Chimera Excerpt - Wealth & Equipment



Today I bring you an excerpt from the Wealth and Equipment chapter as it is currently seen in the playtest document my group currently has. I drew inspiration from D&D and Dungeon World to come up with what you see here. My goals were the following:

  • To simplify the amount of coins/credits/money you had to keep track of.
  • Provide a simple way to live a lifestyle without having to track all of your money.
  • Make equipment as generic as possible and add modifications to suit your gear to your needs.
This is subject to change as I receive feedback from the players and any suggestions you might decide to leave in the comment section below. Let me know if I achieved my goals or how I can improve them


Wealth & Equipment

More often than not, characters will likely need to rely on more than just their attributes and talents. Having enough wealth and the right set of equipment could be the difference between success or failure. In this chapter you will find rules and guidelines to handle wealth, buying equipment, and acquiring services.

Wealth

The Chimera Roleplaying System uses an abstract wealth mechanic that can be used in any type of game, be it a fantasy, modern, or sci-fi setting where there is a fairly standard economy where the minutiae of keeping track of everything owned, bought, and how much money you have left isn't important or an apocalyptic setting where keeping track of every resource you have left and living on the edge  is part of the focus of the game. It all depends on the focus given to Wealth as explained in the sections below.

Wealth & Resources

Wealth measures the overall lifestyle you can sustain based on what you own while Resources is your immediate expendable income. 0 Wealth means you are as poor as a person can be, you have no place to call home and living on the streets exposes you to great danger. A 1-2 Wealth means you have a modest lifestyle and you can cover your basic needs such as simple food, lodging, clothing, and putting a modest roof under your head.  3-4 Wealth means you can live in reasonable comfort. You can acquire modest food, lodging, and clothing. You can afford a comfortable home, set up a small business, and own one or two modest forms of transportation. 5+ Wealth Means you can lead a luxurious life with ease. You might own a mansion or several comfortable homes, you can afford the best food, lodging and clothing, you own one or two expensive forms of transportation, you attend social events with frequency and have connections in high places.

Acquiring & Losing Wealth

Through the course of a campaign you will be regarded with treasure in the form of Resources and in some cases with Wealth. These rewards may come as payment for a mission you accomplished, loot you found on an enemy, the profits of exercising your profession during some downtime, or merely by chance. Besides receiving rewards, you can exchange Resources to increase your Wealth. For every 30 Resources you can increase your Wealth by 1. Turning Resources into Wealth means that you have invested a significant amount of your income to preserve your current lifestyle. Handing out loans, saving money in a bank to generate interest, buying properties and land, or investing your money on a business are all good examples of ways to represent this exchange. The more Wealth you have the easier it is to mingle and request the aid of those in power but also to draw unwanted attention to yourself. Alternatively, when there is something you want to buy but lack the money, you can turn Wealth into Resources using the exchange rate mentioned above by selling something you own of great value. Turning Resources to Wealth and vise versa takes time, the GM will tell you how long it would take.

Upkeep

Besides taking the effort to increase your Wealth you must devote some capital to preserve it. Each month you must pay 15 Resources per Wealth level to sustain it. If you fail to do so, you reduce your Wealth by 1.

Currency

While the game handles wealth in an abstract matter your character is handling real money in the world they inhabit. Fantasy settings usually deal in coins which are called just that, coins, or have distinctive values such as copper, gold, and silver pieces with a standard exchange rate between the three. Games based in a modern setting deal in the current currency available in the location and the era the game takes place in, while sci-fi games typically deal in a generalized currency called credits or galactic credits. Now, what does it mean to have 1 Resource for your character?  It is up to the GM to determine how much a resource is worth in their games and to inform their group, but it might mean that in a fantasy setting your character has maybe 5 coins to buy that bundle of arrows. In a modern setting it could mean your character only has 2 or 3 dollars left to buy a decent meal, or in a sci-fi setting it might mean you only have 100 credits to decide if to stay in that disgusting hotel you just passed for one night or buy a box of ammo for your gun. It is up to the GM to determine how much a resource is worth in their games. Continuing with the coin example, lets say 5 coins equal 1 Resource. In order for you to sustain the lifestyle of an aristocrat in your world, you would need to invest 750 coins (5 Wealth) to acquire that level of comfort and then spend 375 coins (75 Resources) each month to maintain it.

