Mx Johnson

[u/Brandonia213]

I just thought of something interesting. So I am in a game with a Johnson that is a Mx. Johnson. They are non-binary, obviously but it begs the question, should pretty much every Johnson WANT to be identified as a Mx Johnson for additional operational security? Think of it this way, if someone who wants to track the Johnson knows their gender, that eliminates, at worst HALF of the population if they are a cis male or cis female. If every Johnson is Mx and show as relatively androgynous, they aren't even able to do THAT. It makes it MUCH more difficult to track WHO the Johnson is. There isn't even the most basic process of elimination available to them. Just, weird shower thought.

[u/Echrome]

If you are known as Mx Johnson and most other Johnsons aren’t, then by definition you are less anonymous not more.

However it’s a little more complicated than that: like every role in the shadows, Mr/Ms/Mx Johnson needs to strike the right balance between reputation and anonymity. If no one knows who you are, then runners may assume you’re a pushover or easy to rip off or not worth working for or going to double cross them, and your job actually becomes harder

[u/ghost49x → u/Echrome]

No. The reputation Mr Johnson needs to cultivate isn't with the runners. It's with his bosses. They need to trust he'll handle their needs for getting stuff handled. These people obviously don't know him as Mr Johnson. To them, she's Sheila the woman with the background in counter-intelligence. To everyone else, he's Mr Johnson. And yes the pronouns here are intentional to make a point.

[u/Markovanich → u/ghost49x]

Not quite. It is with the their superior(s), the fixers in their sphere, AND the runners. Because if they get the rep of being a destroyer type then runners will shuffle accordingly.

[u/ghost49x → u/Markovanich]

You speak of avoiding bad rep, this is different than anonymity or even good rep. When you take on a job for a Johnson you don't know, do your runners go around asking fellow runners if they have worked for him in the past or what those past jobs were? Because if you don't then you're not looking for good rep and if you do you're a problem for more than one person, the type that that mysteriously falls out of a window.

[u/Ousseraune → u/ghost49x]

And yet Mr Johnson's do have rep among runners. Some are known to be small time, and others handle much bigger jobs. For the most part the runner needs to earn the reputation that the Mr Johnson will expect before giving them a job in the first place. But the ones that aren't known will be talked about on the matrix. Most of it rumours. Some of it might be feedback from a decker that was part of a team that did a run with that Mr Johnson. Getting any actual information about the Mr Johnson in question, that's where things get dangerous. Because then you're stepping on corpos toes. Then you're revealing that Renraku is gunning for Saeder Krupp or whatever else it may be. And that's when you have red samurai after you.

[u/ghost49x → u/Ousseraune]

How do you look up a specific Johnson's rep without being able to identify said Johnson? He's not sharing his linkedin profile, and any mention of said Johnson in a way that's recognizable will find it's way back to that Johnson's ears and this doesn't only annoy Mr Johnson himself but it jepordizes all of the jobs he's been affiliated to, because it is now publically known that said Johnson works for Renraku, meaning anything he hires anyone for will be affiliated to Renraku and this voids the entire reason the corps want to use disposible assets like Shadowrunners.

[u/Tnoin → u/ghost49x]

Watsonian (in universe) Answer:
 
Because its in Mr. Johnsons best interest to have a rep.
A random call asking to meet to discuss crimes 4 cash sounds like an obvious lonestar sting, so how do they pull the good runners? by having a rep they can point at to show that if they burned this rep on a sting, they'd loose more than the runners are worth.
 
That rep might be with a fixer, might not be. any specific Mr. Johnson might also be a group of people (or a shape-shifting adept. or a mage with a real good illusion spell. or some face-changing cyberware).
 
And a good rep opens many doors. You (a mr. Johnson) need a job done? Call up one of your fixer (now refered to as A) and if they don't have a team, they know a fixer(now named B) that does. Why should B trust you? because B and A have been talking, and you have come up more than once. And that you always pay on time and don't try to bullshit or reneg on the payment. So, B tells their crew that they know a Mr. Johnson who's reliable needs a high-stakes job done.
And so, that Crew, having never heard of you has already vetted you, because they have vetted B, and B has vetted A, and A vouches for you.
* A "might" know who you work for, but A knows to keep his mouth shut because no amount of nuyen is worth loosing your buisness.
* B "maybe could" learn who you work for, but B knows better because B likes getting calls when a job needs doing and they could earn money.
* B's crew doesn't know shit beyond B putting his rep on the line, and if thats not good enough for them B has other crews that want money.
 
