Making Money

[Whitewings]

My character is an upcoming campaign is a powerhouse psychic, mostly a telepath and telekinetic. with some metasensory abilities. She's got a 200+ point VPP (max. 80 points in any given power), a number of vocational skills (woodworking, metalworking, electronics, drafting), and she's from a rather poor background. She's just recently discovered her powers, and naturally she wants to find a non-criminal way to make money off them. At the same time, however, she want's to keep a low profile for the time being. Oh, and she's 17.

[Kristopher]

Re: Making Money

 

She could get some Tarrot cards and a crystal ball, and set herself up as a "psychic advisor".

[Guest Champsguy]

Re: Making Money

 

Out of game, buy 15 points of wealth.

 

In game, well, let's see...

You could always dig up pirate gold. If you find it, its yours. Or, depending on how developed your telekinetic powers are (i.e., how lenient your GM is), you could always transmute elements (don't laugh, there are some telekinetics in Marvel who can do transmutation). Turn your garbage can into gold, and you're good.

 

Telepathy would make you hell on wheels as a stock broker, but you don't have the appropriate skills for that.

[Katherine]

Re: Making Money

 

Stage Magician is a possibility.

[Gary]

Re: Making Money

 

Without paying the points for wealth, your character will eventually lose any money she makes beyond base level wealth. It'll get stolen, embezzled, taxed, or your character will find she has unforseen expenses or she blows the cash.

 

Unless of course your GM rules otherwise.

[CraterMaker]

Re: Making Money

 

She'd make a good Private Investigator, or Human Relations employee, or Reporter, or Game Show Contestant (can you BELIEVE that guy on Jeapordy?!!)

If she took the long view, she could go to college for - anything, really. Telepathy is a remarkable power for faking your way through life, especially at the higher power levels.

 

How about a Therapist, or an Escort? She'd make a great gambler or employee at a Casino.

 

I'm leaning towards Escort in my mind - not the *ahem* blue kind, but the type whom powerful men rely on sort of AS an advisor or therapist.

 

And with her background, I'd think she'd be attracted to more of the "hands on" kind of man who would share her background - Mechanic, Carpenter, or Teacher. The comparisons and contrasts between the rich men who desire her company and the "Boy Next Door" type she desires might lead to some interesting roleplaying.

 

-CraterMaker

[Whitewings]

Re: Making Money

 

Or' date=' depending on how developed your telekinetic powers are (i.e., how lenient your GM is), you could always transmute elements (don't laugh, there are some telekinetics in Marvel who can do transmutation).[/quote']What (mechanically) wolud you say would be needed to "weld" small gemstones together to make a larger one? "Baby" garnets can be bought four for the dollar, but twenty of them, if fused into a single gem, colud be worth enough coin to be worth selling.

[Intrope]

Re: Making Money

 

If her metasensory powers include precognition, the lottery is a good idea. Also, some places (like Texas) offer scratch-off games with remarkable payouts--being able to see 'under the silver stuff' could pay out big!

 

Telepathy could also be used to make money off of criminals: at some point, big stacks of drug money have to flow back toward the source of the drugs. Find one of these shipments, and intercept it. (this is a good way to get a hunted, though)

 

If you can somehow justify a 'value' sense (as in, how valuable is this?) you could troll antique places looking for stuff that is being sold well below value due to the owner's ignorance.

 

You could also run a service dedicated to finding missing persons (via mind scan); there's often a reward for such things. Likewise, bounty hunting.

[sinanju]

Re: Making Money

 

My character is an upcoming campaign is a powerhouse psychic' date=' mostly a telepath and telekinetic. with some metasensory abilities. She's got a 200+ point VPP (max. 80 points in any given power), a number of vocational skills (woodworking, metalworking, electronics, drafting), and she's from a rather poor background. She's just recently discovered her powers, and naturally she wants to find a non-criminal way to make money off them. At the same time, however, she want's to keep a low profile for the time being. Oh, and she's 17.[/quote']

 

The Unfriendly Way: Talk your way into the office of the CEO or Chairman of the Board of various multi-national corporations (80 points of Mind Control should be plenty). Convince him to hire you as a consultant (80 points of Mind Control) for a huge annual salary and minimal work. Do likewise to anyone who a) questions his decision and has the authority to reverse it. Lather, rinse, repeat for however many corporations are required to fund your numerous mansions and the lifestyle of the filthy rich to which you wish to become accustomed.

 

The Friendly Way: Actually _do_ something worthwhile for the money. You can "interview" potential employees or clients or partners, verifiying their histories/resumes, their trustworthiness, etc. With Mind Control you can _guarantee_ their reliability, discretion and loyalty.

