I was looking at Resources, and realized that to increase Resources from 4 to 5, you need to pass 3 difficult tests and 1 challenging test. Is there a type of bonus die you can use on Resource tests that don’t count towards increasing the difficulty type? You could spend persona for extra dice or use fate to reroll 6s, but is there something outside of Artha? Does Cash bonuses affect the difficulty type? How about Funds? What type of bonuses can you get to that test, that do not affect the difficulty type?
Artha is the only exception, as far as I know; cash and fund dice change the difficulty, same as advantage dice, linked tests and so on. There is, however, the Penny-Wise trait. Call-on for Resources!
Your best bet is to help a friend who is making an Ob 3 or 4 Resources test. Preferably they get a lot of help, use cash dice and spend Persona.
Helping is the best way to safely score any Challenging test!
Thanks for the clarification. I wasn’t exactly sure if artha and assists were the only options. It seems like it’ll be a rough climb to the top of mt. resources.
With the caveat that whomever gets the help probably isn’t getting a challenging!
I love how BW builds helping into nearly being a core requirement for advancement.
Note that Sometimes, it’s OK to get that challenging by accepting the “If you fail, …” clause. If the “If you fail” is weak enough to tolerate, or interesting enough, you grab your dice and throw them before the GM expands upon them and before your fellows can be hurt by your refusing their help, and suck it up.
Failing and Help are the two means of getting the challenging without Artha.
Yep! But failed tests don’t count for Resources (or Faith or Perception).
Also, helping on a Resources test can hose you, since if the test is failed, you get taxed, too.
That’s why you make them spend artha on the rolls you help them on 
But seriously, advancing resources is hard, and you need to work with your friends to do it. Salvatrix’s biggest obstacle to advancing resources in BHWS is that all her friends are too poor! There’s no one else for her to help that can make test that are challenging for her ‘safe’, even with artha, and the group’s cash! I’ll have to work on making them richer without too much risk of helping those pesky b1s (and b0s) taxxing me down to their level. 