Purchasing Equipment

Equipment pricing falls under one of the following categories: inexpensive, fair, expensive, or exorbitant. Inexpensive items such as rations for the road, a rope, or a bundle of arrows, cost between 1 Resource. Fair items such as a sword costs 3. A pricey item like a pistol or a suit of armor costs 6. An expensive item such as a rifle costs 12 Resources. An exorbitant item such as a modest car might cost 24 Resources. Luxurious items such a mansion, stronghold, or a starship might cost 48 Resources, while a castle or a spaceship might cost 96 Resources. Some equipment might have additional costs based on their availability, legal restrictions, and additional modifications.

Selling Equipment

Assuming what you are trying to sell is in good condition and working, you can sell it for half its value in Resources rounded down (minimum 0). In the event you have multiple items you want to sell which half of their value rounded down would mean it's 0, you can sell them in pairs to receive 1 Resource.

Repairing Equipment

Equipment will get damaged from time to time. Repair a piece of equipment usually has a cost of half of its value in Resources rounded down (minimum 1).

Reading Equipment & Services

The equipments and services section shares a similar structured format as skills which is described below.

Equipment or Service Category Name

Armor & Shields
Equipment and services are all grouped thematically under a category. Above you see the category that contains all the armor and shields the characters could acquire.

Category Description

Like weapons, armor and shields can be enhanced one way or another; they can be made from different materials, they can possess different gadgets to increase versatility, refined craftsmanship to enhance protection, or resist different types of damage such as ballistic and energy. Each Armor or shield can have one major modification, one moderate modification, and one minor modification. You can exchange one major modification for a moderate or minor modification, or you could exchange a moderate modification for a minor one as well. Below you will find modifications you can make to your armor and shields.
Next comes the description of the category which may only contain a few lines describing what you will find while others have rules that govern the entries it contains. The example seen above belongs to the Armor & Shield Modifications category.

Subcategory Name & Description

Axes
Axes are wedged tools with an axehead and a handle that can serve to cut, split wood, and as a weapon.
Right after the category description you will find subcategories, each with its name and description following the same format as categories. The example above belongs to axes

Equipment or Service Name

Axe (Light)  
The first line of an equipment or service is its name. This is how the equipment will be referred throughout this book. Next to the name you will find a symbol which represents to what genre the talent is best suited for. The red symbol is for fantasy, the black symbol is for modern games, and the purple symbol is for sci-fi.

Equipment or Service Description

Light axes include fireman’s axes, hand axes, hatchets, tomahawks, or any other light tool with an axehead
Right after the name you will see a small description of what the equipment or service is all about. The example above belongs to the Axe (Light) weapons.

Cost, Requirements, and Properties

  • Cost: 12.
  • Requires: Energy Resistance.
  • Properties: +Deflective, Mod (moderate).
After the description comes different sections that describe the cost of an item in Resources, what requirements it may have, and its properties. The example above is for the Deflective modification for shields. Not all items have these three sections, some of them may only have one or two.


Equipment & Services

Skill and talent are important for any character in order for them to survive but sometimes having the right weapon or piece of gear could mean the difference between life and death. In the following section you will find almost everything your character needs to brave the perilous roads they will travel. Most of the equipment and the services here are presented in a somewhat abstract manner to save time while making characters and keeping track of their equipment. Imagine how big this chapter would be if every piece of equipment or service a character could acquire is accounted for.

Equipment Properties

Each piece of equipment will have a certain quantity of properties that help describe what they do. Some of the properties have a described definition while others are there to give players and the GM cues.

