Newport City teems with thousands of faceless hustlers, night operators, retrieval experts, fixers, facilitators, porcupines, blades and bimbos. Ex-service commandos sell their anti-social skills, vying with renegade military Clonals and semi-retired SHARCs for contracts. Yak thugs brawl with Thuggees and Kombinat breetvas. Each of them is connected to the fabric of the netherworld, wired into the neuropolis. With a glance a North African mercenary can scan a passerby, dive into the cryptosphere to retrieve a pearl of data about their bionic implants, and have their onboard tac-system formulate a strike strategy that will cripple his target in the blink of an eye.

Trade is the backbone of Newport City, and the corporations of the Neuropolis rely on loose laws, immigrants, bleeding-edge technology and corrupt administrations to smooth the flow of business. Smuggling, illegal neotek, dangerous freelancers, and technomads are the lifeblood of the city. Newport's phenomenal growth was built on the basis of the free flow of people, goods and information; it's function was to serve as a filter to sanitize the contaminating influence of the world outside of Nippon. Like Shanghai in the 1920s, Hong Kong in the 1980s and 'Vostok in the 2030s, Newport attracted the world's most interesting individuals. The glare of neon, the atmosphere of borderline legality and the smell of money lured edgerunners by the kilobyte.

Some bloods will say that the Yaks and Tongs run the city, with the Russian Kombinat providing a brutal but entertaining sideshow. Others think that the hypercorps are bankrolling the major players, with tacit approval from Government Tower. And what about the American and Eastern Community operatives sinking their apparati into the bowels of power politics?

Besides the good old-fashioned money-and-politics types, Newport is also infested with the theological detritus of the world. Add about sixteen major sects and cults - not counting the major ethnic groups such as the Sikhs or Druze - mixed with a million and one vendettas, and you've got a potent brew. Pretty much every ethnic group with an agenda has representation here, from Mexifornians in the Nuevo Angeles district to enterprising Chinese importers to dour but reliable Burmese executives. The Europeans have a light presence, but their own infighting keeps them busy.

Newport City has the highest per-capita rate of implantation in the world, the highest income inequality of any Nipponese city, the highest concentration of Fortune 500 hypercorps in Asia and the largest armoury this side of the Kalimantan Conflict Zone. And these are the people that make it move.

 

Shamir Shoigu
Kombinat Vice-President, Newport City

A career as a Slavic Union diplomat wasn't exciting enough for Shamir. His frequent postings to European capitals had earned him some friends in the Russian ex-patriot community, and when routine purges by the SU intelligence services threatened to expose his lucrative side operations, Shamir Shoigu accepted an offer to head the Newport Branch of the Kombinat. A skilled compromiser, Shoigu initially signed business contracts with the Yakuza for services such as heavy-weapon smuggling (difficult in Nippon, but easy in the Slavic Union) and enforcement. Only after his people had acquired a presence in the city did Shoigu make his move, selling his best friends in the Yaks to the Tongs. The betrayal will never be forgotten, but it allowed the Kombinat and Tongs to gain an unassailable position in the criminal hierarchy. Within a decade the Kombinat and the main Movement Tong had a falling-out. This made his position very difficult, forcing the Kombinat into a violent confrontation with its enemies. The bloodletting is methodical and apparently follows some sort of scientific Russian logic. Shoigu's plans now revolve around stealing Neuropolitan Police electronic-warfare equipment in order to sink his hooks into the Yakuza's superior datasphere.

Description: Shamir Shoigu is a well-groomed, aristocratic figure with a chiseled face, greying hair and thin, pouting lips. Tall and lithe, he strongly resembles a mongoose. Had undergone Leonization treatment twice, changing his 86 years into a 50+ silver-fox look.

Personality: Rational in strategy, violent in execution. His half-asleep eyes hide a cynical and crafty personality. Occasionally his disdain for other people transforms into a cold fury when in the presence of incompetence or stupidity.

Attributes

Strength	3	Intellect	8	Threat	+3
Dexterity	5	Charisma	4	Hit Points	40
Reflex	6	Psyche	2.6
Toughness	3	Perception	5

Enhancements
Mind-driver 6, Neobe 2, Impulse Controller (+2 to resist emotions), Skillwires 2, Chipjack 2, Datajack, Boosted Reflexes 1, Commlink 7 with Crypto 6, Second Heart, Skinsuit 6

Combat Skills
Alertness 6, Unarmed-Jujutsu 4, Dodging 7
Note: Shoigu will almost never attempt combat, preferring to rely on speed and evasion, his bodyguards, and his technology.

