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Message no. 1
From: pentaj2@********.edu (pentaj2@********.edu)
Subject: So why would anyone become a shadowrunner, anyway?
Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2006 11:45:00 -0500
OK.

After posting the topic at http://forums.dumpshock.com/index.php?
showtopic312, and reading responses there, I'm left with a pressing
question.

Why the heck would anyone become a shadowrunner?

That character, I grant, is meant as a version of me, idealized in
that he didn't screw up college (I'm scraping through with a 2.x GPA)
and doesn't have any disabilities or the effects thereof on
personality/outlook. (I basically start characters like this, which I
acknowledge are versions of me (named after me, even), by
asking "change x parameters. What sort of effects would that have on
the development of personality, etc?" They're usually meant to (re)
introduce myself to a setting, in this case Shadowrun, which I haven't
really roleplayed in for years.)

So I built from, basically, my circumstances. Sent him to college, and
figure he'd do rather better. (If you looked at my HS grades, even
freshman year of college, you'd figure me for a 3.0+ GPA student. Not
what happened.)

So, he becomes a cop...With KE, not the Star, because KE pays better,
KE just plain feels more professional. (I imagine LS as being 1950s-
60s era "professional" cops; Not necessarily educated, mostly relied
on intimidation, not really involved in the community. Whereas KE is
1980s-current style cops; Better educated, more likely to be
proactive, using things like community policing and so forth. Reason
LS has more contracts is that KE's style of doing things costs more.
However, KE is more in favor in middle-class places and higher, and
even some whole cities, because of the difference in approach.)

He likes patrol, has some success as sort of the informal "juvenile
cop", with a lot of community policing stuff. But there's a bit of an
adrenaline junkie in him, so that (plus the prospect of being posted
closer to where he grew up) pulls him to SWAT.

And....here's where I have trouble.

I can't see this character going dirty. So the way I figured it, his
SWAT unit got nailed in an audit because the commander, who was
basically my character's mentor, was bending the funding rules. Not
embezzlement, just not following every subclause of the budgeting
regulations. Everybody does it, normally it's a slap on the wrist, but
this Lt had made an enemy out of a junior exec type; bit of a
maverick, see.

So they're all split up.

I pause here and ask: Does this make sense?

My character, unfortunately...He's 30. He's the new kid, only been on
the unit about a year or two, maybe 3 years, tops. Everybody else has
influence they can use to pull themselves to another job in KE; He has
none. No enemies, but no friends besides those he served with, really.
So he's the victim of attrition during a cutback in 2070.

OK, so he's jobless. Separated on good terms, but still.

But, still. Why would he become a shadowrunner? (I know, maybe it
means I should go with another character concept, but...Eh, I dunno.
Something in me feels stubborn.)

Why would *anybody* become a shadowrunner, actually?
Message no. 2
From: swiftone@********.org (Brett Ritter)
Subject: So why would anyone become a shadowrunner, anyway?
Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2006 11:53:27 -0500
On 11/16/06, pentaj2@********.edu <pentaj2@********.edu> wrote:
> Why would *anybody* become a shadowrunner, actually?

I'll tackle this one, because you can use it for your character as you see fit.

I'm assuming your question is really "Why would a non-sociopath become
a runner", because the alternative answers are somewhat obvious.
Addressing that:

* Thrillseekers
* Problems with authority
* Loathing of "the system"
* A "cause"
* Driven from the light (falsely accused of a crime?)

Each of these can be a reason that an otherwise "normal" person would
find the life of a runner appealing. (potentially even while hating
it).

--
Brett Ritter / SwiftOne
swiftone@********.org
Message no. 3
From: cmdjackryan@**********.com (Phillip Gawlowski)
Subject: So why would anyone become a shadowrunner, anyway?
Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2006 17:56:36 +0100
On 11/16/06, pentaj2@********.edu <pentaj2@********.edu> wrote:

> Why would *anybody* become a shadowrunner, actually?

As there is the Negative Quality SINner in SR4, I'd say becuase people
want to survive. Most become gangers, thugs or drug dealers, while
others pick up a more dangerous lifestyle (for the thrill, the money,
what have you).
I figure that most shadow runners do it for the money. They might die,
but better dying from bullets, rather than starvation.

For your character, the reason he becomes a runner could be: He was
framed (by that very LT you mentioned), for the funding regulations.
That could mean he is forced into the shadows. Not being of a thuggish
nature, he could figure that his skills are usable in breaking and
entering, covert operations and the like. And somebody just offered
him a first run. Good money, easy job.

Now he's known, but choosy about his runs: Maybe no wet work, no
terrorism, a discount for "community projects", that kind of stuff.

Just my .02Y

--
Phillip "CynicalRyan" Gawlowski

"By Zarglewang's thuppy!"
- Illiad
Message no. 4
From: n.kobschaetzki@**********.com (Niels_KobschÀtzki)
Subject: So why would anyone become a shadowrunner, anyway?
Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2006 18:00:53 +0100
On Nov 16, 2006, at 5:45 PM, pentaj2@********.edu wrote:

<snip character portfolio>

>
> OK, so he's jobless. Separated on good terms, but still.
>
> But, still. Why would he become a shadowrunner? (I know, maybe it
> means I should go with another character concept, but...Eh, I dunno.
> Something in me feels stubborn.)
>
> Why would *anybody* become a shadowrunner, actually?

First I want to answer the question to your character:
Because he doesn't find a job with adequate payment and so he becomes
kind of freelancer. Sometime he gets a single job-offer as bodyguard
or anything like this which brings him "into the scene".
Or you just destroy him, thus he becomes embittered. Kill his wife
(he's 30, thus good chance to have one), better kill his family -
show him that being good doesn't give you anything in life than
desperation. With shadowruns he earns more than he would in a normal
security business, he's more challenged than there and because his
morality is already destroyed because life showed him that morality
doesn't bring you to anything he's perfect for that job...

Why would *anybody* else become a shadowrunner?
Because people have targets and maybe they see shadowruns as the way
to get to their targets. Maybe they can't find jobs or whatever. It's
the same question as "Why does anybody becomes criminal?" or "Why
does anybody becomes a freedom fighter/terrorist?"
Both are not that easy to answer w/out looking into the statistics
and w/out actually interviewing those ppl.
My characters usually slide usually sometime into the crime and see
shadowrunning as more profitable or they are professionals who had to
quit their job and couldn't find anything else or life was just very
mean to them.

