Two things:There really won't be much (any?) 'premium' equipment that the players can buy - they will have fairly free access to pistols and assault rifles (the limiting factor being where they can wander around with them), and the 'good stuff' in this setting will simply not be for sale. That particular issue should solve itself.
As for your questions...
1. How does wealth recover in the real world? Put another way, that kind of loss would be permanent in the context of people working full-time for an organisation whose work is of the utmost importance.
2. A briefcase of money will not raise your wealth, in game or the real world. You might be able to buy something with it that you could not ordinarily afford, but it is not changing your lifestyle for any extended period of time - which is what wealth is really about...
Well, that's another discussion. Things are probably different here in Australia than the UK and definitely than the US. But wealth is relative to those around you too. Even homeless people in London are doing far better than the average person in Gaza or Sudan. But if the PCs are all rolling 2D6 for Wealth, values 6-8 should be what the average PC is expected to have.You are assuming most people are doing okay, financially speaking. This is no longer true in our world. That is why the table is slanted as it is...
This reminds me of Credit Rating in Call of Cthulhu.There really won't be much (any?) 'premium' equipment that the players can buy - they will have fairly free access to pistols and assault rifles (the limiting factor being where they can wander around with them), and the 'good stuff' in this setting will simply not be for sale. That particular issue should solve itself.
As for your questions...
1. How does wealth recover in the real world? Put another way, that kind of loss would be permanent in the context of people working full-time for an organisation whose work is of the utmost importance.
2. A briefcase of money will not raise your wealth, in game or the real world. You might be able to buy something with it that you could not ordinarily afford, but it is not changing your lifestyle for any extended period of time - which is what wealth is really about...
Sounds like a fun session.Player: "I hand the gangsters a stack of cash big enough they start arguing about who gets to retire first."
GM: "You were supposed to fight them, not bankroll their midlife crises."
Player: "And I rent the entire hotel. Every room. Even the janitor’s closet."
GM: "You were supposed to be hiding from the cultists, not turning the place into your private fortress!"
Number 2. Are you serious? You are out of touch with the world My friend. I live on an island in the Carribean. Sometimes kilos of cocaine wash up on the beach. If the locals find them, they sell them to the local dealers at a big discount. Even at that big discount, they just changed their lives forever. All for the low, low price of around $1,000. So, if you think that a briefcase that contains millions won't change someone's life, than you are just plain out of touch or way too privileged to understand.There really won't be much (any?) 'premium' equipment that the players can buy - they will have fairly free access to pistols and assault rifles (the limiting factor being where they can wander around with them), and the 'good stuff' in this setting will simply not be for sale. That particular issue should solve itself.
As for your questions...
1. How does wealth recover in the real world? Put another way, that kind of loss would be permanent in the context of people working full-time for an organisation whose work is of the utmost importance.
2. A briefcase of money will not raise your wealth, in game or the real world. You might be able to buy something with it that you could not ordinarily afford, but it is not changing your lifestyle for any extended period of time - which is what wealth is really about...
There's already precedent, even back in CT, to relabel Social Standing as something else if that made more sense. A lot of Aliens do, but in a setting where wealth replaces class (arguably modern America), this can apply. Matt might be replacing SOC with WEL here (or not).It is good that you are experimenting with new mechanics. But Traveller already has a solid way to handle wealth through Social Standing. SOC quietly covers lifestyle, influence, and access without needing extra tracking. Adding a Wealth stat risks muddying things. It creates odd cases where players expect to throw money at every problem - like Call of Cthulhu, where a high Credit Rating allows wealthy characters to just bribe and buy their way through most obstacles.
Player: "I hand the gangsters a stack of cash big enough they start arguing about who gets to retire first."
GM: "You were supposed to fight them, not bankroll their midlife crises."
Player: "And I rent the entire hotel. Every room. Even the janitor’s closet."
GM: "You were supposed to be hiding from the cultists, not turning the place into your private fortress!"
