Hey everyone I recently ran a game of the Sprawl! It was a pretty big success and I only messed up a handful of things so that’s nice. But I’m currently having a problem with the rules so I have two question to ask all of you guys! I can’t seem to find any suggested pay for the players when they finish a job, this especially became a problem when my group decided that: “The job pays well” during the “get the job” move. Is there anywhere in the book where this is mentioned or did I just manage to miss it? My second question is, are you suppose to show the players the corporation clocks during the game or they suppose to be hidden away until they get advanced so far that something is triggered? I’m struggling a little bit with how much I should keep my players in the dark when it comes to the clocks in general and again I can’t seem to find it in the book.
Thanks for the help in advance!
Regarding pay – check the Assets chapter, where there’s an item on earning Cred. Short version – players stake 1-3 Cred when they get the mission. If the mission succeeds and they’re paid in full, they get double their stake back. If “the job pays well”, they get triple instead. That’s the default, at least – you might increase the multipliers for an unusually complicated job, especially if the players have had a lot of mission expenses (bribes, gear, deck & vehicle repairs, etc)
Regarding the clocks, I don’t think there’s an official answer to that – it’s one of those things that depends a lot on group preferences. Myself, I like having things like that visible, because they help create tension, reminding the players that their actions risk attracting unwelcome attention. But equally, I imagine other people would prefer it to be hidden, so that it’s a surprise when Nemesis Corp security kicks down the door, the players unaware that the clock had advanced so far.
Simon Geard Ah alright, that makes a lot of sense, thanks for the information I really appreciate it! With the clocks I think I’m going with the first one, I like to be transparent about the mechanics of the game and at the same time I think it’s going to create some great tension!
Simon Geard is spot on on both. (Thanks Simon!)
Visible clocks are a great way of racking up tension, which is why the Mission Clocks should be visible as they tick up. Corporate and Threat Clocks are more a matter of taste. If you think there is a benefit (tension, transparency, etc) in having them open, do so. If the group prefers them to be invisible, that works too.
Certainly having Corp Clocks visibly at 2300 or 0000 is good for tension 😀
When you’re hacking a corporation, it’s the most fun to hack their intentions towards you. So instead of a military raid, imagine their surprise when they are billed for a delivery of flowers to your (former) address, all duly stamped and electronically signed by corporate underlings…
…I’m speaking from experience…
Pierre Savoie Bravo!
Never tried it, but one option is to keep the clocks hidden until they reach some threshold – representing the point where the corporate attention has become apparent to the characters. The sudden appearance of a well-advanced clock on the table seems like a good way to emphasise an imminent threat…
I could definitely see that working, Simon.
The point of the clock visibility is to use the players’ meta-game knowledge of impending trouble to heighten in-character tension, so a technique like that their approaches that goal in a different way should work well too.
In a way, visible clocks acomplish the same thing that [intel] and [gear] do: they represent your characters competance that you might lack as a player. They know when they have done something that might expose them to the corp.
As an aside, knowing that an enemy is after you is not knowing when or where they will try, let alone how or who will be carrying it out. You probably know why, but that still leaves four questions. Surprise is not out of the question.