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As I run the game I'm journaling on this thread -- based on a sort of reality-show premise -- I'm looking for rules of thumb to do a couple of things
a) cover how many views the team's activities garner from adventure to adventure,
b) figure out how much extra money they get from media streaming (I'm trying to develop all the sources of income I can devise that don't involve looting corpses on the battlefield, a D&D trope that usually doesn't feel right to me in this setting),
c) address the question of using Profession skills in-game to set up performances and public appearances (an occasion that will be rare but something some players are already talking about trying and that I think might be fun to encourage as the premise of an adventure in itself).
What I've come up with -- based on a Frankenstein's-monster combination of Shadowrun's very-old "Shadowbeat" rules and Starfinder's Wealth-by-Level guidelines -- is this. I'd be glad of any feedback or suggestions.
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THE VIEWS
The Team will accrue views based first on the activities and skills of their patron and producer (who will also accrue some surplus credits to hand out to the team after the completion of each major arc using the rules below).
Team Members can also, if they wish, publicly leverage their own Profession Skills during play—where opportunity dictates—for some added cash and some added views and attention, which will be reflected in the team's profile and the positive and negative attention they receive as they move around the galaxy.
The effects of this profile will sometimes be unpredictable, or funny, or scary. They do not replace the fame-related theme benefits of being an Icon, which accrue only to characters who have (and RP) the Icon theme; nor does it replace added profile within a character's own theme or profession. But it will help to explain both, and will be a mechanic for introducing added wrinkles, fun and flavour to our setting.
Leveraging Profession skills in the Out-of-Session Text RP channel will be good for views. Doing so during actual play will also be a means of accruing additional credits—over and above the standard “making a living” Profession checks already provided by the Starfinder system—according to the rules outlined below.
REHEARSALS
Performances don't just happen, or at least, not usually. Live concerts or stunts require rehearsal; recordings involve retakes, editing, hours of pre- and post-production work; scholarly papers and lectures require research and preparation and so on. The time varies according to the scale of the event. It increases for fancier shows and occasions likely to attract more views. Ditto for recordings, which involve actual recording, negotiating distribution, editing, and the whole nine yards.
REHEARSAL TIME TABLE
Performance / Public appearance (Base Time)
Club date / Small Lecture (10 days)
Recording a single / Running a Symposium (10 days)
Song Collection / Presenting a Monograph (60 days)
Major concert / Historic Lecture (90 days)
Concert tour / Lecture tour (180 days)
Any performance-related Profession skill can be used to coordinate rehearsals. Bluff and Diplomacy can be used as well. Roll a check with a DC 10 if using an applicable Profession Skill, a DC 15 if using Bluff or Diplomacy. Divide the Base Time by the margin of success. Failure means the full Base Time is required to prepare for the event or session.
Unrehearsed performances or concerts, for which the performers have not spent the necessary time preparing, will have less impact. The number of views and potential payout will be divided by 2 for Icons and divided by 4 for Non-Icons.
CREDITS AND VIEWS FOR PERFORMING / PROFESSION (for Non-Icons)
Level 1 - 5
Views (100 * Profession Roll (*10 number of shares))
Surplus Money 250 * 1d6
Level 6-10
Views (500 * Profession Roll (*10 number of shares))
Surplus Money 1,000 * 1d8
Level 11-15
Views (2,500 * Profession Roll (*10 number of shares))
Surplus Money 3,750 * 1d10
Level 16-20+
Views (12,500 * Profession Roll (*10 number of shares))
Surplus Money 15,600 * 2D6
CREDITS AND VIEWS FOR PERFORMING / PROFESSION (Icon)
Level 1 - 5
Views (300 * Profession Roll (*10 number of shares))
Surplus Money 375 * 2D6
Level 6 - 10
Views (1,500 * Profession Roll (*10 number of shares))
Surplus Money 1,400 * 2D8
Level 11-15
Views (7,500 * Profession Roll (*10 number of shares))
Surplus Money 5,600 * 2D10
Level 16-20+ (avg. Wealth 1,980,000)
Views (37,500 * Profession Roll (*10 number of shares))
Surplus Money 24,000 * 2D12