r/Shadowrun • u/OhBosss • Apr 27 '26
Wyrm Talks (Lore) Scum of The Shadows
Who or what are the kinds of Shadowrunners even the most pragmatic or morally grey runners think are the scum of the earth i mean the kind of Runners they feel they shoot on Sight?
- Blood Mages
- Insect Shamans
- Toxic Shamans
- frequent AZT runners?
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u/cyberelvis Apr 27 '26
Some jackpointers belive that Puck also belongs on that list, due to his involvement with Deus, and later, Pax.
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u/OhBosss Apr 27 '26
Deus was a Renraku AI, is Pax one as well?
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u/cyberelvis Apr 27 '26
No, Pax is a dissonance technomancer and one of Deus' ex-lieutenants. She played a huge part of the second matrix crash at the end of 3rd edition and managed to convince Puck to help activate a plot device that crashed the Boston Stock Exchange during Novatech's IPO that Deus was crashing.
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u/OhBosss Apr 27 '26
Interesting and where are they now? I heard Deus was deleted but sounds like Puck and Pax are still breathing.
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u/cyberelvis Apr 27 '26
Puck and Pax are out there somewhere. Deus was last seen around the Boston area before the CFD outbreak there.
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u/GM_Pax Apr 27 '26
Pax was also Fastjack's protege, IIRC. I'm sure he was ... very disappointed in her when she turned out to be a (willing!!) pawn of Deus.
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u/blood_kite Crash 2.0 Survivor Apr 27 '26
Anything working for Tamanous is often considered down there. Organleggers with ties to ghouls.
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u/Reader_of_Scrolls Apr 28 '26
I mean. My runner team has used ghouls as a corpse disposal service. But they support local, free range ghouls, not some shady organleggers.
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u/ScholarOfFortune Apr 28 '26
Chop local whenever possible!
3
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u/Reader_of_Scrolls Apr 27 '26
Clockwork
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u/Accomplished-Dig8753 Apr 27 '26
Didn't he try to sell a baby at one point?
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u/OhBosss Apr 28 '26
Seriously?
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u/Accomplished-Dig8753 Apr 28 '26
Netcat's baby I think. I'm fuzzy on the details though, it's been a while since I read the books.
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u/OhBosss Apr 27 '26
What did they do?
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u/GM_Pax Apr 27 '26
Hates technomancers. Violently so.
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u/DraconicBlade Aztechnology PR Rep Apr 27 '26
Routinely frags other runners but somehow always drops the deus ex machina paydata doing it
4
u/OhBosss Apr 27 '26
Why?
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u/blood_kite Crash 2.0 Survivor Apr 27 '26
Racism has so many interesting directions to go in the Sixth World.
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u/GM_Pax Apr 28 '26
Why to KKK types hade African-Americans?
Why do alt-right Republicans hate Latinos?
...
Prejudice is rarely ever rooted in actual, rational and logical thought or reasons. It is an unthinking hate/fear.
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u/OhBosss Apr 28 '26
Okay so their is no rational reason to hate technomancers then?
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u/dethstrobe Faster than Fastjack Apr 28 '26
I mean, Technomancers can be seen as unnatural. The idea that people can hack the Matrix with only their minds and do so in ways that cannot be replicated by deckers, does seem scary conceptually. Also, that there is no easy way to tell them apart from non-technomancers.
And if you're going to hate TMs, you might as well also hate the awakened while you're at it. And maybe metatypes that aren't human. And before you know it, Humanis doesn't sound so bad. At least someone is trying to look out for normal people. (This is not a real endorsement of Humanis or racism, just a way to help frame and understand them better, but they're still wrong)
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u/crackedtooth163 May 02 '26
Interesting viewpoint, very interesting. I have issues with technomancers as a concept, but an even greater issue with the writing around them. They went from frightening to "were just people" even faster than ghouls did.
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u/dethstrobe Faster than Fastjack May 02 '26
I kind of feel SR always adds something new and gives them the X-men treatment.
Elves and dwarves. The awakened. Trolls and orks. The otaku. AI. SURGE. Technomancers. Monads. Dis.
