Pump and dump a reputation, could you do this? Options

[Daddy's Litt...]

'Pump and dump' is a stock swindle when you spread rumors to artificially raise a stock's price so you can sell it quickly at a profit, before people realize it is junk. What I was wondering is could you do this with a reputation of someone you want to destroy? start rumors about how good he is so he starts getting bigger runs, runs above his head, he has to either try and fail OR start declining contracts. Either of these should be damaging to a rep.

[Rotbart van Dain...]

That's quite possible - RAW even elaborates that if you pose as somebody, you can use his Street Cred.

[CanRay]

"So, I need you to assassinate this person, at long range." "Um... I'm going to need some cash up front then. All I have is a Streetline Special." "Are you sure you're Dumbo the Destroyer?" "Yeah, have been all my life!"

[Cheops]

Ugh...that adds a whole other dimension to running in LA. I hadn't even thought of that. Messy.

[CanRay]

And that's why I'm staying in Seattle. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

[ravensmuse]

"So, I need you to assassinate this person, at long range." "Um... I'm going to need some cash up front then. All I have is a Streetline Special." "Are you sure you're Dumbo the Destroyer?" "Yeah, have been all my life!"

This reminds me of a story.

Now bear with me here as I ramble.

My brother used to play this free online MMORPG called "Graal". It was basically one giant sprite rip of the SNES Legend of Zelda game, but with tons of customization included. You could literally look like anything you wanted to. It was also very hackable, but that's a story for a different day (PIES PIES PIES).

He was a great player and a great player killer, so one plus one went off in his head one day and he decided he was going to be an assassin for hire. Pay him and a buddy to go out, find your dood, and kill him. Simple, right? They even customized their characters to be walking around in black business suits and sunglasses.

Eventually they get hired to take this one guy out, so they go out on the hunt and manage to chase him into an inn. They spend a couple of minutes waiting for the guy to come out (inns were no touchie zones) before they finally said screw it and came up with an ingenious idea: one of them would make his character look exactly like the guy in the inn, the other would kill him, then they'd get evidence (screenshot) and collect the dough without having to do the deed.

So they did. And they got paid. And so they continued the scheme for awhile before they got bored with it and went out to the newbie area to kill some newbies for no good reason.

And that's my tangent for the day :D

[Aaron]

Okay, I can see why one would pump and dump a stock for the profit. What would be the gain in doing this with someone's reputation?

[Naptown Wendigo]

Maybe a Johnson trying to get back at a runner for declining a run saying it was beneath their skill set and thus offending the Johnson?

[ArkonC]

Setting someone up for the big fall would be a good reason to do it...

[HeavyMetalYeti]

Dont forget the blame game... "Yeah we're the Black Fist team. You want us to do what? Sure we can but require half up front for the special gear we need." Later that night, far, far away. "Damn it is 5 oclock some where. To bad about that strike team taking out the Black Fist. It was fun spending all this cred in their name. So who do we impersonate next?"

[Daddy's Litt...]

Right, you are destroying a person's profession. So much more brutal than just shooting them.

[Magus]

bring out The Ax; character assassin extradinaire from M.Y.T.H. Inc.

[CanRay]

bring out The Ax; character assassin extradinaire from M.Y.T.H. Inc.

You get many points for Myth Reference.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/frown.gif) Rest well, Robert Asprin! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/frown.gif)

[Backgammon]

Right, you are destroying a person's profession. So much more brutal than just shooting them.

If you are capable of pumpin someone's reputation, are you not hen in a position to lower that person's reputation? The approach of pumping someone so high that he cannot fulfill what is asked of him is like a sentence with a triple negative or something. Pointlessly complicated. Unless you ae trying to score points for art or originality. There is also the rather large chance that the person will the inflated reputation will rise to the occasion and become vastly more powerful than he used to be. Which would be complete failure of the original plan.

So... yeah. Not the greatest. Just ruin his reputation like a normal person!

[sunnyside]

Actually that could be deadly. Runners would have a somewhat hard time guaging what they can and cannot pull off. The ability to properly select talent is what makes a great J or fixes.

