What is your character's motivation to be a shadow, Power, money or something different? Options

[Mardegun]

To only be fair I'll share my current character's motivations. My character is an aspected mage who has a Dr. Utr. Mag., which is doctorate of magical theory for both hermetic and shamanic traditions. He has a second doctorate in experimental psychology.

He has been funded by a corporation (not a mega) to continue his research on the 'effects of magic (manipulation) on the human mind; long term and short term.' His study is indefinitely and covert in natural. Experimenting of humans is considered unethical, so the corporation setup a fade ID for the character. He then relocated to Seattle to start his research. After he collects enough data, he will return and continue more traditional methods of R&D.

Besides the academic reasons, there is also one selfness one as well. This character has deep seeded resentment that he is not a full mage and believes the secret to unlocking his full potential lays in his research. The character believes the geno for the full and aspected mage are the same, and the way of unlocking his full potential is through experimental psychology.

So does this concept sound too wacky? What are your character(s) reasons for existing? Besides that they are fun to play.

[TinkerGnome]

Hmm... it depends widely on the specific character. My sammies tend to be in the game because the only useful skill they have is breaking things and killing people (often ex-military and/or ex-merc), and they're tired of the 9-5 ways of doing it (possibly disqualified from doing it for some reason). My riggers tend to be in it to prove something or make a name for themselves.

[mcb]

My Rigger's motivation is based on the fact he like to drive fast. Running gives his a good reaason to drive fast and get paid well. That in turn keeps the frig full of beer. :-D

[toturi]

My PCs run the gamut. From the former spec ops to the former school teacher to the strange little girl next door (otaku :D ).

[Shockwave_IIc]

my current character is doing a major in security designs and applications and for a full perspective she looking at the points form the otherside of the fence to se how a security system would be taken apart.

Well thats the reason she tells people, the rest is a complete spoiler. :P

[Solidcobra]

Well, let's see.... mainly i do the "Me... need... nyen!" characters in short-term games, normally i do the ones that began needing nyen and then found themselves addicted to running, thus they have a reason to stay in the playing field after getting their permanent luxury lifestyle as well as getting rid of all their enemies.....

Other fun ones are "revenge" (more fun against something impossible, Deus or Ares for example), "Whaddaya mean i run? I just play with my friends and get money" (AKA: The "just having fun" characters)

[sidartha]

The characters I play tend to be more skilled/professional and really have nothing else to do. consider; Sammie A is a corp sam call it Renraku Red. he leaves Renraku for whatever reason and is now hunted by the corp. He has a cool million in cyber in his bod and has only been trained to do one thing.
After leaving daddy corp he can 1) find work at another corp and receive the same treatment or worse if they think he's a spy. 2) Go into the shadows where the work is the same, the benefits suck and the pay is much better.
This also leaves him free to pursue any sidework(read vengance) he has outstanding :).

[Kesh]

Deckers are easy. They're acting illegally anyway, so why not go full-tilt? ;) Might be for money, reputation or the thrills, but there's little reason for going legit when your entire 'hobby' could get you thrown in the slammer.

Mages & shamans might want to explore their powers without the limitations of corp life or law (which prevents you having certain spells above certain Force ratings). Some may do it to flaunt their power in the face of authority, in a quest to achieve knowledge/enlightenment, or to fulfill the will of their totem/idol/whathaveyou. Perhaps others want to be super-heroes, saving the day for the downtrodden whom the law of SR doesn't really care for.

Sammies are usually illegally outfitted anyway and their lifestyle is based around combat & violence. Adepts may be similar, growing tired of the simple tournament scene, or seeking to perfect their own combat style through real-world experience.

Riggers have more chances to be legit than others. Perhaps they're in it for the thrill of the ride, or they work as a 'courier' for certain unsavory elements on occasion. (*cough* BMW Films *cough*)

[mfb]

my main char runs because that's the career he's best suited to excel at. he started out as mob muscle, breaking legs, but at some point--maybe around 15 or 16--he decided that if being a hitter was going to be his path in life, he was damn well going to do it right. he started treating it like a job, a career choice. he's got a wife, a son, a nice place in the 'burbs, and his job happens to be shooting people. the guy next door works in mergers and acquistions; my guy works in murders and executions.

[sidartha]

[mfb]

i'll claim credit for it, if no one can call me on where i got it from.

[Connor]

Well, one of my main characters runs the shadows for the standard ex-military reasons. He left the military because he wanted action, but decided he was tired of the military. So he left and became a mercenary/shadowrunner. Doing a bit of both types of work here and there.

Another character of mine mostly meant as an NPC runs the shadows for similar reasons to Mardegun's character. She's a full magician and holds several degress, etc. Again, it was her research which led to her life in the shadows, albeit on an entirely personal level. She's obsessed with finding a way to limit as much as possible the effect of technology on magic, or in making technology compatible with magic. She's become a very skilled decker as well as being a skilled mage.

[mfb]

heh, i've got a char sorta like that. he's a physad, but all his powers are geased to arcane-modified pieces of high-tech gear--killing hands + distance strike linked to hardliner gloves, enhanced senses linked to a HUD computer, etc.

