Aberrant: Trans-Dimensional Explorations - How much should Novas get Paid?

[Bahamut810]

I dont think Prof ever said...

We were all combat elites being hired for a covert mission though, so before DeVries took their fair shake a few million.

It was enough for Adrew 'Lodestone' Brothers to buy a house and repair damages to the Superimpose facility and still have a fair bit left over.

[Expendable]

I can see I'm going to have to spend for more resource points.

[SkyLion]

I can see I'm going to have to spend for more resource points.

,,

Not necessarily...the resources background is constant buying power. In order to translate millions from the job into millions of resources you'ld need to invest it such that you always had that coming in every month (and able to continually buy at equal or lower and be able to make resources rolls for higher).

,,

I look forward to seeing Theo's culture shock upon recieving her checks... ::laugh ::tongue

[Alex Green]

I can see I'm going to have to spend for more resource points.

Or show up in a brand new car.

[BlueNinja]

Ok, I've re-written up through Episode 18. All of the missions except #18 have monetary bonuses; most of the Home Earth ones don't come from Michal.

The flat minimum amount of money you could all go home with (assuming multiple screwups and failure to accomplish mission goals) is $127k. The worst mission is Episode 13, in which you can end up $20k in the hole for screwing up.

The 'we showed up, looked at everything, and never put our asses on the line' amount of money is $198k. If I boost the pay, I'll be doubling this, so this amount would be added to the min and max money amounts.

The maximum amount of money you could all go home with (assuming all goals are accomplished, even the ones Michal doesn't mention because he doesn't know about them until later) is $663k. The best mission is Episode 11, in which you can pull in a whopping $168k for bringing back everything.

That still leaves four missions left to add to that. It also doesn't count non-monetary bonuses (such as bonus dots to backgrounds and abilities). It also doesn't count monetary bonuses that apply to a single person instead of the group.

I'd also like to point out that every successful episode should give you enough XP to buy the first dot in any level 2 power of your choice. That's a hell of a lot of XP, since I have never planned on any episode lasting you longer than 3-4 days of game time.

[archer]

Ok, I've re-written up through Episode 18. All of the missions except #18 have monetary bonuses; most of the Home Earth ones don't come from Michal.

The flat minimum amount of money you could all go home with (assuming multiple screwups and failure to accomplish mission goals) is $127k. The worst mission is Episode 13, in which you can end up $20k in the hole for screwing up.

The 'we showed up, looked at everything, and never put our asses on the line' amount of money is $198k. If I boost the pay, I'll be doubling this, so this amount would be added to the min and max money amounts.

The maximum amount of money you could all go home with (assuming all goals are accomplished, even the ones Michal doesn't mention because he doesn't know about them until later) is $663k. The best mission is Episode 11, in which you can pull in a whopping $168k for bringing back everything.

That still leaves four missions left to add to that. It also doesn't count non-monetary bonuses (such as bonus dots to backgrounds and abilities). It also doesn't count monetary bonuses that apply to a single person instead of the group.

I'd also like to point out that every successful episode should give you enough XP to buy the first dot in any level 2 power of your choice. That's a hell of a lot of XP, since I have never planned on any episode lasting you longer than 3-4 days of game time.

Alrighty. Wages wise, you're getting a lot closer. Especially adding in potential per-person bonuses, and the missing four episodes.

I do have a question though: Is the max of $663k the total for the entire season(all the episodes)? If so, what is the estimated time length of said season? 1 year? 6 months?

I ask because if that's for a year, then I'd have to say we're still getting shorted a bit. Currently, pro athletes and popular actors(cast of Friends, anyone?) can make far more than that per year. Actually, actors are a better comparison.

The cast of Friends got what, a million bucks per episode? Yes, that's because they were making the studios gobs of money, and eventually they all gave up, but still.

