Hi! I ran the search engine for a while but I could not find answers to this. If this was already discussed, I will appreciate if you can point me to the pertinent thread.
Lifestyle: From the book “Once every cycle, each player must test his Resources against his lifestyle obstacle”.
Besides from being taxed (and any role play flavour), what happens is you fail this test?
Advancing Resources: To advance Resources only successful test counts, ok. My question is about advancing Resources while being taxed. From the book “Make sure to note the current actual resources exponent and use that for advancement purposes. If you are taxed and you advance, increase your maximum exponent and taxed exponent by one”
Let’s suppose a character has Resources B6, he would normally need 3 successful Difficult tests and 2 successful Challenging tests to advance Resources to B7, but due to circumstances this character is taxed down to B1
Does he only need 1 successful Routine, Difficult and Challenging test to advance (B2 / B7)?
Even more, let’s imagine that the character already had some Resource tests succeeded. For example, while he was B6 he had marked for advancement 1 Difficult and 1 Challenging test. Then he is taxed down to B1. Does he only need now 1 single successful routines test to advance to B2 / B7?
Cash on Hand - Generating Cash: How often can players do dat? Once per cycle? once per day? How do you rule this?
The same question goes for Creating Funds.
Tax and Cash on Hand: When you use Funds to help on a Resource test and you are taxed due to a failure, the books says that the Fund dice are removed (permanently) first, then you tax the PC with the remaining MoF. Does it happens the same with Cash on Hand? If you use Cash on Hand for a Resource test and you fail the test, do you first lose the Cash on hand dice? or are this dice always lost regardless of the outcome of the test (failure / success)?
You could have consequences for living beyond your means, but I always just tax Resources. This is book-keeping and constant pressure to get a job.
If at BX/BY Resources, you need the usual number of Routine/Difficult/Challenging to advance to BY+1, but which tests count for what is determined by the X dice you roll at any given time. If you get taxed enough that Y drops you lose all accumulated tests towards advancement.
As often as seems reasonable. It’s a by-dame decision. Throw dice and other small objects at anyone abusing it.
Cash dice are always lost when used, whether or not you suffer tax. Fund dice are always lost first if you fail but not if you succeed. Not that funds also count as dice you’re rolling as in question 1 and can make it harder to get challenging and difficult tests to advance!
It’s worth noting as well that advancement with taxes resources is exactly the same as advancement with dice lost to wounds. Very few things (notably really bad wounds and getting taxed beyond your exponent) actually alter your exponents, but plenty of things can alter the number of dice you roll, from help to FoRKs to wounds to cash. All that matters for which type of test you mark is how many dice you rolled and what Ob you rolled against. For advancement all that matters is which types of tests you’ve marked and how many you need for the exponent you have.
Roleplay issues can happen as well. If someone keeps not being able to pay their debts, people are going to start talking about it. But from a mechanics perspective all of social implications of not being able to cover your debts is rolled up as tax.
Taxed resources changes the thresholds for what counts as a Routine/Difficult/Challenging roll but you still need to reach your full (un-taxed) exponents count of tests. So in your example, you’ll still need 3 difficult and 2 challenging tests, those tests can just be really really low Obs.
Same as Wayfarer’s answer. As often as makes sense.
Cash dice are reduced when rolled, regardless of how they come up. However they insulate you from tax (because tax happens before you zero out the cash dice). Funds are are treated just like normal resources with the exception of the fund getting depleted first.
So yeah, basically everything that Wayfarer said. Any places where we differ is in explanation and not intent.
Just to make clear one point that it is still obscure for me.
If my character has Resource B4 and he performs a Resource test where I add +2D from Cash on Hand. I fail the test with a MoF of 3. Do I only get taxed once down to Resources B3?
If it is the case, I have not seen this rules written in the book, neither is it trivial to deduce from the mechanics as written since Cash on Hand is always depleted no matter the outcome of the roll.
If my character has Resource B4 and he performs a Resource test where I add +2D from Funds. I fail the test with a MoF of 3. Do I only get taxed once down to Resources B3?
That I have not seen neither written in the book, but it can be inferred from the text since Funds dice are only depleted on a failed test. Although, all Fund dice are depleted independently of the MoF, which again makes for me not trivial to see that Funds shield you from taxation…
Said that, I am really liking it so far the sub-mechanics of Resources! Now I am digesting the Circles mechanics…also good! All this gossip rolls may become into a whole sub plot!!
Well, MoF only matters in a Challenging test. With your Resources is reduced by 1D, 2D or MoF depending on the difficulty of the test, plus you lose any Cash Dice. Funds, on the other hand, absorb tax first. So, your Resources would only be reduced if tax exceeds Funds.
Cash dice are always depleted when you roll. Think of it happening before the results even happen, as you pick up the dice. So with B4 Resources and 2D cash, you’ll end up without those cash dice no matter what. If you fail, you’ll suffer 1D tax at least. If it’s challenging and your MoF is 3 then you’ll suffer 3D tax. If those are fund dice instead of cash, they’re treated exactly like resources except you can’t get them back by getting a job. So you’d lose the two fund dice and then have 1 additional tax die to reduce your resources.