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<blockquote data-quote="HeapThaumaturgist" data-source="post: 1775886" data-attributes="member: 12332">One of my big complaints about d20M is that they didn't make the Wealth system a little more transparent.&nbsp; The tables are on opposite sides of the book and various rules for it are found scattered all about ... and they pretty much totally ignore the effect of finding &quot;cash&quot;.&nbsp; I don't think a sack of cash should apply all to one future purchase (I'll buy that ferarri ... with cash!) and I see no reason to adjudicate it as some staggered drop over time ... THAT is what a &quot;permanent&quot; wealth bonus represents ... because the Wealth bonus decreases with various purchases made.A really poor person finding three hundred dollars might have their Wealth raised by 1 ... from +0 to +1 ... and if they buy anything of DC 2+ their wealth goes back down ... so it doesn't raise permanently.&nbsp; A wealthy person getting an increase from an influx of cash could find himself with more liquid funds (the cash) supplementing his more fixed investments, re-invest it, etc.&nbsp; In the end I say that the Wealth system models real world finances more successfully because it DOESN'T matter.&nbsp; There are just too many variables.&nbsp; I buy a car online, with an employee family discount from the company, using inheritance money I'd invested in Microsoft stock that I liquidated right before the price dropped by seven points or I buy a car right off the lot with a sack full of 100s I found in a drug dealer's trunk.&nbsp; In the game ... same difference.&nbsp; Doesn't matter.&nbsp; And that's closer to the real thing than any amount of book-keeping or &quot;attempts at realism&quot;.&nbsp; There are so many variables that, by making the system almost wholley abstract, it captures the strange fluid nature of financial matters in the randomization of a D20 roll.So when a player asks why that 15k he found in the trunk of a car won't apply perfectly to a single purchase or won't raise his Wealth by a full 15k I can say anything:&nbsp; The proprietor saw you carrying 86lbs of small bills in a duffle bag into the store and jacked the price up before you opened your mouth.&nbsp; You had to pay off an outstanding debt with half of it.&nbsp; You'll have to declare it if you put it all in the bank and had to split it over two accounts making it harder to access ... or you DO declare it and the IRS takes 50%.&nbsp; Whatever!&nbsp; Thousand possibilities and they all balance out fine in:&nbsp; Find the DC, -3, &quot;Sell&quot;, roll the dice, add it up, note it and MOVE ON.&nbsp; Over in less than fifteen seconds.--fje</blockquote>

[QUOTE="HeapThaumaturgist, post: 1775886, member: 12332"] One of my big complaints about d20M is that they didn't make the Wealth system a little more transparent. The tables are on opposite sides of the book and various rules for it are found scattered all about ... and they pretty much totally ignore the effect of finding "cash". I don't think a sack of cash should apply all to one future purchase (I'll buy that ferarri ... with cash!) and I see no reason to adjudicate it as some staggered drop over time ... THAT is what a "permanent" wealth bonus represents ... because the Wealth bonus decreases with various purchases made. A really poor person finding three hundred dollars might have their Wealth raised by 1 ... from +0 to +1 ... and if they buy anything of DC 2+ their wealth goes back down ... so it doesn't raise permanently. A wealthy person getting an increase from an influx of cash could find himself with more liquid funds (the cash) supplementing his more fixed investments, re-invest it, etc. In the end I say that the Wealth system models real world finances more successfully because it DOESN'T matter. There are just too many variables. I buy a car online, with an employee family discount from the company, using inheritance money I'd invested in Microsoft stock that I liquidated right before the price dropped by seven points or I buy a car right off the lot with a sack full of 100s I found in a drug dealer's trunk. In the game ... same difference. Doesn't matter. And that's closer to the real thing than any amount of book-keeping or "attempts at realism". There are so many variables that, by making the system almost wholley abstract, it captures the strange fluid nature of financial matters in the randomization of a D20 roll. So when a player asks why that 15k he found in the trunk of a car won't apply perfectly to a single purchase or won't raise his Wealth by a full 15k I can say anything: The proprietor saw you carrying 86lbs of small bills in a duffle bag into the store and jacked the price up before you opened your mouth. You had to pay off an outstanding debt with half of it. You'll have to declare it if you put it all in the bank and had to split it over two accounts making it harder to access ... or you DO declare it and the IRS takes 50%. Whatever! Thousand possibilities and they all balance out fine in: Find the DC, -3, "Sell", roll the dice, add it up, note it and MOVE ON. Over in less than fifteen seconds. --fje [/QUOTE]

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