[LordGrizzle]

Well. There is the following problem: During downtimes (spent by characters initiating, building things that take long, etc.) I have a few players who have nothing to do and ask their fixer for small jobs they can do alone or in pairs. Now the logistics of running these sidejobs are ugly, because they'd still probably take a few hours in gaming time in which the other players aren't involved in. So I propose the following houserule: You can spend a number of weeks of downtime to perform a sidejob and earn either 2000 Nuyen or 1 Karma per week of downtime spent. Does that sound fair and balanced towards the other characters that miss out on that little extra, especially if they miss a couple of weeks of sidejobs?

If you think this is a bad idea, do you have other suggestions on how to keep the bored characters busy, without boring their players?

Thanks for all answers!


Grizzle

[farothel]

I would be very hesitant in doing this, as you will give karma and nuyen to some characters but not to all, for basically doing nothing.  You can always use their positive and/or negative qualities to keep them occupied.  They can work on their contacts to keep their loyalty rating up (take them out to a restaurant or club, visit something, just talk); if they have a dependent, have that person pop up and demand stuff, things like that.  There are many ways to use positive and/or negative qualities during downtimes.

If they really want to do sidejobs, have it done in between sessions, by email or chat (or facebook).  They have to write a story about these jobs (you tell them about the job and they have to write what they want to do from their character's viewpoint and you write the viewpoint of the adversaries.  That way they have to do something to get the nuyen and karma, but they don't take up time during the session itself.

In fact, I would do the exact same thing for all downtime actions (including the initiations and building things) and not have it clutter up the session itself.  And you have a written record of what they did during all the downtimes, so you can maintain consistency (and use their downtime actions during runs).

[Tecumseh]

farothel and I participated in a short discussion thread about this topic last year. It's all of seven posts so see here:

http://forums.shadowruntabletop.com/index.php?topic=20857.0

Long story short, if a player is willing to write-up a description of what they are doing in their downtime then I would reward that. The rewards are whatever you are comfortable with. Examples include karma, karma specifically for knowledge skills, discounts on skill or attribute upgrades, improved Contact ratings (e.g. Loyalty), and so on. I have had an extremely positive experience with it as a GM and find that it helps players explore their character that much more, especially concerning topics or situations that don't usually arise in the course of a mission. See the thread above for an expanded description.

[Reaver]

Side jobs are where I allow a Character to exchange money and karma...

So while half the team is working on skills or Initiations, the other half can use this time to preform a side job that allows them to exchange Karma/Nuyen... ( 1 karma = 2000 nuyen, Max of 5 karma/10,000 at one time).

This way they don't actually end up outstripping the rest of the team, but DO end up getting closer to a particular goal based off of their characters (Mundanes generally need more Money then they do Karma, while the awakened need more Karma, then they need money)

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

I think Reaver's style of 'side job' conversion is a good one - you're not going to earn anything more than anyone else, but it addresses a method for active Cash-for-Karma and Karma-for-Cash conversion without saying 'it just happens'.  While Reaver has a cap for it, I would personally put a simple cap on it of 'X per week' - probably with X equalling 1 or 2.  (Or 2/week up to 10, 1/week after that).  That makes converting large amounts a significant effort, and doesn't allow for a huge conversion if the time between runs is too large..

[Gingivitis]

Reaver's side job idea is great.  It makes players feel like they are doing things while others are accomplishing development goals.  As long as you cannot convert Karma by any other means, this balances things elegantly.

The problem with granting karma or money during downtime is this: Imagine your players conspiring to all take a 3-month long "side-job" vacation and come back with 12 karma in about 30 seconds.

Obviously you wouldn't let them do this, so you really shouldn't let any of them do this.

[lance]

Sounds like an ok way to go but things don't always go smooth on a run so make them aware there is a chance of consequences.
Make up a table ( or find one) of possible outcomes, kind of like MechWarrior life path event tables.
On average it all goes well.
Sometimes you make an enemy.
Maybe you had to drop your favourite gun while escaping the big bad.
You help someone out and make a contact.
You find some useful information that could be relevant latter.
etc etc.

