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@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Public Access UNIX System - http://sdf.lonestar.org
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