For some reason, I was under the impression Rhex had 8 points of Non-Structural Damage. He just took a bullet to his drone brain, from what I remember, rather than falling out of the sky.

It is interesting, in that it probably is more than likely Psychological rather than Physiological, in that there aren't any drugs or chemicals that your body is taking in. Honestly not sure why they are addictive, unless it is a feeling of superiority and just being "better" than you are without them.

That being said, you don't have an addiction, which means that there is no craving to use them during downtime. That means that if you don't use them during the downtime, then you shouldn't even have to make a test, as the threshold will drop to 0 rather easily.

Crap, you are correct - somehow I had his Willpower as 3, not 2.

Fortunately, looking back at the dice rolls, it only affects one roll, and that was the one where he needed 2 hits and got 3, so losing the extra die didn't hurt him.

While it may be a death sentence for Grease eventually, it isn't that unrealistic for someone with that low of a Willpower

Considering how not awesome they are, I don't get why they are addictive either from a balance perspective. I can see the psychological addiction that could be caused by having your actions/thoughts overwritten. There's probably a dopamine/endorphin effect in there somewhere, but that would almost lead me to thinking it could be physiological. I'm good with just saying its psychological and hope I never run into a situation where I can't avoid using them for the necessary period.



OK, so, by your reading, once the Threshold hits 0, the need for a test is void? I have seen it viewed two ways: the test goes away entirely once the Threshold hits 0 or the Threshold stays at 0 unless you use again before the Addiction Test would be required (which would reset the Threshold). I'm happy with the former!

Correct:

Post #3153 shows the Rotodrone as having 4 structural and 1 non structural damage on it. Rhex has 8 boxes of non-structural damage.

So, here are the rules to fix them:

Physical Damage.

All physical damage is categorized as two types: Structural and Non-Structural.

Non-structural damage would be bullets, electric shock, anything that leaves the structural integrity of the drone intact.
Structural damage includes explosives, fire, and crashes - damage which will destroy the chassis itself and force you to replace wholesale sections of the drone.

Cost:
Non-Structural damage costs 1% of the cost of the drone to repair per box.
Structural damage costs 5% of the cost of the drone to repair per box.

Difficulty:
To repair something with 7 or more boxes of damage, every 3 hits repairs 1 box.
To repair something with 4-6 boxes of damage, every 2 hits repairs 1 box.
To repair something with 1-3 boxes of damage, every hit repairs 1 box.

Structural damage increases the difficulty by 1 hit per box.

Example:

Grease has a Rotodrone that has 4 boxes of structural damage, and 4 boxes of nonstructural damage. To repair the first box of non-structural damage, it takes 2 hits. To repair the last 3 boxes of damage, it takes 1 hit per box.

To repair the structural damage, the first box takes 3 hits, and then the last 3 boxes take 2 hits each.

Time:
Non Structural Damage has a base time of 30 minutes
Structural Damage has a base time of 1 hour.

Required Tools
Non-Structural Damage of up to 6 boxes may be done at no penalty with a tool kit.
Non-Structural Damage of 7 or more boxes must be done with a shop, or suffer a -4 dice pool penalty.

Structural Damage of up to 6 boxes may be done at no penalty with a shop.
Structural Damage of 7 or more boxes must be done at a facility or suffer a -4 dice pool penalty.

Glitches and Critical Glitches

If you critically glitch on the roll to repair your device,
that’s it. The device is permanently destroyed.

If you glitch, the device can be restored to
functionality, but it becomes a bit glitchy (the gamemaster
will tell you how at an appropriate moment).

So, assuming you buy the shop, and you want to fix Rhex, it looks like this (this is a sample, not the actual rolls).

Logic + Skill =6 dice.

Since you have the shop, you don't take the 4 dice penalty.

6d6.hits(5)=1

You spend 30 minutes, and heal one box of damage.

Trying again,
5d6.hits(5)=0

You spend another 30 minutes and get nowhere.

Trying again
4d6.hits(5)=0

You fail again (narrowly missing critically glitching)

You can either try again using only 3 dice, or wait 24 hours and start again with all 6 dice.

