Requisition (Alternate Wealth System)

[Goober4473]

I've been putting this together for my upcoming Planescape campaign, and am looking for some ideas. The basic concept is, players choose their equipment from the options in their class/background, and can swap/refill their choices between "missions," which should be 1-3 sessions/adventuring days. They can then unlock "assets" that provide them with more options to choose from. The intent is to simplify wealth in a way that provides interesting choices, while also balancing out equipment in a new way that doesn't use gp value. i.e. plate armor is as valuable as half plate because both provide +1 higher AC.

What I'd like from you all:
- Game balance concerns.
- Ideas for new assets.
- Ideas to modify existing assets to make them better.
- Ideas for more magical tattoos.
- I'm also looking for a way to incorporate expensive material components into this system.

That I don't need:
- Suggestions for other systems that replace wealth.

[sblock=Requisition System]Money cannot be used to purchase equipment, and is generally abstracted. A character might find a coin purse with some spare change in it, or sell some spare weapons they found during a mission, but the exact amount doesn’t matter. It is generally assumed characters will have enough cash on them to cover small expenses. Otherwise, personal wealth is left to the story details of a character’s downtime.

Characters always begin with equipment based on class and background. Between missions, a character can replace and/or refill all non-coin items gained in this way. A character can't sell these for any meaningful amount. For instance, perhaps the fighter begins with chain mail, but later decides they want a better ranged weapon. They could swap their chain mail out for leather armor, a longbow, and 20 arrows, since that was an option to begin with. Likewise, they could refill those 20 arrows before each mission, but could not make any money by selling them.

Multiclass characters, and those that gain proficiencies from racial traits, feats, or other sources will have combined and/or additional options, as chosen by the DM.

Purchasing Assets. The party can unlock additional equipment options by spending Requisition Points (RP) on “assets.” Assets each provide one or more new equipment options, which are chosen by players just like starting equipment is, and they can be swapped and/or refilled in the same manner. Unless otherwise noted, an option is available to every member of the party. If you unlock a higher level asset (i.e. “Arms 2” when you have “Arms 1”), you can choose to use a lower level version if you want, but not both.

RP is earned by completing missions, finding significant treasure, making allies, digging up dirt on local merchants, etc. Between missions, RP can be spent to unlock assets, or they can be saved for later. Alternatively, the DM may award assets on their own in place of RP to spend based on story events. Assets remain unlocked indefinitely, though they could be lost if the story demands it.

Finding Equipment. There are four types of found equipment:

1. Useless, broken, or otherwise unimportant equipment. This includes most monster weapons and armor, small amounts of coin, or other odds and ends that could be sold for at most a few coins.
2. Damaged or perishable items, such as occasional monster equipment, food, and some potions or salves. These items can be used during the mission, but afterwards become too broken or rotten to be useful. A player might refurbish a damaged item, but it becomes part of their normal equipment. i.e. it has to be included in starting equipment or an asset.
3. Quality equipment, including well-crafted weapons and armor, and most magic items. These items can be kept indefinitely, and do not count towards starting equipment or assets. Especially valuable magic items might be sold for RP to an appropriate buyer, at the DM’s discretion. The DM may also choose to award an asset for acquiring enough equipment of a certain type. For instance, a party that finds a large number of +1 weapons may simply be granted Arms 3.
4. Highly valuable, but otherwise not terribly useful items, such as treasure hoards, valuable pieces of art or jewelry, or extremely rare arcane tomes are converted into RP at the end of the mission.

Expected RP/Level. The exact rate of RP acquisition will depend on the DM and the players’ actions, but as a baseline, players can expect to see about 2 RP per level at the apprentice tier (levels 1-4), 4 per level at the heroic tier (levels 5-10), 6 per level at the paragon tier (levels 11-16), and 8 per level at the epic tier (levels 17-20). This might be from treasure hoards and other loot, payment for jobs, or a combination of the two. By making off with as much treasure as possible, establishing alliances, or by sheer dumb luck, players might expect to see around 50% more RP. More than that should require exceptional play or amazing luck. And of course, bad luck or bad decisions could lead to a lower RP gain, or even the loss of already acquired assets.

