Payment... Options

[Mr. Unpronouncea...]

Cause a good face could've talked his way past the guard without costing anything. Sam shoulda made the face go if he didn't want to pay for his shortcomings.

Sometimes the face has to be elsewhere - like standing in plain view with a dozen unquestionable, impartial witnesses. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/grinbig.gif)

Generally the "party fund" doesn't get abused - ammo & new toys come out of that character's share, maintaining contacts or SOTA programs & equipment as well.

It's just those wierd one-shot large costs that shouldn't come out of any one character's pocket - when the team overrides the mage and insists on a force 6 spirit being lent out as a bodyguard, bribing the baggage guy to get something (or, on one memorable occasion, someone) around security, making that highly specialized yet non-functional circuitboard in a rush-job to make the sabotage undetectable like the Johnson wanted, buying a transport vehicle for the team with all the bells & whistles because everyone benefits from it.

And of course, it can act as a handy no-frills short-term loan when somebody's not quite able to afford that upgrade (and has the group's approval.)

[knasser]

Doctors' skills aren't exactly what's needed to break into corporations. I think it'd be better to compare with doctors who lost their license but keep practicing anyway, or doctors who have criminal activities or work with criminals.

A fair point, not quite in opposition to the one that I was making which is that magicians, like doctors, have a clear route out of the Shadows. The "Ares killed my parents and I must have vengeance" or the "I upset someone so powerful that no extraterritoral corp could give me a name change and keep me safe" magicians are pretty rare, I would imagine. Yes, you get players who somehow envisage their character spending fortunes on foci, spend all their time studying to throw an even deadlier fireball, yet live in a squat with no bathroom, but that's just players. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

But as I said, it's a fair point, but one I think doesn't undermine things for me. How many doctors who have lost their license are out there practicing? I'm sure it's a tiny proportion of total doctors, much as I suspect Shadowrunning magicians are a tiny proportion of total magicians. Anyway, none of this is an argument from me that magicians should get a larger cut of the payment (unless it's an agreed cover for materials used on behalf of the party), but I think we can support the rarity we find in the fluff.