[DF] - Party wealth disparity

[Kromm]

My long list of points can be summed up thusly: (1) those with disads should suffer, and (2) those with advantages should be privileged. There's nothing unfair or confrontational about insisting that delvers with Dead Broke [-25] actually feel the pinch from their 35- to 55-point Wealth disparity with their pals who are Comfortable [10] through Very Wealthy [30]. This effect should be as significant as having Magery 3-5 vs. not having it, not just a "special effect" left to roleplaying. As I said, great Wealth certainly can be a party asset, and there's nothing wrong with a disparity in Wealth levels, but it's entirely balanced for the GM to take the side of the PC who has 35+ more points in Wealth when it comes to matters of how NPCs treat the PCs and how rewards are distributed after a successful adventure. It's precisely the same sort of thing as having the gods favor the cleric with Power Investiture 3+ over the wizard who decides to pick Social Stigma (Excommunicated).

At no point did I claim that rich PCs shouldn't buy swords for poor ones, that wizards shouldn't cast Might on non-wizards, or that clerics shouldn't use Great Healing on non-clerics. Cooperation is a very good thing! I simply said that the game world should favor clerics in holy matters, wizards in magical matters, and rich delvers in matters of money. Since the last item is more social, and social rules are substantially not there in DF, there's more of an onus on the GM to manipulate matters on a meta-level for the wealthy adventurer.