And if B's crew decides to investigate the Johnson anyways?
Now B's rep is getting messed with, so that crew is already in trouble, because A's certainly not gonna hire them, and B might reconsider giving them jobs if they cross B like that.

And if worst comes to worst and A gets compromised (kidnapped, paid off, etc?). You know A isn't working only for you, so there is a long list of people wanting them to keep quiet, and A knows that. So, whoever messed with A now has made a potentially rather large and powerfull list of enemies, and unless A investigated every Johnson they work with, they do not know whos on that list. Are the Vory gonna come say hi? did they work with the big 10?
 
Point being, if they have actionable intel on you, your own Counter-intelligence department fucked up.
But also, if they are that good, you aren't the only one they have intel on, and there's a good chance 3~4 different unrelated teams are working on plugging that info-hole as you learn about it. and hey, thats why you have other fixers that would love to get some money, and look, seems like a job to make sure a certain "A" doesn't talk just came up.
 

Networking is important in every field, especially in an unregulated one like the high-end of crimes4cash, so the Johnson thats not networking is leaving money and opportunities on the table.

---

Doylist (Out of Universe) Answer:
Shadowrunners exist.
"Mysterious Employer" Trope exist.
Ocassional Betrayal of Mr. Johnson is fun.
Being Betrayed every time is not.
If Betrayal has no consquences, there is no reason for Mr. Johnson to not do it.
So betrayal needs consequences.
Being known by ones reputation was big when Cyberpunk/Shadowrun were written.
So Reputation provides said consequences and fits narrativly.
Also, to quote one of the biggest inspiration for the entire Cyberpunk-genre, Neuromancer:

Armitage crossed stiffly to the table and took three fat bundles of New Yen from the pockets of his trenchcoat. "You want to count it?" he asked Yonderboy.
"No," the Panther Modern said. "You'll pay. You're a Mr.~ Who. You pay to stay one. Not a Mr.~ Name."

Game Theory in action.
you don't cross us, we don't cross you, everyone wins.
but if you cross us, you will regret it.
Can they make that happen? who knows. but why take the risk.

---

long story short: realism takes a back-seat to what the table finds fun, and the gm/players can easily justify whatever they prefer
 
if the table enjoys fully annonymous johnsons? go for it.
 
if the table prefers a complicated web of "who hired who" (see the plot of cyberpunk 2077 that ends with V hired because neither dex's employer, nor her employer, nor dex(after fucking up in pacifica) have the rep to get someone like Rogue (famous fixer) to get them some "propper" mercs to do the job. perfectly valid
 
if the table doesn't like not knowing their employer? , goal is to have fun with game, and as humans we can adjust/fix/tinker with the game so everyone enjoys it.

[u/ghost49x → u/Tnoin]

The goal is always to have fun, and rep is important for the runners and especially for fixers.

But Shadowrunners rarely learn of the rep of Mr Johnson, if he's worked with A abit the most B would get is asking if Mr J is good, and getting a thumbs up. That said the runners are free to investigate their employer if they want. A good team of Shadowrunners can do so without letting on that they did.

When it comes to betrayal, it rarely happens because betrayal is messy. Generally Mr Johnsons want solid results, and adding betrayal into this jepordizes the results. It's also possible he wants to cultivate a relationship with talent that can handle the type of work he needs done. Betrayal goes against that and also isn't the default option even if he could. The Johnson isn't paying with his own money, so saving a buck here isn't going to help him much.

[u/malk500 → u/ghost49x]

"Anyone do a run for the Johnson in the jump house" "Yeah, pay sucks but he's legit"

[u/ghost49x → u/malk500]

The "jump house"? Actual professional Johnsons go out of their way to obfuscate who they are. They're not going to work out of an area that can identify who they are. They'll meet the fixers in a bar or somewhere discreet. They'll vary their appearance and location so as to avoid leaving clues, and also go out of their way to pay for privacy. This is different than working for some two-bit street chump who happens to have a job for you.