You will have spent 1 and a half hours and 1%, or 50

I assume he can stop after a certain number of rolls and start up again after a certain threshold of time with a full dice pool, correct? That 4d6 was danger-close to a critical glitch.

ETA: How much would AR schematics cost? That would give him a +2 dice pool. Wouldn't be a bad idea to get schematics for the BMW, the Ford, the Doberman, or the Roto-Drone.

Of course they don't provide a cost

Plans give you a +1
AR Enhanced gives you a +2

Hmm, 10% of the cost of the vehicle/drone for Plans, 20% for AR Enhanced sound fair?

They would be reusable, of course, so if he spent the 1,000 for the AR Enhanced plans for a Doberman, it would help him each time he attempted to fix Rhex (or any other Doberman).

Yes - I think the thing to do would be to tell me the minimum number of dice he would roll before he quit for the day.

Unless vehicle repair manuals have changed significantly over the decades, I'm thinking it should probably be a flat cost regardless of vehicle type (Plans: 500, AR Enhanced Plans: 1,000) with Availability = Item Availability, so it's more difficult to find repair aids for a T-Bird versus an Americar. While a +2 dice pool is significant, the plans only help with one specific use of the B/R skill. To be really realistic, it should be tied to the model year, but I don't think anyone wants to deal with that...

oh- great! That makes it a lot easier.

Grease's shopping list (all items include COLA):

• Berwick Suit. 2,990, availability 9. Armor 9, custom fit, +1 to social limit, -2 to concealability. Wireless: +1 to social tests. Category: Armor
• White Noise Generator, Rating 6. 255, availability 6. Built into Berwick Suit. Category: Surveillance Countermeasures.
• Tag Eraser, 382.5:, availability 6. Built into Berwick suit. Category: Surveillance Countermeasures.
• Bug Scanner, Rating 6. 510, availability 6R. Built into Berwick suit. Category: Surveillance Countermeasures.
• Vehicle Repair Shop. 5,000, availability 8. No category?
• Rent, 3000. Low lifestyle with special work area.
• Rotodrone Manuevering Autosoft, Rating 2. 2,250, availability 4. Category: Programs, etc.
• Rotodrone Stealth Autosoft, Rating 2. 2,250, availability 4. Category: Programs, etc.
• Novacoke, 5 doses. 50, availability 2R. No category?
• Cram, 5 doses. :nuyen : 50, availability 2R. No category?
• Concealable Holster, :nuyen : 187.5, availability 2. Category: Firearms accessories
• AR plans for Doberman, :nuyen : 1,100. Availability 4. Category: Drones
• Fixing Rhex. 400 nuyen.
• 196 regular ammo, 490 nuyen. Category: Ammunition
• Contact lenses with flare compensation, smartlink. 3,445 nuyen, Availability 11R. Category: Vision Enhancers.
• Lunch with Chapel, 200 nuyen.
• Repairing Rotodrone, 1,480 nuyen.

Total cost: :nuyen : 24,040. Remaining: :nuyen : 2,513.

I have posted more emoticons than the board allows, apparently.

I'm totally fine with that, I'll add it to the Vehicle Repair rules.

Plans: 500
AR Enhanced 1000

Availability = Availability of Vehicle/Drone (in this case 4)

I just wanted to get that list out there before I responded to your post.

Speaking of your point, wouldn't I only be 1/3rd of the way towards repairing damage, since "To repair something with 7 or more boxes of damage, every 3 hits repairs 1 box."?

This is all good - you are correct, some of them have no categories and so have no markup.

ETA - did you want to buy the vehicle plans? They will have the same markup as their associated vehicle.



Yes - my bad on that one.

So, assuming you want to fix Rhex and the Rotodrone, what is the minimum number of dice that you want to roll before waiting a day and starting the pool over again?

Just to be clear, those hits carry over, right? So if he gets 6 hits over the course of three or four rolls, that would be two boxes of damage repaired.

I think 4 is probably the low end. I'd want to wait until I had the shop and plans, obviously. I'll get AR plans for both the doberman and the rotodrone (Lord knows I'll be repairing those often enough). I will update my previous post with my purchases in a moment.

