Becoming Company Men, Primarily for Wuxing Options

[prettz]

I have a group of PC's who are being (off and on) courted by Wuxing. Now all the characters are magical in one form or the other (Full Mages, Aspected and Physical Adepts) a diverse group. So what can I (as the GM) except if the characters become Company Men and what should the players expect? What could they get away with, what would their limits be, what would be the payoff* for joining the Wuxing family? I remember the Corporate Download going into it a little but that is all.

*I figure on of the things they'd get would be a discount in telesma and orichalcum but what kinda rate? Do they pay just an arm instead of the standard and and a leg needed?

[Dashifen]

Are they getting salary even when not on the job? Something to consider. Also, I seem to remember from SoNA that Wuxing was trying to court one of the Northern countrys that have telesma out the wazoo (AMC or the TPA perhaps). I'll try to look it up later, but perhaps your team could become embroiled in trying to convince such resource-rich countries (exception: the Tsimshian) to trade exclusively with Wuxing.

[PBTHHHHT]

Something to also consider is how much you want the characters to be involved with the Triads since Wuxing has strong ties to some of them. It is particularly interesting since one of the rival groups is backed by the dragon (Lung? or the other one? I'm at work, no books).

Another thing might be expected is the whole interactions between Wuxing and the various other corporations in the PPG, there can be interesting social dynamics there.

From what I recall of the Corporate download book, some of the security is reinforced by Triad members (i.e. enthusiastic but questionably skilled personnel). I infer from it that Triad members are big part and thus all the mysticism that they follow is also punctuated throughout Wuxing. That'll be interesting to have that flavour in there for the players.

edit: of note, I just got back from a two week trip to HK. Whee, talk about a hot, humid and smog filled place! I could not imagine being in a suit (as I've seen of the business folks) out in the sun like that. I shudder to think in terms of Srun of people in any sort of armor (form fitting, security) during the summer months...

[FrostyNSO]

You might want to fill in your players as to the drawbacks of being "company men". They may not want the control and close eye most corps keep on their valued personnel.

[toturi]

I think that Wuxing with its HQ in Hong Kong will undoubtably be having some business relations with the Triads. It is almost inevitable, but I doubt that the Triads seriously have a big part to play in Wuxing. The major link, perhaps, is Lung. But consider that it is the Triads that owe Wuxing favours and not the other way around (Corp Download) I think that Wuxing would be using the Triads as a sort of intelligence network and as a cheap source of expendables.

[prettz]

Well right about now I'm looking for the pros and cons of becoming comapny men.

They'll be paid monthly in the Corporate Download it says something about being paid at a middle or high lifestyle, I'll have to check. They are paid that on top of some extras depending on the missions.

Also the characters are already dealing with Traid, one of the characters (an elven Wujen) has a contact with an enforcer in the Yellow Lotus. They have already done some stuff for the Yellow Lotus and their are more chances for employment.

[Pinel]

If you use the expression Company Men for permanent employees and wish to be realistic about it, the runners are in for major changes in their lives - not that it wouldn't make an interesting campaign theme, but they won't be able to play the game quite the same way, to the point the players may not be interested unless you change the concept a bit. Off the top of my head (and IMHO):

Pros: easier access to SOTA gear / 'ware / vehicles / services / etc.., guaranteed income and shelter, job security of a sort, full benefits (including medical care), more work than they can possibly finish without overtime - heck, the small possibility of billing overtime in the first place !

Cons: being forced to get a SIN, having their DNA samples archived by the employer, losing most of the decision power in what kind of job they do and how they do it, having the availability of snazzy gear made conditional on good performane / obediance / their latest appraisal, and in general becoming one more group of puppets - the antithesis of shadowrunners.

One option you can use (to avoid the cons above) is to have Wuxing offer the runners some sort of long-term "retainer contract" - perhaps something like "X amount of nuyen to each runner each month for a year so that you are at our beck and call". They would remain shadowrunners, still SINless and outside the system, but would turn to a corporate liaison officer instead of a fixer to get jobs, and the work would probably involve various stages of a corporate strategy. The runners would have to surrender some level of independance, without having to be absorbeb by the system. This setup would also allow you to plan multiple scenarios involving the same opposing group or rival corporation, or to give the players the feel that each job is part of something major and mysterious (which you could make clear in the end - or not). And then let them worry about the corp tendency to play the pharaoh and eliminate faithful contractors who know too much by virtue of having served well for a long time...

[krazinugz]

I've read in one of the books that shadowrunners are often times hired by the same megacorp over and over again...sometimes without even knowing. The question is do you want them to become company men? You are the GM I'm assuming...if the game is running off course maybe an "incident" can occur which might make them seek employment elsewhere. I've done this for my group and they love it...they might work for the mob one day, the yaks the next, maybe even the triads. Who knows, they usually die before they ever really get to enjoy the spoils anyway. So we always start back at square one every year or so.

[prettz]

Wouldn't getting a SIN be a death sentence for a company man? I would think that the characters would get a coporate ID so that they can by corporate items.

In the end the decision is up to the players, but whehter or not they accept the character's primary employers are Wuxing. The players will be given the choice of becoming company men but in the end it is up to them, I want all the information so I can inform them and prepare myself.

[Pinel]

IMO the death sentence would occur if a corporate operative used his own SIN / identity on the job. I assume that corps provide their field assets with as many false IDs as required.

And once again, it depends what you mean by "Company Men". I take it to mean regular employees with a corporate career (and often corp-employed parents and siblings), which usually means a SIN and a detailed file - including biometric data and DNA sample - kept by the corp. It's your prerogative to decide the label is a looser, more distant association. It doesn't matter exactly what the perks and obligations are - the important thing is to balance the pros and cons to preserve game balance. Becoming Company Men shouldn't make the runners' life a lot easier by giving them instant & unlimited armed backup, medical care, milspec gear or specialized contacts.

[prettz]

No, but shouldn't being a Company Man make life a little easier if not what would be the point? I always excepted working exclusively for one company to have more advantages than disadvantages.

[BitBasher]