My thoughts from another thread (best forgotten *giggle*)
QUOTE ("bannockburn")
A Johnson in my games would [...] allow for another 10-20% depending on negotiation successes.
Concrete example: Ace Team X takes 20k each for a standard run. The Johnson is in a bind and needs it done NOW! He offers 22,5k (nice round numbers) and the runners can go up to 27k (translated to between 500 and 1000 nuyen more per net success).
I also use similar modifiers as were already posted and approve of those wholeheartedly. Extra wishes cost extra money, after all and that should be understandable for a professional Johnson looking for a pro team.
Now, here's the kicker: I look at what the Johnson is paying in total. In the example above, taking a team of seven, this would amount to 189k nuyen, if we assume max hits and the J. maxing out his credit limit.
WHY is there a credit limit? Because the illegal operation needs to be worthwhile for the Johnson. He pays someone to commit a crime for him, and this is dangerous. So, in my eyes, he needs to make at least 3 times what he offered, or, in the given example around 570k nuyen, be it in money, favors, knowledge or whatever. If his profit margin falls below that, he'll simply tell the runners "Thank you for your time, now take a walk."
Usually, I plan payment in a run according to the karma I'll be giving them in the end, to eyeball the amount. A relatively easy run worth 4 Karma may pay 10k nuyen, while a hard one may pay up to 30k. This figure is further modified by a) street rep (the higher it is, the higher the base payment, I usually eyeball 1k per point) b) notoriety (same as with street rep. a team known for sometimes going overboard with their violence will suffer in their payment when they're offered a stealth job) and c) the environment I want the run to play.
Examples for c) may be:
- A ship on open sea. Difficult to get there means higher payment.
- Offered by a dragon. Runners don't like to work for the lizards, higher payment may soothe the nagging feelings of doubt
- On another continent. Travel arrangements, comfort zone, getting gear, all modifiers.
- Hostile environment. If you go to a toxic zone, special equipment is needed and health hazards abound.
Another concrete example of my thought process in creating an adventure:
Ace, the super pro gunslinger has 10 street rep. He also has a knack for leaving signs of his involvement, because he's arrogant. So far his arrogance has not caught up with him, but he's got 3 notoriety.
He's offered a run. By Hestaby. He needs to go to Chicago and get a thingamajig.
I expect the adventure to rake in between 8 and 10 Karma, so I go with 9 as an average. 9*2500 = 22500 base value.
Now, this is a dragon offering it, so I'll add 10% to the base value, getting us up to 24750
Chicago isn't the friendliest of places, but the runners are able to bring their own gear at least. Another 10% => 27000
Then we have Ace's street cred of 10, bringing the final number to 37k? That's a bit much. Let's go with 500 this time, 32k. His notoriety won't get in the way, being in Chicago he doesn't need to be real subtle.
So, 30k is what the Johnson finally offers, because Ace has another 4 guys in his team and 150k looks good on the spreadsheet. Maybe they'll negotiate him up to 35k, but this is the Johnson's limit in this case and he won't go higher, as he needs to make half a million for his boss.