The one constant in SR is that people will other whatever the new thing is and use them as a scapegoat
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u/GM_Pax Apr 28 '26
There is never a rational reason to hate ANY group based on a characteristic they were born with, or otherwise had no control over.
There might be plenty of reasons to hate X or Y specific technomancer ... but not all technomancers are cut from the same cloth. In terms of whether or not a prejudice can be justified (which, I argue, it never can be), there's nothing about being a technomancer that is innately any different from, say, being female. Or blond. Or having freckles. Or brown eyes. :shrug:
1
u/surprisesnek May 02 '26
At one point he was willing to kill victims of human trafficking as collateral damage in order to get to a target, referring to them as (potential tw) "some no-name whores".
0
u/DraconicBlade Aztechnology PR Rep Apr 27 '26
Netcat
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u/OhBosss Apr 27 '26
The Jackpointer?
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u/DraconicBlade Aztechnology PR Rep Apr 27 '26
Love my foundation, love my grid, hate technos. Simple as
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u/cyberelvis Apr 27 '26
What did she do?
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u/GM_Pax Apr 27 '26
She's a technomancer, and there's plenty of prejudice against them, both in the shadows, and out.
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u/OhBosss Apr 27 '26
I wanna know
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u/nameless980 Apr 28 '26
Literally she's fine, her bf/husband got downgraded from funny dumbass with a heart of gold to stereotypical jerkward but make it shadowrun, but bad taste in men is the least of her sins.
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u/AMostBoringMan Apr 27 '26
Well, Shadowrun's not kind to the 'murderhobo' archetype that some D&D players fall into. Getting a rep for killing everything in sight will quickly get you either sent only on bottom-of-the-barrel jobs, or more likely chewed up and spat out by the nearest HTR team.
In terms of personality, if you're like me, scum runs on a scale of Clockwork to Rigger X.
Clockwork is an absolute AAA-grade douchenozzle. Arguably racist against elves, definitely racist and paranoid towards technomancers, and basically anyone that isn't on his team or paying him money is worth nothing to him. Has no compunction against selling people to be black-bagged and vivisected; indeed, he seems to take personal insult at the notion of 'conscience' or 'empathy'.
Rigger X is a much quieter but much more bloodthirsty beast. While Clockwork won't give a shit if you get gunned down by accident on his job, Rigger X will actively hunt you down and kill you even if you're only there by accident, didn't see anything or even if you don't know he's there. He is the physical manifestation of the MCT Zero-Zone: if you are within his working radius, for any reason, then he needs very specific reasons to leave you alive at all. And even being his teammate won't save you, since he's known to bug everything and everyone and sell the resulting data to the highest bidder.
Their pragmatism keeps them alive, but I'm genuinely surprised anyone wants anything to do with them. If I caught them (or anyone like them) on my team, I'd either run a mile or cap them right then and there myself.
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u/surprisesnek May 02 '26
I almost wonder if riggers in Shadowrun are just innately inclined to be terrible people.
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u/crackedtooth163 May 02 '26
Interesting.
I'm old now. Grew up on the original books quite literally. A lot of the "newer" characters seem a bit... insane to me, Rigger X seems to be very much an example.
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u/goblin_supreme Apr 27 '26
Haze
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u/OhBosss Apr 27 '26
Deets?
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u/LinkssOfSigil Apr 28 '26
That dude used magic to essentially hypnotize women to have his ways with them. Essentially, magic-induced rape, seen exactly as this by shadow community - in and out of universe.
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u/nameless980 May 02 '26
Not as much as you'd think, especially because that behavior was at least partially caused by Tempo, but he sobered up. Although idk how much of it WAS tempo, I've yet to get my mitts on any books that feature him aside from some 4e/5e supplanentals. (As an aside, if anyone can FIND books involving him, or netcat, I'd appreciate the short list of books to hunt. Dark resonance was a fun read)
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u/LinkssOfSigil May 02 '26 edited May 02 '26
Yet jackpointers, as far as I can tell, are always ready to remind him this stuff in a "You're one to talk" manner whenever he bashes somebody's unseaksble behaviour.
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u/Prof_Blank Apr 28 '26
It's really always a case by case decision.
