Cost of equipment on character sheets

[Stormcrow]

This is going to seem a little silly, but I'm curious what other people think.

Official character sheets include a space for you to write the cost of each piece of gear you possess. What do you put here? The listed cost of the item in the rules? How much you paid for it? How much it would be worth if you sold it?

The answer to this informs what the total $ at the bottom of the sheet means. How much you paid for all your stuff? How much the book says it would cost generally? How much you could get if you liquidated it all? What do you do if you have no idea how much something you found costs?

Consider that most characters will possess things that they either didn't pay for or were free during character creation. A character starts with free clothes, for instance, and will be wearing them. Do you write "Ordinary clothes, Status 0, $120, 2 lbs." or "Ordinary clothes, Status 0, $—, 2 lbs."? If your organization hands you a radio, do you write "Hand radio, $100, 1 lb." or "Hand radio, $—, 1 lb."?

I know it's just a sheet and I can do what I like. I'm just curious what other people think the cost listing is for. GURPS is the only game I can think of where the cost of an item is (and has always been) part of the equipment list on the character sheet.

[Taneli]

We use the listed prices during character creation, and afterwards it’s a big mess of listed prices, estimates, paid prices, and leaving it empty.

[Varyon]

I think the purpose behind that entry is for helping you during character creation - you have a limited budget from which you purchase your items, and a single column makes it a lot quicker to add up what you have to see how much you have left. In that case, free starting items (like clothing) should probably be marked as "-" or "N/A" or similar.

Of course, another use is to give you a quick idea of what your items are nominally worth, making replacing or selling them quicker in play by not needing to find them again in the books. If you're using it that way, you may want to replace all those "-" entries with the price in parenthesis - ($120) tells you to disregard the cost when adding up how much of your starting budget you've burned through, but still has the value there for if you need to replace your starting clothes.

[bocephus]

I use it for Char creation budgets and tracking the value of 'special items' purchased or picked up.
Most specifically weapons, armor and magic/tech items.

Once game play starts I dont usually monitor wear and tear on mundane items too closely. Im more concerned with how much it weighs, how much space it takes and how is it being carried or secured.

After game play starts as a GM I don't really nitpick day to day purchases, and if I'm going to be picky about some aspect of prep I will give a significant number of clues (like PCs heading out for a desert adventure and how much water are they carrying) . Again in that case its less about the money and more about how availability of the resource might effect the adventure.

[Kromm]

This feature is meant for use during character creation, when using a budget to buy equipment off a list. You really don't need it later. The same goes for point costs, if we're being honest, but some people insist on seeing those listed as well. Some gamers' insistence on totals is why detailed NPCs have point values next to traits, point totals, and cash values next to gear, despite having no budgets in the usual sense.

[Stormcrow]

Originally Posted by Varyon

another use is to give you a quick idea of what your items are nominally worth, making replacing or selling them quicker in play by not needing to find them again in the books. [...] If you're using it that way, you may want to replace all those "-" entries with the price in parenthesis - ($120) tells you to disregard the cost when adding up how much of your starting budget you've burned through, but still has the value there for if you need to replace your starting clothes.

That's a neat idea.

Originally Posted by Kromm

This feature is meant for use during character creation, when using a budget to buy equipment off a list. You really don't need it later.

Awesome! Thanks for letting me know.

The same goes for point costs, if we're being honest, but some people insist on seeing those listed as well.

I have often considered creating a new character sheet without space for point costs. Use the original as a worksheet for creating the character, then copy only the stuff you really need. I find all the []'s throughout the sheet make it very cluttered, but I imagine most people would dislike the extra step of copying.

[Kromm]

Speaking only as a GM and editor: I find that leaving currencies – cash, points, etc. – off the "working character sheet" you use in play or put in a book reduces the time spent (wasted?) checking for errors, reduces clutter and thus lookup times, and leaves more space for things that might actually arise on an adventure. I've also learned the hard way that some gamers have such a strong attachment to seeing currencies listed that whatever you gain by leaving them out, you lose to grumbling and arguments.

So, as in all things RPG, know your players!