Wealth

Every character has a **Wealth Bonus** that reflects his or her buying power. It is a composite of income, credit rating, and savings. A character's Wealth Bonus serves as the basis of the character's Wealth check, which is used to purchase equipment and services for the character. This is like a skill check, except there are no ranks and no ability score is added.

## Wealth and the Starting Hero

To determine a character's starting Wealth bonus, roll 2d4  and add the wealth bonus for the character's starting occupation, plus (if appropriate) the bonus from the Windfall feat. Over the course of play, the hero's Wealth bonus will decrease as the hero purchases expensive items and increase as the hero gains levels through use of the Profession skill.

Since Wealth is an abstract concept, it's sometimes difficult to determine how financially well off a character is. To get a general sense of how financially solvent a character is at any given time, check the table below.

 Very rich | +31 or higher

Sometimes, it is helpful to know the conversion for Wealth bonus or Purchase DC to real dollars. See the table to the right to help.

## Regaining Wealth

A character’s Wealth bonus recovers as the character advances. Every time a character gains a new level, make a  (Wis) check. (If the character has no ranks in the skill, this check is a Wisdom check.) The DC is equal to the character’s current Wealth bonus. If the character succeeds, his or her current Wealth bonus increases by +1. For every 5 points by which the character exceeds the DC, he or she gains an additional +1 to his or her Wealth bonus.

After the Wealth bonus increase a character gains from the Profession check result (if the check succeeds), the number of ranks the character has in this skill increases his or her Wealth bonus as shown on the right.

A character's Wealth bonus recovers as the character advances.

### Wealth Awards

Adventuring may result in characters finding valuable items. In such cases, the benefit translates into a Wealth award. Otherwise, characters gain wealth by leveling up and effectively "getting paid" for their work.

### Selling Stuff

To sell something, a character first needs to determine its sale value. Assuming the object is undamaged and in working condition, the sale value is equal to the object’s purchase DC (as if purchased new) minus 3.

Selling an object can provide an increase to a character’s Wealth bonus. The increase is the same amount as the Wealth bonus loss the character would experience if the character purchased an object with a purchase DC equal to the sale value. Regardless of the character’s current Wealth bonus, he or she gains a Wealth bonus increase of 1 whenever the character sells an object with a sale value of 15 or higher. If A character sells an object with a sale value less than or equal to his or her current Wealth bonus, and that sale value is 14 or lower, the character gains nothing.

A character cannot legally sell restricted objects unless the character is licensed to own them. A character also cannot legally sell objects that have been reported as stolen. Selling objects illegally usually requires that the character have contacts in the black market, and reduces the sale value by an additional 3.

## Losing Wealth

Generally, a character only looses Wealth if they purchase something of great value or is beyond their means. Buying common objects generally does not cause the character to loose any wealth. Unless the character has 3 or less wealth, they also generally have a place to live (apartment, motel room, or other cheap accommodations) and access to cheap, public transportation. This does not impact their wealth. If they wish to have more luxurious accommodations, use privet or VIP transportation, they must make the appropriate checks and pay for it.

Wealth checks are used to determine what characters can afford and what gear they might reasonably be able to access. Every object and service has a purchase DC. To purchase an object, make a Wealth check against the purchase DC.

### The Wealth Check

A Wealth check is a 1d20 roll plus a character’s current Wealth bonus. If the character succeeds on the Wealth check, the character gains the object. If the character fails, he or she can’t afford the object at the time.

### Buying Stuff

Any time a character purchases an object or service with a purchase DC higher than his or her current Wealth bonus, or one with a purchase DC of 15 or higher, the character’s Wealth bonus goes down. How much the Wealth bonus is reduced depends on how expensive the object is.

 16 or more points higher than current | 2d6  points

Along with this loss, any time a character buys an object or service with a purchase DC of 15 or higher, the character reduces his or her current Wealth bonus by an additional 1 point.

A character’s Wealth bonus only goes down if he or she **successfully** buys an object or service. If the character attempts to buy something and the check fails, his or her Wealth bonus is unaffected (but the time is still waisted).

### Shopping and Time

Buying less common objects generally takes a number of hours equal to the purchase DC of the object or service, reflecting the time needed to locate the wanted materials and close the deal. Getting a license or buying an object with a restriction rating increases the time needed to make purchases.

### Taking 10 and Taking 20

A character can usually take 10  or take 20  when making a Wealth check. Taking 20 requires 20 times as long as normal.

### Try Again?

A character can try again if he or she fails a Wealth check, but not until the character has spent an additional number of hours shopping equal to the purchase DC of the object or service.