Per repairing, I presume these tests are subject to edge. I think what I would like is for the 1st test of a day for repairing Rhex, I'd want to "push the limit" and use my edge. I'd keep 1 edge in reserve in case I needed to reroll failures on one of my tests (or I suppose, I could just save it and prevent a critical glitch, right?)

I'd probably want to repair them sequentially, since I don't want my edge to be used up when I could potentially need it to prevent breaking the thing entirely.

ETA: I added the AR plans to my list, but got rid of the price of repairing Rhex. we can update that after I'm done, presuming I don't break either of them.
ETA2: After I edge my 1st roll, would it make sense for me to just buy 1 hit until I get down to 4 dice? I'd prefer not to break these things, and I have all the time in the world.
ETA3: I'll take those rolls, though! I updated my list to reflect fixing Rhex.

Correct - it isn't a threshold of 3, it is cumulative hits.

I somehow forgot about the reagents.

What price can she get on them? 27 a piece?

I probably have to go back on buying that SIN for Sam =/

In the meantime, she can encourage her to watch a lot of AR educational videos targeted at her age-group.

ETA: About Edge during downtime, I don't mind if we can't do it, but it will affect Amy's summoning attempts. She intends to bind a powerful spirit, and spend probably both edge points on the necessary tests.

So - using Edge during downtime is a no go, too powerful with no downsides.

Grease takes the day to work on Rhex, rolling 8 dice (including the +2 for the AR Enhanced plans) (these are the actual rolls now)
8d6.hits(5)=3

He gets 3 hits, so repairs one box of damage.

That takes 30 minutes, and he tries again.

Down to 7 boxes now:
7d6.hits(5)=3

3 more hits, repairing another box of damage.

Now it is down to 6 boxes:

Six dice
6d6.hits(5)=3

Fixing another box with 1 extra hit.

5 Dice
5d6.hits(5)=3

Wow - Grease is KILLING it today

So those 3 hits, including the 1 extra hit from before, heals 2 more boxes, bringing it down to 3 boxes.

Last roll of the day
4d6.hits(5)=3

Holy CRAP!

Those 3 hits fix all 3 remaining boxes.

Total time elapsed, 2.5 hours, total repair costs, 400

27 each is correct.

The problem with the Rotodrone is that you require a different type of shop to (as it is not a Ground Vehicle).

Did you want to by a 2nd shop?

Also, your Vehicle Repair kit on your character sheet I assume is a Ground Vehicle, not Aeronautic, so you would need to buy a separate kit to fix the Rotodrone)

Because I edited this in late:

About Edge during downtime, I don't mind if we can't do it, but it will affect Amy's summoning attempts. She intends to bind a powerful spirit, and spend probably both edge points on the necessary tests.

As an aside, are we keeping this as the main OOC thread, or are you planning on starting a new one when we start "Best Served Cold"?
-DrZ

EDIT: I'd *really* prefer not to have to buy another shop. What are my penalties without one?
ETA2: Aeronautics mechanic 2, Logic 3, AR plans 2, Edge 2 = 9 dice, -4 for no shop? 5 dice?

Again - Edge during downtime is a no go, too powerful otherwise.

As far as fixing the Rotodrone, you can fix the Non-Structural Damage with just a kit (since it only has 1 box of non-structural damage) - for the Structural Damage, you NEED the shop. You can always bring it to someone to fix, will be much cheaper than buying a new shop.

I will be starting a new IC and OOC thread once the adventure starts. All purchases and upgrades will be done here, and then we'll start fresh with your upgraded characters on the new OOC thread.

I think the intent is that you can't repair structural damage without a shop. You may need to find someone with a repair shop somewhere, probably out near the airport. I think one of the uses of contacts is putting you in touch with other contacts.



This is how I am going to handle the Resource Tracker too. Once we get a final confirmation on money spent, I'll deduct that from the total, wipe out all of the revenue/expenses, and start fresh. Same thing with the ammo and reagents.

Exactly correct

Ok, then I think it's much easier to just try and find someone who can repair the rotodrone for me. I won't buy the AR plans for it then.

-DrZ

ETA: How are we on Ammo for the doberman / rotodrone? I have some extra lying around I could spend to fill them back up a bit, if needed.

