Slagathore wrote:I am gear ambivalent. Mundane gear is just that. Stuff you have lying around or can easily get.
I see Resources as something you roll when you want to get a particularly difficult to get something. Like when you want to boost a ritual so you get expensive incense. Make you're roll and add to the successes. Fail and you don't add.
And it might even have to do with your level of preparedness, if the group wants to see it that way. "Do I have a flashlight in my trunk?" Make a resources roll at a target of 1. You make the roll, you have the flashlight. "Do I have a shovel in my trunk?" Make a resources roll at a target of 3 (or maybe 4, as it is a bit unlikely). If you make it, you realized you might need a shovel and had placed one in your trunk. "Do I have a rocket launcher in my trunk?" No. Next question?
Of course, this is all from the perspective of the Wizard who eschews mundane gear anyway. I think you just have to use a bit of story working to resolve some of this stuff. If you have a high resources attribute, it indicates you can get what you need when you need it. Need a bullet proof vest? Have a resources of 2 or higher, you can have one. Need a Law Rocket? Have a resources of 4 and you can probably get one. That sort of thing.
Your story says your a well connected mercenary, but you have a resources of 0? Sounds like you lost big on your last job and don't have much cash or access to good gear. And leave it at that. A 2 is actually pretty high, given the level we're playing at. A 3 is really high and should allow a character to get some acceptable gear, but never high end gear. That is the purview of the military and organized crime. Now, if the GM uses it on us, then we can gain access through recycling.
Generally anything stronger than stuff that's street legal should require refresh, I think. That's my view, but I think other's opinions should count more than mine.
Money has always been an issue in the FATE system while the ambiguity of a resource roll keep accounting to a minimum it normal turns into 1 player having the skill and providing for the rest of the group. There is nothing wrong with this per se if everyone is ok with it. What I would not like is everyone having the same or even better gear when 1 character has given up other skills to have a higher resource skill, but doesn't really see any benefit by having spent the points on the resource skill instead of a combat skill for example.
I personally, and not a fan of a Resource skill. Bulldogs FATE for example uses a resource rating which is based off of your "job/career" skill so that way you get something useful. If you are a Merchant for example the base of your resource rating comes from your Trader skill. It's similar but separates it out.
BULLDOGS FATE wrote:Buying Things
You’ll end up buying most of your gear, and to do that you need to know how much money you have. Wealth in Bulldogs! is an abstract concept. Specific numbers of galactic credits aren’t important and—thanks to things like a purely credit-based economy, huge amounts of property ownership, and other such complications— keeping track of specific credits would likely be a game in and of itself, and not a very fun one. As such, wealth in Bulldogs! is measured using your character’s Resources score. Resources works a lot like a skill in play, but there are some significant differences.
Resources
Resources represents the cash and credit a character has on hand and can muster to make purchases. All characters begin with Average (+1) Resources. A high Trading or Gambling skill can increase starting Resources (page 94 and page 105, Skills chapter). Use whichever skill confers the greater Resources level—the starting Resources indicated by the skills isn’t cumulative.
Making a Purchase
All items have a cost rating—you’ll find tables with costs later on, where gear is listed. When you want to buy an item, its cost sets the difficulty for a Resources roll. A Resources roll is slightly different than a skill roll. You can’t invoke any regular aspects. There’s a special kind of aspect called a Resources aspect; if you have any of these, you may invoke them. Resources aspects are always fragile—they disappear once they’re used. Resources aspects are the only modifier you can use on a Resources roll.
If your roll succeeds, you acquire the item, either through spending liquid cash, liquidating other assets, barter, or any combination.
If your roll fails, you’re faced with a choice. You may still purchase the item by reducing your Resources by one step for every shift the roll failed by. This means you liquidated assets, emptied your bank account, and permanently reduced your available cash in order to get the item. If you don’t want to reduce Resources based on the failed roll, the GM can offer you the following options:
•• You can’t find the item at a price you can pay. You may not try to purchase it again until you’ve gone to a completely new region or planet.
•• You can’t gather your credit and cash quickly enough to purchase it; by the time you do, it’s no longer for sale.
•• The item is of inferior quality. It has negative aspects that the GM can tag for free once per session. The item has one of these aspects for each shift by which your roll failed.
