what would be a good amount of money for a beginning team to earn for a mission? I was thinking of giving them maybe 20k for a successful snatch and grab run. there are 5 runners on the team, so 4k each. is this too high? any thoughts?

Willis

depends on what you want in your campaign really, what kind of equipment oyu want them to get. There's a good guide in the SR3 companion if you've got access to that. IIRC, extractions, data steals, and wet work pay the best (around 20K). I think prototype grabs usually pay pretty well depending on what you're grabbing.

Most people suggest enough to pay the lifestyle cost + some extra on the side for goodies. A good suggestion was that they should at least make more than they would if they spent the month stealing cars.

It depends on what the jobs is: what kind of danger is involved, what kind of crimes must be comitted, how long the job will take, how much heat it is likely to cause, what sorts of transportation and special equipment are required, etc.

In general, the Johnson will offer a single pay-out amount for the job, and how the team splits it up is up to them. So during the negotation, the Johnson will just quote a price for the job, and not a X Y per runner. (Or at least, that's how it will work if the team is being hired as an established team, a pickup team will be paid on a per person basis).

As a side note ALWAYS get it in lump sum I remember when half our team got wiped out and the agreed payment was 5k per PERSON boy did that Johnson get a deal

Currently, for a team of brand spanking new runners, I'm paying them around two grand a job for simple, very street-level stuff, so the team of four is making 500Y per job. Which isn't enough to pay their Low lifestyle, which is making me happy, and keeping them hungry.

I've informed them that performing well in their profession (there's two newbies in the group that need some "positive reinforcement" to get their shit together) will result in better-paying jobs, and they'll be able to stop scrounging for food.

In my estimation, the pay is based on a few factors: the nature of the goal, the relative power level of the target, and the way the job should be done (a job requiring finesse pays more than a Rambo job). Right now, my runners are roughing up deliquent debts, stealing Christmas presents, and fixing amateur boxing matches. They're not exactly at the top of the food chain.

If they ever get off their asses and show some skill (rather than strength), they'll start getting the jobs that can at least pay their bills. My current method, however, is keeping them as low as they act. So I just kludge together a brute run during the week everytime they complete a current run in that fashion on Friday. And they'll keep making shit and barely paying the bills.

Of course, one thing to keep in mind, as well, is how frequently, in game time, your runners are getting work. Right now, being so new, my runners are getting one run every 3-5 weeks. Once they accomplish a few more, they'll get more runs per month, and hopefully start collecting enough 500Y jobs to pay their 2000Y a month Low lifestyle.

My personal preference for payment, overall, is low payment (not as low as above, typically, but I'm grooming them), but with occasional windfalls and high-profile runs. I make them pay SOTA costs, where appropriate, and replace equipment and such. Bleed them, keep pay low, and then satisfy them with a significant chunk of cred all at once. It seems to work well.

One last thing to consider is PC proactiveness. If they think they're not being paid enough, my runners are always free to ask me to scrap that week's run so they can try to scrounge up some cred on their own, through things like stealing goods and pawning them.

So I'm sharing a system I use to figure Payscales for one-shots and homegrown runs, for published material I tend to just go with what is published. This system works pretty well for my group but is designed to keep thing lower powered and lower budget.

SR-4 Pay Scale System

1. Determine the type of run and base pay from the SR-3 Companion

EDIT: Can one of the moderators let me know if it's OK to post the table from the Companion here or not? I don't want to step on any Copyright toes by doing it.

2. Figure the Team’s Average Street Cred

3. Figure the Team’s Average Notoriety

4. Subtract Average Notoriety from Average Street Cred and add 1, the result is the base pay multiplier.

5. Use the following table based on difficulty of the run (relative to the ability of the Team)
a. Cakewalk: -0.5
b. Normal: 0
c. Difficult: +.05
d. Very Difficult: +1.0
e. Nearly Impossible: +2.0
f. Suicidal: +3.0

6. Determine the Timeframe adjustment
a. Unlimited: -1.0
b. Extended (Allows more than 30 days of Legwork) : -0.5
c. Normal (Allows up to 30 days for Legwork): 0
d. Compressed (Allows up to 15 Days for Legwork): +.05
e. Urgent (Allows 7 days or less for Legwork): +1.0
f. Immediate (allows no time for Legwork): +1.5

7. Johnson will grant an expense allowance?
a. Unlimited: -0.5
b. Reasonable: 0
c. Small: +0.5
d. None: +1.0

8. Duration Adjustment
a. 15 Days or less: 0
b. 16-30 Days: +0.5
c. 30-60 Days: +1.0
d. 60-90 Days: +2.0
e. Each Additional 30 days: +.25

9. Travel Required
a. Covered by Johnson: -1.0
b. Not required: 0
c. At Runner’s expense: +1.0

10. Apply all modifiers to the base pay multiplier determined in Step 4
a. If this number is zero or less the Johnson is in a vastly superior negotiating position and you as GM can set the pay as low as you want or possibly have the runners take the job for minimal pay or due to coercion rather than for money. Be as evil as you want since this is likely because of inexperience of bad reputaion.