This works out to...
By level 5: 8-12 RP
By level 11: 32-48 RP
By level 17: 68-102 RP
After playing level 20 for a bit: 100-150 RP


Apprentice Tier Assets

Basic Equipment. 1 RP
- a) a healer's kit or b) any one equipment pack from page 151 of the PHB
- a) a set of tools chosen from among those on page 154 of the PHB or b) 50 feet of hempen rope and a climber’s kit or c) a hunter’s trap

Arms 1. 1 RP; requires Basic Equipment
- a) any one non-light weapon or b) any two light weapons or c) three thrown weapons
- 20 pieces of ammunition if you chose a projectile weapon

Hireling 1. 1 RP; can be purchased multiple times
- (shared between all PCs) draw three random minor hireling companions and choose one to accompany you for the mission

Spare Jink. 1 RP; requires Basic Equipment, can be purchased multiple times
- (shared between all PCs) Enough money or favors to make one bribe or to purchase one expensive item that isn’t worth RP.

Armor 1. 2 RP; requires Basic Equipment
- a) studded leather or b) breastplate or c) splint armor
- a shield

Arms 2. 2 RP; requires Arms 1
- a) any one non-light mastercraft* weapon or b) any two mastercraft* light weapons or c) three mastercraft* thrown weapons
- 20 pieces of ammunition if you chose a projectile weapon
*a mastercraft weapon deals +1 damage

Health Insurance 1. 2 RP
Each character can benefit from a lesser restoration or greater restoration spell once between each mission.

Alchemy 1. 3 RP; requires Basic Equipment
- a) a healing potion or b) two minor alchemical items or c) two doses of basic poison

Ink 1. 3 RP
- a) a minor tattoo or b) a spell scroll containing a 1st level spell that does not have an expensive material component


Heroic Tier Assets

Hireling 2. 2 RP; Requires level 5; can be purchased multiple times, but requires Hireling 1 each time
- (shared between all PCs) a) draw three random moderate hireling companions and choose one to accompany you for the mission or b) choose any one minor hireling companion to accompany you for the mission

Armor 2. 4 RP; requires level 5 and Armor 1
- a) studded leather or b) half plate or c) full plate
- a shield

Health Insurance 2. 4 RP; requires level 5 and Health Insurance 1
Each character can benefit from a raise dead or reincarnate spell once between each mission.

Alchemy 2. 6 RP; requires level 5 and Alchemy 1
- a) a greater healing potion or b) two moderate alchemical items or c) two doses of serpent venom or d) two doses of drow poison

Arms 3. 6 RP; requires level 5 and Arms 2
- a) any one non-light +1 weapon or b) any two +1 light weapons or c) three +1 thrown weapons
- 20 pieces of ammunition if you chose a projectile weapon

Ink 2. 6 RP; requires level 5 and Ink 1
- a) a moderate tattoo or b) a spell scroll containing a 2nd level spell that does not have an expensive material component


Paragon Tier Assets

Hireling 3. 3 RP; Requires level 11; can be purchased multiple times, but requires Hireling 2 each time
- (shared between all PCs) a) draw three random major hireling companions and choose one to accompany you for the mission or b) choose any one moderate hireling companion to accompany you for the mission

Armor 3. 6 RP; requires level 11 and Armor 2
- a) +1 studded leather or b) +1 half plate or c) +1 full plate
- a shield

Alchemy 3. 8 RP; requires level 11 and Alchemy 2
- a) a superior healing potion or b) an elixir of health or c) a major alchemical item or d) a dose of wyvern poison

Health Insurance 3. 8 RP; requires level 11 and Health Insurance 2
Each character can benefit from a resurrection spell once between each mission.

Arms 4. 12 RP; requires level 11 and Arms 3
- a) any one non-light +2 weapon or b) any two +2 light weapons or c) three +2 thrown weapons
- 20 pieces of ammunition if you chose a projectile weapon

Ink 3. 12 RP; requires level 11 and Ink 2
- a) a major tattoo or b) a spell scroll containing a 3rd level spell that does not have an expensive material component


Epic Tier Assets

Hireling 4. 4 RP; Requires level 17; can be purchased multiple times, but requires Hireling 3 each time
- (shared between all PCs) choose any one major hireling companion to accompany you for the mission


Alchemy 4. 12 RP; requires level 17 and Alchemy 3
- a) a supreme healing potion or b) a legendary alchemical item or c) a dose of purple worm poison

Armor 4. 12 RP; requires level 17 and Armor 3
- a) +2 studded leather or b) +2 half plate or c) +2 full plate
- a shield

Health Insurance 4. 12 RP; requires level 17 and Health Insurance 3
Each character can benefit from a true resurrection spell once between each mission.

