Economic and Social Level

Information and discussion for players of the game. No spoilers here please!
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Slimcreeper
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Economic and Social Level

Post by Slimcreeper » Wed Sep 20, 2017 6:35 pm

I've been tinkering with the social/economic system and adapting to my style. The goal is to allow economic and social levels to change independently (though of course they are still closely related) and adjust everything to a monthly basis (with plenty of rounding off).

[edit: this is mostly the same thing, though I've pulled the lists together to organize the information better.]

Economic Level (EL)
Economic Level is related to Social Level, but they can change independently. See the chart on p. 75. Moderately Rich characters and those better off must also maintain a household appropriate to their station. Refer to the chart on 329. When a character is created, they are automatically at the Low end of their income for their Social Level. Maintaining their economic level requires spending 2 week’s income each month on basic living expenses (transportation within London, food & clothing) and a primary residence.
  • SL 1 corresponds to Desperate
    EL 1 Low
    Weekly Income: 7p
    EL 2 Moderate
    Weekly Income: 3s
    EL 3 Well Off
    Weekly Income: 7s
    SL 2 corresponds to Poor
    EL 4 Low
    Weekly Income: 8s
    EL 5 Moderate
    Weekly Income: 12s
    EL 6 Well Off
    Weekly Income: 17s
    SL 3 corresponds to Middle Class
    EL 7 Low
    Weekly Income: £1
    EL 8 Moderate
    Weekly Income: £1/8
    EL 9 Well Off
    Weekly Income: £2/2
    • Household: Minimum 1 servant, riding horse or horse & carriage, £1 per month.
    SL 4 corresponds to Rich
    EL 10 Low
    Weekly Income: £3
    • Household: Minimum 2 servants, horse & carriage, £1/10 per month.
    EL 11 Moderate
    Weekly Income: £8
    • Household: Minimum 3 servants, horse & carriage, £3 per month.
    EL 12 Well Off)
    Weekly Income: £21
    • Household: Minimum 4 servants, riding horse, horse & carriage, £3/10 per month.
    SL 5 corresponds to Wealthy
    EL 13 Low
    Weekly Income: £55
    • Household: Minimum 6 servants, riding horse, horse & carriage, £5/10 per month.
    EL 14 Moderate
    Weekly Income: £144
    • Household: Minimum 24 servants, riding horse, horse & carriage, £30 per month.
    EL 15 Well Off
    Weekly Income: £377
    • Household: Minimum 40 servants, horse & carriage £42 per month, Country estate with riding horse & horse & carriage £5/10 per month. Total: £47/10 per month.
    ELs 16+. Must maintain a household as EL15. For each additional country estate maintained, +1 EL, but the income doesn’t increase.
    • Household: Country estate with riding horse & horse & carriage £5/10 per month and 24 servants at £3 per month. Country estates may be adjacent, essentially one huge property, or in different parts of the country. Total: £56 per month)
Ready Cash and Savings
A character is considered to have on hand no more than 1 week’s income. Additional moneys are tied up in lockboxes, hidey-holes, accounts and debts and favors owed. The player should still record any savings he or she has. To purchase any one thing totaling more than 1 week’s income requires the character to tap his or her network, contact the bank and accountant, and reallocate resources. This process takes 1 day per social level. So at SL 1, the character might take a day to gather all her resources to buy a guard dog. If the character maintains a household, a servant will handle the details so that the character can do other things, but it will still take the time.

With no other considerations and living like a monk, a character can sock away 2 weeks’ income each month. In practice, people indulge in occasional well-deserved luxuries, develop bad habits, get sick, and have personal emergencies. PCs live exciting lives, and while they may indeed find their fortune, their path is rarely straight or smooth. And characters that accumulate too much wealth find themselves the targets of thieves and rivals, should they become complacent.

Social Obligations
Each character has certain social obligations that come with maintaining appearances. It may be a funeral, christening, wedding, ball, charity meeting, or making appearances at the salon. The player and GM can work together to determine what they will be, or the GM may roll 1d12 to determine in which month certain events occur, or even write them into the narrative. In general each character will have one significant event per Social Level per year. Preparing for each event will cost 1d4 weeks worth of income to provide for suitable clothing, gifts, donations, and the like. Missing one will result in a Minor Scandal; missing all of them will result in a Moderate Scandal. This does mean that at Social Level 1 missing your event is automatically a Moderate Scandal.

Increasing Economic Level
To move up an Economic Level, the character must establish themselves for a number of months. They must spend the equivalent of 2 week’s income of the desired EL each month for a number of months equal to the Social Level of the EL. For example, Rich corresponds to Social Level 4, so that would be 4 months, whether Economic Level 9, 10, or 11. Furthermore, if the desired level requires maintaining a Household, the character must have enough money saved or borrowed to hire all the help for an entire year, although the help will be paid monthly (and can be negotiated with each servant, which can adjust the actual monthly expense). Once the character has established him or herself, the character’s income goes up to match the new EL.

