Selling loot (wealth advantage and time spent)

[Anders]

If there's an Adventurer's Guild, then having a 'loot selling' function makes a lot of sense. The Guild would take a cut, of course, and they might not sell illegal or clearly evil items (they may get into trouble if someone summoned a demon using an item they had sold, for instance), but it's a definite possibility.

[sjmdw45]

Originally Posted by Anders

If there's an Adventurer's Guild, then having a 'loot selling' function makes a lot of sense. The Guild would take a cut, of course, and they might not sell illegal or clearly evil items (they may get into trouble if someone summoned a demon using an item they had sold, for instance), but it's a definite possibility.

Maybe that's how you get the basic 40% selling price, for example: the Adventure's Guild sells it and takes its cut.

Otherwise Dead Broke becomes too easy to bypass.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by sjmdw45

Otherwise Dead Broke becomes too easy to bypass.

Dead Broke is already too easy to bypass.

[mburr0003]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Dead Broke is already too easy to bypass.

Yup, which is why I keep considering removing Wealth entirely from my games.

But then I also have rarely seen a PC take Dead Broke, most want far more starting equipment than Dead Broke allows.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by mburr0003

But then I also have rarely seen a PC take Dead Broke, most want far more starting equipment than Dead Broke allows.

True, usually you want Poor [-15] and then use 5 points on $2500 in extra cash.

[sjmdw45]

Originally Posted by Anthony

True, usually you want Poor [-15] and then use 5 points on $2500 in extra cash.

Those 5 quirk points are your only completely free picks, and are far too valuable IMHO to waste on cash. If you want off-template skills like Traps for a wizard or bard or Crossbow for a wizard, or off-template advantages like Night Vision, Magic Resistance, or Fit, quirks are your only time to get them without jumping through GM-specific hoops much later on.

Cash however is easy to get in any adventure I've ever read or run.

[mburr0003]

Originally Posted by sjmdw45

Those 5 quirk points are your only completely free picks ... or off-template advantages ... quirks are your only time to get them without jumping through GM-specific hoops much later on.

Cash however is easy to get in any adventure I've ever read or run.

Ehhh. That's game dependent. In the games I run going out of Template is relatively easy depending on what the PC is going out of template for, mundane skills? Easy. Advantages? Harder. Supernatural stuff, like powered Advantages and Skills? Quest worthy.

Inversely, some games are cash strapped and the PCs are far more worried about starting gear when they'll be cut off later during a hex crawl or "marches" campaign.


So while I keep giving Poor and Dead Broke the ole stink eye and thinking "these two might be problems", it's very rare my Players ever take them. And personally despite having made a few characters that would have worked just fine as Poor or Dead Broke*, I've also never taken those disads just in case the PC needs to sell something without the party to do it for them (and there were just better more flavor worthy disads to take).


* They didn't rely on gear or armor much at all, and weren't DFRPG characters either (Ogre Barbarian/Wrestler, Spear wielding Swashbuckler/Martial Artist).

[Blind Mapmaker]

I'm frankly surprised everybody is sticking to the the rules as written in this case. They do make Wealth differences a really weird beast in DFRPG (and GURPS DF). Social play is not a big thing in DFRPG and Wealth is a trait that goes against the grain of the typical dungeon-delving tropes. You don't go delving with a rich character, because they can sell the loot better in town. That's what quest-givers and professional support networks are for. Also I really don't enjoy intra-party conflicts based on wealth. We have enough of that in the real world.

The easiest fix for munchkinism is keeping everybody at average Wealth, the second easiest is to forbid below-average Wealth. Yes, exploitability depends on which profession you pick, but a dead-broke martial artist is not as huge a problem as the point value you get and other combos are similar.

The slightly more involved option is to make everybody take Wealth depending on the gear they carry around after a while. It's probably not good to go with starting wealth, but 3-5 x starting wealth gear should be fine. So the martial artist can stay poor if they only spend money on perishables and everybody else can have a little gear and still be at below-average Wealth levels. This does not necessarily mean everybody will end up at above-average Wealth eventually, but staying at average or lower is now an active choice with costs and benefits. This way the equipment mini-game is tied back to points just like it is at character creation. It also helps with playing tropes. You can opt to play a scout who doesn't want to let go of their old bow and keeps using only a few select magic arrows in exchange for being more personally powerful.

What I do myself, though, is that I just let everybody get paid according to their own Wealth level. So if the very wealthy thief and the struggling scout get a $1,000 share each, the effective payout will be $1,000 and $200 respectively. That might sound counter-intuitive, but keep in mind that a realistic merchant will never pay 100% of an item's worth. So the payout must represent something else. I visualise it as investments and networks a rich character has that a poor doesn't. The poor character might also have debts to serve, relatives to help out etc.

It's an abstraction and far from perfect, but it helps to keep Wealth a personal trait, not a hit you take for the party. I also usually have the selling of the loot take a week or so (more if it's a big haul or includes very weird items).

You mileage may vary, of course, and I completely understand when people like to do things by the book. I'd love to hear other methods of cutting down on the less enjoyable effects of Wealth.

[sjmdw45]

Originally Posted by Blind Mapmaker

I'm frankly surprised everybody is sticking to the the rules as written in this case. They do make Wealth differences a really weird beast in DFRPG (and GURPS DF). Social play is not a big thing in DFRPG and Wealth is a trait that goes against the grain of the typical dungeon-delving tropes. You don't go delving with a rich character, because they can sell the loot better in town.

You do both: delving AND loot selling, because staying in town all the time buying low and selling high is boring. The wealthy individual sick of luxury and looking for meaning in life is a classic archetype that's very easy to roleplay, and the fact that a Wealthy elven bard (e.g. a rug merchant who aspires to be essentially an embedded war correspondent and has prepared himself for combat accordingly) is very effective in combat makes it easy to believe overall.