### Living in Luxury

The purchase DCs given are for average-quality items. It's possible to purchase similar items with luxury features, generally by increasing the purchase DC by 1. Although such items are more expensive, they offer no additional features or game benefits.

### Taking 10 and Taking 20

A character can usually take 10 or take 20 when making a Wealth check to purchase something. Taking 20 requires 20 times as long as normal.

Also, there is a penalty for spending beyond a character's means. Whenever a character buys an object that has a purchase DC higher than his or her current Wealth bonus, the character's Wealth bonus decreases (see below).

### Try Again?

A character can try again if he or she fails a Wealth check, but not until the character has spent an additional number of hours shopping equal to the purchase DC of the object or service.

### Aid Another

One other character can make an aid another attempt to help a character purchase an object or service. If the attempt is successful, that character provides the purchaser with a +2 bonus on his or her Wealth check. The character who provides the aid reduces his or her Wealth bonus by +1.

## Wealth Bonus of Zero

A character's Wealth bonus can never decrease to less than +0. If a character's Wealth bonus is +0, the character doesn't have the buying power to purchase any object or service that has a purchase DC of 10 or higher, and can't take 10 or take 20.

## On-Hand Objects

To account for the mundane and innocuous objects that most people have among their possessions, and not force every character to specifically purchase such objects in order to employ them, use the following rules.

With the GM's permission, a character can make a Wealth check to see if he or she has a mundane object on hand, as long as the object has a purchase DC of 10 or lower. (The GM determines the purchase DC for an object that is not listed, using similarly priced objects as a guide.) The Wealth check works the same as for buying the object, except that the character takes a -10 penalty on the check, and he or she can't take 10 or take 20. Also, a character can't make a Wealth check to see if he or she has a mundane object on hand during character generation or between adventures, only during play. If the character succeeds, his or her Wealth bonus is unaffected, even if the object's purchase DC is higher than his or her Wealth bonus.

Depending on the situation, the GM can rule that a certain mundane object is not available; for an object to be obtainable, the character must be in a place where the object logically would be.

## Restricted Objects

Some objects require licenses to own or operate, or are restricted in use to qualifying organizations or individuals. In such cases, a character must purchase a license or pay a fee to legally own the object. A license or fee is a separate item, purchased in addition to (and usually before) the object to which it applies. The four levels of restriction are as follows.

Licensed
The owner must obtain a license to own or operate the object legally. Generally, the license is not expensive, and obtaining it has few if any additional legal requirements.
Restricted
Only specially qualified individuals or organizations are technically allowed to own the object. However, the real obstacles to ownership are time and money; anyone with sufficient patience and cash can eventually acquire the necessary license.
Military
The object is sold primarily to legitimate police and military organizations. A military rating is essentially the same as restricted (see above), except that manufacturers and dealers are generally under tight government scrutiny and are therefore especially wary of selling to private individuals.
Illegal
The object is illegal in all but specific, highly regulated circumstances.

**Table: Restricted Equipment**

### Purchasing a License

To purchase a license or pay necessary fees, make a Wealth check against the purchase DC given in **Table: Restricted Equipment**. With a success, the license is issued to the character after the number of days indicated. To speed the process, the hero can make a Knowledge (business) check against a DC equal to the license purchase DC. Success results in the license being issued in 1d6 hours. (During the process of character creation, a character just needs to purchase the license or pay the fee; the time required takes place before game play begins.)

As a general rule, a character must obtain the appropriate license before buying a restricted object. Legitimate dealers will not sell restricted objects to a character who does not have the necessary license. However, a character may be able to turn to the black market to obtain restricted objects without a license.

### Selling Restricted Equipment

A character cannot legally sell restricted objects unless the character is licensed to own them. A character also cannot legally sell objects that have been reported as stolen. Selling objects illegally usually requires that the character have contacts in the Black Market, and reduces the sale value by an additional 3 (-6 total) unless the items are valuable to people buying on the Black Market either that they are one of a kind or important for their operations.

## Black Market

**Table: Black Market**
 Illegal | 25 | +4 | 4 days

Sometimes a character wants to obtain an object without going through the hassle of getting a license first. Almost anything is available on the **Black Market**. Knowledge (streetwise) checks can be used to locate a black market merchant. The DC is based on the location in question: DC 15 to find a black market merchant in a big city, or DC 20, DC 25, or higher in small towns and rural areas.

Objects purchased on the black market are more expensive than those purchased legally. Add the *Black Market Purchase DC Modifier* from **Table: Black Market** to the object's purchase DC.

Obtaining an object on the black market takes a number of days according to the *Time Required* column on **Table: Restricted Equipment**. The process can be hurried, but each day cut out of the process (to a minimum of one day) increases the purchase DC by an additional +1.