Nies
Message no. 5
From: u.alberton@*****.com (Bira)
Subject: So why would anyone become a shadowrunner, anyway?
Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2006 15:02:47 -0200
On 11/16/06, pentaj2@********.edu <pentaj2@********.edu> wrote:
>
> But, still. Why would he become a shadowrunner? (I know, maybe it
> means I should go with another character concept, but...Eh, I dunno.
> Something in me feels stubborn.)
>
> Why would *anybody* become a shadowrunner, actually?

So he can be played by a PC and go dungeon-delving for treasure... I
mean, go infiltrating secret research facilities for money :).

A bit more seriously, a jobless but law-abiding ex-cop who did pretty
well in college and who was only fired because of an administrative
fuck-up doesn't look like shadowrunner material. He'd probably be able
to find employment in some other security firm in very short order,
and carry on with his life.

The way I see things, shadowrunners are those people whose outlook on
life is different enough from that of lawful society, gangs,
governments and corporations that they're not part of any of those
groups. They're too independent to serve any of them, but for some
reason not independent enough to do things on their own initiative
without being hired for it. The "not independent enough" thing is
purely a metagame concern, since it would screw up the traditional
"mission" structure that most SR adventures are built around.

--
Bira
http://compexplicita.blogspot.com
http://sinfoniaferida.blogspot.com
Message no. 6
From: sfeley@*****.com (Stephen Eley)
Subject: So why would anyone become a shadowrunner, anyway?
Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2006 12:08:30 -0500
On 11/16/06, pentaj2@********.edu <pentaj2@********.edu> wrote:
>
> He likes patrol, has some success as sort of the informal "juvenile
> cop", with a lot of community policing stuff. But there's a bit of an
> adrenaline junkie in him, so that (plus the prospect of being posted
> closer to where he grew up) pulls him to SWAT.
>
> And....here's where I have trouble.
>
> I can't see this character going dirty. So the way I figured it, his
> SWAT unit got nailed in an audit because the commander, who was
> basically my character's mentor, was bending the funding rules. Not
> embezzlement, just not following every subclause of the budgeting
> regulations. Everybody does it, normally it's a slap on the wrist, but
> this Lt had made an enemy out of a junior exec type; bit of a
> maverick, see.
> [ . . . ]
> OK, so he's jobless. Separated on good terms, but still.

My suggestion: knock out the 'good terms' part. You ever seen _Training Day?_

Your superior officer wasn't "bending the rules," he was bad to the
very core. Perhaps using his position to pull off thefts or even
assassinations. Perhaps there's even a cadre of crooked cops.
They've got it all covered so well with a superior performance record
that no one would ever know. But your character sees the wrong thing
at the wrong time... And ends up framed. And the evidence against
you is a *lot* stronger than the evidence against your boss.

So that's why you run the shadows now. You didn't quit Knight Errant
on conscience. You fled, and now you're a fugitive hoping someday to
clear your name.

...Just one idea. Plausible? No, not really. But this is Shadowrun.
(And it was a fun movie.) >8->


> Why would *anybody* become a shadowrunner, actually?

Because without it, there'd be no game. I don't think you can look
*too* deep on questions like this. It just has to have something
there on the surface. That real life is never this dramatic is *why*
we play games.


--
Have Fun,
Steve Eley (sfeley@*****.com)
ESCAPE POD - The Science Fiction Podcast Magazine
http://www.escapepod.org
Message no. 7
From: cmdjackryan@**********.com (Phillip Gawlowski)
Subject: So why would anyone become a shadowrunner, anyway?
Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2006 18:08:47 +0100
On 11/16/06, Bira <u.alberton@*****.com> wrote:

> The way I see things, shadowrunners are those people whose outlook on
> life is different enough from that of lawful society, gangs,
> governments and corporations that they're not part of any of those
> groups. They're too independent to serve any of them, but for some
> reason not independent enough to do things on their own initiative
> without being hired for it. The "not independent enough" thing is
> purely a metagame concern, since it would screw up the traditional
> "mission" structure that most SR adventures are built around.

Or they couldn't get a "real" job, as they usually are SINless, and
they aren't gang material or stable enough to work for the mob.
Or they could have a really expensive addiction, only big money (like
a run provides) can satisfy.

I don't think most shadow runners live longer than a few (around 5?)
runs, but end up with a 9mm skull airing.

--
Phillip "CynicalRyan" Gawlowski

"By Zarglewang's thuppy!"
- Illiad
Message no. 8
From: scott@**********.com (Scott Harrison)
Subject: So why would anyone become a shadowrunner, anyway?
Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2006 18:16:25 +0100
On Nov 16, 2006, at 17:45 , pentaj2@********.edu wrote:
>
> I can't see this character going dirty. So the way I figured it, his
> SWAT unit got nailed in an audit because the commander, who was
> basically my character's mentor, was bending the funding rules. Not
> embezzlement, just not following every subclause of the budgeting
> regulations. Everybody does it, normally it's a slap on the wrist, but
> this Lt had made an enemy out of a junior exec type; bit of a
> maverick, see.
>
> So they're all split up.
>
> I pause here and ask: Does this make sense?
>
> My character, unfortunately...He's 30. He's the new kid, only been on
> the unit about a year or two, maybe 3 years, tops. Everybody else has
> influence they can use to pull themselves to another job in KE; He has
> none. No enemies, but no friends besides those he served with, really.
> So he's the victim of attrition during a cutback in 2070.
>
> OK, so he's jobless. Separated on good terms, but still.
>
> But, still. Why would he become a shadowrunner? (I know, maybe it
> means I should go with another character concept, but...Eh, I dunno.
> Something in me feels stubborn.)
>
> Why would *anybody* become a shadowrunner, actually?

You have two questions here, (1) why would this character become a
shadowrunner, and (2) why would anyone become a shadowrunner. Let me
talk about the second first.

When I create a character I attempt to imagine the world of SR and
then put the character into that world. I think about what it is
they do and why they do it. For example, one of my characters was
hunting someone for revenge. Hunting and killing someone tends to be
illegal, so it is easy for the character to live as a shadowrunner.
Another character is a programmer who gets paid more to write things
that deckers use versus working as a wageslave. So shadowrunning
started first as just writing code for shadowrunners, and then
expanded when asked to act as a decker for a team, etc. Of course
your character may have issues with killing, or stealing, or
whatever, but being a shadowrunner need not entail things that are
against the character's morals. I had another character that had a
nice job on a response team for a corp. He had no intention to
become a shadowrunner until his group was slaughtered, he was framed,
and hunted (think Mission: Impossible the first movie). He had to
run, and then he had to survive, but could not do it in the corp
world. Shadowrunning was a way for him to get money for living
expenses.

