|
Immoral Elf Group: Members Posts: 15,247 Joined: 29-March 02 From: Grimy Pete's Bar & Laundromat Member No.: 2,486 |
Too psycho works for me. :D
|
|
|
Sep 10 2007, 01:22 AM
Post
#6
|
|
Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 718 Joined: 10-September 05 From: Montevideo, in the elusive shadows of Latin America Member No.: 7,727 |
I voted "too psycho" because I had my favourite character in mind.
In the groups I Gm ing the poll comes out like this: -three [3] in are for the nuyen [ork ex Sioux military, a human mage and another orc who used to work for Yamatetsu and got laid off] -one [1] is hunted [dwarf: former ares sec who knows too much] -two [2] are too fucked up to do anything else [a fundamentalist muslim ork and latin native american terrorist ] -two [2] are into shadowrunning because they are too good at it to be working at a bank. [an elf who is a former tir ghost and an adept who grew up in Serbia and "worked" in the military since he was 12] I am interested in the results of the poll too, of course. Max |
|
|
Sep 10 2007, 01:44 AM
Post
#7
|
|
Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 7,116 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 1,449 |
I voted "other" because, while my characters have had various motivations to run the shadows, they have usually had at least several of the above reasons to do so. And many of them aren't even sure, or may say one reason while they're doing it for another (for example - saying they are doing it because they hate Corp X and/or want to make the world a better place, when the real reason is that are adrenaline junkies who are too psychotic to function in "normal" society).
Also keep in mind that even a completely mercenary character who makes enough money to, conceivably, retire, might not be able to. It might be because they don't have the connections to set it up yet, have enemies still hunting them down, or lack the maturity or good judgement to handle a sudden windfall (remember how many multi-million dollar lotto winners are broke again several years later). |
|
|
Sep 10 2007, 02:05 AM
Post
#8
|
|
Incertum est quo loco te mors expectet; Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 6,546 Joined: 24-October 03 From: DeeCee, U.S. Member No.: 5,760 |
Is "stood in the wrong line at the unemployment office' an acceptable answer?
That said, I GM more than I play, so I guess I'd have to look for the sado-masochist answer... |
|
|
Sep 10 2007, 02:17 AM
Post
#9
|
|
Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,244 Joined: 2-August 07 Member No.: 12,442 |
My new character, an Ork face, is currently running because the bar he used to own got destroyed in an urban brawl and he is trying to get the fun back to rebuild his bar, probably after he drops in some new 'ware and gets a bunch of new toys.
|
|
|
Sep 10 2007, 02:18 AM
Post
#10
|
|||
Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 407 Joined: 9-February 05 From: Oklahoma City, OK, USA Member No.: 7,070 |
For one of my characters, I’ll take ‘victim-of-circumstance’ also… |
||
|
|||
Sep 10 2007, 02:25 AM
Post
#11
|
|||
Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,180 Joined: 22-January 07 From: Rochester, NY Member No.: 10,737 |
Mind elaborating a bit? Sounds interesting. |
||
|
|||
Sep 10 2007, 03:57 AM
Post
#12
|
|
Target Group: Members Posts: 52 Joined: 12-June 07 Member No.: 11,895 |
What? No "All of the above" answer?
I have had a character for just about every option up there. I've got characters who have other motivations. I've even got runners who do it out of altruism. (Yes, I know. I'm a freak. :) Inability to live the corporate lifestyle. For the sheer adrenaline rush. I've even had some to essentially went back. (A set of runners who went and formed their own security corporation.) |
|
|
Sep 10 2007, 05:40 AM
Post
#13
|
|
Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,532 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Calgary, Canada Member No.: 769 |
My current character has something of a vendetta against the Yak's so that's his motivation, previous char was a member of the Seripham trying to reconstitute CatCo.
I voted Revenge/Vendetta though since that's the most current. |
|
|
Sep 10 2007, 06:37 AM
Post
#14
|
|
Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,269 Joined: 18-September 06 Member No.: 9,421 |
Attempting to regain his former power and prestige as well as find and destroy the career of whoever erased his life from Manadyne.
