Thanks! As soon as you automatically get your "base" staff member (Carmen, Amanda, or Silver) by your third stage clear, the reputation of the dojo can be accessed and increased with lots of money (or a free lvl up only once before hitting lvl 5 from Anthony LaRusso, who only signs on if you have a lvl 2 or higher dojo rep) Getting rep to level 4, if not 5, will increase recruit potential to 12, yet for me the game's counter was buggy across the spectrum (sorry Johnny, the game didn't heed that tip) whilst enabling a full range.