So with regard to your character, it seems you cannot be blamed for
the problems on your former team, and your other teammates are
working in good stead with KE. Therefore, think what you would do in
the situation in which you are placing the character. Your severance
pay will run out shortly and you need to find some way of getting
money to live. You can always apply to another KE division in
another city if need be, or LS. Assuming they look at your official
file and there is a black mark (internally the corp may keep these
things even though your public official record is clean) they say
there are no jobs. So perhaps you find yourself getting a job as
part of a poor security firm guarding stuffer shacks, or a bouncer at
a club. With the right type of job you may be able to meet some
people that are shadowrunners and they may need someone of your
talents to help them with something. For example, they may be doing
an innocent little run against some bad drug dealers, and they need
to know how KE will respond to the situation. So, they ask you to
give them some info and pay you assuming your info was right. Easy
money. And the group was only being vigilantes and helping society
at large by cleaning up those drug dealers. So, maybe you start
doing more things for them, like maybe driving a getaway car, etc.
The slippery slope has begun.

--
·𐑕𐑒𐑪𐑑
·𐑣𐑺𐑦𐑕𐑩𐑯 Scott
Harrison
Message no. 9
From: pentaj2@********.edu (pentaj2@********.edu)
Subject: So why would anyone become a shadowrunner, anyway?
Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2006 12:58:24 -0500
You've all given me excellent things to think about.

As I ponder it more:

OK, he's released from KE, but even though he did nothing, he still
is 'tainted' by the association.

LS thus won't hire him.

So he falls back on his education, and leverages that and his
experience to become a staffer in a 'field office' set up by the UCAS
Senate Committee on the Judiciary, monitoring the provision of law
enforcement (and the nagging issue of separatist sentiment) in the far-
flung state of the UCAS; Basically, the Committee's staff had spent so
much time dealing with Seattle issues in the wake of the Arc Shutdown,
the Mob War, Crash 2.0, etc. that it'd been decided to set up a tiny
office to facilitate, say, visits by Committee members or staff from
DC. He's an office drone, tasked with briefing visitors on conditions,
etc, etc.

It's deeply boring, but it's work.

Eventually, however, one of his officemates comes to him with an
offer. How about he picks up some easy yen by helping them clean up a
local gang that had been bothering the officemate's mom?

Adrenaline rush, some warm-and-fuzzies for the hooding, and their day
jobs give them the pull to convince the Star (who, given the targets,
wasn't going to care much anyhow) to forget they'd heard about it.
Maybe they'd get extra face-time with a Congressman next time they
came knocking or something.

And that's how it starts.
Message no. 10
From: zebulingod@*****.com (Zebulin M)
Subject: So why would anyone become a shadowrunner, anyway?
Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2006 10:55:37 -0800
On 11/16/06, pentaj2@********.edu <pentaj2@********.edu> wrote:
>
> Eventually, however, one of his officemates comes to him with an
> offer. How about he picks up some easy yen by helping them clean up a
> local gang that had been bothering the officemate's mom?
>
> Adrenaline rush, some warm-and-fuzzies for the hooding, and their day
> jobs give them the pull to convince the Star (who, given the targets,
> wasn't going to care much anyhow) to forget they'd heard about it.
> Maybe they'd get extra face-time with a Congressman next time they
> came knocking or something.
>
> And that's how it starts.
>


I'm a fan of "lost work" but one of his buddies happens to "know
someone"
who needs a bodyguard for an evening. Maybe it's completely legit, and he
has no problem with it. It all goes well, and his new client requests his
services for another "run" and another. Pretty soon he's a "bodyguard"
and
he starts to realise maybe he has to work outside the law at times. Now,
this is a moral dilemma, but it pays the bills, and a man's got to eat,
right? Still, he makes connections, does a pretty good job, stays reasonably
clean. Now you just have to make the jump. Not all shadowrunners are
necessarily hardened criminals with no thought to anyone but themselves.
I've played plenty who are pretty conscious of the people around them (one
who wouldn't kill, at all). Frankly, the idea is rather appealing even to
me.

Not too far off, right? I mean, could happen to any cop. Heck, the
alternative is becoming a rent-a-cop, and we all know their probable
lifespans. Maybe he barely survives a shadowrun against the place he's
protecting, and loses a friend in the process. Now he's got revenge as a
motive, and the police contacts and training to help him out. Branch out a
little, and you could easily put a campaign into place around that. He
doesn't have to be able to find the ones responsible during this run, or in
the near future.

Plenty of ways to go once you lose your job. People will do some pretty far
out things to keep food on their table, especially if they have a family
counting on them. Moreso for revenge if someone they hold dear is threatened
or lost.

Zebulin
Message no. 11
From: swiftone@********.org (Brett Ritter)
Subject: So why would anyone become a shadowrunner, anyway?
Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2006 14:06:42 -0500
On 11/16/06, Zebulin M <zebulingod@*****.com> wrote:
> services for another "run" and another. Pretty soon he's a
"bodyguard" and
> he starts to realise maybe he has to work outside the law at times.

A good step here (for ?"good guy" concepts) is to have the "right
thing" not be the "legal thing". Once the character has accepted
that, the character is well on the way to moving to a more "my rules
are more important than 'their' rules" mindset. That's the path of
the Shadowrunner. Not necessarily immoral, but certainly illegal, and
when one spends a lot of time in such grey areas, other grey areas
present themselves.

Frankly, I find the moral dilemmas of shadowruns to be the best parts,
but my most common players prefer to play amoral characters.

--
Brett Ritter / SwiftOne
swiftone@********.org
Message no. 12
From: pentaj2@********.edu (pentaj2@********.edu)
Subject: So why would anyone become a shadowrunner, anyway?
Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2006 14:24:23 -0500
----- Original Message -----
From: Brett Ritter <swiftone@********.org>
Date: Thursday, November 16, 2006 2:06 pm
Subject: Re: So why would anyone become a shadowrunner, anyway?