 

Alternatively, become the next Tony Robbins (motivational speaker): For a phenomenal fee ("No job is too big, no FEE is too big...") you can assist people in changing their behavior. Can you say MIND CONTROL?

[Koshka]

Re: Making Money

 

Since she wants a low profile, I'd suggest she get a job at an electronics repair shop. Her metasenses probably include something that would make diagnosing problems much easier/faster, and precise TK means never burning your fingers with the soldering iron . The one year she has till she hits legal majority should be enough time for her to get a reputation as an incredibly skilled technician, at which point she could either open her own shop or go freelance for higher fees.

[Supreme Serpent]

Re: Making Money

 

"Legally" would depend alot on whether there are any laws against using telepathy without permission.

 

Mind Scan to find missing persons would be a nice thing to do, and people would pay for it.

[Jinx999]

Re: Making Money

 

As someone or the other mentioned precognition and the lottery are good. I'd go for this if at all possible.

 

Telepathic insider trading is handy for those with the necessary skills. Probably not your character though.

 

Given your skills, creating something valuable is probably best. If you can manipulate things on the atomic scale you're good. Wide area extracting gold from sea water is possible, as is creating gems. A word of advice - gems don't sell for as much as they cost to buy.

 

If you can create diamonds - expect attention from de Beers. You could get a nice guaranteed income for not doing this if you're lucky. If not, you could have a ruthless enemy. Having someone out there who could create diamonds from charcoal briquettes would do interesting things to the diamond market. They are sold as unique, rare and special. Damaging the mystique would be unappreciated.

[Superskrull]

Re: Making Money

 

Try taking up palmistry, tarot reading or some other fortune-telling method. If you can precog, give them a somewhat vague but useful reading. Use telepathy (and aura-reading if you have it) to tell them what they really want to hear. You won't be rich but it should pay the bills if you live cheap. I mean, I live in Oklahoma and I know of a few people who make a living that way and have been established here for years. I'd imagine the market's even better in larger areas.

Besides, nobody's gonna think the flaky new age palm-reader is actually a real Psi. Makes a nice cover, hey? 'Sides, if you see any really nasty events, you can always step in and ward them off yourself and that leads to plot complications. GMs love PCs with automatic adventure generating abilities.

 

...well, I like having them around anyway.

[dbsousa]

Re: Making Money

 

Assuming she has no precog, her best bet is to buy a book on Poker, go to Vegas, and play Texas Hold-em. It is a game where you play against each other instead of the house, and is more about bluffing than luck. Since no-one but a fellow psychic can succesfully bluff her, she could amass a small fortune as discreetly or as quickly as she wanted. She could make $9000 a visit, and never have to file with the IRS...

[Silbeg]

Re: Making Money

 

Assuming she has no precog' date=' her best bet is to buy a book on Poker, go to Vegas, and play Texas Hold-em. It is a game where you play against each other instead of the house, and is more about bluffing than luck. Since no-one but a fellow psychic can succesfully bluff her, she could amass a small fortune as discreetly or as quickly as she wanted. She could make $9000 a visit, and never have to file with the IRS...[/quote']

 

First of all, when she cashed out, she would have to declare her winnings as income (by filling out the proper IRS form). Not sure what the margin is, but gambling winnings are considered income.

 

That being said, this would assume that casinos wouldn't have techniques set up for detecting the use of mental powers. Considering what casinos do in the real world, it would be safe to assume that they would invest considerable effort in detecting the use of mental powers. From security guards with Mental Awareness, to possible equipment that would detect the use of psionics, they would do whatever they could. Remember, if you can read another player, you could potentially read the dealer at the blackjack table (who has to check for blackjack, etc).

 

Also, it would be safe to assume that world-class gamblers would learn to hide their thoughts (training for Mental Defense, or possible devices for to grant Mental Defense), much like they use sunglasses to hide their eyes.

 

Also, I wouldn't want to be the mentalist that get's caught off guard by the mafioso that she cheated out of 4-5 figures in a poker game... if he suspected her of using such powers (remember, the target knows unless the power is invisible), that mentalist (or her DNPCs, etc), might "disappear".

[OddHat]

Re: Making Money

 

I agree with Gary and Champsguy. Unless the GM rules otherwise, she needs to buy Wealth if she wants to keep the money she makes. She can always pay for it with XP.

 

As to how, its 80 points of psionics. Let her crush coal into diamonds, take satelites into space for a few hundred thousand minimum per trip, become a self help guru, precog the lottery numbers, Mental Transform every local Drug dealer into her slave and have them turn over their cash, go straight, and forget that they ever met her, have her become a hit in the art world with her amazing Mind Form Statues ... whatever. Wealth is easy to come by if the GM permits it.