Used to work as a researcher for Manadyne and lectured on channeling magic and spirits through human anatomy at MIT&T. Led a student/faculty initiation/ritual group of which he was the head through a ritual to power his ascent into space(old SR space kills you/makes you crazy. Mostly kills you, he's the only human in my GMs world that has survived{GM said this not me}) and when he came to his aura was altered slightly and his body was altered a lot. He had evidently clawed his own eyes out. He tried to contact Manadyne and MIT&T and found he had quit/been transferred. His SIN no longer responded to his biometrics and he had nowhere to go. He fell back on some of the friendships he had formed with the research group and proved he was who he said he was. They fenced a couple of his Foci and got cloned eyes put in. He found after that that whenever he was astrally active or cast spells he leaked a bio-corrosive acid from the back of his eye sockets. So he not only lost his eyesight again, but he got to feels them slowly burn out from the inside. He's not so stable anymore and he's focused on regaining his former level of initiation and magic and spell list and finding out who the hell engineered his disappearance and taking them down. He's managed to hook up with a gang called the Remnants and is currently working on fixing a baby "War Spirit" in a usable homunculus(GM made- normally War Spirits are visibile possession based spirits that live on the material plane and are literally the most powerful things there are. This is a tiny one no one but us knows about yet. The largest one in existence controls Iraq/Iran and stood off Lofwyr and the combined might of all the troops SK and Ares could safely lose.). War Spirits normally burn through a homunculus in Body days. He's also managed to befriend it and set himself up to possibly gain control of the Remnants a MAJOR drug supplier to the city. So, regaining power and glory, and revenge. Chris EDIT: Also with a healthy dash of too psycho and thrill junkie. |
|
|
Sep 10 2007, 12:23 PM
Post
#15
|
|||||
Incertum est quo loco te mors expectet; Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 6,546 Joined: 24-October 03 From: DeeCee, U.S. Member No.: 5,760 |
The only PC I have currently running is Brock Socket, rocker for hire. He got into the music scene because of his electronics background, but the lead singer ODed when he caught Brock with the singer's girlfriend, so the band basically went into a tailspin. While he's working to find a new band, he's fallen in with any group of miscreants who needs help with electronics and fast talking, as long as they: - Have 'good' taste in music - Don't mind him overindulging in everything - Don't require he be cognizant during the day - Don't mind doing work with Brock Socket, rocker for hire. Since the GM didn't say 'this character is completely unprofessional, go back and try again', that means the party is stuck with him. I'm just waiting for him to finish up his first big run so he can write a song including all the details and try to get it published :P (Yes, as a roleplayer, I tend to fall into the 'loony' category) |
||||
|
|||||
Sep 10 2007, 02:06 PM
Post
#16
|
|||||
Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 394 Joined: 19-May 03 From: In your base eating your food. Member No.: 4,607 |
I think to truly answer you have to analyze the initial question. "Running the Shadows" is a pretty broad term. I think in my case I never considered it a job (SR3) or it stopped becoming a job and is just a way of life (SR4). We never considered money as some kind of scorecard. It's always just been a means to an end. In SR3 my character didn't give a frag about money. It was all about making Universal Omnitech pay. I don't actually remember getting money all that often aside from stealing resources at hand while doing structure hits. Of course turns out he was just a seriously malfunctioning weapon ala the Bourne series. We called that campaign the Berserk Antipathy Tour 2065-2066. Now in SR4 initially we did jobs to pay the rent. I started with a low lifestyle. I lived in the back of a car we stole. Now I'm up to luxury, but we each have our own personal agendas at this point. Hell my character is worth millions but he's constantly broke. I never have liquid assets because I constantly utilize it to further my goals. You know there's more to life than money. Power's a big one, then there's revenge, fame, and just wanting to make the world a better place or take it over ;). |
||||
|
|||||
Sep 10 2007, 02:14 PM
Post
#17
|
|
Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 718 Joined: 10-September 05 From: Montevideo, in the elusive shadows of Latin America Member No.: 7,727 |
I like loonies. Two many of them and... well...
Cheers, Max |
|
|
Sep 10 2007, 02:28 PM
Post
#18
|
|
Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 993 Joined: 5-December 05 From: Crying in the wilderness Member No.: 8,047 |
I have had characters run for all those reasons.
