NEWS

Character Contacts

  • 17 Replies
  • 9572 Views

ZeConster

  • *
  • Prime Runner
  • *****
  • Posts: 2557
« Reply #15 on: <12-06-14/1452:12> »
4th Edition used Extended Tests for Availability, so it was more a matter of when you'd get the gear you wanted, not if.

Tarislar

  • *
  • Ace Runner
  • ****
  • Posts: 1820
  • Uzi's + Fireballs .... Why I love Shadowrun!
« Reply #16 on: <12-07-14/2041:05> »
Ah, gotcha, thanks ZC.

So I'm guessing it was still Con+Con+Loy but you were shooting for Availability # of hits. 
So AV-15 might take you 3-4 passes easily even for a good fixer (6/1)

ZeConster

  • *
  • Prime Runner
  • *****
  • Posts: 2557
« Reply #17 on: <12-07-14/2203:09> »
The regular rules used Charisma + Negotiation + Connection (both Negotiation and Connection were on a 1-6 scale in 4th, not 1-12 like in 5th) - however, you paid a fee of 5% x Connection for their services.

The FAQ for Season 4 of Missions (did some googling) says this:
Quote
If you utilize your contacts to get an item, each contact can get one item (based on their areas of expertise, as defined by their uses) between sessions, and will charge the base cost of the item plus 10%. The maximum Availability that they can get is equal to their Connection*4. For every additional 5% of the base cost you pay, add +1 to the availability the contact can get. Contacts can only get one item at a time (though they may purchase those items in multiples).
If you wish to have contacts purchase additional items during a single downtime, use the standard rules for determining what items they can find, and how long it takes (p. 287, SR4A).
So there was some abstraction, just different from the Season 5 abstraction, and only for the first item at a time.

So as a quick comparison, if you asked Bull (Charisma 5, Negotiation 5, Connection 5) to get an item for you, the Missions abstraction limited you to Availability 4x5 = 20 at 110% of the normal cost, but if you wanted another item, Bull would simply use his 15 dice on an extended test, which even if you buy hits and decrease the dice pool each roll (an optional rule in 4th), would allow you to get an Availability 24 item (3+3+3+3+2+2+2+2+1+1+1+1) eventually, albeit at 125% of the normal cost. With actually rolling, he could easily get you an item with an Availability of 30+.