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View Full Version : Wealth rank and starting wealth calculation for a cyberpunk game?



MonkeySage
2015-11-23, 03:38 PM
I worked through dozens of different ideas. I decided starting wealth would be decided by rank. my game utilizes a perk and quirk system, and wealth ranks range from -1 to 5. characters can pick 1 perk and as many quirks as they want, quirks have negative effects but allow them to start with more perks. so wealth ranks 1- 5 are considered increasingly expensive perks.
Since the exchange rate was h20=$1, I decided on a constant of 10,000. starting wealth could then be calculated as (3d6 x 10^WR) x 10000. so a lower middle class (WR0) student may have a starting wealth of h120,000, representing his net worth (including housing if applicable).
Is this going overboard, or does it make sense?
Should I cut the constant in half? Reduce the number of dice rolled?

The Mentalist
2015-11-23, 03:55 PM
I think that knowing the system here is somewhat important before we can give great feedback. Also, a smaller die + something might be better for less random but still variable. 3d4+3 maybe or +5.

MonkeySage
2015-11-23, 04:02 PM
It's a homebrew 3d6 system, but it takes place more or less on Earth. h is a global currency, and exhanges with usd for h20=$1. Thing is, I want pcs to come from variable economic backgrounds, but nothing too ridiculous.

Nifft
2015-11-23, 07:38 PM
It's REALLY difficult to do wealth and financial calculations in an accurate and entertaining way.

I'd suggest working out the sorts of things you want each "tier" of wealth to be able to do, so you can figure out how much attention to detail you really need -- and how many tiers you actually need.

CharonsHelper
2015-11-23, 10:10 PM
There are too many variables to tell you how to balance based upon what you've said. The real question is how much power the wealth can buy.

For example - in D&D/Pathfinder - wealth is practically a 2nd exp pool - especially for martials. A 3rd level martial with 200k worth of gear could take out a dozen 3rd level martials with normal wealth per level nine times out of ten.

In other games wealth has less of a direct power level after you have enough to purchase a basic weapon & armor. After that it's used for bribes/cars/fancy clothes etc. Still useful - but not the raw power level that it gives in D&D/Pathfinder.

So really, you have to figure out what you could do with the wealth within your game system, and try to have the wealth that you purchase with stat points give a similar amount of in-game power that equal cost stat points give.