> On 11/16/06, Zebulin M <zebulingod@*****.com> wrote:
> > services for another "run" and another. Pretty soon he's a
> "bodyguard" and
> > he starts to realise maybe he has to work outside the law at times.
>
> A good step here (for ?"good guy" concepts) is to have the "right
> thing" not be the "legal thing". Once the character has accepted
> that, the character is well on the way to moving to a more "my rules
> are more important than 'their' rules" mindset. That's the path of
> the Shadowrunner. Not necessarily immoral, but certainly illegal,
and
> when one spends a lot of time in such grey areas, other grey areas
> present themselves.
>
> Frankly, I find the moral dilemmas of shadowruns to be the best
parts,
> but my most common players prefer to play amoral characters.

Agreed. I will add here that, in case anyone missed it, the character
is not for a tabletop campaign, but for a MUSH. Meaning, I don't
necessarily have a set group to play with, among other things.

John
Message no. 13
From: zebulingod@*****.com (Zebulin M)
Subject: So why would anyone become a shadowrunner, anyway?
Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2006 12:06:23 -0800
On 11/16/06, Brett Ritter <swiftone@********.org> wrote:
>
> On 11/16/06, Zebulin M <zebulingod@*****.com> wrote:
> > services for another "run" and another. Pretty soon he's a
"bodyguard"
> and
> > he starts to realise maybe he has to work outside the law at times.
>
> A good step here (for ?"good guy" concepts) is to have the "right
> thing" not be the "legal thing". Once the character has accepted
> that, the character is well on the way to moving to a more "my rules
> are more important than 'their' rules" mindset. That's the path of
> the Shadowrunner. Not necessarily immoral, but certainly illegal, and
> when one spends a lot of time in such grey areas, other grey areas
> present themselves.
>
> Frankly, I find the moral dilemmas of shadowruns to be the best parts,
> but my most common players prefer to play amoral characters.
>
>
I agree wholeheartedly. This is an excellent jumping off point, IMO (even if
I did come up with it, and so am biased). In fact, I think I might have just
had the flash of creativity needed to start playing SR again, having taken a
rather long vacation due, largely, to World of Warcrack.

Zebulin
Message no. 14
From: korishinzo@*****.com (Ice Heart)
Subject: So why would anyone become a shadowrunner, anyway?
Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2006 12:08:47 -0800 (PST)
> But, still. Why would he become a shadowrunner? (I know, maybe it
> means I should go with another character concept, but...Eh, I
> dunno.
> Something in me feels stubborn.)
>
> Why would *anybody* become a shadowrunner, actually?

This question during character generation has always confused me.
This, to me, would be like sitting down to play Dungeons & Dragons;
but halfway through making some dragonslayer warrior or dungeoneer
rogue, saying "wait, why would this character go on adventures?"
Obviously, if you are sitting down to create a member of a party of
adventurers, you have moved beyond the question of whether the
character adventures or not.

If you are making a shadowrunner, you should be asking the question
"how did they become a shadowrunner?", not "why would they?".
Honestly, as much as I applaud putting a lot of thought into a
character, I think it is fairly ridiculous to make one who can't be
played. No one sits down to play poker and then wonders why they
aren't allowed to roll dice. If you are at the poker table, you came
to play cards. If you are at the shadowrun gaming table, you came to
play a shadowrunner. So make one.

Part of making a shadowrunner is making up a story of how they came
to be one. If you get all done making your character, and you have a
lily-white corporate executive with a car, a house, a spouse, and 2.5
kids... you screwed up.

Now, typically, I get another question. It is similar, and just as
annoying. "Why would my character work with these guys?" Ummm...
because I (the GM) invited you (the player) to make a member of a
team, along with them (the other players), so we (the group) could
play a game about said team. In other words, the onus of explaining
why a character is on a shadowrunner team lies on the player of said
character. Just as the onus of explaining why a character runs the
shadows lies on the player invited to play a shadowrunner.

Your character concept is quite solid. They have a nice complete
backstory and plenty of material to draw their personality and
motivations from. However, you need to work the story backwards for
a bit. Start with, "so I have this shadowrunner... ex-cop... college
educated... so how'd they end up in the shadows?" See the
difference? You are not asking "why WOULD they be a runner?", but
rather "why ARE they runner?".

Maybe there is no real difference between these questions, but there
is a significant difference in mindset. Taking this apporach, you
automatically throw out any storylines that end with said cop NOT
turning to shadowrunning. It simplifies things. You're no longer
searching your creative ability to see if the character will even
exist as a PC in a shadowrun game. Starting with "he runs the
shadows, why?" saves you from exploring avenues where "he does not
run the shadows", all of which would be patently stupid to explore
since you A: made him for a shadowrun game, and B: wish to play him
in a shadowrun game.

This post probably sounds very snippy, and dangerously close to being
an attack on you for asking the question. Let me hasten to point out
that I am addressing ALL such questions, not just yours. And
further, I am venting a bit about having encountered questions of
this form quite often. Three sessions into my current game, I had a
player sit back and say the following:

"I just realized this guy would never willingly work with this
group."

To which I replied in scathing fashion, "fine, make a new character
who WOULD". Seeing as the game centers around a group of characters,
and a certain type of activity (both facts being known to the player
well in advance of char gen), it smacks of selfishness to create a
character who would not join said group or participate in said
activity.

Not that you have done this, by any means, but you do seem to have
lost track of the part where you were making a shadowrunner somewhere
during creation. Then again, maybe I am working too hard and have
misplaced my sense of humor. Should evidence point in that
direction, ignore me. :)

======Korishinzo
--I wish I could hurry up and develop some damn patience already!



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Message no. 15
From: davek@***.lonestar.org (David Kettler)
Subject: So why would anyone become a shadowrunner, anyway?
Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2006 21:13:54 +0000
Reading through the replies to this question I think I've seen at least three that
suggested having the character framed for a crime he didn't commit. While that can work,
it is *such* a cliche...so I thought I'd suggest an alternative: Have the character
accused of a crime he did commit. Even the most straight-laced people, when placed in
extreme circumstances, will sometimes do things they never would have thought themselves
capable of.

One of my favorite backgrounds I ever wrote for a character involved an ork who grew up in
a poor family in the bad part of town. Despite this, he was a serious, driven person who
never got involved with any gangs and eventually ended up becoming a beat cop in Lone
Star. All was going fairly well until some go-gangers in the area decided to kill his
parents and rape his sister. Naturally he wanted to get back at them, and tried to do so
legally at first. But it became apparent that the one responsible was actually the son of
a wealthy corporate exec who was funding the gang for thrills. Thanks to some clever
lawyers and well placed bribes he was basically untouchable. Upon realizing this, my
character waited for the right opportunity and then killed him in cold blood. Thus began
his life in the shadows.

