Wealth System Fix?

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Enh... I'm an opinionated bastich. I don't really feel the need to go into a long discourse about WHY I think it's busted. People that think it's busted can look at my fix and use it or not.. Either way, no harm, no foul.

Actually, you do need to explain it, since a lot of people don't see a problem. My GM basically ignores it, reasoning that you can't just buy mastercraft stuff (want bonuses? Play a techie!) and buying a new car takes time.

 

[C. Baize]

Nah. I'll let everyone who thinks it's broken use their own reasoning.

 

[jaerdaph]

The D20 Modern Wealth System is flawed. It is worse than flawed, it is broken.

Add me to the list of people who don't agree with that assessment.

Personally, I think the wealth system is quite elegant and one of d20 Modern's best features. It keeps wealth in the abstract which works well for the cinematic approach d20 Modern takes (with the notable exception of Brewster's Millions ).

 

[Plane Sailing]

The C.Baize Wealth System is flawed. It is worse than flawed, it is broken.

I don't really feel the need to go into a long discourse about WHY I think it's busted.

I'll let everyone who thinks it's broken use their own reasoning.




There, that is illuminating, eh?

 

[C. Baize]

The C.Baize Wealth System is flawed. It is worse than flawed, it is broken.

I don't really feel the need to go into a long discourse about WHY I think it's busted.

I'll let everyone who thinks it's broken use their own reasoning.




There, that is illuminating, eh?

Not particularly. But it is quite sufficient as an opinion. Neat thing about them, they don't NEED to be explained.

Game on!

 

[RangerWickett]

I have a friend who, like you, is often completely illogical. He is my best friend.

 

[Henry]

Ladies & Gentlemen, let's not get nasty about it. If you don't like a given house rule suggestion, disagree and move on, please.

 

[Spatula]

Wealth, as it is, represents the character's current financial ability/stability. For the sake of convenience, speed, and simplicity it doesn't bother with Current/Permanent/Weekly/Monthly/Stocks/Rent/Car Payments/Cigarette Cash ...

You don't need Modern's Wealth system to do that. You can ignore upkeep costs, interest, divedends, taxes, loans, etc. with any monetary system. Modern doesn't bring anything to the table in that respect.

Purchases that won't unduly inhibit the character's financial ability/stability don't affect their "Wealth" score (things beneath the score).

Unless the thing in question has a purchase DC >= 15.

To keep from fiddling about with numbers, Wealth goes up when you level or when you get an award. Why? Because it's easier than balancing my checkbook and my character's.

The party gets an award of X dollars each. Each character has a different Wealth bonus. What's the super-easy method for determining how much of a wealth increase each character gets?

 

[HeapThaumaturgist]

You don't need Modern's Wealth system to do that. You can ignore upkeep costs, interest, divedends, taxes, loans, etc. with any monetary system. Modern doesn't bring anything to the table in that respect.

Yes, but you don't need to complicate the current Wealth system if you're not going to keep up with all of that junk, so why do it? Unless it makes you feel warm and squishy inside, then by all means. I'm just saying that if you're not going to keep track of that stuff, you've already abstracted real-world economics out to a non-realistic point ... and if it's going to be highly abstracted ANYWAY why not save everybody time and keep the system the way it is?

Unless the thing in question has a purchase DC >= 15.

And? I don't find it unreasonable that at some point, the flat cost of an item is going to tax, in some way, anybody's current finances. Wealth is fluid. The richest man in the world only has X number of dollars in his pocket, in his accounts, in liquid form. Going from Wealth +500 to +499 is a small small fraction, but it's enough to be noticable. A better "problem" with the system would be to state that at < 14 somebody with a wealth of 15 can buy unlimited numbers of items. It's abstracted and certain rules are in place for the sake of balance. I'm willing to deal with it not perfectly mirroring reality and dealing with the occassional place where it doesn't on the fly with my own rulings. This is the comfort of speed and abstraction.

The party gets an award of X dollars each. Each character has a different Wealth bonus. What's the super-easy method for determining how much of a wealth increase each character gets?

Look at the Wealth DC-to-Dollars table in you D20 Modern book, see what DC X dollars is equal to. Subract 3 from that DC, adjust each character's Wealth by an ammount equal to what they'd have lost from buying something of that DC as-per the purchasing section of your D20 Modern book. Takes about five seconds. I have the tables all printed out for my own use at the table. By those rules, some characters may recieve 0 Wealth, some may recieve 1, some may recieve 1d6+1. Fast, simple, back to the game.

--fje

 

[Spatula]

Look at the Wealth DC-to-Dollars table in you D20 Modern book, see what DC X dollars is equal to. Subract 3 from that DC, adjust each character's Wealth by an ammount equal to what they'd have lost from buying something of that DC as-per the purchasing section of your D20 Modern book. Takes about five seconds. I have the tables all printed out for my own use at the table. By those rules, some characters may recieve 0 Wealth, some may recieve 1, some may recieve 1d6+1. Fast, simple, back to the game.

That doesn't sound fast or simple to me. And it's also not even in the d20 Modern rulebook.