In a world of superheros, money matters less, yes, but unless this game is about people with powers, then wealth is the most important aspect to almost every game. (From an in-game view). Have a problem, throw money at it. This works 99% of the time. If everyone is basically the same in power, then the deciding factor will always be money. Hire mercenaries to murder the people that you can't. Donate money to an election and own a President. Someone annoying you? Bury them under lawyers until they go broke.There's already precedent, even back in CT, to relabel Social Standing as something else if that made more sense. A lot of Aliens do, but in a setting where wealth replaces class (arguably modern America), this can apply. Matt might be replacing SOC with WEL here (or not).
And in relation to those two examples... carrying around such a large pile of cash is impractical. And what's to stop the gangsters just mugging the player? In regards to the second one... you've neatly described how they're going to fail, by making their location extremely public and notorious.
I dunno. I'm VERY used to this approach to assets from years of Champions play. Half the PCs are millionaires, but that barely matters, since the struggling student over there is the one with the Power Cosmic, and a Lear jet is just a plot convenience.
Unless honour matters enough that you can't literally buy it (oh no, I am dishonored. I buy every castle in the kingdom. Dishonor me? None of them have a home. Who's dishonored now? Oh they don't want to sell? I buy every farm around them. Oh they don't want to sell? I buy every merc in the kingdom and burn every farm i don't own.) Dishonor doesn't stop players with high wealth from trying to pay to win.Pendragon is another game where wealth is barely tracked below the level of entire manors. Yeah, it has currency, but that's more about buying a higher grade of living if you have some. Your character is maintained by their Lord. But also, a knight that uses pay to win tactics is probably going to lose Honour as a result.
No "powers", but baked into the society and knightly class that PCs are part of.
It's a matter of setting focus.
I tend to regard any GM statement beginning with "You were supposed to..." as a failure admission by that GM. That's a confession of attempted railroading, which is an over-riding of player agency - not a good thing at a game table. If you want to control all the characters, become a writer, not a GM.Player: "I hand the gangsters a stack of cash big enough they start arguing about who gets to retire first."
GM: "You were supposed to fight them, not bankroll their midlife crises."
Player: "And I rent the entire hotel. Every room. Even the janitor’s closet."
GM: "You were supposed to be hiding from the cultists, not turning the place into your private fortress!"
Okay, I wasn't going to touch this but you have awoken the gamer in meNumber 2. Are you serious? You are out of touch with the world My friend. I live on an island in the Carribean. Sometimes kilos of cocaine wash up on the beach. If the locals find them, they sell them to the local dealers at a big discount. Even at that big discount, they just changed their lives forever. All for the low, low price of around $1,000. So, if you think that a briefcase that contains millions won't change someone's life, than you are just plain out of touch or way too privileged to understand.
It doesn't matter where they buy it. This is still a game, and if no one at the table knows, they'll often roll for it - say, Streetwise or military rank or profession. Or they'll ask a contact for it. Enough games out there exist like this, shadowrun comes to mind, that the players including referee will be used to saying 'yes but' or 'yes and'. I refer back to my traveler examples in the previous posts. The small purchases, which are able to edit the world (such as explosives changing terrain, or buying something to convince entire groups if people to help you, whether mercs, or political swaying), these are the concerns with a wealth mechanic. Especially when no one at the table knows exactly how to actually purchase them, and they make up rulings on the spot.Also someone in this thread mentioned going out and buying a bunch of explosives. I honestly have no idea where an ordinary person would go to buy those (and I am afraid to Google it...),.
"Sinister" policies are meant to control the proletariat. Mobility, of any sort, is an obstacle to that control. Serfs with no hope of raising their status or getting away with protest tend to comply.If you are in the demolition industry or the like, or know someone who is, then you can learn where to get them.
Or if you have chemistry, paramilitary, military, or terrorist training, or know someone who does, you can make them yourself.
"To cut a very long story short, I do have issues with The Man, and can see that social mobility is rapidly becoming Not A Thing." Social mobility in the west is virtually at a standstill, and in most of the world there is no social mobility apart from within your own caste.
Caste - royalty, nobility, middle class, working class, underclass
or billionaire, millionaire, comfortable, struggling, poor
or priest, politician, merchant, labourer, slave
or...
there is some really interesting literature and academic studies on this.