I'll admit that this background isn't exactly free of cliches either, but it does make for
a more interesting shadowrunner. Anyone who is framed for a crime's first order of
business ought to be trying to clear their name, not committing more crimes. Even if that
seems hopeless, most people who still prefer to try and start their life over, perhaps
with a fake identity, than to become a hardened criminal who does extremely illegal things
for money.

It's hard to strike a balance between the sociopathic tendencies of many PCs and the
basically safe, crime-free lives we live here in the real world. The character I
described above obviously isn't against killing people under the right circumstances, but
at the same time that doesn't means he would be willing to kill at random. Far too many
PCs don't feel anything when gunning down random guards who are just trying to make a
living. Is that realistic? I would think your character would have to be seriously
mentally ill to not care at all.

I actually find characters who are reluctant to run the shadows easier to play, as it's
something I can identify with (the biggest problem I find is that when my reluctant
runners do acquire a bit of cash they always want to retire...). So what motivations can
they have? Corruption is rampant in the world of Shadowrun, so that's an easy target.
Personal issues with friends and family tend to work as well. But simply saying they
couldn't find another job isn't going to cut it for me.

I think I'm starting to ramble and get off topic, but I wanted to make one last point:
Keep your group in mind. While I personally don't like playing complete sociopaths, a lot
of people (particularly those who are more interested in stats than role-playing) do. I
once tried playing a pacifist (The will not kill kind. He was willing to shoot you with
gel rounds.) in a group of vindictive psychos. Before the first run was over he ended up
shooting another PC to stop him from killing a guard who was begging for mercy, secretly
calling Lone Star to tell them where the PCs were, and knocking down trees to block the
road and prevent the PCs from escaping (the PCs, on the other hand, were all very heavily
armed and by burning enough karma managed to escape anyway)...needless to say, that
character didn't last long.

--
Dave Kettler
davek@***.lonestar.org
SDF Public Access UNIX System - http://sdf.lonestar.org
Message no. 16
From: zebulingod@*****.com (Zebulin M)
Subject: So why would anyone become a shadowrunner, anyway?
Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2006 13:19:01 -0800
On 11/16/06, David Kettler <davek@***.lonestar.org> wrote:
>
>
> I think I'm starting to ramble and get off topic, but I wanted to make one
> last point: Keep your group in mind. While I personally don't like playing
> complete sociopaths, a lot of people (particularly those who are more
> interested in stats than role-playing) do. I once tried playing a pacifist
> (The will not kill kind. He was willing to shoot you with gel rounds.) in a
> group of vindictive psychos. Before the first run was over he ended up
> shooting another PC to stop him from killing a guard who was begging for
> mercy, secretly calling Lone Star to tell them where the PCs were, and
> knocking down trees to block the road and prevent the PCs from escaping (the
> PCs, on the other hand, were all very heavily armed and by burning enough
> karma managed to escape anyway)...needless to say, that character didn't
> last long.
>
>
I played the pacifist in a group of people who had varying moral compasses.
In the end, it worked out, because while I wasn't willing to kill, I managed
to be the "cooler head" in a lot of situations and the group tried to find
ways around having to kill someone unless it was absolutely necessary. That
said, I was only unwilling to kill, myself. I wouldn't allow someone to be
killed by someone else if I didn't think it was deserved, but perhaps that's
more of a "I want to keep my hands clean, and let someone else do the dirty
work"? Still, it was a rather powerful moment when my character did finally
kill someone. Needless to say, the rest of the group was absolutely stunned.

Made for a really enjoyable role playing session, if I remember correctly.

Zebulin
Message no. 17
From: dougherty.jeffrey@*****.com (Jeffrey Dougherty)
Subject: So why would anyone become a shadowrunner, anyway?
Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2006 17:54:36 -0500
On 11/16/06, David Kettler <davek@***.lonestar.org> wrote:

<snip good stuff>

Anyone who is framed for a
> crime's first order of business ought to be trying to clear their name, not
> committing more crimes. Even if that seems hopeless, most people who still
> prefer to try and start their life over, perhaps with a fake identity, than
> to become a hardened criminal who does extremely illegal things for money.

Actually, I could see that being a background for a character in a
medium-term campaign. I haven't read the SR4 rules yet, but in SR3
disappearing reliably enough to *guarantee* that your old life never
followed you was expensive. You'd want a high Rating (at least 7, and
I'd want more like 8 or 9) set of false papers, cosmetic surgery, and
maybe nano or gene mods on your finger and retina prints if you could
swing it, and some seed money to start over once you were through.
You could quite easyily be talking in the hundreds of thousands of
nuyen, not to mention the contacts with all sorts of unsavory people
you'd need in order to find the right places to spend it.

I could see someone turning shadowrunner as the only way to get the
money and contacts they need to "disappear". (Players' choice as to
whether the character actually committed the crime in question or not,
naturally) They won't be running forever, but it could easily take a
whole campaign for them to build up what they need.

-JTD
Message no. 18
From: mightyflapjack@*****.com (Mightyflapjack)
Subject: So why would anyone become a shadowrunner, anyway?
Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2006 19:03:24 -0500
Well it all depends on your GM really...

I agree with Ice Heart who says that you should talk to the GM before you
create the character to get a good idea of the type of game you are going to
play. Is it heavy combat, High intrigue, Political manipulations, Magical
Weirdness, etc.? Once you understand the game you are going to play then
your second stop should be... the other players. Find out what they are
playing and what skills do they bring to the table. If you see a character
that is going to have issues with the GM's game then call the GM's attention
to it. Then try and fill a roll that the party needs.

I agree that it can be annoying that once again you are stuck as the
"Decker" because everyone else is a Samurai or Physical Adept. This is
where having a steady group can be beneficial and people can alternate who
is the "filler" person for that game. A good GM should manage this by
alternating the order when people create characters, but there are always
ways to balance your preferences with a group's needs (Maybe a light samurai
with skillwires to do the decking stuff, etc.)

In the end, a gaming session is all about people bringing together a
balanced group of characters that fit the type of game the GM wants to run.
Anything less then that can be entertaining in the short term, but will
quickly self destruct (and in most cases will cause hurt feelings and
headaches before it dies).

