Mission Pay

There has been a lot of discussion in our groups regarding what a mission should pay out. (And how a mission should pay out).

It's been suggested that the costs in the shadowrun companion are too low- that they are comperable to day jobs, so why should a shadowrunner do shadowruns instead of getting a job? First of all, there may be a variety of reasons a shadowrunner doesn't get a day job: Some runners (like Shapeshifters) have no rights, they may have no SIN, they may be hunted, have a criminal SIN, be abrasive or otherwise unemployable, and even if the monthly pay is the same, the hourly contribution per month is much less. (Of course, shadowrunning might just provide supplimental income to an existing day job, rather than being a replacement for a day job.) Besides, he might not be shadowrunning for the money, he might be running for the thrill, prestige, contacts, a favor to friends, or to "stick it" to a specific company, or out of some moral obligation.

Then there's the matter of Fame and Reputation. No one is going to hire a stranger to steal a secret prototype weapon from Aztechnology and trust that they'll deliver it back to them fairly, when they could auction it amongst other companies, or just betray them to Aztech for quick profit. Thus, a runner needs Fame to get those high profile missions.

The next issue is how payment is made: pay per person, group pay for a mission, payment in form of cash, credsticks, equipment, favors, goods, vacations, hotel stays, lifestyles, etc. In the RP world, all of these can be great sources of mission reward. From a mechanics standpoint, equipment costs money, and varied lifestyles require various amount of upkeep. Thus "cash is king", and PCs may be quick to cut each other out of the mission if it provides a group pay rather than a per person price.

The way I run my own campaigns is as follows: Newly created characters are runners without much (if any) of a successful shadowrunning history. As such, they are forced to rely on their contacts to get jobs, which are usually low pay (or paid for in favors- like gaining extra contacts, equipment, etc). These jobs provide fame and reputation.

With Fame and Reputation come referrals to bigger and better jobs. (Just like in Grand Theft Auto!). These better jobs pay much better. You have to work your way up, and in the beginning you may have to settle for cut rate equipment or lower lifestyles to make ends meet, but once you're getting up there you'll more than make up for the initial investment of effort with missions that pay very well.

Remember, you might not think it's worth it to mug a guy for $500, but who wants to pay you $5000 to mug some guy? (Or worse, $5000 per person!).

Sometimes the Johnson is testing you also. There may be negotiation room, or maybe this is a "first we try, then we trust" mission, where he wants to make sure you won't betray him or screw things up before he gives you the real missions.

In any case- even if the mission is low pay, PCs are encouraged to go with the low pay at first (just like in D&D), and trust that as they level up they will have access to more money. Remember, not all starting characters need to be able to afford full ruthineum.