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Message: <blockquote data-quote="HeapThaumaturgist" data-source="post: 2428691" data-attributes="member: 12332">If the PC's always gain Wealth, then you run into the problem where you have to make Wealth useless or putting "caps" in for certain professions based on how much the GM thinks a person working that job should make.  Or deal with infinite Wealth.But then you're trying to make Wealth into too much simulation and too little game tool.  "Profession (Fry Cook) will only get you +4 Wealth maximum." I think alot of people make Wealth harder than it has to be while ignoring alot of interesting story-telling situations with it at the same time.  It's there to streamline the vagaries of buying and selling, turning it into something that can be another fun die roll in a game full of die rolls.  Would you let a player say:  "I never swing anything other than my broadsword, and I practice with it a thousand strokes a day, and I should be a deadly combatant with it.  My character would never swing with it when he wasn't sure of hitting something."  And let him add more bonuses to his swings or always hit?  The Attack Roll is in the game to give the vagaries of combat ... sometimes you hit, sometimes you miss, sometimes you do alot of damage, sometimes you don't.  But alot of people want to say:  "But my character never goes to the movies and doesn't own a TV and wouldn't ever buy a car and can work 50 hours and can make good investments so he should get more Wealth."  People used to cash-based systems are often uncomfortable with why they can't make decisions like that and have it reflected in the game ... but it's the same situation as a player saying his character would never swing a sword when he wouldn't hit.  If somebody was desperate to "simulate" that his character was a whiz at investing and invested his earnings from being a lawyer to make more money ... I'd let him take Profession (Investor) and when he got 5 ranks give a synergy bonus to his Lawyer profession rolls.  As close as it would need to be.The system already self-caps ... when you have X ranks, even with a natural 20 you can only get Y Wealth.  You can choose to work with your players and tell them that they shouldn't take more than 3-4 ranks in Profession (Frycook) if you think they shouldn't make big bucks in it ... or take 15 ranks in Profession (Frycook) as a potential story tool ... maybe they've moved up from making fries at the local Burger King to displaying their unusual frying talents at a specialty restaurant.  If they roll a natural 1 on their Wealth roll and they stay at a lower-than-normal Wealth bonus, maybe they missed a vital day at work because of adventuring ... if they roll a natural 20 maybe they had a few great nights where they attracted the attention of some famous and rich individuals who like hamburgers.It's a roll, like a combat roll, or a skill check.  Story flows from combat rolls ... you wouldn't say:  "I'm a total troll-hating troll-killer that never misses trolls." and become upset with an attack roll that misses the troll.  A Dwarven Weaponsmith with Craft (Weapons) who fails a craft check ... do they still make progress on their item just because Dwarves are great smiths and the character is an "expert weaponsmith"?  Wealth is the same sort of situation.  Let the story flow from the roll.  The mechanic is just that, a mechanic.  It can simulate very complex situations BECAUSE it is exceedingly simple, just like an attack roll simulates the give and take of battle.  If a player does wonderfully on a roll, give an exciting description of how his job went and why ... if he blows the roll, make up an equally engaging story why.  But keep the roll as it is because it's part of a system that's already been balanced.  Profession (X) is there to average out Wealth, replacing Wealth lost to purchases, giving rewards for increasing ranks, but generally letting you say:  "You have some sort of method by which you pay your bills and afford that Glock."  What stories you tell with it ... same as the stories you tell with combat or skill checks.--fje</blockquote>

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