QUOTE (toturi @ Jul 27 2010, 06:31 AM)

Which kind of real people? After a tough exercise, all I want to do is to lie in bed and sleep till it is time for dinner. Some guys I know unwind reading in a library.
The kind of people who, after a successful run, make more money in a week's worth of prepwork than a part-time wageslave makes in a months work.
I'm assuming that, say, after splitting the fee with the party, a runner is walking off with between 3-5k of profit, minimum.
The point being that, in the world of SR, runners DO make a lot of money in a fairly short timespan. Well, compared to everyone else.
QUOTE (Smokeskin @ Jul 27 2010, 06:24 AM)

Tthe problem I see here is that players can trade a solely short-term punishment of no Edge refreshed for the next run for the longterm benefit of more implants.
I also prefer an actual mechanic, rather than having them guess at what I'm satisfied with. Do you have some set numbers for your system, or do you just make a judgement call based on their downtime activities?
I don't currently, but it seemed like a good idea to mention, so I did. Been thinking about how to flesh it out, and make it work.
Were I to actually USE this in the game I would probably do a few things:
The first would be to straight out rip off World of Darknesses Nature and Demeanor rules. For those that aren't in the know, the system has a Willpower stat for players, that works similiarly to edge. There are various archetypes for Nature/Demeanor which are short personality snippets or guides to how you act around people, from the bleeding heart to the jock asshole. Demeanor represents how you act around other people. Nature is a character's true motivation. Players get a willpower back when they go out of their way to indulge their Nature. My memory's a little fuzzy, but I don't think you get any back for indulging a demeanor.
So I'd steal that mechanic, and ask each player to give me a short summary of their characters primary motivations, file it away, and hand out a single point back if their character goes out of the way to stick to their metaphorical guns. Include a little consideration for their backstory and flaws, and compensate a little for players accomplishing things important to their character, and to the story, such as actually finding a Lost Loved One. I wouldn't actually hold out an entirely different games rulebook to someone and say 'hey, pick these really quick', but the mechanic could/should feel familiar.
The second one would be to make a short table, about the size of the object resistance table, from 1 to...oh, say, three or four, and ending with All. This list would be a table of severity, example of things to do to get X edge back - you know, kind of like the SR4 books have Threshold tables for various things - except for Edge Refreshement. Just a little list of amounts and examples. I'm not entirely sure what I would put at each level, but there are two things I'd do for sure.
The first would be to hand out 1 freebie edge back at the start of each, physical gaming session.(because a single Campaign or Run can stretch out over a few sessions). At the beginning of each new fresh, whole In-character Run/Campaign, everyone would start with a full edge, but keeping in mind that a run includes Prepwork, calling contacts, fleecing people for information, and isn't just hitting the target and getting out - there's other stuff to do as well, and it should take a few days to put together and get in motion.
Secondly, I'd leave room for the GM's touch. If I feel that a Run or situation was particularly stressful, or that a player went out of their way with IC effort or money to unwind, I'd shift the edge recovery up or down by 1 in either direction. For example, the 'always have a low lifestyle and save all money for cyberware' characters people have been complaining about.
Third, I'd explain the Advanced Lifestyle Rules to all my players, and make sure they use them. Because the carrot is better than the stick, and some of the advanced options are -good-, and give players an incentife to move up. When the mage realizes 'holy shit, I can get a house that gives +2 to everything I do in my magical lodge?' they're going to start looking for ways to pay for an lifestyle with an Aspected Domain. Same thing for a hacker/mechanic with Fung Shui.
Fourth, and something I think this thread needs in general to be pointed out is..... You can bill your lifestyle for things. You don't -have- to pay for everything out of pocket. Lifestyle covers more things than just a house, though this really only comes into play at Middle+.
Necessities covers Food/Drink and Clothes. Here's some examples from the book: Middle: Bottled water, occasional real food on special occasions, Mortimer of London/Vashon island stuff that was on sale. High: Includes expensive dairy products such as milk or chocolate, berwick suits, some jewelry, and even a Zoe suit or too. Luxury, on the other hand, is just ridiculous.
Entertainment covers what you do for fun when you go out. For example, Middle covers CableTV(or the sr equivalent) subscriptions, eating out at chain restaurants, season tickets to sporting events or music concerts, frequent datenights, and an annual vacation such as a 5-day cruise, as well as minor cosmetic surgery like tummytucks and nosejobs. High nets you exclusive clubs, front-row seats, weekend hops to ski resorts, and gene therapy now and again. Luxury level is, frankly, ridiculous - if you can afford it.
Its also worth noting that Comforts nets you free house drones, and any lifestyle worth 20 points or more gets a free, plain, onmodded Car of some sort. 25LP+ gets you two cars and a chauffer for them.
More or less, with the Advanced Lifestyles, Low doesn't get you crap, the benefits start to kick in at High, and middle has a little leeway either way.
The most compelling reason to get a Good lifestyle is.... because you can bill your lifestyle for stuff.
You> Hey, i've got an actual Sin, and I'd like to go get some allergen immunization for my moderate pollution allergy with my doctor contact.
GM> Alright, you'll have to make the availability test to set up an appointment, and deal with regular treatments until its done, but sure. How many points is the allergy?
You> Uh. *checking sheet* 15?
GM> Right. At 5 grand times bp, thats... seventy five grand? I don't think you can afford that?
You> Nope. Luxury entertainment. That covers gene therapy and doctors visits...and i've got a Gold Docwagon, which nets gets me ten percent of extended care through docwagon, so.... yeah. I'm good.
GM> Fuck.
The point being, if you have the means to pay for a good lifestyle, you should, so you can stop paying for the menial day to day shit. Thats what lifestyles are -for-.
The thing I need help with is... ideas and input. Were we to make a small list of things to do to get edge back,(you know, small list, little examples, a fairly quick guideline), well, what should go on it? What is worth one edge? Two? How much of a vacation do you need to take to come back completely recharged and ready to work? Some runners head out of town after big jobs to let the heat blow over. How good should that be? Does it need statting?
That kind of thing.