I would say that you could go to either Chapel or Sling to try and find a contact to repair the Rotodrone.

Sling would probably get you in touch with a garage/chopshop while Chapel would probably put you in touch with a former rigger.

Your choice.

With regards to ammo, you currently have about 400 rounds left

190 EX and 204 Reg

They're both using ARs, right?

We have 190 rounds of EX ammo from the Roto-Drone's payload. Jack is taking 40 rounds of that for one magazine for his M23. That leaves 150 rounds in the Roto-Drone.

Rhex had 204 rounds of REG ammo when he was popped. We never did anything with that ammo, so he still has it. I'm buying my own REG ammo for my AR since the REG ammo belonged to Grease in the first place.

That include Jack's AR though as well, right?
-DrZ

We cross-posted. See the post above yours for how I see the ammo distribution. Also, it would make a LOT more sense to put REG ammo in the Roto-Drone if you intend to mostly do suppressing fire.

Would it be too gamer-y to try to summon a powerful spirit every day before Amy goes to bed until she gets a lot of services, and then try to bind the spirit on that occasion, because it'll be worth it to spend all those reagents then?

Or wait until we're on a run, hope we have half a day off during that run, like last time, and use that opportunity to summon and bind, spending edge?

That's what I was thinking. I think we keep the EX ammo as a group pool, or in case we know we have to attack a vehicle. Otherwise, I'll load up the 2 drones with regular ammo. I don't think they necessarily have to be full, but 100 each seems a bit light. Is it fair to assume you're OK using only EX in your assault rifle? If that's the case, I'll purchase another 196 regular ammo to put in the drones, so they have 200 each.

@Chrome: I don't think so necessarily. You saw how powerful having a spirit was on our last run, and you want to protect your family. At worst, you could be summoning those spirits overnight to say "Watch my family while we sleep.". If, after you get 4-5 services from one you decide to bind it; that makes sense.

Deleted - I changed my mind I posted below that you can summon this way

I'm buying regular ammo for my AR. EX is pretty expensive and Jack's bean-counter brain won't let him waste all that nuyen. I only really wanted one magazine of EX ammo for times when it is really necessary (like you mentioned, cars or Trucks <- LOL, I kill myself). I also am going to have one magazine of S&S for times when that is needed.

I think 200 is perfectly adequate for each drone. That's five full CTs of suppressing fire and some ammo left over for taking actual shots here and there.

RE: Spirits. If we're not allowed to use Edge, I don't see why you shouldn't be able to do that. Like what DrZ said, having a spirit alarm system makes total sense IMO for a broke shaman in the 6th World. If you happen to make a solid connection when summoning one, I think you could probably make the Binding attempt then. Considering each binding attempt is going to cost you 3K to 4K assuming a F5 or F6 spirit (and since they are rolling 10 to 12 dice to resist the binding, it is in absolutely no way a sure thing), I feel that does a pretty adequate job of regulating abuse.

I stand corrected

With Grease and Jack on board, then go ahead and summon away

So, what are the particulars of the Spirit you are going to try and summon?

Force, Optional Powers, Type, and how many hits do you want to try for?

I may get some fancy contact lenses as well, given that I still have a little cash floating around. I still get my natural low-light even with contact lenses in, right?

If so, I'd probably get a rating 3 set with a smartlink, image link, and flare compensation. That's 2,875 base; is that "Vision Enhancers" (1.3 COLA), or "Headware (includes eyes & ears)" (1.2 COLA)?

Also, do the COLA adjustments factor into the price we're able to fence stuff at? I don't want to be too cheesy on stuff I bought at Chargen, but getting something back for a piece of obsolete equipment (in this case, my smartlink glasses) would be nice.

ETA: I could just sell it to Chapel, but he'd only give me 15% (Loyalty x 5%). Also, I think I'd want to get the connection on the Rotodrone from Sling; I deal with Chapel a lot, and I like having an in to a chop shop; that feels like that could be handy

As the GM, it's up to you, Lobo (otherwise, I think Grease and I are going to throw in on requesting the Autosoft/Skillsoft modifier to be reduced significantly, LOL).

