THE GOING RATE: How Much To Pay Your Runner Team
By Robert Derie

The Going Rate
Part of the setting in a campaign is the going rate, or how much a Mr. Johnson can expect to have to shell out to get a particular job done. Like any other part of the economy, the going rate is determined by supply and demand. If the streets are swarming with wannabes, a team of shadowrunners might have to fight just to get a low-paying job; if a particular runner team is the only one in the sprawl that can get the job done, they can expect higher rates.
No matter the job, the Mr. Johnson, or the reputation of the team, the price offered for a run should be commensurate with the difficulties the shadowrunners should expect to face. Shadowrunners undertake dangerous, illegal actions that can result in injury, prison, or death, and they expect proper compensation.
There is no magic formula that can tell a gamemaster exactly how much her group of players should get per run, but a good rule of thumb is to base it on the cost of the average lifestyle in her campaign. Keep in mind that shadowrunners usually only manage one shadowrun per month, so average runs should at least cover the monthly payment for that character, plus a little extra to cover the runners’ expenses incurred during the run. Difficult or very dangerous shadowruns should set the character up for a couple of months at their current lifestyle, or a month at the next higher lifestyle. Details on lifestyle costs can be found on page 261 in Shadowrun, Fourth Edition. Characters who wish to maintain a higher lifestyle than the average you set for your campaign can do so–all they have to do is work more often or pursue higher-paying jobs. Many campaigns creep toward higher lifestyles as characters become more powerful and the scope of runs increases.
It is up to the gamemaster to provide players with the proper incentive to accept a Mr. Johnson’s offer without disrupting the balance of the campaign. A gamemaster who consistently offers low fees for dangerous work frustrates her players, while “sugar daddy” gamemasters who give too much nuyen for too little effort often find their campaigns running out of control.

Negotiation
In the stereotypical shadowrun, the players sit rapt in attention as the gamemaster, in the persona of Mr. Johnson, delivers the pitch. After she’s finished, it’s time for the fun part: haggling. Most players have come to expect (and enjoy) a bit of dickering over the price. While ideally the negotiations should be roleplayed between the gamemaster (as Mr. Johnson) and the face or spokesman of the group–after all, social situations are where face characters excel–the relevant rules for negotiations can be found on p.121 of Shadowrun, Fourth Edition. Gamemasters should keep in mind the Social Modifiers Table on p.122 as well; most professional Mr. Johnsons are Neutral to any shadowrunners they are hiring, though racist or biased Mr. Johnsons may start out as Prejudiced or even Hostile. If the Mr. Johnson is planning to betray the runners, they may accede to the runners demands after token resistance.
Only the most inexperienced Mr. Johnsons offer the full amount they are willing to pay in their initial offer. A good rule of thumb is to have Mr. Johnson initially offer 80-85% of the total, and then bargain with the characters, raising the price by 5% for every net hit the shadowrunner scores, and lowering the price 5% for every net hit the Mr. Johnson. Players feel a sense of accomplishment if they can raise the price up 15-20%, never knowing that they are being paid no more than what Mr. Johnson expected to pay them. Mr. Johnsons do not have limitless resources, however, and no Mr. Johnson will raise the price over 120-125% of what they intended to pay the runners.
If the runners repeatedly attempt to raise the price after the Mr. Johnson has signaled the end of the negotiations, remind them that Mr. Johnson can walk out and find plenty of other shadowrunners to do his dirty work for the price he offers.

The Advance
As a show of good faith, cover necessary expenses, and “sweeten the pot” during negotiations, a Mr. Johnson will typically advance each of the runners 10-15% of their pay up front. Player characters may negotiate to increase the percentage of their pay upfront with another Negotiation test, as outlined above, with each net hit increase or decreasing the size of the advance by 5%. Under no conditions will a Mr. Johnson advance the player characters more than 50% of their final take.

