Wealth and Bartering
The concept of Wealth in a modern/post-apocalyptic setting easily becomes incredibly complicated. Taking in factors such as multiple currencies, exchange rates, and the supply and demand of various equipment and possessions across multiple communities and cultures makes the wealth system more realistic for sure but also makes things super complex very quickly, suddenly you as players are keeping track of different types of currency that you may never use again in game. And for me I will have to keep track of exchange rates decide worth of items across settings and many, many other tables. On the other hand, making it too simple buy just assuming everyone excepts the dollar, gold coins, or some other sci-fi currency, removes the realism of the system by using a system that would need some sort of governing body to maintain.
And then we aren't simply dealing with short swords, potions, and the occasional boat in a Modern world. Element 133 will include hundreds of different weapons, armor, vehicles, materials like gas, or electricity, buildings, and even pets, businesses and trade routes. There has to be a way to combine it all into one simple system.
The system that follows isn't perfect, but I think it'll suit our needs well. If you're a nerd like me you can do more research on the system and where it came from by following this link; PRISMATIC WASTELAND BLOG - Bury Your Gold: On Abstract Wealth. But no worries, I'll give you everything you need to know in this abbreviated and slightly modified version of the original article.
Abstract Wealth
Each player-character as well as the party as a collective (to be managed by one PC or the DM), shall have three new stats. These stats work similar to the player-character ability scores, except each interacts with the economy of the game, in some way. These stats are Reputation, Supply and Wealth. These scores have the two traditional components of Scores (0 to 20) and their associated Modifiers (-5 to +5), but Scores here are not merely vestigial. Instead, the Modifiers are used to make tests (d20 + Modifier) where outcomes are uncertain, but the Stats can be damaged (reduced by an external force) or spent (reduced by the character).
Wealth
Wealth (be it gold coins or otherwise) is still the primary means for adventurers to buy or sell goods. The Wealth stat represents how well-off the player is and the typical quality of goods and services they can acquire. To facilitate trade, the DM determines a “Value” for any good or service the player wants to buy or sell. The following table provides a guideline for setting Values. The DM may also ask the other players for input.
Examples of Valuing
| Value | Purchase Size (Score 10) | Example Goods/Services | Available at... |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-6 | Trivial | A days rations, ammunition | Anywhere |
| 7 | Cheap | A basic meal, a place to sleep | Small communities or Bunkers |
| 8 | Minor | A sturdy rope, a wheelbarrow | Small Settlements |
| 9-11 | Affordable | A rare ingredient, a day of unskilled labor | Towns or Villages |
| 12 | Expensive | A common vehicle, a rare weapon | Small Cities |
| 13 | All-In | A mercenary, an abandoned warehouse | Medium Cities |
| 14+ | Un-Affordable | A military vehicle, a rare material | Cities, Metropolises, or Fortified Settlements |
A player's ability to purchase a item or service is based on how far the Value of the goods is from the player's Wealth score. For example, if the Value is significantly lower than the player's wealth score, making the purchase Trivial, the player can simply acquire the good or service. Unless purchasing the item in bulk exceeding 250 units. Purchases can be labeled as Trivial, Cheap, Minor, Affordable, Expensive, All-In, and Un-Affordable,
Purchase Size
| Purchase Size | Distance from Score | Example (Score 10) | Example (Score 15) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trivial | < -3 | Value: 0-6 | Value: 0-11 |
| Cheap | -3 | Value: 7 | Value: 12 |
| Minor | -2 | Value: 8 | Value: 13 |
| Affordable | 0 or +/- 1 | Value: 9-11 | Value: 14-16 |
| Expensive | +2 | Value: 12 | Value: 17 |
| All-In | +3 | Value: 13 | Value: 18 |
| Un-Affordable | > +3 | Value: 14+ | Value: 19+ |
In a modern society most people don't think of purchases as exact portions of their availiable cash. We think about things in portions, such as a coffee may not be a big expense for the average person, but may cost everything for people like me! The Purchase Size determines how many times you can make a certain type of purchase each week without compromising your Wealth (lowering your score).
