Rules to Run By Options

[Ed Simons]

Way more than 10. :)

General
1) You are expendable assets. Act in a way that makes Fixers and Johnsons think of you as assets, not as expendable.
2) Only idiots work with people who have a reputation for betrayal.
3) There are no written contracts in the world of the Shadows. If you don’t keep your word, the best you can hope for is unemployment.
4) Unconscious people can be made dead if necessary. The reverse is not true.
5) Know what Zone you’re in. Dress, act, and be armed appropriately.

The employer.
1) Your posturing does not impress the Fixer. At least not favorably.
2) If your posturing impresses Mr. Johnson, he’s an amateur. This is a warning sign.

The job.
1) If it involves dragons, immortal elves, bugs, or AIs, this is a warning sign.
2) If it involves a run against Mr. Johnson’s own corp, this is a warning sign.
3) If it involves three or more corps, this is a warning sign.
4) If it’s an out of town job, this is a warning sign.
5) If Mr. Johnson is offering a lot more than the job is worth, this is a warning sign.
6) If Mr. Johnson insists on providing some or all of your gear, this is a warning sign.
7) If Mr. Johnson insists on you using a safehouse he has set up, this is a warning sign.
8) If Mr. Johnson insists on you using a plan he has created, this is a warning sign.
9) If Mr. Johnson insists on picking the meet point after the run, this is a warning sign.
10) If Mr. Johnson asks you to provide any information about yourself, this is a warning sign.
11) If Mr. Johnson makes any attempt to have you followed after the meet, this is a warning sign.
12) If the Run could have been done legally, this is a warning sign.
13) If Mr. Johnson wants a rush job, where you don't have time to do legwork, this is a warning sign.

If there are any warning signs insist on more money and/or a higher percentage up front. If there are two or more warning signs I recommend walking.

The team.
1) Anyone who is trying to get you killed is the enemy, no matter which side they’re on.
2) If another Runner is the only survivor of a previous team, he’s probably the enemy.
3) If a Runner suggests screwing over Fixers, Johnsons, Contacts, or other Runners, he’s the enemy unless they screwed him over first.
4) If another Runner tries to record pictures and/or voices of you, the other Runners, your Fixer, or your Contacts he’s the enemy.
5) Runners who will do anything for money are the enemy.
6) Runners who insist on doing tasks they are unskilled at are the enemy.
7) Everybody on the runner team needs to be skilled at stealth, with the possible exceptions of the rigger and the decker.

Legwork
1) Contacts are people, not vending machines. There are limits to the risks they take and the amount they know.
2) You can’t get the right answers if you ask the wrong person.
3) Anyone who can’t carry their share of the load on the legwork better be willing and able to carry more than their share in combat
4) Trying to discover more about why you were hired is good. Trying to find where Mr. Johnson lives will probably get you dead if he finds out.
5) There will almost always be something that Mr. Johnson didn’t tell you. That doesn’t mean he’s trying to screw you over. He doesn’t know everything and it’s not Mr. Johnson’s fault if you didn’t ask him any questions.
6) Some information you discover should be discussed with your Fixer before the run, some after the run, and some not at all. This may be time to renegotiate, ask for more equipment or allies, or pull out of the run.
7) Random torture is not legwork.
8) Expect to die a lot more often if you won’t do legwork.

The opposition
1) Most of them are just poor slags who want to go home. Give them as many reasons as you can to surrender or run away.
2) Harming or killing people who surrender is a great way to ensure even secretaries or janitors will fight to the death.
3) Even if you’re tougher than anyone else, that doesn’t mean you’re tougher than everyone else.
4) Eyewitnesses will be lucky to get your gender and metahumanity right even if they got a good look at you. You should be worried about the cameras.
5) Use cover. Always.
6) The katana may have better reach and damage, but unarmed combat can’t be detected until you use it. It also won’t end up with you coated in blood and gore, which makes for more subtle exits.
7) A fair fight is any one that you win.

The Run
1) Remember the Shadow in Shadowrun. Be as anonymous and unnoticed as possible.
2) Remember the Run in Shadowrun. Failing may hurt your reputation, but failing and dying sure won’t help it.
3) The more damage you inflict on a run, the longer and harder the Corp will look for you. Don’t commit a bigger crime than you were paid for.
4) If you can’t complete the run, inform your Fixer. He’ll be a lot less unhappy if you give him the chance to salvage things.
5) Smart looting ups your income. Dumb looting ups your chances of dying.
6) Leave as soon as you can.

The aftermath
1) Make sure you’re not being followed before you go home.
2) Distinctive equipment, bloodstained clothing, and guns that were fired should be destroyed.
3) If you’re easy to recognize (Albinos; Surged; Metavarients; Greenskinned Elves with horns, fangs and a tail, etc.) find the deepest hole you can and stay there until things blow over
4) If you’re not easy to recognize go back to your daily routine, otherwise the wrong people will suspect you pulled that Run.

