Over the history of time, space, and a fifth diminution that I'm pretty sure has something to do with British comedies, because I keep having dreams about it, there exists many an incident involving a random group of runners wasting a random important NPC that possessed a random bit of information that could make or break a random shadowrun.

Even if a GM is primarily a freeformer like myself, it is often necessary to introduce a particular set NPC that holds a certain bit of info that the runners need to obtain in order to continue or complete a run. If the NPC gets wasted, the GM doesn't even want to create a work around, either because it would set a bad precedent or completely blows apart their plot. Basically, if an NPC of this kind dies, so does the run.

Keeping Mr. Information alive is often a difficult task considering the "shoot now, forget about the questions" attitude of many players. The following are a few pointers intended to make the task of keeping Mr. Information alive, while still enabling the GM to intricately plant the NPC in their run:

Forewarning

The easiest (and often most useless) way to assist in perpetuating the life of a informationally (not a real word) important NPC is to provide a little forewarning that a particular person or particular persons may be handy to keep around. This can be done during the initial Johnson meet, or during another discussion with a contact or other minor information source later on down the road.

The "most useless" part of this scenario comes in when you realize that with any run involving an information chain or complex web of mystery and confusion, you really can't identify people further down the chain without causing your runners to make this individual the sole focus of their investigation. It also usually doesn't make sense for a Johnson to know a ton about exactly who is involved, since the how's and why's regarding this knowledge usually don't pan out logically.

Test Runs

If a GM happens to have a group of runners who have consistently messed up complex runs by blowing away good sources of information before they even have a chance to offer the runners a drink, it may be a good idea to set up some minor, uncomplicated runs that have a single Mr. Information the runner's really need to talk to. This way, when the runners encounter this NPC and subsequently turn him into splatter, the GM hasn't wasted a complex adventure on the learning experience, but the runners will still feel the pain of losing their pay. Hosting two or three of these small runs sequentially should help the runners realize that they are going to end up very, very poor of they don't control their trigger finger.

Link The NPC

On occasion, a group of runners may eliminate an important NPC simply because there was nothing that indicates that they should do otherwise. For instance, if the commander of a hit squad possesses information the runners need, but the GM portrays him as a nameless, run of the mill commander, it would make sense for the runners to waste him if things get heavy with his team. After all, once the commander drops, the rest of the squad usually follows.

But, if the runners discover earlier in the run that the security forces of Company X were involved in a mystery that the runners need to solve, and they are later set upon by a Company X hit squad, the runners will have a reason to not immediately blow the commander away. The NPC is linked (albeit indirectly) to the adventure, and thus becomes worth saving.

Misunderstandings

Normally when a GM has a mysterious group of people attack a group during a run, the runners typical reaction is to ask themselves "Why are these people trying to kill us?", followed large volume release of lead that doesn't stop until the attackers are putty. Since there isn't any noticeable link between the attackers and the run at hand, the runners may figure that blowing them away won't effect the run. But sometimes no apparent link is more motivation to keep somebody alive than actually having a link there.

Picture this: You (the real you) is walking down the street when three people you have never seen before step out of the shadows, one of them saying "Now you're going down, Mr. (Your Name)". They then commence with an attempt to beat the living tar out of you.

If this happened to me, my initial thought would be "Oh, shit". But my follow up thought would manifest as something to the effect of "Who the hell are these people and why did one of them just knock out my front teeth?". I would really, really like to know who these people are, how they came to know my name and, further more, why they'd want to harm me for no apparent reason.

Two Way Street

GMs should always keep in mind that enemies like to gather information, too. If a group runs against Company X, and Company X hasn't encountered a trickle of information regarding why the runners might be doing this or who might have sent them, they may wish to use non-lethal force so they can ask their own questions regarding why the runners are there.

As another example, consider a group of runners who are investigating something or another in the middle of the NAN. Suddenly, a rigger, whose group has gone missing in the same area, roars up in his panzer to find a group of unfamiliar runners poking around where his friends are supposed to be. For all intents and purposes, if looks as if the runners currently on the site may have wiped out the rest of the rigger's team. But, if the rigger simply wastes all of them, he may never find his team's bodies or learn exactly what happened. It is in the best interest of the rigger to not hose the only people who can provide clues to his search, just as it is in the best interest of the runners on the ground to not blow away a mysterious rigger who might get them closer to pay day.

I'd like to end this with a tidbit of info that many GMs seem to forget: Runners may try to get information, but they usually won't die for it. Hence, if a GM gives the runners no choice but to blow away Mr. Information, they're going to do it, and the GM will have no right to bitch. About that particular incident, anyway.