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

Actually, the kind of events that Reaver is talking about aren't runs - they're side jobs, the typical ones of which are so minimally threatening to even the starting shadowrunner (2x5 or 1x6 in a skill or two) that the runner can - and is - assumed to have been able to do them without any real hassle.  They're the game-play 'job' equivalent of putting on your armored jacket, tucking your pistol into your shoulder holster, picking up the basket, and going and washing your clothes in the neighborhood lavandería.  You take reasonable precautions, and you might expend a bit of resources in the doing, but generally there's no real risk for you, and the only bad consequences are you losing a little 'good luck' with the world, or losing a chunk of cash.

Runner Type	Karma-to-Cash	Cash-to-Karma
Hitter	Bouncing/working the door at a local known-to-be-mob-owned hangout; collecting rents for your building's landlords, and evicting the non-payers	Riding shotgun and bodyguarding the inexpensive food truck guy; paying rent for a couple people who can't afford it themselves this month.
Hacker	Creating a hack and inserting it into the local food co-op's store to siphon an extra couple of nuyen from each credstick; subcontract for the local utlility to tracking down and shut off illegal taps.	Use your own funds to find and remove the above hack; slice network and subscriber permissions for your neighbors, and set them up with the necessary hardware to use them.
Driver	Hire on for Barrens Taxi, getting your passengers to their destination by any way necessary; assist developers in chasing squatters out of an area.	Drive your neighbors to their destinations free of charge; help people find new quarters (and help move their stuff) after getting evicted.
Face	Scalp the tourists at the local poker tables; help a gang to set up a protection racket in your corner of town.	Hold classes on how not to get scalped in basic trading, and go out to film examples, distributing goods afterwards; persuade a gang to lower their 'payment requests' for a while.
Mastermind	Plan loud, flashy shadowruns for inexperienced poor bastards who want to do it loud and flashy, and sell them a few goodies (with an upcharge) to help them be loud and flashy.	Plan quiet, subtle shadowruns for inexperienced poor bastards who want to be quiet - and buy a few necessities for them to increase their chances of success.

In the Karma-to-Cash column, you've got all your 'less popular' actions, things that'll make people (or just the universe) dislike you a little more; you're lending your face and reputation to the side of the oppressors (at least for a few days), or doing something with a higher risk of getting someone severely hurt, in order to get some money out of it.  In the Cash-to-Karma column, you're using your funds to enable the downtrodden, help them out, or just in general being a good citizen, at the expense of your pocketbook.

Sure, the GM might give an additional bonus or risk-penalty if you build up to a certain point of exchange (10,000¥ or 5 karma, for example) or if you keep doing that sort of thing run after run.  Sure, maybe you gain a new contact on that side of the coin (mob soldier, untilities tech, local store owner, whatever), or come to the next meet with your shadowrunning pals a bit knocked around (1-2 boxes of already-had-healing-done physical or stun damage), or get some information that could lead to a shadowrun, or be key in your next adventure.  But in general any risk you're running is going to be minimal, and ditto for any extra reward beyond the karma or cash you've gained.

[lance]

I like the way you explain the cash to Kama Wyrm. That makes sense that if you are already paying for what you get you shouldn't have too many unforeseen incidents unless you push it too much.

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

It's the same going the other way too, though, Lance - you're trading on your rep, your ability to intimidate, your skill at driving, your knack of finding a hack - all to make a few extra nuyen.  It's once again not a high-risk endeavour (otherwise it might be a shadowrun, eh?) so you shouldn't be penalized.  In brief, it's a way of adding flavor to the few days necessary for you to turn 1 karma into 2,000¥, or 2,000¥ into 1 karma.  (Or 1 karma into 6d6x100¥ nuyen, or whatever ...)