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Wealth  Money

Page history last edited by Tom 8 years ago

Wealth & Money

 

The funny thing about money is that it doesn’t stand still. You would think that if you get 10 times richer tomorrow, you’d be able to buy 10 times as much stuff. But it never seems to quite work out like that.

 

If you’re rich, a lot of the time people start giving you stuff for free. Gifts, tickets to the opera, whatever. Now that you can afford nice stuff, you don’t have to pay for it. This is what the “Wealthy” ability does – it lets you get stuff without actually expending your points of wealth.

 

On the other hand, when people know you have money, they know they can charge you more because you can afford it. That’s why a simple dock worker spends the same amount of wealth to pay off a blackmailer as a slumming aristocrat does. The dock worker’s 1 wealth represents less actual money, since the blackmailer knows there’s no point pushing for more.

 

So why even be rich? Well, levels of the ability Wealthy give you access to stuff that lower levels can only dream of. That diamond ring in the window? Yeah, you can spend wealth to get it. But the aforementioned humble dock worker won’t even be allowed into the shop.

 

Generally speaking, if an action requires you to “spend wealth”, it means spend 1 point of it.

If you need to use wealth as a bargaining chip and you’re less Wealthy than the person you’re offering it to, you need to come up with a reason your relatively paltry wealth would be worth their while. Maybe you have access to exotic native beadwork that will wow the crowds at the next governor’s ball, or your ship’s cargo can be used as the prototype for their next factory product or something. A malandro has to be inventive.

 

How much wealth do PCs have at the start of the first session?

None. They have clothing, food and resources appropriate to their station in life, but in game terms of liquid, tradable wealth: 0.

 

Some may have Signature Moves that get them wealth. Those without must deal with other PCs or rich NPCs to get it.

 

 

Talking about money

In the game, there may be times you need to talk about a particular amount of money for something – getting a price on a new mast for your boat, bargaining over the price of a shipment of coffee, etc.

 

In mechanical terms, the first price mentioned in a scene is worth 1 Wealth. Any amount higher is 2 Wealth, anything lower is 0 Wealth.

 

The exception to this is if you’ve established the price of something in a previous scene and are still talking in reference to that. In such cases, Wealth amounts may now range above 2 or below 0.

 

Example:

Old Ze is trying to shift his latest catch of fih, but his usual buyer Rodrigo told him in a previous scene that the bottom has fallen out of the market because all the newly-arrived fihermen from Italy have been offering insanely low prices. Ze wanted 400 mil-réisfor his catch (1 wealth), but Rodrigo could only offer 300 (0 wealth).

 

In the new scene, Ze catches up with Jorge, a guy he doesn’t usually deal with.

 

“Sorry, friend,” says Jorge, “I can only give you 200 mil-réis. Any more than that and I’d lose money at the market.”

 

In game terms, Jorge’s offer is -1 Wealth, because it’s even less than Rodrigo’s 0 Wealth price.

 

“What?!” cries Ze. “It cost me more than that to get the crew together and catch these fih in the fist place!”

 

Currency

real (plural réis)

vintém (plural vinténs) = 20 réis

1 mil-réis = 1000 réis

1 conto = 1000 mil-réis

 

Typical prices

These prices are not intended as something to be strictly adhered to. They’re here to help you make up realistic-sounding dialogue when you talk about buying and selling things in character.

 

A box of tobacco or a decent cigar: 40 réis

A bouquet of flowers: 50 réis

A bottle of wine: 50-200 réis

A large bottle of Carlsberg beer: 3 mil-réis

Hiring a thug to administer a beating: 60 réis

A meal in a decent restaurant: 12 vinténs

Rented washtub, 1 day: 500 réis

A month’s rent in a lower-class bairro: 12-25 mil-réis

A month’s stay in a rich merchant’s home: 250 mil-réis

Dowry for a rich merchant’s daughter: 80 contos

 

A day’s wages for a menial servant: 400-600 réis

A night’s earnings for an expensive callgirl: 30 mil-réis

 

A month’s pay for...

  • watering someone’s garden once a day: 2 mil-réis

  • a successful street vendor: 20-30 mil-réis

  • an unskilled labourer: 30 mil-réis

  • a qualified stone-cutter: 50 mil-réis

  • a quarry foreman/explosives expert: 70 mil-réis

  • a government office worker: 80 mil-réis

 

 

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