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How much do you pay your PCs?

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Vaarsuvius:
So for me I use and change the standard formula. The base modifier is 3,000, but not every Johnson uses it, it depends on what they are asking, how much money they actually have, who they (Mr Johnson) are, and how much they want the thing done. The lowest a normal run has gone for was 2,000 (orc underground) base modifier, and the highest is their current run which is 5,000, and is the strangest, longest, and arguably most important run they have ever done. Then I allow the negotiation check for +- 100 nuyen net hit, which I never give a free pass on, but the face crushes it every time anyways like +900 average.

I tend to put something difficult in each run somewhere along the line, usually -something- is going to oppose them with 20+ dice at one point, so +5 for difficulty, then the other little mods, well I usually try to include a few of them if logical, so usually they will get +3-4 miscellaneous adds (like outnumbered 3 to 1). When I remember I like to put +1 per game session beyond the first, to make it so that an extended run doesn't feel like cheating them out of advancement (I do +2 karma per game after first), I should note that this is each not split.

On top of this they will sometimes get operating funds (much less, determined by negotiation) or they will get expenses comped, depends how much, depends who, and depends on the roll. In the current run I actually scared one of my players with this. You see Mr. Johnson wants this thing, she wants it really, really bad. It's also a hard, and expensive run, so she gave them 350,000 nuyen in operational expenses, and wouldn't be negotiated into more, because that was all she could afford. Usually not this much though, as I said this is a really important run, in fact the last really, really important run of Act 1 in my campaign (of about 2 years).

I'm probably paying them more than the average as they tend to earn 50,000 - 80,000 per run, but I've seen no issues, they tend to just blow it on cars. (seriously)

Stainless Steel Devil Rat:
Yeah that sounds a lot more than usual, but so long as everyone's having fun with it there's no problem!

Sphinx:
Ask yourself: (A) What kind of lifestyle should they be able to afford? And (B) how many shadowruns do they complete per month? That tells you what they should make as a baseline.

Beginning runners should earn enough every month to afford a Low lifestyle (maybe Street if they're paying off a debt), plus a bit extra for expenses. After a few successful runs, as they start to build a reputation, they should be able to afford a Medium lifestyle (or keep it Low and accumulate nuyen for tech upgrades) with enough left over to splurge occasionally. Veteran runners with some years and a few hundred karma behind them should be able to maintain a High lifestyle and a few safehouses (or Medium/Low with occasional trips to the delta clinic).

Vaarsuvius:

--- Quote from: Sphinx on ---Ask yourself: (A) What kind of lifestyle should they be able to afford? And (B) how many shadowruns do they complete per month? That tells you what they should make as a baseline.

Beginning runners should earn enough every month to afford a Low lifestyle (maybe Street if they're paying off a debt), plus a bit extra for expenses. After a few successful runs, as they start to build a reputation, they should be able to afford a Medium lifestyle (or keep it Low and accumulate nuyen for tech upgrades) with enough left over to splurge occasionally. Veteran runners with some years and a few hundred karma behind them should be able to maintain a High lifestyle and a few safehouses (or Medium/Low with occasional trips to the delta clinic).

--- End quote ---

I admit I give more than the book might recommend, but this, this is ridiculously low, I mean If you just go RAW the formula should give 15,000 at a minimum if the runners don't negotiate at all. You make these elite mercenaries (and that is what they are) paid like scrubs, even noob runners are far superior to most professionals barring elite professionals, such as HTR.

You seem to be suggesting that you would pay your runners 3000 nuyen per run if they did one run a month, well tell me how did your street sam begin play with his 400,000 nuyen worth of cyber with earnings like that? I don't mean to offend, I'm simply flabbergasted.

Xenon:
If you don't pay them enough then they will start looting corpses (and that is not really what Shadowrun is about).

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