Am I the only one who thinks it's silly to have to get a lot of money to have a lot of contacts?
One of the best things about the becks system is buying contacts with karma.
Does anyone have good ideas for how to do it with build points or the priority system?

I'm thinking something like:
Level one contacts, 2 for 1 build point
Level two contactm 1 for 1 build point
Level three contact, 1 for 5 build points

How about this:

Level 1: 1 for 1 BP
Level 2: 1 for 2 BP
Level 3: 1 for 5 BP

Sometimes you just don't need that extra L1 contact...

depending on where you are on the resources poll, that may be irrelevant. imagine you've taken 400k, and now you want a level 3 contact, you could spend 5 points to get one, or 5 points to get an extra 250k and then spend the extra 50 on something else.
same if you needed 2 level 2s and a level 1, that's 45k right there, 5 points in resources will get y0u MUCH more than that

That's probably why they didn't introduce it to BP. It was too much of a varied situation for resources. In some cases, the 5 BP could get you way more than the 200k you'd need for an L3, but in some cases, it wouldn't even scratch the surface.

Kind of why I don't like BeCKS, either. 1) Generally makes weaker characters 2) Buying Contacts with Karma isn't always a good thing

Treat them as Edges & Flaws. Extra Contact (Level 1) already exists for 1 BP. Double the cost for Level 2, then use 15 BP for a Level 3 (since that's the equivalence of 200,000 nuyen). Just consider all of them a single Edge who's cost is reflected in their total value (thus leaving you with 4 more slots to spend on Edges).

Despite Bethyaga's beliefs to the contrary, Level 3 contacts should not be cheap. They're way more than just another contact; they're a follower and a friend of life. Few people ever even have one person in their life that they can say that about, let alone several.

I'd also continue to let players buy contacts with Resources.

I tend to assign contacts based on background instead of letting players buy them. Anyone else do that?

I do on occasion, but then again I tend to go through the entire chargen process with each player on an individual basis.

I jsut hate it when I have a character idea, complete with several people who would be level 2 and 3 contacts, and don't have the resources to afford it. *laughs*. Granted it jsut means I have to drop even more skills, but it's still hard. Esp. when you're trying to build a decker, hehe! (since the resources are needed sorely for everything else under the sun)

That's always going to be true. Juggling your Resources (which a Contact most definitely is) is just the same as juggling all the other aspects of your character. You can't always be the best at everything; if you have a bunch of contacts, you're going to suffer in other areas.

As to Backgammon's question, no, I never do that. It's unfair to the other players. Anyone can jot down a few reasons as to why they would have close friends or good buddies, and giving them such valuable resources for free is just not fair. You might as well give them anything they want at that point as long as they include it in their background, and it quickly becomes a competition to see which players can write the most stuff into their backgrounds.

RPGs are Roleplaying Games. If you focus on one side of the coin -- Roleplaying vs. Gaming -- more than the other, it takes something from the beauty of the hobby. You're either wargaming or partaking in improv stage acting... two completely different hobbies.

We never made any difference in level among contacts; 5000 a pop.
It could be a sleazebag on the street whom you loathe but but you both have mutual business interests, an old cousin in LS or your long-time childhood friend selling fancy cars in Downtown.
Since contacts don't come up that often (maybe two or three all in all per group and run) paying 200K for a friend would have fast rendered our group pretty lonely in life... Nevertheless, we'd yet to come up with a 'best friend oyabun' or 'military cache supervisor whom I've saved twice', and I doubt we ever would.

For me i tend to find about 50% of my characters contacts are only there to flesh out the character, House mates, Clubing friends. Basically people outside the "job"

Also again i tend to find i have a 2:1 ratio on contacts:buddys.

Not once have i seen or brought myself a FFL. gained (and awarded) a couple in game, but never at character gen.

Just my thoughts.