From:	Ulrich Haupt sandman@****.uni-oldenburg.de
Subject:	wages of sinning...
Date:	Thu, 22 Jul 1999 10:36:41 +0200

"K. Suderman" asked:
<snip intro>

> How often do runners run?
In my group (with changing GM) we have runs (depending on
the length of each) about 1 run every 2 month. The time is
necessary because we play that you need some time to learn a
new skill/increase attribute.

> How long does a run take? Legwork? Execution?
Our shortest runs lasted 3 days while our longest (with a
travel from seattle to atzlan) took about 3 month. Usually
our runs take about 2 weeks.

> How much do they get paid? Base pay, expenses?
Depending on the run (honor or money) we demand from nothing
(for friends) or just expenses to 15 KY. One of our GMs is
usually quit generous so I am a bit stingy ;-)
Of course it depends on how you want to set up your
campaign. If you want your runners to live in Redmond you
should not give them 5KY per week. Most of our characters
have a high standard of living. What is the reputation of
your characters? Are they well known for silence our for
firepower. Since we have 3 magical characters and two
non-mages we can demand 'more 'cause magic is expensive'. If
you use elementals at each run you need 1000+Y more as if
you have to replace ammunition only!

> How many runners are there in Seattle?
You tell me ??? String from several thousand gang members
and low level deckers op to some ten or twenty first class
runners. On 'starting character' level I think there are
some hundred.

> How many corps? (How often do they get hit? How high are their black-ops
> budgets?)
A big corp is involved almost every time, directly or behind
the scenes. They are rarely the target of runs.

<snip some text>
> Does anyone have any advice, rules of thumb, estimates, etc.?
Give them less you want them to give and don't listen to
their complaints. They will complain even if you give them
100K a week because they can't afford a third fairlight
excalibur. What I have done (not is SR but in another
fantasy game) was to let them start by the rules and then
slowly made them pay all their money until they had almost
nothing left. Then they started slowly from zero. You should
have seen their happy faces when got their first 'Ares
Predetor'(Longsword). This kind of advancement gave me the
possibility to stop at that point of power where I wanted to
have them.


> Thanks,
You're welcome


BTW if anyone else (from the old sRNers) reads this - maybe
it is worth to compile some answers to such questions as
'how much Karma/money to you gave your players' in a FAQ
since those are questions which come up every two month.

Sandman