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Highest Payday?

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Angel_Heart

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« on: <02-09-19/2304:22> »
Just curious here, what's the highest karmic and nuyen pay day any of you fellow GMs have awarded your player team? And what was the job and circumstances?
   [Myself, I'm prepping to run a very tough mini-campaign in Manhattan and, partially because of the high security threat there, am thinking about rewarding some of the more dangerous runs easily in the hundreds of thousands of nuyen range. I might even cash out the last job at over one million nuyen, depending on how easily or how tough of a time they have with all the predecessor runs.]
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mcv

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« Reply #1 on: <02-11-19/0445:31> »
So far, $30,000 for a 3-person team has been my max, which, as maximums go, is quite reasonable. But I'm actually working towards Splintered State, and I'm leaning increasingly towards leaving the payouts as they are. Let's see what they do with that kind of money.

Ech0

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« Reply #2 on: <02-11-19/0552:30> »
Our team is inching towards the 100-karma-line, and they are currently infiltrating a Zen garden on top of the Xiao-Renraku HQ in Hong Kong (my own (German language) Mephisto Fanzine run) for NeoNET (set in 2076).

If they succeed, the 6 runners will get 4 million in NeoNET shares and corp script. They could spend this 1:1 "in house" or exchange it for Nuyen on the black market for a rate of about 1:3.

About 30% of that pay day already went into planning the run, though.

Michael Chandra

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« Reply #3 on: <02-11-19/1437:19> »
Asides from something like 30k or something (I forget), the final run of the entire campaign was 9 karma and 100k each, featuring a trip into a Sioux Bug Hive. The Johnson (a meta-sapient AI and her clone) came along on the trip.

(Incidentally, on that run one player employed a self-made unit of Orichalcum to bribe a Force 20 Air Spirit to please not edge against the Summoning roll. So his expense was significant.)
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Sphinx

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« Reply #4 on: <02-12-19/0114:53> »
I had these stashed in a file on my hard drive: payouts from early first- and second-edition published runs. Not entirely relevant for fifth-edition games, maybe, but interesting nonetheless.

0. Silver Angel: 50,000 upfront, plus 35,000 on completion and 15,000 bonus for stealth = 100,000 total (to be divided among runners)
1. DNA/DOA: 120,000 total (6 karma)
2. Mercurial: 5,000 per runner (8 karma)
3. Dreamchipper: 30,000 per chip recovered, times 3 chips = 90,000 per runner (up to 10 karma)
4. Universal Brotherhood, Missing Blood: 1,000 per runner (9 karma)
5. Queen Euphoria: 20,000 per runner (13 karma)
6. Bottled Demon: 5,000 per runner (16 karma)
7. Harlequin:
  a. Physical: 12,000 per runner (6 karma)
  b. Hates: 40,000 total (4 karma)
  c. Past: 40,000 each (3 karma)
  d. Loves: 40,000 each (7 karma)
  e. Counterstrike: 5,000 each (5 karma)
  f. Spiritual: 150,000 each (5 karma)
  g. Future: 70,000 each
  h. Present: 100,000 total (8 + 1/segment)
8. NAN1, Peacekeeper: 115,000 total (10 karma)
9. NAN2, Eye of the Eagle: 14,500 total (19 karma)
10. Dragon Hunt: 50,000 total (7 karma)
11. Total Eclipse: 10,000 each (9 karma)
12. Ivy & Chrome: 10,000 each + 20,000 bonus (9 karma)
13. Imago: 75,000 each plus a 400,000 deck (16 karma)
14. Elven Fire: 40,000 each (18 karma divided among players)
15. One Stage Before: 85,000 total plus 100,000 total (11 karma)
16. Dark Angel: 1,000 each (7 karma)
17. A Killing Glare: 3,000 each plus 15,000 total (18 karma)
18. Celtic Double-Cross: 12,500 each (9 karma)
19. Eye Witness: (GM’s discretion, based on lifestyle and run frequency), 15 karma
20. Paradise Lost: 60,000 each (42 karma, divided among players?)
21. Divided Assets: 50,000 total (16 karma)
22. Double Exposure: 1,000 each plus 8,000 total plus 35,000 each (25 karma)
« Last Edit: <02-12-19/0129:07> by Sphinx »

Tarislar

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« Reply #5 on: <02-12-19/2243:50> »
2. Mercurial: 5,000 per runner (8 karma)

I'd note that there is some really high "salvage/paydata" that the runners can get a hold of to increase this.
When we ran it back in the 90's the group as a whole netted over a Million.

Reaver

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« Reply #6 on: <02-13-19/1149:01> »
The "biggest" payday my character has ever received from a GM was a payment of $200,000 in cash each and 6 tonnes of coffee beans for a team of 6. Total Karma earned I believe was 16 (this was years ago, under 2e rules.)

