Downtime Money Making

This is an attempt to address the possibility of player characters getting little tiny jobs that aren’t very difficult and aren’t worth spending much group time on. FASA’s modules talk about these little background jobs as things that happen, but if they’re going to narrate them as happenstance, you ought to get paid for it!

Eventually, I want to have each of these tables involve some dice rolling to determine the nature of the task and difficulty/risk level. Each should also have an associated test for success.

Any of these standard things could be used, of course, as a story hook. If a character with enemies doesn’t do enough background checking before taking a job, one might be used as a trap...

Street Rep

This kind of work tends to affect your street rep. Your street rep is used as a target number for Street Etiquette to know who you are and what you’ve let them know you’re good at. (Assume that your first job takes your street rep to 14.) If you succeed at the job, it stays where it is. If you botch, it goes down by two (but you have a bad rep). If you get three successes, it goes down by 1; if you get 5, it goes down by 2. (Average results if making multiple tests, or choose the most significant test.)

Note that shadowrunning also tends to affect street rep; even simply meeting with Johnsons and disappearing for a while and then showing evidence of income will do quite well to peg you as a shadowrunner (and a quiet one).

By Profession

Mages

1	Wards: The mage responsible for upping some wards screwed up, is sick, etc. and they need someone capable of astral projection to come over and reinforce the wards at a business. Test: Sorcery (Force). Pay: Force × 100¥.
2	Teaching: Another mage wants you to teach them a spell. Pay: 500¥/day, or whatever you can charge.
3	Conjuring: Someone wants a spirit for a particular reason. For Hermetics, this could be another mage wanting one of your elementals to help them design a spell, or someone wanting another person beaten up. For Shamans, it could be that someone wants a safe passage somewhere, a search performed, or an accident to happen to someone. This could generate pay for a Physical Adept or other magician as well, if the conjuring is dangerous. Test: Conjuring (spirit force). Pay: Cost of conjuration materials (you’re expected to have them on hand) + Force × 200yen;.
4	Spellcasting: One or more of the spells you know is in demand. It might be that your command of Fashion, Makeover, and Healthy Glow is required for a group of people going to a party, a batch of healing spells being needed to patch up a group of runners, or sustaining disguise or invisibility spells on someone for a meet or a job. Test: Spellcasting, possibly some Etiquette. Pay: 100¥ per hour spent either spellcasting, sustaining, waiting, or recovering from drain, minimum 1 hour.

Mages are very rare in the population, and should expect to command a minimum of High lifestyle due to scarcity and utility. In general, 500¥ per day plus hazard pay is reasonable for them.

Physical Adepts and Street Samurai

1	Bodyguarding: Someone needs a bodyguard for a meet or some other short-engagement work. Tests: Etiquette, Intimidation, Combat. Pay: Varies greatly with threat estimates and skill. Expect professional rates plus hazard pay.
2	Tutoring: Someone wants a tutor in one of the martial arts you know, or a sparring partner to help them practice. (A sufficiently good person might hire every PhysAd in the party to come at them at once in order to get a real challenge.) Test: Combat. Pay: as expected for professionals.
3	Security: You’re needed as a bouncer at nightclub, security at a party, or other such work where discretion is a big part of your duty. Tests: Etiquette, Intimidation, Combat. Pay: 100¥ a night, plus occasional tips, bribes, and bonuses for jobs well done; more in better venues where higher skill is required.
4	Repo Man: Someone’s in debt and their creditor isn’t happy. You need to intimidate them into giving up their toy. Tests: Etiquette, Intimidation, possible Combat. Pay: proportional to the value of the toy retrieved, usually a few hundred nuyen.

Muscle are, unfortunately, easy to get, and you’re not likely to make a lot off bodyguarding or security unless you’re very good.

Riggers

Denver run: Getting someone to or from Denver. This may generate value for a shaman as well, since nature spirits are very useful when rigging.

Chop shop: Someone needs help in getting a vehicle chopped up or otherwise rendered unidentifiable.

Mods: Someone wants their vehicle modified.

1	Turbo-charging
2	Improved handling
3	Engine customization
4	Stealthing
5	Engine swapping
6	Weapons

A rigger with a vehicle facility has a respectable amount invested in their shop and can probably afford to charge based on a High lifestyle, which suggests 500¥ a day. If the rigger is doing equipment acquisition, they can probably charge 10% over the cost of the equipment.

Deckers

1	Data gathering: Somebody needs you to turn the incredible amount of data in the Matrix into something they can figure out. Test: Computer (?), Etiquette (Matrix) (?).
2	Subcontracting: Another decker wants help in keeping up with the SOTA, or is working on a major programming project. Part of the pay for this one may be in a copy of the utility involved, if they trust you that much... Test: Computer (?).

I’m dubious about putting any breaking-in work on this table because of the incredible amount of work associated with such things.

Detectives

1	Missing person: Someone’s gone missing and someone else wants you to use your investigative talents to track them down.

Detective work will run from 100¥-250¥ per day, plus expenses, going up based on difficulty and quality of detective.

Fixers

Use the Fixer Rules from NERPS Underworld.

Rockers, Tridsnoops

Use the rules from Shadowbeat.

Engineers

A variety of characters can wind up with engineering skills— various appropriate B/R skills can apply for working as electricians and builders, and Physical Sciences covers actual engineering work. Mages can often have appropriate spells.

Guerilla Engineering: There are plenty of people out there who want engineering done without wasting time getting building permits and following official codes and dealing with union labor. The work can vary from helping to extend the Ork Underground (where Physical Sciences will come in handy for bracing the tunnels and earth elementals for digging) to renovating condemned buildings without making it evident they’re being renovated.