Creating Organizations

[Trigger]

I know that Agents can create their own organizations using the Science/economy check and takes an initial $100,000 to start which takes a month and starts off with 1 point in each organization category.  With that said, my question is for anyone that may have done this?

1st. How does an Agent pay for the $100,000 start up cost since Wealth spending cash does not carry over?

Only thought for a Faction Agent.  Liquidate your REP points for $5,000 each.  Need 20 then?


2nd. Do you have the Agent start to create one during a mission or outside a mission since it takes a month to create?

Any suggestions would be welcomed.

[Toccata]

There's plenty of other sources for money that agents can take advantage of 
Ranging from profession, streetwise/gambling and impress checks to confidence schemes, grey markets and chop shops, and so on.

[Trigger]

So, to generate funds all those ways, I'm guessing the Agent would do it IN mission and not between missions?

[Toccata]

Probably.

Were I running, accumulating the money and making the check would be the mission.

[Bill Whitmore]

I know that Agents can create their own organizations using the Science/economy check and takes an initial $100,000 to start which takes a month and starts off with 1 point in each organization category.  With that said, my question is for anyone that may have done this?

1st. How does an Agent pay for the $100,000 start up cost since Wealth spending cash does not carry over?

Only thought for a Faction Agent.  Liquidate your REP points for $5,000 each.  Need 20 then?

Basically works out the same for Rep or Net worth.  To generate the $100,000 needed would require liquidating $1,000,000 of Net worth or 20 Rep points.  In our last game, the group was working for a sort of free lance organization, so it started off with the bare minimums and they were trying to build it up.  To that end, they were earning Rep, but I gave the organization Net Worth equivalent to their average rep gains.  When they had enough Net Worth, they could have one of their guys make the check to try to grow the organization.  If they had wanted to, they could have thrown their reputation at it as well.  Our scientist starting maxing out his Science/Economy just for that purpose.

[Trigger]

Ok.  I was just wondering.  Makes sence.  One of my Agents was thinking of starting his own organization and was just wondering when (in mission or out of mission) and how (generate the funds to start) to do it best.  I am thinking that you can only burn REP points while on a mission, so could you say...go on a Mission and "Start" to build your organization (roll check and cash in REP points) and after say 3 days the mission is done, but your Agent could not go on any other mission until a month is done, since he is busy starting the organization?

Just trying to figure the best way for Average Joe Agent to accually start his little club of secrecy.

[Toccata]

The only problem (not really a problem, more of a personal preference, really) is that an organization doesn't start out particularly secretive. You'd have to pump several points of Image into it before it fades out of the public records.

Best in-game way to deal with that is to start it out as an honest (well, relatively) front company for itself initially.

[Trigger]

Sorry.  I didn't mean to use the word secretive for the Image part.  was just using as a descriptive word.  I totally agree.  So just starting a general all "Reported" image organization the way I said would be just fine...IN mission?

[Toccata]

I've actually put a bit of thought into running a campaign where for the first mission, the team is all freelance, and the objective is to create the organization. Then on, they're faction, and frequently have at least secondary objectives of accumulating money into the faction's coffers, and occasionally have entire missions about growing the organization.

And, at least in home games, missions can quite easily be a month long (LSpy missions tend to be on the short side due to time constraints when playing them). Just look at the times on some of the slower dramatic conflicts.

[Trigger]

That does sound really cool for a mission.  *Mind starting to turn now*

I think I could see any Agent starting his own organization from scratch, burning REP or Net Worth for the cost, and then making the Science/economy check to see if you succeed.  In Game or Out of Game I guess doesn't really matter now, unless you definantly need to only use REP points during a mission. 

The month long part though is where the final question is for me.  Can an Agent do other things during that month like go on missions, while also attending to starting their organization?  Does the "Project Cost Investment" say you can not do anything else during that time?

[Trigger]

Could someone from Crafty give me some guidance on this topic of a Agent wanting to start his/her own organization with the Science/economy check.  When to do it, either in game or between games?  How to finance it, Burn rep points or borrow from said evil mastermind?  Thanks guys in advance.