Am going to sight Gibson for my main thought on this though and paraphase, "scrapper got scrap, deckers gotta deck etc" The intrinsic nature of those that do the things necessary in the shadows has to keep them going. Even if its just a mask, that mask if worn long enough can change the person. |
|
|
Sep 10 2007, 02:30 PM
Post
#19
|
|
The Dragon Never Sleeps Group: Admin Posts: 6,924 Joined: 1-September 05 Member No.: 7,667 |
What happened to "Because I want to shoot people in the face, might as well get paid"?
|
|
|
Sep 10 2007, 02:50 PM
Post
#20
|
|
Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,978 Joined: 26-February 02 From: New Jersey, USA Member No.: 500 |
Character I made for a campaign elsewhere on the board was laid off (with good references!) due to corporate intrigue a few levels above his paygrade; It was only while outprocessing that an equally-surprised company lawyer pointed out he'd been hired under a contract that had been used only for a really short time...Because it had an unusually broadly-written noncompete clause.
Fortunately, it just said he couldn't work for someone *else's* organization...It never said anything about being self-employed.:) |
|
|
Sep 10 2007, 03:26 PM
Post
#21
|
|
Shooting Target Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 1,755 Joined: 5-September 06 From: UCAS Member No.: 9,313 |
Each member of current team has different motivations. Oldest team member who's been around since SR1 is jut trying to pay the bills on lifestyle and leonization (sp) treatments ( a nearly 40 yr old troll after all).
Other members of the team work for various reasons from being wanted men, being antisocial crazies, trying to just get off the streets even a hacker who just is out to prove he's the best at what he does. |
|
|
Sep 10 2007, 03:27 PM
Post
#22
|
|||
Immoral Elf Group: Members Posts: 15,247 Joined: 29-March 02 From: Grimy Pete's Bar & Laundromat Member No.: 2,486 |
I can relate to that, but I think it might just fall under the 'Loony' category. ;) |
||
|
|||
Sep 10 2007, 04:09 PM
Post
#23
|
|
Bushido Cowgirl Group: Members Posts: 5,782 Joined: 8-July 05 From: On the Double K Ranch a half day's ride out of Phlogiston Flats Member No.: 7,490 |
...almost chose #5. KK likes big booms too...
However like eidolon said, it really depends on the character. for KK it's ridding the world of those sassin' frassin' Tir Elves that slithered away when the wall came crashing down. For Hannah, it's getting back at those who ruined her life. For Violet it is doing in old Uncle Olaf (her nickname for MetaTech which was taken over NeoNet), and any other corps which use kids for their own advantage. For Da Brat, it's survival plain & simple. |
|
|
Sep 11 2007, 10:56 PM
Post
#24
|
|
Target Group: Members Posts: 37 Joined: 9-February 07 Member No.: 10,958 |
My current character is a sprawl punk pretending to be white collar because he wants out of the sprawl.
Then he got a white-collar girlfriend, and getting out of the sprawl wasn't good enough. Knowing my GM, his GF will be pregnant shortly. Now he's trying to scrape up enough nuyen to retire into the middle class while trying to keep his girlfriend completely ignorant of where he's from and what he's doing. It adds a lot of pressure to keep nuyen in the bank and not blow it all on cybertoys. The second he hits a half mil nuyen, he's buying a new rating 6 fake SIN and is moving into suburbia to raise a family. Unless my GM screws me, which he likely will. |
|
|
Sep 12 2007, 01:10 AM
Post
#25
|
|
Target Group: Members Posts: 91 Joined: 25-July 07 Member No.: 12,356 |
My character's reasoning for running the shadows is a bit different. He's always had dreams of action, adventure, pushing the limit, and being some sort of hero. Thinking Lonestar would offer that he tried to join them, but failed and was not found to be police material. After deciding they were corrupt anyway he started doing small time P.I work around Knoxville, then small time runs, and eventually he got pulled into the world of the shadows seeking his movie-esk hero moment of fame...despite breaking like every law and stealing stuff and fighting people.
|
|
|
Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 18th April 2024 - 06:41 AM |
Topps, Inc has sole ownership of the names, logo, artwork, marks, photographs, sounds, audio, video and/or any proprietary material used in connection with the game Shadowrun. Topps, Inc has granted permission to the Dumpshock Forums to use such names, logos, artwork, marks and/or any proprietary materials for promotional and informational purposes on its website but does not endorse, and is not affiliated with the Dumpshock Forums in any official capacity whatsoever.