Starting Wealth above 1st level

[Kae'Yoss]

There doesn't seem a right method for it (unless I missed it), so what do you do to assign starting wealth above 1st level?

I think that you let the character roll his starting wealth for starting charactes, and then the bonus rolls for every additional level. And then they go shopping. It will probably enable almost every player to start shopping with a Wealth Bonus of more than 15, so they can afford all the cheap stuff (and a lot of more expensive stuff), but on the other hand they muss out the wealth awards for encounters, so it sounds alright. Any thoughts?

Same goes for Action Points, though giving half the listed value for all but the most recent level seems good enough, there

 

[Mr Fidgit]

there's a chart for suggested wealth bonus by level on page 204

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Yea, but that takes into account stuff already bought. If you start the character up, he has to buy first.

 

[Mr Fidgit]

Yea, but that takes into account stuff already bought. If you start the character up, he has to buy first.

that's true...

the only thing that concerns me about what you've proposed above is it doesn't take into account equipment lost, damaged, stolen, etc. or the losses to weath bonus at lower level for high ticket items

for example, when we created characters for our game, we were all allowed to 'take 20' on checks to buy expensive items before the game started. even my character, a doctor (and i rolled really well for wealth), had to take a one point loss to my wealth bonus just to buy a medical kit (which, i imagine, will be destroyed by some supernatural menace ).

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Table 7-2 on p204 is no help whatsoever for creating a hero with starting level above first, so we need another system. You can't let a 4th-level character give only +7 to buy all his stuff. A doctor or something will have much more at 1st level. The table assumes that the character in question already has his stuff and the listed value in excess.

And if you lost more stuff than you get, the world would crumble. You can't argue that you lose stuff all the time, or everything gets stolen. The things you have to buy periodically, like ammo, usually are cheap enough that they won't decrease your wealth bonus, with a little saving-up.

I'm happy for every system to come up with starting wealth.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

WOOF

Now, sometimes it pays off to go to the official message boards. Here is what Charles Ryan had to say about starting wealth above 1st level:

OK, I sat down with some of the other designers to talk about why the table and info on page 204 is so confusing, and how things should really work. Here's what I found out:

For starters, Table 7-2 is misprinted. 1st-level NPCs should determine Wealth normally. For 2nd-level NPCs, the bonus should be +6. The rest of the table is correct.

Second, the bonus given on Table 7-2 is the starting point. To that number, add any additional Wealth bonus for the character's starting occupation, feats, etc. Also add a bonus equal to the number of ranks the character has in Profession.

Finally, the result is the Wealth bonus for an NPC. When creating a high-level player character, add +2 to the total.

Now, for a shortcut, you can simply equip an NPC with a reasonable assortment of gear, then give him the bonus shown on the table as his current Wealth (ignoring the benefits of feats, occupation, Profession skill, etc.). That's purely a quick-and-dirty way of using the table.

 

[Mr Fidgit]

And if you lost more stuff than you get, the world would crumble. You can't argue that you lose stuff all the time, or everything gets stolen.

this is true. i was just trying to come up with some example for wealth bonus losses


thanks for the info from Wizards, KaeYoss. that system makes alot more sense

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Hm.. I rolled on my method and got 21, and according to the "official" method I got 18 (4th level Investigative, full ranks in Profession), but I rolled quite well. At least in that circumstances, my system's not so far off.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

this is true. i was just trying to come up with some example for wealth bonus losses

Yes, it does occur, but I don't think it should have a very great impact on the wealth system.


Regarding the whole situation, it reminds me of the stats for deities. They did leave that info out in Deities and Demigods, too, and it was something very basic (but that hat got looked over nonetheless). Well, nobody's perfect (I sure am not!)

 

[Mr Fidgit]

Well, nobody's perfect (I sure am not!)

me neither!