it's in SOTA:64, page 160. Novatech is hurting, though it remains to be seen whether Art will succeed in destroying it completely.

i'm not sure where you got the idea that destroying Novatech isn't Art's goal, btw. the text on page 117 of T2 pretty clearly spells out that it is. Renraku and Shiawase might also be on the list, but Novatech definitely is.

In Sota 2064?! Fair enough, my bad. Only book i don't have, still waiting for it though.

I read it as he wants to attack Villers for the snub on the Yacht, Downing his pet Corp is the way Art saw how (and knew how) to do it.

It has a lot more to do with things than that. His real beef comes from having been fired in the first place.

It's been a couple of days since I last looked at my posting and I have to say for starters thank everyone for the input. Secondly it seems that this falls one of two ways: let the player do it and thoughs who don't think that it would be a good idea. Personally, I agree with those who have said that it would be nigh impossible for a PC to create a AAA. Knowing the player behind the character as I do, I can tell you that he is doing it purely to stroke his own ego. Their have been ideas that I have implemented into various shadowruns that my group has played and all he does is get upset that he didn't think of it first. And then he needs to go and try to take the idea to the next level. That's where this crazy idea of creating a megacorp came from. He just wanted to show the rest of us that his character(s) are so much better than ours. As for me resolving this issue it shouldn't be too hard to take care of. How does that quote go..."Not in my game you don't." Or I can simplely create a campaign around destroying everything that he has worked so hard to build. I think it would be more satisfying that way.

Getting to be CEO and owner is exceptional and far too time consuming. Simplify it a bit. 1 success gets the position, but no power, 2+ succesess control and power on a Negotiations (TN#36) test. Allowed 1 roll per game month

Botch, if he doesn't have skills and background for that, I see no way for roll.
As for player, he seems like "Mr. Perfect" type - like, "I can do all the same that other players combined, only better." Not the best guy to deal with.

Really, give him smaller corp and let him show his skills getting around with even a small corp. And remember, that business is like pool of piranhas where you stick your bare hand in.

P.S. No, Johnsons usually don't go with team. It must be something extraordinary to stick their neck in.

Use a deniable Johnson then. Sheesh.

Having the J tag along adds to complexity and offers nothing. The team is unhappy, the employers are paying more… where is the possible benefit for all but the most exceptional runs (exceptional even after accounting for the exceptional nature of runs)?

~J

what kage said. toturi, there are norms for shadowruns--general levels of exceptionality. a johnson coming along on the run is above that level.

yes, there was the ending of 2XS, where the johnson had a personal interest in the case, because it directly involved him and people he knew and loved. several of his friends had died so far; he was, as i recall, wanted for crimes he didnt' commit; and the bad guys had his sister. oh, and they ended up cleaning out a hive of bug spirits. that's not what i call an average shadowrun.

as i said above, the exceptional is the rule in shadowruns, because shadowruns are exceptional situations. however, this does not mean that most shadowruns are crazy, seat-of-the-pants operations where madness pops out from every corner. if it were, most characters would die on their first run. there are norms, even within exceptions. there are levels of unpredictability. having a johnson come along on a run is not something happens very often; therefore, it's outside the norm, for shadowruns.

Wow. Talk about thread drift...

First off, from Graywolf's description of the player, I'd say that his primary motivation for doing this would be so his new PCs would have all sorts of other whiz gear and connections to completly hold over the heads of the other players. That (coupled with the player ignoring rules as it suited him) would be enough for me to tank any ideas of him running a corp after retirement. Also, he's making and selling what!?! operating completly in the shadows? Not only would the extraction teams be lining up outside his door, but offers would be filling up his employees' inboxes. 'Saw your battlemech, loved it. Here's a one million nuyen goodwill gesture. You'll get another five every month, lifetime residence in the finest AAA neighborhood, and never have to work again, except to turn out another one of those brillant hardware designs every quarter or so if you join our wonderful family here at S-K. Love and kisses, -Lofwyr."

By being a 'shadowcorp,' everything they do will have to be on the sly. They need more steel for basic parts? It's going to take some work to get it because no legit company is going to ship thirty tons of refined ore to the supposedly abandoned warehouse on the docks. Having to operate in secret is going to work against the quality of your facilities, especially after they get gutted by Ares in an extraction gone bad. Especially if they are making high quaility, highly desireable goods, attention from bigger, more powerful entities should be trying to find the source.

Also, and here's a statement that I doubt anyone can refute, you can NOT simply start up an AAA corporation. Above all else, building any sort of company takes time. Of the current AAAs, their growth to actually being megas took years, and all sorts of political and corporate machinations as they grew. I wouldn't neccisarily say that what Villiers achieved came soley from writer fiat. I'd let a player do the same but they would have to take the time to make the contacts, lay down the plans, and work towards making themselves into a bigshot. Then I would defintely make them role play whatever negotiations I feel are required for them to become A, then AA, (and if somehow the ten, twenty, or thirty years probably needed to become a world recognized corporate entity have passed in game) they might actually have a chance at taking a corporate seat and becoming an AAA.

Someone earlier said that they could just declare themselves a #A organization without getting recognized by the court. Sure they can, and then they can try and explain to Lonestar about their extraterritorial rights when LS shows up to ask them why there is a mined perimeter around their office building.

If they have a mined perimeter is LS going to argue with them about it?

Yes, but only from off the property

~J

We played a game a while back now. The average intelligence of PCs was about 6.5 with technical and specialist backgrounds in physics, engineering, economics and administration averaging between 6 and 8. We seriously lucked out and caught our GM off guard and wound up with over 11 million. This was our cash-in to start our own little corp.
We started out as a paramilitary think-tank, licencing our inventions to other megacorps. Gradually we acquired the resources to begin producing some of our own designs. When Gundersen fell, we snatched up anything and everything we could. After a year and a half of game sessions, about 2.5 years game time, we were B verging on A. We had offices in Seattle, Tir Na Nog, Atlanta, and Denver. We had just finished construction of our first major arms factory down in CAS.

Of course, we spent most of our time fending off assaults. We had one of our Directors endure a hostile extraction. Our CEO had to fend off assaults on a monthly basis. We had about 30-40 shadowruns hit us. We had to hide our own shadowrunning income from the IRS, but still had to keep earning it, because it was our R&D budget.
There were supply issues, an attempted nationalisation of our assets by Tir Na Nog, several attempted hostile takeovers, and a damn near successful coup by Lofwyr.
All the while we had to deal with the growing notoriety of our shadow Handles...

Fun game...shame it had to end...