[Inconnu]

Not to mention milspec or better(Yes) armor. And if we're talking Ares you're working for here, some pretty sweet prototype weapons.(Like, for instance, a heavy pistol with all the stopping power of a rifle. Just a example.)
On the other hand, said prototype weapons can be a bit of a pain if they glitch. ("Congratulations. Your plasma pistol just exploded. You are dead. No, I don't care about your soak roll.")

[RHat]

Not to mention milspec or better(Yes) armor. And if we're talking Ares you're working for here, some pretty sweet prototype weapons.(Like, for instance, a heavy pistol with all the stopping power of a rifle. Just a example.)

Or even if it's not a prototype, but simply not generally produced for sale (such as a pistol chambered for rifle ammunition).  Or, for that matter, access to skilled people to create custom gear for you (likely not face to face, but still).

[Inconnu]

I guess it's basically, look at the player's finances. If the finances are good and there isn't anything in particular they want, give them gear/ware for the run. On the other hand if it's cash they need, it's cash they get.

[WellsIDidIt]

Honestly, prototypes, delta access, and the like rarely make sense for a corp to give as payment. Primarily because of the role that runners play in most circumstances, deniable assets. It's hard to deny that you've had contact with a runner when he's running around with your latest and greatest tech or his ware comes back as being from batch 8 distributed to your delta grade clinic. Some cases are different, but they're usually rare in the shadows.
Ghost Cartels has the players working for a Johnson with access to a Genetics company and no care about how deniable the runners are.
Even if you make the claim that the gear was stolen, that brings in other questions. Either the report was immediate, in which case the runners have Insurance Agents out there that may catch their trail, or the report was filed much later, in which case the insurance company is going to be extremely doubtful at the claim. It took how long to notice your SOTA wazoo was missing?

The real trick is to pay the runners with another corps prototypes, after documenting it of course, and grant access to third party parlors. Get rid of incriminating evidence and pay the boys in one swoop while maintaining deniable asset status.

[Novocrane]

It's hard to deny that you've had contact with a runner when he's running around with your latest and greatest tech or his ware comes back as being from batch 8 distributed to your delta grade clinic.

Who are you denying it to? How often is prototype 'ware stolen in your games? I'd consider stolen and blackmarket 'ware a consistent market. Leaving data traceable down to the operating theatre in 'ware marked for deniable ops funding? That sounds like the unintelligent bit.

When you take into account that runners are usually middlemen of unintended transfers, making the assumption that they're keeping (or can provide leads to) any given stolen item after a handoff becomes an uncertain point. Some things have enough value to continue the hunt beyond the immediate chase / escape, but not everything.

[WellsIDidIt]

Runners have short lifespans. They tend to croak on the job. So you'd be denying it to the person investigating the circumstances around said runner's death, which would vary depending on where said runner died. May be a Corporate Court investigation crew, could be Interpol, could be Knight Errant/Lone Star. At the end of the day all that matters is that it draws questions back to where the tech originated. 50,000¥ for a CEO's "Night on the Town" is a lot easier to explain than an unmarketed, never reported stolen, SOTA piece of equipment in a runner's hands. As for traceable, things as pricey and rare as Delta are going to be traceable to a good degree. You're talking about needing expensive and rare custom tailored parts integrated perfectly and installed by some of the most skilled surgeons in an area. Likely just looking at the composition of the parts would narrow down the field tremendously without going into other details.

Now, Corps may  not report the theft, but that will cause issues with Insurance policies, and always looks shady. Ripe grounds for more digging. Stolen and blackmarket equipment is a big market, which leaves to how it gets into the market place. For SOTA and prototypes, it's either going to be additional tech that was pulled other than the job, or its going to be tech that the Johnson is trying to rid himself of. Tech disappears from Ares, winds up 6 months later on a dead runner. Makes it easy to look like the runner took it rather than S-K having paid to get it and pawned it off on the runner as payment for an unrelated job.

When you get down to it though, if it's important enough to hire a team of runners to snatch and grab a prototype, or worth enough to pay runners with instead of handing out money, it's probably going to be important enough to chase after.

[Inconnu]

Ok, instead of "Giving" it to the runners, they "relax" the security and "nix" sending anyone to get the stuff back.

[prismite]

My group recently swapped over to Shadowrun, and so I'm learning a lot of the system as we're going along. The game is going well, but as we're coming up on their first interaction with a Johnson I'm left with the following conundrum: how much should the average run pay?

Now, obviously there is room for negotiations. Expecting a group to take on 30+ people will be more expensive than having them pick up Johnson's daughter at day care or something. But what are some good ballpark figures for how much a job should go for? My initial impression is somewhere in the neighborhood of a couple thousand, depending on danger level. But that could be quite a lot, or not much at all, depending on the person involved. Though, I suppose one Run paying for a couple of months living is about fair too...

Any input on this?

I have this braindamage in me that says there must be forward progression. I mean, when I play video games I like the character to eventually reflect all the work thats being done. For example, Saints Row you can buy property, upgrade your crib, buy 'better' clothes and more. This helps me mentally by establishing that all my ill-gotten gains are allowing me to elevate myself. But in GTA4 you are always the same illegal russian that everyone talks down to. Shit never changes, regardless of how many people you ice.

I like to apply the same relevance to my games. PC's get paid, but I almost always find a way to help alleviate costs so that they can slowly improve their station in life. Yes, Shadowrun was meant to be a dystopian world, and I'm molesting that facet of the game, I know.

One of the best games I was ever a part of was seeing a runner eventually (20 runs) come into power and wealth then lose it all (courtesy of enemy corps) the try to take his position in life back!

Decide on how 'gritty' you want your game to be. Lower money means the players will struggle more, and will put more value on every red cent. (so to speak)