The functional difference between terrorism and shadowrunners / agents of espionage / soldiers / freedom fighters is actually singular. Forget how well equipped they are; forget what cause (or lack thereof) they have. Forget who they are, what they are, where they are, and why they are.
Look at their intentional targets.
Look at the place that got firebombed. Was it a military base? Probably not a terrorist. Was it a pub that off-duty Paras frequent, but that of course serves other ordinary Irishmen too? Sounds like a terrorist. Who are the corpses in the street? If it's a running gun battle with security forces and the one or two dead U
2Cs were between (or behind) the sec force and the team, then the team is probably shadowrunners. If, on the other hand, there are grenades going off and cars getting blown up and an entire clip of Uzi IV ammo raking the pedestrians on the sidewalk, well, those shadowrunners are well on their way to getting defined as terrorists.
This, of course, is my main issue with loud shadowrunners, though not necessarily loud 'runs. If the Johnson is paying for something loud, fine -- take it and do it, or walk away and look for it in the news, but it's what the Johnson is paying for, so loud it's gonna be. If the Johnson is NOT paying for loud and flashy, then part of the cash he's giving you is for quiet and subtle, because no Johnson wants the rest of the corporate world to know that someone's been after the new MCT Hachiman-series specs before he even gets the paydata. Get in, get out, stay quiet; the best 'run is one which only your team, your Johnson, and your Fixer (and her only if absolutely necessary) know anything has happened at all.
- Shadowrunners break into the lab, steal the virus data, and incinerate all samples of it. Terrorists release the virus and cause a 30-block VITAS II outbreak, slaying dozens of innocents.
- Shadowrunners blow up the building the policlub HQ is in at 3 AM after KOing the building janitor and taking him to safety. Terrorists blow the building up at 3 PM, while the policlub offices, and all the other offices as well, are full of people.
- Shadowrunners assassinate the soldiers by stealth and long-range sniping, taking them down one by one or two by two and vanishing after each hit or set of hits. Terrorists remote-pilot a car loaded with a fertilizer bomb in through the soldier's favorite bar and detonate it.
Also, terrorists tend to make a claim to having done it; they WANT Public Awareness to grow for themselves and their cause. Hell, they'll call the paper and tell them it's about to happen. In my opinion, the very best shadowrunners want their PA to be in the negative digits, if at all possible. You want to be Michael Madsen's character in the original
Species -- where the other team members are saying, 'I'm sorry, who are you?? Never heard of you.' Because that's the way you want it to be. Fixers know, other 'runners know, the local
consiglieri and
wakagashira, and maybe a few do-Johnsoning-for-a-living Mr. Johnsons and that one cop in every precinct who knows every flippin' thing that goes on on
his streets. But you should strive to keep it shifting back and forth between 3 and 2, and IMO there should be a way to burn Street Cred to reduce Public Awareness directly, because sometimes you get PA separate from karma, Street Cred, and Notoriety ...