Alchemy 5. 18 RP; requires level 20 and Alchemy 4
- a) two supreme healing potions or b) two legendary alchemical items or c) two doses of purple worm poison

Armor 5. 18 RP; requires level 20 and Armor 4
- a) +3 studded leather or b) +3 half plate or c) +3 full plate
- a shield

Arms 5. 18 RP; requires level 17 and Arms 4
- a) any one non-light +3 weapon or b) any two +3 light weapons or c) three +3 thrown weapons
- 20 pieces of ammunition if you chose a projectile weapon

Ink 4. 18 RP; requires level 17 and Ink 3
- a) a legendary tattoo or b) a spell scroll containing a 4th or 5th level spell that does not have an expensive material component[/sblock]
More on hirelings:
I'll be creating some companion cards for these. I'm still not sure if I want to have them be purchased one at a time, or grant each player a hireling like most of the other assets do for other equipment.

More on alchemy:
The different alchemical items are about on par with the listed poisons. They're from my Additional Alchemy supplement (this system is the original reason I made that one).

More on magical tattoos:
[sblock=Magical Tattoos]Tattoos are a new type of magic item. They function in many ways like scrolls, providing magical effects at the cost of being consumed. As an action, the bearer of a magical tattoo can will the tattoo onto another willing or incapacitated creature they touch. A tattoo that allows you to cast a spell uses the higher of Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma for its Spellcasting ability.

Here are a few examples so far:
Minor Tattoos

Hand. You can cast mage hand. Once you do so, you can cast mage hand at will for the next 8 hours, at which point the tattoo disappears.

Minor Healing. You can use a bonus action to heal yourself 1d4 + your Constitution modifier hit points. The tattoo then disappears.

Moderate Tattoos

Restoration. You can cast lesser restoration on yourself. The tattoo then disappears.[/sblock]

 

[Harzel]

I might be misunderstanding, but it appears that I cannot have, for instance, both a bow and a sword.(?)

 

[Goober4473]

I might be misunderstanding, but it appears that I cannot have, for instance, both a bow and a sword.(?)

You couldn't via the Arms asset alone, but remember that characters have access to their starting equipment as well. Anything from assets is extra.

 

[Croesus]

What about player-owned keeps, wizard libraries, thieves' guilds, temples and the like? Are such PC goals beyond the intent of your campaign? If not, are they outside the requisition system you're setting up?

 

[Goober4473]

What about player-owned keeps, wizard libraries, thieves' guilds, temples and the like? Are such PC goals beyond the intent of your campaign? If not, are they outside the requisition system you're setting up?

A good question!

I think what I'd say is, these would generally function as assets. Want to set up a thieves' guild? Maybe that nets you some Spare Jink. That Wizard Library could get you Ink or Alchemy. Running a temple is a good excuse for Health Insurance. A Keep might come with Hirelings or a smithy that grants Arms and/or Armor. The exact process by which RP becomes an Asset is left up to the DM and players. It might be earning favors, getting discounts, establishing businesses, or simply investing a chunk of change in equipment.

Alternatively, players could perhaps invest in an enterprise by spending RP, and have a chance of making more back after some time. Maybe that thieves' guild costs 5 RP to establish, but has a chance to generate 1 RP every now and then. It's a little outside the scope of what I want to put together here, but I might include some guidelines/ideas for things like that.

 

[Saeviomagy]

Wierdnesses:
1. Most of the time my first 3 resource points are going to be just thrown away: I already have armor, shield, basic kit and weaponry from my starter kit. Woo. Fun.

2. This seems to generally be abstraction for the sake of abstraction. I'm still having to do account keeping, only now I've got some weird tree to work my way up, instead of feeling awesome that I just scored 500 gold.

3. Studded leather armor will typically not get a character an ac of 17 until at least 8th level, which is why it's so much cheaper than splint mail or half plate. Tiering it the same as full plate is silly.

 

[Goober4473]

Wierdnesses:
1. Most of the time my first 3 resource points are going to be just thrown away: I already have armor, shield, basic kit and weaponry from my starter kit. Woo. Fun.

2. This seems to generally be abstraction for the sake of abstraction. I'm still having to do account keeping, only now I've got some weird tree to work my way up, instead of feeling awesome that I just scored 500 gold.

3. Studded leather armor will typically not get a character an ac of 17 until at least 8th level, which is why it's so much cheaper than splint mail or half plate. Tiering it the same as full plate is silly.

1. Few or no characters can begin with a healer's kit, which makes Basic Equipment pretty nice, if you don't want a second kit. An extra tool, rope, or hunter's trap isn't bad either. Really, it's an asset intended to be granted to the players after their first level 1 mission, in addition to or instead of RP. I may also include say a 100 gp pearl in this, depending on how I end up handling expensive material components.

