Wealth rewards questions

[Trainz]

Greetings,

I am not sure I understand how the Wealth rewards works.

If the PC's find a Wealth Bonus Adventure Reward of +6, does this means that they split it amongst themselves ? So a party of 3 PC's would each increase their wealth by 2 ?

What happens if the same PC always get all the wealth, just so that they will have access sooner to very expensive items ?

 

[Mistwell]

Greetings,

I am not sure I understand how the Wealth rewards works.

If the PC's find a Wealth Bonus Adventure Reward of +6, does this means that they split it amongst themselves ? So a party of 3 PC's would each increase their wealth by 2 ?

What happens if the same PC always get all the wealth, just so that they will have access sooner to very expensive items ?

The rule specifically says the PCs should SPLIT the reward. There is a good reason for this - sometimes one person can only make so much out of a reward, before it hits diminishing returns. For example, if you find something that gains you access to more credit, you have more buying power. But if you get too much credit available, your buying power eventually goes down since companies start to assume you are overextended. That's one of the reasons, in my opinion, that the rule specifies splitting the reward among the PCs - so that they can actually get that much out of it.

Charles Ryan also recently commented on the aspect of giving away wealth or selling items for way to much between the PCs. He seemed to be saying that they cannot accurately give each other wealth, nor can they sell an item to a fellow party member for a price higher or lower than the selling rules specified in the book for selling to a third party. There are transaction costs involved that are built in to the wealth system, I believe.

 

[Mr Fidgit]

What happens if the same PC always get all the wealth, just so that they will have access sooner to very expensive items ?

i do agree that this shouldn't be allowed. besides, in a modern game, what happens when the PC with all of the money dies? if the majority of the PC's wealth is credit (for example), the rest of the party can't regain that wealth (as opposed to D&D where the other PCs would at least have the character's remaining equipment -- although i suppose the PCs could have living wills...)

one point about wealth rewards is still kind of sketchy for me. if you divide a wealth award evenly, it can affect members of the party differently. another example: in the group that was just created for Crothian's upcoming game, most of the PCs (6 of 7) have a wealth level of 1 or 2. one PC has a wealth of 12.

a +1 wealth to the PC with 12 represents a lot more money than a +1 wealth increase to the other PCs (going from a wealth of 1 to 2, or 2 to 3). i really think the wealth award should be given a dollar value and compared to the wealth levels of each PC. this way, the PC with 12 would probably recieve nothing (no signifcant change in wealth), while the other PCs could see a big change in wealth levels

just a thought (or two...)

 

[jaerdaph]

Here's a link to the thread with Charles Ryan's responses to the Wealth questions mentioned above:

http://boards.wizards.com/community/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=291;t=001052

Personally, I think the Wealth system and Wealth bonus rewards can be used to really enhance the roleplaying experience:

If one PC has a higher Wealth bonus than the rest in the group (an entrepreneur with one or more Windfall feat purchases, for example), he or she might be able to purchase higher cost items to loan out to his or her fellow PCs on their adventures, but retains ownership. When the Wealth bonus reward comes at the end of the adventure, this PC might be justified in getting more than the rest of the PCs, since he or she financed the mission. If the Wealth bonus for a party of 4 is +6, for example, the PC financial backer might get +3, and the remaining 3 PCs would each get +1. The same holds true for NPC financial backers as well.

You can get more detailed as well - say a wealthy PC or NPC's Wealth bonus goes down 4 points after making major purchases to loan to the group. He or she may recoup these 4 points from a Wealth bonus reward as expenses before the remainder is divided up between the entire party as a whole.

This all depends on your players, however. Sometimes it's just best to divide things equally to avoid any arguments.