Questions about Money Perk

[Cassandra]

How many of you use Money perk in your character design? What exactly is it good for in game terms?

[Guest steamteck]

Re: Questions about Money Perk

 

I use it all the time. It gives everyone sort of an idea of everyone's ability to purchase mundane things and their possible free time etc. The money guy can also do stuff like get the plane tickets ( or charter the plane), bankroll the supplies, treat everyone to a 5 star hotel, etc. Pretty much I use it to be able to get any reasonable mundane supplies the PCs need or tell them how affordable something is for them-- Most effective when paired with the contacts perk IMO.

 

 

Non mundane devices ( for the genre) however need to be purchased with points.

[Doctor Agenda]

Re: Questions about Money Perk

 

Airline tickets, hotel rooms, bribes, it just makes a lot of things easier. At high levels you can finance teams, influence legislation, and explain how you can afford millions of dollars worth of gear.

[Doctor Agenda]

Re: Questions about Money Perk

 

Big money is really a powerful and versatile super power unto itself. It represents command of resources, the ability to make things happen, even change the course of history. It powers wars and finances reconstruction.

 

Now I'm going to have to design a VPP based on being really rich.

[Orion]

Re: Questions about Money Perk

 

I only have one character with a Money Perk, but he's more of the really well off type, not a filthy rich individual. As for uses, everything Steamteck lists, but also any gear that is wanted. After all, it doesn't matter how many points they have if they can't afford the price tag. Of course, them wanting gear and having spare cash doesn't mean it's necessarily available. If a character does have a money perk, I will make them deal with that on occasion - they must attend the shareholder's meeting, deal with an economic crisis, wonder if their paycheck will go down with Ogre takes out the main factory, etc.

[specks]

Re: Questions about Money Perk

 

I got in a discussion about this on the Advanced Players Guide II board. What I suggested was for every point of wealth maybe add 5 to 10 points in a resource pool referenced from the Dark Champions book or put together some kind of VPP. It might help to distinguish the difference between the average person vs the Bruce Wayne, Tony Stark types.

[Cassandra]

Re: Questions about Money Perk

 

Thanks all.

 

I was thinking of dropping it from my designs and having the characters money reflected in say a lack of a secret identity, or a Follower/DNPC Useful Normal representing their company.

[Escafarc]

Re: Questions about Money Perk

 

Thanks all.

 

I was thinking of dropping it from my designs and having the characters money reflected in say a lack of a secret identity, or a Follower/DNPC Useful Normal representing their company.

 

Back in 4E there were some Corporation Rules floating around the net. You could also modify the Kingdom Rules from the Ultimate Base.

[Naanomi]

Re: Questions about Money Perk

 

The Economaster is based around her money perk! Of course, her money is mystical in nature and thus not subject to 'board meetings' or anything like that...

[Querysphinx]

Re: Questions about Money Perk

 

I don't use the money perk as written. I use it as a form of reputation, because when it comes right down to it, that's what money is.

[Christopher]

Re: Questions about Money Perk

 

Thanks all.

 

I was thinking of dropping it from my designs and having the characters money reflected in say a lack of a secret identity, or a Follower/DNPC Useful Normal representing their company.

The APG one has some considerations:

- it could be like a consumeable characteristic, with each point spend (on a problem where more money helps) giving you a +1 bonus to a skill roll; the asumed time to total recover it is "one year" (APG 26)

- you could instead use the Resource Point System (APG 198)

 

But the ideas above are also good.

[Naanomi]

Re: Questions about Money Perk

 

We basically shifted the Money Perk into a small 'VPP: only for Stuff Money Can Do', that contains +Bribery Skill, Contacts/Vehicles/Bases/Followers, minor Powers with Focuses, that sort of thing. I *think* we changed the pricing on it to match, but maybe not. Either way, if it is kept small it doesn't seem to be a big deal.

[Christopher]

Re: Questions about Money Perk

 

We basically shifted the Money Perk into a small 'VPP: only for Stuff Money Can Do'' date=' that contains +Bribery Skill, Contacts/Vehicles/Bases/Followers, minor Powers with Focuses, that sort of thing.[/quote']

I think I know the most important question for men here:

"So, how many points is a ferrari?"

[Lucius]

Re: Questions about Money Perk

 

I wrote this up a couple of years ago for another thread.

 

 

Cost Powers END

 

35 I Hire What I Need: Summon 32 200-point Hirelings, Vehicles, Bases , Expanded Class of Beings Anything or anyone that can be bought, hired, or rented (+1/2), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), Variable Advantage (+1 Advantages; Limited Group of Advantages; +1 3/4) (244 Active Points); Extra Time (Hours to Days to Weeks depending on what's being sought, -4), Arrives Under Own Power (or maybe you have to go to it, homes don't usually move for instance) (-1/2), Summoned Being Must Inhabit Locale (-1/2), Activation Roll 14- (Sometimes, what you want just isn't available; -1/2), Limited Power Real Money. The more often the power is used, the more likely it is to fail as the money runs low. (-1/2)

 

53 I Buy what I Need: Variable Power Pool, 50 base + 3 control cost, (75 Active Points); Extra Time (Hours to Days to Weeks depending on what's being sought, -4), Limited Special Effect Common SFX (Only what can be bought; -1/2), Activation Roll 14- (Sometimes what you want isn't available; -1/2), Limited Power Real Money: the more often the power is used, the more likely it is to fail (-1/2), Limited Power Complications: illegal purchases may get you arrested, valuable things may draw thieves, weird stuff gets reported in the media, etc (-1/4); all slots IIF Minimum (-1/4)

 

 

Lucius Alexander

 

And I throw in a free palindromedary tagline

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Questions about Money Perk

 

I use it moderately often. Sometimes, my character concept calls for a multi-billionaire and I'll spend the 15 points just for the ability to ask which Rolls I'll be driving today.

