[Bull]

Hm. This cuts out almost all armor.

Pretty much. It would just leave a (synth)leather jacket, Armor Vest and Armor Clothing as allowable, at least if strictly adhering to that rating limit even on the armors.
[/quote]

*facepalm*  Really guys? 

It's referring to stuff that's available with variable ratings.  Armor doesn't fall under that category. 

Just...  Just use the normal chargen rules for ratings and availabilities!  Jeez.

[Bull]

So if  during the Campaign I get a Connection 5 contact to Loyalty 4, she has 5+5+4 dice. If I pay 50% more she has 16, she can score me a Ranger Arms.

Does this apply to the Season 5 Contact whose Skills and Charisma are known?  For example: Sarah Silverleaf has Connection 5, Loyalty 2, Charisma 9, Negotiation 8.  Would I roll (purchase hits):
Negotiation 8 + Charisma 9 + Connection 5 [Social 12 + Connection 5] vs. Availability
OR
Connection 5 + Loyalty 2 + Connection 5 [Limit ? + Connection 5] vs. Availability? 

(I realize with buying hits that Limits do not really come into play, but I wanted to keep with the proper nomenclature.)

Always use Connection + Loyalty for NPCs.  This is to provide a flat rule across the board for all contacts.

From the FAQ:

If you wish to have contacts purchase additional items during a single downtime, use the standard rules for determining what items they can find, and how long it takes (p. 418, SR5). Since you won’t always know the skills and attributes of all your contacts, all contacts instead use their Loyalty instead of Charisma attribute and Connection in place of their Negotiation skill for the Availability test.

bolded for emphasis.

[All4BigGuns]

Hm. This cuts out almost all armor.

Pretty much. It would just leave a (synth)leather jacket, Armor Vest and Armor Clothing as allowable, at least if strictly adhering to that rating limit even on the armors.

*facepalm*  Really guys? 

It's referring to stuff that's available with variable ratings.  Armor doesn't fall under that category. 

Just...  Just use the normal chargen rules for ratings and availabilities!  Jeez.
[/quote]

Really it's just a case where one needs to be careful about wording because of the term 'rating' used in the armor listing. It is silly, but there are those who would enforce it that stringently.

[Palladion]

Hm. This cuts out almost all armor.

Pretty much. It would just leave a (synth)leather jacket, Armor Vest and Armor Clothing as allowable, at least if strictly adhering to that rating limit even on the armors.

Minor point... I did not say that. (No one likes having words put into their mouth.)

As to Contacts: There is no way to increase Loyalty on non-Mission specific Contacts, that means you are limited to 16 dice (Connection 5 x 2 + Loyalty 6) plus 1 die per 25% mark-up or wait for new Contacts to be introduced through individual Missions. In order to purchase anything up to Availability 12 off the shelf, you need a Connection 5, Loyalty 2 Contact (any other combination is too low) or a good face.

Most likely, everyone will take the blonde as a Contact though, heh. Just an observation...

[All4BigGuns]

Hm. This cuts out almost all armor.

Pretty much. It would just leave a (synth)leather jacket, Armor Vest and Armor Clothing as allowable, at least if strictly adhering to that rating limit even on the armors.

Minor point... I did not say that. (No one likes having words put into their mouth.)

As to Contacts: There is no way to increase Loyalty on non-Mission specific Contacts, that means you are limited to 16 dice (Connection 5 x 2 + Loyalty 6) plus 1 die per 25% mark-up or wait for new Contacts to be introduced through individual Missions. In order to purchase anything up to Availability 12 off the shelf, you need a Connection 5, Loyalty 2 Contact (any other combination is too low) or a good face.

Most likely, everyone will take the blonde as a Contact though, heh. Just an observation...

Was just pointing out in exacting detail exactly how few armors have 'rating' 6 or less.

[Bull]

As to Contacts: There is no way to increase Loyalty on non-Mission specific Contacts, that means you are limited to 16 dice (Connection 5 x 2 + Loyalty 6) plus 1 die per 25% mark-up or wait for new Contacts to be introduced through individual Missions. In order to purchase anything up to Availability 12 off the shelf, you need a Connection 5, Loyalty 2 Contact (any other combination is too low) or a good face.

