Hapushet/Resources

Back to Hapushet

Buying Stuff

Characters may purchase items whose cost is up to (their Resources -1) without rolling. In order to purchase items who cost is equal to their Resources, they must make a Resources roll at standard difficulty. Items with a cost higher than their Resources are at +1 difficulty for every Resources dot above the characters Resources (for example, a character with Resources 3 would need one success to buy something that costs ***, two successes to buy something that costs ****, three successes to buy something that costs *****, and so on). If the character fails the roll, they do not have enough money to make the purchase at that time. A purchaser who fails a roll may not attempt another purchase of the same cost or higher for an amount of time determined by the difficulty of the purchase:

||Purchase Difficulty||Wait After Failed Roll|| || +0 || 1 day || || +1 || 1 week || || +2 || 1 month || || +3 || 1 season || || +4 || 1 year ||

These times may be shortened if the character's Resources rating increases during the period (move up the chart accordingly, and count time already spent toward the new limit - this may mean the character may make a purchase immediately), or if other circumstances change enough for the Storyteller to agree that a new attempt may be made. If, after failing a roll, the character still wishes to make the purchase, they may permanently sacrifice a Resources dot to gain an automatic success on the roll; more than one dot may be sacrificed in this fashion if need be. This change is permanent and immediate: the character must sell their house and find another smaller one, dispose of non-essential items at auction or in the marketplace, etc.

When making a purchase, the character makes an opposed Manipulation + Bureaucracy roll, called a bargaining roll, with the seller of the item (stunts may be used to change either side's Attribute or Ability - frequent substitutions include Charisma instead of Manipulation and Larceny, Presence or Socialize instead of Bureaucracy). For every success the character receives over the seller, the character gains an additional die to make the purchase roll with. Conversely, if the seller wins the roll, the character loses one die for every net success obtained by the seller; this loss is not subject to the Essence minimum of Power Combat if that rule is used. Sellers may state before the roll a maximum number of dice they will take away from the buyer in order to make sure they make a sale.

Making a sale is handled in much the same fashion. When selling an item, the character receives a number of bonus dice to be used on future purchases equal to the Resources cost of the item. For every net success made on the bargaining roll, the seller gains an additional bonus die as long as the sale goes through - wise sellers do not bargain too hard lest they lose their sales entirely. These bonus dice function exactly as dice gained by winning the bargaining roll and may be used on any Resources roll, including after losing a bargaining roll in order to offset the loss of Resources dice. Each die may only be used once; it is then lost.

The same system is used to increase Resources. Increasing a Resources rating may only be done one dot at a time. The new dot is treated as a purchase with a Resources cost equal to twice the Resources rating. A bargaining roll is made, but the default Attribute is Intelligence rather than Manipulation. As there is no seller in this circumstance, the opposed roll is made by the Storyteller with a dice pool equal to the Resources cost of the new dot (10s do not count as two successes for the Storyteller on this roll). If the roll is failed, Resources dots may not be sacrificed to purchase additional successes.

This system does allow for Resources costs above 5, though no character should have a Resources rating higher than 5 - one of the benefits of this system is increased granularity of pricing. It should also make price-based drawbacks on spells and the like a little more interesting. Extras never have bonus purchase dice unless the Storyteller specifically wishes them to. Heroic characters can be assumed to have bonus purchase dice equal to the successes on a Wits + Bureaucracy roll at any given time.

Some specific Charm effects:

• Solars
  • Bureaucracy
    • Insightful Buyer Technique - The answer given by this Charm includes the specific number of bonus dice the seller would gain. This may, in fact, be the only information granted, at the Storyteller's discretion.
    • Consumer-Evaluating Glance - This Charm gives the seller both the current Resources rating of the target and how many bonus dice they have available at the time of usage.
    • Irresistable Salesman Spirit - If the target's Willpower is less than the seller's Essence, there is no bargaining roll - the seller simply dictates a price and the purchaser makes the purchase roll, sacrificing as many Resources dots as needed to meet the item's cost as dictated by the Charm user, to a maximum of Resources +1 dots (which equates to selling themselves into slavery). If the target's Willpower is less than twice the seller's Essence, the seller may make a Wits + Bureaucracy roll at +1 difficulty; successes on this roll are applied to the bargaining roll as additional successes on the seller's part. The buyer will sacrifice a number of bonus dice and/or Resources dots up to the number of successes on the Wits + Bureucracy roll in order to meet the price, guaranteed.
  • Socialize
    • Knowing the Soul's Price - if the target's desire can have a price associated with it, the user of this Charm will know the Resources cost of fulfilling the desire.
• Dragon-Blooded
  • Bureaucracy
    • Finding the Water's Depths - Using this Charm allows the seller to declare the maximum dice they will take away from their opponent after the roll rather than before. Also, by making a Wits + Bureaucracy roll before the roll, the seller may determine how many bonus dice or Resources dots the buyer is willing to sacrifice in order to make the purchase: 1 success reveals whether they will sacrifice dice, dots or both; two successes reveals exactly how many Resources dots (if any); three or more successes reveals how many bonus dice (if any).

Note: A very similar system can be used by character attempting to use Influence or Backing to acquire items or assistance within their organization or realm of influence. In this case, the Storyteller should assign a Backing or Influence cost (similar to the Resources cost) to the desired acquisition, then (if the cost is equal to or greater than the character's rating) have the player make a negotiation roll against a dice pool equal to twice the Backing or Influence "cost," and otherwise treat the acquisition as if it were a purchase, substituting the appropriate Background for Resources where needed. (The opposing roll does not count 10s as two successes.) Bonus dice are not addititional cash, but bureaucratic or political favors that may be used to "grease the wheels" of a difficult transaction.

If the character has political or organizational opponents with the power to disrupt the transaction, the negotiation roll uses the opponent's roll instead of the generic pool, and is heroic or not as determined by the opponent. Characters may increase their Influence or Backing in the same fashion as increasing their Resources, above, but the negotiation roll uses the standard dice pool rather than the substitution of Intelligence for Manipulation.