[Desertpuma]

I've actually put a bit of thought into running a campaign where for the first mission, the team is all freelance, and the objective is to create the organization. Then on, they're faction, and frequently have at least secondary objectives of accumulating money into the faction's coffers, and occasionally have entire missions about growing the organization.

And, at least in home games, missions can quite easily be a month long (LSpy missions tend to be on the short side due to time constraints when playing them). Just look at the times on some of the slower dramatic conflicts.

I'm already doing this for a home game. Basically, every successful mission earns the team $10K towards building their Agency and every failed mission is $5K. Here is an additional catch you may have forget: building new gadgets is a high project investment with a number of checks equal to twice the Caliber of the gadget. Now consider this with raising their gear types and available Calibers.

With my home game, the agency the players are joining will already have an office manager, receptionist, a negotiator (for contracts), and a smaller two man team. The players team is the larger unit within the agency and are charged with helping to increase the business of the agency while building it up. This means players using contacts to get jobs, subplots (because they can be very fun for a fledging company), and of course the potential for the law to become involved.

[Crafty_Pat]

Could someone from Crafty give me some guidance on this topic of a Agent wanting to start his/her own organization with the Science/economy check.  When to do it, either in game or between games?  How to finance it, Burn rep points or borrow from said evil mastermind?  Thanks guys in advance.

The checks can be made anytime, though if you make them in-game, I'd recommend working them into the plot somehow. In a modenr game, this might be as easy as having your characters pursue the Tony Stark model, which also lets you use the organization as a source of plot. In a fantasy game, your characters might be trying to raise an army to war against an evil overlord, or building a fledgling kingdom at the edge of civilization. It could also be a passive exercise, happening with the player's conscious involvement but not the character's. For example, your characters might start to gain a reputation, attracting hirelines a la AD&D, or maybe they become religious icons, attracting a flock of devout believers. Like most Spycraft rules, this is left open so that you can adapt the tool to your need.

Ditto with funding the enterprise. There are a variety of ways you can generate income using the rules but ultimately we feel that players should have to work outside the rules to some extent to build something as landmark as an organization. Puma's formalized it as part of his campaign - How are you doing that, BTW? Where is the money coming from? Is it part of your main plot? - and that works well for, say, a mercenary campaign. You could use the Rep/Net Worth system to do the same thing, though the numbers would have to be a lot bigger to maintain reasonable progress. This was the main way we expected GCs and players to handle orgs in practice - the team generates and pools money from burned Rep/NW as they grow in the setting.

Also, you should check out Ten Thousand Bullets when it hits. As we discussed a bit at the Indy seminar, 10kB offers the Empire System, which not only provides a campaign structure built around establishing your org (or "empire") in the city, but also auto-generates missions along the way. Sort of a self-propagating genre emulator and plot producer all rolled into one.

[Bill Whitmore]

Sort of a self-propagating genre emulator and plot producer all rolled into one.

Sweet!

[Desertpuma]

Puma's formalized it as part of his campaign - How are you doing that, BTW? Where is the money coming from? Is it part of your main plot? - and that works well for, say, a mercenary campaign.

Without giving away anything, because one of my players maybe casually lurking, the agency is a resurrected company with a supporter who contributes money based upon the perceived success of the business (hence the office manager's job entails forwarding on monthly repotrs regarding these matters -- obviously an NPC). This supporter has contributed the building and "donates" funds at intervals. A mysterious individual who could probably contirbute some plots himself.

I've started all the players at 9K xp or mid-3rd level with one level required to be either Soldier or Lawman. I'm doing the first few sessions as a mini-series of sorts so the players have the Small Screen campaign quality to deal with plus these others: Mercenary, Strange Providence, Shoe String Budget, and Freelance. When the campaign goes to "it's regularly scheduled time", the Freelance switches to Faction. The Small Screen and Shoe String Budget will probably go away as well. I may add others to the list.

I may do more with it... like keep people posted....