3e - Day Job - Matrix Game Programmer

[Phoenixian]

The Day Job Flaw (Value -1 to -3) has a notation to it that it can be adjusted as to what your job is worth depending on what your day job actually is. In the case of a character I am writing, he spends 10 hours a week planning and building matrix/simsense games for a small development company in Seattle.

With a Program Design knowledge skill of 5, a Computer (Programming) skill of 7, access to a beefy computer (3,000 Mp active memory), and a Programming Suite 7 (optimized with the Self-Coder option, rating 7), I think even 10 hours a week is worth far more than 1,000 n¥.

Given he could design and write programs (including games, obviously), I figure I'd do an average of what his skill would result in Mp written per hour and multiply that by 10 for a week's work. His pay would be the sale of that software to the company (which makes it's money marketing and bulk selling the games written to the world).

That said, I'd need to know what rating and multiplier would be reasonable for an average simsense-based game (be it an immersive MMO style hosted on the Matrix like World of Warcraft 45, or an offline game) so I can figure out what he'd be averaging in productivity during his 'work hours', and therefore figure out how much he'd be earning after taxes (which would eat up 25% of his income before he even touches it) so I don't go for a lifestyle (I'm using the detailed lifestyle rules) that is above his means (of course he's making far more than that, shadowrunning, but I'm going for a compelling 'cover identity' here).

Thoughts?

[Lord Torath]

Just going off the top of my head, and not looking at anything other than the Day Job Flaw, I'd say that should pay around 2500 nuyen per month. Programming is pricey, I'll certainly give you that, but you're only putting in 10 hours a week. So if I was your GM, I'd give you the going rate for 20 hours of part-time wage-slave work. That'll pay half your expenses for a middle lifestyle.

Yes, you can go into setting the programming difficulty levels, and how long will it take you to write the code, and how well do you do on your skill test, but I'd just as soon leave that out of it. Wage slaves are a dime a dozen, and while programmers are probably worth more than your average, I'd still limit it to a low amount per month for 1/4-time work. It's a flaw, and your part-time work, not the focus of your career - which is Running, of course. Of course, I'm not your GM, so this whole post may be worthless. But, whatever.

Good luck!

[TheCountAlucard]

Alternatively you are getting paid more, but part of it's assumed to be going to covering some of the costs associated with the double life - that's what I did with Silverscreen, my Face character who was a trideo actor who did crappy B-movies about shadowrunners. The thousand nuyen was just what he "made" from it.

[LibraryOgre]

I think that's one of those that gets problematic because of how easy it is to finesse. You've got 10 hours a week to put in of unsupervised work? You may reasonably be making a ton of money, but then you have to wonder... why are you in the Shadows.