Compromising Wealth
| Purchase Size | Compromised Limit |
|---|---|
| Trivial | 250 purchases can compromise wealth |
| Cheap | 50 purchases can compromise wealth |
| Minor | 12 purchases can compromise wealth |
| Affordable | 3 purchases can compromise wealth |
| Expensive | Wealth is immediately compromised, Wealth is reduced by 1. |
| All-In | Wealth is immediately compromised, Wealth is reduced by 2. |
| Un-Affordable | If Wealth is less than 5, Wealth is reduced by 2. If Wealth is greater than 5, Wealth is halved (rounded down) |
Compromising your wealth does not mean you are broke! It just means your immediate ability to purchase items becomes much more difficult. Compromised wealth is repaired at the end or each calendar week, as you are able to make some money doing work, selling items, or getting income from your illegal drug operation. Or at any time your wealth increases for any reason, ex. finding treasure, selling your neighbors cat to the pie shop.(More on Income later). If you still find yourself needing to make a purchase while your Wealth has been compromised you must make a Wealth check with a DC of the items Value + 3. Using your Wealth modifier, make an ability check as normal, adding any proficiencies, advantages or disadvantages you may have. The results of a success or failure may be decided by the DM but here are some example results.
Wealth Check Results
| Check | Result |
|---|---|
| On a Critical Success | The player acquires the item. |
| On a Success | The player spends 1 Wealth to acquire it. |
| On a Mixed Success | The player spends 2 Wealth to acquire it. |
| On a Critical Failure | The player spends 1 Wealth, and rolls on the Bad Deals table. |
Bad Deals
| 1 | You wake up shackled in a debtors’ prison or similarly horrible situation. |
| 2-8 | You just made an enemy for life! A fight or similar conflict may break out. |
| 9-14 | You may face exile from the settlement or similar retribution for your faux pas. |
| 15-19 | The counterparty alters the deal in an inconvenient way. Pray they alter it no further. |
| 20 | It was just a misunderstanding! You gain the full success result for the original deal. |
Reputation
Reputation is an alternative to the exchange of coins, but it will necessarily pull the adventurers into social entanglements. If the player is trading in a settlement where they have gained the trust and respect of its residents, they may spend Reputation instead of Wealth. Using the same Tables and Valuing above. However, the seller may later ask for a favor in return. Refusing a favor from such a seller deals 1d6 damage to Reputation. Additionally, you may not continue making purchases through Reputation if it becomes compromised.
Reputation also has its own uses aside from its integration in the economic system, e.g., testing to determine a settlement’s initial reaction when the player-characters arrive in town or determining the bounty on a player-character’s head. Enterprising explorers may try to ingratiate themselves with a settlement’s residents, so they can begin to purchase things on credit (Reputation +4, to be repaid against a 1d8 risk to Reputation). A party looking to impress the people of a settlement may look for quests to help them up-front, and when the party starts buying goods on credit, the residents of the community will come asking for more favors down the line. The party could still act as ruthless mercenaries, relying on just their wealth, but their Reputation may precede them. There is now a non-murder-hobo avenue of adventuring for players interested in doing so.
Bribery is a Crime!
Since we aren't worrying about small amounts of coinage in Element 133, bribery can be attempted by making a Wealth check, the result being the amount of money you offer. This does not affect your Wealth score at all unless you choose to increase the bribe. At that point you may increase the bribe any number of Value points and treat it as a normal purchase at the final Value.
Supply
Supply is helpful for adventurers that don’t want to starve to death on the side of the road. Supply represents how well-provisioned the player is for exploration, including not just food but fuel, crafting materials and other necessary comforts for itinerant Heroes. Your supply does not include anything more rare than common items and equipment. This is more like that section of your equipment list that includes rarely used things like rations, torches, rope, ball bearings, water skin etc. Items like weapons, vehicles, and other commonly used items are bought using Wealth or Reputation and should be included in your equipment list. Element 133 is a game about long-distance journeys across a vast wasteland, and the party will need to frequently replenish their supplies (rations, camping gear, fuel for their war rig, etc.) to get to the next destination. In addition to being consumed by travel, Supply can be tested to determine if the player packed specific, generic gear or used in repairing existing gear (or the party’s vehicle).
