I'm tossing some ideas around for expanding and defining fixers.

If anyone is interested in participating, drop me a line.

-Siege

What kind of ideas are you looking at here? It's crossed my mind to do this before, such as defining means of contact (matrix only, just show up at X location, etc) and specific item acquisition uses, but I dropped it.

One really good suggestion I saw is have a diverse 'access' rating to show how good the fixer is at getting different things. This would serve as sort of a modifier against availlability for getting something specific like weapons, biotech, computer gear etc. (so someone who's really good at getting guns might suck at getting computer parts, for instance).

Fixers are relatively ambiguous in their definition. They "get stuff" that other people want but have certain obstacles in obtaining the desired product.

The general fixer is a "go to" guy that knows a bunch of different people and will tack on a 5% surcharge (random markup) for obtaining the stuff you want.

However, people who deal with specific goods (or services) are more likely to have a product on stock in a warehouse or stash point to the exclusion of things not within their field of expertise.

Examples: drug dealers will have a stash of stuff to sell. Sometimes they specialize depending on customer needs, sometimes they will have a little bit of everything if they have a wider client base.

Arms dealers will probably have a stock of common weapons, weapon accessories and ammo. Now, the rarer the item, it becomes less likely they would have this in stock.

Why Specialists?
A samurai who burns through ammo on a semi-daily basis would rather deal with a specialist who stocks ammo and weapons, rather than a generic "go to" guy.

The "go to" guy adds another layer of handling, expense and complication.

Mechanical Benefits
A specialist dealing in firearms would either have commonly requested items in stock or get a bonus in trying to find items in their perview.

-Siege

So.. we're talking about an Acquisition(Speciality) skill that would be roled VS avail of the item in question?

You might want to check this out for ideas, or for use.

Nerps Underworld: Fixers

Something like that:

Stock or Acquisition vs Availability of item

An arms dealer (specialized source) would get a -2 bonus to the Availability of an item in that field of specialty (ammo or a smartgun link), but suffer a +2 penalty to find anything else (like a medkit).

-Siege

Edit:
http://www.geocities.com/tmedina_01/fixers_2.htm

That's a rough breakdown of some of my ideas.

Fixers already have a specific skill they use --> without consulting my BBB, I thought it was "Acquisition" or something similar. (I could be mistaken)

Etiquette just seems a little too generic for my taste.

-Siege

Jes' Rating Your Fixers artcile could give you some good ideas.

NERPS Underworld also had a section on fixers, IIRC.

I have to agree with Siege about the Etiquette thang but don't want to derail the topic as the issue of the Etiquette skill has already been thoroughly hashed out in previous threads.

Suffice to say that I don't use the Etiquette skill in the games I run for gear acquisition. My players RP downtime as well as the runs themselves so they RP their meetings with fixers (or any other NPCs for that matter) which I feel brings a lot more life to the game instead of just rolling dice with a bunch of cardboard cutout NPCs. I have good fixers and bad fixers and my players find out which they are over time.

My players also go to specialist contacts when they can but keep in touch with good fixers because a good fixer is still a vital cog in the works - a good fixer has a network of contacts and if he can't get something (whether gear or information) from one contact, he can get it from another (depending on how good he is).

I don't use a game mechanic for resolving such things. A lot of times, I wing things as long as they make sense based on the Availability ratings and other times, I roll the fixer's negotiations skill or give them something the "Acquisitions" skill that Siege mentioned.

Any fixer should have:
Ettiquette (everything)
Scrounge
Negotiations (blackmail)
Negotiations (blatant lie) - for telling the runners how much something costs, how much a job is worth, etc.
and a huge list of contacts.

... Don't forget:

horrible deodarant
bad taste in suits
cheesy sunglasses

... oh, that's a pimp I'm thinking about ...

Ahhhh. Ok, I see now. You're looking at a Fixer who knows exactly which of their contacts has the thing he's looking for, and is just trying to get the best deal for it. If that's the case, then I agree completely that Etiquette isn't appropriate; it's Negotiation all the way in that situation.

There are really two disjointed mechanics involved, Etiquette and Negotiations. The idea of rolling Etiquette to determine if your fixer has an item to sell you is kind of odd. I guess the roll should really represent what kind of profit margin the fixer is willing to work on for you. While the fixer knows for a fact he can track down the PAC, he might not be able to turn more than a 5% profit on the deal and have all of these potential legal hassles from it. If he really, really likes you, he might be willing to go through with it. For most folks, though, he won't be willing to do it for less than 25%, etc.

So, there should really be two halves to the gear aquisition equation. First of all, how much the fixer wants to help you. Money is always good, but some money isn't worth the price. So the PC rolls an Etiquette test against the availability of the item (ostensiably representing the legal hassels, etc., posed in getting it). The fixer is willing to work on 50% commission -5% per success x contact level. So a rating 2 fixer asked for an item with 3 successes might be willing to work for just 20% commission. This makes it much more likely that he will be able to get it for you. The current mechanic for lowering the availability works here, too, though you should probably add the extra SI money straight onto the fixer's profit margin.

The second half is determining what it's going to cost the fixer on his end. Doing so would probably equate to the use of a "supply" contact or three. Roll twice the contact rating against half of the availability of the item. No successes means the fixer can get the item, but it'll be at street prices, meaning a 0% profit margin (something that would only happen with a big favor or a lot of graft on top). Each success would lower the SI of the item by .5 (or .25 if the SI is under 1, SI can't get below .25).