Increasing Social Level
In order to increase Social Level, the character must earn Reputation in the next Social Level and be of a certain Economic Level.
The Rank of the character’s Reputation must be at least equal to the desired Social Level. So to rise to SL 5, the character must already be SL 4 and must earn Reputation (Social Level 5) rank 5.
The character’s Economic Level must be the at least the minimum for the desired Social Level.
  • Economic Level 4 for Social Level 2,
    Economic Level 7 for Social Level 3,
    Economic Level 9 for Social Level 4, and
    Economic Level 13 for Social Level 5
Losing Social or Economic Level
If a character isn’t able to maintain the living expenses, the character may drop in Economic Level, and the resulting Scandal may drop the character’s Social Level as well.

Grace Period
Failing to make The character has a grace period equal to his or her Social Level in months. If the character can’t make the living expenses for any month during the grace period, the character automatically drops an EL. The grace period is done, and the character must maintain the new EL as normal on his or her new lower income.
  • Not being able to meet one’s expenses is for a month is a Minor Scandal.
    Dropping an Economic Level is a Moderate Scandal.
    Not maintaining the minimum Economic Level for your social level is a Severe Scandal.
Household
If the character cannot maintain the household, servants will resign. Not being able to maintain one’s Household is a typically a Minor Scandal. Similar to missing living expenses for a month, the character has a grace period equal to his or her Social Level in months. If the character runs short again during any month of the grace period, or if the missing salaries are not paid within that grace period much of the staff will resign. This is a Moderate Scandal. The Household will shrink to the next smallest size. The character has a second grace period equal to his or her Social Level in months to rehire staff. If not successful, the character suffers permanent loss to his or her Economic Level.
Last edited by Slimcreeper on Wed Sep 27, 2017 12:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Andrew1879
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Re: Economic and Social Level

Post by Andrew1879 » Fri Sep 22, 2017 12:42 am

This is quite a lot of development work you've put in. Have you used this in a campaign yet? I'd be interested to see how it plays out. We thought about doing finances and social level separately, but decided to go with a unified mechanic with a single stat to hold down the crunch level of an already very crunchy game.

You've got some opportunities here for adventuring in the name of achieving higher social or economic levels, or protecting your existing levels. That note about attracting rivals or thieves by accumulating too much wealth has Adventure Hook written all over it. :)

Slimcreeper
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Joined:Mon Nov 28, 2016 11:44 pm

Re: Economic and Social Level

Post by Slimcreeper » Wed Sep 27, 2017 1:10 pm

I've also worked out a story-driven Social and Economic Combat engine that complements the systems in the book. These forums aren't great for sharing stuff like that b/c charts and lists, oh my, but I would share the Google files with anyone who is curious.

There are a couple of modifiers to the Social System that make it work:
  • Economic Level as described above.
  • The addition of Reputation as a Social Level-dependent skill. Characters might acquire Reputation (SL 4) Rank 3, for example. They get one free rank at each Professional Level, normally applied to their current social level. They can also purchase ranks in Reputation like any other skill. It is required to increase Social Level. It can be sacrificed to offset Temporary or Permanent SL loss due to Scandals.
  • Unrevealed Scandals. They don't affect Social Level, but they create a target for rivals.
In summary:
  • The attacker declares the degree of the scandal or goal of the economic attack
  • The Attacker gathers proof or applies economic pressure through paying for a Fiddle & Dodge, spreading rumors, gathering documents or witnesses, etc. These can be resolved through rolls or adventure, as suites the narrative.
  • The Defender makes a test to detect the meddling. The skill needed is determined by the GM, and could include Secrets of the Aristocracy, Finance, or Streetwise.
  • If the Defender detects the meddling, he or she can attempt countermeasures such as running his or her own Fiddle & Dodge, calling in favors, etc. Alternately, the Defender can begin a counter-campaign against the Attacker. These can be resolved through rolls or adventure, as suites the narrative.
  • The Attacker continues to apply pressure, abandons or resolves the attack. The attacker (or defender for that matter) could also resort to blackmail, which would be resolved through role playing.
  • The Attacker makes a final roll using the skill determined by the GM, modified by the types of economic pressure or proofs of scandal he or she has gathered. The Attacker has to get a number of successes based on the degree of the Scandal or the economic effect desired.
    • A social attack is also modified by the nature of the revelation. A direct confrontation in the parlor of the Queen is more effective - but more dangerous if the scandal doesn't stick - than a scathing report in the press.
  • If the attack succeeds, the Defender suffers the result according to the number of success the Attacker accumulated.
  • If a social attack fails, the attacker suffers a Minor or Moderate Scandal. If an economic attack fails, the attacker is simply out the money and favors spent.
This lets economic fortunes rise and fall somewhat independently of social fortunes and vice versa. It also provides a system for organizations to attack and be attacked and a framework for Fiddle & Dodge and Social adventures. After all, when Aristocrats do battle, they are not likely to kill each other outright, but through the dance of the court. I imagine the team's Aristocrat striving to fund and advance the team while fending off rumors of an illicit mistress or mister, or a scientist attacking the funding of a rival.

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Andrew1879
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Re: Economic and Social Level

Post by Andrew1879 » Wed Sep 27, 2017 4:26 pm

This is intensive work. Drop me a line at andrew@fasagames.com and let's talk about it further.

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