Arms 1 exists mostly because it can. I could make Arms 2 the first level, and have it cost 3, or you could have a spare weapon in the meantime for 1, and upgrade to mastercraft for 2 more later.

Armor 1 nets anyone who wears any type of armor +1 AC (or removes stealth disadvantage for medium if you previously used scale mail and not a chain shirt). No starting equipment includes studded leather, breastplate, or splint.

Imagine the first 1 or 2 RP as just a small bit of gold. The players can't really upgrade their stuff with it. But they might buy a backup weapon, some extra tools, or some more rations, or they might save up a little for a real upgrade. Once they have a few more RP, now they can start to afford those real upgrades.

2. It's abstraction based on:

A) My experience of playing and running games. I've found counting coins becomes mostly boring or unnecessary by the heroic tier. By level 5, when the DM says "electrum," everyone in the party just rolls their eyes because it's another number to track that isn't worth enough to matter.
B) From a desire to adhere more to the 5e standard of "big choices." i.e. no skill points, big feats, etc. I'd rather the party say, "we want better weapons" or "we want better potions", instead of counting change to figure out exactly what they can afford and in what combination.
C) The ability to use mechanics like potions and scrolls without players feeling the need to hoard them. If you get a new potion next mission anyways, you may as well use the one you've got if you need to.
D) A desire to hand-wave small transaction. Counting coins for an inn stay, a drink at the tavern, or tossing a coin to a beggar don't need mechanics under this system, which encourages players to embellish their roleplay in ways they might not if that money could end up going towards a new suit of armor. This is especially useful because in my upcoming campaign, I'll be having a lot of downtime between missions, and I don't really want to track lifestyle expenses or the pocket change the players make at their day jobs.

And the accounting will be much smaller. No need to count coppers or divide regular loot. Someone in the party just keeps track of RP, and everyone keeps track of what refills for them when they finish the mission.

3. Light armor isn't supposed to be equal to medium or heavy, and, as above, starting equipment lists never include it. And it's not tiered next to full plate. It's gained along with breastplate and splint. It just doesn't upgrade when you get to half-plate and full plate.

 

[Horwath]

I dont know why people try to reinvent the wheel?

There is already a perfectly good system for wealth.

It is called money. Or in D&D terms it's copper, silver, gold, platinum, or gems. But it is still money.

money describes how much some service/thing is more or less valuable than other.

A +2 sword is better and more rare than +1 sword. But for how much?
twice the price?
5× the price?
20× the price?

That is up to supply and demand of the market.


And ALL magic items (except artifacts) should have a price tag on it.

Maybe not all can be aquired without special permits, but all can be appraised to a set value.


In our world there is price tag on a tank, a nuke, even a nuclear powered aircraft carrier. You just don't have clearence to buy/own it.

If some item can be crafted then there are raw materials for it. They have their cost. If a material is red dragons heart some brave/crazy/stupid adventurers will say a price for which they are willing to slay a dragon.

Then a wizard will tell you how much his time is worth for crafting that item.

There you go. You have a base price.

A +2 longsword that is noble family heirloom is not priceless. It's just a problem meeting nobles price. It might be a chest of gold, might be a piece of land, or you might have his children with dagger at their necks.

 

[TheEvilDM]

What I'd like from you all:
- Game balance concerns.
- Ideas for new assets.
- Ideas to modify existing assets to make them better.
- Ideas for more magical tattoos.
- I'm also looking for a way to incorporate expensive material components into this system.

As far as game balance is concerned, I can't find any problems with this system. The amount of RP that is awarded still lies mostly in your hands, so you can always adjust if necessary.

About new assets, what happens when a player wants a particular item that can't be found in any existing asset? Will you create a new asset? What if it's a limited-use item that they only want for one adventure?
Perhaps you could include something like "any miscellaneous mundane item worth 5 gp or less" as an extra choice in the basic equipment asset.

What if a character wants more than one or a couple of extra weapons? I'm currently playing a rogue, and I've got about 10 daggers, 3 short swords, a rapier, a shortbow, a light crossbow, and some other assorted pointy metal instruments. It looks as if this wouldn't be possible with this system. Is there a particular reason the Arms packages can't be purchased more than once?

For tattoos, I'd look at existing features to replicate (but probably just a little bit worse, to avoid stepping on any toes), such as Guidance, (Bardic) Inspiration, Lucky, etc.

