[Black]

I think Critias answer is as close to a final answer. Its is so dependent on the players, their characters motivations etc.  So a definent answer is not possible (and the debate to determine it thus pointless and likely to end in tears..)
So runners will do jobs for revenge, to earn favours, in trade for info or rare gear... A raw nuyen value per a run doesn't capture all scenarios. Then you have up front partial payment, expemnse accounts, gear supplied, gear or data looted, and more... Whew!

The ten grand amount may be a good starting point, but feel free to find your own path that works for you and the players.

[All4BigGuns]

Really, I don't think there's a such thing as too much unless you're talking millions per character.

[Inconnu]

"So you wake up in a supermodel sandwich, swim your way to the surface of your pool of cash and answer the comlink. Its your fixer again and this time he's offering you a mil to go get a jar of jam from the corner store."

To be quite fair, i'd be quite worried if i was offered a million to fetch a jar of jam.....just before i got shot in the back of the head by a sniper.

[Black]

Ahhhh... The old 'pretend to hire them to steal a $1 miilion jar of jam' plan.

How many prime runners have fallen for that trick? Too many, too many.

(Lesson here: never make logic your dump stat)

[RHat]

Were I to go with that option, I would take an average of all the lifestyles involved. That way you don't have someone taking High Lifestyle in chargen doesn't put payouts cockeyed for the rest of the campaign.

High lifestyle wouldn't cause any REAL issue. So long as they're not getting a million or two a month, there should be nothing to worry about. There's already too much "scraping by" for most people in real life. Having to do so in-game isn't fun.

Hypothetical case:  Technomancer lives Luxury lifestyle, Street Sam lives Street lifestyle.  Using that math without any weighting, the Street Sam is getting paid WAY more than he should and thus progressing far too quickly, while the Technomancer making this possible doesn't need to make that much money past his Lifestyle in the first place.

Honestly, lifestyle seems like a poor way to do that math, as some characters might pay for 2 or more in order to maintain multiple identities, and as different character types have differing needs for money the system could be gamed pretty easily.  In all reality, you have to gauge nuyen rewards against karma rewards - overall, they need to hit a certain ratio for progression to be even.

Extreme outlier of an example. It doesn't happen often enough to even bear serious consideration.

It's called hypothetical reasoning.  What I'm doing is demonstrating that there's a point where there is an issue.  Therefore, the possibility exists (unless you can provide some reason to dismiss it) that the problem exists earlier in the range.  What about High and Street Lifestyles?  High and Low?  And you've completely failed to address the rest of the issues with that system.

Really, I don't think there's a such thing as too much unless you're talking millions per character.

Would you apply the same to Karma?

[All4BigGuns]

Would you apply the same to Karma?

To a lesser extent, but yeah. I don't think it's too much there unless you're talking mid to high teens per session.

Being from a rather...distractable...group, games tend not to last very long, so my views have stemmed from wanting to actually advance in those circumstances...

[Shadowjack]

I think it depends largely on the GM's plan for his campaign. If the campaign is only 5 sessions long, getting 1000 nuyen and 5 karma per session isn't going to be very much fun. There won't be much of a sense of progression and shopping is a big element of Shadowrun. The longer a campaign goes, the more freedom the GM has regarding payments. If the GM expects the players to purchase a fighter jet at some point, he'll have to give out bigger rewards. If it's mean to be more of a street level campaign, high end gear should be harder to acquire. I like to handle payments a bit differently each campaign to keep things interesting. Not all Shadowrunners are going to get the same opportunities.

[Redmercury]

"So you wake up in a supermodel sandwich, swim your way to the surface of your pool of cash and answer the comlink. Its your fixer again and this time he's offering you a mil to go get a jar of jam from the corner store."

To be quite fair, i'd be quite worried if i was offered a million to fetch a jar of jam.....just before i got shot in the back of the head by a sniper.

This ^^^ 

On topic though, what works for me is weighing the risks, time taken, skills required etc... and comparing it with street cred. IMO if your character is 5 runs in, and she/he has pulled off the runs cleanly (or with flair) they should be getting payed twice as much as their first run for run of comparable complexity and difficulty, at least.

[Black]

Would you apply the same to Karma?

To a lesser extent, but yeah. I don't think it's too much there unless you're talking mid to high teens per session.

Being from a rather...distractable...group, games tend not to last very long, so my views have stemmed from wanting to actually advance in those circumstances...

And this is a perfect example of why every group should approach this topic differently.  A long term campaign will work differently from something that is expected to be shorter.  Long term = slow growth, balance considerations etc.  Short Term = throw caution to the wind, go for gold.  Big missions with big rewards.  Won't be true everytime, but I think thereis a valid argument for a short term game to have a much faster growth curve, both in nuyen and karma.

So... once again, no right answers here, no one is 'wrong', there is no issues with a method suggested, particular if it works for the player/gm in question.

Just do whats right for your game and go from there.

[RHat]

Would you apply the same to Karma?

To a lesser extent, but yeah. I don't think it's too much there unless you're talking mid to high teens per session.

Being from a rather...distractable...group, games tend not to last very long, so my views have stemmed from wanting to actually advance in those circumstances...

As long as you're keeping it consistent enough that the 'ware characters aren't advancing faster than the Essence characters, you should be fine from a balance standpoint.  The rest is about the feel of it, and that DOES depend on table situation.  It is certainly possible to have it be too much, but that point will shift for different groups.  Some players, for example, need a little bit more time to get used to what they've gotten before they're comfortable adding more.

[Redmercury]

Ware characters advancing faster than essence ones is one thing I will never worry about, but that's just because I know how too work essence characters more than ware characters.

[JustADude]

Ware characters advancing faster than essence ones is one thing I will never worry about, but that's just because I know how too work essence characters more than ware characters.

The 'balance point' seems to be around 2,500¥ per Karma. Keep that ratio, including "windfall" finds, and you shouldn't be in too much trouble.

[WellsIDidIt]

Money per job has always been extremely fluid in Shadowrun and up to the GM. Here are a few examples of older printed adventures (keep in mind that ware and the like used to be much more expensive):
Prototype Envy 10k each
Silver Angel 85k (15k bonus) each
Missing Blood 1k each
DNA/DOA 120k team
Mercurial 5k each
Dreamchipper 30k/chip(3) each(up to 4 members)
Bottled Demon 5k each
Harlequin:Physical 10k (2k bonus) each
Harlequin:Hates 20k (20k bonus) team
Harlequin:Past 40k each
Harlequin:Loves 40k each
Harlequin: Counterstroke 5k each
Harlequin:Spiritual 150k each
Harlequin:Future 70k each
Harlequin:Present  A sword***

***
"Styles of play vary between different Shadowrun groups. Some games are low-income, scrounge-fornuyen
games, while others have a much higher cash flow. The gamemaster should take into account the needs and style of his game before placing a value on the weapon. The base value should, however, be about ¥ 100,000 nuyen."
That's a quote from the old Harlequin module. Obviously pay and play style has been a hot topic for a very very long time in Shadowrun.
It's really the actual job itself, and it's factors, that should matter for payout.

[Inconnu]

Might I suggest that you eventually(pub aware and cred ~10) move on to things bigger than nuyen? An extremely powerful weapon focus, awesome 'ware, even some "i scratch your back".

[JustADude]

Might I suggest that you eventually(pub aware and cred ~10) move on to things bigger than nuyen? An extremely powerful weapon focus, awesome 'ware, even some "i scratch your back".

Always fun, certainly.

"You boys manage to snag the prototype, and I'll even get you access to a Firewatch cyber-clinic... at cost, of course... and something from our High Energy Magic department for the Mage."