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Message no. 1
From: Manx timburke@*******.com.au
Subject: Non Conventional Contacts & Johnsons.
Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 00:41:24 +1000
Question time.

How many people have ever had their players or
characters take either of the following as a contact.

1) Lawyer (either criminal or taxation)
2) Accountant (clean that cash sunshine)
3) Other non conventional contacts

And how many of you have had players or characters
set up legit business fronts to launder their "proceeds
of crime"?

I had a group of player that set up a company called
"Asset Management Services Inc." and even had
an office, a secretary etc.

Then there is the legendary "Executive Solutions Inc".
We ran a revolving GM campaign around a bunch of
runners that worked for a "corp" called Executive Solutions
Inc. They were an "asset management consultancy firm".
When it all boiled down to it it was a Fixer/Johnson
that had rented office space, incorporated and had legit
staff. It really freaks players out if you set up their jobs
like that as opposed to the "you get a call from your
fixer" type run.

If you really want to mess with a runner, have the IRS
serve him for non lodgement of taxation returns (assuming
that the runner has a SIN). See how they run...

Manx
timburke@*******.com.au
Brisbane, Australia.
__________________________________
"Such carping is not commendable"
- William Shakespeare
- Much Ado About Nothing a3.s1.l71
__________________________________
Play SR3 at ConJure. The Second Summoning
commences in October 1999. URL out soon.
Message no. 2
From: Marc Renouf renouf@********.com
Subject: Non Conventional Contacts & Johnsons.
Date: Mon, 24 May 1999 11:29:22 -0400 (EDT)
On Tue, 25 May 1999, Manx wrote:

> How many people have ever had their players or
> characters take either of the following as a contact.
>
> 1) Lawyer (either criminal or taxation)
> 2) Accountant (clean that cash sunshine)
> 3) Other non conventional contacts

Been there, run that. :) I actually had a player whose "buddy"
contact was a criminal defense attorney. They were roommates in college
(before the character discovered that he was a mage, lost all direction,
flunked out of college, developed a drug habit, and turned to a life of
crime).
I had another player who had a stockbroker contact, which turned
out to be an excellent way to launder cash. In addition, they'd
occasionally drop him tips, like "the market value of that little
Mitsuhama software subsidiary up in Renton is about to take a nose dive."
Yup, it's insider trading, and yup, I often checked to see if the contact
would get busted by the SEC, but no, he never did. And it turned out to
be a *very* lucrative arrangement.

> And how many of you have had players or characters
> set up legit business fronts to launder their "proceeds
> of crime"?

My current group set up a legit security consultant firm, a la
"Sneakers." The only problem with going legit is that if anything goes
wrong (and something always goes wrong) you end up with a lot more to
lose. They had a run go bad (very bad) and had to make a clean break.
Only one of the characters didn't have his identity compromised, and they
all ended up leaving the country. There was still a lot of (illegal and
expensive) gear in their office that they had to leave behind, simply
because it was too dangerous to go back for it.
Further, to really take advantage of the benefits of being legit,
you need a SIN, at least a fake one. It's tough to say, "why yes,
officer, I do have a permit for this weapon. It was arranged by my
employer," when there is no other record of your existence.
But having a SIN means that there's information about you floating
around the Matrix, information that can be accessed by the authorities or
by enemies. And sooner or later, that identity will also be compromised.
If you're lucky, you know it's gone bad before anyone else does, but in
most cases your first warning that your fake SIN has gone bust is when the
bank manager/car rental agent/police officer says, "I'm sorry, sir, but
your ID isn't checking out. Could you wait right here while I call again
to confirm it?" If it's just the cashier at the local store you could
probably bluff your way through. If it's a traffic cop, you may very well
be looking at jail time, especially if they can link you to past crimes.

Marc
Message no. 3
From: Aristotle aristotle@********.net
Subject: Non Conventional Contacts & Johnsons.
Date: Mon, 24 May 1999 16:53:39 -0400
At 12:41 AM 5/25/99 +1000, Manx wrote:

<Snipagements>
>How many people have ever had their players or
>characters take either of the following as a contact.

I think the only really odd contact I have ever taken was a junkyard
dog. The character was a rigger with the concept of "street racer."
With limited funds to purchase new, or even used, parts he made friends
with the gaurd animal at a local junk yard. The idea was to give him
access to parts, and the price he payed was that the things he got from
the junkyard were usually of the lowest possible quality.

--Aristotle

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Thwap!