[gknoy]

[mfb]

the extra 20 grand a year you drop in your boss's account probably helps.

[gknoy]

[Solstice]

My current character is motivated by ancient japanese traditions relating to her clan. Tradtions of espionage and assassination. While she has been cast out of her ninja clan she really only has a pretty specific skill set related to espionage and death dealing currently with the Seattle Yakuza. She really is an amazing character IMO. She has a definite sense of honor and tradition while at the same time understanding that her head is barely above the water and she must make nuyen and keep her rep polished in order to survive. So making a pseudo life using her skills is pretty much the only option. Not to mention her skills are in high demand. This is my first character where i've been able to be frong line in combat and yet be the go to person tech wise in the B&E situations.

Oh yeah I just watched "Kill Bill" last night and the similarities between my character and the charater played by Lucy Lu was uncanny. For instance, that scene where she is on top the building sniping the dignitary in the limo. Almost that exact same scenario happened to my character. I'm just glad I created this character before KILLBILL came out but now everyone is going to think I based it on Lucy Lu's character..damn it. :S

[Entropy Kid]

The specifics are different for each character, but at the core it's a life they choose because they love it.

[FlakJacket]

For one of my favourite characters, it all came down to money and laziness. He couldn't stick a normal job 'cause he was too lazy and unmotivated about them, unlike running where it forces you to be on the ball. Then he was very professional and all business. :)

[Dalassa]

Most of my characters run because at some point in life they saw their path laid out for them and decided to head off into the woods. No real reason other than a fear of conforming and losing freedom. My example is an otter shaman, Mitsuhama wanted her to work in one of their aquaculture subsidiaries, the Catholic Church wanted her to become a priest and use her powers for the good of the flock, and her parents just wanted her to just be a good girl and make them proud.

One day she while she was looking at the ceiling of her room in school she somewhat snapped and decided none of those lives would make her happy. Several large force spirits and mayhem later she was out at the docks signing on a trawler as an extra hand for a few months and she's never looked back.

I've also done the standard forced into the shadows and wants revenge and the person who was born to the shadows and will never leave.

[Sunday_Gamer]

Motivation? I'm just trying to survive =)

I suppose it would be power, since the more I run, the more karma I get, the more karma I get, the more powerful I become. I'm perfectly willing to retire any day and my complete lack of interest in money is a sore point in the group. Apparently, it bothers them that I like to give my money away...go figure, I mean, it's MY money right?

I don't need money, have spells to clean me, clothes me, feed me and spirits to watch my back while I sleep... I'm a street shaman, literally. =)

Kong

[Kagetenshi]

All sorts of reasons. I had one character who was part of a mercenary special operations team whose team got slaughtered. She doesn't know how to be happy without fighting anymore, so it's either the shadows or back to mercwork, and right now she's working on the whole revenge thing. I've also had a Rigger who was with a go-gang that got themselves killed trying to pull a job that was out of their league. Then there was a combat face who started as a SWAT police officer, turned bodyguard for the UCAS diplomat to Israel, allowed the CIA to assassinate aforesaid diplomat and was fired because of it, but with the option to return once things cooled down; she worked the shadows while waiting for it to be feasible for her to go back to diplomatic bodyguarding. I'm not actually sure why my current Rigger runs the shadows; I guess as I play her more, I'll find out.

~J

[CardboardArmor]

The latest character to pop out of my head is Flatline and her goal is more or less to make money to put her bro through college/send cash to the folks back home, stuff a bit away in accounts (an amount large enough that she can live off the interest anually without ever touching the principal), and then retire back to the family, settle down, maybe have kids.

It isn't anything fantastic or grandiose, but I've always had trouble making up those plans.

[Neon Tiger]

For Maelstrom, the reason to run is to become the world's most bestest spellslinger. He's already at Sorcery/Spellcasting 6/12, so I might start initiating him. I'm pretty much sure this character will never reach retirement, even though he is pretty powerful.

[Anymage]

Whenever I make a character, the first question I ask is "why do they run the shadows?" To me, if it was just something like "make money to support a family" or "I want to become the best magician out there", you get a desk job or start doing research. Shadowrunning is never a job you take just because the local stuffer shack isn't hiring.

(And to rant for a moment, this is one of the things that bugs me about Shadowrun; the world at large seems to focused on them. For a job that's supposed to be on the fringes of society, they sure seem to pop up in plenty of discussions, sims, and other forms of entertainment/public interest far more than an equivalent real-life group does.)

So probably the better question, at least as I see it, is "what keeps your character from coming out of the shadows?", as well as "why does your character keep risking arrest and serious physical injury?" Some of them have a very real price on their heads if they ever show their legal identities again and run the shadows to make ends meet, some don't but are paranoid enough to think that they do, some are just no-hopers who either can't or don't know how to climb out, and some, as the popular archetype shows, simply don't have any other employable skills and figure that so long as they're being shot at, they'll be their own bosses.

I might try an adrenaline-rush decker or rigger once, someone who doesn't think "it'll happen to them" and has drones/a deck to insulate them, but I have a hard time extending that to other character types. In shadowrun, you will get shot at, some of those bullets will hit, and that usually sparks a realization in anyone who has the opportunity to leave that kind of work.