We've already discussed Randy Quaid, etc. Let's talk about Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, Tom Cruise...these guys make staggering sums of money per film. And that's before you add in royalties or merchandising. (Hugh Jackman gets a hefty amount off from all the Wolverine dolls sold, I betcha.)

Now, granted, none of our characters, to my knowledge, has arranged any sort of contract with Michal for shares of profit based on our discoveries or recoveries. But that's something that can be dealt with IC, in game, with Michal.

Here's the way I see it, ICly. Michal is paying each of us as little as he thinks he can get away with, just like any boss in any company. He probably has a herd of HR people that tell him what the company can afford, and how much we should be paid.

If our characters think they should be paid more, so be it. They can talk to Michal and make it clear what they want. But I know that Brandt thinks he's getting paid plenty for what he's doing. Not because he's stupid, but because he has personal reasons for going, and it's a sight more money than he made previously. When you consider that in 3 missions he'll have made more than his previous annual salary...well, that's good enough for him. If he sat down and thought about it seriously, he might change his mind, but right now he's happy.

OOCly, well of course I want him to be paid more! But without Biz, or a trustworthy accountant, he'll quickly have himself a house and a whole mess of new toys with very little income. (Just as SkyLion alluded to.)

So, I think as players we kinda have to decide how our characters think we should paid, as opposed to our OOC knowledge of nova's earning potential.

Also as players, we have to accomodate our ST's generous XP awards and other bonuses into our thinking. I'll gladly have my character take a hit in pay if he's landing gobs of XP per story.

Money can't buy love(or Quantum).

[Alex Green]

Here's the way I see it, ICly. Michal is paying each of us as little as he thinks he can get away with, just like any boss in any company. He probably has a herd of HR people that tell him what the company can afford, and how much we should be paid.

If our characters think they should be paid more, so be it. They can talk to Michal and make it clear what they want. But I know that Brandt thinks he's getting paid plenty for what he's doing. Not because he's stupid, but because he has personal reasons for going, and it's a sight more money than he made previously. When you consider that in 3 missions he'll have made more than his previous annual salary...well, that's good enough for him. If he sat down and thought about it seriously, he might change his mind, but right now he's happy.

OOCly, well of course I want him to be paid more! But without Biz, or a trustworthy accountant, he'll quickly have himself a house and a whole mess of new toys with very little income. (Just as SkyLion alluded to.)

Interesting idea.

So, I think as players we kinda have to decide how our characters think we should paid, as opposed to our OOC knowledge of nova's earning potential.

Yes and no. OOC I’m interested in money and I’ve read the OOC info in the books, and that shouldn’t be introduced. On the other hand, the market is pretty efficient in setting these sorts of things. In this case, even ignoring the big nova job shops, canon says there are a large number of job placement people running around focusing entirely on novas.

OOC I can only guess what the market price is for a healer or weather manip. But IC Paul doesn’t have cipher, so he should know. Hospital reps, desperate parents, and farmers should leave messages on my machine offering outrageous amounts of money for a few minutes or days work.

And yes we’ve said before Paul is an extreme case for this situation (established public nova with very commercial powers) so everyone will have to evaluate things for themselves.

Also as players, we have to accomodate our ST's generous XP awards and other bonuses into our thinking. I'll gladly have my character take a hit in pay if he's landing gobs of XP per story.

Agree 100%!!

[BlueNinja]

I do have a question though: Is the max of $663k the total for the entire season(all the episodes)? If so, what is the estimated time length of said season? 1 year? 6 months?

The $663 is not counting the last four episodes. I haven't fully re-written them, so I haven't assigned the bsae pay or the bonuses. One season should last about a year.

The cast of Friends got what, a million bucks per episode? Yes, that's because they were making the studios gobs of money, and eventually they all gave up, but still.

Not for their first season, they didn't. (Though I honestly don't know what they did get for the first season, I don't believe it was beyond five digits.)

