I like the possibilities of a future Rent-A-(Player-)Hench feature.
First of all, chosing from a list of Player generated runners and not CHP-generated NPCs gives a feeling of hiring "real" runners, not meaning that I don't rely on CHP's skills to build NPCs, but what I mean is you hire them, cause you think they are valuable for that moment/run. But each time the character's original player advances his character, you face a new situation whether you still like the runner' s path or not. "Is he still valuable for me or do I have to look for other runners?" This brings you as a hiring player in a real "Johnson-Mode".
I would like to see a real "Renting System" behind this, meaning the more a character has advanced the more expensive he gets. This brings in some kind of prestige-mode. I could also imagine that the roster displays how often the character has been rented, so other players can evaluate, if the char might be useful or not. From the character's bearer point of view, this might give him some kind of recognition, maybe even fame.
From a Hiring Player/Johnson's perspective this gives options for a little "Managing simulation" You get the sum of X Nuyen for the run. "How much do I spent in additional runners and which one will it be?"
The "Rent-A-Player's-Runner" Option is a feature I personally have never seen before and can - if played out well - be very enriching the whole concept. Plus it's continiously expandable...
andIt's even better than that!
This was discussed at GenCon, and the big treat of all this is to be able to also 'hire' Characters from your friend's list, with some sort of reward/recognition for the Character getting a job while the Player is offline. So they've already thought of some of this already!
Hiring a non-friend runner should definitely still be possible also, with benefits to that as well (though maybe they take a bigger cut since you're not chummers with them?)
In either case, I agree that this is a pretty unique idea, and I really look forward to seeing where they take this feature!
http://www.shadowrun.com/forums/discussion/41761/rent-a-hench-feature-has-potential i look at shadowrun online forums and see it Discussion add it to COT if u hiring Player heroes or Villains help u on missions pay guys done with missions anyone Suggestions Ideas add to is topic?
whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster and when you look into the abyss, the abyss also look into you, -Friedrich
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It is an interesting idea for hired help. It could certainly add a lot of flavor and variety over just having a small stable of pre-fabbed generic NPCs. The bigger question though is whether to have hired help in the game or not.
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I have been wondering how such an idea might be incorporated into CoT. One thought I had was that individuals and/or SGs could put money (perhaps even salvage and recipes) into an escrow account, which would be the source of the payment/reward.[color=red]*[/color] On the one hand this would make certain that the payment/reward is, indeed, available and it could allow the devs some control over the amounts in play.[color=red]**[/color]
This leaves me with two questions:
1. What is the source of this work (missions)?
One obvious option are clues. Clues, perhaps even special clues, could be given to other players to follow up on, as normal.
Another obvious is the mission builder. Missions, perhaps even special types of missions, could be made available for other players to play through, as normal.
The problem with the clues option is that it means that the player/SG has to choose between using the clues for themselves or to hire a player. Special 'for hire' clues would likely solve this issue (and could also be traded).
The problem with the mission builder option is that people would essentially be paying other players to play through missions that they have created. This comes off as being rather self-serving and adds an additional layer of work for the player/SG. One solution is to limit the choice of missions to those that are the most popular, highest ranked, and/or dev's choice. This would likely require several months for there to be a critical mass of 'best of' missions with similar parameters, lest everyone be sent through the same three or four missions.
2. What is the benefit for the employer?
The player/SG could make their own resources available out of the goodness of their hearts, but most likely they will expect to obtain some kind of benefit from participating in such a feature/mechanic. Do they get special clues that can only be obtained in this manner? Reputation with a particular group (or currency for a special vendor)?
It is an interesting idea but I have my doubts whether this feature would be worth the effort it would take to add it to the game.
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[color=red]*[/color] Taking payment in exchange for helping people (including other heroes) is not normally a part of the hero paradigm, but then a setting with thousands of heroes in one city is outside the norm as well. It could be viewed as a 'heroes helping heroes' action.
[color=red]**[/color] There could be some pitfalls in balancing the risks vs rewards of this style of play versus normal game play.
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Support [url=http://cityoftitans.com/comment/52149#comment-52149]trap clowns[/url] for CoT!