-MF
Message no. 19
From: u.alberton@*****.com (Bira)
Subject: So why would anyone become a shadowrunner, anyway?
Date: Fri, 17 Nov 2006 00:22:53 -0200
On 11/16/06, Phillip Gawlowski <cmdjackryan@**********.com> wrote:
> On 11/16/06, Bira <u.alberton@*****.com> wrote:

> Or they couldn't get a "real" job, as they usually are SINless, and
> they aren't gang material or stable enough to work for the mob.
> Or they could have a really expensive addiction, only big money (like
> a run provides) can satisfy.

Truth is, shadowrunners are extremely unrealistic and probably
wouldn't exist if they didn't make up the whole premise of the game.

People who aren't "stable" enough for the mob (what's less stable than
a sadistic legbreaker?) probably /are/ gang material. If they don't
even make that cut, they're snitches, petty thieves, muggers, and a
variety of other street trash.

The game tries to fit shadowrunners somewhere in the middle, and it
does give the idea that not everyone can become a shadowrunner -
they're usually more skilled than the average person, and have some
compelling reason for not joining any crime syndicate or other
organization. If you accept this, it turns out that shadowrunning pays
pitifully little.

This happens solely because of "game balance" reasons, and doesn't
actually make much sense in-game. What would you think of a heist
movie where a team of specialists for whom a corporate hit squad is
"light opposition" gets hired to steal some secret, unique prototype
from a state-of-the-art fortress... and gets paid a total of 10,000
yen to do so?


--
Bira
http://compexplicita.blogspot.com
http://sinfoniaferida.blogspot.com
Message no. 20
From: gurth@******.nl (Gurth)
Subject: So why would anyone become a shadowrunner, anyway?
Date: Fri, 17 Nov 2006 11:25:27 +0100
According to pentaj2@********.edu, on 16-11-06 17:45 the word on the
street was...

> Why would *anybody* become a shadowrunner, actually?

I suppose it's for much the same reason some people become base jumpers,
mafia hitmen, artists, or pretty much anything else outside the
mainstream: because they like the thrill, because it makes them good
money and/or they have no scruples, because it attracts them, and so on.

--
Gurth@******.nl - Stone Age: http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
Van e-mail bakt men cyberbrood.
-> Former NAGEE Editor & ShadowRN GridSec * Triangle Virtuoso <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Site: http://plastic.dumpshock.com <-

GC3.12: GAT/! d- s:- !a>? C++(---) UB+ P(+) L++ E W++(--) N o? K w-- O
M+ PS+ PE@ Y PGP- t- 5++ X(+) R+++$ tv+(++) b++@ DI- D G+ e h! !r y?
Incubated into the First Church of the Sqooshy Ball, 21-05-1998
Message no. 21
From: gurth@******.nl (Gurth)
Subject: So why would anyone become a shadowrunner, anyway?
Date: Fri, 17 Nov 2006 11:37:18 +0100
According to Ice Heart, on 16-11-06 21:08 the word on the street was...

> Honestly, as much as I applaud putting a lot of thought into a
> character, I think it is fairly ridiculous to make one who can't be
> played.

Now you mention it, that does kind of have shades of the old "death
during character generation" that certain editions of Traveller could
inflict you with. I mean, you're making a character -- surely it'll be a
_living_ space explorer ... ? Same with a shadowrunner: you already are
one, all you need to do is figure out how you got there, not if.

> In other words, the onus of explaining
> why a character is on a shadowrunner team lies on the player of said
> character.

This is something most players don't realize, if you ask me. I long ago
observed that if I introduced a new NPC shadowrunner into the group, the
character wouldn't get half the trust a new PC runner would under the
exact same circumstances. The players wouldn't ask their opinion unless
they had to, pay them their share of a run with more reluctance than a
PC, and so on.

> "I just realized this guy would never willingly work with this
> group."

I foresee a similar problem with a new player who'll join my group in a
few sessions. He just today sent me a physad character who should really
get the Pacifist flaw -- he uses stun attacks to knock people out, not
kill them. Fine in itself (up to a certain degree -- he's a
shadowrunner, after all) but the problem I see is that the rest of the
group keeps running total of the number of opponents they've killed.
Which comes to something like 60+ in three and a half runs so far ...

--
Gurth@******.nl - Stone Age: http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
Van e-mail bakt men cyberbrood.
-> Former NAGEE Editor & ShadowRN GridSec * Triangle Virtuoso <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Site: http://plastic.dumpshock.com <-

GC3.12: GAT/! d- s:- !a>? C++(---) UB+ P(+) L++ E W++(--) N o? K w-- O
M+ PS+ PE@ Y PGP- t- 5++ X(+) R+++$ tv+(++) b++@ DI- D G+ e h! !r y?
Incubated into the First Church of the Sqooshy Ball, 21-05-1998
Message no. 22
From: ClassifiedTSBBR@*****.net.nz (Classified TS/BBR)
Subject: So why would anyone become a shadowrunner, anyway?
Date: Sat, 18 Nov 2006 01:18:58 +1300
----- Original Message -----
From: "Gurth" <gurth@******.nl>
To: "Shadowrun Discussion" <shadowrn@*****.dumpshock.com>
Sent: Friday, November 17, 2006 11:37 PM
Subject: Re: So why would anyone become a shadowrunner, anyway?


> According to Ice Heart, on 16-11-06 21:08 the word on the street was...
<snip>
>> In other words, the onus of explaining
>> why a character is on a shadowrunner team lies on the player of said
>> character.
>
> This is something most players don't realize, if you ask me. I long ago
> observed that if I introduced a new NPC shadowrunner into the group, the
> character wouldn't get half the trust a new PC runner would under the
> exact same circumstances. The players wouldn't ask their opinion unless
> they had to, pay them their share of a run with more reluctance than a PC,
> and so on.
<snip>

Interesting. As Derek Hyde can attest I play it the other way around (When I
was in one of his games I got gapped 'cos I didn't trust the newly added
players... including the assistant GM [or whatever Magen was...])...
Message no. 23
From: derek@***************.com (Derek Hyde)
Subject: So why would anyone become a shadowrunner, anyway?
Date: Fri, 17 Nov 2006 08:43:21 -0600
> <snip>
>
> Interesting. As Derek Hyde can attest I play it the other way around (When I
> was in one of his games I got gapped 'cos I didn't trust the newly added
> players... including the assistant GM [or whatever Magen was...])...
>
>
>
*thinks* naah, the game collapsed before you got killed....though, t'was
close.....the character whom yours had offended had freshly cast control
actions on you with enough successes to make you into a marionette when the
loup garou's were coming out of that temple to finish what they'd been sent
to do.

