Roleplayer #6, August 1987
New Rules for Wealth and Jobs
The newly released GURPS
Horror worldbook introduces a revised version of the rules
pertaining to jobs and wealth. These revisions will be incorporated in the
Economics section of future editions of the GURPS
Basic Set.
Status and Wealth Advantages
How wealthy you are often affects your status in the community, but your
community status doesn't really affect your wealth. High ranking clerics
with vows of poverty, big-city mayors earning $50/year as mayor, and retired
military officers all have status without necessarily having wealth. Therefore,
Status no longer has an effect on a character's Wealth level, as described
on p. B16.
On the other hand, wealth usually carries a certain amount of status. Thus,
taking the Wealthy, Very Wealthy, or Filthy Rich ad-vantages gives a 5
point bonus towards the purchase of Status. (This amounts
to a free + 1 Status for wealthy characters.)
Starting Wealth
This text should be placed after the Money section,
p. B130.
"Starting Wealth" covers your entire net worth.
Many PCs in a fantasy/medieval setting will be able to carry everything
they own on their backs -- so they are free to spend every penny of their
starting wealth on adventuring equipment. PCs in a modern, civilized world
will usually own quite a bit more -- things like houses, furniture and clothes.
When starting a campaign in a modern setting, it is strongly recommended
that the GM allow only 20% of each PC's starting wealth to be used for adventure-related
items -- weaponry, vehicles, ready cash. The other 80% must go for "non-adventuring"
items -- sofas, television sets, three-piece suits. Of course, clever players
will buy "non-adventuring" items that may come in handy during
an adventure. Generally, anything that cannot be carried along -- secret
tunnels under the house, bulky computer systems -- may, at the GM's discretion,
count as a non-adventuring item.
If you don't want to account for every penny each PC owns, a useful shortcut
is to reduce starting wealth values in a modern campaign to 1/5 of those
given. All of this new, lower wealth may be spent on weaponry and
other adventure-related items. Should a question arise as to whether you
own a particular mundane item -- a stereo, a hair dryer, an encyclopedia
-- the GM decides.
Income from Jobs
This text supplements the Income from Jobs section,
p. B132.
A character's wealth advantage or disadvantage no longer applies as
a direct multiple to his income. Instead, each job is
assigned a Wealth level; a character earns the standard monthly wage for
his job if his personal wealth level is equal to that of the job.
If his personal wealth level is less than that of his job, he earns a fraction
of the standard wage for that job, and if his personal wealth level is greater
than that of his job he earns as much or, in a few cases, more than the
job's standard wage.
Use the following table to determine what fraction or multiple of the listed
wage a PC earns for his job.
Character's Wealth Level.....Job's Wealth Level
......................Poor.....Struggling......Average......Comf......Wealthy
Poor................1..............2/5.................1/5...........1/10..........N/A
Struggling.......1................1..................1/2............1/4...........1/10
Average..........1................1....................1.............1/2............1/5
Comfortable....1...............1....................1...............1.............2/5
Wealthy..........1................1....................1...............2..............1
Very Wealthy..1...............1....................1...............4..............2
Filthy Rich......1...............1....................1...............10............10
For example, a Comfortable character with a Comfortable job earns the wage
listed for that job, while a Struggling character in the same Comfortable
job earns only 1/4 as much, and a Wealthy
person earns twice the listed amount. Note that low-level jobs never pay
very much; a Wealthy tenant farmer makes no more money than his Struggling
neighbor. And high-paying jobs are not available to those in low income
brackets; no Poor character is going to find work as a ruling noble.
Sample Job Table
The table below lists each of the jobs presented on p. B132-133, updated
to reflect the above modifications to the job system, as well as a few new
jobs. Jobs repeated from the Basic Set have the same prerequisites
listed on p. B133; new prerequisites and prerequisites for new jobs are
also given. Note that the income listed for each job is a monthly
wage, not weekly pay.
(This paragraph replaces the second paragraph under Sample Job Table.)
To find the income a character actually earns at his job, refer to
the table above. Dai Blackthorn, as a thief with a Poor wealth level, makes
$80 per month.
Poor Jobs
Beggar. Prerequisites: none. No employer required. Income negligible.
Tenant Farmer. Pays $50/month.
Struggling Jobs
Bravo. Pays $200/month.
Petty Thief. Prerequisites: 4 thief skills at 11 + or 2 thief skills
at 13+. Pays $200/month.
Jongleur. New prerequisite: Status -1 or better. Pays (Skill x
8) per month, plus (Skill) for any other musical ability.
Generic Servant. New prerequisite: Status -1 or better. Pays $100/month.
Average Jobs
Thief. Pays $400/month.
Free Farmer. New prerequisite: Status 0 or better. Pays $450/month.
Artisan. Pays (Skill x 25)/month.
Soldier. Pays $500/month.
Merchant. New prerequisite: Status 0 or better. Pays (Skill x 25)/month.
Comfortable Jobs
Master Artisan. Pays (Skill x 40)/month.
Administrator. New Prerequisite: Status 0 or better. Pays (Skill
x 40)/month.
Military officer or knight errant. New prerequisite: Status 1 or
better. Pays (Skills x 12)/month.
Wealthy Jobs
Ruling Noble. Income varies, depending upon the area ruled. A good
base figure would be (Status x 1000)/month, after cost of living.
Member of Ruling Family. Pays (Status x 500)/month, after
cost of living.
High Church Official. Assuming a prosperous church, prominent clergymen
can expect an income similar to nobility of like status. If a priest belongs
to an ascetic order, he should take Struggling as a disadvantage.
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