Skills
Diplomacy 6, Law 4, Tactics-Strategy 7, Politics 8, Culture-Criminal 9, Culture-Elite 7, Culture-Military 4, Culture-Corporate 5, Culture-Government 6, Academics 4, Business 3, Computing 3, Subterfuge 8

Edges/Flaws
Nine Lives, Forged Identity 8, Addiction (murder), Gun License (5), Spies (Criminal, Corporate, Elite) +3, Influence +6 (Newport)

 

Father Ghost - Kumicho Toyoda
Old Patriarch of the Sons of the Neon Chrysanthemum

The Newport Yakuza had always been a weird organization, founded by outcasts and black sheep from the infamous Yamaguchigumi clan of Kobe. The Newport Yakuza clans were founded on the premise of power through information technology, and it shows. Fluidly structured and highly-adaptable, the clans of Newport have integrated the electrosphere into their daily operations. A strong tradition of ancestor worship (from Shinto), superstitious criminal beliefs and the digital revolution allowed the Red Lotus Society and the Sword Water Clan to pool their collective databanks into the headspace of Kumicho (similar to the capo-di-tutti-capo) Toyoda. To this Incorporate State were added the dozens of digital personality imprints of previous and current oyabuns (bosses), whose accumulated experience was supposed to imbue Kumicho Toyoda with divine wisdom. In any case, it imbued him with something, for the Father Ghost (as he has come to be known) now speaks with the voices and the authority of many deceased and respected ikka members. This transfiguration has come at a price - the Kumicho is physically degenerating at an astonishing pace, and only a cybernetic clotis tank and room-size support equipment keeps him alive. Senior yakuza leaders visit him to seek advice, or to be chastised for failure. It is rumoured that Father Ghost deals with Spectres from the Cryptosphere which provide him with information about his enemies in exchange for stirring pattens in the real world on behalf of the AIs.

Description: A frail old Japanese man with a moustache and beard, connected to an intricate (and elaborately styled) system of medical machinery.

Personality: Erratic, but generally a serious and pragmatic grandfather-type with a cruel streak. His words are laden with obscure meaning and forgotten traditions. Cunning, but occasionally lapses into incomprehensible glossolalia - this are assumed to be conversations with entities of the Cryptosphere.

Attributes

Strength	8*	Intellect	7	Threat	+3
Dexterity	6*	Charisma	5	Hit Points	100
Reflex	8*	Psyche	0.1
Toughness	8*	Perception	6

Note: Attributes and skills marked with an * represent the defensive machinery that will intervene if Father Ghost is attacked. These include robotic tentacles holding cool weapons and guns, and whirling barriers which deflect projectiles. Toyoda himself is immobile.

Enhancements
Mind-driver 9, Wired Reflexes 3*, Commlink 9 with Crypto 9, Second Heart, Exoskeleton (Armour 30), Simex Generator, Level 3 Hollogramics,

Cyberdeck
Mind 8, Memory 100, Speed 6, Storage 400
Tools: Rank 7+, mostly info-sifting, defensive, some attack

Combat Skills
Alertness 6, *Tentacles 7 (includes weapons, blocks)

Skills
Politics 9, Tactics-Strategy 8, Japanese Culture 9, Culture-Criminal 10, Culture-Corporate 8 , Culture-Street 6, Culture-Government 7, Culture-Electrosphere 7, Business 6, Computing 8, Subterfuge 7, Philosophy-Shinto 8, Poetry 8

Edges/Flaws
Paralyzed, Madness, Addiction (intravenous sucrosol), Spies (Electro +2, Criminal, Corporate +3), Allies (Spectres Level 6), Influence +8 (Newport)

Story Hooks:
If your players are bloodthirsty shoot-on-sight types, then freelance work for the Kombinat is an option. Be forewarned that this organization does not value loyalty (unlike the Yakuza) and is not very well equipped.

Shoigu may hire the players as expendable decoys in a plan to capture some Neuropolitan EW devices. The players may inadvertantly survive and actually gain the devices, in which case the Yaks would attempt gentle persuasion to part them from their prize. This would turn Shoigu into a frustrated enemy. On the other hand, if the players give him the devices, his gratitude is short-lived, and the police will soon resort to commando raids to retrieve their equipment.

