From:	Devotely Apathetic Apathy@******.com
Subject:	How much?
Date:	Sun, 21 Feb 1999 22:42:49 -0500

Rob Hudson wrote:
> Essentially, yes. I normally meter the monetary gains to allow them to
> maintain their lifestyles at their selected levels and set aside money for
> the big purchases they want. The riggers [I have two] and the decker are the
> big money sinks, since they're always repairing/upgrading their stuff. [So
> much so that the two riggers are combining funds to buy a vehicle shop to
> cut their overhead by doing some custom drone work for other NPC runners.]
> There's the occasional big payoff to slip some extra cash in for a job well
> done, but normally the members of the team average between 5-12,000 a run.
> That grades up sharply if the opposition is really stiff, or drops to zero
> if they see the job as a way to get back at an old enemy.
>
> Lately, however, I've been planning scenarios where the group takes the run
> based on a physical reward they are looking for - not cash. They just did
> one that netted them a pair of Desert War surplus Steel Lynx drones -
> something they had ZERO chance of buying on the streets of Seattle. Granted
> the drones were both stripped of weapons and advanced electronics, had some
> minor combat damage [both had damaged armor, one had some bad servos that
> reduced initiative by -3], and they had slightly outdated control gear - but
> the party thought it was a hell of a deal. They've also done a run that
> netted them a GMC 4201 semi and trailer [the riggers wanted a drone
> launching platform that was big enough for a generator to help them beat the
> 'hijacked drone' problems they encountered a few runs back.] and a small
> warehouse on the northern edges of Pullayap.
>
> Offering actual items seems a sensible alternative to me to constant cash -
> and much easier to control. Heck, the party put together a list of repairs
> to do to the warehouse alone that is going to cost them something like
> 350,000 nuyen before they talk about stuff I'm worried about.. [Ever wonder
> what it cost to install utilities in something like that legally? It's
> scary!]

Bartering sounds like a good idea. From the fixer's point of view it's
a good tactic to get them to work for less (It's often hard to put exact
price on things, the fixer's job is to know prices so he's unlikely to
get the short end of the stick) and at least you know what they'll have
to play with. Also it'd be harder to trace where they got that Lynx from
then say a credstick. You couldn't totally replace cash pay off's but
it'd be interesting. How about giving the runner's a string of 'good'
trades
but no liquid cash, it'd make the question of lifestyle interesting.

Real estate is always fun, it entails SO many problems.