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Old 03-18-2020, 11:54 AM   #1
AlexanderHowl
 
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Default Money in Modern Campaigns

Let us imagine that we have a TL8 character with Independent Income 5, Multimillionaire 2, and Status 5 (we will ignore the rest of the character for right now). They will have $160 million of assets, $40 million of gear, and $10 million per month of earnings. If we assume that the character reserves half of their earnings for expenses, they will have $5 million per month of adventuring money.

What would you allow such a character to purchase? For example, according to the rules on Loyalty, they would be able to pay individuals twice as much as their normal salary to gain a +10 Loyalty, which means that they would support hundreds of loyal employees (beyond those granted by Status 5). They could also purchase the best equipment for their employees and arrange for them to follow them in their adventures. Outside of adventuring, they could easily find reasonably loyal 'companions' to keep them company and pay for experts to deal with problems.
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Old 03-18-2020, 01:58 PM   #2
Bira
 
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Default Re: Money in Modern Campaigns

A PC like this would be appropriate in the sort of campaign where this much money is an entry requirement for the adventures. Duck Tales-style treasure hunts require fully staffed expeditions, and something like private planes or ships to even get to the "dungeon" where the treasure is buried.

The obstacle here isn't "how much money you have", but rather "can you spend your money in a way that gets you closer to the goal?" Sure, you can hire lots of people, but are any available to be hired at this specific time and place?

And of course, if you have a character who's super rich and who hires qualified experts for big bucks to do anything he needs done, this character is not a PC but a Patron. You should be playing the qualified experts, not their sponsor.
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Old 03-18-2020, 02:50 PM   #3
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Default Re: Money in Modern Campaigns

Sounds to me like the PC is a Scrooge McDuck type gentleman adventurer, Ollie Queen or Bruce Wayne type billionaire vigilante, or Lara Croft type archeologist.

In this case, it's not so much "what can they afford?" but "what is available for them to have?" Their assets alone should give them that private plane, a private yacht, and the best housing available at their destinations. Money is no object; availability and quality are more likely concerns to this person.

If the PC also has Merchant Rank or some other trait to indicate "owns or sits on the board of a large corporation", I'd permit that Rank to give an Assistance Roll (ala Pulling Rank) for the help he can get from his company in the way of travel arrangements, intelligence on other companies, and specialized/experimental gear from the Applied Sciences division, among other benefits.




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Old 03-18-2020, 02:55 PM   #4
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Default Re: Money in Modern Campaigns

I'd allow it for a campaign specifically meant to feature that kind of character.

Otherwise, not particularly likely.

That is, I'll work with players to create characters that fit into a campaign framework and the setting. Even if some character types exist in the setting, if the campaign is not designed to be about them, then such characters won't be allowed. A campaign about street-level criminals or FBI agents in a given field office won't feature characters that don't fit into the milieu of those characters and/or won't share motivations with the rest of the group.

Also, importantly, not all traits are likely to exist together in realistic characters. Independent Income at higher levels is reasonable for lower Wealth characters, representing welfare, pension, alimony or something similar.

However, at certain Wealth levels, in the real world, it becomes very difficult to justify even Independent Income 1, let alone higher, because it yields an income so much higher than the assets a character owns. That doesn't mean that no such characters exist, but you should really think about what this combination of traits means. It might fit a rich playboy who is given an extremely extravagant stipend by his astronomically richer family, but doesn't invest much, if any of it, or an ex-wife of a billionaire collecting absolutely insane alimony.
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Old 03-18-2020, 03:55 PM   #5
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Default Re: Money in Modern Campaigns

Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl View Post
What would you allow such a character to purchase?
If the GM agrees to allow this superpower in the game -- and it GURPS terms this is what it is -- then the GM should be prepared to allow the superpower to function as such. Why wouldn't the PC try to use his wealth to insulate himself from problems and accomplish his goals? Just like any other superpower, it's the GM's job to make sure that wealth cannot be an "I win button." There are a lot of things that money cannot buy. And there are real ways in which money will be a real problem -- others expecting bribes, gifts, extravagant meals, luxurious travel, etc. In fact, the PC (and his family and cronies) may be under constant suspicion of malevolent business deals and/or threat of being kidnapped, robbed, etc.
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Old 03-18-2020, 04:02 PM   #6
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Default Re: Money in Modern Campaigns

And fictional examples of wealthy adventurer do not travel with a large staff. Maybe one or two trusted companions like a bodyguard or servant. Not half a dozen gunmen, several researchers and a doctor.
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Old 03-18-2020, 05:00 PM   #7
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Default Re: Money in Modern Campaigns

Quote:
Originally Posted by dcarson View Post
And fictional examples of wealthy adventurer do not travel with a large staff. Maybe one or two trusted companions like a bodyguard or servant. Not half a dozen gunmen, several researchers and a doctor.
Depends on the version, but in general, I agree. They may only be attended by one adult pilot, and their three curious grandnephews (who really should be in school, but maybe it was summer break). On the other hand, Doc Savage had six regular adult companions (though they aren't all present in every adventure), including his cousin Patricia, who had some adventures of her own.

I'm blanking on examples, but I'm pretty sure that I've seen a few examples of fictional gentleman adventurers who had a few named companions, and a staff of unnamed assistants with few or no lines, who are just sort of there (including some hired guides and porters). I do agree that most of them seem to travel with quite small parties, though. Doylistly, it's for conservation of detail, Watsonianly, I'm not so sure, but perhaps Overconfidence is a factor.
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Old 03-18-2020, 05:02 PM   #8
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Default Re: Money in Modern Campaigns

I concur with the others, and especially Bira. I would allow, and encourage, that kind of Wealth in a campaign based on Dune, for example, where ridiculous Wealth is not a game-breaker.
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Old 03-18-2020, 11:42 PM   #9
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Default Re: Money in Modern Campaigns

I would have discussed in detal with the players what kind of game we all wanted to play and the kinds of characters we wanted to play well before pencil touched character sheet. So if our collaboration produced this sort of wealth in a character then it's part of our game plan and I let them buy whatever they could afford.

I stopped designing characters or adventures in a vacuum a long time ago and while a great intellectual exercise it can lead to crazy paradoxes and "fun cancer".
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Old 03-19-2020, 08:21 AM   #10
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Default Re: Money in Modern Campaigns

Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl View Post
What would you allow such a character to purchase?
I'm not sure why this is a question. Surely they can buy whatever is available that they can afford, right?

EDIT: Upon review, there are a couple of misconceptions in the OP that should be corrected:

Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl View Post
Let us imagine that we have a TL8 character with Independent Income 5, Multimillionaire 2, and Status 5 (we will ignore the rest of the character for right now). They will have $160 million of assets, $40 million of gear,
That gear-to-assets ratio only applies if the the GM chooses to use the very blunt and somewhat illogical 80/20 optional rule. I think with this level of wealth, it may well be desireable for the GM to vary from that approach.

Quote:
If we assume that the character reserves half of their earnings for expenses,
We don't have to assume. The amount of expenses is established by the Cost of Living the character chooses (see B265).

Quote:
... they would support hundreds of loyal employees (beyond those granted by Status 5).
Status does not grant employees. Spending a given level on Cost of Living provides a commensurate assumed size of staff. Social Status does not set how much you have to spend*, it only provides a guideline for what a typical person of that status likely has. Note that without actually spending you do not get the benefits of that Cost of Living.


*In the absence of specific setting features (e.g. medieval sumptuary laws) the rules allow characters of whatever status to choose their CoL level. They do warn vaguely that a person who spends consistently below their Status might experience impacts to that status.

Last edited by Donny Brook; 03-19-2020 at 09:05 AM.
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