[Katherine]

Re: Making Money

 

First of all' date=' when she cashed out, she [i']would[/i] have to declare her winnings as income (by filling out the proper IRS form). Not sure what the margin is, but gambling winnings are considered income.

 

That being said, this would assume that casinos wouldn't have techniques set up for detecting the use of mental powers. Considering what casinos do in the real world, it would be safe to assume that they would invest considerable effort in detecting the use of mental powers. From security guards with Mental Awareness, to possible equipment that would detect the use of psionics, they would do whatever they could. Remember, if you can read another player, you could potentially read the dealer at the blackjack table (who has to check for blackjack, etc).

 

Also, it would be safe to assume that world-class gamblers would learn to hide their thoughts (training for Mental Defense, or possible devices for to grant Mental Defense), much like they use sunglasses to hide their eyes.

 

Also, I wouldn't want to be the mentalist that get's caught off guard by the mafioso that she cheated out of 4-5 figures in a poker game... if he suspected her of using such powers (remember, the target knows unless the power is invisible), that mentalist (or her DNPCs, etc), might "disappear".

 

Well, she is a character with a 200 vpp. She could likely handle some Mafia thugs.

[OddHat]

Re: Making Money

 

Well' date=' she is a character with a 200 vpp. She could likely handle some Mafia thugs.[/quote']

 

Agreed. For that matter, Invisible Power Effects are dirt cheap on a power built for out of combat use with a VPP. She'll never have to worry about the thugs, unless the GM decides otherwise.

[Kristopher]

Re: Making Money

 

Personally, I wouldn't often concern myself with making the character pay points for money that was gained though roleplaying and character action, at least not in a superheroic-level game where equipment is points-based, not money-based. I'd reserve the Money perq for situations where the money-making is going on in the background, and has little or no link to what's going on in the game.

 

Many of the ideas put forth on this thread have the potential to add to the game, and sometimes I'd rather not make a player pay extra points for giving me more hooks.

[Silbeg]

Re: Making Money

 

Many of the ideas put forth on this thread have the potential to add to the game' date=' and sometimes I'd rather not make a player pay extra points for giving me more hooks.[/quote']

Well said!

In fact, I tend to reward bonus XP to character's whose hooks turn into adventures... reward the players for being creative!

[dbsousa]

Re: Making Money

 

First of all' date=' when she cashed out, she [i']would[/i] have to declare her winnings as income (by filling out the proper IRS form). Not sure what the margin is, but gambling winnings are considered income.

 

Yes, and I belive you have to declare $10,000 or more when you cash out. If this character kept her winnings low, no casino would catch on, and she could report her winnings at the end of the year.

 

Of course it may be that every psychic has had that idea, and that the World Series of Poker is in fact the site of a yearly battle for supremacy in the psychic world...

 

Another form of gambling she could expect to win is Horse Racing. With a little training, she could tell which horses were injured, which were drugged, which wanted to win, etc... she could pick the winners with enough accuracy to beat the house.

 

She could also make tons of money at Vegas in the casino's employ, scanning for groups of card counters (Read "Bringing Down the House") If she caught the cheats, the casinos wouldn't care much how...

 

Of course, in all of this I assume the character is looking for a way to justify spending points on wealth, and not a way to avoid spending the points...

[Whitewings]

Re: Making Money

 

Faye wouldn't be looking to raise her (and her family's) wealth to the point where it wolud be necessary to buy the "Money" perk; currently, they're at the low end of "Ordinary" and she'd be entirely content to be nearer the upper end - around the US$50,000/year range.

[OddHat]

Re: Making Money

 

Faye wouldn't be looking to raise her (and her family's) wealth to the point where it wolud be necessary to buy the "Money" perk; currently' date=' they're at the low end of "Ordinary" and she'd be entirely content to be nearer the upper end - around the US$50,000/year range.[/quote']

 

Dead easy. Most GMs will permit that if you can come up with and role play even a half-way convincing rationale.

[Whitewings]

Re: Making Money

 

Dead easy. Most GMs will permit that if you can come up with and role play even a half-way convincing rationale.

That's why I'm trolling for notions. One I came up with (since she's skilled in both woodworking and metalworking) was the notion of having her use fine TK to carve fantastic statues in wood or shape them from metal. Cunning intaglios in cedar; statuettes of spun lead that seem to move and breathe.

[OddHat]

Re: Making Money

 

That's why I'm trolling for notions. One I came up with (since she's skilled in both woodworking and metalworking) was the notion of having her use fine TK to carve fantastic statues in wood or shape them from metal. Cunning intaglios in cedar; statuettes of spun lead that seem to move and breathe.

 

Sure, should be no problem. Your GM may want you to role play finding an agent and attending an art-show or two to sell them. Good potential adventure hooks there.