Improving Resources, Links, Circled FoRKs (more questions!)

Burning Empires General Questions
1

In my Banyan thread I had a couple questions buried in my postmortem. In the interest of addressing those questions w/o tying up the writeup I’m reposting them here, slightly rewritten to make them setting-neutral:

  • This has come up before and I could use a solid answer: How does one increase one’s Resources stat other than via successful (very difficult!) tests? I have a player who wants to tax the communes to increase Resources to buy stuff for the communes. I’m not sure how to model this in the game other than:

  1. Character makes finances/administration/bureaucracy linked test(s) to set up the tax.

  2. Player feeds link(s) into a roll to set up a “fund” for the PC. I’d probably add +1D advantage because they control the commune faction.

  3. The “fund” is, essentially, added to the character’s Resources, and has some paper trail attached to it.

The fund thing is all I’ve got. Is there another way to represent broad-scale taxation?

  • Very simple question that’s been bugging me from day one: Under the BE linked test rules, can you link more than one test into a roll? And should I stick to the BW version of linked tests?

  • Another simple question: when you circle someone up with a certain skill level, my understanding is that you get one skill at that level (say, 4D for the security guys running the Vaylen detector) and also get “appropriate skills” at a lower level. I don’t know where I got this; maybe the Anvil Lord/Hammer Lord stuff? In any case, can we assume the scope of skills and wises are still restricted to the LPs and settings from which these characters are drawn, yes? Also, are their “appropriate skills” one exponent lower? Two?

The reason I’m asking is because we’re trying to scrounge together dice for a 4D exponent Vaylen-scanning security force we Circled up recently. If we were able to track down a couple FoRKs from their “appropriate skills,” that’d effectively bring them up to 6D. Is this correct or an abuse of the Circles rules?

p.

2

Paul,
Does the Cash, Funds, Loans and Payments section on page 370 cover what you’re after? Specifically, look at the Loans and Payments section. The player who wishes to levy a tax can go to his subjects and demand they provide him with cash +1D/Ob 2, a fund +1D/Ob 3 or the obstacles could be higher and grant more dice. But if you tax enough characters for 1D, you can quickly boost your Resources.

Also, in lieu of getting cash or funds, DoWs or other coercion can be made to force other characters to help you make a Resources test.

Multiple linked dice for a single test are OK.

For a basic character brought into play for his skill exponent, I don’t allow FoRKs and stuff unless the players up the obstacle for specific knowledge. He’s got to have the skill plus knowledge to support it.

-L

3

Yeah, setting up a fund was about the best I could come up with. I now realize there’s a conceptual disconnect with the player doing this: setting up a freestanding “fund” for oneself might work mechanically but makes no conceptual sense for, basically, pulling money out of an outside entity. It’s more like you’re pulling money out of yourself.

I’m pretty sure we’ve given the self-fund trick the goahead here on the forum but it’s not clear what that mechanic is modeling, exactly.

A thought: maybe Circles up a “leader of the Communes” and have the Circled up NPC make the Fund rolls? That way there’s Resources coming from outside the character and it sorta-kinda makes more sense.

It’s just sort of weird.

Groovy on the multiple links.

FoRKs and stuff: Really great idea to require “specific knowledge” to up the Circles roll.

p.

4

Not self-funding (that’s ridiculous), but going to your constituent characters and demanding that THEY set up a fund for YOU. Just like your example.