I am always the GM, primarily because nobody else wants the job. I am in perpetual control of my own Shadowrun universe with a population of several billion to look after while the PCs frolic about the cityscape in a carefree manner with nothing more to worry about than whether or not the chrome is shiny enough on their SMGs before they use them to blow large holes the NPCs I painstakingly assembled, their only other goal being that of receiving a set sum of money which, upon collection, they comment "This is it??" Not that I'm bitter. In any case I use the fact that without me there is no game to instigate the use of various mechanisms of control which, under normal circumstances, would be considered "wrong" for a game master to use. Not all of these are harmful, some are kind of fun, but all are somewhat controversial. The following are a few examples.

Blackjack's Law Of Having Money Without Spending It On Anything

One phenomenon I've continually encountered while GMing is a PC's tendency (at least those who run in my campaigns) to compile large amounts of cash for no apparent reason other than the desire to compile large amounts of cash. They never seem to spend it on ANYTHING, and it really ticks me off. See, I figure most runners acquire money so, in addition to buying the occasional object simply for fun, they can make themselves a better runner. A samurai would acquire money so he can upgrade his cyberware, a magic user so he can buy better foci, a decker so he can acquire a better deck. They at least have some kind of goal in mind, a goal which is logically attainable. The samurai, for example, may wish to upgrade his wired 1 to wired 2, he would not be saving up for a military grade targeting computer. Even the wired 1 to wired 2 jump may be extreme if the runner is a fledgling as it may take many, many runs to acquire the needed cash. In order for a PC to make more money, he must get better at what he does through the constant improvement of skills and equipment. If the runner saves for a year for his wired 2 he'll be stuck doing dinky runs until that time. If the runner does something less drastic, however, like upgrade his head gear with a cyber camera and better mag vision he is not only better equipped for the kitty cat runs but also has the hardware necessary to embark on a whole new category of adventures, many of which pay more than those that simply require he blow someone away. If the runner continues with a series of these smaller upgrades he may quickly reach a point that within a few runs he has the cash to buy the wired 2. But this isn't my point. What the hell was my point? Oh, yeah..

My runners tend to build up large amounts of dough for no apparent reason and as a game master who is somewhat perturbed at never getting the chance to play and actually spend money myself, I am required to do something malicious. This brings us to "Blackjack's Law Of Having Money Without Spending It On Anything". The law's properties are simple: The more money you have for no reason, the more shit happens to you requiring that you spend it. Although ethically misguided, this is my favorite GM power. The runners are more than welcome to go on runs and stockpile new yen and never do anything with it. And I am more than welcome to give them many hints regarding what they should be doing with it in the form of destroyed vehicles and medical bills. Now please understand that if the runners somehow inform me, usually through good role playing and distribution of funds, that they do indeed have a goal in mind I don't touch them. If the runners go out, come back, and sit on their butts drinking Soyweiser and upgrading their hotel reservations and pastry snacks they may have a problem. Back in 1922 when I last played an actual PC he was always spending cash developing his skills and style and trying to better himself as a runner until an unfortunate Jackrabbit crash sent him through a windshield because he never wore a seat belt. The point is, he always had running on his mind. He had a hunger for being the best, but realized that there are certain logical steps he had to take to get there. When a runner doesn't improve he, and the game, become stagnate and boring.

Cows From Space

I have no idea who originated this idea (sans Monty Python) but it seems to be a universal concept present in the unspoken architecture of any role playing game. It is a metaphor for ultimate GM control. It essentially involves the dropping of a cow, or other large object, onto the PC when he or she becomes too "disobedient". Now before all you player characters out there spit on the monitor let me carefully give you my definition of "disobedient". I consider a runner to be disobedient when he or she no longer follows the game premise. Basically, the person is simply not playing the game. Not playing the game is usually achieved through really terrible role playing. I'm not referring to bad role playing as in forgetting to use your southern accent, I'm talking about a decker who never wants to go on any runs and wishes to spend the entire playing session blowing away nuns with an assault cannon. That kind of bad role playing. I'm sure we've all met players like this and if you're a GM trying to run a serious campaign or a player attempting to be true to your archetype it gets to the point that it is impossible to enjoy the game. And as far as I'm concerned if the player doesn't think he has to play the game right, neither do I. Fuck him. This is where the cows come in. It is the GMs method of blatantly telling the player that he is not wanted here. Methods such as gang ambushes or explosions don't work with these people because it may be unclear exactly what the GMs intentions are and muddies the other players perceptions of the GMs methods. There is no arguing with a cow from space. I've only had to use three cows because the players quickly got the hint and either left or readjusted their attitudes. Cows work, but use them sparingly.

