Potestas: a D&D3E supplement

Equipment

Wealth

All characters have a Wealth bonus that reflects their buying power. It is a composite of income, savings, disposable assets and available credit. A typical 1st level character has a Wealth bonus of +7. 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. The Wealth bonus decreases and increases as the character buys and sells expensive items. It also increases each time a character gains a level. A character's Wealth bonus can never fall below +0, and there is no limit to how high the Wealth bonus can climb.

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 a character's financial position at any given time, use the following guidelines.

Purchasing Equipment

Wealth Checks: Wealth checks are used to determine what characters can afford and what equipment they might reasonably have access to. Every object and service has a purchase DC. To purchase an object, make a Wealth check against the purchase DC. A Wealth check is a 1d20 roll plus a character's current Wealth bonus. If the Wealth check succeeds, the character gains the object. If the Wealth check fails, the character can't afford the object at the time. If the character's current Wealth bonus is equal to or greater than the DC, the character automatically succeeds. If the character successfully purchases an object or service with a purchase DC that's higher than their current Wealth bonus, the character's Wealth bonus decreases.

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 licence 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. 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 their current Wealth bonus, the character's Wealth bonus decreases.

Try Again?: A character can try again if they fail 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: Another 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 their Wealth check. The character who provides the aid reduces their Wealth bonus by +1. More than one character can aid another, but the number of additional characters must double to increase the bonus provided to the purchaser by +2 (that is, one character gives a +2 bonus, three characters give a +4 bonus, seven characters give a +6 bonus, fifteen characters give a +8 bonus, and so on).

Losing Wealth

Any time a character purchases an object or service with a purchase DC higher than their 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.

A character's Wealth bonus only goes down if they successfully buy an object or service. If the character attempts to buy something and the check fails, their Wealth bonus is unaffected.

Wealth Bonus of +0: 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. Also, it always takes a number of hours equal to the purchase DC of the object or service.

Gaining Wealth

Adventuring results in characters completing missions and finding valuable items for their employer. After each adventure, a character's Wealth bonus increases by 1.

In addition, a character's Wealth bonus increases as the character advances. Every time a character gains a new level, their current Wealth bonus increases by 1. In addition, a character with ranks in the Profession skill may attempt a skill check against a DC equal to their current Wealth bonus. If the character succeeds, their current Wealth bonus increases by 1, +1 for every 5 points by which the character exceeds the DC.

Characters can also sell items during an adventure.

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, the character gains a Wealth bonus increase of 1 whenever they sell an object with a sale value of 15 or higher. If the object has a sale value of 14 or lower that is less than or equal to the character's current Wealth bonus, 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. Selling takes a number of hours equal to the normal purchase DC of the item.

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), a character can make a Wealth check to see if they have a mundane object with a purchase DC of 10 or lower on hand. 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 make a Wealth check to see if they have a mundane object on hand only during play: not during character creation or between adventures. If the character succeeds, their Wealth bonus is unaffected, even if the object's purchase DC is higher than their 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, are restricted in use to qualifying organisations or individuals, or are scarce and difficult to obtain. In such cases, a character must purchase a licence or pay a fee to legally possess the object. A licence 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.

Licenced: The owner must obtain a licence to own or operate the object legally. Generally, the license is not expensive, and obtaining it has few if any additional legal requirements. Example: university doctorate, guild apprenticeship.
Restricted: Only specially qualified individuals or organisations are 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 licence. Example: saint's relic, guild membership.
Highly Restricted: The object is sold primarily to people of noble birth or great merit. A highly restricted rating is essentially the same as restricted, except that manufacturers and dealers are generally under tight government scrutiny and are therefore especially wary of selling to private individuals. Examples: patent of nobility.
Illegal: The object is illegal in all but specific, highly regulated circumstances. Examples: poison, contraband.

Purchasing a Licence: To purchase a license or pay necessary fees, make a Wealth check against the purchase DC given in the table above. With a success, the licence is issued to the character after the number of days indicated. To speed the process, the hero can make a Knowledge (Society & Culture) check against a DC equal to the licence purchase DC. Success results in the license being issued in hours, not days. (During the process of character creation, a character just needs to purchase the licence or pay the fee; the time required takes place before game play begins.)

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

The Black Market: Sometimes a character wants to obtain an object without going through the hassle of getting a licence first. Almost anything is available on the black market. Gather Information checks can be used to locate a black market merchant. The DC is based on the location in question: 15 to find a black market merchant in a big city, or 20 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 the table above to the object's purchase DC. Obtaining an object on the black market takes the number of days indicated. 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.

Masterwork Objects

Weapons, armor, and other equipment can be constructed as masterwork objects. The exceptional quality of these objects provides the user an enhancement bonus when the object is used: for example, weapons provide a +1 bonus to attack rolls, armour provides a +1 reduction in the armour check penalty, tools provide a +2 bonus to Craft or Perform checks. Masterwork objects can usually be purchased on the open market as a custom version of a common object. The increased cost of such an object adds +3 to the purchase DC.

Equipment Costs

Costs for typical mundane objects and services are as follows

• weapons
• armour
• materials
• clothing
• tools
• food and drink
• animals
• vehicles
• services
• property
• education and privileges
• wages and earnings

Cost of Multiple Objects: If you want to buy more than one object or service (such as pay for a week's worth of meals in advance) and the Purchase DC is 9 or more, increase the Purchase DC by 2 for each doubling of objects or services. If the Purchase DC is between 2 and 8, increase by the Purchase DC by 1 for each doubling until the Purchase DC equals 8, and then increase by 2 for each further doubling. Objects with a Purchase DC is 1 have so little value that the only limit on how many you can buy is availability.

If you want to buy less than one object or service (such as 5 arrows instead of the standard pack of 20 arrows) and the Purchase DC is 9 or more, decrease the Purchase DC by 2 for each halving. If the Purchase DC is 8 or less, reduce the Purchase DC by 1 for each halving until the Purchase DC equals 2, where it stays.

Equipment for Creatures of Different Sizes: Dwarves, mercanians and taboti all find some equipment designed for people of Medium size inconvenient to use. Equipment designed for dwarves and other Small creatures costs and weighs half as much, while equipment designed for mercanians, taboti and other Large creatures costs and weighs twice as much. Follow the guidelines above to determine the Purchase DCs for such items.

Larger weapons do more damage. If the weapon's size increases, the weapon's damage increases by 1 to 4 points of damage. To calculate the increase, subtract 3 from the weapon's current damage and add the remainder to the weapon's damage, keeping in mind the minimum of 1 point and the maximum of 4 points. The reverse is also true: a decrease in weapon size causes a corresponding decrease in weapon damage.

Currency and Wealth

Use the following table to translate a Wealth bonus into a sum of money.

This table continues indefinitely: each additional 8 points increases the cash worth by a factor of ten. Thus, +46 equals 2000P (10 times 200P, which is the cash worth of +38).

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