> [!info] Work In Progress Wealth is a representation of lifestyle, resources, and social influence. Most of it is tied up in investments, capital, and durable goods that are not easy to convert into liquid currency. It is gained through [[#Questing]] rewards and spent during [[#Downtime]]. Wealth is measured in $C (coin/crown/credit/capital), where 1 $C is approximately the buying power of $500-$5000 in modern times. Wealth is a party resources, shared and accessible by every character. Everybody receives quest rewards, has an equivalent lifestyle, shares the same home base, and contributes to upkeep. When a player wants to spend wealth on a personal project the discussion that ensues is part of the game. Loadout gear should be appropriate to the player lifestyle but is not valuable enough to be measured in $C. Rare, illicit, and valuable items must either be [[#Preparation|described in advance]] or obtained by spending wealth and describing how it was acquired; it still counts toward the loadout limit. Armor may protect a character in some situations. When a character is wearing appropriate protection, reduce the [[#Risk Levels|risk level]] of an action by one category. # Lifestyle Lifestyle represents day-to-day living arrangements, pocket money, and expenses. Each lifestyle provides characters easy access to a tier of resources and requires investment to attain and maintain that lifestyle. The [[#Downtime]] section describes how to improve and maintain a lifestyle. Characters usually resort to life as a mercenary adventurer when they are *struggling*. Destitute characters can't usually afford a loadout and stable characters don't have a strong incentive to risk their lives. **Destitute** - *Accommodations:* Couch-surfing, squatting in abandoned properties, living out of a broken-down vehicle, or unhoused. Zero security or privacy. - *Provisions:* Food banks, relying on the charity of friends, or whatever cheap, highly processed calories can be scraped together day-to-day. - *Resources:* Change found in car cupholders or minor cash favors. Can buy a cheap energy drink, a bus ticket, or a pack of instant ramen. - *Social Circles:* The are one of the invisible, transient, and marginalized. You move among street youth, the unhoused, survivalists, and people surviving entirely outside the system. Mainstream society looks right past you and you are barred entry from almost any private or commercial space. **Struggling** - *Accommodations:* A cramped room in a sketchy, overcrowded house with unpredictable roommates, or a tiny, run-down studio apartment on the wrong side of town. - *Provisions:* Rigidly budgeted grocery shopping. Heavy on staples like rice, beans, and frozen meals. Eating out is a rare luxury restricted to fast-food dollar menus. - *Resources:* Strictly monitored. Can buy a streaming subscription, a basic burger combo, a cheap secondhand t-shirt, or a tank of gas. - *Social Circles:* Short term contract workers, working-class families, retail staff, hustlers, and student subcultures. You blend into ordinary urban and suburban environments but you lack any social leverage with people of authority, landlords, or institutional gatekeepers. **Stable** - *Accommodations:* A decent, functional one-bedroom apartment or a small rented house in an average suburb. Utilitarian, safe, and reliable. - *Provisions:* Regular grocery shopping without agonizing over prices. Casual dining at mid-tier sit-down restaurants (diners, local pubs) a couple of times a week. - *Resources:* Comfortable. Can buy new video games, a nice pair of everyday shoes, dinner and drinks for a friend, or standard concert tickets. - *Social Circles:* Mid-level professionals, cubicle workers, teachers, tradespeople, and average suburbanites. You have access to mainstream social institutions, credit unions, and standard community networks, but you are essentially invisible to elites. **Comfortable** - *Accommodations:* A spacious, modern apartment in a desirable downtown neighborhood, or a well-maintained multi-bedroom suburban home. - *Provisions:* High-quality organic groceries, premium delivery services, and frequent dining at trendy upscale bistros. - *Resources:* Highly disposable. Can buy a high-end smartphone, a weekend getaway flight, a premium designer jacket, or a top-tier graphics card on a whim. - *Social Circles:* Professionals, mid-level executives, successful small-business owners, and local influencers. You can secure meetings with local politicians, get past the velvet ropes at trendy clubs, and hold conversations with institutional gatekeepers without looking out of place. **Affluent** - *Accommodations:* A luxury penthouse, a gated suburban estate, or a historical home in an exclusive district. Impeccable security systems. - *Provisions:* Private chefs, fine dining at Michelin-starred establishments, and imported specialty ingredients. - *Resources:* Absurdly loose. Can buy a bespoke tailored suit, high-end jewelry, front-row sports tickets, or an expensive mountain bike without checking a bank balance. - *Social Circles:* C-suite executives, wealthy legacy families, high-profile creatives, and regional political figures. Doors open for you simply because of the names you drop and the venues you frequent. The law and bureaucracy treat you with significant deference. **Opulent** - *Accommodations:* Multiple properties globally, mega-mansions, or sprawling private compounds with dedicated security details. - *Provisions:* Whatever they want, whenever they want it, prepared by world-class staff. Distance and seasonality are non-factors. - *Resources* Extravagant. "Pocket money" at this scale buys a luxury sports car, a Rolex, an antique weapon, or a literal suitcase full of untraceable cash to handle an immediate problem. - *Social Circles:* Tech billionaires, venture capitalists, international oligarchs, and national political leaders. You move in a global, insular class that operates entirely above the rules of average citizens. ## Lifestyle Upkeep Every downtime the player group decides how much of their earnings to put into upkeep and investments. When an investment reaches a threshold the players can improve their [[#Lifestyle]] and gain all the benefits of a better standard of living. Investments are stable and don't accrue wealth. Upkeep is required every downtime to maintain a lifestyle, but it can be spent out of investments when a quest doesn't pay well enough. If investment drops below the minimum (in parenthesis) then lifestyle drops as well. | Lifestyle | Upkeep | Investment | | ----------- | ------ | ------------- | | Destitute | 0 $C | None | | Struggling | 1 $C | 1 $C (0) | | Stable | 2 $C | 5 $C (3) | | Comfortable | 5 $C | 25 $C (20) | | Affluent | 10 $C | 100 $C (80) | | Opulent | 20 $C | 500+ $C (400) | This chart lists the upkeep and investment required for each person. Multiply this value by the number of characters for total upkeep and investment. Players may also have a [[Wealth and Resources#Player Headquarters|Home Base]]. A home base usually reduces lifestyle upkeep by half but comes with its own upkeep costs. ## License Asmythe TTRPG is published under the [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/)