It's a half working idea, which I might flesh out more later.

Well you see, for me, all of these things are assumptions already built into the rules. It's what the Etiquette roll for the player character is for (to see if they can convince the Fixer or other contact to go through the hassle of finding the desired items for you; or the Fixer sweet talking his own contacts to see if he can find someone with said item), the Street Index (the mark-up the player has to pay for the services rendered), and Negotiation (to try and wiggle a better deal out of the Fixer, or the Fixer doing the same with his contacts if you insist on micromanaging all of that). It's the primary point of all three of those mechanics, so overcomplicating that seems kinda silly. Simple elegance always works best. The fun comes in just describing what's going on during the game.

You just have to remember that all of the base rules are in reference to the player characters. Fixers and other NPCs don't have to worry (as much) about Street Index ratings and whatnot.

However, I do also require players to include some specialties for broader contact archetypes like the Fixer. Some may be better at dealing with milspec gear and weapons, while others may be better at handling magical goods, while others yet might focus on fake IDs and smuggling people and goods across borders. In such cases, I treat the Fixer as having an "aptitute" for purposes of the Availability of the items within their specialties; basically, lowering the TNs for the player's Etiquette rolls and whatnot to see if the Fixer can acquire said goods. Otherwise, they use all the standard rules for everything else. If a desired item or service is contrary to the contact's specialty (or the player included some of their own in the contact's description), they suffer an "incompetent" penalty along the same vein.

Then again, maybe I'm just not understanding the main gist of the recent discussion. It's been known to happen.

No, I think we're all kinda-sorta heading in the same direction.

I say that the general "fixer" as presented doesn't really work in the context it's presented.

The same "fixer" who deals in firearms is going to deal in BTLs, decker software and medical supplies? Probably not.

Arms dealer (Fixer): deals in weapons. Small arms, heavy weapons -- it depends on the dealer in question.

Drug dealer (Fixer): deals in drugs, probably BTLs as well.

Medical supplier (Fixer): deals in medical supplies, cyberware implants and possibly bioware implants

All of the above are "Fixers" but identifying them by the same name is misleading. Specialists like the arms dealer will probably have a stockpile or warehouse of goods like any other merchant.

By comparison, the generic fixer as presented makes phone calls to acquire goods or services and adds a surchage for "finding" the item.

Now, why not just deal directly with the person who routinely handles the kind of good or service you need? Doesn't it make more sense for a merc to have an arms dealer contact? Someone who routinely stocks ammo and common weapons for her clients?

-Siege

Edit: My proposed fix was to give a specialist a -2 bonus to obtain items pertaining to their specialty. Conversely, a specialist trying to find something outside of their concentration suffers +2 penalty.

Example: An arms dealer checks his stock for a Colt Manhunter. Standard Availability: 4. With his bonus, the availability is TN 2. Odds are, the dealer has some in stock.

Now, if the arms dealer is trying to get a medkit, Availability: 2. Trying to get one from his usual sources, his TN becomes 4.

I did somehting very similar. Specialists sell things for listed street indexes and times, but only really deal well in their area of expertise. Fixers are far more rare, and deal in EVERYTHING, but usually double (or more) the base cost, and add some time. keep adding multipliers the sooner the characters need it. Fixers also by canon specialize in fake ID's. That's the item they specialize in, no penalties from getting those froma fixer.

I play real fixers as the Uber Face of the shadows. They rarely meet in person, and are sick paranoid. They also largely deal in information, keeping several or many info brokers on payroll. They usually deal through intermediaries.

Bit -- two things:

1) How did that effect your game? Using the specialists you mentioned.

2) The next time you're in your local hobby shop, take a look at CP2020's "WildSide" source book. I'd be interested in your insight.

-Siege

2) Hobby stores in my area generally SUCK!!! They carry nothing but White Wolf and D&D. I have to order all my Shadowrun online. I don't think I've seen a CP book for sale here in a long time. and It's a major city, go figure.

1) And this change had a positive impact on my games. Previously my PC's went to a fixer for EVERYTHING, and so never took many contacts. This diversified their contact list greatly, giving me a lot more to work with. Furthermore, it made actual fixers a lot more valuable and offered a cash sink for some items, because the fixer can almost always get somehting, just it takes a while and it costs 4 tons of nuyen. Also this allowed me to shift Fixers towards the nameless faceless entities that I think they should be, pulling strings in the shadows. Even the fixers they think they know in person they know may just be a face for the actual head honcho somewhere. It also serves to make the transactions less personal and more shadowy, which is always good for atmosphere. I try to be big on that.

[edit]in my game the entirity of seattle only has maybe half a dozen real fixers, if that. most of them deal equally to any organization, and as a result are conflict neutral and hitting out at a fixer is a big ass no no. People have died for someone screwing with "their" fixer, and they didn't charge for the job.

Also the fixers usually know more about his customers then they know about themselves. nearly all of my fixers are heavily shadowland connected. Almost exclusively they are older people that have survived the shadows in one way or another... Well... With the exception of Danzig, who is a fixer that in reality is a SK/AI that fixes. None of the characters (or any other people int he world) know that though, as he never ever deals directly. They just think he deals through a voice mask. It's easy to get good when you can reroute the shipments yourself
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