Gear rich, money poor

cosmicfish · 12-10-2012, 01:00 PM

I am helping someone make a character who fits a classic niche - an impoverished starship Captain in the vein of Han Solo, Malcolm Reynolds, and many others. I know this has been discussed previously but could not find a definitive answer, so let's try again for the general case:

What is the appropriate advantage and cost for a character who owns some item(s) worth substantially more than their Wealth level would indicate?

This can apply not only to the impoverished Captain but also the peasant Knight, warrior monk, and mech jockey, individuals who may possess items worth far more than their desired Wealth. The overall wealth level is often an intrinsic part of the character description - these are NOT wealthy people and often have low status, but they possess a ship or suit of armor or magic sword or vehicle that is worth a big pile of cash.

Wealth provides not only starting cash but also Status and the possibility of future earnings - if the character is Filthy Rich to afford the ship, even if you negate the status you still have someone capable of earning big bucks with a job, and that is not the case for these characters.

Trading cp for money and Signature Gear provide greater initial wealth without the other hassles, but it is scaled to the starting wealth for the TL, which means it progresses much, much slower than Wealth - by the time you had spent enough points to get a ship, you've used up every point in the party!!

I would rather not do this by fiat, since there are likely to be other situations where different characters will want to do this to different extents - character 1 wants a sword worth $X, character 2 wants a powerstone worth $Y, and character 3 is happy with the regular wealth rules thankyouverymuch.

Any suggestions?

12-10-2012, 01:00 PM	#1
cosmicfish Join Date: Mar 2010	Gear rich, money poor I am helping someone make a character who fits a classic niche - an impoverished starship Captain in the vein of Han Solo, Malcolm Reynolds, and many others. I know this has been discussed previously but could not find a definitive answer, so let's try again for the general case: *What is the appropriate advantage and cost for a character who owns some item(s) worth substantially more than their Wealth level would indicate?* This can apply not only to the impoverished Captain but also the peasant Knight, warrior monk, and mech jockey, individuals who may possess items worth far more than their desired Wealth. The overall wealth level is often an intrinsic part of the character description - these are NOT wealthy people and often have low status, but they possess a ship or suit of armor or magic sword or vehicle that is worth a big pile of cash. Wealth provides not only starting cash but also Status and the possibility of future earnings - if the character is Filthy Rich to afford the ship, even if you negate the status you still have someone capable of earning big bucks with a job, and that is not the case for these characters. Trading cp for money and Signature Gear provide greater initial wealth without the other hassles, but it is scaled to the starting wealth for the TL, which means it progresses much, much slower than Wealth - by the time you had spent enough points to get a ship, you've used up every point in the party!! I would rather not do this by fiat, since there are likely to be other situations where different characters will want to do this to different extents - character 1 wants a sword worth $X, character 2 wants a powerstone worth $Y, and character 3 is happy with the regular wealth rules thankyouverymuch. Any suggestions?