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The Jake
Assuming you're a regular Joe. No datajack, no magic. Just you against the world and your knowledge of the system.

How would you do it?

- J.
The Jake
I would gather a few mates, start a protection racket, most likely doing favors for people in exchange for other favors or nuyen. Trying to get a decker onside would be a high priority.

I do not know if I would try to affiliate with any particular crime organisation, but if I was infringing on someones turf I'd kick funds up to them or examine taking them out. Focus on one area (protection) and get stable in one area there before considering expanding.

Once I got a decker, smuggling would probably be my next area since they could probably obtain info on shipping routes and inventories easier than anyone else and with a solid crew, it would be easy to hijack the shipment.

With the establishment of a solid crew, control over smuggling one could eventually work towards establishing drug/BTL trade routes.

You can see with this going. I suppose your biggest worry would be third parties trying to eradicate you. My response would be that you need to prove to them you are either too valuable or too difficult to clip.

By sending up profits to them you need to be certain that you have a solid strangle hold on your business so that they cannot just take it over, due to your connections and influence.

By having excellent security, a loyal and tough crew (and well paid crew) you ensure that nobody will be willing to mess with you without facing serious consequences. By running a profitable business as well, not only do they know they will take serious damage trying to ruin your operation that it will cut into the profit margin as well.

- J.
The Jake
*bump*
The Jake
*bump again*

I cant believe there isnt one person on this board who has not considered something like this.

- J.
rlemansky
Greetings.

My gambit'd be a bit different, although along the same lines (start small and grow larger, hope to avoid too much notice from bigger fish).

An up-scale escort agency with highly trained professionals would be the place to start (and kind of fun). Typical SR muscle for protection, and allow your employees to use their talents so that you can 'pressure' high profile clients into paying you big bucks.

Think about it:

-Access to secrets and inside information (given in an attempt to impress the girls).
-VERY simple extractions-KO the guy and ship him (UPS, even).
-Introducing a client into the wonderful world of BTLs (slip him a chip or something more organic) and addiction.
-Access to any level of the corporate world (great for planting mis-information-mundane or magikally).
-Great access to 'samples' for ritual magik use (blackmail, death, sale on eBay-'I've got some of Damien Knight's genetic material for cloning or ritual-to the highest bidder.')
-Simple blackmail (We'll let the media or your superiors know of your 'preferences'.)

Care would have to be taken so as to not be implicated. You wouldn't want to lose your reputation by being indiscreet.

You could branch out into other areas from there, but honestly, I think you'd be pretty potent at that point (bad pun).

Just a thought.

R
Userlimit
If you're playing in a game, you need a character to start with highly proficient abilities in manufacturing drugs. A few toughs, and a mage, and you're set. Make sure you buy starting contacts who you're able to fence youre drugs through, especially effective if you have a high lifestyle and can filter your drugs through the higher ups through RP, and your GM won't cause too much trouble. Use cash from a few starting runs to hire thugs to protect you from whoever's turf you're moving into.

This worked in a campaign that I played in before, but then oddly, it happened in a campaign i was GMing with completely different players. In my campaign they played it a bit wrong, and a few buildings ended up getting blown up. PCs got arrested, and the main drug manufacturer of the party ended up in a shifty street doc office getting facial reconstruction.
Large Mike

I would need toughs and a decker. A mage would be nice, but not immediatly. I would buy myself a couple of fast cars and some combat equipment, get the shipping routes and times for WeaponWorld inventory, and take out a few shipments of it. Preferably big shipments.

If the guns in the city start to dry up (or even if they don't), and you have a bunch of them, not only do you turn a pretty penny, but you also decide who gets to be armed and who doesn't (to a degree). From there, I'd use my influence and the threat of my guns to buy myself a drug operation. Preferably one that's tight and solid, but not too large.

I'd work on skyrocketing the rep, profit, and size of that operation, and keep hitting those WeaponWorld shipments, or maybe make a deal with Ft. Lewis for more weapons. Controlling drugs and weapons, (or at least being a major player in them) you now control the two most vital things to crime. From there, take your pick. I'd recommend prostitution, because it gives you profit, a distribution method for your stuff, lookouts/messangers, and even agents to do your dirty work in a pinch.
Kagetenshi
I would wait until The Jake had a massive criminal empire, then replace him with a doppleganger and after a few months have the doppleganger transfer control over to me, his trusted lieutenant.

~J
Phaeton
QUOTE (Kagetenshi)
I would wait until The Jake had a massive criminal empire, then replace him with a doppleganger and after a few months have the doppleganger transfer control over to me, his trusted lieutenant.

~J

rotfl.gif
rlemansky
Greetings.

The Jake-didn't Marvel's Kingpin get his start as an enforcer then branch out? I seem to recall that from 'Man Without Fear', he killed his own boss who'd established/been establishing an empire and then took over.

(Not saying that's where you got the idea, but it sounded similar).

I thought about it some more-lovely thoughts for x-mas, don't you think?

I think one of the best ways would be for a mundane to sink a bunch of points at chargen into Contacts and Social Skills. Have him get into a disguise (probably develop a cast of social setting appropriate personae) and quietly and simply spread rumours about himself as a prime runner and fixer.

Think about it-unattributed run-I heard 'X' pulled that one. Need something-anything-'X' can get you that. Build a rumoured rep as a mage, decker, rigger, physad, or sammie (with hardware so high-tech, he appears normal). Bluff a ton-if masking's common knowledge, a guy who reads as 'average' could be a REALLY potent initiate.

Once you've a major rep, farm out job offer, skim a major percentage, use you rep for protection (and hire some shadow talent). Johnson runs that would allow you to amass and empire by targeting rivals-mom & pop corps, organized crime holdings, what ever you desire.

