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What would you trade for wealth?


Gary

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Suppose you (the real life you) were given an offer by a genie that you can have great wealth, but it came at a price. You had to trade one single point of a Hero System characteristic for the equivalent Hero System wealth. You can never improve that characteristic again in the future. Which characteristics would you trade?

 

Str 1 pt of Str equates to about 15% lifting capacity, and gets you $100,000 a year. You can't lift as much, you have a lower pain tolerance, you recover slower, you can't quite jump as far, etc.

 

Dex 1 pt of Dex equates to 1/3 CV pt and 1/5 to a Dex roll. Since this would be real life, there are no such things as 'break points', so dropping from 10 Dex to 9 would have real consequences. You would be permanently clumsier, slower reflexes, less hand eye coordination, not as good at Agility skills, etc. On the plus side, this equates to $300,000 per year.

 

Con 1 pt of Con means lower pain tolerance, slower recovery, less energy, and you catch colds and diseases easier and you get tired quicker. Having lower Con quite likely means that you'll have an earlier death than you normally would. $200,000/year

 

Body 1 pt means you're that much closer to dying if in an accident. It's also harder to fight off the effects of certain diseases and again you'll probably have an earlier death. $200,000/year

 

Int 1 pt means you think slower and are less perceptive and aware of our surroundings. Any job or task that requires thinking takes longer and is more difficult. Again, there would be no 'break points', so dropping from 10 Int to 9 would have real world consequences. $100,000/year

 

Ego 1 pt means you have less willpower and are more malleable to the suggestions of others. You don't operate as well under stress as you used to and you have less self confidence. $200,000/year

 

Pre 1 pt means that the world is a scarier place. People don't take you as seriously, and you're more prone to be impressed by others. You also don't interact as well with others as you used to and you become more introverted and shy. $100,000/year

 

Com You have to trade 2 pts here. You're simply not as good looking as you used to be. $100,000/year

 

Spd This one gets you a whopping $5,000,000 a year, however you will permanently act slower. Either you're a slower thinker and/or your body doesn't move as quickly as before. Most likely a combination of the two. Very sluggish reaction time.

 

Rec You get out of breath easier and you have a much slower recovery from injuries and diseases or sicknesses. Quite likely you'll have a somewhat shortened lifespan. $200,000/year

 

Swimming For this one, you have to trade in the ability to swim at all and never be able to learn how in the future. $200,000/year for 2" Swimming.

 

Running 2 Pts means that you'll always move 1/6 slower than you used to. If it takes you 20 minutes to briskly walk a mile, now it takes you 24 minutes. $200,000/year

 

Which characteristics would you be willing to trade in, and in what order? :)

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Re: What would you trade for wealth?

 

First, good bye Swimming. I almost never used you anyway, and the $200,000 a year will come in handy.

 

Next, good by to 1" of Running. The extra $100,000 per year is worth slowing down for.

 

$300,000 per year is enough to keep me in style, so I'd probably stop there. If I absolutely needed to give up something else for more cash, it would be STR. Lifting heavy things is fun, but not at all useful in my daily life.

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Re: What would you trade for wealth?

 

Suppose you (the real life you) were given an offer by a genie that you can have great wealth' date=' but it came at a price. You had to trade one single point of a Hero System characteristic for the equivalent Hero System wealth. [b']You can never improve that characteristic again in the future. [/b]Which characteristics would you trade?

 

Str 1 pt of Str equates to about 15% lifting capacity, and gets you $100,000 a year. You can't lift as much, you have a lower pain tolerance, you recover slower, you can't quite jump as far, etc.

 

Dex 1 pt of Dex equates to 1/3 CV pt and 1/5 to a Dex roll. Since this would be real life, there are no such things as 'break points', so dropping from 10 Dex to 9 would have real consequences. You would be permanently clumsier, slower reflexes, less hand eye coordination, not as good at Agility skills, etc. On the plus side, this equates to $300,000 per year.