We've already discussed Randy Quaid, etc. Let's talk about Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, Tom Cruise...these guys make staggering sums of money per film. And that's before you add in royalties or merchandising. (Hugh Jackman gets a hefty amount off from all the Wolverine dolls sold, I betcha.)

Trans-D the placemat! Trans-D the lunchbox! Trans-D the flamethrower! The kids just love this one. ::tongue

Also as players, we have to accomodate our ST's generous XP awards and other bonuses into our thinking. I'll gladly have my character take a hit in pay if he's landing gobs of XP per story.

Money can't buy love(or Quantum).

No, but it can buy you a gadget with Quanutm Leech. ::laugh

[BlueNinja]

Ok, done rewriting every episode except 22, (which since it's Part 1 of a two part set, you won't technically get paid for until the end of Season 2 Episode 1) and these are the new totals:

min: 192

base: 278

max: 900

So, if you folks do nothing but show up, gawk like tourists, and go home again, you'll be getting over a quarter million for Season 1. If you show exceptional efforts and insight into the game, you'll be banking almost a million, for Season 1. ::happy

Alright folks, let's get cracking! You won't earn that money without posting! ::tongue

[SkyLion]

That's a hell of a lot of XP, since I have never planned on any episode lasting you longer than 3-4 days of game time.

,,

Bonus XP for when the group creatively extends missions (like this one.)

,,

Also, have you made allowances for additional episodes to form from loose plot threads or player driven desires? ....Like say Ash decides to go back to Overclocked for a little five finger shopping spree at Fort Knox... ::devil

,,

or whatever.

[BlueNinja]

Bonus XP for when the group creatively extends missions (like this one.)

No. ::tongue ,,

Also, have you made allowances for additional episodes to form from loose plot threads or player driven desires? ....Like say Ash decides to go back to Overclocked for a little five finger shopping spree at Fort Knox... ::devil

or whatever.

To a degree. Already I've planed for specific things from episodes to follow you all into future episodes, and other things that you guys do IC that I didn't plan for will probably be incorporated as well. But the gate device was not designed to be a Disneyland ride, so the "Let's Rob Fort Knox" ride is permanently closed. ::rolleyes

[SkyLion]

"...But I want to play in Overclocked Daddy!!! I want to play in Overclocked now..."

,,

"Now Now Veruka, you don't want to get all taint buttered do you??"

,,

Uh, not really...never go back there... ::indifferent ...but you mentioned robbing banks for more dough (not that Esteban would). Weren't you encouraging disneyland a bit??? ::huh

,,

Oh, and BTW, in our tabletop games we award xp based not only on quality but on the length of the session, which is why I asked.

[BlueNinja]

"...But I want to play in Overclocked Daddy!!! I want to play in Overclocked now...",,

"Now Now Veruka, you don't want to get all taint buttered do you??"

,,

Uh, not really...never go back there... ::indifferent ...but you mentioned robbing banks for more dough (not that Esteban would). Weren't you encouraging disneyland a bit??? ::huh

Oh come on, don't you want to get to meet Gwendolyn? ::sly I just said it was something you guys could try to pull off during a mission. By itself, it's a bit frivolous. Plus, while Michal won't make an effort to stop you, there are still the legal ramifications; you've already been told that Utopia and the Directive are watching the SGE, and IIRC Michal mentioned that he had been investigated as a possible Sphinx by the US State Department.,,

Oh, and BTW, in our tabletop games we award xp based not only on quality but on the length of the session, which is why I asked.

The maximum automatic XP I will award for an episode is 5XP. That's a fairly large amount. The longer it goes, the better chance everyone has of demonstrating outstanding RP skills and pulling in OMFG dice rolls.

[BlueNinja]

I have now finished writing Episode 22 (Mirror, Mirror, Part 1) and Season 2 Episode 1 (Mirror, Mirror, Part 2). Your max bank from that mission is $110k (or $70k and +1 XP); your minimum bank from that is -$15k; I expect you'll come back with $30k.