During the course of my solo play I found out that one of the hardest things to do is bookkeeping regarding credits and equipment.
I even used the crunchy credits calculator from the Galaxy Guide to Tramp Freighters, and realized that it was pointless.
That might not be a problem for a game where each player manages his own character sheet, and the gamemaster rules out prices, but it’s really hard in solo play when I have to do all the work of at least two people by myself.
Note: I will be using the target number and difficulty number and number of successes interchangeably throughout the post.
OpenD6 has an approach that I find really interesting: The Funds derived attribute.
Instead of managing numbers of cash you roll your attribute against a difficulty number specific to the item.
I really like the concept, but while reading about it, I noticed that I have to modify it, because it uses fractions for automatic purchases and every single difficulty point matters. In my D6 homebrew rules I count successes and I don’t want to run two systems for one game so here goes my homebrew Funds.
Restriction | Normal | Permit (Bureaucracy) | Black Market (Streetwise) |
---|---|---|---|
Fee (F) | +1TN | +0TN | +0TN |
Restricted (R) | Unavailable | +1TN | +1TN |
Illegal (X) | Unavailable | Unavailable | +2TN |
Lifestyle | Funds |
---|---|
Rags | 0D |
Poor | 1D |
Adequate | 3D |
Modest | 5D |
Rich | 7D |
Luxurious | 9D |
The Funds rules only cover one part of my requirements. I need to take care of what happens about all the stuff I’m too lazy to write down on my character sheet.
I intend to use a variation of the Funds rules above with some additional restrictions.
Item | Slots |
---|---|
Cargo pants/Military jacket | 1 |
Utility belt/Pouch | 2 |
Rucksack/Backpack | 3 |
Speeder | 5 |
Walker | 7 |
Starfighter | 9 |
Space transport | 15 |
Capital ship | 30 |
Space station | 60 |
Modifier | - |
---|---|
Item is in character’s profession (knife for a game hunter) | +1D |
Item is expected on the circumstances (an EVA suit in a spaceship) | +1D |
Item is unlikely to have been brought along (diving gear on a desert expedition) | +1TN |
Item is bulky or heavy (a portable power generator) | +1TN |
Missions and events can increase (or decrease) the Funds attribute.
In general a +1 to +2 mission is expected if there is a significant reward.
Character points can be used to increase the attribute, and the time for training is expected to be the time the character dedicates to increase his income.
Starships cost to travel. You need weekly 1TN in Funds.
So, short trips are possible since the character does what he can to get a side profit but a long trip that would require more capital could be out of the question for a poor captain.
Finally this will need some playtesting before committing to it. Changes are due based on game results.
Even though I could use tokens/write down the number of purchase attempts per time period, for starters I won't be doing it, and instead just follow those rough guidelines.
Examples:
Luca has 2D+1 in Knowledge and 3D in Perception. He takes the highest of the two for a 3D in Funds. He also has 1D in Value, which adds one pip for a Funds total of 3D+1.
Roy has 3D+2 in Funds. He wants to purchase a DL-18 blaster pistol. The pistol costs 500 credits and has an availability of 1. It’s an outer rim system so I decide that it just requires a Fee. Adding up, Roy requires 1+2+1=4 successes to purchase the blaster pistol. If he makes a successful Bureaucracy roll he can reduce the price by 1. Alternatively he could turn to the black market with Streetwise for the same result. If he fails, he can attempt 2 more times in the same month.
Luca plans a 3 week hyperspace trip to Prine. He needs to make a successful Moderate Funds roll to restock the Red Rancor to do it. If he fails he can try 2 more times in the same week. This is interpreted as looking to get a side mission to pay for fuel, transporting cargo and selling it at the new destination, etc.