Fixer
Name: Jack
Race: Human
Uses: Jobs and cred, information, gear, additional contacts.
Places to Meet: Wherever the fixer wants: typical places include local bars or clubs, coffee shops, street corners where surveillance is next to impossible.
Similar Contacts: Fence, loan shark, Mr. Johnson
Quite simply, the fixer is a shadowrunner’s most important contact. Like a spider at the center of a web radiating out in all directions, the fixer’s got the connections, the hookups, and the rep to make or break a runner’s career. Whatever you need, he can get it for you: jobs, guns, info, wheels—you name it, and he’ll come up with it sooner or later. For a price, of course. In the shadows, nothing’s free. Fixers live and die by their connections. They know everybody, or at least it seems that way. Think of the fixer as a combination employment agency, procurement firm, and all-purpose fence: they earn their keep by what they know, who they know, and how well they can broker deals between people who need things and the people who provide those things. When a corporate Mr. Johnson needs somebody to steal a rival’s prototype or “persuade” their head scientist that she’d be happier elsewhere, he calls a fixer to find the best team for the job. When a street samurai has some hot swag he needs to unload in a hurry, the fixer’s the go-to guy who can use his connections to get the best price. When a team needs some special expertise that they don’t normally possess (say, a hacker to get them past a corp’s security system), a quick call to the fixer gets them what they need.
One thing fixers aren’t, though, is cheap. They get their cut one way or another for every transaction—a percentage of your payment for a run, a little off the top for every piece of gear they fence—and the better the fixer, the higher the cut’s going to be. Get on his good side and he might just give you a discount. It’s wise to do that anyway: a fixer’s good side is a very good place to be, and if you end up on his bad side—well, you didn’t really want to work in this town again, did you?
Skills: Computer, Data search, Dodge, etiquette, negotiation, perception, pistols.
Knowledge Skills: Corporate Rumors, Fences, Gear Values, Shadowrunner Teams.
Bartender
Name: Jimmy
Race: Troll
Uses: Information, additional contacts, back rooms for private meets
Places to Meet:Any bar/nightclub
Similar Contacts:Bar/nightclub owner, bouncer, waitress, stripper
Aside from drinks, information is the bartender’s stock in trade. If you’re new in town (or even in the neighborhood) and looking for information, you could do worse than to drop into the local bar, buy a few drinks, and talk to the guy or girl doing the pouring. Bartenders act as confidant, sounding board, and cut-rate psychologist for anybody who ponies up the cost of a drink or three, which means the ones worth their salt know at least a little something about everybody who’s warmed one of their barstools. Th ey’re usually up on which regulars haven’t been in for awhile, the juicy dirt on the area rumor mill, who’s having trouble with spouses, kids, or business associates—and if you’re really lucky, she might even have some even more useful paydata that some drunk has let slip and forgotten about in his haze of inebriation. She can also turn area newbies on to the locations of some important people and services, like the street doc who won’t cut you up and sell you to the organleggers, the talismonger who won’t cheat you on magical gear, or the gun dealer who might have that new model your usual dealer doesn’t stock.
Don’t expect the bartender to just spill her customers’ guts to any slot who sits down, though—bartenders are also known for their discretion, and you usually have to persuade her that you’ve got a good reason for needing to know what she’s got to tell. Slipping her some cred or buying a round of drinks for the room will go a long way toward moving you up on her long list of friends.
Active Skills: Etiquette (Street +2), Intimidation, Longarms (Shotguns +2), Negotiation, Unarmed Combat.
Knowledge Skills: Alcohol, Media Stars, Sports, Street Rumors, Trivia