An good idea is one worth stealing...

[xiombarg]

This is from an interview with Charles Ryan in the latest issue of d20 Weekly, about d20 Modern:

We were faced with needing a whole set of rules for credit cards, loans, mortgages, credit ratings, etc. -- stuff that could quickly get very complicated and tedious, but which is necessary for characters functioning in the modern world. Instead, we created a Wealth system. Rather than keeping track of how many dollars or gold pieces you have on hand or in the bank, your character has a Wealth score. You use it to buy things; when you need something, you make a Wealth check to see if you can swing it. Overextend yourself financially, and your Wealth score goes down. It's a simple, elegant system that works well in play.

I'd say it was an elegant system -- it worked pretty well when I ran Donjon Krawl.

Obviously, Donjon Krawl wasn't the first to have a system like that, but it sort of amused me to see the "modern" incarnation of the world's oldest and most famous dungeon crawling game making use of Save vs. Wealth.

[Ron Edwards]

Hey,

Hero Wars includes a solid application of this concept too.

I'd put the first game ever to do it, though, at Call of Cthulhu and its Credit Rating skill.

Best,
Ron

[Jared A. Sorensen]

Ayuh. See also Marvel Super Heroes (my first experience with such a mechanic). The first edition (Basic Set) used "resource points" -- lame. 2nd edition (Advanced Set) used the Resources attribute. Quite cool.

[Clinton R. Nixon]

Ron's on the money - I stole the concept (long ago) from Call of Cthulhu. I loved that Credit Rating skill.

I've been using the idea when running games ever since - I usually graft a Wealth rule onto any system I'm running.

[Jared A. Sorensen]

Ayuh. See also Marvel Super Heroes (my first experience with such a mechanic). The first edition (Basic Set) used "resource points" -- lame. 2nd edition (Advanced Set) used the Resources attribute. Quite cool.

[Blake Hutchins]

White Wolf also did a pretty elegant job with the way it handled the Resources background in Storyteller 2.0 (Trinity, Aberrant, Adventure).

Best,

Blake

[greyorm]

SAGA used a Wealth system as well, which I ended up expanding it for my DarkSun SAGA conversion, with rules for social class and so forth.

[Zak Arntson]

Don't know if this should be moved to Indie Design, but since Wealth is a variable resource, and so is Health, maybe Health can work the same way? You push your Health too hard and it has a chance of going down? Problem is, what do you get by pushing Health? Not a pack of daggers or some cheap potions.

It would be funny to see Wealth, Provisions and Health all use the same mechanic.

[Bailywolf]

Well, a Mage should have the option of pushing his Health when working some brutal mojo... how often do you see the badass sorcerer throw down some Fiery Black Acidic Smack (using DK words  ), laying waste to his enemies, then sagging, almost falling down were it not for his silver chaste staff to cling to...

[Ron Edwards]

Zak and Benjamin,

You guys are missing some RPG history. Hero Wars does exactly what Zak says - all the mechanics use the same system. And pushing Health in one way or another dates all the way back to Champions.

Best,
Ron

[Bailywolf]

Quite true.  Castle Falk had a nice simple wealth trait if memory serves (exchequer or some such).