Hi Dumpshock. I'm mostly a lurker. After a Pathfinder game I was in fell apart, I decided I wanted to get back to Shadowrun after a long hiatus, and that I'd try telling the story from behind the screen. So far it's going really well. The three regulars are having a good time and the 'runs are going sideways like they always do.

The 'runners just passed into Street Cred 4 and I want to have them develop a group identity. But, instead of letting them come up with it, I want it to come from the shadow community. Alas my brain isn't powerful enough to emulate an entire shadow community so I figured I'd let Dumpshock help me crowdsource some ideas. Take a look at the character descriptions and the 'runs to date and you tell me: If you were a member of Seattle's Shadowrunner underground, what would you call this team?

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Kaito- A Japanese-born elf with a background in corporate security. He's primarily an infiltrator/B&E specialist with solid unarmed skills, both backed by Adept powers. He's the "straight man" of the group, often reminding the other two of the cold reality of how the Shadows work. His shadow background as a Yakuza associate earns the occasional side-eye from the other 'runners.

When asked what has defined the team's career thus to now, Kaito responded, "Chaos. More specifically, that they are constantly trying to hit things from odd angles."

Ghost- A Technomancer who spent some time trapped in the Matrix after the crash. She's physically infirm and so spends most of her time wrapped in a rigger cocoon, following Kaito via a Dragonfly drone (modded for stealth) and commanding a pair of machine sprites that cooperatively drive a rotodrone fitted with a gun mount for fire support. Her time trapped in the Matrix led her to have some reality impairments. Or as the others put it, "How do I meat?"

When asked what has defined the team's career thus to now, Ghost responded, "I think our ability to do runs quick with precious little legwork."

8 Bit- A former corporate man sent underground when his employer ran afoul of Saeder-Krupp. As he's in hiding (and also suffering from a spinal injury) he runs fully immersed in VR. He's both a competent hacker and a competent face, exhibiting both social grace and exploiting a network of contacts he maintained from his days as a suit. He's cheerful and humorous, and sometimes serves as Kaito's foil in group interactions.

When asked what has defined the team's career thus to now, 8 Bit responded, "Sneaky bastards. Also, Overthinkers Anonymous."

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On the Run (the pre-made adventure): The team was hired to obtain a disk and return it to the Johnson. After learning what was on it, they decided to sell the disk to a more fitting owner, but not before trashing a few small-time gangers and bounty hunters and eluding the capture of KE. They earned the trust of some connected people but also crossed a Johnson in the process. Good for karma, bad for reputation.

Antiques Roadshow: The team is tapped to recover an "antique wooden cabinet" for a collector, from whom the piece was stolen the morning previous. After chasing a trail of possession from a talismonger to the original thief to his bitter ex-wife to a trio running a chop-shop in Auburn, the group ends up in a brief firefight at the chop shop. They take some licks but come out on top and get the "cabinet", a pristine Galaga arcade machine, back to its owner.

Stealing the Ghost: After Kaito (literally) chases down a lead into finding an initiation group, the 'runners hear a rumor of an open bounty on some highly secured paydata. This can also serve as an initiation rite for Kaito, so the group chances not getting paid and trusts the word on the street. The paydata is stored in an R&D facility held by a subsidiary of Renraku. After pooching two hacking attempts on the facility's security node, the group heads blindly into the facility in a B&E attempt, unaware that the hacks caused them to up their security. The extra presence almost pooches the run, but with a little "help" from Knight Errant showing up, the team gets the paydata (and sweats a night in the clink).

Nitroglycerin- Not very stable, probably going to cause a lot of collateral damage, likely to blast your hand off if you handle it incorrectly (i.e. double cross you) but it probably gets the job done if you use it correctly.

I'm predicting that Stahlseele and some other members would suggest Cutie Mark Crusaders or Wonderbolts.

Nah, if we're going with pony names, the only one I can think of that would be proper would be the Shadowbolts.

Generic sounding business names. Stuff that can show up on a balance sheet or a bank account or a tax return. Assets Inc is an excellent example.
Or go with the 8 bit thing:
Contra Link or maybe:
Mario Brothers
Double Dragon Security
Tecmo Matrix Services

The list is endless, but I like Contra Link. Sounds meaningless and corporate, but still kinda cool

Heh, in the vein of the classic gaming theme, how about

[img]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2328/2332753393_2c7fcb6bbf.jpg[/img]

ARE YOU BAD ENOUGH TO SAVE PRESIDENT DUNKELZAHN!!??


That's weird. Anyone know why the board won't parse that tag?

Kaito and the thunderdrones? After all, as far as I can see Kaito is the only character who's running in the meat.

The Loose Cannons!