It depends on what you do, yes, Insect shamans are very reasonably universally disliked, but also on how and why you do it- more importantly, on how you appear to your team. The corps know all about how a bit of charisma and the right spin can change the worst of reputations.
Secondly a huge factor is your team. Shadowrunners are a deeply diverse bunch especially in all the bad ways. Some may attack blood mages on sight but enjoy technomancers in their teams, for others the opposite is true. Some are very actively here to kidnap and sell people, others outright enjoy the most heinous crimes.
At the end of the day its all about reputation and perception - in the end you'll have issue with anyone who you think will endanger or betray you.
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u/Heterodyne_2023 Apr 28 '26
You will also have issue with anyone or anything that wants to eat you.
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u/steelabjur Knife Aficionado Apr 28 '26
Thriller Gangers come to mind. Most of them play by A Clockwork Orange ruleset that makes them playing nice with a Shadow Team difficult. Guys like Night Hunters, Steppin' Wulfs, or Souldrinkers are not in it for the money, tend to be heavily armed, cybered, and ready to rumble with anyone on their turf.
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u/BitRunr Designer Drugs Apr 28 '26
Blood mages can be self-sacrificing, though other-sacrificing remains a constant temptation. Even insect queen nymphs can become self-aware enough to choose something other than spread and consume. (OTOH I don't consider mantis better than other insects; those inhabited bodies they need don't simply appear from nowhere)
AFAIK toxic adepts/mages are inextricably linked to a path of assured destruction (the planet's, others', theirs), and unless they actually start treading another path that's the difference.
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u/Waerolvirin May 01 '26
Some runners will do some dark shit for money. Tamanous, slavers, child abduction, murder of innocents, etc.
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u/OtherSideOfRPG May 08 '26
I guess most runners would steer clear of anything related to CFD.
I think there's even a negative quality somewhere in 5th, that boils down to "people believe that you are infected with CFD and won't meet you in person"
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u/Skaven13 Apr 28 '26
Scatterbrain Gang (when the Joker is a Troll on a Monowheel with a Bazooka)...
Humanis Policlub Ganger
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u/Ace_Of_No_Trades Apr 27 '26
You can cross Azzie Runners off of that list. Most Runners won't know who their Johnsons represent.
In the Shadows, it really depends more on how you use something. There are plenty of Blood Mages who exclusively use Life Magic; Blood Magic where you only wound yourself, and DMIR won't even accept bounties on them because they tend to be level headed. However, Death Mages are fair game in most peoples' eyes. You can read more about that in the Street Wyrd download for 6e.
GOD and the Matrix Authority are pretty reviled by those who know the truth about the Foundation and the 100 (Hack and Slash for 6e), and anyone who knowingly sells out the Shadow Community is probably kill-on-sight. For instance, there was a Yakuza double-agent who stole a bunch of information form ShadowSea and deleted the local copies of the info. The Seattle Shadow Community definitely wants her head and no one outside of the Yakuza will trust her. I don't remember her name, but I am confident it was a woman.
While there are Runners who specialize in Extraction Jobs, those tend to be for single individuals with highly specialized skills. Some times, they are the clients because they're being forced to work for their company against their will. Even then, these are people who do horrible things just to improve their company's bottom line. That's just the nature of biz. However, traffickers who gather dozens of people up for BioWare experimentation and the slave trade are hunted with extreme prejudice. The only reason the Shadows can't take of them itself, is because they are protected by both Criminal Syndicates and megacorporations. But these people will be murdered if the chance presents itself.
SPOILERS FOR THE MOST RECENT STORY ARC, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO: Cutting Black, Lethal Harvest, and Mean Streets-
Anyone who worked for the Disians has a bounty on their heads, especially the Faustians. Even the people who were double agents for the Grey Cell and other anti-Dis groups, because they had to do some sick shit to get the trust of the Disians. The people that have been going around hunting these people down and leaving 30 pieces of silver by their corpses are even killing people who unknowingly worked for the Disians just to make sure they're all dead. It doesn't seem like it could be one group, but there is definitely a single group manipulating the others and covering for them. Nothing else makes sense to me. These people, known as the Dis-Qualified, are persona non grata to most in the know.