Conning your way into a rep and criminal empire would be extremely fun. Think Dread Pirate Roberts.

R
The Jake
Dread Pirate Roberts... heheh... I just saw that film the other day again... heh

Well my last character could have done most of that, instead he chose to focus on fixing/information brokering. Would not have been that hard to parlay that influence into real muscle.

I got the idea actually from watching Scarface and how Tony Montana came up. Nobody would be replacing me anytime soon... hehe smile.gif

- J.

Gator shaman
Ok I would take a slightly different way to the top....


Set up your skills to get into the BTL biz and decking.

For contacts have your best friend as a gang boss.

So now you have a product (BTL's) and a way to distribute (gang boss has a gang)

Stay small at first so as to not step on any toes.

But you have a gang and you're a decker.... MULTI-TASK!!!!

Start offering protection to other dealers for a fee to any small time dealers in your area.

Now you start to put the squeeze on the smaller dealer in a nice business deal, and become their supplier of BTL's and they no longer have to pay for your protection.

Now you're starting to pull in some funds to expand. So bring in some more muscle and expand on the small time dealers just outside of your area of operations (say your area was five square mile make it eight) but these new dealers have to buy from your first set of small time dealers. You also go after some of the bigger dealers in your original area of operations (those dealers will prob. have a dealer or two or three under them)

Keep doing this until you run all BTL business within 10 square miles (your still small) or if you don't run it you have your hands in it and are getting some cut be it from protection or whatever.

By this time you should have a large number of people working for you.

Now lets expand a little bit out of the BTL business... Gambling... Agian start small and expand. Bring in your soldiers as you grow and rule with an iron hand.

After you've got enough muscle and cashflow start working on building your death squad. When you have your death squad start going after the bigger fish.

Don't give them any warning. On your first day of real takeover go after thier manufacturing facilites (for the BTL's) take out everybody. You don't want word getting back as to who the new player is. Intercept as many deliveries from suppliers to dealers as you can, agian take everybody out.

On your second day of the real takeover move up the food chain and take out as many mid-level bosses as you can as well as intercepting deliveries just as the day before.

Repeat the above for another two days just keep moving up the food chain and keep intercepting deliveries. An army with no leaders will fall apart. A business with no cash flow will fall apart.

By day five or six go after the big bosses.



Gator
The Jake
BTLs are very profitable but very risky.

The Starr is less likely to crack down on protection, gambling, prostitution. They may not feel the same way about BTLs. It's the cocaine of the 21st century. You also have to worry about federal agencies and taskforces as well getting involved, as well as the local law enforcement. To me, sure the profts are astronomical but is it worth the risk from all of those external forces?

I mean if I was a don and this was happening and I didn't want to dirty my hands taking out your operation, I'd just tip off the feds and starr and let them clean you up. Even if they decide to start getting involved in my BTL operation, I'd still have other resources from other businesses providing profits whilst your sole source of revenue is getting eaten up.

How would you deal with these issues Gator?

- J.
Nath
Racket like drugs are very territorial activities. Thus you'll probably have a lot of competition early (even if you beat up one, another may try to take advantage of the fight). Most plexes will have established crimes organizations and gangs. The best is to fill a void, in a recently built district for instance. Find an agreement with a medium corp to sell BTL to the sons of their new mega-factory workers...

The acquisition smuggling of rare items (focus, military-grade weapons) may draw a bit less violent competition, and be closer to business than territorial war. You cold start it much like standard runs, and with time acquire more and more ressources to find and deliver goods in the quckest way possible. That's it, if a worldwide network of riggers, secured warehouses and bribed customs officials is enough of a criminal empire for you. And then of course, if you increase the shipment size, you will be able to smuggle drugs, standard weapons and people.
The Jake
Basically we're pitching rehashed business ideas here for small businesses.

Either:
a) find niche market
b) find new markets

Sounds pretty reasonable.

I was working on b). Finding new markets for protection that aren't currently paying protection and yet do not seem to be under anyone's direct jurisdiction. If they come down on us I would then evaluate if we could deal with them and either a) kick money up to them or b) wipe them out. If they were just gonna wipe us out then it would default to b) fighting tooth and nail I guess.

Problem with focii and milspec stuff is it is such a focused market there is high levels of competition I would imagine. Going with a) I would try manufacturing my own drugs (Chemistry 5 Pharmaceuticals 7 yay!) and build my own drug plant and make a deal with gangs or crime orgs for distribution. Or get my own (think of when Tatalia went to Don Corleone to ask for funding to build a drug plant).

- J.
Gator shaman
QUOTE (The Jake)
BTLs are very profitable but very risky.

The Starr is less likely to crack down on protection, gambling, prostitution. They may not feel the same way about BTLs. It's the cocaine of the 21st century. You also have to worry about federal agencies and taskforces as well getting involved, as well as the local law enforcement. To me, sure the profts are astronomical but is it worth the risk from all of those external forces?

I mean if I was a don and this was happening and I didn't want to dirty my hands taking out your operation, I'd just tip off the feds and starr and let them clean you up. Even if they decide to start getting involved in my BTL operation, I'd still have other resources from other businesses providing profits whilst your sole source of revenue is getting eaten up.

How would you deal with these issues Gator?

- J.

As you said the profits are astronomical and every law enforcement agency has it's bad apples.

grease the right palms for the right information and if you're set up right your operation can be a ghost when it comes to law enforcement.

As far as a Don getting involved I don't see it happening for some time. When you're a small set up it's a much better chance that you'll be looked over at first.

Perhaps later on as you grow it might become a problem, but then you assess the situation and adapt accordingly.

If you want a full blown business/battle plan give me some time this is just what I was able to come up with at work.


Gator
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