Crazy Eye

I have to admit that, sometimes, after gamemastering for about a week because nobody will let me actually play (did I mention I never get to play?) I get a little lazy. Normally when a runner wants or has to go somewhere, they role play the journey. The verbal exchange usually takes on one of two forms. PLAYER: "I'll take the subway." ME: "Ok." Or: PLAYER: "I'll take the subway." ME: "And I'll assume that you're assuming the assault cannon and grenades will be concealed nicely underneath that leather jacket." Since my runners can never hold on to a car for more than a few days (See: Blackjack's Law Of Money) they usually end up having to take some alternative form of transit. Depending on how much ordinance they're toting along this can be rather simple or it can turn into an incredibly painful ordeal for both me and the runner. If I just don't feel like dealing with another turnstile fire fight I call in Crazy Eye.

Crazy Eye

Archetype: Bus Driver

Description: Appears to have had a rough time dealing with the Awakening resulting in his ingestion of mass quantities of various illicit substances. He has long messy white hair with a bald spot in the middle and appears to be in his mid fifties. He dresses in tattered army fatigues, sports pupils the size of fleas, and talks so fast he could easily read off the first half of War and Peace in a little under a minute.

Information: Crazy Eye used to be a Seattle mass transit bus driver until they fired him for drinking tequila on the job. With his sole life focus thus taken away he purchased a bus of his own and psychotically continues to drive his old route. For a price he is more than willing to take a passenger anywhere that happens to be placed on dry land.

Ok, so there's Crazy Eye. During one of my down times he'll come rolling up to the runners and offer to take them where ever they need to go, again for a price. I tend to let him have the run of the town, driving psychotically on sidewalks, through walls, etc. He also provides great comical relief when things slow down or when the player's and I have had too much to drink.

Friends Of The NPC

Occasionally PCs need something to remind them that NPCs are people too. Although I do keep myself from outright banning players from creating the kill everybody type of character I do give them many reminders that the more people they kill, the more people will want to kill them. A scenario to illustrate my point:

The runners have just succeeded in extracting a scientist from a random megacorp and are now leaving via a stolen helicopter on the roof. As they leave a detachment of fifteen corporate soldiers pour onto the roof, weapons deployed, yet hold they their fire because they have been ordered not to harm the scientist. The runner piloting the helicopter decides to react to the sudden appearance of troops by launching a salvo of APMs at the roof. Fifteen killed, no survivors.

Now let's review the scenario. Granted, the runners had no idea the guards were not going to open fire so the response was at least partially reasonable. Had the guards opened fire the helicopter probably would have been destroyed. The runner eliminated the enemy, thus removing the threat. Or did he? Let's do some math: 15 guards. I'll assume five had no family or friends. That leaves 10. I'll give half of them a spouse, a kid and two friends. The remaining five I'll give two friends as well. That leaves behind 30 people who are going to be very upset at what the runners did. Odds are at least a few of them are going to want to get even. And that's not to mention how pissed the company is. The company is probably the least of the runner's worries, however. When a corp seeks revenge it tends to utilize methods the runners have seen before and thus can prepare for. But normal people aren't so systematic. Some may hire runners, some may charge at them with a knife, some may try to blow up their cars, etc. Through the runner's action he has unleashed a pandora's box of threat. If the runners did this on a regular basis, the whole world would soon be after them.

So what should the runners have done? I don't know. Fire one missile and take out a sacrifice guard. Maybe just point the missile tubes at them, that alone would make most of them seek cover. The point is that the runners must realize that every action they take is not without consequence. Some consequences are petty..some are down right deadly.