Wealth does WHAT?!!!

[trooper6]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

What seems to be often forgotten is that is an impulse buy that you can do at any time in play, not just during character creation.

Well, you can do that if your GM uses Power Up 5: Impulse Buys. But not all GMs might do that.

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Impulse Buys suggests boosting it to 100% starting Wealth.

Impulse Buys suggests 100% for used goods (which are worth half value at resale), 50% for cash.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by trooper6

Well, you can do that if your GM uses Power Up 5: Impulse Buys. But not all GMs might do that.

The Basic Set rule is like this. Nowhere does it say that it is restricted to character creation.

[Kalzazz]

I'm very fond of the sir pudding Santa Claus Sig gear approach for 'Rand the poor shepherd with a sweet sword ' issue

My goal on wealth is that everyone gets rewards and grows in possessions, but Wealth still remains meaningful

[Kelly Pedersen]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Impulse Buys suggests boosting it to 100% starting Wealth.

Not quite. It suggests allowing trading points for gear worth up to 100% of starting wealth, but this will count as used if the PC tries to sell it, thus being worth half or less of the sale value, and thus allows trading points for 50% of campaign starting cash.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Kelly Pedersen

Not quite. It suggests allowing trading points for gear worth up to 100% of starting wealth, but this will count as used if the PC tries to sell it, thus being worth half or less of the sale value, and thus allows trading points for 50% of campaign starting cash.

Yes, I tend to think in terms of using it for gear, since that is more likely than using it for bribes or something (since you could just spend the points directly on a reaction roll effect).

[trooper6]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

The Basic Set rule is like this. Nowhere does it say that it is restricted to character creation.

*checks the page*
You are correct, and to go further, not only does it not say is it restricted to character creation, it specifically says it can be done after character creation.

"If you need a little extra money, you may trade character points for it – either at the time of creation or in play."

[sir_pudding]

The other thing that I have considered doing is allow one-use wealth during character creation.

[hal]

In reading all of the posts that came in recently (and thank you all for weighing in!), I have to wonder...

Where is the "realism" level set for many of these rules?

Next thought that went through my mind was the thought that GURPS supposedly was geared towards being a tool box, where the GM can leave some switches (so to speak) on, and some off, to better suit their desires for their game world.

Where are the switches on Wealth?

Big R little r when it comes to reputation? Seriously? How does the "little r" reputation work in game mechanics? Where are the die rolls that take into account the "little r" aspects of reputation? That we even have to distinguish between big and little R/r seems a wee bit - um, inefficient shall we say?

That we now have an evolution of rules that went from the original as written set of rules for trading points for cash - would seem to imply that either the initial concept was flawed, or - different people felt that the value for those points make it difficult for anyone to agree what the worth of "assets" are in a game.

And finally:

Has it ever occurred to people, that when a game evolves over time by means of "supplementary material", that there is no "Universal" aspect to the game? Someone using only the basic books, without spending time at these forums, is going to have a far different understanding of Wealth than someone who has been buying religiously, the newest material when it comes out, and keeps a written record of all of Kromm's rulings and comments as a sort of living "Designers note" kind of environment?

So, my last comment, and I'll leave this thread to the rest of you to enjoy (and maybe come back from time to time!!!) is this:

Just as GURPS can be used to describe fictional characters and fictional settings etc - it should also be able to describe real life people and real life situations. If ONLY people could talk to "God" (Gamemaster of Distiction) for this universe and say "I want to spend 10 points and get extra income right now!" and have that be true. Fact is, it doesn't seem to work that way. ;)

If only we could have someone write a supplement called GURPS WEALTH AND INCOME much as was done with GURPS SOCIAL ENGINEERING. Having those switches available, and making it more "intuitive" would be nice. What we have now? Not so much (in my opinion of course).

For the record? I gave up on the GURPS wealth rules from 4e almost from the start. In any TL genre based game, Cost of living tends to be about 85% of the income for a given wealth level. The remaining 15% discretionary income, determines what kind of luxuries the person can waste their money on, or if they're thrifty enough, what kind of savings they can amass over time. And for some lucky few - taking risks to gain an advantage in wealth, comes along with the risk of failure. Not everyone fails, but not everyone succeeds either.

So, my biggest gripe (if you can call it that) is just how MUCH Wealth as an advantage seems to do despite the fact that it, by its name, should only be concentrating on what wealth really is. Big R or Little r not-with-standing, it should be intuitive, not this "thing" that it is. That's just one man's opinion.

[hal]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

The other thing that I have considered doing is allow one-use wealth during character creation.

Expand please? What do you mean by "one use"?

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by hal

Expand please? What do you mean by "one use"?

Wealthy (One Use x1/5) [6] gives you 5x starting wealth (only); or whatever, I might have the numbers wrong but you get the idea.