Resources and Cost of Living

[JGray]

While I know Resources doesn't have to reflect a person's living conditions or the type of car they drive, I am curious if anyone's put any thought into how much one can afford for rent/mortgage and what sort of car they can afford with their Resources skill.

[Starjammer]

Well, the skill does specify that Resources accounts for disposable income, after living expenses.  However, it's not unreasonable to make a surmise based on the rating.

If I had to spitball it, I'd use the chart on YS322 as a rough guide to monthly income, saying each tier represents 2 weeks to 1 month's worth of regular take-home income for that Resources level.  For example, someone with Average Resources is bringing home 500-1000 dollars a month.  That also fits with the sidebar that puts the middle class in the Average to Good range.  Of course, prices may vary based on location.  Cost of living in California or NYC is way different than a rural town in Idaho.

But if I needed a general rule, that's what I'd go by.

[Haru]

Since, as Starjammer said, Resources is supposed to be disposable income, I never really had a reason to deal with it like that. If someone has a high resources skill but lives in a dump, I'll just assume he's living like that because he doesn't need much and saves all his money. Or he doesn't have much in general, but he knows ways to get things really cheap (compellicious). Or if it's the other way around, high lifestyle with low resources, then all his money is simply tied into his assets. High resources in that case could also mean that the assets are his resources, of course.

Mainly I'll only ever think about it, if it promises to be interesting. The wizard who is paid by the mob certainly has a pretty luxurious lifestyle, but there's a lot of complications there as well. If it never ties into the story, it doesn't really matter if he is living in rags or riches.

Is this a general question or are you trying to solve something specific?