Potestas

Wealth

All characters have a Wealth score that reflects their buying power. It is a composite of income, savings, disposable assets and available credit. 1st level characters have a starting Wealth of 1. A character's Wealth serves as the basis of the character's Wealth check, which is used to purchase equipment and services for the character. Wealth decreases and increases as the character spends and makes money. Wealth can never fall below -9, and there is no limit to how high Wealth can climb.

Wealth checks (a d20 roll plus the character's current Wealth) are used to determine what characters can afford and what items they might reasonably have access to. Every item and service has a Value: commonly available items have a Value of 11 or less.

Losing Wealth

To buy an item or service, characters make a Wealth check against the item or service's Value. If the Wealth check succeeds, the character buys the item or service, and possibly experiences a Wealth loss. If the Wealth check fails, the character can't afford the item or service at this time. Characters can take 10 or take 20 when making a Wealth check.

Up to four characters can make a Wealth Check against Value 10 to help a character buy an item or service. If the attempt is successful, each character provides the buyer with a +2 bonus on their Wealth check. If the buyer is successful, each character aiding the buyer experiences a Wealth loss of 1.

Buying commonly available items or services takes 1d4 hours on the first attempt. If a character needs to make multiple attempts to buy an item or service, each additional attempt takes an additional number of hours equal to the Value of the item or service. Buying difficult to obtain and/or expensive items or services also takes a number of hours equal to the Value of the item or service. Buying a licenced or restricted item or service also increases the time required. Finally, character who take 20 on the Wealth check take 20 times as long to buy the item or service. In all cases, the time taken represents assembling the necessary funds, finding a seller, and closing the deal.

Characters lose wealth by living beyond their means and buying expensive items and services. A Wealth loss occurs every time characters purchase items or services with a Value significantly higher than their current Wealth and/or a Value of 16 or higher.

Gaining Wealth

Characters gain wealth through employment, investments, and by selling their possessions to pawn-brokers.

Every season, characters who are employed make a relevant skill check against a Difficulty equal to their current Wealth. A Wealth gain occurs every time the result of the skill check is significantly higher than the character's current Wealth and/or a result of 16 or higher.

Every season, characters with an investment (such as a building that they rent out to others) make a Wealth check with a -10 penalty using the Value of the investment's return against a Difficulty equal to their current Wealth. A Wealth gain occurs every time the result of the investment's Wealth check is significantly higher than the character's current Wealth and/or a Value of 16 or higher.

Characters can sell expensive items to pawnbrokers. Characters cannot legally sell restricted objects without a license to own the item, and cannot legally sell items that have been reported as stolen. Selling objects illegally usually requires contacts in the black market. The Sale Value of an undamaged item in working condition is 2 less than the item's Value, or 4 less if selling on the black market. A Wealth gain occurs every time characters sell items with a Sale Value signficantly higher than their current Wealth and/or a Sale Value of 16 or higher.

Selling commonly available items takes 1d4 hours. Selling difficult to obtain items or services and/or selling on the black market takes a number of hours equal to the Value of the item or service.

Currency and Wealth

Since Wealth is an abstract concept, it's sometimes difficult to determine how financially well off a character is. To get a general sense of a character's financial position at any given time, use the following guidelines.

Use the following table to translate the Value of an item or service into a sum of money.

This table continues indefinitely: to determine the cash equivalent of a Value, subtract 13 from the Value and multiply the cash equivalent by 100. Thus, Value 36 is equivalent to 7500P (10 times 75P, which is the cash equivalent of Value 23).

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