Here are two new GURPS character traits . . .
a minor disadvantage that will lead to some interesting roleplaying, and
a new version of Wealth that can be used either as an advantage or as a
disadvantage. Both of these are suitable for any sort of background or genre.
Curiosity. . . . . -5 points
You are naturally very inquisitive. When you are presented with an interesting
item or situation, you must roll vs. IQ to avoid examining it, even if you
know it will be dangerous. Good roleplayers won't try to make this roll
too often.
You will rationalize your curiosity to others who try and talk you out of
it. Common Sense won't help -- you know you are taking a risk, but you're
curious anyway.
Temporary Wealth. . . . . . Varies For half the advantage or disadvantage cost of any level of
Wealth, you can get its effect on your starting income only. Once
the character is created, he is treated as having Average wealth for job
purposes.
This version of Wealth can be used to create a character who had a one-time
inheritance, or who is down on his luck at the moment.
[Check out a later Q&A
on the topic of "Temporary Wealth" -- arcangel@io.com] [Errata from Roleplayer #19 -- The "Temporary
Wealth" advantage, when used as described, proves to be too easy to
abuse. In particular, being "temporarily" Filthy Rich for 25 points
is too cheap.
GURPS
Cyberpunk includes a special character-creation rule intended
for the same sort of situation. A character can exchange up to 30 character
points for $5,000 each, but this money must be spent on
netrunning equipment or cyberware; none of it can be saved. In a fantasy
campaign, the equivalent would be horse, armor and magic items . . . and
so on. Note that the cash equivalent should be adjusted for each campaign;
in the cyberpunk campaign, $5,000 represents half of the standard starting
wealth. Therefore, if this is used elsewhere, one point should be worth
equipment equal to half the starting wealth. Comments welcome.]
