[Warwraith]

I'm a veteran of Shadowrun editions 1 & 2, haven't played in years (about a month after 3rd ed came out) so I'm really unfamiliar with technomancers. Reading the book makes it sound like finding out someone was a technomancer is just about the worst thing they could be.  My question is generally how freaked out would the typical 'runner be if they found out a member of their team was a technomancer?

[Lickintoad]

Depends on the group.  If the group is a close-knit group of friends, then it may cause some concern, but they'd probably eventually get over it.  The problems might simply be an issue of trust ("You didn't tell us!") to outright hatred ("VKs are a blight upon metahumanity!").  A more mercenary team could get through it fairly easily.  The technomancer helps them make money, and so s/he might be worth the risk.  Have a guy like Clockwork in your group, though, and it could fall apart.

I've been playing a technomancer for years now, and she's never admitted to any of her teammates that she's a VK.  The shaman knows something's weird with her aura, and her fixer boyfriend actually knows.  But the team itself doesn't.  They're about to find out, if only because I can't justify buying a deck to keep up the illusion.  I have been wanting to do this reveal for a while now, though.  Should be fun.

[Reaver]

Agreed, it varies by group.

Most of the hysterics over TMs is the same as it was over the return of magic... but their was a genuine concern over TMs and matrix security as they seemed to be able to crack into anything hooked up to the matrix rather easily.

At my table one TM suffered from terminal lead poisoning when the group found out they were a TM.

In an other game,  they were fine with it....

So YMMV....Talk to your players...

[Lysanderz]

I've seen everything from "Great! Now unlock that door, we've got shit to steal."

to "I roll my quickdraw to put a bullet in him"

So it really does depend on the group and how they function. Some don't mind, others don't care. All but a couple of my characters wouldn't care if you ate children, so long as you did it on your own time (Far far away from them) and continued to get them paying work.

[Prodigy]

I imagine most groups wouldn't care as long as they all made money. Take modern crime syndicates. A team hijacking a truck or looting a house don't care what the background of the crew is. Read up on Richard Kuklinski to see what I am talking about. (He was a hitman, but did all sorts of other stuff)

Now, this may seem to get tricky with magic or what amounts to techno magic, but analyze this: Most shadowrunners KNOW the value of a good Mage or decker. They have either lived it, heard it, or seen it. We are talking shadowrunners here, not gang bangers. So why NOT a techno Mage. Any edge is worth it. (well, almost any...)

[RHat]

The thing people forget:  Emergence was 5 years ago at this point.  Technomancers aren't new, and the average runner should be aware that much of what they've heard about technomancers is bullshit.

And as for the whole "quick draw and put a bullet in them" response...  I'd personally call bullshit if the character didn't have Prejudiced (Violent, Technomancers).

[Namikaze]

If one of your characters is aware of the ongoing active bounty on Technomancers posted by MCT and a few other places, they might be willing to ditch the run in favor of the payday of turning in a squadmate.  Easier said than done in many situations though.

[Reaver]

If one of your characters is aware of the ongoing active bounty on Technomancers posted by MCT and a few other places, they might be willing to ditch the run in favor of the payday of turning in a squadmate.  Easier said than done in many situations though.

Not that hard really....

"Hey buddy have a beer!"
"Have another! "
"Have another! "
"Have another! "
"Have a tranquilizer patch! "
"And another! "



"Hello MCT? Yea, got an other one for you...."



<did I mention my middle name is "bastard"?>

[RHat]

If one of your characters is aware of the ongoing active bounty on Technomancers posted by MCT and a few other places, they might be willing to ditch the run in favor of the payday of turning in a squadmate.  Easier said than done in many situations though.

Only the more sociopathic runners, really.  EVERYONE, runner or no, knows what MCT does to technomancers, and I don't really figure most runners for being too excited to stab teammates in the back; every single runner, at various times, has to place their trust in other members of their team.  Start turning members of that team in for bounties just because of the pay day, and you start to break apart the basic underpinnings of how a runner team can even work.

