I'm just full of questions ... mainly because I've never figured out a place to get them answered other than myself. I've got a bit more rules knowledge than my GM even. But there was this question ...

When you do a custom lifestyle, how do you determine starting cash?

What I've always done is take the starting cash for the closest two levels, rolled, calculated, and averaged the result to get starting cash, but I'm wondering if there's a more supported method ... and just what other people do.

The Build point table for custome lifestyles provides you with the threshold level for each category:

<5: Street
5 or higher: Squatter
10 or higher: Low
15 or higher: Middle
20 or higher: High
30 or higher: Luxury

I would use those.

So if you're almost at Middle, you use Low?

(As an aside: I'm not that dumb, but I love having things fully clarified out to the 18th decimal point. Under a blue moon.)

If you sum 12 lifestyle points, you would be living on Low

10 through 14 use Low
at 15 use Middle

And I as a GM would say, "Yes. Find a one point quality if you REALLY want your starting cash to be SLIGHTLY higher."

As a semi-official answer, I will say that you get the starting cash of your lifestyle (as D2F states), and if you are almost at Middle, you still get Low. That's how Adam and I have answered in the past when this question comes up (as the two authors who wrote Lifestyles rules).

Actually the answer is in RC. It says to use the value associated with your base lifestyle (Ie, before qualities). It doesn't mention rounding up or down, but I figure you'd always go down. So a lifestyle with 4 'high' categories and 1 middle would roll on middle, though you could perhaps convince your GM to count it as high.

But do the qualities count, or not? -- Joel

No, that's what I just said.

Is there a Runner's Companion errata that I've missed downloading somewhere? 'Cause I read almost the entire chapter and can't find it.

Although now I have my question answered and can rule correctly whenever I do run a game. Yay! (If I ever run a game.)

EDIT: I do miss the heck out of things sometimes. 'Cause I missed for the longest time the markup that contacts give you for goods until someone pointed it out.

I can't find it now I just checked because I knew someone would ask, but I can't for the life of me find it now.... I think it might be somewhere obscure, like a sidebar or something because I didn't realize the rule was in there for a long time, then I suddenly found it while reading around one day and now I can't find it again.... maybe it only appears when you really need it