These guys have betrayed a Johnson and gone off and done completely their own, getting pinched by the fuzz for it.


If you hire them, you'd better have a Plan B. And a Plan C.


Or just call the group "Plan B," because nobody in their right mind would call them first to go do a job, and if you throw something at them at the last minute, with no other recourses, your odds of getting the job are slightly better than if you do nothing whatsoever.

3 Stooges?

That is correct. And quite to Kaito's chagrin, as he's the only one who gets shot at as well.


Indeed. Although there was a story reason for the "pinch", for which I won't go into detail in case one of my schmucks is lurking this thread.



There are a lot of great suggestions in this thread, but I kind of love this.

I was thinking "Pandora's Toy Box", just from the description and defining moments alone...

Mind over matter (One awakened and two matrix-types, after all)

The dufus boys.

You said it: Overthinkers Anonymous.

I vote we put that one to a committee

As a representative of the Procrastinators Guild, I put forth the motion that we'll do it tomorrow.

Hmmm... can I sleep on that and give you an answer in the morning?

The Optimistic Operatives
Three's a Crowd
Damage Control

I'll get back to you on that.

Plan 9 Inc. - solutions from "out there".

"No mister tax man, we just develop creative solutions for the problems of our customers. Our papers are in order. Honest."

If I do this, their next run will be to steal a rubber octopus.

Yus thesaurus is my friend

Umbra Couriers

or

Adumbration Couriers

Both handy way to hide Shadow Runners in your address book and if one of them is a Technomancer he can have his own entry under

Plangency Consultant

Plan 9, the Shadowtalker, might want to have words with you...

Has he registered his trademark? Copyrighted it?

Too bad the drones aren't green. It could be "Kaito and the Green Hornets".



Otherwise, with odd shots and bad luck, some variation of 8-Ball seems in order.

Oh please, everyone knows the Copyright office is just a front for... *Rambles on*

This could lead to awesome complications for them if there is a mix-up with the names. They get hired for a job way out of their league.

Considering the team's obvious Competence, But Reckless attitude - and willingness to betray for better pay - I would have their contacts refer to their team as Handle With Care.

The best names aren't the ones you make for yourselves, but the ones you earn, and they may take heed and wisen up a bit when they learn what johnsons and fixers call them behind their back.

This would be hilarious - hilarious to see how they deal with it, too, from telling Mr. J that he (literally) has the wrong guys for the job, to trying (and epically failing - or succeeding) at the job, to accepting the job in order to take the front money and run.

Precisely the idea behind the thread.



The Johnson betrayal was wholly moral, actually. They got the whiff that their Johnson wasn't on the up & up and decided to sell to someone they felt would take better care of what was on the disk. I think it was a good RP call on their part. They pissed off the Johnson but scored points elsewhere in the Shadow community.

Your Johnson is NEVER on the "up & up". He's paying you to commit felonies.

He should want to talk about providing venture capital. Let "Plan 9 did it" never be clear again. Hell, running a real corporate think tank on the side would be one hell of a run payout laundering machine.

I have to confess to liking 'Plan B' as well, but my suggestions...

* The Truth (since, y'know, they're kind of 'out there'. And also you can't handle them.)
* Lowres (playing on the 8-Bit thing, of course. Carries some connotations of low visibility/profile, as well. And also of being a bit of a crude workaround )
* Wayang Kulit (Shadow Puppetry. Reasoning should be fairly obvious, heh... although that particular linguistic choice- Javanese- also has connotations of 'spirit', which would fit the awakened/ghost in the machine types making up the team)
* Bandaids (for being a quick slap-fix over a problem, in the hopes that it will fix itself. And also, in a bit of delicious wordplay, the copyright is owned by Johnson & Johnson )

Wouldn't "Slappatch" be more appropriate?

Bandaid would only be appropriate, if ripping them off were painfull.

My group weren't too thrilled that Mr. J lied to them, but accepted that it was part of the game.

Then they made him face up to his offer to "pay a fair ransom" for the disk as long as he didn't have to through any bidding nonsense by escorting Loomis to Darius St. George and having them hash out terms. Loomis walked away with... Well, quite a lot more than they made, (nearer to seven figures than six,) but Mr. J paid them a bonus, and Loomis paid them 5,000 to escort him safely to Mr. J and then to SEA-TAC. They also got a lot of gear from ripping off the Runner team that Ari Tarkasian sent after them, including two nice Mixcoatl drones and that crappy lesser-hummvee from the RBB, as well as the schlock and gear that the bitch who made them the "better offer" was carrying. They did decide not to take the money she had been sent to offer them, though, so as not to infuriate her boss... Though that was after they checked and ascertained that there was no bounty on Vampires the way there was on Toxics and Blood Magi.