Losing drones, How do you get by? Options

[Kagetenshi]

Materiél has a different meaning entirely from material.

~J

[fctarbox3]

I suppose I should've done this on my own instead of dragging the list into it, but http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=materiel suggests that, in addition to the accent going on the first e, materiel really isn't so different from material, especially if you're going by Webster's Revised Unabridged instead of The American Heritage.

I'm such a snob...

[tjn]

I agree in that a rigger (or any Shadowrunner really) shouldn't take a run if it's likely that the risk involved would likely put themselves into the red just to accomplish said run.

But one of the snags I've run into on this is just how does one evaluate the risk involved?

Johnson's, at least in games I've played, are notoriusly closed lipped about what a run may constitute unless the team agrees to the run before hand.

When talking out of character about this, the response is because the Johnson doesn't want runners hearing their goal and then refusing and then blabbing it off, them being paranoid little buggers.

But if the runners don't know the basics of what would be needed to accomplish said run, how do they know the money they are being offered to do the job is sufficent to get the job done?

[fctarbox3]

That's when you start negotiating some of the contract options mentioned on this board and that book I plugged. I'm so hyped about that book I'm going to go home right now, re-read the relevant chapter, and see if I can distill something useful for the board. This is fun for me!

Then, cuz it's Friday, I'll pass out and forget about telling the board anything.

[Kagetenshi]

[fctarbox3]

OMG, someone's hacked Dictionary.com! Or is it the Office of Acquisition?

Whatever, I bow to your superior kung fu.

[Kagetenshi]

Muahaha. *Flexes kung fu grip*

*Gets taken off the shelf, attached to a rocket, and shot into low earth orbit*

~J

[Firewall]

Well, maybe it is just a case of going ahead with it and saying 'frag this for a laugh' when it all goes to drek. To be fair, we riggers/deckers have one advantage; a decker can jack out and a rigger can tell dog-brain to retreat while they go grab a cold one from the dash-mounted fridge...

Maybe the rigger has to suck it up and lose a drone but he is normally in his car / tank already, the Samurai has to get to the car first... (and the decker is quite possibly in another time-zone, being massaged by scantily-clad meat-puppets)

[Crusher Bob]

I assume that the Johnson will tell you the type of run 'assault of a convoy of 3-4 vehicles and retreval of a package' along with some idea of how good the opposition will be along with how much he is wiling to pay. If you agree to do the job, they he tells you what vehicles and what package. If you refuse, what do you really know about the job?

[Kagetenshi]

You know everything you can know without knowing specific details. General information as to defenses is something that would be critical to know before accepting a job rather than after.

~J

[tjn]

And when the GM doesn't give that sort of information? Am I wanting too much information to base the decision on?

Usually it seems to be something (very simplified) like "I am in need of a team to do an extraction, to which I will pay 20k each, so do I have your agreement?"

Could be StufferShack... could be the Renraku Arcology under Deus.

On one hand I do understand why a Johnson would want to leave out as many details as possible, but on the other, I don't see any Runner team accepting a job without at least thinking they have a good chance at coming out ahead.

I can't help but think that any team that would accept an offer like that wouldn't last very long.

But if the runner teams do the smart thing and decline citing a lack of knowledge... that leaves the game in a lurch if every meeting goes down like the above.

[Kagetenshi]

I can certainly see the J trying to give out that little at the start, but if the Gm doesn't give out more info if pressed and the players walk every time, well, that's the GM's problem.

~J