(Note: This section was first published on the Bubblegum Crisis Archive. I thought it might need replicating here.)

Of late, I've been thinking on how exactly Wealth affects a character's ability to get stuff. If a character has a Wealth of 7, does that mean the character still has to pay 5 CP for a car? If Wealth covers housing and lifestyle, why are prices of such items still given in the equipment list? I believe Wealth needs a bit better definition on what it provides. So here's my definition:

The Wealth advantage affects four things:

• The place where the character lives,
• The majority of clothing the character has,
• The vehicle(s) the character owns,
• The disposable income the character has access to (ie. the lifestyle they lead).

What this means, is the higher the character's wealth, the less likely it is that said character will have to spend their on-hand resources (their current CP or money) to get a new item or range of items. As this can get out of hand, Wealth must be regulated by the GM and by roleplaying. If you have all this gear, how do you use it? If you have money to burn, are you invited to society dinners? Do you have a high-ranking, high-paying job that you have to work at if you want to pay the mortgage on your villa in Marbella off?

The following is a guide to the kinds of resources different levels of Wealth allow you access to. Note this is the standard level of living; a character at Wealth 0 may still have an expensive dinner suit (although he most likely bought it with CPs). Note: these are rough guidelines. It is a good idea to look at the costs in the equipment section to get an idea of what a character can afford through their Wealth.

Using Wealth

So how does a character put their Wealth to work?

This is an idea I culled from White Wolf's Ĉon (recently renamed Trinity) roleplaying game. When a character wishes to buy a readily-available item, check its CP cost. If the cost is equal to or below the character's Wealth, the character buys it without spending any CP (this is considered a minimal expenditure of the character's disposable income).

However, if the character's Wealth is lower than the item's CP cost, then the character must make an Opposed Roll.

The character's roll is the standard dice (3D6 or D10, depending on the Referee's choice of dice system) plus the character's Wealth. The Referee rolls dice and adds them to the CP of the item.

If the roll is failed, the character must buy the item at full CP cost (if the roll is very bad, however, the Referee may rule that the item is unavailable, or the character has inadvertently annoyed the dealer of said item). If the roll succeeds, the character can buy the item for no CP (if the item is particularly expensive, the Referee may rule that a minimal success only reduces the CP cost of the item).

What can and cannot be bought with Wealth?

As an arbiter of overall lifestyle, it is best to use Wealth, rather than a character's actual CP, when purchasing Entertainment, Security, Medical bills, Furnishings, Lifestyle and Housing. Only characters with Wealth 0 or Poverty are likely to be worried about such things.

Sometimes, a character's Wealth will not matter when buying certain items. This may be because the item is extremely expensive, semi-legal or illegal. Guns and armed/armoured vehicles definitely fall into this category. The Referee is the final arbiter on whether the character has access to said items, regardless of available CP.

Wealth usually does not affect the following groups of personal items: Armour, Personal Electronics, Tools, Data Systems, Communications, Surveillance. These are personal affectations; items that a character is likely to have on their person and ready for use most of the time. These are not quite as abstract as a house, food or vehicle (the latter especially so in a mecha-oriented game). Such items must be bought directly with CP.