Supply is also used to measure stores of goods, vehicles, or businesses held by the player. Such as a warehouse full of spare cars, guns and ammunition, or a mechanic shop. Gathering equipment from your supply may or may not affect your Supply score, using the same metrics as above, although your Supply score may never go bellow zero, and your supply does not become compromised. Additionally, any business, warehouse, etc. called Stashes will have a separate Supply score, contained on their stat block, and may only be accessed when it is physically possible to receive items from your Stash.
Gathering Supply
| Purchase Size | Supply Loss |
|---|---|
| Trivial | 50 items reduces Supply by 1 |
| Cheap | 25 items reduces Supply by 1 |
| Minor | 6 items reduces Supply by 1 |
| Affordable | 2 items reduces Supply by 1 |
| Expensive | 1 item reduces Supply by 1 |
| All-In | 1 item reduces Supply by 2 |
| Un-Affordable | These items are not included in Individual Supply. Party/Stash Supply Reduced by Item Value. |
Having a Supply Score of 0 doesn't mean you have no equipment, it simply means you only have what is contained in your equipment list, and have no spare trinkets or rations to help you on your way.
Resupplying
You may restock your supply by using your Wealth. When the Company restocks at a settlement or trading caravan, it makes an easy Wealth check DC determined by the DM, which can be influenced by your interactions with the shop keep/traveling merchant.
Resupplying Results
| Check | Result |
|---|---|
| On a Critical Success | Spend 1 Wealth and increase Supply by 1d6+2 |
| On a Full Success | Spend 1 Wealth and increase Supply by 1d4+2. |
| On a Mixed Success | Spend 1 Wealth and increase Supply by 1d4. |
| On a Failure | Spend 1 Wealth and increase Supply by 1 |
| On a Critical Failure | Spend 1 Wealth and roll on the Bad Deals table. |
Calculating Your Scores
Wealth and Reputation are base 10 stats, meaning that your score begins at 10. And is increased/decreased by your Occupation, Class, Features, Income/Looting, or by buying and selling items. For example, a player who chooses the Stock Trader occupation may begin with a Wealth of 13 and a Reputation of 10.
Your starting Supply is determined by your occupation, and can be found in your Starting Equipment. (It may be 0).
Looting, Bartering and Income
Now that we've discussed how to spend your wealth lets talk about how to earn it!
Increasing Wealth
The easiest way to increase your Wealth score is by looting bunkers, businesses, enemies pockets, or straight up dungeons. While exploring these areas you will be granted a Treasure Die when discovering a 'chest' of loot. These Treasure Die d4-d20, discovered based on difficulty and randomness, may be used to roll on the Valuables Table bellow. (The 'other table' will be a collection of tables for specific kinds of Loot ex. Weapons, Armor, Books & Maps, Materials, Art).
Valuables
1d4 1d6 1d8 1d10 1d12 1d20
| Treasure Die | Result |
|---|---|
| 1 | Shiny Rock |
| 2-4 | +1 Wealth |
| 5-6 | +2 Wealth |
| 7 | +2 Wealth and roll 1d10 on another table |
| 8-9 | +2 Wealth |
| 10-12 | +3 Wealth and roll 1d4 on another table |
| 13 | +3 Wealth |
| 14-15 | +3 Wealth and roll 1d6 on another table |
| 16-17 | +4 Wealth and roll 1d8 on another table |
| 18 | +4 Wealth and roll 1d10 on another table |
| 19 | +4 Wealth and roll 1d12 on another table |
| 20 | +5 Wealth and roll 1d12 on another table |
The other simple way to increase your Wealth score is to simply sell what you have! Find someone willing to buy stuff from you. And make a Wealth or Charisma check against the buyers Wealth score. Remember its harder to sell things to Wealthy People, and Poor People may not afford what you want to sell.