  • Agonizing: The pain caused by this weapon is excruciating. When you attack a creature, on a success the target is weak and shaky for one round. 
  • Accurate: It gives you Advantage on Ranged rolls. 
  • Ammo: Is an abstract way to keep track of ammunition for certain ranged weapons. See the Ranged skill to see how you lose ammo. 
  • Area: This equipment affects a small area within a range determined in parenthesis. E.g. Area (close, near). 
  • Armor: It protects you from damage. You subtract the armor value indicated in front of this property from damage you take. If the armor value does not have a “+” sign it does not stack with other types of armor. 
  • Autofire: It can shower your enemies with multiple bullets. When you make a ranged attack with a weapon with autofire, you can spend 1 ammo to attack everything in an area up to the weapon’s range. 
  • Ballistic: Weapons that shoot bullets ignore 1 Armor unless the armor is padded to stop bullets. Weapons that deal damage to a user wearing armor with the ballistic property don't ignore 1 armor. 
  • Blazing: On your command, the weapon can deal Burning damage instead of its normal type. On a successful attack, the target takes ongoing burning damage that ignores armor equal to the numeric value of this property until they take a round to put it out. E.g. “1 Blazing” deals 1 ongoing burning damage. 
  • Cloaked: When you stand still for a few seconds, you become invisible until you move. 
  • Cold Iron: Weapons made out of this material deal double damage against fey creatures. 
  • Cumbersome: It is difficult to carry or use. You have Disadvantage on all Agility based rolls. 
  • Cushioned: It reduces falling damage by half rounded down (minimum 0). 
  • Damage: Indicates how much damage a creature takes from an attack with this weapon along the damage type. 
  • Dangerous: Mishandling it may have severe consequences. 
  • Defensive: It helps you defend against attacks. You have Advantage on Defend rolls equal to the numeric value of this property. 
  • Deflective: It bounces back an attack made against you with an energy weapon. When you make a Defend roll against an energy based attack or effect, on a success you can deflect that same attack to it’s source. 
  • Displacement: It provides you with Advantage on Dodge rolls made against ranged attacks from far range. 
  • Energy: Damage dealt with this weapon is considered energy damage. Energy damage ignores 2 armor unless the armor is modified to withtake energy damage. Weapons with the energy property usually require 1 or more energy cells to operate which are Fair in price. Weapons that deal damage to a user wearing armor with the energy property don't ignore 2 armor. 
  • Forceful: It pushes the target away. Small creatures can get pushed back up to 20 feet 
  • Freezing: On your command, the weapon can deal Freezing damage instead of its normal type. On a successful attack, the target is shaky and slowed for one round. 
  • Genetic Tag: It only works when you wield it or when a member of your species wields it. This trigger is decided upon the item’s creation. 
  • Ignores Armor: It forgoes all or a specific type of armor described in the description of the item. 
  • Immunity: It is or it makes you immune to a certain type of damage or effect. 
  • Implant: It must be grafted to your body. 
  • Life Support: It allows you to survive in hostile environments such as the vacuum of space. 
  • Mod: Describes a type of modification done to a piece of equipment. 
  • Motion-Assist: It provides Advantage when making Athletics rolls to grapple or smash through objects. 
  • Organic: It is made out of organic material that functions like real technology but it is undetectable by scanners that check for electronic devices. 
  • Penetrating: It goes through armor. You subtract the numeric value from this property from armor. 
  • Poison: It is poisonous. Applied poisons need to be carefully applied or the creature must ingest it. Touch poisons work immediately after contact. 
  • Range: Suggests the distances the weapon can reach or propel projectiles. 
  • Rechargeable: It requires to periodically recharge through an energy source or requires to be refueled. 
  • Reload: It takes some time to reload. Usually a round or so. 
  • Resistance: It is or it makes you resistant to a certain type of damage or effect. 
  • Restricted: It is restricted and requires some sort of permit in order to own it legally, usually the same cost as the weapon itself. 
  • Shocking: On your command, the weapon can deal Shocking damage instead of its normal type. On a successful attack, the target is dazed for one round. 
  • Silenced: It does not make any sound or is significantly muffled. 
  • Silvered: This weapon has been coated with silver. Some creatures like werewolves are vulnerable to such materials. 
  • Thrown: It can reach a certain distance when thrown. A thrown item does not count as ammo. 
  • Worn: It must be worn in order to function.

Armor & Shields


Below you will find examples of the various types of armor you can don and shields you can carry.


Armor Armor helps you protect yourself from harm by reducing the amount of damage you take from a blow.
Armor (Cloth) Cloth armor includes, boots, coats, jackets, loincloths, pants, and robes. Cost: 3. Properties: worn.
Armor (Light) Light armor includes brigandine armor, flack jackets, hide armor, tough leather, and protective gear made out from bones. Cost: 6. Properties: 1 Armor, Worn.
Armor (Medium) Medium armor includes chainmail, full riot gear, military combat armor, and scale mail. Cost: 12. Properties: 2 Armor, Cumbersome, Worn. Armor (Heavy) Heavy armor possess thick plates usually made out of metal that protects the entire body. Cost: 24 Properties: 3 Armor, Cumbersome, Worn.
Armor (Power) Power armor is made using advanced military technology to make it more durable and powerful. Power armor is made to possess the qualities of other pieces of equipment such as a life support system that allows you to survive the vacuum of space, poison filters, and a radiation engine to prevent radiation damage. Power armor is usually fueled by either potent energy cells or fusion cores. Cost: 48 Properties: 4 Armor, Cumbersome, Immunity (poison, radiation), Life support, Worn.

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