•• You can get a less valuable item of comparable purpose. This item is valued at your actual Resources roll result. If you rolled Average (+1), you can get an Average (+1) value item, etc.
If you settle for one of these conditions, your Resources isn’t reduced by the purchase.
Multiple characters can’t pool their Resources. Even one step of Resources represents a big difference in available cash. Poorer characters really can’t help wealthier ones.
Resources Aspects
When you successfully complete an unusually big job, or come across some loot or treasure, you can gain a Resources aspect. Resources aspects are things like A Big Score, Flush with Cash, or Salvaged Parts. The GM awards these based on the situation. Resources aspects are always fragile—they disappear when you use them. These are the only aspects that can be used to help a Resources roll.
Getting in Debt
When you’re attempting to purchase items that cost significantly more than your current Resources, things get a bit more interesting. To buy an item that costs more than your current Resources score, loans or other agreements must be made. The value of the loan is equal to the value of the item being purchased less one—you need a Good (+3) loan to buy a Great (+4) item. This assumes you’re covering part of the cost yourself from your own Resources. If your Resources is Mediocre (+0) or less, no one will give you a loan.
The value of the loan—Great (+4), Superb (+5), Legendary (+6), etc.—is noted on your sheet below Resources. The GM can compel a loan just like an aspect, so the person or organization that gave you the loan must be noted. Until the loan is paid off, it acts just like a regular aspect.
Make a Resources check using the loan instead of your regular Resources. You gain a free shift (+1) on this roll. If successful, the loan can buy the item. If the roll fails, refer to the failed Resources check rules above, but you still owe the money on the loan. Yes, it’s possible to fail the purchase roll after securing the loan!
You pay back your debt by making a Resources roll against the loan as if it’s an item with a value equal to the loan amount. Such a payment reduces the value of the loan by one step—Good (+3) to Fair (+2), for example. It’s considered paid off when its value is Mediocre (+0). You may not make more than one repayment attempt per session.
Failed repayment rolls either reduce your Resources by one step or increase the value of the loan by one step (interest!).
Example: Quinn wants to buy a sniper rifle. Don’t ask why. You don’t want to know. She has Average (+1) Resources. The sniper rifle has a Great (+4) cost. She’s pretty certain she won’t be able to buy it without a loan. She goes to a shady character she knows and asks for the money. Her loan shark gives her a loan with a value of Good (+3), and she makes a Resources check with a free +1 using the loan value instead of her Resources. It’s enough to buy the rifle, and she notes the loan down on her sheet: Slick Fronted the Cash (+3).After a couple of missions, the GM decides to tag the loan. Quinn’s loan shark wants a payment now, or she can do him the favor of roughing up another debtor. Quinn would rather just pay her loan down, so she makes a Resources roll. She’s rolling her Average (+1) Resources against the loan value of Good (+3). This will be tough, but luckily Quinn and the crew just made a big score and she has the Resources aspect Flush with Cash. She rolls, getting a Fair (+2) result—not quite good enough. She invokes Flush with Cash, bumping her result to Great (+4). She makes the payment to Slick and reduces her loan to a Fair (+2) value.
Raising Resources
How do you get more Resources? An Average (+1) Resources is barely enough to buy anything, and obviously it’s not too hard to end up with a Resources of Mediocre (+0). To increase Resources, you need an available Resources aspect, which represents a onetime score or infusion of liquid cash. You can turn this into permanent Resources by investing it, purchasing property, or something along those lines. To raise your Resources, make a test against the new Resources score and invoke a Resources aspect you’ve acquired. This aspect gives you a +2 on the roll, just like a regular aspect. If successful, adjust your Resources up one level. If you fail, you make some bad investments
and it goes down one level. You can invoke other Resources aspects if you’re failing the roll. Like always, Resources aspects are lost once you invoke them.
Example: Brunda is also Flush with Cash after the last mission, but she doesn’t owe some scumbag for a loan. She decides to bump up her Resources. Her Resources are currently Average (+1), so she needs to make a roll against a Fair (+2) difficulty to raise it one step. She makes her roll, burning her Flush with Cash aspect. She gets a Great (+4) result, more than enough to increase her Resources to Fair (+2).
Money is no object