Wealth Check Results (Selling)
| Check | Result |
|---|---|
| On a critical success, | The seller increases their Wealth score by 1 and can sell an additional item of equal or higher value to increase it by 3. |
| On a full success, | The seller increases their Wealth score by 1 and can sell an additional item of equal or higher value to increase it by 2. |
| On a mixed success, | The seller increases their Wealth score by 1 (but it can only be increased up to 14). |
| On a failure, | The seller may improve the buyer's attitude toward them, but their Wealth score does not increase. |
| On a critical failure, | The seller's Wealth score does not increase and the buyer in unappreciative. |
Bartering and Good Business
Trading equipment and other goods in Element 133 is extremely simple. Simply make a Reputation check or any Charisma based skill check for a transfer of any item. If trading something of equal or greater value the DC is 10, if attempting to trade an item of lesser value the DC increases by 1 for every Value point lower than the item being received. For example a trade of a Rifle Value: 8 for a Minivan Value: 10 would have a DC of 12. View the table bellow for how successful bartering can effect your Reputation.
Bartering Check Results
| Check | Result |
|---|---|
| On a critical success, | The seller increases their Reputation score by 2 and can trade an additional item of equal or higher value to increase it by 3. |
| On a full success, | The seller increases their Reputation score by 1 and can trade an additional item of equal or higher value to increase it by 2. |
| On a mixed success, | The seller increases their Reputation score by 1 (but it can only be increased up to 16). |
| On a failure, | The seller may improve the buyer's attitude toward them, but their Reputation score does not increase. |
| On a critical failure, | The seller's Reputation score does not increase and the buyer in unappreciative. |
There will come a time when earning steady income may be necessary to your success. One way to achieve this would be to create or purchase a business. Cost of business operation, materials and such will be decided in game by making deals but here is an example of what a business might look like.
Cog's Auto Shop
Cog is tall and thin, with red dreadlocks and opalescent cybernetic eyes. She wears a grey suit and a black leather trenchcoat, and has a cutting-edge cybernetic arm and a hand taser implant. Cog grew up in the badlands, salvaging trucks and military tanks.
The Auto Shop is a small auto shop near a race track where epic races take place each night. Cog gets lots of business from jockeys whose vehicles have been totaled in the racing next door. Cog refuses to do any weapon enhancements but specializes in speed and mobility modifications. She also can fix up just about any military vehicle, but won't touch the weapons systems of course.
- 8 Uncommon Vehicles
- 2 Rare Vehicles
- 3 tons Automotive Materials
- Auto Shop and Tools
- Cog
| 1-4 | Lost Venture - No profit, Bailout Value: 10 |
| 5-13 | Bad Week - No profit, Bailout Value: 6 |
| 14-25 | Could Be Worse - No profit, Bailout Value: 4 |
| 26-42 | Scraping By - No profit |
| 43-58 | Pocket Change - Increase your Wealth, or the Business' Supply by 1 |
| 59-75 | Small Earnings - Increase your Wealth, or the Business' Supply by 2 |
| 76-88 | Great Earnings - Increase your Wealth, or the Business' Supply by 1d4, Clear One Pending Bailout |
| 89-96 | Making a Profit - Increase your Wealth, or the Business' Supply by 1d6, Clear Two Pending Bailouts |
| 97-100 | Making Bank - Add 1d6+2 to your Wealth Score or the Business' Supply Score, Clear All Pending Bailouts |
Owning or operating a business comes with its own risks though. Each week you will roll on the Income/Expense Table for your business. If a bailout is needed it means your company needs a little extra cash to stay afloat. You may choose to not pay a bailout immediately up to three times, choosing to pay it later. If your business accumulates more than 3 pending bailouts regardless of value, your business goes bankrupt and you immediately loose all of your Supply and assets from that business.
Mom, Dad, I'm going to Clown College
You may also spend an amount of time doing odd jobs for people or working for a business. Typically these forms of employment will result in receiving an Income Die (d2-d12) at the end of the work week to add to your Wealth, Reputation, or Supply Scores.
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