[Reaver]

If one of your characters is aware of the ongoing active bounty on Technomancers posted by MCT and a few other places, they might be willing to ditch the run in favor of the payday of turning in a squadmate.  Easier said than done in many situations though.

Only the more sociopathic runners, really.  EVERYONE, runner or no, knows what MCT does to technomancers, and I don't really figure most runners for being too excited to stab teammates in the back; every single runner, at various times, has to place their trust in other members of their team.  Start turning members of that team in for bounties just because of the pay day, and you start to break apart the basic underpinnings of how a runner team can even work.

good point, and very true.

but then again, Runners do commit arson, murder, abduction, and a host of other evils for a payday already.....

at the very least, they will start to get a negative rep VERY fast if word ever gets out that they are turning over teammates..... and once you violate that trust, well.... there are worse things then what MCT does to technos... and you are probably going to find out what I mean, right quick!

[Medicineman]

to "I roll my quickdraw to put a bullet in him"

Just like RHat I would call that Bullshit too !
I could understand a fear of Ghouls and other HHMMVV carrier and a violent reaction towards them but not to TMs.
They're really a victim of bad press and the scapegoat of Crash 2.0.
Well on the other Hand. If they're Con-Born (and got BP for the neg.Qual.) thats something every Runner should fear,loathe & hate . But not being a TM

He who Dances with TMs
Medicineman

[Reaver]

remember guys, what "we" know and what the "characters" know are two different things entirely.

Heck even today there are a host of idiots out there that still believe in some amazingly stupid things.

"Elvis is Alive!!"
"Elvis was taken by aliens"
"Vaccinations cause Autism"
"the World is Flat!!"
"the illuminati are real!"
"The world is controlled by 12 people!"
"Aliens are abducting Cows!"
"aliens built all the ancient structures of the world!"

Should I go on? Heck, those are only the tip of the real-world crazy iceburg.... so a fictional character in a fictional world is entirely free to believe that technomancers are the Satan spawn of a possessed AI, sent by lucifier to cause global instability by destroying the matrix and thus plunging the world into a second dark age!!... or not.

[RHat]

but then again, Runners do commit arson, murder, abduction, and a host of other evils for a payday already.....

Yes, but you'll notice the problem I highlighted has nothing to do with morality, and everything to do with pragmatism.

Should I go on? Heck, those are only the tip of the real-world crazy iceburg.... so a fictional character in a fictional world is entirely free to believe that technomancers are the Satan spawn of a possessed AI, sent by lucifier to cause global instability by destroying the matrix and thus plunging the world into a second dark age!!... or not.

And that character would have the Predjudiced quality towards technomancers, though it's hard to say what the severity would be exactly.  They'd also be very much an exception - most runners have had plenty of time to sort away at least some of the bullshit.

[Reaver]

but then again, Runners do commit arson, murder, abduction, and a host of other evils for a payday already.....

Yes, but you'll notice the problem I highlighted has nothing to do with morality, and everything to do with pragmatism.

Should I go on? Heck, those are only the tip of the real-world crazy iceburg.... so a fictional character in a fictional world is entirely free to believe that technomancers are the Satan spawn of a possessed AI, sent by lucifier to cause global instability by destroying the matrix and thus plunging the world into a second dark age!!... or not.

And that character would have the Predjudiced quality towards technomancers, though it's hard to say what the severity would be exactly.  They'd also be very much an exception - most runners have had plenty of time to sort away at least some of the bullshit.

Money makes normally rational people stupid very quickly...

And I would hope that most runners have sorted out the truth from the BS... But I have seen too much real world idiocy to have that kind of faith in people

(For example; entire countries cancelling polio vaccinations because "its a USA plot to render a generation sterile" - I kid you not!)

All I am saying is, for the right or wrong if it, players can have their characters believe whatever they want...  and it doesn't mean they have to take a negative quality to justify their character's attitudes (but it does give more legitimacy)

[RHat]

Yes, but again:  Predjudiced exists for a reason.  If a player wants their character to be predjudiced against technomancers, they can.  But it's not exactly going to be the rule.

And runners that are that stupid tend to die before the point that PCs start at - there are some that manage to survive, but again, they're not the rule.