Runner's Companion.pdf - Free

Simon Wentworth (order #1132857) 9starting out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6THe ShadowrunnerA shadowrunner can be a lot of things, from a specialist operatorwith military background to Barrens trash trying to work herway out of the hole she was born in. Ask three runners where theycome from and, you’ll get five answers. But, something undeniablysets them apart. It takes a special kind of individual to put her lifeon the line to do other people’s dirty work—someone a cut abovethe average metahuman. A runner lives a dangerous life, and notjust when the bullets are flying. She gets the job done by any meansshe deems necessary, and she gets paid for it. It takes someonewith the right skills, attitude, and a flexible moral compass. Thosewho run the razor’s edge for kicks and fame are probably suicidalor sociopathic.There are almost as many reasons for a person to become ashadowrunner as there are shadowrunners. So what makes a shadowrunner?Where does he come from? Why does he do what hedoes? What kind of background produces such an individual?FaLLING INTO SHADOWThere are many reasons why people become shadowrunners.Most often, it is out of necessity, often due to a sudden event thatcauses a dramatic upheaval, such as a corporate sell-out, a betrayal,or a violent tragedy. Some are victims of circumstance, or casualtiesof the rat race with no other way of cashing in on their talents.Some leave their lives voluntarily, preferring freedom fromthe shackles of mind-numbing corporate drudgery and the emancipationto whatever authority they once acknowledged. Somepeople simply end up in the shadows.To just as many, it’s a means to survival. For others it’s a meansto an end, a step on a longer path to revenge, self-validation, orredemption—seeking in the shadows satisfaction or answers theycannot find in the light.Most do it for the money, the prestige, or both. A rare fewclaim to do it for the adventure and the challenge of the job.When designing a new character, one of the most definingelements should be his background. To one extent or another itshould impact his skillset, his outlook, his knowledge base, hiscontacts, and more often than not his motivations.Fallen from GraceMany shadowrunners start out as legitimate citizens withpromising careers. Something happens, and they find the lives theyhad planned and dreamed slipping between their fingers. They slipthrough the cracks and find themselves in the shadows doing theirbest to survive and thrive in the Sixth World.Such runners, typically, have some skills left over from theirlives that they turn to new purpose, along with contacts in variousgovernment, corporate, or other legitimate society positions.They have either somehow dealt with their SINs or still have themweighing them down. While adapting to life on the other sidecan be hard, such runners are usually served well by their insider’sfamiliarity with the inner workings, prevailing attitudes, trappings,and procedures of the system—be it the megacorporate machine,military complex, government bureaucracy, or a tribal culture.Rising from the GutterFor some, shadowrunning is a step up the food chain. Scionsof the many gangs, organized crime syndicates, and the barrens ofone of the Sixth World’s sprawls, they’ve clawed their way up fromthe streets. These runners have already had it tough and are oftenwilling to do anything to stay out of their former lives.In most cases, they’ve never had SINs or have earned criminalSINs somewhere along the line. What skills they have, they’vepicked up on the streets and in what passes for schools in thelower class inner cities. Many still owe debts of loyalty, gratitude,or money to their former allegiances that enabled them to forgethemselves into what they’ve become.Most maintain strong connections and contacts among underworldand street-types and are intimate with the street-levelrealities of the city and its movers and shakers.Born to the Dark SideBy 2070, a few runners hail from the shadows already. It hasbeen decades since shadowrunners became a fixture of Sixth Worldlife, and there are second- and even third-generation shadowrunnersworking for Mr. Johnson. The families of fixers, street docs,and veteran shadowrunners that have followed in their parents’footsteps tend to know the people their parents knew, movingthrough the shadow society that is their birthright. They learnearly on to make the most of their talents and find their niche inthe urban ecology. They often hone their abilities and skills underthe watchful eye of veteran runners and talented specialists.Such shadowrunners join the extended shadow communityearly on, making contacts and solidifying a reputation. They arebetter connected than most and well-versed in the intricacies ofthe local criminal and corporate scenes.The ROLE OF ShadowRUNNERSThe Sixth World is one of fractured power bases. It is filledwith nations, sovereign corporations, criminal syndicates, powerfulindividuals of myriad origins, and even a few influential streetgangs, magical groups, and other organizations. All of them wantwhat any powerful entity wants: more power.The powerful have a few obstacles in this pursuit, however.With so many vying for power, there are a number of places—geographical, political, or virtual—that lie between these factionsand outside of their bounds. Large entities, such as nations andcorporations, move very slowly and do not have the institutionalnimbleness they need to capitalize on most opportunities.Individuals and small entities, on the other hand, either do nothave the resources or easily become targets when they moveagainst their rivals’ interests.The shadowrunner moves in the figurative shadows betweenthe looming powers that be. She is both a criminal and an agent ofchange. She moves swiftly where corporations and other organizationsonly creep. She has the ability and resources to complete herjob where others do not, and the anonymity to make retaliationfutile against both herself and her employer.In a way, shadowrunners are vital to the economy of the 2070s.They certainly help move money and goods, both as tertiary sectorparticipants and secondary sector clients. As a vehicle for the machinationsof the powers that be, they move resources between different“markets,” which makes them one of the factors preventing the worldfrom devolving into a series of strongholds. Of course, staving off adark age is a poor trade-off for having one of the most dangerousjobs on (and off ) the planet and a severely reduced life-expectancy.Runner’s Companion