As for material components, I guess the easiest would be to simply make a division based on component price or spell level, and create a new line of assets with increasing prices/spell levels available. Definitely make it so this can be bought more than once. Although I guess the non-spellcasters can always take an extra component for the spellcasters to use.


Overall, I think the system looks good, fun to play with, and pretty solid! It will probably require some playtesting and tweaking to really get it right for your group of course, and unless you've already done it, I'd suggest you talk it over with your players as well. Obviously, they're the people whose opinion matters most!

 

[Goober4473]

As far as game balance is concerned, I can't find any problems with this system. The amount of RP that is awarded still lies mostly in your hands, so you can always adjust if necessary.

Thanks! This is all very good feedback! So, one at a time:

About new assets, what happens when a player wants a particular item that can't be found in any existing asset? Will you create a new asset? What if it's a limited-use item that they only want for one adventure?
Perhaps you could include something like "any miscellaneous mundane item worth 5 gp or less" as an extra choice in the basic equipment asset.

If it's a big thing that they'd want to always have, I think a new asset would be in order. For smaller stuff, I think your idea of miscellaneous items would be good to add to Basic Equipment.

For something consumable or that they'd only use for one mission that's not cheap, I'd either have it be an option in say Alchemy or Ink, or make it straight-up cost a small amount of RP to have once. There probably wouldn't be many things like that, though, as I'd prefer most weirder potions and the like be found during an adventure, not purchased.

What if a character wants more than one or a couple of extra weapons? I'm currently playing a rogue, and I've got about 10 daggers, 3 short swords, a rapier, a shortbow, a light crossbow, and some other assorted pointy metal instruments. It looks as if this wouldn't be possible with this system. Is there a particular reason the Arms packages can't be purchased more than once?

Yeah, I don't see why it couldn't be purchasable multiple times. Maybe I could add a "Pile Of Weapons" asset, requiring Arms 1, that gives you a whole bunch of weapons. But if you want multiple mastercraft/+X weapons, you could also buy Arms more times.

For tattoos, I'd look at existing features to replicate (but probably just a little bit worse, to avoid stepping on any toes), such as Guidance, (Bardic) Inspiration, Lucky, etc.

Good suggestions. I just need to make sure they don't outshine scrolls and I'm golden.

As for material components, I guess the easiest would be to simply make a division based on component price or spell level, and create a new line of assets with increasing prices/spell levels available. Definitely make it so this can be bought more than once. Although I guess the non-spellcasters can always take an extra component for the spellcasters to use.

Ideally I'd like to base it on spell level, but spells vary a lot in their expensive material costs, so I'll probably need to base it on gp value. I'd also like to maybe have other options for non-casters, like I do with scrolls vs. tattoos. I might be able to reflavor Alchemy a little and include it there.

Either way, I think Basic Equipment should include a 100 gp pearl, and maybe offer other small non-consumed components as an option in one of its choices.

Overall, I think the system looks good, fun to play with, and pretty solid! It will probably require some playtesting and tweaking to really get it right for your group of course, and unless you've already done it, I'd suggest you talk it over with your players as well. Obviously, they're the people whose opinion matters most!

Thanks! My players seem to like the idea so far, so that's good. Actual play should help tweak it and make sure everything the players might want to buy gets included.

Some other tweaks:

I'm definitely going to make Hirelings a single purchase, netting each party member a hireling. Hirelings 2 will then make them loyal, preventing me from having to design a whole pile more companion cards.
[sblock=New Hireling Assets]
Hirelings 1. 3 RP
- Choose an available lesser hireling companion to accompany you for the mission

Hirelings 2. 4 RP; Requires level 5 and Hirelings 1
- Choose an available lesser hireling companion to accompany you for the mission. That hireling is loyal.

Hirelings 3. 8 RP; Requires level 11 and Hirelings 2
- Choose an available greater hireling companion to accompany you for the mission.

Hirelings 4. 12 RP; Requires level 17 and Hirelings 3
- Choose an available greater hireling companion to accompany you for the mission. That hireling is loyal.

They don't have abilities yet, but here's a document I put together for lesser Planescape hirelings, in case anyone's interested.[/sblock]
I'll be adding this to Basic Equipment as well:
"- (shared between all party members) A cart and mule, plus 10 days of mule feed"

And I'm going to make a "Transportation" line that starts with this one:
Transportation 1. 1 RP; requires Basic Equipment
- a horse or other mundane mount, not trained for combat
- 10 days worth of horse feed
- (shared between all party members) A wagon with optional mule and 10 days mule feed if one of the horses does not pull the wagon