It would be amusing to slide something to the PCs that's way over their head. Especially if you have to sort of team that's grown accustomed to just riding the rails and doesn't bother with footwork.

[Wounded Ronin]

Go play Merchant Prince and utilize The Slanderer at the Den of Iniquity.

[VagabondStar]

I like this idea. The biggest issue would be retribution, I think. Rumor will get around about how nova-hot these losers may be, sure. But when survivors start asking questions the hard way - all hands will point in the direction from whence said rumor came.


Plus, you're not going to make any friends by recommending a group that is obviously outclassed.

[Cheops]

If stuff is able to be traced back to you then yes it's an issue.

The best way to over inflate a runner's or team's reputation to set them up for a fall is when it is too hard for you to use the direct method (bullet in the brain pan). I for one, would not bother trying to kill a Troll Tank without some form of payment, so if I am doing it purely for revenge the pump and dump might be the easier path.

Remember professionals are lazy and it is just a nice way of saying "mercenary".

[Chrysalis]

Suppose that there was in Shadowrun a corporation which was similar to SLA Industries' Media Sector or Cyberpunk's Infotech. Shadowrunners are not only Shadowrunners but are a media commodity, they are broadcast on reality television, interviewed for guerrilla radio. They have a reputation that goes beyond that of human netoworks, but into the realm of the digital (Unwired building on Corporate Enclaves mentions this).

Statistical machines calculate odds of runs and people place bets on them. Famous teams have camera drones following them. It's a spectator sport for the masses.

With just a bit of nudging the system you can make rewards payed out larger, odds seem greater, and the reputation of the team rises astronomically. Once they have become a rising star they are then given a job with a maximum profit and maximum risk. You then nudge the odds, market it on the matrix (the system does this for you) and then all you have to do is simply watch as they fall raking massive profits from well placed bets.

If the corporations can do it, why can't you?

[Glyph]

This kind of scheme is win-win for the GM, since the results will be amusing whether it works or whether it backfires. But it is kind of making two basic assumptions.

First, it assumes that the PC is the only one trying to manipulate the other runner's reputation. Me, I think that the runner rumor mill runs 24/7, and that there are constantly things like trash-talking rivals, corporations doing damage control, Johnsons with an agenda, wannabe cyberjournalists, and so on. It should take a real, concentrated effort to stand out from this noise.

Second, it assumes the runner's current reputation is accurate to begin with. Maybe this runner is already overrated. Or maybe he's a killing machine who burned out as a company man, someone with a fledgling rep but mad skillz, and boosting his reputation will only get him to his proper echelon more quickly.

[Cheops]

Hmmm...Capital Asset Pricing Method for Shadowrunners...me likey. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/spin.gif)

"You know I think that the Beta for that team should be at 1.2 but the market seems to be pricing them at 1.5 so I will bet on them failing."
"How do you figure."
"Well, I had a forensic vehicle inspector friend of mine run a diagnostic on the footage of the hacker's favorite drone after that firefight last run and he's of the opinion that it is need of a major overhaul. I've asked around and found out that the hacker hasn't detected this problem so he will likely suffer some serious malfunctions next run."
"What if he just gets a new one."
"Ahh...yes I thought about that and did a quick survey of a random sample of local fixers. There is currently a shortage of that type of drone and based on current short term assets he won't be able to afford a different model." (IMG:style_emoticons/default/grinbig.gif)

[Snow_Fox]

You get many points for Myth Reference.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/frown.gif) Rest well, Robert Asprin! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/frown.gif)

Her husband has the books with the Foglio illustrations. When did Asprin die? He just put out the latest MYTH a few months ago. edit- holy crap, he died in may! i guess that explains the delay in the last myth book coming out. crap crap crap- end edit.

it's a good way to go after someone. Not just to ruin someone, after all someone with nothing to lose might just dedicate their lives to finding out who screwed with htem, but it drops the price.
January 2071 "Hotshot" charges (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif) 50k for the job. Screw with his rep and by July he's willing to do the same woprk for (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif) 5k because it's the only work he can get.