Converting GP to Wealth

[thundershot]

Okay, with my mixed bag group of reality hoppers, I want to just use the wealth system instead of the gp/credits/whatever... Yes, they'll still find gold and such in a D&D world, and obtain credits in another place, but I'm going to let them convert their currency between adventures, and just assign a Wealth score for what they gain, and have at it. d20 Modern has charts for how much you can buy in dollars verses a Weath DC check, but not how much money the wealth score basically represents. Any ideas would be great!


Thanks
Chris

 

[Arani Korden]

The Second World Campaign Setting includes a handy-dandy chart covering this very topic. It also includes other stuff that may be helpful for a reality-hopping game.

 

[thundershot]

Whoa... Why didn't anyone tell me about this book? I've mentioned many times that I'm going to run a multi-genre game based on Marvel's Exiles, Quantum Leap, and Sliders... And this book never came up. Sounds like it's right up my alley... Unfortuantely, it doesn't help me right now.


Thanks!
Chris

 

[jaerdaph]

Here's the notes I saved from Charles Ryan on the WotC d20 Modern Boards:

Charles Ryan on Gold Piece to Dollar conversion

Here's the rule of thumb that we used for mundane items; it's less
reliable for FX items but gives you a place to start.

Take the gp value and multiply by 10 to get a dollar value. (Because
there are big differences between the modern economy and a medieval
economy, you might choose to alter that number; for some items we
multiplied the gp value by 20, or just estimated a modern cost.)
Next, go to the table on page 204 and convert the dollar value to a
purchase DC.

Voila!

--------------------
Charles Ryan
Editor, RPG R&D
Wizards of the Coast

 

[thundershot]

Hm... well, that helps establish buying items, but how do you get the wealth score itself? Maybe I should hunt down Charles.. After all, I think I've bought every d20 book he's been involved with...



Thanks
Chris

 

[Bran Blackbyrd]

Well the way I see it, there are two ways that immediately come to my mind.

Simple: Assume that a gold piece is a dollar (or 10 or 100 dollars). Find out how many gold pieces you have. Table 7-1 on page 204 of the D20 Modern Core rulebook will help with the rest.

Complicated: 50gp in D&D is 1lb. Find the current value of gold in the real world. Use that to find the real world amount of wealth your character has and then use table 7-1...

 

[thundershot]

Yes, I'm using the 1 GP = 1 dollar concept, but is having a Wealth score of 20 really the eqiuivalent of having 2,000 dollars? By that, it seems that D&D characters are MUCH more wealthy than d20 modern characters. Of course, items in D&D are a lot more expensive.. so hopefully it'll all even out...




Thanks
Chris

 

[Bran Blackbyrd]

Well, like I said, you could have 1gp = 10, 100, whatever.

I see visions of a D&D party crossing over into this reality and collapsing the world economy with all of their gold pieces.

 

[thundershot]

Oh, I've already taken care of that. Between missions, they'll be based in a Starbucks coffee shop. The proprietor, the one who gives them missions, converts their currency into whatever form is required for that reality. Lots of fun.



Chris

 

[Tarril Wolfeye]

Well I'm using this rule of thumb:

Take your wealth bonus, add 10, look it up on page 204.

That's the money you can spend per month.

This means (looking at p. 38):

$120 (or less) : Impoverished or in debt
$150 to $350 : Struggling
$500 to $2,000 : Middle Class
$2,750 to $9,000 : Affluent
$12,000 to $35,000 : Wealthy
$50,000 to $650,000 : Rich
$900,000 or higher : Very rich

Remember - that's after taxes and expenses paid.
Now, does this look good and realistic?

Oh, btw: Urban Arcana tells me that a gold piece is about $20 (p.275).