But without Edge, binding a reasonably high-level spirit becomes a massively expensive crapshoot which, I feel, probably will regulate abuse. With the rules in S&G regarding disrupting spirits basically being unusable for 28ish days, low-power bound spirits are not all that helpful (if we're playing with those rules).

It would be Vision Enhancers (since it is equipment and not Cyberware)

Yes they do. You fence something at 25% base of the COLA price.

ETA - you don't get it when you fence something you bought in chargen, since you didn't pay the COLA when you purchased it.

Yeah, only cyber-replacements eliminate your natural vision enhancements.


You've got DNI from your Control Rig, so you don't need an image link or audio link. DNI grants that to you as a perk.

Ok, some more house-keeping

There will be one more Tribune, which will be dated 8/10/2075 - about a week after the end of the run.

I'd like to have all shopping lists finalized, repair rolls done, summoning tests done, etc, then you can post final IC posts incorporating these into your posts, as well as any responses to the Tribune. I will also post a final IC post from Overkill, letting you know what happened to him IC.

I am going away to another convention Thursday afternoon, returning Sunday night. Assuming that the new player has his character done by then, and we have wrapped everything up, I'm thinking we can get started on the next adventure next week sometime.

Once all adjustments have been made to your character, including equipment, karma changes, etc, have a copy handy that you can copy and paste over to the new OOC thread for easy reference.

@Lobo: Sounds good. I am assuming we're using whatever rules we have in the book for fencing? I think it'd probably make sense for Grease to try and fence the smart glasses himself, since he has a chance to make extra (modified by net hits when he finds a buyer).

Weird that you have to actually pick someone to negotiate against me when purchasing the item; I guess you just decide whoever you want to purchase it, and pick their attributes/skills. It's just odd there isn't something suggested. I could see it either going directly to someone who could use it, or to a fence (who would be a much tougher negotiator).

@Jack: Thanks. That brings the price down to 2,650, adjusted to 3,445 after COLA.

ETA: Prices on my shopping list post are updated to reflect new purchases, repairing Rhex. Still need pricing on getting the Rotodrone repaired, as well as any earned from fencing my smart glasses.

Final Purchases & Karma Expenditure

Shopping List (Total: 13,863)
1 Month Low-Lifestyle [Dangerous Area] w/Regular Inconvenience Dependent & Local Grid Access: 2,500
Automotive Repair Kit & Nic's Gift: 750
2x Tickets for NAGO: 500
Datajack [Alpha]: 1,440 (A4)
Zoe Executive Suite w/Concealable Holster: 2,487 (A12)
Forearm Guards: 345 (A6)
Medkit Replenishment: 110 (A-)
Trauma Patch: 550 (A6)
Low-Light Flashlight: 250 (A4)
(Streetline Special) Internal Smartlink: 150 (A6)
(Streetline Special) Gecko Grip: 125 (A6)
(HK-227) Improved Range Finder: 2,500 (A6)
(HK-227) Sling: 19 (A-)
(Colt M23) Foregrip: 125 (A2)
(Colt M23) Bipod: 250 (A2)
(Colt M23) Sling: 19 (A-)
(Colt M23) Underbarrel Slide Mount: 625 (A4)
(Helmet) Ultrasound (2) + Trode Removal: 310 (A5)
(Armor Jacket) Drag Handle: 58 (A-)
120x AR [REG] Rounds: 300 (A2)
40x AR [S&S] Rounds: 400 (A6)
20x SMG [REG] Rounds: 50 (A2)

Karma (12 Points)
Small Unit Tactics (3) : 6 Karma
Quick Healer: 6 Karma

@Lobo: I bumped up the amount I am willing to pay for the two concert tickets to 500 total and included the upgraded spend on Nic's gifts and the cost to remove the trodes from my helmet. I think everything is square now. I'll update the Resource Tracker and Character Sheet unless you say otherwise.

ETA: Also, are there any changes to Contact Ratings/Notoriety/Public Awareness or anything like that? Already adjusted Street Cred by +1 for the karma gain.

