From:	brett@***.orst.edu (Brett Barksdale)
Subject:	Re: Killing in Shadowrun...
Date:	Thu, 23 May 96 13:54:27 PDT

>Any Johnson that'll go to a meet without his own astral security is insane.
>You think the corp will let you stand an ally spirit or a horde of
>elementals around their man for even a second? That's as good as having a
>gun drawn and pointed at him. Not conducive to a working relationship.

I like your postings a lot, TC. They tend to be interesting and full
of useful ideas for my game. But you do have a tendency to think in
absolutes.

"Any Johnson that'll go to a meet...."

"Any shadowrunner is a shadowrunner because they *have* to. No
one would choose it willingly."

I think ya gotta be a bit more flexible with these things. :-)

For example, why would any Johnson that'll go to a meet without his
own astral security insane? You can't envision all sorts of Johnsons
out there? Even in your world, there have got to be more than just
the archetypical bigtime company-man Johnson w/ Negotation 6 and
Psychology 8 and with the full protection of the corp at all times.

What's wrong with sending a patsy out there with only enough information
to conduct the negotations with the runners? If he dies, so what? The
corp's got lotsa guys to replace him. I mean, I'm not sure that, in
general, you'd want to send a guy *worth* full astral backup out
as your Mr. Johnson. With the tech of 2057, there are very simple
ways to have a expendible employee handle the "point" while the real
brains behind the deal relay information to him or have given him
a complete file to give the runners. Granted, there will be times where
they would want their best man doing a face-to-face with a group,
but I can't see it happening *all* the time.

And regarding your statement (that came from a different posting
of yours) that no would ever be a shadowrunner willingly. That's
nonsense. How about your basic thrillseeker archetype? Not all
character concepts are based on cold, hard rational decisions,
you know... :-)

- Brett