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Vigilantism in the Sixth World... do it exist?

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Nightmaster

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« on: <03-10-17/1110:12> »
The titlle says all.

Do you guys have introduced that idea in your games or have faced such situations in a campaign?

What would be a Vigilante in the shadowrun universe?

Would crime syndicates or even the corporations worrie about such individuals?

What would be the perceived opinion of the general population towards vigilantes? Do they aprove, cry against?

Are they viewed like shadowrunners?

Any imput is apreciated

Beta

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« Reply #1 on: <03-10-17/1126:40> »
I’d say of course there is.  First of all just human nature says you can’t get rid of such things entirely, but more broadly the less people have access to effective law enforcement, the more they are going to take things into their own hand.  I’m pretty sure that in large parts of the barrens, the orc underground, etc., vigilante justice is nearly the only justice.

In my home game I have one case of this.  ‘Iron’ Mike was a detective for Lonestar who was never good at departmental politics.  Early in his career he took down the ‘Carlin Street Killer’ in one of the higher density slums of Puyallup, and felt protective of that region ever after.  When KE won the enforcement contract Iron Mike retired, having managed to set aside a fair slush fund by that point.  He may be retired, but he still works Carlin Street, making sure that the horridness of life there doesn’t get made worse by more aggressive predators.  He’s not a particularly nice guy, and he’s glad not to have to even pretend to follow Lonestar’s code of conduct these days, but he does make a difference in his own way (and the shaman in my game puts in ‘working for the people’ time helping him out these days.)

Mirikon

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« Reply #2 on: <03-10-17/2216:12> »
Depends on the definition. Are you talking about someone picking up a gun, getting a couple buddies, and then proceeding to start knocking off Humanis goons because they put your ork buddy in the hospital? Damn straight, those exist. Guy who loses a loved one in a Yakuza attack, decides to declare war on the Yakuza? Sure, it happens. Someone dressing up in a costume like Batman and Punisher and trying to take on all organized crime? It may happen, but mostly only in trid shows.

See, vigilantes tend to burn out fast. Sometimes they accomplish their goal, and go back to business as usual, except there are new stories about why you don't fuck with Black Dan's family. Sometimes, they bite off more than they can chew, and get themselves dead while they're still small fry. Sometimes, the police catch them, and lock them up. Sometimes, they get bought off, or whoever they were attacking finds a way to make peace. Regardless, they aren't doing this over the long term. Why? Because there's a subtle difference between something being simply business (like when you take a run, even a hooding run, to hit some Yaks in response to a killing), and making something personal (like every Death Wish movie). Outside of trids, people who make it personal, and continue past a limited goal (the guys who shot my sister vs. the entire Shotozumi rengo), get caught if they're lucky, and get dead if they're not.

It is the same as running against the megas. You keep it 'strictly business', do the job you're paid for, and don't cause too much collateral damage, and you may go your entire career without a corporate reprisal team getting sent after you. You start taunting the corp, or leaving trails of bodies, or deliberately try to inflict damage to the bottom line over and above anything Mr. J could possibly have asked for, and you're going to be getting kill squads looking for you.
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Reaver

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« Reply #3 on: <03-11-17/1320:13> »
Yea, pretty much what Mirikon said.

Very few are dressing up as Batman or some other caped crusader, but a large number (I have no doubt) of 'crimes' are vigilantes takes shots at each other....

Where am I going? And why am I in a hand basket ???

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PMárk

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« Reply #4 on: <03-11-17/1603:43> »
Incidentally, I think Red Hood from the bat family is a quite good example of how it could play out in SR.

I also like it "guns instead batarangs" style.
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Mirikon

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« Reply #5 on: <03-11-17/2148:22> »
Honestly? The closest the Sixth World has to a costumed vigilante would be Martin de Vries. The only reason he's able to do what he does, however, is because he's a stinking rich author so he doesn't have to worry about paying bills, and he's a vampire, so food is pretty much everywhere.

Otherwise, the closest you'll get are registered bounty hunters, especially the ones who go after bugs and blood mages. But most of them are in it for the money, not vengeance or anything like that.

If you're looking to play a vigilante type, well, limit your scope. Going after a street gang? Doable. Going after the Seattle Yakuza? You're going to die as soon as someone decides you're too much trouble. People like that are part of the reason why assassins and wetwork teams EXIST. Going after a corp? Forget about it.
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« Reply #6 on: <03-12-17/1258:04> »
There's at least one in canon aside from Marty.
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RowanTheFox

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« Reply #7 on: <03-12-17/1645:49> »
There was Harlequin's god-level act of vigilantism against Ghostwalker.

Kane went up against Aztlan with a literal army of mercenaries to get ONE woman back.

Then there's nearly all of my magic-based characters who are just rolling in karma by taking out blood/toxic mages and their spirits. One of them actually had a contract with the Draco Foundation and had Ehran and Frosty both as contacts. (That was a 4th ed character that never made it to 5th, R.I.P.)
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Dwagonzhan

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« Reply #8 on: <03-12-17/1941:17> »
I was in a game focused directly on a prolonged 1.5 campaign of literal, direct vigilantism against the Seattle Yakuza.
Not "one or two brush fires per month", as in "open warfare in the streets with Lone Star turning a blind eye".

The scenario pitted my runner crew and their tenuous alliance with the Ork Brotherhood, and the then new-to-Seattle Knight-Errant  vs the Yakuza.
In the end, my runner crew prevailed; breaking the Seattle Yakuza's back via an invasion of their major smuggling operation. But victory came at great personal cost.

For the previous 2.5 years, our crew had a deal going on with Lone Star that enabled us to operate a shadow market mostly unimpeded under two conditions:
1) As long as the Star got a cut of the take
2) We would occasionally use our skills and connections to "take out the trash" for the Star in places they didn't want to risk resources. (they would legally take credit for these ops)

That deal of course, evaporated as soon as K-E took the Seattle contract from Lone Star. Which necessitated a move to Denver, and all the horrible crazy drek that went down there...
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The Wyrm Ouroboros

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« Reply #9 on: <03-15-17/2324:03> »
No law enforcement agency/corporation could 'turn a blind eye' to 'open warfare in the streets' for very long without getting hammered by their employers; collateral damage is a thing when it comes down to open warfare in the streets, even if that collateral damage is simply the people's perception that Seattle Is A Safe Place To Live.  (Redmond is another story, but still - out there, the Star doesn't need to turn a blind eye, does it?)

Shadowrun the game is - can be - in a large part a story about people who walk the line between vigilantism and professionalism.  Karma rewards are, in large part, about not only getting the job done, but doing the right thing, or doing the right job in the right way.  "Sometimes those are the same thing," the saying goes, about the choices between shooting people in the face for money and doing the right thing.  Very often, doing the right thing is equal, or nearly so, to vigilantism.

Not that there are people who go out on patrol, necessarily  - and not that there aren't people who go out on patrol.  A good example of a SR-style vigilante would be the Punisher in the10:14-long  Dirty Laundry short film - someone who puts up with the crap for as long as they can, and then gets pushed a hint too far and breaks out the can.

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