Professionalism Options

[GrinderTheTroll]

So I see a lot of folks posting this and that about professionalism, I'm sure we all have our parameters about what's professional and whats not. I am curious what you all consider professional or not and why.

I'll seen many times in movies, books and stories that sometimes someone is needed who can get the job done when none else will do, or sometimes when no one else will take it. These types go by different names: Hit Men, Mercs, Cleaners, etc., the list goes on. They each usually have some reprehensible method of style about them, I mean they are muscle-for-hire after all. Think about it, what really makes them any less professional than any other shadowrunner?

Take someone playing a Gang Member for example. From their perspective professional might simply mean "not getting caught", so they kill anyone who might have witnessed them on their mission doing something nefarious. While a Company Man or Samurai type might try intimidation or strong-arming threats as opposed to murder. I'm sure we can all agree that killing so many leaves a lot of physical evidence that a spur-induced threat does not. Similar ideas about professionalism seem to spill over into fencing loot as well.

I've noticed that many folks seem opposed to fencing ill-gotten goods which strikes me as puzzling. I mean, yeah it seems rather dumb sometimes that runners would be grabbing up items from some corp office or some dead samurai, but why not? They aren't abiding by any laws most of their SIN-less lives, so why should robbery and theft be considered unacceptable? If they fulfill their obligation to Mr. Johnson and don't make a mess of things, what does it matter if they sell of stolen property, or keep for their own use? The way I see it, the black-market operates on similar premises.

With all that being said, here rough gauge of how I rate professionalism for my runners. It's more of a mental guide, this is probably the first time I've committed it to any medium:

1) Not getting caught.
2) Always getting the job done.
3) Not leaving evidence behind.
4) Following orders and instructions.
5) Keeping cool when the pressure is on.
6) Only harming those related to the job.


So what do you consider professional and unprofessional and why?

[Dashifen]

You summed it up pretty well, too. Another thing I usually consider is the attitudes at the meet -- usually based on an etiquette test. If the Johnson likes them, it helps bring them more business as he suggests the team to others.

[Cray74]

[FrostyNSO]

Here's how I define it:

1. Gets the job done.
2. Doesn't use unnecessary violence.
3. Doesn't take anything personal.
4. Conducts negotiations courteously.
5. Doesn't leave any evidence (that can incriminate the employer)
6. Doesn't argue with teammates during a job (follows orders or gives good ones)
7. If they get caught, they keep their mouth shut.


The reason I expand on the evidence thing is because dead bodies are also evidence, and so are spent casings and the like. You can't go extracting bullets from every corpse, so you just try your best to make the evidence you do leave more or less ambiguous.

[GrinderTheTroll]

[Skeptical Clown]

I don't think there's any point to a Shadowrunner keeping their mouth shut if they get caught. The whole point of the Mr Johnson/Shadowrunner rigamarole is that the runners don't know who their employer is, or why they are doing the job they are doing. Thus, they can't really answer many questions. And if answering questions is going to save them some pain, they might just answer them. They're probably screwed already, but there's no particular loyalty between the employer and the Shadowrunner; nobody is going to be bailing them out.

Even beside that point though, of course, not all shadowrunners are going to act perfectly.

[FrostyNSO]

I say you can't take anything personal because your out there doing a job.

I had a team that had to extract a scientist who happened to be a beautiful woman, we noticed that our sammie (the team's "leader") was a bit more interested in this scientist than he maybe should've been. Turns out it was an old girlfriend of the sammie's. She confided in him that she hated working for the corps and that she wanted to run away and make a new life. All this went on without anybody else's knowledge.

We were supposed to arrange a meet with the johnson so we could hand over the girl and get our cred. The plan was that we would meet with the johnson and after verifying that he had the goods (we were supposed to be getting paid in the form of some hard-to-find weaponry), we'd hand over the girl, who was being held in a van 3 blocks away.

The sammie volunteered to watch the girl and the van while we made the meet. Then he'd bring her when it was all "clear". One team member voiced some concern over this, but the sammie told him something like "How long have we been doing this for together? You know me man, this is business."

Anyways, we met with the johnson, checked the goods, and when it came time to deliver, the sammie never showed. Little did we know he'd totally fallen for his ex-girlfriend and he'd bailed to run away with her.

We said we didn't know what was going on, but agreed to find the sammie and the girl which we never did. After that, getting a job in Seattle was VERY hard. I think I ended up taking a job at Nacho Mama or something.

[FrostyNSO]

[Sepherim]

Profesionalism regards attitude. All you said is correct, but there's more. To be a professional, you have to act like one. And professional means "one who works as", so it has lots of connotations about acting properly, looking properly, and all that.It's not only getting the job done, but getting the job done smoothly. In SRs world, it has to do a lot with acting a bit corp-like.

As for stealing, it's not professional because it sends out a messege: we're poor, so we need to steal to make a living. Even if it isn't true, people hear that you've been taking things and selling them on the run and start thinking you really need the money. If you do it with a high-profile target, it also attracts aditional attention. If you loot dead men, people start thinking you really are in need, because loot doesn't pay off so nicely.

Obviously, this is al IMO. :)

[Skeptical Clown]

Corporate attitude is what I reject from Shadowrunners. I don't think a runner should be trying to act corporate; they think they're better than corporations. Either they value their freedom and refuse the inhibitions of corporate life, or they think they're more ethical than the corporate slaves. Something sets the runner apart from the suits, or they'd be a suit; they're criminals by choice, not out of convenience. The corporations aren't going to be looking out for them; they're disposable. There's a thin tightwalk the corps and the shadowrunners walk, where their business relationship is convenient; if it becomes profitable enough for either side to betray the other, they will do so.

Of course, it's a lot easier for the corp to betray the runners than vice versa, and neither USUALLY happens. But it's a matter of convenience more than loyalty. I guess that's professional, in a way.

[RangerJoe]

Important to professionalism is consistancy and rules that make sense. I knew I had a problem with my character when another PC said to me, "So we can't kill him, but we can leave him to suffocate and looting corpses is okay? I'm willing to play by your rules they seem fine, I'd just like to have some vague idea of what they are."

[Sepherim]

Yup, it's professional, because it helps in the long-run (betraying every runner you hire doesn't help you hire a new team when needed).

As for corp-like. I meant corp in high levels. In a way, they're like different corporations negotating something together. Theyt have different goals and ways, but have to settle in a middle point.

[Sepherim]

Just remembered. It's professional to look after your team mates, at least while on a run. It helps build up the necessary cofidence between usually lonely characters, and so, is quite important.

[BitBasher]

[Siege]

Ye gods, here we go again.

-Siege

[FlakJacket]

[Skeptical Clown]

[FlakJacket]

Well maybe on the executive level.

[Kagetenshi]

[Arethusa]

Also keep in mind that whatever you do at the crime scene is information for the investigators. Regardless of what you do with whatever you take, the detectives investigating will get a different picture of you depending on how you handle the crime scene, and taking things or not taking things can cut both ways. Taking stuff is not categorically dangerous, but it comes close, and there are a lot of factors that need to be weighed.

[Kagetenshi]

Which brings up a good point: on certain circumstances, it may make sense to take everything you can get your hands on and then destroy most or all of it.

~J

[Bob the Ninja]

True. Fire destroys all evidence.

[Dice]

[Skeptical Clown]

They just didn't destroy enough. You need to think big.

[Siege]

All depends on the evidence you're trying to destroy.

And arsonists tend to get caught by evidence not attached directly to the fire itself.

-Siege