Resources (Ability)
Resources is a combination of the character’s income and the character’s pull in society. All characters begin with a Resources of 0. To increase Resources, the character must spend an amount of DP equal to the next level being purchased. Resources is not fixed – over the course of the character’s life, Resources will be increased or decreased, indicating the character’s wealth and influence in society. Resources have an upper limit of 30.
Benefits of Resources
A character begins with a number of retainers equal to the character’s Resources. The character may choose these allies form the Hireling List presented later in this document. Each ally is considered Exceptional, and gains one Exceptional Trait chosen by the player. These are named characters, who are loyal to the character, and can be turned into puppets under the player’s control.
Ranks
| Rank | Caste | Gold (Low) | Gold (High) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Destitute | 0c | 99c |
| 1 | 1g | 2g | |
| 2 | 3g | 4g | |
| 3 | 5g | 6g | |
| 4 | 7g | 9g | |
| 5 | Peasant Class | 10g | 14g |
| 6 | 15g | 19g | |
| 7 | 20g | 24g | |
| 8 | 25g | 29g | |
| 9 | 30g | 39g | |
| 10 | Middle Class | 40g | 49g |
| 11 | 50g | 59g | |
| 12 | 60g | 69g | |
| 13 | 70g | 79g | |
| 14 | 80g | 89g | |
| 15 | 90g | 99g | |
| 16 | Merchant Class | 100g | 199g |
| 17 | 200g | 299g | |
| 18 | 300g | 399g | |
| 19 | 400g | 499g | |
| 20 | Lesser Nobility | 500g | 999g |
| 21 | 1,000g | 1,999g | |
| 22 | 2,000g | 2,999g | |
| 23 | 3,000g | 3,999g | |
| 24 | 4,000g | 4,999g | |
| 25 | Upper Nobility | 5,000g | 9,999g |
| 26 | 10,000g | 14,999g | |
| 27 | 15,000g | 19,999g | |
| 28 | 20,000g | 24,999g | |
| 29 | 25,000g | 29,999g | |
| 30 | Royalty | 30,000g |
Starting Equipment
A character begins with starting equipment free of charge. The character is allowed one piece of equipment with a Cost of Resources + 5. The character then picks out additional equipment, reducing the allowed Cost by one for each item taken. This continues until the character has reached Resources 0. At this point, any further equipment must be purchased as normal.
See Step Fourteen: Equipment
The Resource Roll
Resources are normally used for making purchases or payments for equipment or henchmen. A Resource Roll is a roll to attempt to minimize the reduction of the Resource trait when making a purchase or expending Resources. Resource Rolls are normally made using the character’s Social Attribute and the Business Skill, though other Skills can be used depending on where the character is making the purchase.
When making a Resource Roll, the Difficulty can vary. Against another player is equal to the Resolve of the person the character is attempting to buy from. If the seller is not on friendly terms with the buyer, or wishes to haggle, they may spend a point of Essence to add the appropriate Skill to their Resolve (such as Business or Integrity, depending on the nature of the roleplaying). When buying from a non-player character, the Difficulty is 2. If the seller is not a friend or contact of the buyer’s – not one of the henchmen on the characters has – the seller automatically increases the Difficulty to 5. Some Resource Rolls (such as those to establish a business) are Results Rolls, letting the player choose his own Difficulty.
Success: If the roll results in at least one success, the Cost of the purchase is reduced by the number of successes (to a minimum of one-third the starting Cost, rounded up). Then the modified Cost is subtracted from the character's Resources and the purchase is made.
Failure: Failure on a Resource Roll means losing the full cost of what the character was seeking to buy, as well as failing to acquire it. The time, connections, and funds are spent without successfully securing whatever was sought.
Selling to Non-Player Characters
A character may attempt to sell goods to a non-player character. To prevent abuse of the system, this is considered an active roll on the part of the character attempting to make the sale. The character chooses the Cost they wish to sell the object for. This becomes the Difficulty of the roll they are to make. The character then rolls Social and the appropriate Skill they wish to use. The character automatically gets a number of Resources equal to half the character’s Growth (round up) or the Cost of the item (whichever is less), plus one for every Success rolled, up to the Resource level the character had chosen.
Losing Resources
When a character wishes to spend Resources, they permanently reduce their Resources as part of the expenditure, indicating an actual strike against the character’s income, or a loss of friends or contacts. The character makes a Resource Roll, to see how much Resources is actually expended when they use their Resources, with each success reducing the actual Resource cost by one. Some things, regardless of the character’s skill, are too much to completely negate the cost however – the minimum Cost a character must pay is equal to one third of the Cost (round up).
Using Resources
Any time a character makes a Resource Roll, or a Social Roll, the character may sacrifice Resources. Each point of Resource sacrificed grants the character a +1 die bonus on the roll. These Resources are spent. This expenditure can be represented as bribes, pressure from friends on the target, calling in favours, or other forms of economic or social manipulation. This is a Cost, and can be reduced by spending Successes to lower the Cost.
Gaining Resources
A character may spend DP to increase their Resources, but a character may also attempt to gain Resources. Each time the character sells an object (in a shop or to another character for example), or when a character attempts to gain popularity and make contacts, they may attempt to gain Resources.
Selling
When a character sells an object, their Resources either increases to the amount spent by the buyer, or it is increased by one third of the Resources paid (round up), whichever is greater.
- Example:** A character with Resources 7 sells a sword for a Cost of 5. Since the character’s Resources is higher than the Cost of the sword, the character’s Resources is increased by two, to 9.
Influence
Once a month, the character may attempt an Influence (Resource) Roll. The character must spend a point of Resources (minimum of one) and then makes a roll using an appropriate Social Skill, with a Difficulty equal to the character’s former Resources. The character gains a number of Resources equal to the Successes rolled. If the character rolls no Successes, the character loses one point of Resources. This can not be done if the character has no Resources to spend. Resources may be sacrificed to augment this roll.
This roll is representative of effort over the entire month. As such, temporary bonuses (such as most spells and Gifts or spending Essence for additional dice) cannot be used on this roll. Applicable "tools" or bonuses that are "always on" may still be used.
Taking Resources
A person can attempt to remove the Resources of another target, through theft, destruction of property, attacks on the person’s character, or similar. This can only be done once per month, and the Difficulty is equal to the target’s Resources. Each Success reduces the target’s Resources by one. The amount taken is how much your Resources can increase, thus taking 4 Resources can increase someone’s Resources to 4 (with a minimum gain of 1). If the character is simply trying to destroy another person’s Resources, and not gaining from it themselves, the character gains a +3 die bonus. In either case, the character may use tools, retainers, or Resources to facilitate these activities.