I was thinking of how to deal with money.  I don't want  this to be an accounting game, but lets face it, money is important.

So I just ignored it for a while, but that is not a good solution either.

So I figured I would throw this out there, how about treating wealth like a stat?

That is  players have a number between 1-20 and  is treated like Security Clearence?

That is, a person with a 1 wealth would be pretty much homless, while a person with a 20 would be on par with Bruce Wayne.

So  when  money becomes an issue, you check their wealth score and roll vs that.   The GM modifies it accourdingly.   Need to buy an ice cream cone, why bother to roll.    Need to fund your inventing process to create a flying cycle, then roll with a modifier assigned by the GM.

If you roll UNDER your wealth roll, then you can afford it.   Over, sorry but you can't afford it right now.

The player can take on endorsements or make inventions to increase their wealth score, just like they can do things to increase their charisma.    And just like charisma,  when you try to increase wealth, you need to BEAT your current score.

For example, a player with a 12 wealth, ( which is pretty good, considering a 9 or 10 is average)  trys to increase his wealth score by taking on an endorsement deal.   The player rolls d20 and rolls an 11.  While he makes some money, its not enough to increase his score to 13.   

Also,  the score doesn't represent how much cash they have, it represents how wealthy they are.    This can mean stocks, property,  artifacts, cars and so on.   A player can also train in wealth like they can with anything else,  gaining one point on their score just like any other stat.

So what do you think?

Sounds genius actually. Simple with lots of room for flexibilty. Exactly what V&V is suppose to be about. (I thumbed through a Hero Rulebook OMG that stuff got out of hand)

It feels like it might be a bit easy to get Wealthy but like anything else if it gets out of hand - GM giveth and GM taketh Recessions hard on everyone

My personal opinion is, that I really don't worry about money in the game. The only time you really see money brought up in comics, is as a plot device. Spidey needs to pay the rent, and has to struggle to do it, and it's part of the storyline. When do you see characters like Hawkeye, Mockingbird, The Flash, or Superboy worrying about loot? And they are far from being well off, much less rich.

I too tend to more or less ignore money.  I rarely even use it as a plot element, but then we've had our share of inheritors and really wealthy PCs, too.

John's system is really brilliant in it's simplicity.  I like it!   

I did a Wealth System for Savage Worlds Gaslight that dealt with a number of similar issues.

I wanted to post over here (so I don't forget) the rule I came up with for inventing points and money: Each inventing point spent garners the character $10^sqrt(Intelligence), so you can require that it takes several million dollars for an invention, or mansion upkeep, and have a mechanic for doing it.

(Sorry to temporarily hijack the thread).

In my supplemental rules, we use the annual income as shown in the rulebook (though it almost never comes into play).  For years I used a 1.25 (or 1.5) modifier to anything in the rulebook talking about money (since inflation has increased a lot since 1982).

When I just recently typed up our supplemental rules, I decided to check on what current inflation rates are like (compared to '82), and they're now pretty much double.

So now we have this rule:

D. Origin and Background (p. 34)
When figuring out yearly income, the GM should feel free
to multiply the formula in the rulebook x 2 to account for
inflation (if they feel it is necessary). Also, more flexibility
should be given to characters that wish to work part‐time,
but not as infrequently as suggested in the rulebook. As
written, multiply the formula by 10 to ascertain full time,
then divide by the appropriate amount (four for a character
who works ¼ of the time, two for someone who works half
the time, etc.). Note that this multiplier (x2) might need to
be used for other areas that deal with money in the
rulebook (like for an Inheritor, p. 35).

I figure the wealth stat deals with inflation as its a relative value.  That way if you play in say 1894 and your wealth is 10 you have the same purchasing/spending power as a player in 1994 with a 10 in wealth.  No need to deal with real economics, real numbers, or accounting.

Thanks,

I was really trying to marry real economics and comic booky economics.  I just couldnt see how anyone with armor automatically has the cash to constantly repair it. I wanted to capture the feel of needed to becareful, but not have all the players fill out w2 forms.   WHile I can see why some would discard it altogether,  I think it adds a dimension without overcomplicating things.

And thanks for the compliment Ranger.  Let me know how it works in your game.

Inheritors a knowledge? Hmm sounds more like an "incident" like Accident Victim or Organ Donor

I mean how does one acquire knowledge: inheritor

John wrote on Sep 22^nd, 2010 at 6:55pm:


That really is a cool feature of your rules.  It totally fits V&V, too (being loose enough for any GM to deterimine as they see fit).

I love using that chart for backgrounds.  You have no idea how many times that chart has been used to flesh out a new character.



Also  for weath;  my players will start with a default wealth of 8, unless they spend points to raise it.  Same rules of character  creation aply here, you can lower your starting weath to gain more bonus points.   ( this only applies to people who use my house rules for character creation.)

Yeah, in our current campaign, we just made the guy who was most naturally the wealthiest based on his background "the rich one"

Okay, I am just dipping my toes in here, but I have to say: I would really like it if there was a "John's Homebrew Handbook to V&V" file out there somewhere.  So far, from what I've seen of your approach to house rules, I want to use whatever you've got.   

Majestic wrote on Sep 22^nd, 2010 at 2:10pm:


Uhmm... what books and charts are you all referring to?  p. 34-35 in the V&V Revised Rules book is section 5.3 Rewards in 'The Government' chapter... it goes into Laws and Punishment.

Ah..ok.. Thx! Found it starting Wealth score of 9!  Got it!

Edit: I have three different rulebookmodifier sets... 0, 1, 2.  The one at the banner header is still 1... is 2 more up to date?

John wrote on Sep 22^nd, 2010 at 7:01pm:


If you found a way to incorporate LordInar's Intelligence thing too, this quote from you would certainly explain why the actual intelligent inventors usually have more resources to repair their armors, while the thuggish merc's who just inherit armor suits may resort to shadier means to get their suits repaired...
Over all I like the idea John. Like Ranger said, makes sense in V&V terms...

OH!  Found it... that's obscure... they should like put that under a heading or something!

Thanks a lot!

Ok  let me read the thing and compare it with my working copy and I will let you know.

I don't think I updated it in a long time so I think its the newest one.