Unusual Rewards for Shadowruns

By Dean

May 19, 2024 - 4 minutes read - 848 words

Books Used in this article.

Shadowrun is a game about high risk and high rewards. Too often we however only see rewards of nuyen. Some Gamemasters stretch their legs and add in things like extra contacts or some exotic ammos, but when was the last time you had something like a program, spell or exotic material for resale? Each of those rewards can lead to more stories and more stories is ALWAYS better!

Why strange rewards?

The most obvious answer to this question is that not everyone has nuyen. Money is great and does speak the universal language but ultimately, trading and barter for services is still king. When people need something done, they will use what they have on hand. That is usually their specific trade. Gangs often have drugs and weapons. Mages and magical crews have foci, fetishes and reagents (Check out my discussion on purchasing spell). Hackers and Tech people have gear and programs. Some corps only have their own corp script (Money that can only be used at their own stores. Think of them like Disney bucks). Each of these things can be used by your characters but also lead to some more interesting scenarios either from the characters now having some new item or trying to sell that item.

How does this make new stories?

The most obvious ways is to give the players something they need to unload and make it apart of the story to sell it. Having a truck load of engine parts to be sold is one thing. Trying to sell a dozen highly potent BTL chips is another. This does of course impact your story in what you are introducing but its a great way to show the players that stuff exists that they may not have even known about.

Another aspect is to allow for characters to have some moral questions to be placed. Are they cool with potentially flooding the streets with Nitro because their contact could pay them x2 their rate if they did it in drugs? What does that mean to be sitting on that much product? Rival gangs might be interested to know that bricks of Zen are piled up on a drop house that isn’t guarded. This isn’t an excuse for you to go after your players in a new way, it’s just something that’s more interesting in a certified credstick.

Examples of in Play:

Used / ‘found’ Cyberware

A pack of ghouls needs protection from hunters. They decide to spin a story about people breaking into crypts to do some casual grave robbing. They try to do all of the meets in extra dark places and do their best to hide their identity. They don’t have cash to their name, but they do have cyberware that they have been able to pull out of their meals. Since Ghouls can’t use cyberware, its useless to them, but a great bargaining chip for them.

Drugs.

Street gangs are known for using drugs of all types. Biker gangs tend to use uppers for long haul driver and for recreation. They keep a large extra in their bike house protected and guarded by their jacked up members. They are more than willing to pay out in Nitro what they could pay in cash. They have a good supplier and are more willing to part with it than try to raise huge amounts of money. It keeps them from having to sling the Nitro themselves.

Decker Services

Hacker House is a well known shadow organization that exists solely within the matrix. They do a cash business but it would be great for them to trade in copywritten software. They may even give out some free samples along with cash payments with the “One Shot” quality as a “just a taste” experience.

Deckers can often loan out their services just as much as cash. Protecting high priority calls, keeping watch for their runners names or phone numbers popping up in places they don’t want it. Perhaps even clearing out phone bills. Hunting down who is posting about their backyard fence size in their HOA subnet.

Final Words

Hopefully through these examples you can come up with some more interesting rewards for your players. Often when I am running I often allow the players two options for payments on each run. I love giving away things rather than cash or giving them Corp Script. Few things are a fun for a GM to make the players realize how much influence corps have over the lives of their citizens than having them make a lifestyle payment in script and giving them the run down on their brand new “Renraku Super Noods” (Not legally noodles) to eat on their new Renraku handmade (by the purchases IKEA style) table and cracking the seal on some new Renraku Silent Sneakers with matching pants and tops.

Have you found something specifically cleaver you gave away as a reward? Have some advice on player rewards in general? Send me an email! I’d love to hear from you!