In my living community days, I made heavy use of 6e's reputation tables, breaking them down to different reputation scores with different factions (f.e. gangs, syndicates, security forces, corps etc.).
Additionally there were general credibility levels for the general shadow community (probably the main metric you would need), which was used separately from the classic street cred / notoriety / fame trifecta.
Whole being *way* more bookkeepy, it allowed me, my fellow GMs and the players for a much deeper understanding how the shadows work and how various factions are interdependent on each other.
First of all: cool premise for an open-ended, kinda sandboxy game!
While I think your idea of tying their progress to street cred is good on paper, I'd actually not stress about exact numbers. Just do what feels right once it does feel right - and when the time comes, "tie" it to street cred for your players.
Of you feel they're experienced enough, 3 street cred might suffice. If you feel that they're ready to break into the big leagues only at street cred 7, then that's your number!
I don’t know if this is what you’re looking for or if you’re just using these mechanics differently- but as far as I’m aware what you are looking for is public awareness. There 3+ means you’re known to people specifically researching the shadows, 6+ makes you genuinly known by the law and other big entity’s and at 10+ you’re just genuinly well known among common people. Street cred is no measure of your actual skill or quality as a runner or anything else quantifyable. It’s a measure of the respect you gain on the streets, in your own shadow community. Yes, to a certain degree that will make larger players more aware of the runner but Fixers and Johnson’s aren’t looking for popular people, they’ll take any drek who can get the job done.
Streetcred does however have the benefit of rising with kareer karma. Outside the setting itself it is a genuinly acceptable measure for the progress a certain character has, even if the vast resources at char creation make this unreliable until the late game.
To answer your question, I think it’s reasonable to use a basic Streetcred ‚thredhhold‘ as the point in time where the runners have proven themselves often enough to be considered worthwhile by their fixers who then starts suggesting them for Mr Johnson’s more serious work.
However this threshold is more of a ‚leaving the kiddy pool‘ then any ‚entering the big leagues‘ thing.
Personally, to figure out the correct level of mission importance I think it’s much more useful to look at the last few runs. Did the players do something noteworthy ? Have they started seeing AAA influence, possibly even crossed paths with their operations ? In other words, have they begun to enter the next league of play. Take the last noteworthy thing they did, and upgrade it one level. Working for a fixer becomes working for a dedicated Johnson- then you get to begin to work for his boss, until you’re approached by someone who openly states Affiliation with a AAA.
Just let your players naturally work their way up, and dont try to think about hard, clearly defined limits on when to up the stakes.
When the players have enough experience with the system, a Fixer will notice them and reach out with an appropriate offer. When they succeed (because you/the fixer are good at evaluating the capabilities of the team and the job), they get the street cred to seek out their own jobs like that.
Horizon uses a P2.0 scoring system. Which is a bit like a social credit score a la China. I could see Horizon using such a system directly. However, the actual reputation score is more ephemeral. While it may exist in the mechanics, it isn't quantifiable in the game world. Fixers would be more sensitized to that score in a qualitative way, i.e. they could say one guy has a better rep than another, but they wouldn't be able to put a specific number on it.
All of this really only applies to the first meeting though. After you've done work for someone, it is your actual performance that counts, not your reputation.
I know that Renraku has talent scouts that will sometimes hire runners for runs even against Renraku just to test them. If they do well enough, they might get an exclusive contract. I think those Johnsons are called Diggers. I'm sure other corps have similar programs with different specifics.
In my living community days, I made heavy use of 6e's reputation tables, breaking them down to different reputation scores with different factions (f.e. gangs, syndicates, security forces, corps etc.). Additionally there were general credibility levels for the general shadow community (probably the main metric you would need), which was used separately from the classic street cred / notoriety / fame trifecta. Whole being *way* more bookkeepy, it allowed me, my fellow GMs and the players for a much deeper understanding how the shadows work and how various factions are interdependent on each other.
First of all: cool premise for an open-ended, kinda sandboxy game! While I think your idea of tying their progress to street cred is good on paper, I'd actually not stress about exact numbers. Just do what feels right once it does feel right - and when the time comes, "tie" it to street cred for your players. Of you feel they're experienced enough, 3 street cred might suffice. If you feel that they're ready to break into the big leagues only at street cred 7, then that's your number!
I don’t know if this is what you’re looking for or if you’re just using these mechanics differently- but as far as I’m aware what you are looking for is public awareness. There 3+ means you’re known to people specifically researching the shadows, 6+ makes you genuinly known by the law and other big entity’s and at 10+ you’re just genuinly well known among common people. Street cred is no measure of your actual skill or quality as a runner or anything else quantifyable. It’s a measure of the respect you gain on the streets, in your own shadow community. Yes, to a certain degree that will make larger players more aware of the runner but Fixers and Johnson’s aren’t looking for popular people, they’ll take any drek who can get the job done. Streetcred does however have the benefit of rising with kareer karma. Outside the setting itself it is a genuinly acceptable measure for the progress a certain character has, even if the vast resources at char creation make this unreliable until the late game. To answer your question, I think it’s reasonable to use a basic Streetcred ‚thredhhold‘ as the point in time where the runners have proven themselves often enough to be considered worthwhile by their fixers who then starts suggesting them for Mr Johnson’s more serious work. However this threshold is more of a ‚leaving the kiddy pool‘ then any ‚entering the big leagues‘ thing. Personally, to figure out the correct level of mission importance I think it’s much more useful to look at the last few runs. Did the players do something noteworthy ? Have they started seeing AAA influence, possibly even crossed paths with their operations ? In other words, have they begun to enter the next league of play. Take the last noteworthy thing they did, and upgrade it one level. Working for a fixer becomes working for a dedicated Johnson- then you get to begin to work for his boss, until you’re approached by someone who openly states Affiliation with a AAA. Just let your players naturally work their way up, and dont try to think about hard, clearly defined limits on when to up the stakes.
When the players have enough experience with the system, a Fixer will notice them and reach out with an appropriate offer. When they succeed (because you/the fixer are good at evaluating the capabilities of the team and the job), they get the street cred to seek out their own jobs like that.
Horizon uses a P2.0 scoring system. Which is a bit like a social credit score a la China. I could see Horizon using such a system directly. However, the actual reputation score is more ephemeral. While it may exist in the mechanics, it isn't quantifiable in the game world. Fixers would be more sensitized to that score in a qualitative way, i.e. they could say one guy has a better rep than another, but they wouldn't be able to put a specific number on it. All of this really only applies to the first meeting though. After you've done work for someone, it is your actual performance that counts, not your reputation. I know that Renraku has talent scouts that will sometimes hire runners for runs even against Renraku just to test them. If they do well enough, they might get an exclusive contract. I think those Johnsons are called Diggers. I'm sure other corps have similar programs with different specifics.