Schultz, Advisor & Comspec

Strength	3	Intellect	6
Dexterity	3	Charisma	2
Reflex	2	Psyche	2.9
Toughness	2	Perception	6

Skills: Computing 6, Accounting 5, Persuasion 4, Law 6, Business 5, Mediamatics 3, Communications 5

Hit Points: 35
Enchancements: Guardian Angel, Nanite Hive, Medical Nanites, Auto-Immune System, Neo-Cortex

Cyberdeck:
Mind 6, Memory 20, Speed 4, Storage 60
Tools: Pantechnicon 6, Scheme 6,
Spider 6, Jammer 4, Foxhound 5, Fuse 2, Inquisitor 4, Platinum 5, Probe 4

Schultz runs the Colonel's day-to-day affairs; writing contracts, arranging meetings with shadowrunners, protecting communications and mining data in the electrosphere.

Kombinat Goon

Strength	6	Intellect	3
Dexterity	3	Charisma	2
Reflex	4	Psyche	1.2
Toughness	4	Perception	4

Skills: Alertness 4, Firearms 4, Weapons 3, Dodging 3, Interrogation 3, Culture-Street 3, Unarmed 3, Stealth 3, Subterfuge 3

Hit Points: 40
Armour: Spiderweave Clothing [8]
Weapons: Seburo 8mmC Heavy (2d6+2)

Enhancements: Muscle Augment 2, Boosted Reflex 1, Lowlight Eyes, Smartgun, Chipjack, Finger Lockpicks or Level 2 Spex.

Story Hooks: If the players ever decide to work for the Yakuza, Father Ghost would be their deranged father-figure, demanding impossible things of them and sending them on cryptic missions to demolish a particular bakery, or something. As a nemesis, Father Ghost makes the perfect insane villain, someone who is so lost to humanity that he consorts with demons (digital entities) and needs unnatural means to survive. Though the Yakuza follow him obediently, and their superstition paralyzes them in the face of his authority, there are elements in the Red Lotus Society (notably Komon Hansei, responsible for systems architecture), who fear the Kumicho will lead his sons to destruction. As Toyoda's requests grow more bizarre, a civil war could start in the upper echelons, with the Spectres intervening to support their host.

Outside of the Yakuza, few people realize the extent of Toyoda's corruption. As an incorporate state he holds complete immunity from prosecution and will be protected by Neuropolitan Police should his own defences fail. The best mission involving Father Ghost would be one where the players must sever his connection to the Cryptosphere, or persuade other AIs to disperse the ghosts residing in him.

The Colonel
High-Level Facilitator

The Russians have always had a strong and honourable military tradition and a very capable officer class which has, unfortunately, always been badly used by the Russian elites. The Colonel was a casualty of that wastefulness. Superbly trained as an elite paratrooper, he completed officer training and was chosen to field-test the first generation of Russian power armour during the War. He underwent primitive and damaging implant surgery to prep him for the first neural-machine interface, only to have the armour he was testing exceed its own design parameters and sever his spine. Receiving a pathetic pension, he was forced from the military and would have died a cripple without his ambition and connections to criminal friends in 'Vostok and Newport. Climbing slowly through the ranks of first the Yakuza and then the Kombinat, he cultivated powerful friends and made money, enough to repair the damage to his system. Eventually he went into business for himself hiring edgerunners and mercenaries for tight, well-planned missions. Today he acts as a facilitator, and has gathered enough people around him to protect his interests. Despite his soft approach he's made enemies in the Kombinat. The Colonel resides in a private suite in the Spas of the Athenaeum building, protected from digital intrusion by the nanotech analog nature of that building. The Colonel specializes in paramilitary operations, weapon smuggling and elite talent. His extensive contacts in Chobetsu (Nipponese military intelligence), Er Bu (Chinese) and the Keisatsu Cho (National Police Agency) often task him with semi-legal covert operations.

Description: A well-built, half-bald Russian with Eurasian features, short beard, and a soldier's demeanour. Body covered with early-generation body interface plugs which are no longer compatible with modern amplifiers. Several war scars, slight Russian accent, calm speaker.

Personality: An honourable soldier at heart, but grown pargmatic and tired over the years. The Colonel works to bring a minimum of order to the murderous ranks of the criminal underworld. His main passion is still military operations. Willing to trust and reform new runners.

