Shadowrun (Sega Genesis)/Mr. Johnsons

The Mr. Johnsons are your source of income and Karma. This part lists all five Johnsons with their relevant information. Each entry has the following:


 * Located -- Which bar or restaurant you'll find the Johnson at.
 * Runs Offered -- What type of shadowruns the Johnson will give you, followed by the base amount (before negotiations) offered for payment.
 * Contacts -- Each Johnson will be able to get you in touch with at least one contact (see Part 2 below) for a price. This tells you which contacts will be available through that particular Johnson.
 * Description -- The in-game description of the Johnson, as seen in the Notebook part of your pocket secretary.
 * Notes -- As always, I'll put in my personal notes about each Johnson at the end.

Caleb Brightmore

 * Located
 * Icarus Descending, Downtown Seattle


 * Runs Offered
 * Moderate Matrix (2,550-2,750¥)
 * Expert Matrix (6,000-6,100¥)
 * Moderate Acquisition (1,400¥)
 * Expert Acquisition (3,850¥)
 * Moderate Extraction (2,100¥)
 * Expert Extraction (3,500¥)


 * Contacts
 * Sergeant Chillicutt (2,000¥)
 * Kipp David (2,000¥)


 * Description
 * Caleb Brightmore is an upper-level Johnson who specializes in Matrix runs. Can be contacted at Icarus Descending in Downtown Seattle.

You won't be able to meet Caleb until you've asked Boris Errascoe about Michael. Caleb is the most high-end Johnson in the game, and is probably the Johnson who will get you the most Karma and money. I recommend using him exclusively, as long as you can handle his runs. Yes, Vigore and Jarl will give you slightly more money, but you'll soon find that an extra Karma point is way more important than a few extra hundred nuyen per run. See the entry for Vigore & Jarl for more info.

Julius Strouther

 * Located
 * Matchstick, Downtown Seattle


 * Runs Offered
 * Bodyguard (200¥)
 * Courier (180¥)
 * Enforcement (160¥)
 * Moderate Matrix (2,600¥)
 * Simple Acquisition (600¥)
 * Moderate Acquisition (1,000¥)


 * Contacts
 * Captain Quinton Jaymes (1,000¥)


 * Description
 * Julius Strouther is a mid-level Johnson who operates out of the Matchstick nightclub in Downtown Seattle.

To tell the truth, I'm not a big fan of the mid-level Johnsons. Personally, I just take low-level Matrix runs from Vigore and Jarl, then milk the systems until I have enough cash to buy the supplies for Caleb's high-end corp and Matrix runs. But, if you're really interested in going on mid-level runs, Julius is a fine Johnson to work through.

Mortimer Reed

 * Located
 * Big Rhino, Penumbra District


 * Runs Offered
 * Bodyguard (200¥)
 * Ghoul Bounty (40¥/kill)
 * Courier (180-190¥)
 * Enforcement (190¥)
 * Simple Matrix (425¥)
 * Simple Acquisition (550¥)
 * Simple Extraction (450¥)


 * Contacts
 * Allesandro Hobbs (1500¥)


 * Description
 * Mortimer Reed is a mid-level Johnson who operates out of the Big Rhino Restaurant in the Penumbra District.

Mortimer is the other mid-level Johnson in the game. Like I said above, I don't recommend using mid-level Johnsons. If you want to do so, however, just take a note of the jobs offered by Reed versus the jobs offered by Julius Strouther. Strouther's jobs are a little more advanced than Reed's. Just something to be aware of. Personally, I don't ever use Reed for runs, but he is definitely worth meeting, at least for the contact he gives you with Allesandro Hobbs -- the fixer who can get you a Level 5 Maglock Passkey for only 20 grand.

Mr. Gunderson

 * Located
 * Jump House, Redmond Barrens


 * Runs Offered
 * Bodyguard (45-55¥)
 * Ghoul Bounty (10-20¥/kill)
 * Courier (35-55¥)


 * Contacts
 * Wilma Temmenhoff (1,000¥)


 * Description
 * Mr. Gunderson is a small-time Johnson who works out of the Jump House bar in Redmond Barrens.

Gunderson is basically only in the game to get the money you need at the very beginning. He's extremely small-time and shouldn't be used after you get out of Redmond Barrens for the first time. One possible exception to this rule is that his short, simple bodyguard and courier runs make it easy to rack up Karma. If you use the Walk Fast cheat (see Section XII), you can earn Karma (each run is worth 1 Karma) at a rate that's very close, if not quicker than, going on the high-end runs. In the end, though, it's probably more worth it to stick to Caleb's runs since they offer quite a bit of money along with the generous amounts of Karma that you'll reap.

Vigore & Jarl

 * Located
 * Wanderer, Puyallup Barrens


 * Runs Offered
 * Enforcement (230¥)
 * Simple Matrix (500¥)
 * Moderate Matrix (3,000¥)
 * Expert Matrix (6,350¥)
 * Moderate Acquisition (1,700¥)
 * Expert Acquisition (4,500¥)
 * Expert Extraction (4,000¥)


 * Contacts
 * Max (750¥)


 * Description
 * Vigore & Jarl offer mid-level runs and specialize in acquisitions. They operate from the Wanderer in the Puyallup Barrens.

Vigore & Jarl will disappear after you confront Ito (see the walkthrough, Section V), so get whatever business you have with them out of the way before you go to meet Ito. Also note that while they do offer slightly better percentages, as many characters in the game tell you, each of their runs are worth 1 fewer Karma point compared to doing the same job for other Johnsons. It is for this reason that I would strongly advise you to do your runs through someone else. As I've said before, the extra money you'll get here is far outweighed by the extra Karma you'll get elsewhere.