Heya

Me and my team have this gig for Lonestar, doing special jobs requiring special abilities. Trouble is, we do not get paid much and I need to make serious dough to keep my flat running with all the wattage my toys pull.

So, what kind of business could we sideline in, on the low, without daddy Star catching on, or even better, not caring.

We are three, two mages and one cybered gun-bunny. Between us we have spirits, agents and good technical skills, sucky social abilities and way too much soakage and firepower.

'sides the Qabbala Union is gathering soon to celebrate Madonna's 120th birthday, and I really wanna be flash at the party. Got this genuine looking python doll and I really need the outfit to go with it from Zoe's collection. Once I put a spirit in the doll I'll be killer!

So, let me know what you think, where can I scrounge good cash and still keep my day job fighting oppression?

Karla, dwarf rollergirl
Qabbala rocks!

Well, if the cops you work for are crooked (No comment about what percentage of cops are straight!), I'm sure they need "Deniable Assets" to get rid of confiscated items.

"Let's see... Five bags of NovaCoke." "I'm sure I counted eight, Billy." "Oh, no, it was Five, I counted twice." "Oh... Riiiiiiiiiiiight."

I really like CanRay's example. Having to move things that the cops picked up storyline gold. First it means that you will have to move all kinds of items which will get you into all parts of the shadows, and introduce you to all kinds of characters. The other thing I like about it is that keeping the 'J' anonymous is that much harder and that much more important. The more times that you move something that the star just picked up the more likely it is that someone figures out where you are getting your merchandise. So you move some nova coke right after someone get's busted, whatever. But if you then turn around and move a bunch of comlinks after a 'trix gang gets busted, and a bunch of rockets that the star intercepted a smuggler people start to figure it out. Then the shadows don't trust the guys working with the star, and the star is pissed that you got them implicated. That is a rock and a hard place, and the stuff noir thrives on. I'd be all over that as a GM.

http://forums.dumpshock.com/index.php?show...p=0&#entry0

Lets say that drug-dealing South African diplomats are systematically slaughtering the entire police force using bombs place in inconspicuous locations such as diving boards and toilet seats in order to cover up their drug smuggling operation and the police know this and can prove it but it doesn't do a damn bit of good because they're diplomats and thus have diplomatic immunity, which allows them to kill whomever they want to and flaunt it without any repercussions. So, these cops who want justice could go out and kill illegally kill all of the South Africans but it would be much safer for them if some deniable assets did the murdering of diplomats.

Also, cops never go into the barrens because if they did they would immediately be slaughtered by gangsters and ninja-prostitutes. The criminals know this and thus use these patrolled areas to hide from justice. But a shadowrunner can get in without drawing attention and take out the offender.

Yeah but if the cops dressed like shadow runners the mysterious psychic powers of the gangers would immediately let them know what was up resulting in the horde of ewocks dragging them down, it's just horrible.....

But cops wouldn't be able to fit in. They wouldn't know the dress or the longo and they wouldn't have any cred. For that to work, they need to be some sort of Mod Squad. And even that wouldn't work very well because mod was a 1960s British youth subculture with absolutely no relevance in the Seattle sprawl of 2070.

Like random drug seeking SINers do?

Cops go undercover all the time. And remember, cops don't just fall from the skies. They are people. They were born. They grew up somewhere and maybe wherever that was they were part of the street culture.

Lone Star is a smart agency and they are world wide. Why not take a few cops from New York or Boston who grew up in the gangs there and got out of it, recruited by the Corp and transfered to Seattle. No street cred yet? True, but credibility can be built up. There are a number of movies that use this theme and since this is an RPG, real enough for celluloid (with some intellect applied to change the circumstances to be more fitting) equals real enough for the game. Back stories are easy enough to build, even for the Star, so let it go folks. It's all good.

Hey, why not "21 Jump Street" Shadowrun style?


Isshia

Well I can totally go into the Barrens and be street with the coolcats. Chian is a little stuck-up, but if he keeps it subtle he can pass and Gear is like more at home in the rough than in any A+ zone.

We're undercover agents, going in where LS can't show their colors to monitor unusual levels of violence and evil deeds done out there.

Currently we're flushing bugs using a freaky rat inhabitation sect to spear-head the raid. They're all gonna be toasted too, soon as we don't need 'em no more. Body snatching for mammals is as bad as for bugs in my book.
Anyhow I don't deal in drugs, but running other stuff might be a good source of income. Selling it cheap to the SINless might even help them get a better life on the edge of civilization.

I was also considering ripping software from confiscated Commlinks, cracking it and pawning it off. The licenses are typically not kept on record anyway but just locked up until the hardware can be handed back to the suspect or more likely destroyed. - Programs need to be free too!

Keep the ideas coming!

Karla, short is beautiful!

due if you're only relying of the star for income, you either ask for a raise or accept the low wages. If any of us needed more money ,we'd look for other jobs. Basically as long as you don't screw over the cops who use you they won't give a devil rat's ass. I mean if you screw up and get arrested and throw your contact under the bus, you're toast but just kepe away from them and they won't care if you do jobs on the side for other payers.

You're supposed to be a runner, not an auxilery cop.

Another thing to do for the 'Star is collect "Taxes" from the Gangs and Pimps to "Ensure the Peace" is performed in theri areas. You won't get anything in the Barrens, but other areas of the city...

As well, Lone Star sometimes needs to ensure that a bust is "Richeous", and will need to ensure that "Evidence is found". That's pretty much a traditional Shadowrun right there, only you're not taking something with you when you leave.

Sorry, just thought of something...

Isn't "Crooked Cop" a repeated statement in a Cyberpunk world?

IC:

Heya, hiding out in the barrens opens up all new markets for your chummers, ahhh, extras, that need to be sold off. So pick ya a spot in Puyallup (or if ya got a death wish, Redmond), make contact with the local ... entrepreneurs ... and play it fair and cool with them and the gang that runs "protection" for your dosses; maybe giving a little "in kind" information and insider info, maybe a little two steppin' of the laws for them in the penny ante stuff, look towards making sure your...suppliers...know the sheep from the goats when they are busting chops in that hood and voila, you've got a decent distribution network for anything and everything, you've become a valuable part of the community, with access to insider info sources of your own and you've struck a blow for equality between the haves and have nots all in one throw.


BB

Web, you're a flaming* dwarf on roller skates, you stand out like a sore thumb anywhere, though probably less so in the Barrens than most other places.

I'm the gunbunny by the way, and I should perhaps add that there are a few additional complications. I'm pragmatic but Karla has a hero complex and Chian is disgustingly honourable. Whatever extra curricular activities we engage in they probably can't actually be "dishonourable" or Chian will balk. Major problem there.

*No, I'm not speaking metaphorically, Karla is a possession mage that likes fire spirits.

BTW Web, should I just give up and rename Gadget to Gear?

Then they should be fine doing The Karate Man game, assassinating the really bad guys whom the cops can't get to for one reason or another whether it be because they have political connections or because they hide out in Glow City.

For Great Justice!