d20 Modern Wealth/Purchasing System

[Erock]

I've been skimming the d20 Modern Rulebook, and like almost everything I've read so far. However, the Wealth system feels needless. I see no reason it couldn't just use money. Has anyone here tried replacing it with money? If so how, and how did it work out? How well does the DC system work?

[Berenger]

I googled this a few times but found no satisfying answer.

I have a hard time splitting, say, 5000 $ evenly between three characters with a +1, a +4 and a +12 wealth modifier since an increase of +1 for everyone would not mean the same in actual $. This is especially annoying because it's a high school campaign and the characters don't even have to worry about rent / mortgage / credit card limits / etc. that make the wealth system "necessary".

[Erock]

I plan on running something post-Apocalyptic, so I'm not too worried, I just wondered if the system worked, or if there was a better one.

[Baron Malkar]

Normally it helps prevent people borrowing themselves into bankruptcy in order to buy black market guns or some such thing. If it is a post apocalyptic world you should just make up your own system, its not like money as we know it has any real worth anyhow. If you must have some form of currency you can use anything, even bottle caps, and set each price as it comes up.

[Bogardan_Mage]

I plan on running something post-Apocalyptic, so I'm not too worried, I just wondered if the system worked, or if there was a better one.
Yeah, get your hands on d20 Apocalypse. Not only does it have plenty of stuff you'll want for a post-Apocalyptic campaign it also has a really good barter system to replace Wealth.

Wealth works pretty well in standard Modern campaigns (the "abuses" generally cited are usually the result of creative or downright fabricated readings of the rules, and are pretty easy for any sane GM to avoid) and in my mind it's preferable to D&D's nonsensical economy. If you think about it, making a d20 roll to buy something isn't any more "unnecessary" than making a d20 roll to attack something, or use a skill or whatever. But it's not appropriate for post-Apocalyptic settings and the like where there's nothing to abstract: you have your gear and that is your wealth. You might have one or two "trade items" but you may as well just record them in your inventory. The only place Wealth would be useful in such a setting is if you have the opportunity to accumulate "social capital" in which case Wealth represents not anything that you actually own but favours owed to you and political power.

[T.G. Oskar]

Having used both systems, I can say the Wealth method has some ups and downs, but in general is a decent form of abstraction.

For example: for little things such as "what's today's food" or "where's the nearest inn", the Wealth method is hilariously easy, as you're always considered to have some sort of reserves that cover for it. In these cases, attempting to cover for every little cent adds to immersion but makes everything difficult.

On the other hand, I have an issue with the cost of magic items. In essence, there's two great ranges in Wealth: the "under-20" range which covers the simplest of magic items (a +1 weapon or +1 armor) and most mundane items, and the "over-20" range (any +2 or higher magic weapon or armor) where things begin to scale absurdly. This is because how the Wealth-to-Currency ratio goes: anything under DC 20 costs less than a Million, but every +5 to the DC multiplies the result by 10, so you end up on billions just by trying to make a weapon a la D&D. You can buy just about anything if you have a Wealth bonus of +20, but good luck trying to buy a magic weapon any stronger than +2 weapon, or trying to boost your vehicle with magic enhancements unless you're raiding tombs and getting mondo loot.

Another issue I have is how there are no rules to sell in bulk. Say you got 5 AK-47 from a raid to a certain safehouse where drug sellers were hiding. Buying those 5 AK-47s makes you lose 5 points of wealth. Selling them? Returns no Wealth whatsoever! Even if, considering they're pretty expensive even now, they should allow you to restore at least half your Wealth. In fact, if you use that Wealth-to-Currency table on the Core book and translate the cost of selling all five weapons in bulk, you should at least recover one point of Wealth unless it's incredibly high (as in, +20 or higher). Considering the rule is that any item with a (modified) DC exceeding 15 grants 1 point of Wealth while selling, attempting to sell in bulk should at least allow this.

I'd consider that a hybrid Wealth/Currency system, where the Wealth deals with spending costs by an extended amount of time, and Currency deals with buying things at once. It'd be a bit more complex, but it'd simplify others through abstraction.

[Bogardan_Mage]

Another issue I have is how there are no rules to sell in bulk. Say you got 5 AK-47 from a raid to a certain safehouse where drug sellers were hiding. Buying those 5 AK-47s makes you lose 5 points of wealth. Selling them? Returns no Wealth whatsoever! Even if, considering they're pretty expensive even now, they should allow you to restore at least half your Wealth. In fact, if you use that Wealth-to-Currency table on the Core book and translate the cost of selling all five weapons in bulk, you should at least recover one point of Wealth unless it's incredibly high (as in, +20 or higher). Considering the rule is that any item with a (modified) DC exceeding 15 grants 1 point of Wealth while selling, attempting to sell in bulk should at least allow this.
You've confused Wealth with Purchase DC a little bit. It sounds like you're looking up your actual Wealth score on that table and believing that that means you have X dollars. A more accurate (but still not entirely correct) way of interpreting that table is to add 20 to your Wealth score and check the dollar value of that Purchase DC: that's the most expensive thing you can possibly afford (more likely a natural 20 on a Wealth check represents finding an exceptional bargain on the item than actually paying that amount of money though). Selling an AK-47 gets you the buying power to buy something with a purchase DC of 12 (15-3), so if your Wealth score is less than that you'll gain wealth but if it isn't you won't (you already can buy as many such items as you like). A Wealth score of 12 is actually pretty wealthy; it's described as "Affluent" and you can afford to dine in a fancy restaurant every night and stay in an upscale hotel indefinitely.

The problem I think a lot of people have with Wealth is they expect it to represent a certain amount of dollars they have (hence questions like "why not just use dollars?") when it actually represents purchasing power and actual assets your character might own are far more indistinct.