Attributes

Strength	6	Intellect	5	Threat	+2
Dexterity	6	Charisma	5	Hit Points	50
Reflex	7	Psyche	2.4
Toughness	7	Perception	4

Enhancements
Wired Reflexes 1, Commlink 7 +Crypto 6, Bone Lacing 2, Enhanced Articulation 1, Smartlink, Datajack, Chipjack 2, Robot Control Rig 1, Mind-driver 5, Lowlight /Antidazzle Eyes, Battlecomp 6, Reflex Trigger, Biomonitor

Combat Skills
Alertness 7, Weapons 6, Unarmed-Karate 7, Firearms 7, Dodging 7, Heavy Weapons 7, Gunnery 6, Athletics 7

Skills
Politics 6, Culture-Military 7, Culture-Criminal 5, Culture-Street 5, Business 4, Persuasion 5, Stealth 5, Pilot Robot 4, Tactics-Strategy 5, Medicine-First Aid 4, Communications 3, Environment 3, Subterfuge 4

Edges/Flaws
Contacts (Military +3, Criminal +1), Allies (Military black ops, Major Kunagi), Influence +5 (Newport), Obsession-War, Trauma-Fear of Machinery, Bulletproof

Legs Weaver
Gun Bunny & Media Pirate

The day Legs Weaver stepped from a sub-orbital onto the streets of Newport City was a black day in the history of the Neuropolitan Police. She had just recently returned from the fighting in North Africa, where she had switched sides from her World Court Enforcement Unit to the socialist guerrillas. Before that, she had been trained by the European Defence Forces (EDF) as one of the first fully-qualified female commandos. Her ideological leanings have cost her a bounty on her head but made her many friends in the underground. Smuggled into Newport to hide for a while, she quickly grew restless and, together with a group of ambitious friends from Negativland, initiated a prolonged sabotage campaign against the Newport government. Targetting the pervasive surveillance and control system in NC, she bombed relay stations, infiltrated meme-viruses into pornographic simulations and even managed to rewire a government Accounting Synth to fund her operations. Despite her do-gooding ambitions, her runs have caused many casualties, something for which she considers herself blameless. "The system killed them" is her usual rationalization.

Description: Lean, acrobatic woman in her late twenties with a tom-boyish appearance and rough-edged manner. Short, raven-black chiseled hairstyle, sultry eyes, and cheerful smile. Legs can be commanding like a general or charming like a debutante, but she prefers wearing combat gear and intimidating male attire.

Personality: Full of life and passion, with a touch of negligence and a fear of authority. Although beautiful, she rejects her feminine side in favour of the power she wields as a respected fighter. Dedicated to her cause, and willing to kill for it. Friendly to those she respects.

Attributes

Strength	4	Intellect	4	Threat	+1
Dexterity	5	Charisma	6	Hit Points	45
Reflex	5/7	Psyche	3.3
Toughness	4	Perception	5

Enhancements
Wired Reflexes 2, Commlink 5 +Crypto 5, Smartlink, Datajack, Skullish 4, Battlecomp 3, Reflex Trigger, Finger Toolkit, Guardian Angel medical implant, Gas Filter

Combat Skills
Alertness 6, Firearms 7, Smartguns 4 (+2 Strike), Dodging 5, Heavy Weapons 6, Athletics 5, Unarmed-Judo 5

Skills
Sabotage 6, Culture-Military 4, Culture-Street 5, Pilot Aircraft 4, Communications 2, Environment 5, Persuasion-Charm 7, Impersonation 3, Subterfuge 5, Computing 2, Driving 6, Seduction 5, Political Science 3

Cyberdeck (Link's, a friend)
Mind 5, Memory 15, Speed 4, Storage 40
Tools: Impropaganda 5, Gateway 4, Easy Rider 3,
Keyring 5, Spore 4, Viper 3

Edges/Flaws
Contacts (Street +1, Military+1), Both Guns Blazing, Forged Identity 6, Lightning Reload 2, Eagle Eye 1

Legs is daring, skilled, charming and a babe - the perfect lure for sucker edgerunners. If players think she can help them on their missions, so much the better. It won't take them long to realize that her cooperation demands an acceptance of her ideology. It might take them a lot longer to figure out that they're helping her more than they want to, and taking all the flak.

Legs Weaver can be used as a rival to players slavishly wedded to money contracts or as an example for those more inclined to challenge the surveillance society found throughout most of the developed world.