Wealth Perk in PA Games

[mayapuppies]

Hello all,

 

How would you handle the wealth perk in a post apocalyptic setting? I mean, the players stock portfolios might be nigh-on useless

 

Would it be a one time "cash" grab? How would a PA character have an income? Would it be representative of a lot of "trade goods" (difficult to transport)?

 

What would you use for currency in a PA setting? Obviously our current system of cash would be utterly useless.

[Barwickian]

Re: Wealth Perk in PA Games

 

Would it be a one time "cash" grab? How would a PA character have an income? Would it be representative of a lot of "trade goods" (difficult to transport)?

 

I can think of a couple of ways a PA character could have an income: he could earn it by making or growing things to trade, or he could be earn it for services - which could be anything from working as a traders, providing a legitimate service (such as protection) or an illegal service (such as 'protection'). In any of those circumstances, higher levels of wealth imply you have people working for you, adding a portion of their earnings to yours.

 

However, a common theme in PA stories is the loss of wealth. At the start of Mad Max II (Road Warrior), Max has his car, the last of the V-8 interceptors. By the end of the movie he has nothing. By the start of the third movie (Beyond Thunderdome), he's managed to acquire camels and a wagon; by the end, he has nothing. It's similar for the Mariner in Waterworld. It's worthwhile remembering that both these heroes lost their wealth because they behaved nobly, rather than in the interests of their own survival. That's why they're heroes.

 

 

What would you use for currency in a PA setting? Obviously our current system of cash would be utterly useless.

 

The most common form of trade will probably be barter. Communities that have retained (or regained) some measure of civilisation may well have some form of coinage, or even paper money (as promissary notes at first, maybe backed by a bank or government in the really advanced cases); however, outside their sphere of influence, coins will only be worth the metal they're made of (which may not be much - you can't eat silver), and paper money will be worthless.

[mayapuppies]

Re: Wealth Perk in PA Games

 

I can think of a couple of ways a PA character could have an income: he could earn it by making or growing things to trade, or he could be earn it for services - which could be anything from working as a traders, providing a legitimate service (such as protection) or an illegal service (such as 'protection'). In any of those circumstances, higher levels of wealth imply you have people working for you, adding a portion of their earnings to yours.

 

However, a common theme in PA stories is the loss of wealth. At the start of Mad Max II (Road Warrior), Max has his car, the last of the V-8 interceptors. By the end of the movie he has nothing. By the start of the third movie (Beyond Thunderdome), he's managed to acquire camels and a wagon; by the end, he has nothing. It's similar for the Mariner in Waterworld. It's worthwhile remembering that both these heroes lost their wealth because they behaved nobly, rather than in the interests of their own survival. That's why they're heroes.

And this last bit would be exactly why I'd be leery of allowing players to have the wealth perk. It just doesn't seem to sit well with me that they would have an "income" when one of the basic premises of the genre is scrounge for what you can.

 

The most common form of trade will probably be barter. Communities that have retained (or regained) some measure of civilisation may well have some form of coinage' date=' or even paper money (as promissary notes at first, maybe backed by a bank or government in the really advanced cases); however, outside their sphere of influence, coins will only be worth the metal they're made of (which may not be much - you can't eat silver), and paper money will be worthless.[/quote']

Completely agree. I'm thinking that the initial area's of the game will focus on a barter system, with water being the highest value. May even setup a powerful community that has a coinage system based on a "water standard"

[lensman]

Re: Wealth Perk in PA Games

 

In a post apoc just re ivent what wealth means.

 

I might make knowledge of devices worth tons of money.

Schematics for water purification,

counter weight systems

Steam engines

internal combustion

Transmisions

hydro electrics

etc.

 

The character with wealth just trades these schematics / knowledge / downloads in barter for local goods.

 

A less wealthy man has less valuable info. Portable and stored in the PA.

[Markdoc]

Re: Wealth Perk in PA Games

 

Wealth is based on what's available - so it could be:

 

The character owns a brothel or a bar selling gutrot, fermented out of god-knows what.

The character owns a farm - or knows the location of a secret military base stocked with ammo, aging medical supplies and electronic bits that can be sneaked out and sold.

The character is a founder of a post-apocalyptic church and makes a good living off his converts

The player owns a TANK! He doesn't have any gas, but having it parked in the middle of the local community means he can collect protection money...

The player has a big brain - given the right tools, he can convert cars to methane power, etc. This only works if the player has the scientist skillset, but if he did, the local warlord would probbaly set him up in style.

 

All of these could not only generate wealth but also a string of plot hooks as the player tries to defend his source of wealth and prestige.

 

cheers, Mark

[Black Rose]

Re: Wealth Perk in PA Games

 

Wealth is based on what's available - so it could be:

 

The character owns a brothel or a bar selling gutrot, fermented out of god-knows what.

The character owns a farm - or knows the location of a secret military base stocked with ammo, aging medical supplies and electronic bits that can be sneaked out and sold.

The character is a founder of a post-apocalyptic church and makes a good living off his converts

The player owns a TANK! He doesn't have any gas, but having it parked in the middle of the local community means he can collect protection money...

The player has a big brain - given the right tools, he can convert cars to methane power, etc. This only works if the player has the scientist skillset, but if he did, the local warlord would probbaly set him up in style.

 

All of these could not only generate wealth but also a string of plot hooks as the player tries to defend his source of wealth and prestige.

 

cheers, Mark

 

In a post-apoc setting, money isn't wealth anymore. Wealth becomes what is needed, and can rapidly become worthless. Potable water is valuable in the Los Wages desert, but not nearly so if the Hoover Dam is still intact (and the water is unpolluted, o' course). Knowledge is always good, knowledge and materials is better; contacts are iffy - sometimes they know who you're talking about, sometimes they don't. Travelling "minstrels" become very popular again, if only for the entertainment; the news they can carry could be invaluable.

[tkdguy]

Re: Wealth Perk in PA Games

 

I started a similar post about non-monetary treasure in the Fantasy Hero boards last month. We came up with a few good ideas, even if the thread got silly sometimes.

 

Other treasure

[Chris Goodwin]

Re: Wealth Perk in PA Games

 

Wealth in any game represents the ability to make large purchases. In most PA games, like most fantasy games, your wealth is what you can carry with you.

 

Barring finding piles of gold pieces in a dungeon, I'd make wealth in a PA game very similar to that of a fantasy game.

 

Side note: One of the Gamma World books mentions something about gold pieces being more accepted than domars, because it's still possible for an adventurer to stumble upon an old bank vault full of domars and flood the local economy with them. Pretty astute. Keep something like that in mind in your PA game.

 

It is very likely that prewar coinage is still in use, because it lasts practically forever. It is much less likely that prewar paper money is still in use, because it doesn't last forever. I disagree with the idea that money won't be in use (and the meme that you can't eat silver has been done before). People still need ways to store and transmit value across large distances or in small amounts, and it's hard to make change for a cow. The same pressures that caused the idea of money to spring up ~4000 years ago will cause it to spring up within a few years after a societal calamity, if it is ever lost at all.