[Pollution]

So, I'm running a small group, using SR5, and while we're not an official firebase (yet), we're trying to follow all the Season 5 rules so that characters can go from our bi-weekly game to conventions with their same characters.

Here's where I ran into trouble last night.

I have a mage in our group who want's a Rating 6 Centering Focus.  Now, from what we could hash out from the FAQ and from other posts, we're left with the impression that he cannot simply make the calls to get a hold of the thing during a game, but MUST buy the rolls during downtime.  Which leaves us with a bit of an issue.  Mainly that the rating of the thing and the availability leaves it at 18R and costs 54k.

Now, for the record, he doesn't have the 54k (yet, but he's close).  but the availability means he'll NEVER get it with downtimes, unless I'm mistaken.

So, let's say he has a charisma 5, Negotiation, 4.  That means he get's 2 successes, whereas the avalability get's 4.  So he needs to get 3 more hits.  Does that mean he'll never get it?

OR, is this when you put in the "Buy extra dice" rules where he'd have to spend an extra 100% cost PER HIT?  So if he needs 3 hits, he'd have to throw down about 220k for a lvl 6 metamagic/Centering foci?

That seems obscene.

Imagine if you were looking for a Superthyroid gland.  20R = 5 hits to overcome = you need 6 hits...  So if you can get 3 hits, you need to spend 400% toal cost = 560,000Y

That seems a bit extreme.

If this is the case, I would suggest we change it from 25% per die to 25% per HIT.  75k is way more reasonable than 220k.

[Crunch]

If you're playing Missions the answer is pretty much that you need to use a contact to get the gear. The mechanics for how contacts are used in Missions are somewhere over in the Missions play documents.

[Pollution]

That doesn't really help though.

Using Loyalty (Charisma) + Connections (Negotiation) most people will be seeing the same(ish) dicepools if they do it themselves.

I guess my problem is that a 50K item should NEVER cost 200k   That's just silly.

[tequila]

Don't forget that the contact's pool is actually Connection+Connection+Loyalty when shopping for the item.  The character may still need to buy additional dice to get the pool up high enough, but that will at least give you a better starting point.

[Crunch]

And that in the event of a tie the contact wins, but delivery time is doubled. So a Connection 6 Loyalty 1 Fixer (The best available for Missions) should be able to aquire anything up to availability 15 (IIRC) without extra money. Buying 1 hit would get him to Availability 19.

Remember that Missions is intentionally a low powered setting where aquiring gear is harder than it would be in a home game.

[RHat]

Does Missions cover for making the focus at all?

[Crunch]

Does Missions cover for making the focus at all?

Basically anything that can be done in downtime is handled with buying hits, so you can make a foci, but it'll be used making dead average rolls.

[ZeConster]

Does Missions cover for making the focus at all?

Basically anything that can be done in downtime is handled with buying hits, so you can make a foci, but it'll be used making dead average rolls.

Actually, crafting your own foci is forbidden by the Missions FAQ.

Anyway, like others have been saying, a Force 6 Metamagic Focus is 18R, which means you need 16 dice: a 6/1 contact will be able to get it if you pay 75% extra, while Missions' 5/2 characters will require 100% extra (but if you play your cards right, you may be able to get them to 5/4 through runs, meaning only 50% extra).
Alternatively, if your group has a good fixer-y face (8 or 7 Charisma, Negotiation 6, specialization), you should be able to get it at normal or +25% cost.

[Crunch]

Actually, crafting your own foci is forbidden by the Missions FAQ.

Good catch. Sorry for missing that.

[Michael Chandra]

Missions is mostly a low-powered campaign, so it's not that weird that the really powerful stuff can't easily be obtained. 54k nuyen and 18 karma is ~1/3 of a season for a single item. Still, it'd be nice if in the second half of Season 5 we can score Availability discount favors, for the high-rating foci, Krime Cannons, Ranger Arms, Full Body Armor and such things.

A 6/1 contact has 13 dice so needs 3 dice bought for everything below 20, a 5/2 Corp Contact can be raised through runs to 5/4 if you play your cards right, letting you pay 50% extra for everything below 20. Meanwhile, a Chemical Seal Environmental Adaptation (the latter is irrelevant for availability) Full Body Armor at 23R (20R without the adaptation) requires a total of 2.5x the base cost to obtain.

[Pollution]

Alright, so lets take Juan Xihuitl as an example.

So let's assume that you buy him at his max starting Loyalty of 2 and he has 5 connection.

Would that be Connection + Connection + Loyalty for the search pool of 5+5+2 = 12 = 4 hits?

So then you get:
Contact search = 4 hits base
Item = 18R = 4 hits base
Item is gathered in Time x2 (so if 1 week, then 2 weeks)

Correct?

[ZeConster]

Incorrect. The contact has 12 dice, which becomes 3, not 4, bought hits, while the item has 18 dice, which becomes 4 bought hits.

[Michael Chandra]

So you pump him to 5/4 by working with him a few times and pay 50% extra for 5+5+4+2 = 16 dice instead.

[Arioch]

Does Missions cover for making the focus at all?

Basically anything that can be done in downtime is handled with buying hits, so you can make a foci, but it'll be used making dead average rolls.

Actually, crafting your own foci is forbidden by the Missions FAQ.

Anyway, like others have been saying, a Force 6 Metamagic Focus is 18R, which means you need 16 dice: a 6/1 contact will be able to get it if you pay 75% extra, while Missions' 5/2 characters will require 100% extra (but if you play your cards right, you may be able to get them to 5/4 through runs, meaning only 50% extra).
Alternatively, if your group has a good fixer-y face (8 or 7 Charisma, Negotiation 6, specialization), you should be able to get it at normal or +25% cost.

I though that only contacts could obtain gear in Missions play. Can a player that is a face get their own gear?

Also, how do you go about raising the loyalty of non-missions specific characters? Is there any chance to raise a L1 C6 starting fixer?

[Michael Chandra]

By the way, Pollution: I think you can in fact buy gear during game, but it requires buying hits all the same. So a cheap toy that just requires 1 hit and has a delivery time of 6 hours, would deliver within 3 hours against someone with 12~15 dice. And availability - is simply available.

Arioch: Players can still get gear, but keep in mind it takes you the full delivery period to hunt down in Missions. So if you're getting a 20k item with a tied test, it will cost you two full weeks on your calender.

As for loyalty of non-missions specific characters: Yes, GMs are allowed to say you raised their loyalty. But this requires a LOT of work, so while theoretically possible, you'd be very lucky just to get a single loyalty point somehow.