Echo’s Advice for Runners – Why you need a tech

[More about Shadowrun through in-character commentary about various aspects of being a successful Shadowrunner.  Obviously, this is just how I like to see the game played -and GMed- but play the game you want to play.]

You are learning.  I appreciate the coffee.  How did your meet go?  Still in process?   Say no more.  But still looking for help?  

Well, let us start with team building.  There are many things that have to click to make a team really sing but having people with the right skills is a vital component of that equation.  One of the things that is useful and often vital, is a tech.

Tech, techie, grease monkey, hardware specialist, operator, they go by many names.  Whatever they want to be called, go along with it, it is easier in the long run. Just like everyone else, techs like to be respected, so treat them well.  After all, when you have a good relationship with your tech, they will make sure everything works smoothly on the technical side.  And in our modern world, so much is on the technical side.  Now, do not be a dick about it, keep it mission related.

One of the most useful skills that a tech will usually possess is that of convincing locks to open, be they electronic or physical.  Yes, sometimes your hacker cannot get into the system, or does not want to risk exposing themselves, and your social monster could not convince someone to loan you their keys or keycard, then you need to crack a lock by pure physical skill.  Such talents can also be applied to other security systems that are assessable as well.  More often than you would expect, modern planners forget that hackers are not the only threat to their system and that can be exploited by a clever tech.

If you have a rigger on the team, or even if you do not, a tech can help with drones.  Some are real artists in adapting drones to the task at hand or customizing them to fit in.  I had a friend who knew what every delivery drone in the Metroplex looked like and could make a drone over into the appropriate livery complete with wear in less than four hours, amazing.  Even without a rigger, drones are useful for surveillance and other tasks and techs can run them, though without the grace of a rigger.

Techs are good backups for just about everyone on the team, they can directly help hackers and riggers, and less directly, almost everyone else.  So, recruit a tech for your team, treat them well and it will be good for all involved.

Do I know any techs looking for work?  Well, I might.  What sort of work and what pay are you offering?

Notes: My rhythm on Shadowrun Sunday was thrown off by the Memorial Day holiday and Sundays are my days off but I hope to be back to it now.  First a sequence about the sort of people you may wish to hire and what roles they might play in a team.

What have I missed anything that techs can help out with?  Any good stories of techs and tricks in your games?

Image top from Techno FAQ and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.  Lower by Aaron Larney whose page has dropped from the internet (but not the Internet Archive), licensing status unknown, but assume it still belongs to him and used without permission.

Previously How Not to be Seen.