11. Multiply the base pay from the Companion by the Multiplier derived in Step 11 to determine the base pay for the run (This is per task not runner)

12. Allow negotiation from here Each net success by the Team gets an additional 5%, net successes for the Johnson allow him to pocket 5% for himself.

i think there should be a little metagame thinking on the GMs side of things to determine pay range. what do we expect the runners costs to be? would they make more money stealing cars, or other non-run crime?

remember, if you EVER want to have a run that pays nothing, but is for some personal reason, they have to have enough extra cash to not be starving and broke all the time. If i have them earn a fair amount every 3 runs out of 4, then that means that fourth run can be a non-paying job, and it wont break the game cash-wise. if you keep the money too tight, then you will see more stupid risks and less profesionalism as they try and make rent.

personaly, i think a runner team should get enough money per run to pay a month of bills, and run about twice a month of gametime. how much exactly depends on the group- skills, versatility, and reputation. keep in mind your fixer is probably getting a cut, so he wants you to get a higher pay, so he gets a higehr percentage- that means he will spin-doctor in your favor before the johnson decides who he wants to hire.

so, if i have a team of 6 runners, im probably going to offer them 10,000 for a run as a group, and be willing to scale that up a little bit. if they have a decent reputation, or if the job is higher risk, then 25,000

now, at 10k, you can get 5 guys at low lifestyle... or the team can be at medium (5k+50%). at 25k, the team can share a high lifestyle, and afford some nice gear as well. they may get greedy, and try for the 25k too soon... stupid and greedy can get you dead in teh shadows.

keep in mind who will be offering these jobs, and what they stand to gain, what they stand to lose, and how much they can afford. if i work for a megacorp, perhaps i need to spend so much of my budget every quarter or they reduce my budget. if i have 50,0000 worth of budget for 'deniable assets', im going to use it. say one big run and 2 small runs every three months? chosing from say a half-dozen possible teams i know of. and a little left over for various other costs (pay the fixer to set up a meet, ect).

the prices listed in the companion are just wrong. dont worry about giving them too much cash- theres no such thing. if you give a team 50k they will waste it on something. maybe a weapon foci, maybe a sweet new ride for the rigger, maybe some nice alphaware for the sam, or maybe just BTL and drugs. but it also means you now have a safety net if you blow up the teams ride- they can get a new one.

according to the pay scale most modifers are gonna add up to 3.5

Sounds about right, though some of my players have enough notoriety to drop it below 1 with relative frequency.

personally I would pay rthe psychos MORE,to ake themthink of me as a mealticket, and not as a target

although that is IRL not in SR

If I'm risking my life for let's say 3-4 days a month then I'd better be getting what amounts to 60,000 a year at the very least. That is not a lot considering the cost of vehicles, cyberware, living expenses etc...

I disagree with notoriety being a negative to pay.

Most Johnson’s are not moral beings and wont care if you have a tendency to kill more than necessary or have been known to work with dragons. High notoriety will affect the type of job you get offered more than the pay rate. Expect more wet work and property devaluation and less zero profile runs if you have high notoriety.

I consider the minimum pay to be what you can sell one commuter car for on the black market per runner per week the run will make you keep your head down for + danger money. That is determined buy basic economics, if I’m not getting that then I am better of stealing cars.

Edward

I figure that about the best my players should be able to count on, at least early on, is a medium lifestyle, and that only by sacrificing advancement. So I work things out such that they are offered about 5k each per month, plus expenses. It might be one 10k per job every two months, or two 2.5k jobs in the same month, but the rate comes out about the same. The Johnson offers to paysome, but not all expenses.

Now, that doesn't account for negotiation. The J will pay 5% more for each net success the players get, escalating to a 50%-100% (depending on the job) bonus for a critical success.

This means that, if my players are crack negotiators (so far they are), they can just barely manage a high lifestyle with critical successes and no gear advancement. Most opt for a low-medium lifestyle, and some new gear. As they gain better reps, they'll get better offers, and thus be able to upgrade their lifestyles and/or their gear.

http://forums.dumpshock.com/index.php?show...=11906&hl=money

remember: A run should always pay more than stealing a luxury car, which is much more easier and less lethal.