[megaplayboy]

Re: Questions about Money Perk

 

As a general rule, I've broken it down as follows:

1 point: income of 100k per year(upper middle class)

2 points: 200k per year(lower upper class(top 2 percent of households)

3 points: 300k per year

4 points: 400k per year

5 points: 500k per year(middle upper class(top .5 percent of households)

6 points: 1M per year

7 points: 2 M per year

8 points: 3 M per year

9 points: 4 M per year

10 points: 5 M per year(upper upper class, roughly .01 percent of households in this range)

11 points: 10 M per year(typical A-list actor, pro athlete, or chart-topping pop musician)

12 points: 20 M per year(Superstar celebrity(actor/athlete/musician))

13 points: 30 M per year(CEO of major company)

14 points: 40 M per year(Massively successful actor, athlete with many endorsements, multi-platinum musician/producer)

15 points: 50 M+ per year(Filthy rich, Forbes 400 member, billionaire or multi-billionaire)

 

Money is kind of like a combination perk. It gives you nicer stuff, but it also gives you access to lots of places non-wealthy people can't go to.

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Questions about Money Perk

 

And you can pull a Mark Cuban and pay for your team's victory parades.

[Doctor Agenda]

Re: Questions about Money Perk

 

I like the chart. I think I could live on 25 million a year while spending the other 25 million to make the world a better place. If I scrimped a bit.

[Naanomi]

Re: Questions about Money Perk

 

I think specific charts like that need to be setting dependent though. A superhero world tends to have a few people way off the deep-end of that chart, 'buy and sell the world' types.

 

Plus, sometimes people heavily invested in the intergalactic exchange market literally *can* buy and sell the world (and several others)

[megaplayboy]

Re: Questions about Money Perk

 

I think specific charts like that need to be setting dependent though. A superhero world tends to have a few people way off the deep-end of that chart, 'buy and sell the world' types.

 

Plus, sometimes people heavily invested in the intergalactic exchange market literally *can* buy and sell the world (and several others)

 

Absolutely. I'd also say you could probably "blow up" the upper end of the scale, in much the same way that the perk scale can be blown up to include perks like Emperor(25 points) and Greater God(50 points). Intergalactic Merchant Prince is probably somewhere in between those two.

[Lucius]

Re: Questions about Money Perk

 

I have an issue with measuring wealth purely as Income (or Assets for that matter.)

 

Suppose two characters each have an income of a million a year. (I wish I did.)

 

One is independently wealthy from an inheritance, and while he may have to spend a certain amount of time and effort monitoring how his trust funds have invested his money, he mostly has all the time he needs to devote to his secret life of crime fighting under cover of being a millionaire international playboy.

 

The other earns his money as, let's say a high powered lawyer who puts in 50 to 60 hour weeks researching cases, interviewing witnesses, supervising staff, and arguing in court. Sure he could retire at any time, but if he does, his income takes a big drop.

 

 

Both have the exact same income, but I would argue that the former has something much more valuable than the latter.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

I, on the other hand, have a palindromedary

[Christopher]

Re: Questions about Money Perk

 

One is independently wealthy from an inheritance, and while he may have to spend a certain about of time and effort monitoring how his trust funds have invested his money, he mostly has all the time he needs to devote to his secret life of crime fighting under cover of being a millionaire international playboy.

 

The other earns his money as, let's say a high powered lawyer who puts in 50 to 60 hour weeks researching cases, interviewing witnesses, supervising staff, and arguing in court. Sure he could retire at any time, but if he does, his income takes a big drop.

Different values for the Secret ID, by increasing severity or Frequency ("We need to wrap this up in two hours guys, my other live can't wait.")

[Lucius]

Re: Questions about Money Perk

 

I think specific charts like that need to be setting dependent though. A superhero world tends to have a few people way off the deep-end of that chart, 'buy and sell the world' types.

 

Plus, sometimes people heavily invested in the intergalactic exchange market literally *can* buy and sell the world (and several others)

 

Absolutely. I'd also say you could probably "blow up" the upper end of the scale' date=' in much the same way that the perk scale can be blown up to include perks like Emperor(25 points) and Greater God(50 points). Intergalactic Merchant Prince is probably somewhere in between those two. [/quote']

 

Hm, didn't the one of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books mention someone buying the continent of Africa with off-world funds via a stolen credit card? (Galactic Express: Don't leave your homeworld without it!)

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary recalls a much older story about a species of aliens trying to secretly purchase all real property on Earth

[megaplayboy]

Re: Questions about Money Perk

 

I guess you could measure extreme wealth in terms of "number of aircraft carrier task forces they can afford".

[Lucius]

Re: Questions about Money Perk

 

Different values for the Secret ID' date=' by increasing severity or Frequency ("We need to wrap this up in two hours guys, my other live can't wait.")[/quote']

 

Good point. I could argue that maybe neither one has a Secret ID, but then the busy one would still qualify for a Social Complication or something. In principle, your point would still stand.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary says that brings us back around to the More Complications Please thread