20 questions (also from Runner's Companion - it's a decent book)
We are shaped by our heritage. Facial features, skin tone, height,
build, metatype, even aptitudes are influenced by the genes
passed from parent to child. Attitude, too, is taught by parents,
informed by their own lives and their cultural heritage. Where
does your character come from, what is her lineage, who were
her parents, and what did she inherit from them?
Fang Yuan was born Li Po in Manchuria, on the southern side of the river from Shenyang. He was born in one of the last “litter years” before Ork birth rates declined and, subsequently, had five siblings of the same age. It's not surprising then that he grew up in a ghetto downstream from a lot of manufacturing plants. It was this polluted environment which gave him the immune disease known as Implant Rejection Syndrome. It was also this environment which taught him to steal to survive.
Parents can be proud of their children or regret ever bringing
them into the world. Some are loving, and some are indifferent.
All of them are only metahuman and have their own opinions
of their children. Assuming they could speak, what would each
of your character’s parents say about her?
They would be more than a little surprised that he has made anything of himself. They would probably also have some issues with his beliefs, as they were simple people who believed in the local customs of ancestor worship, rather than the philosophy of transcendence taught by Buddhism. The basic conflict would be between duty to the family and duty to the self. His adoptive family of monks knew him well enough to not be surprised by anything.
Many people remember certain historical events for the rest of
their lives. For those alive in the first decade of the 21st cen-
tury, it could be the assassination of John F. Kennedy, or the
Tiananmen Square protests, or the fall of the Berlin Wall, or
the attacks of 11 September 2001. People remember where they
were, and what they were doing when they first heard of these
events. Shadowrun history has significant events as well, such as
the assassination of President Dunkelzahn, the Crash 2.0, and
the emergence of technomancers and artificial intelligences.
Pick a few events from recent Shadowrun history and ask where
the character was at the time, what does he remember about the
event, and what was he doing at the time?
Growing up in Manchuria, Li was sheltered from the majority of these events. It wasn't until after the second Crash that he left the monastery to travel the world. Things like the closing of Yomi Island and the eruption of Mt. Fuji never really pinged his radar. All of these things belonged to the illusory material world.
Very few people choose to become shadowrunners. More
likely, they are thrown into the life by a chaotic and uncar-
ing world. Even if he made a conscious decision to enter the
shadows, his decision is influenced by the world around him.
How did your character get into shadowrunning, and why did
he take that path?
Before he was a monk, Li was a thief. He had to be, or he would have starved. So, once he was ready to leave the monastery, to live among the people and teach, he naturally gravitated back toward the world of crime. He had barely made it into Shenyang before a young child tried to pick his pocket. Noticing this, he followed the boy to where he eventually sat and inspected his take. Thinking that he has stolen coins or something of value, the boy was disappointed to find only a bag full of tokens with symbols on them. Li, by this time, known as Fang Yuan emerged from the shadows, offering the child some of his food and to explain to him the I-Ching tokens he had taken. It was through these early acquaintances that he first got into smuggling, and it was from smuggling that he learned more of how the mega-corporate entities kept the people of the world subjugated and lost to their own spiritual truth. It was far worse than Manchuria's spirit population keeping its people tied to the past and unable to achieve their personal dharma. So, Fang Yuan began to directly involve himself in criminal enterprise against the fascist corporate states so that the people who chose to live outside them would not suffer undue hardships.
People have control over their own living arrangements. From
the child young enough to use crayons and tape all the way up
to the elderly shut-in who plasters her walls with family photos
and cat pictures, everyone makes their living spaces more per-
sonally pleasing. What is your character’s living space like, and
what has he added or changed to make it his own?
Fang Yuan never lives anywhere long enough to make it his own. The whole world is his home and he is constantly relaxed as one is at home.
Everyone has beliefs, and many have beliefs strong enough to
be convictions. Some are religious, some are political, some are
social, and some are just about why people are here. What does
your character believe in, what are her convictions (if any), and
why does she hold them?