 

Con 1 pt of Con means lower pain tolerance, slower recovery, less energy, and you catch colds and diseases easier and you get tired quicker. Having lower Con quite likely means that you'll have an earlier death than you normally would. $200,000/year

 

Body 1 pt means you're that much closer to dying if in an accident. It's also harder to fight off the effects of certain diseases and again you'll probably have an earlier death. $200,000/year

 

Int 1 pt means you think slower and are less perceptive and aware of our surroundings. Any job or task that requires thinking takes longer and is more difficult. Again, there would be no 'break points', so dropping from 10 Int to 9 would have real world consequences. $100,000/year

 

Ego 1 pt means you have less willpower and are more malleable to the suggestions of others. You don't operate as well under stress as you used to and you have less self confidence. $200,000/year

 

Pre 1 pt means that the world is a scarier place. People don't take you as seriously, and you're more prone to be impressed by others. You also don't interact as well with others as you used to and you become more introverted and shy. $100,000/year

 

Com You have to trade 2 pts here. You're simply not as good looking as you used to be. $100,000/year

 

Spd This one gets you a whopping $5,000,000 a year, however you will permanently act slower. Either you're a slower thinker and/or your body doesn't move as quickly as before. Most likely a combination of the two. Very sluggish reaction time.

 

Rec You get out of breath easier and you have a much slower recovery from injuries and diseases or sicknesses. Quite likely you'll have a somewhat shortened lifespan. $200,000/year

 

Swimming For this one, you have to trade in the ability to swim at all and never be able to learn how in the future. $200,000/year for 2" Swimming.

 

Running 2 Pts means that you'll always move 1/6 slower than you used to. If it takes you 20 minutes to briskly walk a mile, now it takes you 24 minutes. $200,000/year

 

Which characteristics would you be willing to trade in, and in what order? :)

STR, DEX, PRE, COM x2, SPD, Swimming and an inch of running, any order, and if I haven't missed my INT roll that's $6 million USD per year, or half a mil a month, before taxes. We can live on that. When do I get the first check?

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Re: What would you trade for wealth?

 

Does the "bang for the buck" of the character points increase exponentially like it does in the HERO System? In other words, if I trade off 15 points worth of stuff (say, 1 SPD, 1 DEX, and 1" Running), does that mean I get 5,500,000 per year as outlined above, or would I get virtually limitless wealth like 15 points worth of Wealth would give a Hero character? :D

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Re: What would you trade for wealth?

 

Does the "bang for the buck" of the character points increase exponentially like it does in the HERO System? In other words' date=' if I trade off 15 points worth of stuff (say, 1 SPD, 1 DEX, and 1" Running), does that mean I get 5,500,000 per year as outlined above, or would I get virtually limitless wealth like 15 points worth of Wealth would give a Hero character? :D[/quote']

I'll take this option. :)

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Re: What would you trade for wealth?

 

I'd trade in all my COM. Sure, I'd be bodaciously ugly, but so what? Next to its cousin power, wealth is the most potent aphrodisiac known to man, and it's a documented fact that a rich guy could be an absolute gargoyle and still be up to his eyeballs in hotties every night.

 

 

 

(I know what your thinking, the above statement is pretty outrageous and shallow. Of course anyone who's interacted with me on this board for very long should know by now that I am shallow. ;))

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Re: What would you trade for wealth?

 

I would look at my sheet of what I have to see what I could give up, and then cry when all my fears of being an Incompetent DNPC who was occasionally useful were confirmed.

 

:cry:

 

 

Occasionally useful? When did that happen? :confused:

 

:P

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Re: What would you trade for wealth?

 

Does the "bang for the buck" of the character points increase exponentially like it does in the HERO System? In other words' date=' if I trade off 15 points worth of stuff (say, 1 SPD, 1 DEX, and 1" Running), does that mean I get 5,500,000 per year as outlined above, or would I get virtually limitless wealth like 15 points worth of Wealth would give a Hero character? :D[/quote']

 

 

Nah, no gaming the system. ;)

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Re: What would you trade for wealth?

 

STR, COM, Running. These are all statistics where I'm already below normal and another point or two won't hurt. I could see myself giving up 2 or 3 pts of STR.

 

Where do I sign?

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Palindromedary Enterprises

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Re: What would you trade for wealth?

 

I could sell off a point of strength for $100K/year. That's a damn sight more than I make now; I'd be quite comfortable, would never have to work, could focus on my writing (theoretically, at least), and I'd have the money to hire movers, so the strength would never be missed.

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Re: What would you trade for wealth?

 

Trading off 2 points of DEX seems like the best payoff. You're a little clumsier' date=' sure, but OTOH, you're making a million a year.[/quote']

 

This isn't such a good idea if you're like me, and starting from DEX 6. If I sell off 2 more points, I'll do stuff like hurt myself by poking myself in the eye when I try to pick my nose.

 

Obviously there's not much COM left to sell off, either :straight:

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