Hi, all. I'm starting a new campaign, my first experience with Genesys and SotB, and I'm curious about how to handle money.

There are 4 PC's: a Ristie, Courier, Runner, and Soldier. The Courier is more of a smuggler, the Runner and Soldier get by doing odd jobs around their neighborhoods, and the Ristie is a Ristie. Because SotB doesn't have to be about groups of people providing mercenary talents for pay (i.e. Shadowrun), my game isn't going to be about the group being in a cycle of quest -> reward. To that end, I'm considering giving each PC a monthly stipend to represent the money they'd earn doing whatever it is they do to get by in New Angeles.

In your experience, what are good amounts of credit to dole out? How do I keep the Ristie from being a Ristie and buying their way out of trouble, not to mention not having them be able to buy pricier items on day 1?

Like in real life ( 😱 ), a monthly stipend is mainly used for maintaining a quality of life. So instead of giving out an actual amount of monies you should let your PCs sustain a certain quality of life. A private hopper with advanced AI, enough spending money to be in the latest fashion and eating at all the chic restaurants. Having gold-plated weapons. That kind of thing.

The money they get for adventuring is what's used to upgrade their gear. Stipends are used to maintain .