Self-generated Missions
So, it hasn’t happened yet, but just in case it does, how do you handle cred and Getting Paid for self-generated missions? In other words, if the team decides to run an op against one of the corps for personal reasons, rather than accepting a paying job from a fixer, what happens with cred?
I would running getting paid as usual, except in this case it’s selling anything valuable to a fence.
Getting the job, I’m not so sure. I guess skipping it (no good, no bad) would be fine.
I actually would likely do the getting job and getting paid as normal, just change the effects of the getting the job move. They roll, and the negative rolls mean while generating early news, they actually tip off their target (maybe a legwork step instead of other options).
Then they invest their money…and roll get paid, to see who they sell what they got goes too.
Either that or the getting the job, is the meeting where they set up the fence to sell their product…and then rolls relate to the fence instead of the Johnson.
I wouldn’t include it. Character’s in The Sprawl have expenses. If you are going to work for yourself, you had better have some way to make money off the mission or money saved up so you can afford it. If they have a buyer for their run, then it really isn’t any different than any other missions except that they don’t get the job from a Johnson. The buyer could still double cross or short pay them, so run it as normal. If there is no buyer than they better hope they have cred banked so they aren’t trying to survive on warm fuzzy feelings.
Looking at the Get The Job move again, the trigger is “When you negotiate the terms of a job”. But if the team is running the op for themselves, there isn’t really going to be anyone to negotiate with, is there? By the same token, the trigger for Get Paid is “When you go to a meet to get paid by your employer”. But again, if the team is running the op on their own, there’s no employer to meet with.
It seems to me that if the op is set up entirely by the team, then neither Get The Job nor Get Paid will trigger. I would still have the players stake 1, 2, or 3 points of cred on the mission and pay them back twice whatever they wagered if successful as normal though. Cred is money and reputation, right? So pulling off a successful op, even a self-planned one, should increase your rep as noise of the job gets out.
Not triggering either Get The Job or Get Paid means reduced complications, but it also means the team doesn’t have an opportunity to gain [inte] or [gear], and can’t increase the pay modifier to 3x. If they want those benefits, it looks like they’ll have to find someone to sponsor them (which is a great hook), as Get the Job and Get Paid would then trigger.
Interesting. 😀
Chris Stone-Bush(null) Consider that unless the whole team wants to do something, than one or more characters may become the employer, negotiating with the others to have them participate. Likewise, they would have to get paid by that person. If everyone is on board then you don’t need to use the moves, but I also don’t think you need to stake cred. It’s not like your nonexistent employer is going to give you a bad review if you fail. He’s not going to rave about you if you succeed either. The only word that is going to ‘get around’ is the one you spread yourself (unless of course you really screw up and get caught or tracked, in which case maybe you get some bad press).
Even without having to stake cred, people are likely to spend cred by hitting the street. Thus they lose out unless they can get something worth selling. Maybe some paydata?
If the characters negotiate the terms of the job between themselves then, yes, Get the Job could trigger I suppose. Other players could have their characters Help or Interfere with the roll as they saw fit.
I’m not really a fan resolving things that way though. I feel it lets the dice decide what the character does (accepting the deal) rather than letting the player do it.
I’d skip both moves like Chris Stone-Bush said. Dealing with personal problems just isn’t going to pay as well as working for a corporation. Even if they work out a deal with a PC that’s just between them and they’re not going to make more than what he or she offers unless they find another way to monetize the job. That’s what the hired hacker does if you choose the cheap version. In that case I’d make them hit the street to sell the score.
Look at Leverage season 1. It’s been long enough that the spoiler seal is expired. Season 1 almost all the jobs Nate takes up until Two Davids are jobs that hurt IYS Insurance. They say it in the show. That’s not the same as doing a personal job. Somebody else is still setting the directives. Two David’s is the personal job and it sure as hell doesn’t turn a profit for anyone. Even though they get a win in the end it costs them a lot.
Id think it would depend on the nature of the self generated job.
-If this is a job that’s meant to make them money because they are going to sell stolen the stolen intel…then they still should make the roles, but instead its negotiating the sale of the expected product with whoever they are trying to fence the goods too.
If its a self generated job that makes no money and costs them no money…then yeah those moves might not be needed at all.
If the Legwork isn’t relevant to getting paid though I would make the early stages of legwork clocks more risky, or perhaps start it up a few marks, since they don’t have the money to concern themselves when dealing with legwork.