Wealth Advantages & Disadvantages

Independent Income (p. B26) feature - Variable

It is possible that the Independent Income isn't fixed, but varies a bit each month. Roll 3d-10, multiply the result by 10, add to 100. The resulting number is the percentage of your normal independent income you receive this month. Income varies from 20% to 180% of basic Independent Income

For instance, a character with at Starting Wealth of $1000 has a variable Independent Income of 5%, $50. On a roll of 12, he receives $60 (120%), on a roll of 7 he receives $35 (70%).

Fixed Property (10 points) by Incanus (incanus@bigfoot.com)

This advantage solves the problem that the average Starting Wealth isn't enough for a character to have a castle or a ranch, although his Status would not only allow, but in some cases require it.

A character with this advantage has, in addition to his regular Starting Wealth, up to ten times that amount tied in various properties such as land, buildings, investments etc. Possessions that can be directly used for adventuring -- such as a car or a carriage -- as well as those that can easily be converted to cash -- like rings, gems and other simple jewelry -- isn't considered property and should be purchased with the regular Starting Wealth.

There are two main drawbacks connected with the property: they are not easy convertible to hard cash, and they are subject to calamities such as natural elements, theft or war. Due to that definition, it can be argued that for instance some jewelry can be considered property, and it would be right -- it's pretty hard to just walk into a jeweller's store and sell the Koh-I-Noor or the British Crown Jewels, but you might be able to sell it if you acted smartly. As always, it's up to the GM to determine what can be considered property, and what should be purchased with starting cash.

If a property is lost or damaged in such a way that it loses value (e.g. a flooded land, or a war-torn castle), the cost of the advantage is appropriately reduced, by 1 point for each full 10% of reduction in property value. Sometimes a property may go up in value (e.g. if oil is discovered on the character's land), but the character can't take advantage of it until he pays for the advancement in points, at a rate of 1 point per an increase of 10% of the original value.

The property can be beneficial in the way that it provides income -- for example, a farm can provide substenance for a whole family, or a business investment can bring you a regular dividend. However, this income is in no way related to the Fixed Property advantage, and should be either purchased as a Regular Income (see below), or earned through work.

Wealth Access (Varies) by Incanus (incanus@bigfoot.com)

This advantage is similar to Regular Income, but it works differently: instead of getting a fixed monthly amount of money, the character with this advantage has access to some source of money which belongs to someone else. However, this access is usually limited in some way, enabling the character to take only a stated amount each month (it's up to GM to decide if the character has access to all the amount at once, or there is a daily or weekly limit).

Unlike the Regular Income advantage, Wealth Access doesn't accumulate the money -- if the character doesn't use his monthly quota, he can't ask for more next month. A good example of this advantage is a teenager's allowance, or a spy's mission funds.

The cost of the advantage is related to the amount the character is allowed to take each month, which on the other hand depends on the character's monthly cost of living:

Amount	Point Cost
Cost of living x1/2	5
Cost of living x1	10
Cost of living x5	15
Cost of living x10	25
Unlimited	50

Special Limitation: Illegal. This advantage can be obtained illegally, which means that the character doesn't have approval of the owner of the wealth he has access to. Good example is a hacker who breaks into a big bank's computers, transferring little amounts each month to his account, or a low-level salesman who steals a little from the cash register at the end of the day. The drawback is that the character has to roll vs. an appropriate skill or attribute (GM's choice) each time he draws the money, with failure indicating that his work is somehow noticed by the authorities; on a critical failure he is discovered and arrested. -50%.

Increased Cost of Living (Varies) by Incanus (incanus@bigfoot.com)

An opposite to the Regular Income advantage, this disadvantage increases the amount a character has to pay each month to maintain his Status. This increase can be due to various reasons, most notably various loans and debts, alimony, regular hospital expenses (either for himself or for his Dependents), educational expenses etc. The cost of the disadvantage depends on how much the cost of living is increased:

Cost of Living	Point Cost
x1,5	-5
x2	-10
x3	-20
x5	-30

Even more is possible, but will usually hinder a character too much to be playable.