Re: So why would anyone become a shadowrunner, anyway?

On 11/16/06, pentaj2@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 <pentaj2@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 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