Most likely, everyone will take the blonde as a Contact though, heh. Just an observation...[/font][/color]

From the Missions adventures, in the Picking up The Pieces section (this is the end section that details awards such as money, karma, contacts, reputation, etc, and is included in all Season 4 and Season 5 Missions):

Characters might interact with NPCs not specified by the Mission, and may earn these NPCs as a contact at Loyalty 1. They may also work with non-Mission specific contacts that they have already earned or that they bought at character creation, and gain a +1 Loyalty to these contacts. Gamemasters should not grant these lightly, and players should have to work to earn these contacts by going the extra mile to impress the NPC, offering up favors, or paying them well above the standard rates for information or services.

So yes, you can increase your Loyalty on your non-Missions characters, you just have to work at it and the GM has to agree that you're putting in effort into building the relationship.  Now whether or not your GM bothers to use this is entirely between you and them.

Also keep in mind that you can buy extra dice for Black market goods, as per the SR5 book.  It gets expensive, but you can buy up to 12 extra dice, which means that a maxed out Missions Contact will be able to get you anything in the core SR5 book, if you're willing to pay.

Lastly, not all contacts are able to do everything for you.  the only contact who can get you "anything" is a Fixer.  the actual Contact Sheets will have a "uses" line one them (It should have been on these, but I forgot to include them.  I'll update them at some point in the near future).  This outlines what sorts of things you can use the contact for.  Some are only going to be good for information and rumors.  Matt Wrath might hire out if you need some extra muscle.  goober handles Armor, Weapons, vehicles, and Drones.  Quantum Princess handles matrix gear.  Sid is an all around Fixer (but he's a newbie Fixer, so he's not great yet .  Lothan covers Magic.  Martin Tate acts as a street doc and can handle Cyebrware, but he, Maggie, Juan, and Sarah are all Corporate Mr. Johnsons as well.  Which means they may be able to get you gear, but there maty be strings attached. And do you really trust corporate operators to get you gear you're going to be relying on?

Bull

[All4BigGuns]

Lothan would be getting a little long in the tooth at this point, maybe Kellan would've been a better choice. :/

[Bull]

not necessarily.  He older, and we made certain to show that in his pic.  he's not an active runner anymroe for a reason.  But the WizKids stuff was 2060's era,   So at most it's been 15 years, probably a couple less, since the Kellan Colt stories.  Trolls live longer than orks too.  Lothan is around 45 in my mind, which means he's older, but he keeps himself healthy, and he's got another 10 years in him, easily. 

[All4BigGuns]

not necessarily.  He older, and we made certain to show that in his pic.  he's not an active runner anymroe for a reason.  But the WizKids stuff was 2060's era,   So at most it's been 15 years, probably a couple less, since the Kellan Colt stories.  Trolls live longer than orks too.  Lothan is around 45 in my mind, which means he's older, but he keeps himself healthy, and he's got another 10 years in him, easily.

Hmm...I always pictured that being his age in those books. Wasn't he one of the earlier goblinizations?

[Michael Chandra]

Device Rating == Rating, Armor Rating =/= Rating. Misunderstanding solved.

Palladion: Most likely the for-players contact cutouts won't include their exact stats and skills, but their uses. I recall from Season 4 they contained far less intel. So all a player can do when using a Contact to get an item, without a GM available to roll for him, is use the provided intel which pretty likely is just Loyalty, Connection, Uses and a bit of intel on what kinda stuff they expertise in.

[tequila]

Same as the core rulebook.  It's Rating 6 across the board, Device or otherwise.

Hm. This cuts out almost all armor.



-k

Every item described in this chapter includes a set of
statistics. Every item has a cost along with an Availability Rating, and most non-weapon, non-armor items, except those that simply confer an ability or don’t, have
an overall Rating, usually between 1 and 6.

Emphasis mine.

[KarmaInferno]

Great, good to know.

Understand, I've BEEN the master rules arbitrator for a national organized play campaign. For such campaigns, ambiguity means table variation and potential frustration for player and GM alike. I still have an ongoing fascination with game design and mechanics. Most of the times I discuss rules it's through the lens of an admin and GM.


-k

[Tacitus05]

It seems like I am missing something. So something like a superthyroid is out of the reach of runners since these are pretty hi g h availability and high cost, his making it prohibitively expensive for players to have them

[All4BigGuns]

It seems like I am missing something. So something like a superthyroid is out of the reach of runners since these are pretty hi g h availability and high cost, his making it prohibitively expensive for players to have them

Suprathyroid is a rather odd case. There's no real good excuse for the availability to be as high as it is (or was in 4th--it was the same) or for it to cost anywhere near what it does.

[Tacitus05]

Well a lot of bioware and advanced arms. Basically if it's over 15 and expensive, a runner will not be able to obtain it, unless they are a face. Seems kinda harsh?