new to d20 Modern...

[Ruavel]

I've had my D20 Modern book for some time, but due to a long running fantasy campaign (now finished) never really played it... with D20 Future about to come out however, my gaming group are keen to get into the hi-tech fun...

I just wanted to know how people have gone with the Modern Wealth system... does it work...? do you use something you think is better, and if so are you prepared to share your "money laundering scheme" with the rest of us...?

I figure this has been discussed before, but probably not for sometime and could take me a while to track down the old threads, so any help, advice, & constructive comments would be greatly appreciated...

 

[HeapThaumaturgist]

The Wealth system is different, and therefor viewed with fear by some.

Try it, use it. I think you'll really like the way it works. It pretty much removes you from the "Hack'n'Loot" cycle of D&D where players are scraping up their last penny to blow the whole load at one time on a +2 Flaming Longsword, then go out and adventure again to get enough money to blow it all on a Cloak of Charisma.

In Modern you'd have them scrimping up to blow it all on a Barrett or something.

I prefer the abstracted nature of Wealth. Especially rules for On Hand items and Requisitioned items, etc. Some players will still try to "break" the system ... buying a thousand items of DC 15 and selling them all after they have 0 Wealth, stating that they want to be homeless and should recieve a Wealth bonus from having no expenses, etc et.

One, most of the "loopholes" don't actually exist. Check the FAQs and the Bullet Points articles from the designers. Most of the other problems come when you try to take the system out into the millions and millions of dollars. Anything past DC 30 or so begins to get out of hand. Or trying to purchase thousands of single items. "I have a Wealth of +250, but I can only buy 240 or so Glocks, but that's millions of dollars, and Glocks are only a couple hundred dollars."

For 99.9% of the uses you might have for money in a Modern game, Wealth will serve you fine. The other .1% is probably a player trying to outsmart himself.

--fje

 

[Olive]

So you'r saying that as long as people aren't idiots, it works fine? No surprises there!

From what little I know of the wealth system it seems like genius.

 

[Ruavel]

thanks HeapThaumaturgist...

I know that initially there had been some discussion about it, but it seems like people have gotten their concerns I guess...

I thought it read quite well, but just thought I ask for peoples' opinions based on their experiences with it now...

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

The only "issue" with wealth is: Make sure you play a campaign where wealth level makes sense. Wealth includes credit cards, debts, rents and whatever else the modern society offers. In a post-apocalyptic scenario, this probably has little sense. (Say, Fallout)
But the three standard campaign models (Agents of Psi, Shadowchasers, Urban Arcana) are all rooted in the current world, and there wealth makes sense. (There is a reason why it is called D20 Modern )

Otherwise it works quite well, especially if you don`t have to worry about players being able to buy +3 Flaming Burst Desert Eagles or so...

 

[takyris]

The Wealth system has worked well for me. Only thing that went wrong was me screwing up some stuff as a GM. I allowed people to purchase Mastercraft items of more than +1, and then everyone bought +3 Mastercraft Clubs, since they were still pretty cheap. I later overruled myself and said that you could buy Mastercraft +1 anything if you could afford it, but higher than that had to be found in-game, not "between adventures" when all the ordinary shopping takes place.

Otherwise, it's been great. There are consequences for buying huge expensive stuff, but nobody has to do any paperwork when their character buys drinks at the bar.

 

[Ranger REG]

The wealth system is okay. It's easy enough to determine your financial status without the horrid details of real-world personal income management.

But I think it is far from complete.

 

[takyris]

@Ranger REG: How so? Not swooping in to defend it, necessarily. I'm not sure I'd use it for a game in which financial nitpicking was a vital game component (just like I wouldn't use standard D&D fight mechanics for a historically accurate dueling-centric game without importing some rules about hit locations or Defense bonuses or something), but what areas doesn't it work for in your game experience?

I'm running an investigative campaign, and I haven't really run into any trouble. But it's hardly been a focus.

 

[JimAde]

@Ranger REG: How so? Not swooping in to defend it, necessarily. I'm not sure I'd use it for a game in which financial nitpicking was a vital game component (just like I wouldn't use standard D&D fight mechanics for a historically accurate dueling-centric game without importing some rules about hit locations or Defense bonuses or something), but what areas doesn't it work for in your game experience?

I'm running an investigative campaign, and I haven't really run into any trouble. But it's hardly been a focus.

I think that's the thing. If wealth IS the focus of your players/PCs then they'll try to "game the system" and find all the breaking points. But if they are mostly thinking about plot and character development the Wealth system is a great way for them to safely ignore nit-picky money issues.

 

[Ranger REG]

@Ranger REG: How so? Not swooping in to defend it, necessarily. I'm not sure I'd use it for a game in which financial nitpicking was a vital game component (just like I wouldn't use standard D&D fight mechanics for a historically accurate dueling-centric game without importing some rules about hit locations or Defense bonuses or something), but what areas doesn't it work for in your game experience?

Don't get me wrong. The wealth system as it stands is good enough so you can concentrate on the "adventuring" aspect of the game. But it would be nice if they offer more details that can affect your Wealth status. For example, if you have a regular job while "adventuring" you may find your employment terminated due to your "missed days" or that the company is undergoing down-sizing and find you expendable. What then? What would your temporary Wealth be while collecting unemployment checks?

How about being self-employed and working on commission?

I don't want to bog the game down by making Wealth a priority, but then it would provide some story hooks.

The Modern Player's Companion expands the Wealth rules. You should look into it.