Ok, so to fix the Rotodrone, you have to first find the buyer, which is going to cost you a little for the introduction - Nuyen makes the world go round

Chapel will be cheaper, hitting you up for a mere 100 nuyen for the intro, Sling, being less Loyal, will probably require a larger bribe to make the necessary introductions - around 250 nuyen - again, it depends on whether you want to know a sleazy garage/chop shop owner in the Warrens (Sling's contact) or a retired Rigger living in UCAS proper (Chapel's) - you have to decide that.

Either way, repairing the 4 boxes of damage is probably 2 hours worth of work for either of them, and will cost you 1,000 for the materials, along with another 120 for the labor.

The non-structural damage is another 50 nuyen for parts, and 60 nuyen in labor.

Fencing the smart glasses - again, this is like going out and buying the stuff yourself, as opposed to going to a Fixer, which is the reason that Fixers exist

So, the process is Etiquette + Charisma extended test with an interval of 2 days, needing 10 hits. Let's say you tried this. (These are sample rolls)

First test (I'm thinking Pheromones would NOT apply, since you are probably not doing all of this face to face, let's assume that for now for the sake of argument, it is only 1 die difference)
11d6.hits(5)=4

Next test:
10d6.hits(5)=4

You are doing well

Next test
9d6.hits(5)=7

VERY nice roll

So, after spending 6 days - and I'm assuming that this is not you making one phone call, and 6 days later you get a buyer, this is you making deals, meeting people, cold calling, etc, i.e. spending a significant portion of each of those 6 days finding your buyer - you find someone.

Now, base price is 2100, 25% of that is 525, +/- 5% or 26.25 per hit.

I assume I just randomly generate the charisma and Negotiation of the person you sell it to. Assume that it is the average guy, and he rolls 4-6 dice. You are rolling 12 at best (assuming he meets you in person).

You average about 2 more hits than he does, so you make 558 for the glasses. As opposed to Chapel, who you would probably break even with (maybe at worst he beats you by a hit on average) and you make 499

The question is, does Grease consider it worth his time to spend a week hunting for someone to buy this as opposed to calling Chapel, all for about 60 nuyen ?

Jack, the nuyen and karma expenditures are approved

As far as Contact Ratings/Notoriety/Public Awareness:

Contacts:

New Contacts:

All of you should have the following:
Shannon Greeley L 1
Jim L 1
Ramirez 2

Amy only:
Turbine L1

Jack and Grease only:
Brandy L1

Existing contacts:

Amy:
I'm not sure that you would have any contacts go up in Loyalty, except Chomsky, who would go from a 4 to a 5.
I think it isn't unrealistic that Jack and Grease could also take Chomsky as a Level 1 Loyalty Contact.

Grease
No change that I can see in any Contact Loyalty

Jack
Perhaps Honeypot to 3? I'm not sure only because I'm not sure which emotion she feels more strongly, gratitude at Jack saving her life, or anger that he potentially put it in danger to begin with - probably an equal smattering of both and so no change, but I could be persuaded to make it a 3 given a compelling argument.


Notoriety
I believe Grease picks up a point of Notoriety for the category of "Insulting or otherwise pissing off a Mr. Johnson" (page 368) He already had a point for the Addiction, for a Notoriety of 2.

Public Awareness
Were you not in disguise, the fight at the park would definitely give Amy and Overkill one.
I will say that the Astral Signature left at the apartment, however, is significant - but only to those who can spot the signature, so I'll give Amy a Public Awareness of 1* - i.e. for the non-Awakened, she has a Public Awareness of 0. For those who are Astrally Perceiving her, she has a Public Awareness of 1. (which is still "Unheard of outside the shadow community")

ETA - Jack and Amy should have Ramirez Loyalty 2, Grease Loyalty 1

I won't really argue it one way or another. I asked my contact for information. She did what contacts do (asked around) and it ended up almost getting her killed and one of her contacts and several associates definitely killed. I didn't really have any control over that, from what I can tell. I reacted to her being in trouble and probably kept her from getting killed, so I don't think there would be a decrease. I'm not exactly sure what lesson I'm supposed to draw from that part of the run other than not asking my Fence for information.

I'll get the other contacts updated. Thanks!