But he is right, most of the time, in my games, that does end up happening
because I don't want players to make characters to suit roles in the team, I
want them to make characters they'll enjoy working together, and then I have
them all working for a knight-errant-like company who just assigns teams to
work together on jobs, which, ends up being a very good explanation as to
why two people with vastly different logics are working together (just as
they very well could be in reality)
Message no. 24
From: zebulingod@*****.com (Zebulin M)
Subject: So why would anyone become a shadowrunner, anyway?
Date: Fri, 17 Nov 2006 09:24:15 -0800
On 11/16/06, Bira <u.alberton@*****.com> wrote:
>
> Truth is, shadowrunners are extremely unrealistic and probably
> wouldn't exist if they didn't make up the whole premise of the game.
>
> People who aren't "stable" enough for the mob (what's less stable than
> a sadistic legbreaker?) probably /are/ gang material. If they don't
> even make that cut, they're snitches, petty thieves, muggers, and a
> variety of other street trash.
>
> The game tries to fit shadowrunners somewhere in the middle, and it
> does give the idea that not everyone can become a shadowrunner -
> they're usually more skilled than the average person, and have some
> compelling reason for not joining any crime syndicate or other
> organization. If you accept this, it turns out that shadowrunning pays
> pitifully little.
>
> This happens solely because of "game balance" reasons, and doesn't
> actually make much sense in-game. What would you think of a heist
> movie where a team of specialists for whom a corporate hit squad is
> "light opposition" gets hired to steal some secret, unique prototype
> from a state-of-the-art fortress... and gets paid a total of 10,000
> yen to do so?


I don't agree that Shadowrunners are unrealistic. After all, look at all the
movies and books and whatnot who's main focus are "secret agents". Better
yet, the ones where a company keeps certain people around to ensure things
are "taken care of" such as the security goons in that lawyer book (the name
escapes me at the moment, but the actor was in top gun, and days of
thunder... gah!).

Anyway, I could see a team of people working outside the law to get things
done, but generally, I'd see them working for governments rather than
corporations, and that mostly because corporations aren't really that high
on the power list as they are in the game.

Zebulin
Message no. 25
From: read.nate@*****.com (Nate Read)
Subject: So why would anyone become a shadowrunner, anyway?
Date: Fri, 17 Nov 2006 13:12:48 -0500
>
>
>
> I don't agree that Shadowrunners are unrealistic. After all, look at all
> the
> movies and books and whatnot who's main focus are "secret agents". Better
> yet, the ones where a company keeps certain people around to ensure things
> are "taken care of" such as the security goons in that lawyer book (the
> name
> escapes me at the moment, but the actor was in top gun, and days of
> thunder... gah!).
>
>
>
> Zebulin



I believe you're thinking of "The Firm". The actor is Tom Cruise.
Message no. 26
From: zebulingod@*****.com (Zebulin M)
Subject: So why would anyone become a shadowrunner, anyway?
Date: Fri, 17 Nov 2006 10:23:16 -0800
On 11/17/06, Nate Read <read.nate@*****.com> wrote:
>
> >
> I believe you're thinking of "The Firm". The actor is Tom Cruise.
>


Yeah, that's it! I knew his name was Tom something and he believed in
aliens... *sigh*

Zebulin
Message no. 27
From: lrdslvrhnd@*****.com (Kevin McB)
Subject: So why would anyone become a shadowrunner, anyway?
Date: Fri, 17 Nov 2006 18:18:01 -0500
On 11/16/06, pentaj2@********.edu <pentaj2@********.edu> wrote:
>
>
>
> Why would *anybody* become a shadowrunner, actually?
>


Maybe you need a lot of cash in a hurry; reasons could range from sick (or
possiblly 'sic' *g*) granny who needs an operation to being blackmailed for
whatever. And hey, aren't you lucky, you just overheard a couple of
chummers at the bar saying how this big pay-off would be a lot easier if
they just had *insert your character's special talent* to help them out.
They only call it cliche because everybody uses it, and everybody only uses
it 'cause it works *g*

Then there's the accident method, he didn't set out to become one, he just
did after a series of events, as others have suggested.

My first SR character, I just used the PI archetype to see if I liked the
game, with just the briefest of histories (I think, just name and age LOL),
before going to the effort of creating my own; during the course of an
investigation into some stolen data, he had to kill somebody in self
defense, who turned out to be the nephew of some local bigwig who didn't buy
the 'in self defense' ploy and set him up to be killed, and he ended up
working with the same 'runners he'd been originally hired to find in the
first place, helping them out until he could clear his name.

The first one I created, who became my favorite and most-played, became a
'runner by accident as well; he saw a group of thugs ganging up on somebody
on the subway, and helped the guy out; the guy turned out to be a 'runner on
the way to a meet and liked my character's style, and invited him along
because they were short on magical support. "Hey, some friends and I were
just hired to rescue a kidnapped girl, and could use the help... we could
really use your help." Some adrenaline rushes later (bullets whizzing by
the ear really make ya feel *alive*, doncha know), there's the gooshy
feeling of rescuing a little girl, followed by the "Holy drek, my share is
*how* much?! Hmm, need help with anything else?" It really didn't take too
long for him to go from pacifist ("It's a lot easier on ME to stun somebody
than to fry him, and gets 'em out of the way just as effectively as
killing...") to semi-pacifist ("We can always kill them later if need
be...") to pragmatist ("Look, you get them out of the way before slicing
their throats so we're not tripping over them on the way back out, and I
won't look over my shoulder to find out exactly what you're doing to the
stunned guards...") to taking out a ganger who knocked his burger out of his
hands by shoving a stun baton into the ganger's crotch... ("Hey, I was
*hungry*... and it's not like I killed him...")

And the great thing about this is, you can either RP it out (if the other
'runners in the party - and the people playing them - are appropriate fits)
or just have that be in the backstory and now you're about to be hired for
your first real 'run...

As others have said, once you start on the slippery slope, it's a lot easier
to keep sliding than to get off it.
Message no. 28
From: u.alberton@*****.com (Bira)
Subject: So why would anyone become a shadowrunner, anyway?
Date: Sun, 19 Nov 2006 13:48:44 -0200
On 11/17/06, Zebulin M <zebulingod@*****.com> wrote:
> I don't agree that Shadowrunners are unrealistic. After all, look at all the
> movies and books and whatnot who's main focus are "secret agents". Better
> yet, the ones where a company keeps certain people around to ensure things
> are "taken care of" such as the security goons in that lawyer book (the
name
> escapes me at the moment, but the actor was in top gun, and days of
> thunder... gah!)

