[Chalkarts]

I used to larp, we could do downtime reports and send the GM little stories and notes letting the GM know what our characters were doing between games then we'd get a couple bonus xp next game.

I'm thinking of taking the idea for my sr campaign.  If one of my players lbetween runs send me an email telling me that his character has been spending all of his downtime at the ork roller derby hitting on one of the skaters then, depending on the quality of the story and imagination involved I might reward this player with a 1/1 contact:derby girl or a knowledge skill in ork roller derby, perhaps 1 rank in skating.

It's just something's  that I thought could be fun for the players and get them more immersed in their characters as well as
Getting them some free skills and stuff.

Have you ever run a campaign with this sort of thing, was it successful?  Did your players use it and enjoy it?

[farothel]

I've had it as player in many campaigns (not yet as GM), although not in shadowrun.  I find it great fun to do, but as I enjoy writing stories about my characters, it's sort of logical.  Be careful with the rewards though, as some players will be much better at it than others and you have to take that into account, so it's not always one player who gets the reward and another doesn't, simply because he can't write these stories well.

If done correctly, it can also be a great way to introduce new plot, or a s a source for new runs.  To use your example, suddenly that roller derby comes under attack by a gang, the owner might remember the character and ask him/her for assistance.

[Chalkarts]

I was thinking of going with earmarked karma.  So if the player said they spent their break working at an animal shelter I'd probably give something like 3karma that can only be spent to advance animal empathy or medicine.

As for quality, I was thinking a minimum amount like 1 or 2 for something short and to the point, "Doc spent the break studying medicine." Gets you 1 karma just for sending it.  But something longer would give you more.  The more detailed the better.  It wouldn't have to be great literature, terrible fanfic is fine, even a list of activities that you attempted to learn new things and meet new people.  If you really blow my socks off I might just give you the skill point, but it would have to be spectacular.

[Mr. Black]

This is sometimes called "bluebooking" as in those school blue book used for essays. I have done it before, and encourage my players to do so. It is very useful for adding flair and life to a character, as well as a personal life. I know that, both as a player and GM, I do not want to waste what little gaming time I have each week on any characters ongoing love life, child-rearing, or social time. Did that player win a local tournament in Tiger Woods' Urban Golf: Emerald City Edition*? I couldn't really care, as I have more important, and more inclusive things to do than play through that tourney. Knowing that another character won that tournament however, even if bluebooked? My character would either tease them about life priorities or ask for advice on playing, all good for role-playing fun.

Bluebooking is also good for handling all those Dependents.

I would not however, hand out any Karma, positive qualities or nuyen for it. I would, and have, added 1/1 contacts and negative qualities for bluebooking. New girlfriends are an obvious choice. As Farothel said, characters hooks as key here. Anything more is liable to start rebellion at the table. After all, karma is Karma, even if it is earmarked. That just means the character can spend their other Karma elsewhere. If the player chooses to spend their regular Karma on animal care to reflect the time spent at the shelter, reward them with uping the Loyalty rating of the contact at the shelter. Then give the character a job, perhaps saving those rare animals being served up at the Peaceable Kingdom restaurant, a job that the whole Crew will be needed for. That way everyone benefits from the player's extra effort.

[farothel]

Another good use of this is to keep in touch with contacts to keep loyalty rating up (or even improve it).  Help them out, go to a club with them, things like that.  It can easily be written out and that way you don't have to worry about it in game time.

[Chalkarts]

I could set a limit to 1 downtime per ability or contact during each game free week.  So that my players don't go hog wild and try doing one a day and milking it too much.  Make it like extra credit.

[Tecumseh]

I've done this before and considered it successful. Obviously it's up to the players to decide how engaged to be but I think it's worthwhile for the GM to support and reward it.

I haven't heard the term bluebooking before but I'll use it for convenience.

I've been running a weekly campaign for 3 years where the in-game time tracks real-life time. If we play for a few hours a week than that leaves 98% of the PCs' lives unaccounted for. Bluebooking provides a great opportunity for players to explore their PCs non-professional lives without having to bog down the proceedings at the table. We would also RP via e-mail between sessions so that they could make progess on side missions or legwork without slowing down the group session.

I did offer karma awards, in the ballpark of 1 karma for up to 1,000 words. As others have mentioned, meeting new contacts, improving old contacts, or maintaining relationships are all valid outcomes.

If you don't want to give straight karma, or if you think earmarked karma is a fungible asset, then offer karma discounts on specific skill increases. Another thing I did was to offer karma specifically for knowledge skill improvement, as I've never had a player who spends karma on knowledge skills otherwise. That was another way to reward the player and add depth to their character without unbalancing the game table.

My game also has a wiki that players know to check for between-session developments. I would often post what they were up to (that the others would know about), plus any other local happenings. (New donut at the donut shop, favorite bartender at the local watering hole is missing, etc.) Woven together they helped form a more in-depth game world. Not every player will be into it - some just want to come and sit and play and not think about the game the rest of the week - but when you get the player who is plotting and scheming and hustling in his or her downtime then it can be a lot of fun.