Restriction: Never destroy information, especially magical knowledge. Always speak the truth and de- nounce falsehood. Capture rare things intact rather than destroy the unknown.
The study of knowledge itself, the hunt to find abso- lute Truth, the belief that perfection can be achieved— these are the driving thoughts of those who follow the Hermetic Code. Hermetics understand that a Thing—be it a song, a dish, or a magical spell—can be perfected, and furthermore that, once this perfect form is found, it simply cannot be improved upon. In older times, it was tied in with religion and the hunt for proof of God’s exis- tence, but the return of magic to the world changed the focus quite a bit. The three pillars of Hermetic thought are found in alchemy, which is the study of matter; as- tronomy, the study of the stars; and thaumaturgy, the study of magical forces. In these studies, it’s believed that universal truth can be found. Note that not all who follow the Hermetic Code are magicians, nor are all hermetic magicians followers of the Hermetic Code! There’s enough cross-pollination that the words have become conflated, but the philosophy of universal truth is far more rare than the simple “I can work magic. Do you have a book of spells? Fantastic!” process followed by many hermetics. The leading followers of the code were those at the front of magical research, and they became the leading lights that everyone else followed.
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<snort>>
Frosty>
There’s a surprising crossover between White Hat deckers and Hermetic magicians. Both are logical, rational mindsets dedicating to finding out, and passing on, knowledge. Hermetics tend to be less willing to share until they’re absolutely certain that they’re right, but both have an untamable curiosity.>
Axis Mundi>
There are some secrets that should not be learned, some doors sealed that should not be opened. They meddle in what they cannot know. Listen to the spirits! Their wisdom will guide you.>
Man-of-Many-Names>
Most of them wind up on the corporate side of things; as noted, a good mage can pull down a solid paycheck, have a great place to live, and embark on any number of research projects at the small cost of signing away their freedom, but there remain a few street magicians who believe they can find things out better on their own. They’re not common, but they exist.After a while, breaking into corp A for corp B might be- come kind of old hat. What about all those other jobs out there in the dark, dystopian shadows of the Sixth World? The answer, my chummer, is right here. You won’t find ful- ly fleshed out adventures, but open your mind and start to rev up that imagination engine because in the next few pages, you’ll find plenty of fuel to make your mind race.
ODD JOBS
Megacorporations can hire runners to do this kind of work, but more often than not, these jobs are contract- ed from smaller firms that don’t have extraterritoriality protection like their big brothers but still need access to critical resources. We’ll get into the specifics of some of those groups and companies later—for now let’s take a look at some of the dirty deeds they may want done dirt cheap.
HUNTING
When the AAAs want certain resources they can usual- ly just buy the property where they’re found, exert their extraterritorial rights, and strip the land. When smaller corps, independent or criminal organizations, individu- als, and even governments want resources like that, they need to use other avenues. Sometimes those avenues take them onto megacorporate property and you have the typical snatch-and-grab, but other times the resourc- es in question aren’t in a lab, and teams have to be sent to wander the dark corners of the Sixth World.
REAGENTS
Not all magical reagents are created equal. To find the purest, most potent of these arcane boosters, the search must be done in mystically pure places. These regions of the world may not be protected by laser tripwires and armored goon squads, but that doesn’t make them safe. Reagents, or at least the components for them, are rarely found in urban environments. Run- ner teams can be hired to gather reagents and compo- nents on their own, act as security for others headed that way, or even get contracts to sit on a valuable site and keep others away.
These areas aren’t going to offer the typical opposi- tion. The first enemy a runner is going to have to over- come when working away from the world’s sprawls is their own paranoid nature. Hoofing it through the wilds in full body armor is going to get tiring. A few Fatigue Tests (p. 172, SR5) with some armor-based modifiers will encourage the runners to ditch some of that excessive protection. An overnight stay with no sleep (p. 172, SR5) because of that armor may wear them down a little more. When bad things finally show up, remember whose turf the runners are on. Some of those paracritters or spirits probably like the flavor of the local mojo, so they may benefit from an aspected background count (p. 31, Street Grimoire) or positive Sneaking modifier due to their famil- iarity with the area. Also, don’t forget about other groups that may be interested in the area as well. These groups can use long-range shots and other offensive tactics, put- ting the runners on the defensive so they can only resist with some duck-and-cover techniques before having to go out hunting to protect whatever they’re after.
PARANIMALS
This is like the next step up from going out for reagents. In fact, many paranimals are themselves a source of reagent materials. These targets don’t sit still, waiting to be found, and many have a few interesting powers at their disposal to protect themselves. Nature and fatigue are possible ob- stalcles, as are other groups on the hunt. Though remem- ber, the odds of two groups hunting the same critter at the same time are pretty slim unless it’s a very specific critter. Be sure to consider other critters that might be in the area, as well as mundane critters that might get involved to de- fend their territory or their young. Often, the biggest diffi- culty with snatching paracritters is the frequent need for live subjects and the difficulties of keeping those subjects sedated without killing them or getting them back across borders without losing them to border guards, other hunt- ers, go-gangs, greedy coyotes, hungry critters, or anything else that devious gamemaster might concoct.
SPIRITS
While paracritters may roam specific places, spirits can be found anywhere. Most of the general types of spirits that your everyday summoner drags onto our plane to