|
Post by mgtremaine on Oct 29, 2012 16:37:55 GMT -6
Just noticed cost of upkeep (Vol 1 page 19). 1gp per 100exp PER WEEK. Hmm, so I dug into the LBB and found the reference, page 24 U&WA. It does show the 1% of Exp as gold but it does NOT have a time period. Everything else in this section is in month's. Was the choice to make this weeks based on any thing I'm missing? Just curious...
-Mike
[Edited for missing word "NOT"]
|
|
|
Post by waysoftheearth on Oct 29, 2012 16:46:36 GMT -6
Just noticed cost of upkeep (Vol 1 page 19). 1gp per 100exp PER WEEK. Hmm, so I dug into the LBB and found the reference, page 24 U&WA. It does show the 1% of Exp as gold but it does have a time period. Everything else in this section is in month's. Was the choice to make this weeks based on any thing I'm missing? Just curious... -Mike As far as I'm aware, we didn't intentionally change it. If it is different to the original then it is probably an error. FWIW -- I do remember doing some figuring on it, and being amazed as how expensive "living" becomes at upper levels -- no wonder you need to collect taxes! It also means that the cost of living is free while you have no XP Personally, I don't find this mechanism to be very convincing, but it is what it is. I will check the exact text after work tonight.
|
|
|
Post by talysman on Oct 29, 2012 17:24:22 GMT -6
It's something I've long debated, myself. Making the expenses weekly helps fit it into the typical adventuring cycle: go to dungeon, get loot, come back, pay expenses, repeat. Making them monthly fits better with the monthly income from a barony, but has a disadvantage of being pretty low, with most 1st level characters paying 1 gp/month (about what a common laborer makes, so it makes a kind of sense.)
If you charge starting PCs on an item-by-item basis using practically any equipment lists out there, the expenses will be much more than 1 gp a week for just the subsistence items, so I figure the list prices are for "adventures", while living expenses represent the better prices you get as an accepted member of the community. I figure it includes food, lodging, and personal hygiene costs appropriate for your station, with the cost increasing with higher levels to represent household items, servants, taxes, and social expenditures. When you hit 100,000 xp, you're paying 1,000 gp, which even on a month-by-month basis means you have the equivalent of Downtown Abbey.
Building a stronghold actually changes this, in the original rules: "Player/Characters must pay Gold Pieces equal to 1 % of their experience points for support and upkeep, until such time as they build a stronghold. If the stronghold is in a wilderness area all support and upkeep costs then cease, but if it is in a village or town not controlled by the player/character then support and upkeep payments must continue." (Emphasis added.)
I don't recall DD making the stronghold exception, but I may have just missed it.
|
|
|
Post by mgtremaine on Oct 29, 2012 18:08:49 GMT -6
I found a couple of threads in the U&WA section which reflect on the same thing. Should it be year/month/week.. At per/month some people say it's too low, and at per/week to high. I guess it depends on the game you are running. I can see it either way, I'd probably go with monthly myself, but always have the option to add more costs.... [We know that Cleric/M-U will get bled by spells, scrolls, and books in any case.]
-Mike
|
|
|
Post by waysoftheearth on Oct 31, 2012 5:17:49 GMT -6
Insofar as the cost of living:
As I already mentioned, I don't recall us making a conscious choice to alter what appears in the original. I just went back and reviewed both texts, and I note that (as Mgtremaine already observed) the original doesn't specify a period for a PC's expenses.
On the other hand, DD specifies that upkeep cost for PCs is weekly while all other expenses given in the section are monthly. In think that in light of all this, the high cost if the given figures are weekly, and the convenience of having all listed figures as monthly amounts, I would favour changing it to monthly.
The referee could also (optionally) set the minimum, subsistence, cost of living at around 4 gp a month (or whatever) which is around what it costs a basic footman to persist. Thus, even PCs with under 400 XP would have to pay a small sum to eat gruel and sleep in barns and flophouses.
As to the building of strongholds:
The original specifies that the cost of living ceases if (and only if) the player builds his stronghold in the wilderness. If he builds his stronghold in an existing urban area, he would continue to pay the usual cost of living.
DD states (vol1 p19) that "The cost of upkeep is payable only so long as the character maintains urban living arrangements." and also that "When he builds a stronghold of his own he may, of course, begin collecting taxes from all its inhabitants in order to cover his costs."
That last sentence isn't as direct as the original, granted, but it still allows the referee room to interpret it as either "When you build a stronghold, the taxes you collect will cover your expenses -- nothing more to do", or as "When you build a stronghold, you earn revenue via taxes, and this revenue will offset some or all of your expenses".
I think I'm okay with that as it presently appears.
|
|