Fang Yuan is a Chan Buddhist, which is the Chinese sect of Buddhism which blended its belief with the Tao. In Japan this is called Zen Buddhism. The Chan Buddhist follows a course of non-action. That is not to say that they do not act, it is rather a philosophy of spontaneous action. Part of its core beliefs is that natural, spontaneous action, without effort or forethought is free of karma. There is no retribution or debt for those actions which one takes by instinct. As such, Fang Yuan moves through the world in sync with his unconscious and with the unpretentiousness of a child. The only actions which he thinks about and consciously applies are the actions of his dharma. He teaches, he shares, and he generally keeps to the right intention of ethical conduct. However, like a child, his pure actions, outside of his dharma, are not always nice. When he is cruel or enraged, he is invested with the pure cruelty and rage of a terrible child.
Everyone has aspects of their personality that grate on someone.
Even the best of friends annoy one another from time to time.
The flaws in a person’s character are as important as the qualities.
What do you dislike most about your character’s personality?
His capriciousness often leads him into trouble. He is so uninterested in creating lasting relationships that it is hard not to find him suspicious. That and the fact that he is decked out in a good deal of high-end gear which, in his dismissive way, he explains with "I see things and I pick them up." His odd perspective on things tends to frustrate as well, since he is not a very good speaker.
The Sixth World is considered by many to be spinning out of
control. If anyone could exert control over it, it would be the
“Big Ten” triple-A megacorps. These transnationals exert a lot of
influence on everyday life in the 2070s. Which of the Big Ten
does your character hold in the highest (or least low) regard,
which does he like the least, and why?
The only mega-corp which he had any personal experience with from a citizen's standpoint is Evo, since it is the only one operating in Manchuria. Though, it was Yamatetsu at the time. He knows very little about their or any others secret practices. He dislikes all of them evenly for their treatment of their workers and total disregard for the needs of the human soul.
People make acquaintances and friends; we’re hardwired for it.
Humans are social animals. This is especially true in the shad-
ows, where often it is not the power you have, but the power you
can borrow, and not who you, are but who you know. There’s a
story behind each and every one of these relationships. What is
the story with your character and her contacts?
Fang Yuan doesn't fit anywhere. He is not a part of any group or any cause though he has worked with and for many. He does not hold on to people. They pass through his life as he passes through theirs. He might work on a smuggler's ship for a year and then leave in the middle of the night without thought of how to contact them. This sort of unreliability often enough leaves a sour taste in former acquaintances' mouths. That and paranoia. When one of your crew just disappears, you generally think that something happened to them or something is about to happen to you. the truth is that Fang Yuan will sometimes just move on without any other consideration.
It’s Sunday morning, and your character has no commitments
until tomorrow afternoon. What does she do for the day?
Follow a cat through the streets.
Your character has a specific skill set, a list of Active and
Knowledge skills that define what she knows and her areas of
expertise. How did she come to learn those skills, and how did
she develop them to those levels?
Years of poverty while growing up, years of training at the monastery and years of travel and tribulation walking the Earth.
Everyone has their limits. People can be dark, but most people’s
instinct is to draw the line at certain actions and thoughts, and
they keep to their own moral convictions. Is there a moral limit
that your character enforces on the jobs she takes, and in what
shadow work would she refuse to engage?
Fang Yuan would not refuse to take any task, though he may not complete the task as asked. Rather than refusing, he would simply fail. To be useless to evil is to be useful to oneself.
If you have an Awakened or technomancer character, consider
your character’s tradition and streams. Even within the major
established magical traditions and the recently emerged techno-
mantic streams, there is room for personalization. Ask yourself
what drew her to that particular paradigm, how does it effect
the way she views the world and her magic, how does it translate
into choice of mentor spirit or paragon, and how does it affect
the appearance of the spirits or sprites you conjure or compile?
Fang Yuan was a Buddhist before he was born. He was always a Buddhist. Before he walked 100 miles up the river to Changchun and found the monastery at age 6, he was a Buddhist. Before, at 8, he awoke to the fact that he could see the spirits in their world, he was a Buddhist. Before he heard the teachings, he knew them. Before he began his training, he felt it. In his rags, in his robes, in his sleep, he is always himself and in peace. That is what and who he is. It is more than costume or dogma.
While acceptance and bias vary from place to place, augmenta-
tions—be they bio-, cyber-, gene-, or nanoware—are increasingly
common and available in the Sixth World. However, personal
technological enhancement is rarely cheap, and many implants
that runners possess are restricted. How did your character
come to have the enhancements she has, how were they paid
for, and what motivated the choices she made (if she did make
the choices)?