The job was a re-enforcement of the Yucatan Rebel army during their war with Aztechnology/Aztlan, and was scheduled for 21 day deployment. Which turned into 59 days in the deep jungle avoiding and ambushing Aztlan forces while trying to survive being hunted by both the jungle and Aztlan.... Lost one team member :(

Fun times!

We took that 6 tonnes of coffee and instead of selling it as expected (which would have netted us $2,000,000 total) we took it an opened up our own Seattle based coffee franchise... which has lead to years of adventures since! 
Where am I going? And why am I in a hand basket ???

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Wenlocke

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« Reply #7 on: <02-14-19/0705:45> »
I noticed that I tended to price my runs higher than average/book recommendation, but then I sort of feel I have to, to maintain some sense of character progression.

My logic is based on real world time vs game time, and the idea that I like my players to feel like they are actually advancing. Assuming that an average run will always take multiple weeks of sessions, even if the actual game-time encompasses a few days, then technically, the characters can fit significantly more earning opportunities and runs into one game calendar year than can technically done by the player group. Now, as i'd rather have my players feel like their characters are actually growing and changing, then, say, waiting 6 months of weekly sessions to upgrade one skill, or buy some new ware feels rather stingy, and that can happen a lot on book/fluff standard rewards.

Its a balancing act
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CanRay

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« Reply #8 on: <02-14-19/1420:34> »
Fifteen Nuyen in Stuffer Shack Gift Certificates.   ;D
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Tarislar

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« Reply #9 on: <02-26-19/0338:47> »
I noticed that I tended to price my runs higher than average/book recommendation, but then I sort of feel I have to, to maintain some sense of character progression.

My logic is based on real world time vs game time, and the idea that I like my players to feel like they are actually advancing. Assuming that an average run will always take multiple weeks of sessions, even if the actual game-time encompasses a few days, then technically, the characters can fit significantly more earning opportunities and runs into one game calendar year than can technically done by the player group. Now, as i'd rather have my players feel like their characters are actually growing and changing, then, say, waiting 6 months of weekly sessions to upgrade one skill, or buy some new ware feels rather stingy, and that can happen a lot on book/fluff standard rewards.

Its a balancing act

/tears up a little.

I love you man.

No seriously, there is nothing worse that being in a campaign for a year & still being level 4.

At least for me anyway.

I want to feel like I am going somewhere.

I'm not looking to be a L40 Epic Archmage tomorrow, but can we at least agree to a level boost or Karma reward after each (or at most alternating) sessions?

neomerlin

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« Reply #10 on: <03-02-19/0604:26> »
I'm not looking to be a L40 Epic Archmage tomorrow, but can we at least agree to a level boost or Karma reward after each (or at most alternating) sessions?
I get where you're coming from, but in my experience, there's always the real possibility of letting the leg work and planning in Shadowrun stretch out into eternity. I hand out cash and karma at the end of a run or when they play through a significant event in the character's personal life. By holding rewards until the end, it is an inventive for them to get to the actual run already and do something. It's one way I try to keep the game moving.

On the thread topic:

The highest reward I have given so far is 10 Karma and 10,000 nY each. This was for the first half of Queen Euphoria (adapted to 5e) and so involved kidnapping and holding Euphoria for a weekend. It's less than the module suggests for money because 1) the module suggests what is, I think, by 5e standards, a ridiculous amount of money for the work, and 2) I like my players to being sweating over cash just a little bit. I worked out the Karma with the formula in the 5e core book and then added some extra karma because I just love the Queen Euphoria adventure and felt like rewarding my players for giving me the chance to run it.

They were set to receive another 10 karma and 15,000 nY each for the second part of the run which involves a bug hive and being conned by their employer into shooting a simsense for them. The rigger blew up a big drone loaned to them, though, so they finished that adventure with 10 karma and a debt of 25,000 nY. Technically I guess they were paid that 15k each, but it was taken as down payment on the debt.

Michael Chandra

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« Reply #11 on: <03-02-19/1014:57> »
Old-editions had 1m ware possible in chargen, nowadays it's 450k, so halving makes sense.
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prismite

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« Reply #12 on: <03-26-19/1909:30> »
Our rewards at-table tend to vary depending on the characters Career Karma, with missions getting harder (and more ludicrous) at higher values. Our last legit run ended with 10 karma and $50,000. The risk was substantial, though. Characters were 321 (career) karma peeps.

TBF, though, I played under a GM no less than 6 months ago who gave us 15 Karma and (after we sold the Picasso) split $22mil between the two of us. :|
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Voran

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« Reply #13 on: <05-19-19/0505:13> »
I used to go 15k low end for anything that wasn't favor for a friend tier.  If it was less I'd do a virtual cash for karma reduction down to 5k.  Ala, if I felt I was lowballing below my normal range, I'd throw in bonus karma, but capped at 'down to 5k cash per'.  So even if the run gave 1500 cash, they'd only get karma benefit as if they gave up 10k cash.

Honestly the most recent time I saw what was semi 'realistic' payout was Lockdown of all places, in the last part where you could get millions.