I know that the Town Phase is meant to be played out in rather broad strokes. Days pass by before someone finds the piece of gear they are looking for, sickness confines the character to the bed for a week, and so on. Yet there are cases where I don’t really now how to justify and narrate the Lifestyle cost. One example would be the Town Event where the noble demands the characters to swerve and if they don’t comply or even pick a fight they have to pay for it with +1 Lifestyle cost. The case is too specific to be handwaved, it doesn’t take days to pick a fight with the noble and their guard and anything that would justify a conflict that lasts more than a few minutes would either be something for the Adventure Phase or Personal Business.
I’d just like to hear some ideas how you deal with this beyond stating that those are the rules, because I don’t think that it is very satisfying for GMs and players alike.
Remember the Resources aren’t just cash/loot, it also represents things like credit you get extended based on your reputation. Lifestyle covers the incidentals of living in town.
If you get in a noble’s way, you might get spattered in mud or ordure for not getting out of the way in time and have to pay to have your clothing/gear laundered or to have a bath. You get a thrashing from the noble’s retinue or the guild on guard and need to pay to have your clothing repaired. Or you need to pay a bribe to the guards to prevent further mistreatment from them after you menaced the noble by not being obsequious. The people in town don’t really like you to begin with and they like it even less when rootless vagrants don’t pay proper respect to their betters; they’ll find ways to charge more for all sorts of incidental things from meals and drinks to soap and baths.