He does not That seems unduely harsh given Grease's etiquette and negotiation skills, although I suppose he is fairly Loyal to Chapel (which helps). I suppose at some point there could be an item with a great enough value that it would make sense to sell it on my own; as it stands it seems like letting Chapel deal with it makes the most sense.

I don't think I actually roll against Chapel; he just gives me whatever the item's value is x 5% per point of Loyalty (so I'd actually only get ~315 nuyen).

On the Rotodrone: Let's go with Sling; I still think I'd like to know a chopshop operator in the Warrens. So to fix the Rotodrone is 250 (the intro), + 1,230 (parts & labor) for a grand total of 1,480

@Lobo: I'd want to argue slightly against the Notoriety, if I could. I cannot argue against the "pissing off or insulting Mr. Johnson" charge; however I will say I was hamming it up a bit to reflect the glitch I had in my background research on him. It's obviously up to you; I'm just not sure the punishment fits the crime, given that we were very successful in the run and (I hope) I mended my fences with Ramirez over the course of the run.
ETA: Of course, I say this knowing very little about how Notoriety affects one mechanically. Other than Grease is building up a negative rep (which, frankly, is probably deserved )

Oh I certainly wouldn't have it drop - that's not even a question. It was just a matter of whether or not to raise it by one.

I wasn't trying to provide a lesson, but one thing that was definitely part of 3rd edition (which looking at the 5e book they seem to have removed) is the idea that you aren't existing in a vacuum, you ask your contact a question, who asks their contact, who may end up revealing (inadvertently or otherwise) that someone is asking about them to the party you were inquiring about.

Will it happen every time? Absolutely not, but it can happen. I think the lesson (if you want to take one from it) is that Shadowrun is a dangerous universe.

Hmm - the more I think on it, I think I will have it raise the Loyalty by 1, if for no other reason than it promotes better RP between you and the contact, which is always positive, and it adds a bit more catharsis to the storyline.

Ok - so looking at the rules for contacts:

Swag: This is like networking, except you’re specifically
trying to buy or sell something. A contact can use
her connections to find potential buyers or sellers. Contacts
looking for traders follow the same procedures for
Availability and Fencing Tests (p. 418) that PCs do, using
their own Charisma and Negotiation skill instead of yours,
along with their Connection rating as a modifier to their
Social limit. If you’re willing to sweeten the deal for the
potential trading partner, let your contact know in advance—
they’re good, but they’re not psychic.

So basically you call Chapel, and HE makes the appropriate calls to find the buyer and seller, and then to fence the item. I cant find where it says he pays you 5% per Loyalty point, although I'm okay with that (if you do find it though, let me know where it says that).

Ok, so, new contact:

Slick Connection 2 (No Loyalty to you as of yet)
Slick's Autobody Corner of E. Kentucky and S. Norfolk
Slick always looks like he took a bath in motor oil. His coveralls are stained permanently, the sleeves rolled back to reveal the markings of a former BB member gone "legit". Slick and his crew do enough business out the front of the autobody shop that they can do a significant amount out the back without attracting too much attention. Slick lives out of an apartment over the shop, and he and a number of his employees are there around the clock, working or carousing with members of the BB's and the ganger groupies.

Jack, if you can put that on the map, I'll update the Word File

With Notoriety - here is my thought. If it truly bothers you, I will rescind the point, if for no other reason than the fact that the RP was great, and the scene was so much more fun since you were hamming it up, and I don't want you in future to try and downplay the RP to avoid having a penalty later, especially one as sort of nebulous as Notoriety - which is never actually defined anywhere, it doesn't add to Charisma tests, like Street Cred, or even some sort of ranking system, like Public Awareness. So, if I have to choose between good RP and a nebulous modifier, I'll take the good RP every time

If it helps, my thoughts on Notoriety is that it should probably act as a negative penalty to initial social tests (sort of like a Negative Quality version of First Impression), but only for people who have some knowledge of the notorious person. Maybe as a function of a Shadowrunner Knowledge check (which all Johnson's should have) with a Threshold equal to (6 - (Notoriety + Public Awareness)) So it doesn't really hurt you all that bad until people start learning about who you are.

Grease may soon be so famous that he is "in famous."

Slick's is added.