After some conversation with Shade, I wrote up a primer about how to be (and now hot to be) corrupt in Dead End. I will also be teaching a class on it in the near future. this will be broken up over a few posts for readability

Corruption RP in Dead End

Classically, corruption means use of the power of a government official for financial gain. In the context of Dead End role play, we will use that term in its more spiritual sense, which is falling from an ideal. It is a broader more all-encompassing definition which allows us to explore many aspects of DEPD RP. As we delve into the notion of corruption rp, which should be a central theme in DEPD rp, we will discuss fair play first, and then examine the types of corruption in the spectrum of cop rp and the ways in which players in certain parts of the spectrum might interact with others in their own best interest.
It is important to note this isn’t a directive for how your character should act at all times. There are many right ways to rp corruption, and the degree to which your character participates will vary depending on their ethics and opportunities. There are also many wrong ways to RP. I know this isn’t a popular sentiment, but if you came to DE playing an albino wizard with a soul sucking sword who flies around on a dragon, you’d be wrong wouldn’t you? More importantly, the biggest and most pressing problem in corruption rp is powergaming.

POWERGAMING AND THE BADGE.

Most people have an idea of powergaming, and can spot the grossest violations when they see them. If a cop or a criminal isn’t taking hits in a fight, exploiting the consent rule by refusing to consent to damage we all know that’s powergaming. Similarly, if a criminal has an endless supply of money to make bail and pay fines, and can instantly replace the cocaine you’ve confiscated, that’s also powergaming. For most cops, we recognize these things as being unfair bad play.
What many cops do not recognize, however, is their exploitation of the badge itself is powergaming. A senior officer who blatantly commits crimes and expects not to be arrested by virtue of their position is likely power gaming. If you do something major, something that would get you fired off a real life police force, and you keep your badge and make life hell for the people that had the gall to object, you’re power gaming. Its not fair to your fellow officers, and more importantly it is not fair to the criminals in the sim who are punished for taking exactly the same actions you took, and just joined the wrong clique. Just as we expect criminals who are stupid and public about their crime to suffer consequence, so to must we expect to suffer consequence for being stupid and public about corruption rp. Anything less is unfair to the players around you. It is also immersion breaking to any player that is serious about their rp. The consequence of blatant open corruption will be an ooc lessening of the esteem of the other players around you. This means either they will not play with you, or if enough of us are blatant about it, will not rp with the DEPD at all. This means no corruption rp in the future due to lack of opportunity. To ensure lots of opportunity to engage in your favorite flavor of DE corruption, keep the following in mind: