We ended up pocketing a bit of cash that we never ended up spending after intercepting that weapon's shipment. I remember it was a thing we talked about for a while, that in any given downtime, Josie could whip up some TW items from the custom list. We never got around to it, so we still have the creds, which I think was about 90k?
As an aside, I do think the prices in Rifts are insane, at least in comparison to the wages. Given that by and large, recruits supply their own gear as well? The peanuts outlined in the book make no sense. In general, I think it is a mistake to assume that PC's would start as Privates in the army. Anyone that brings a Glitterboy, wields magic, or is a bloody dragon should be starting as an NCO, if not an officer. In most games, the assumption is usually that PC's are not the rank and file of the army. Those are just regular dudes, with no class archtype, that are given some basic training and a rifle. I feel like most PC's are going to be commissioned.
The other major thing to note in the pay scale is the inclusion of the last two. Considering most of what we do puts us directly in harms way, and almost always results in combat, I think we should getting pretty regular Hazardous Mission Bonuses, and several times we've pulled of pretty dramatic successes, so we probably should have received some Special Success Bonuses here and there as well.
STATUS PAYMENT
Novice 300/week
Seasoned 450/week
Veteran 600/week
Heroic 1,000/week
Legendary 2,000/week
Hazardous Mission Bonus +2,500 –10,000
Special Success Bonus +5,000 –25,000
According to the encumbrance rules, Ounce is encumbered if she carries all her gear. She is d4 Strength, so can only carry 20 lb before she is encumbered. Her Survival kit weighs 20 lb while her other gear is less than 20. So if we are traveling with a vehicle, she can keep the survival pack in the vehicle. If we are without a vehicle, she'll need someone with some encumbrance to spare to carry her kit.
If this is a problem, I can adjust her strength up to d6 but that will mean dropping something, which would likely be either agility or smarts, with resultant shuffling of skill points. I'd rather keep the Strength at d4 since she has no general need for higher strength as she will not be making melee attacks or throwing things.
The other major thing to note in the pay scale is the inclusion of the last two. Considering most of what we do puts us directly in harms way, and almost always results in combat, I think we should getting pretty regular Hazardous Mission Bonuses, and several times we've pulled of pretty dramatic successes, so we probably should have received some Special Success Bonuses here and there as well.
STATUS PAYMENT
Novice 300/week
Seasoned 450/week
Veteran 600/week
Heroic 1,000/week
Legendary 2,000/week
Hazardous Mission Bonus +2,500 –10,000
Special Success Bonus +5,000 –25,000
Truth be told, THIS is where the math starts to make sense.
This is what I was trying to see in my head and totally couldn't.
I have wracked my brain trying to figure out the path to being a dual TX-26 wielder, and without being a Filthy Rich Power Armor Ace, I couldn't see a path to it. With these numbers, a couple of tough sessions would put 50-75k in your hands and it makes a lot more sense. A Heroic MARS Character starting with toothpicks, a princess leia blaster, and plastic wrap as body armor just hasn't made sense to me. This makes a lot more sense.
To Rigor’s point, yes, there should have been more pay in there, as hazardous missions are pretty much a given in the Legion. As far as original ranks are concerned, I thought I put everyone at minimum E3 before the promotions came for exactly the reasons Rigor mentioned.
All that being said, that is why I included the million credit payday recently that you killed off some Xiticix to get to. I wanted to get you guys back up to speed on that. I think most of it went back to the Legion though. Other than the 90k that you guys kept. Plus, most of the pay stuff in the original version of the rules, except for weekly payments, was for mercenary groups, which you guys are not. Technically. That doesn’t mean you can’t make some money on the side though. The Legion has so far not put the hammer down on that.
Now that the SWADE version has better pay rules, though less realistic, it should be better going forward. Also remember that RIFTS is often about scarcity in the wilds, and other than in big cities, like Chi-Town, Kingsdale, Whykeen and of course, Castle Refuge, you get what you can find out there. Many times, you may be able to get gear and stuff just for helping a local get rid of some “basement rats” that came from a Rift.
As for Ounce’s encumbrance issue, once the teams connect, you will be able to use Elsie to store your gear that you aren’t using. It currently has a command center trailer attached to it with plenty of cargo space.
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Looking at this makes me want to do my own Savage Rifts campaign.
DMSBM - so, what's the bottom line on cash-on-hand? I've totally forgotten, how many PC's were involved in the 90k payday (so I can figure out my share)?
Brook - you can get two TX-26's by taking the MARS "Merc Soldier", who can pick "*any* two weapons from Ranged-Personal", AND "*any* one body armor", such as the Crusader Heavy EBA, the best there is, for no cost.
Rigor - is your payment list canon (and if so, in what book), or your own suggestions?
EltonJ - I'll join! If I can be a CyberKnight... :)
Burgurk - Yes the list is cannon. Its from the the Savage Rifts GameMaster Guidebook, pg 84.
LEGION PAY
STATUS PAYMENT
Novice 300/week
Seasoned 450/week
Veteran 600/week
Heroic 1,000/week
Legendary 2,000/week
Hazardous Mission Bonus +2,500 – 10,000
Special Success Bonus +5,000 – 25,000MERCENARY PAY
JOB PAYMENT
Guard Duty 500 –2,000/week
Monster Bounties 5,000 –25,000/head
Retrieval (person or thing) 20,000 – 100,000
Armed Strike, Low-Level Target 50,000 – 250,000
Armed Strike, Mid-Level Target 500,000 – 2 million
Armed Strike, High-Level Target 5 million – 25 million
The 90000ish credits we had is what I remember each share being (it was something like 450k, split 5 ways {mostly departing characters and NPC's}). I'll see if I can track down the exact posts and proper amount.
Elton - I would totally play another Savage Rifts game if you were to start one up.
I was way off; it was split 5 ways, but it was 800k, giving us 160k each. As far as I can recall, nobody spent any of it.
EltonJ - I'll join! If I can be a CyberKnight... :)
If you don't mind me setting it in the New West, certainly!
Ha, I actually have a Psi-Slinger character I made for a game that fizzled. I was looking forward to playing him too.
Rigor - thanks for the info! I never even wrote down in my on-line character sheet that I had the money!
EltonJ - are Cyber-Knights a thing in the New West?
Rigor, thanks for looking that up. That was next on my list to verify the amount you had. Remember to add 2000 to that from my earlier post.