Fang Yuan has three possessions which would fit this role. First is a simple silk ribbon wound about his wrist. It was once used to bind together an ancient copy of the Diamond Sutra, the oldest known printed work. It was enchanted for him and given as a parting gift from the monks of his order as he left to go into the world to teach the path. The significance is that the Diamond Sutra is a teaching which posits that the greatest of all possible works is to truly open another mind to the illusory nature of the world as it is from this understanding that suffering is defeated. The second and third are the same. They are both a triple set of beads embedded under the skin of his forearms. The ribbon is his Power Focus. The glass beads are his Sustaining Foci.
Life as a shadowrunner is by definition outside the bounds of
“normal” life. Shadowrunners do not truly fit into the lives of
ordinary people, whether they live in slums or mansions. What
does your character think of ordinary life, mainstream culture,
and those who abide by it?
They are prisoners. Damien Knight is just as much as prisoner as a homeless man trod upon for sport.
Everyone has nightmares. Sometimes, we forget the dream
completely on waking. Sometimes, the nightmare haunts us or
even recurs. If your character had a lingering nightmare or a
deep-rooted fear, what would it be, and why does he find it so
terrifying?
He sometimes has a nightmare where he is moving down a corridor to a room. He enters the room and finds two things inside, a bell jar and an Old Man. The Old Man is first a stranger, then his teacher, then his father, then himself. He is all these people and more.
He asks, "What do you think you are doing here?"
Fang Yuan responds, "Think?"
"Is this where the path has led you?" the old man asks. "Back here?"
Fang Yuan responds, "I was never here."
"So then you are still with the Universal?"
Fang Yuan responds, "Perhaps."
"But you are also here. Why?"
Fang Yuan responds, "Am I?"
"You are in a dialogue. Maya is a dialogue. You are in Maya."
Fang Yuan responds, "That is both false and true."
"Good." the Old Man nods. "Why are you here in this false and true world?"
Fang Yuan responds, "To find my way back. We always come here to find our way back."
"Is that all?" the old man asks raising an eyebrow. "So enamored with Nirvana? Then why are you here? You left the Universal Mind. Do you even know why? You knew far more then, when you chose to leave, and you did choose to leave. Why?"
By this point the old mans aspect had changed. No longer just strange, it was growing terrible in that sort of way only dreams can express. He flicked the bell jar three times, and three flies appeared inside as if transported by his fingernail through the glass.
Fang Yuan responds, "I never left."
"That is both true and false," the Old Man sneers.
The buzzing in the jar gets louder as the flies inside multiply. Meanwhile the Old Man's presence has become revolting and is making Fang Yuan feel ill just by his presence.
"You never left, and yet you're here to find your way back?" The Old Man laughed derisively. "Well, here it is. Your way back to the Universal Mind. Just lift the jar."
Fang Yuan moves forward impassively and lifts the jar. Black flies pour out like a waterfall covering everything with darkness.
People tend to attach sentimental value to items in their pos-
session or people they are close to. They make an effort to
keep these close by and safe. What is your character’s “sacred
object” or “close one,” and how did they come to be so impor-
tant to him?
Even his most treasured possession is one he would give up willingly.
One of metahumanity’s greatest assets is its ability to look to-
ward the future and imagine a better life. Even small children
have dreams about what they want to be when they grow up.
What did your character want to become when he was a child,
and what are his goals now?
When he was a child he wanted to fill his stomach. Now he wants to fill his soul.
A person’s appearance can say volumes about him. From fashion
sense, to the colors he prefers, to the way he walks and speaks.
Sometimes, his personality determines his appearance, and,
sometimes, the appearance he chooses to present the world ef-
fects his personality. What does your character look like, and
what inspired his choices?
Fan Yuan is 28, which is pretty old for an Ork. He keeps his head shaved and wears a digital monocle over his left eye. He doesn't ascribe to costume though. He wears what's around. A gray ballcap. Brown hoodie. Green cargo pants. Sneakers.
Everyone has a name, but a runner’s street name is a represen-
tation of his connection to the shadows. Sometimes runners
choose their own moniker, but more often it is given to them as
a nickname or earned through some (mis)adventure. How did
your character come to be known by his street name?
He was ordained as Fang Yuan when he officially joined the monastic order. His name means square circle. He lives up to it daily.
