Quote:
Originally Posted by Stormcrow
If you want to build a character who doesn't need to have a job (in the GURPS sense of prerequisites, Wealth level, and job roll) to maintain their Cost of Living, Independent Income might suffice, or it might not. At TL0, where goods are scarce and life is hard, the most an Average Wealth person could get with Independent Income 20 is $50 a month — nowhere near the $600 a month they need to maintain their Status 0 Cost of Living. But in the Stone Age, living at Status 0 is already luxurious; it isn't "average." No wonder you can't maintain that kind of lifestyle without working for it.
Meanwhile, at TL12, where goods are plentiful and everyone can easily have all their basic needs met, someone of Average Wealth needs just one level of Independent Income ($1,000 per month) to make ends meet. Leisure is much more possible at higher TLs.
And this is explicitly what the GURPS system of money is trying to do. "Variations in starting wealth by TL reflect increased prosperity due to civilization's progress — not inflation" (p. B27). That's exactly what we see with Independent Income: the more prosperous, higher-tech societies enable more prosperous lives and lifestyles.
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This comes back to the issue of CoL being invariant - Status 0 at TL 0 gets you a
lot less (objectively) than Status 0 at TL 12, but both have the same pricetag. There can be room to say that living expenses at TL 0 are harder to meet (a greater percentage of income) than they are at TL 12, even though at TL 12 Status 0 is worth so much more, but the difference in GURPS - CoL being 96% of income at TL 0 and <6% of income at TL 12 - seems a bit on the excessive side. Regardless, the Advantage "Doesn't Have to Work" doesn't seem like it should cost more at lower TL's (anymore than Doesn't Sleep, Doesn't Eat or Drink, etc would), but if using Independent Income, it does (and at many TL's requires you to increase your Wealth above the level you intend to support - the maximum [20] in II
cannot match typical wages prior to TL 6, although at TL 5 it's probably close enough to count - $1,000 from II vs $1,100 from wages). Now, a GM can certainly have Independent Income be unavailable in a given setting - many TL 0 campaigns wouldn't allow for Independent Income, for example (but some could - a character might get a regular tribute from those he helped - or subjugated - prior to the start of the campaign) - but the same can be said for most Advantages.