[kevyn668]

Bravo, Ed. Just bravo! :)

[Kagetenshi]

I'd definitely like to question the assertion that unarmed combat won't get you covered in various fluids that are clearly the result of violent struggle.

~J

[Weredigo]

What rounds to use and why.

If it's not posing an immediate threat, DMSO/Knockout Gel Round. Pop'em, Drop'em and continue

If it's posing an immediate threat, Lead...
If that doesn't drop them, they may be wearing some good armor, Armor Piercing, Steel, or Flechette
if that doesn't drop them, they may be wearing SOTA armor, Blueberry/Depleted Uranium, or Sabot
if that doesn't drop them it may be a Vampire, White Phozzy
if that doesn't drop them it may be a Shapeshifter, Silver/Garlic round
if that doesn't drop them, it may not be from this plane of existence, ie angelic or demonic, Iron Rounds
if that dosn't drop them it may be a Free Spirit, Deity, Demigod, or Conjured Spirit, Wax round with holy symbol of Choice, Pray hard while squeezing that trigger.
if that doesn't drop them... RUN LIKE HELL

[Large Mike]

Iron rounds? A) Are you sure that would work on beings from the Judeo-Christian mythos? 2) Anyone with some firearms knowledge wanna tell me if Iron rounds would even be possible? How about cold iron for the fae?

[Demosthenes]

It's the garlic rounds that have me a bit puzzled.

I mean, iron could certainly stand up to being fired out of a gun better than lead - though the rifling might not like it very much...

But it would be a bit hard to, well, harden a clove of garlic enough to fire it as a bullet. And why it would do anything to a shapechanger (as opposed to say, a Vampire...) I cannot imagine...

[Jrayjoker]

Well, the garlic would let you know they were coming.

Did someone order Pesto?

:silly:

[Demosthenes]

:silly:

[bad mafioso accent]'You mess with la famiglia, you'll be just another stinkin' corpse'[/bad mafioso accent]

[Jrayjoker]

I've read somewhere that garlic acts as a natural antibiotic, maybe thats why vampires hate it. Afterall, they are infected.

[Tanka]

Or it's just a myth made up by people who thought somebody that hated garlic was a vampire...

[Jrayjoker]

Or there really are vampires, but they spread the myth about garlic so no one would suspect them if they ate it...

[Tanka]

:-|

[Edward]

Where dose this never deal with a dragon dreck come from, they are honourable and good, our rightful masters.

More seriously I believe I am paraphrasing something but I forget the reference. ‘when the wizwyrm wraps you into his schemes are you going to look him in the eye and say ”no”. ‘

A better rule would be “never annoy a dragon” and to that end “avoid the notice of dragons (or anything else that powerfull)”

Edward

[Tanka]

Truthfully, it should read "never make a deal with a dragon." They're quite stubborn and can wait decades for plans to come to fruition. I don't think they'll haggle with some "lesser species" when it comes to their thought-out plans.

[Ed Simons]

[U_Fester]

Great Breakout Ed :D

[Tanka]

Which is why you attack to knock out, not kill. That usually lessens the amount of blood coming out.

Not to mention using a knife just between the shoulder and the neck to sever a few ateries with little blood coming out of the wound is an even better technique.

[Jrayjoker]

If you can use a punch dagger to sever an artery and not get a spurt of blood on you then you are truly ninja.

[Tarantula]

How about a long nail gun? Hit them in the heart with the nail (you know its long enough) And leave the nail in to block the hole in the skin to prevent leakage. Or maybe a hot glue gun?

[Jrayjoker]

Or just shoot them frm 10 meters away?

[Tanka]

[James McMurray]

Generally there's no need to kill someone witha smack to the chest. If you can knock them out that should be plenty. If they really need to be dead, its pretty easy to kill someone you just knocked out, and do it with little to no excess blood.

[Tanka]

Indeed. Injections of poisons and such do it just fine. Sure, it's noticable when the doctors do their autopsy, but there's less of a chance that, if everything is done right (always those nasty "ifs"), they won't trace it to anybody (unless you use some specifically tailored thing that is only made at one place -- oops!) that may have given it to you.

Granted, if they have blood filters, you have to disable those somehow, so... If, if, if!

[Pthgar]

SuperSquirt II with Gamma-Scopolomine. Small, silent, invisible to MADs, 20 shots, 10D Stun, ignores most armor, and adds an extra +2 T# to the condition monitor.

"Knock 'em out now and kill 'em later if ya haf ta."

[Fortune]

Or you could just have the mage cast Makeover (or Fashion) and get rid of any telltale blood and/or sweat stains. :D