Alternate Forms of Payment
A Mr. Johnson will give a runner team as much information and assistance he deems necessary to get the assignment done. Reasonable expenses are acceptable, provided the shadowrunners had the foresight to include them in the negotiations, and the interests that the Mr. Johnson represents (if he does not represent his own) may be able to assist the characters with semi-specialized equipment or information. This is especially true if the runners are in a foreign sprawl or country, where they lack the contacts to obtain basic gear. If the shadowrunners make absurd requests or require Mr. Johnson to ferret out information they should be able to obtain on their own, their fee should be reduced accordingly.
When nuyen isn’t sufficient by itself, a Mr. Johnson may sweeten the pot by offering gear or services that shadowrunners could not easily obtain on their own. Megacorps and syndicates could swap out weapons, programs and equipment (at –20-50% of the listed price) in exchange for nuyen, while a magical group might offer instruction, access to their facilities, magical goods, or even a grimoire of spell formulae. If player characters include a request for certain items in the negotiation process, most Mr. Johnsons are ready and willing to agree–provided they have access to such equipment, of course.
In street level campaigns, a person or group without sufficient cred may try to hire the runner team by trading goods and services. Such runs make excellent roleplaying opportunities, and the gamemaster should be careful in making the payoff worth it to the runners in the end. A group of player characters who save a restaurant from a gang might be able to eat their for free for a month, taking 5% off their lifestyle costs, while a team that saves the gunsmith’s kidnapped daughter from being raped might earn a Major Favor (See Favors, p. 280, Shadowrun, Fourth Edition).
Variety is the spice of life, as they say, and being paid by Mr. Johnson is no exception. Every now and again, a Mr. Johnson may not pay the runners with certified credsticks or wire the nuyen directly into a bank account under one of the runners’ assumed names. A Mr. Johnson could show up with a suitcase filled with bundles of old nuyen notes–or even foreign currencies like CAS dollars or Quebec francs. Corporate Mr. Johnsons may pay runners in corporate scrip, a type of currency issued and redeemed by one of the Big Ten megacorporations, and which can be used (if you have the right fake ID) to shop at corporate stores (which usually have –20-50% discounts on select equipment, and only accept corporate scrip). In some sprawls, underworld markers and corporate or government bonds are the preferred payment, which the runners can redeem for nuyen from whoever issued them. Mr. Johnsons in corporate employ are particularly fond of paying runners in stock, as it discourages shadowrunners from doing anything that will reduce the company’s stock price (at least, until the runners manage to sell the stock). Runners without the time or patience to deal with alternate forms of payment can exchange them for nuyen through a fixer.
Non-tangible payment can take the form of information (where the runner’s friend is being held, the passcode to a datacrèche with material to blackmail the local district attorney, the schedule of the next shipment of Ares weapons coming in on the docks, etc.), a valid SIN, a six-month DocWagon contract, or an introduction to a potential contact.

The Paymaster
In most Shadowrun campaigns, the player characters will be employed and paid by a Mr. Johnson. Some campaigns may have someone else footing the bill for the characters: government and megacorporate agents will receive steady paychecks and be issued (or able to check out) equipment as needed; a group of syndicate enforcers may be given a piece of territory to run as a reward for proving themselves; and legitimate private investigators, mercenaries, and security consultants have standardized rates for their customers.
If the character receives a regular stipend of paycheck, it should be a monthly allotment suitable to maintain the characters at a given lifestyle, or a lifestyle will be provided (on a megacorporate or government installation, for example); the higher they get in the ranks, the higher the lifestyle, the more perks, and the better quality of toys, training, and equipment they have access to. Player characters that work for syndicates are usually initiated members (“Made” members of the Mafia, Yazuka kobun, etc.) and are “taken care of” by the syndicate; most or all of their lifestyle costs will be paid for through favors and services owed to the syndicate. Additionally, syndicate members typically receive a cut of the take in any robbery or illegal operation they take part in. Private investigator and mercenary campaigns operate much like shadowruns, but all negotiations are legal and the players will need to sign formal contracts to seal the deal.

Bonuses and Penalties
At the end of a shadowrun, when the players meet with Mr. Johnson again to settle up, it’s common for the players to be assessed bonuses and penalties based on their performance. If the players have done well and accomplished all the aspects of their mission within the parameters, Mr. Johnson may give them a small (5-10% of payment for the run) bonus. A tip, basically. It is also typical that a Mr. Johnson may purchase any useful paydata or items of interest to his employer at this time, which saves the runners from going to their fence. Runners who fail to complete one or more parts of the mission, or who act in an unprofessional matter and cause needless secondary damage will find their Mr. Johnson unwilling to pay the full amount (–5-10% per infraction, to a maximum of 50% unless the runners totally bollix things up).
It is a fact of life in the shadows that most runners end their careers dead or maimed. If negotiated ahead of time, a Mr. Johnson may pay a set amount toward hospital fees or to the fallen runner’s family. Mr. Johnsons who have not agreed to this obligation will pay the original amount to the team, to be split as they desire, or even pay each living runner their share and pocket the change.

The Bottom Line
The bottom line is the absolute minimum payment professional runners should expect to receive for different services. The table below is included as a reference for gamemasters to use in their games. Gamemasters are recommended to use the table as a guide when adjusting payments to fit their campaigns.
If the shadowrunners ever need to hire anyone else to do something for them, these are the minimum prices they can expect to pay for their fellow shadowrunners’ services.

CODE
BASELINE SHADOWRUN PAYMENT TABLE
Assassination 5,000¥
Bodyguard/Security Duty 200¥ per day
Burglary 2,000¥
Courier Run 1,000¥
Datasteal 20% value of data
Distraction 1,000¥
Destruction 5,000¥
Enforcement 1,000¥
Encryption/Decryption 200¥ x Encryption Rating
Extraction 20,000¥
Hacking 1,000¥ x Firewall
Investigation 200¥ per day
Smuggling Run 5,000¥

Like any other part of the economy, the going rate is determined by supply and demand.