Cyberpunk Street Occupations and Backgrounds

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As a general rule, most street characters will have the “Streetwise” general skill, and many will also have area lore, begging, or something similar.

For their occupations, and their more important skills, roll 1d40:

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	Unskilled Occupations:	Special Notes and Requirements
01)	Acolyte	Enough patience to hang around and be respectful with a straight face.
02)	Artist/Crafter	Relevant general skill, such as “painting”.
03)	Hobo / Bum	Being willing to put up with anything.
04)	Day Laborer	Often idiots or thugs. Servants and such will need a general skill such as “Butler”.
05)	Dependent	“Property” as far as the streets are concerned. If you don’t like it, all you have to do is get out on your own.
06)	Driver	A driver’s licence.
07)	Entertainer	Needs a relevant general skills or skills.
08)	Guide	Needs city knowledge and – preferably – an extra language or two. Salespeople are a minor variant.
09)	Lab Rat	“Volunteers” are always handy.
10)	Plaything	Mostly for runaways. This is awfully easy at first, but rapidly becomes less pleasant.
11)	Social Worker	From babysitters and volunteers on up. Higher-ups may have contacts, law, legal protection, psychology, and linguistics.
12)	Street Vendor	Those who restrict themselves to legal items are usually barely getting by.

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	Skilled  Occupations:	Major Skill	Minor Skill
13)	Begger	Con Artist	Begging
	-”Gypsy”	Syndicate Backing	Fortune Telling
14)	Enforcer	+3 Martial Art	Intimidation
	-Hitman	Sniper	Ambush
15)	Gang Boss	Information Gathering	Gang Leadership
	-Yakuza	Syndicate Backing	Intimidation
16)	Go-Ganger	Acrobatics	Piloting
	-Courier	Evasion	Smuggling
17)	Hacker	Computer Operation	Forgery
	-Executive	Syndicate Backing	Extortion
18)	Lookout	Stealth	Tailing
19)	Messenger	Dodging	Recognizer
20)	Petty Thief	Slight-Of-Hand	Evasion (1)
21)	Poseur	Thespian	Disguise
	-Celebrity	Professional Skills	Reputation
22)	Prostitute	Information Gathering	Seduction
	-Geisha	Professional Skills	High Society
23)	Rebel	Saboteur	Field (City) Lore
24)	Shoplifter	Stealth	Casing
	-Burglar	Locksmith	Search
25)	Street Dealer	Fencing	Contacts
	-Fixer	Information Gathering	Connections
26)	Tinkerer	Technician	Scrounging
27)	Warewolf	Cyberware	+2 Martial Art
28)	Wiz Kid	Minor Magic (Psionics)	Sensitive
	-Mage	Add any one magical skill	Mystic Tongue

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	Highly Skilled  Occupations:	Major Skills	Minor Skills
29)	Bodyguard	Alertness and Missile Deflection	Ambush and Cyberware (2)
30)	Bookie	Syndicate Backing and Con Artist	Gaming and Connections
31)	Cyberdecker	Computer Operation and Technician	Cyberware (2) and Contacts
32)	Nomad	Caravan Master and Guild Member	Personal Vehicle and Piloting
33)	“Preacher”	Guild (Church) Member and Select	Oratory and Religious Ritual
34)	Quality Goon	Combat Armor and MOS (3) Training	Brawling and Intimidation
35)	Reporter	Surveillance and Select	Photography and Connections
36)	Rich “Kid”	Cyberware and Legal Protection	Contacts and Money
37)	Rigger	Cyberware & Electronic Warfare Sensor Operator Combo for remotes only.	Special Vehicle(s) and Gunnery
38)	Street Cop	Legal Protection and Law/Criminology	Brawling and Contacts
39)	Street Doc	First Aid and Drugs/Medicines	Advanced First Aid and Technician
40)	Street Shaman	Minor Magic/Pacts and Special Devices	Contacts and Bargaining

1. Evasion is normally a major skill, but Petty Thieves get a small break for their lifestyle. They could certainly use one.
2. As a minor skill, Cyberware is limited to appropriate items.
3. Military Occupational Specialty.

Continuum II divided most character abilities into General Skills (common, ordinary, talents that everyone got some of), Minor Skills (specialized talents covering either some special ability or a narrow field of training), and Major Skills (the items that tended to define a character – major special talents or broad fields of expertise).

The Street Runner vocation includes;

• Militance II: 4D8 Vitality, +3 Attack Rating and Resistance Rating, and Semicombatant vitality bonus.
• Expertise II: Two major and two minor skills, usually determined on the occupations chart above. Unskilled Occupations simply provide background. If you get a Skilled Occupation just roll up a second one and take the skills for both, ignoring “Highly Skilled” rolls. If you roll a skilled occupation twice, upgrade to the advanced (unnumbered) version if there is one, otherwise roll again. If you get a Highly Skilled Occupation first, you’re done.
• Martial Arts I: Normally basic skills with Pistols and blades.
  • Street Survival Martial Art; Exclusive Weapon Katas (Blade and Pistol 3), +1 Attack (2), +3 Attack Rating(2), +2 Defense Rating (1), Fast (-1 on initiative, 1), No formal training (-1).
• Either Mastery II – or Mastery I and a Vocational Speciality covering basic gear, credentials or a reputation, some minor auxiliary skills/etiquettes – and the fine art of getting along without an official identity.

Street Runner is not the most efficient vocation around – but it does have the advantage of being something that you can simply pick up as you go along.