Equipment

Wealth Level

In Against the Darkmaster, wealth and social status are determined by an abstract system. Instead of tracking each coin, characters buy equipment, food, lodging, animals, and any other mundane goods or services by comparing their Wealth Level to the item's Fare value. Wealth Level also represents social standing — it identifies a character's peers, subjects, and rulers.

The Wealth Levels

A character's wealth and social status are measured in Wealth Levels (WL), ranging from 0 to 5.

WL	Title	Description
0	Serf or Outcast	Serfs, slaves, or very poor peasants; also characters on the run or from an uncivilised region. They struggle to afford even basic goods. Barter and theft are their only means to get by.
1	Struggling	Low-born freemen, peasants, or adventurers. They have a job sufficient for their own sustenance and a small family. They carry a handful of bronze or copper coins for basic needs.
2	Commoner	Freemen, middle-class citizens, or respected inhabitants of small settlements. They have a decent income, may own a small property, and carry some spare silver pieces.
3	Gentry	Upper middle-class or lesser gentry. They may have servants and a medium-sized property. They can afford travelling and fine goods, and exchange silver and gold coins.
4	Lesser Noble	Noble-born or a person of importance at a noble's court. They possess large estates, herds, and many servants. They can afford almost any worldly good and spend hundreds of gold without concern.
5	Greater Noble or Ruler	Princes or kings whose names are known for hundreds of miles. They own castles, pastures, and forests, and can field and maintain an army. Their wealth is estimated in thousands of gold pieces.

Determining Starting Wealth Level

A character's starting WL is calculated by adding together the WL contributions from their Kin, Culture, and any Background Options. No character can start the game with a WL higher than 4 or lower than 0.

For example, a High Man with a Noble culture has a starting WL of 3 (High Man +1, Noble +2). A Wildfolk with a Woad culture starts at WL 0, but by spending 1 Background Point on the Minor Tier of the Greater Fortune option they can raise it to 1.

Note that Starting Equipment is never influenced by a character's actual WL. Characters will always own at least the items listed in their starting equipment.

Buying Goods

Every good or service has a Fare value listed in the equipment tables. When a character wants to purchase something, compare their current Wealth Level to the item's Fare value:

Condition	Result
WL > Fare	The character can afford the good.
WL = Fare	The character can afford the good, but their WL is reduced by 1 (to a minimum of 0).
WL < Fare	The character cannot afford the good alone. They must find a loan or increase their Wealth.

Modifying Fare

When purchasing goods in large quantities — for example equipping henchmen or supplying an army — the base Fare is modified as follows:

Purchase Scale	Fare Modifier
Multiple purchases (tens of the same good)	+1 Fare
Bulk purchase (hundreds or thousands)	+2 to +3 Fare

Availability

Some items and services are harder to find than others, regardless of whether a character could afford them. Each entry in the equipment tables has an Availability rating:

Common — easily found almost everywhere, even in small villages and isolated farmsteads.
Uncommon — harder to find; requires a medium-sized or larger town, or a specialised merchant or artisan.
Rare — available only in large cities and at the courts of wealthy lords and nobles.

Availability can also be affected by geography and recent events. Even in a large city, characters will have difficulty finding a ship if it has no access to water.

Barter

Barter is a commonly accepted trade practice, particularly among members of the lowest classes. Characters can exchange items in their possession for other goods or services of the same Fare value. A higher-Fare item can be traded for multiple lower-Fare goods — for example, a destitute knight might trade their palfrey for a mule and a week's worth of preserved rations.

Item Quality

The quality of a piece of equipment affects both its price and its performance in play.

Quality	Fare	Item Modifier	Availability
Normal	—	—	Default; no modifiers.
Low Quality	-1 (min 0)	-10	Common items only. Improvised or poorly made.
Superior Quality	+1 (max 5)	+5	Uncommon or higher. Crafted by skilled artisans.
Masterwork	+2 (max 5)	+15	Rare. The finest craftsmanship available.

The item modifier applies differently depending on the type of equipment:

Weapons — modifier applies to CMB.
Armor — modifier applies to DEF bonus, or reduces the armor's penalty.
Tools — modifier applies to the relevant Skill Bonus.

Treasure

Finding and recovering lost Treasure — whether a dragon's hoard or the spoils of a bandit camp — is a common event in a VsD campaign. Treasure is measured in Treasure Value (TV), ranging from 1 to 5.

TV	Examples
1	A pouch of silver or bronze coins, a handful of gold pieces. A small semiprecious stone, a valuable trinket. A very weathered fine art piece.
2	A bag of silver coins or a small chest of gold pieces and smaller jewelry. A fine art piece or a fine gemstone.
3	A large chest of silver and gold coins. A beautiful jewel set with gemstones. A collection of fine art or exotic objects.
4	Elven or Dwarven-made jewelry worth thousands of gold pieces. Precious ore such as Runesilver. A radiant gem. The treasure of a famous Pirate Captain.
5	The hoard of an ancient Dragon. The treasure of the High King.

When characters acquire treasure, compare their current WL to the TV:

Condition	Result
WL < TV	Increase the character's WL to the TV.
WL = TV	Increase the character's WL by +1.
WL > TV	No change in WL.

When treasure is divided among a party, the effective TV is reduced:

Party Size	TV Modifier
Up to six characters	Base TV
Several characters	TV - 1
Tens of characters	TV - 2

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