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Old 03-03-2018, 01:48 PM   #1
zuljita
 
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Default Debased starting wealth

A player just asked me if he's allowed to debase his starting wealth. I'm inclined to disallow it because risk of low: if you fail you just end up making a new character. Thoughts?
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Old 03-03-2018, 04:48 PM   #2
Anthony
 
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Default Re: Debased starting wealth

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Originally Posted by zuljita View Post
A player just asked me if he's allowed to debase his starting wealth. I'm inclined to disallow it because risk of low: if you fail you just end up making a new character. Thoughts?
He's allowed to start the game with cash and debase it after the game starts. Can't do it before the game starts, though.
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Old 03-03-2018, 05:09 PM   #3
Flyndaran
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Default Re: Debased starting wealth

He's asking to have successfully committed a lucrative crime in the past and reap the rewards once game starts.

Aside from that, Gurps dollars aren't literal currency. They're units of setting value that you pay points for.
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Old 03-03-2018, 06:28 PM   #4
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Default Re: Debased starting wealth

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A player just asked me if he's allowed to debase his starting wealth. I'm inclined to disallow it because risk of low: if you fail you just end up making a new character. Thoughts?
I think that a starting character with a less starting Wealth is perfectly valid. By the same token, I think that one with a higher Wealth than his starting equipment also works.

The GM and the player just have to be on the same page as to whether this is a temporary PC or a potentially permanent one. If it is not clear whether the PC is a single-session solution to replace a lost PC, I would not allow any traits related to the long-term viability of the character.
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Old 03-03-2018, 07:18 PM   #5
malloyd
 
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He's allowed to start the game with cash and debase it after the game starts. Can't do it before the game starts, though.
That would be my take too. If he's willing to start with no gear and a purse full of coins and buy his equipment in play with the usual rules for finding and paying for stuff in Town I'd consider it, but I absolutely would not let him buy more starting equipment than he paid character points for starting wealth.

Though I suppose in GURPS I might allow him to trade points for "cash", or maybe even buy a higher level of starting wealth, and offset the cost with a Secret to reflect a history of currency fraud if he wanted, which might have a similar effect.
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Old 03-03-2018, 10:30 PM   #6
Colarmel
 
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Default Re: Debased starting wealth

To be clear: I'm rolling a wealthy thief. And his basic needs are simple. Beyond his basic needs, he'd like to save up for bigger stuff. I want to debase the coin remaining after the basics are met. Also, because this is DoA, essentially an extended playtest of the random dungeon generator, "beginning of play" is a fuzzy thing.
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Old 03-04-2018, 06:43 AM   #7
malloyd
 
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To be clear: I'm rolling a wealthy thief. And his basic needs are simple. Beyond his basic needs, he'd like to save up for bigger stuff. I want to debase the coin remaining after the basics are met. Also, because this is DoA, essentially an extended playtest of the random dungeon generator, "beginning of play" is a fuzzy thing.
Still, since you can't buy anything you are "saving up" for until you visit someplace that sells it, there's no particular reason to roll to debase the coins until you do. So starting with the cash and rolling the first time you return to Town, or for that matter not rolling until you have almost enough for the thing you are saving up for, seems just as good as rolling early.

For that matter rolling when you are about spend them might well be the way to go in general, since it doesn't require you to separately track your honest and debased coins, which otherwise you do need to do, since you can't debase them multiple times.

Edit: Come to think of it, it's pretty necessary for the critical failure condition to make sense too. If you debase your coins and then disintegrate them or something, how do the king's men ever find out? You aren't at risk for the critical failure result until you spend them (or at least show them to somebody), so you probably shouldn't roll before then either.
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Old 03-04-2018, 12:15 PM   #8
Colarmel
 
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For that matter rolling when you are about spend them might well be the way to go in general, since it doesn't require you to separately track your honest and debased coins, which otherwise you do need to do, since you can't debase them multiple times.

Edit: Come to think of it, it's pretty necessary for the critical failure condition to make sense too. If you debase your coins and then disintegrate them or something, how do the king's men ever find out? You aren't at risk for the critical failure result until you spend them (or at least show them to somebody), so you probably shouldn't roll before then either.
A. I'd debase every coin I come across, so there won't be any honest coins.

B. The problem is that the regular fail: far more likely, is just wasted metal - something you'd know immediately, I assume a crit-fail just means getting caught in the act.
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Old 03-04-2018, 02:33 PM   #9
johndallman
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Default Re: Debased starting wealth

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A. I'd debase every coin I come across, so there won't be any honest coins.
How are you planning to do this? Clipping the coins? Melting them with added copper or lead, and casting or striking new ones? The latter takes a fair amount of time and equipment, and the former requires aging them so that they don't have fresh, bright edges.
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Old 03-04-2018, 07:06 PM   #10
Colarmel
 
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That seems beneath the resolution of the DFRPG
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