As you said it yourself, they're /agents/, rather than freelance
adventurers. They're full members of whatever government or
organization they work for. If by any chance these movies feature
mercenaries or freelance spies, they're certainly being paid way more
than what a shadowrunner is supposed to get.

--
Bira
http://compexplicita.blogspot.com
http://sinfoniaferida.blogspot.com
Message no. 29
From: toast.in.the.machine@*****.com (Mark)
Subject: So why would anyone become a shadowrunner, anyway?
Date: Tue, 21 Nov 2006 09:39:44 -0800
On 11/16/06, pentaj2@********.edu <pentaj2@********.edu> wrote:
> I can't see this character going dirty. So the way I figured it, his
> SWAT unit got nailed in an audit because the commander, who was
> basically my character's mentor, was bending the funding rules. Not
> embezzlement, just not following every subclause of the budgeting
> regulations. Everybody does it, normally it's a slap on the wrist, but
> this Lt had made an enemy out of a junior exec type; bit of a
> maverick, see.

I've always found that it helps to watch a couple of action movies
when it's time to put together a character concept.

In this case, there's always the option of making the Lt's enemy your
enemy. He's got a lot more resources than you, you need some way of
paying the bills and maybe hiring some competent hackers, and maybe
you could find something on him if you could just get access again to
the KE database. He'd have to do more than just cut your department's
funding to be a good enemy though. Of course, the only hackers you'd
probably know either still work for KE or you busted yourself.

Mark
Message no. 30
From: toast.in.the.machine@*****.com (Mark)
Subject: So why would anyone become a shadowrunner, anyway?
Date: Tue, 21 Nov 2006 09:46:12 -0800
On 11/17/06, Classified TS/BBR <ClassifiedTSBBR@*****.net.nz> wrote:
> Interesting. As Derek Hyde can attest I play it the other way around (When I
> was in one of his games I got gapped 'cos I didn't trust the newly added
> players... including the assistant GM [or whatever Magen was...])...

Heh, I'm in it now and it's hard to trust the rest of the team even
though our backgrounds all involve being long term employees of the
same organization. If my char lives he's probably submitting his
resignation and I'll see if Derek has room for me with a character
with less ethics and professionalism. :D

Mark
Message no. 31
From: snicker@*********.net (snicker@*********.net)
Subject: So why would anyone become a shadowrunner, anyway?
Date: Tue, 21 Nov 2006 22:02:21 +0000
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bira [mailto:u.alberton@*****.com]
> Sent: Friday, November 17, 2006 02:22 AM
> To: 'Shadowrun Discussion'
> Subject: Re: So why would anyone become a shadowrunner, anyway?
>
> Truth is, shadowrunners are extremely unrealistic and probably
> wouldn't exist if they didn't make up the whole premise of the game.

I disagree. There are many modern examples of Shadowrunners in reality and pop culture:

Knightrider, The A-Team, Charlie's Angels, the Avengers - anywhere you find people
operating "above the law" you'll find Shadowrunners.
Sci-fi examples: Ice Pirates, Han Solo, Firefly
Two current examples: Dog the Bounty Hunter and the Blackwater Mercenaries.

I generally look at Shadowrunners as people who work outside the law - but they can still
be moral about it. Wherever there is a society with laws, there will always be varying
degrees of lawbreakers.

Snicker
Message no. 32
From: u.alberton@*****.com (Bira)
Subject: So why would anyone become a shadowrunner, anyway?
Date: Tue, 21 Nov 2006 22:03:11 -0200
On 11/21/06, snicker@*********.net <snicker@*********.net> wrote:
>
> Knightrider, The A-Team, Charlie's Angels, the Avengers - anywhere you find people
operating "above the law" you'll find Shadowrunners.
> Sci-fi examples: Ice Pirates, Han Solo, Firefly

None of these are the least bit realistic - they're very good
characters, from very fun shows, but not realistic.

> Two current examples: Dog the Bounty Hunter and the Blackwater Mercenaries.

Bounty hunters are not quite shadowrunners, since they're technically
within the law, and mercenaries operate on a very different scale,
which makes them possible.

I'm not saying shadowrunners /should/ be realistic. There's no real
way to do that, since if you made them work in a realistic manner
you'd end up with either bounty hunters, private eyes or mercenaries.

Shadowrunners are not realistic, which means players shouldn't make up
strictly realistic people who become shadowrunners for strictly
realistic reasons. They should make up action movie characters who
become runners for action-movie reasons :).

--
Bira
http://compexplicita.blogspot.com
http://sinfoniaferida.blogspot.com
Message no. 33
From: caliber@**********.co.uk (Caliber)
Subject: So why would anyone become a shadowrunner, anyway?
Date: Mon, 27 Nov 2006 14:32:50 +0100
On 11/16/06, pentaj2@********.edu wrote:

> I pause here and ask: Does this make sense?
>
> My character, unfortunately...He's 30. He's the new kid, only been on
> the unit about a year or two, maybe 3 years, tops. Everybody else has
> influence they can use to pull themselves to another job in KE; He has
> none. No enemies, but no friends besides those he served with, really.
> So he's the victim of attrition during a cutback in 2070.
>
> OK, so he's jobless. Separated on good terms, but still.
>
> But, still. Why would he become a shadowrunner? (I know, maybe it
> means I should go with another character concept, but...Eh, I dunno.
> Something in me feels stubborn.)
>
> Why would *anybody* become a shadowrunner, actually?
>

Good characters fit nicely within *my* SR universe.. How dirty it is
depends on what you compare it to.

Twist the story a little. Departing with a megacorp on good terms
isn't very usual in my book, there's always a place for you in the
organization if they have a use for you.

How about this:

True: The commander was an okay fella, he *did* just bend the rules a
little, but he got ousted.

But someone in the middle management network flagged you as "tainted"
in some semi-official HR database, and you only get the shitty tasks
from now on. With time this leads to weird questions about questional
behavior you don't know anything about, and maybe someone rotten
management guy asks you to do something that isn't strictly in the
company handbook.. you get fed up.

Disillusioned and strapped for pay (yeah, you didn't get a lot of
raises), gets you to seek out other opportunities in shadier parts of
town, and some of them are even more honest that what you did for the
corp.

Further Reading

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Disclaimer

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Thwap!