The poor Scum thay plays at my table is almost dying for lack of thrones. I am not sure if I am using the rules right.

Every other acolyte gets more money by level, but she only gets a few thrones. Other player probably would set a black market or find another way to get profit outside of the book rules, but she is to shy to do that.

1) Any help?.

2) Can someone explains to me the income rules for the Scum?.

3) Any ideas to help a charismatic hive rogue played by a shy person?

4) Who is the one who pays the acolytes salary?.

5) How can someone playing a Scum get to crime lord while living at a Inquisitorial Retinue. Same for the Arbites, how can he advance in rank if he is not technically working as an Arbites?.

Thanks

2) Can someone explains to me the income rules for the Scum?

There are two ways to read them. Either way, 20 is their base income per month. They gain additional income each month based on their roll on the chart. One reading is that 20+ a roll is their income every month, regardless of rank. However, since this roll is also listed as their rank increase, you can read this as giving them a roll on the chart each rank to determine an additional fixed increase in pay for their rank advancement.

3) Any ideas to help a charismatic hive rogue played by a shy person?

Have the character be young, shy, and cute -sort of a prototypical Dickensian orphan. S/he is too damaged by life in the hive to be outgoing, does what is needed to survive, and wins friends easily due to his/her good looks and ultimately kind nature. The character might pick pockets or such from time to time, but only from deserving marks (or heretics whose secrets need revealing). Remember, Scum (and Rogues in D&D) aren't automatically thieves, they're just clever urban types who are low in the social ladder.

4) Who is the one who pays the acolytes salary?.

5) How can someone playing a Scum get to crime lord while living at a Inquisitorial Retinue. Same for the Arbites, how can he advance in rank if he is not technically working as an Arbites?.

Normally, monthly salaries represent the character going back to their life outside of the Inquisition, or some equivalent work. Arbiters may, in fact, go back to work for the Imperium. Or, if they have severed ties, they may set up as a private eye type, bounty hunter, sheriff of some small settlement, etc. In the case of Scum, their salary represents them living by their wits and skills.

Inquisitors may also pay Acoyltes an additional salary. This is determined by the GM, so it might be a quick and easy solution.

Also, Trade or Craft skills may be used to replace a character's normal salary with another bracket appropriate to the nature of the trade or profession involved.

Hodgepodge have good points there. In my game I've decided to let the Scum roll each month, and have the 20 on the Scum list be his welfare money/social security from the Inquisitor.

Having 20 as base and letting the Scum Increase this by the table each month would probably make him too rich too soon,l as their average rank increase would be close to a Noble's.

Judging by the example in the book by the Scum income table, it seems that the roll determines the only income for a scum for a month. The Throne per month in the main table might then be an average of the scum income.

I'd like to see a system where the Scum could potentially get alot of money, maybe by increasing risk of capture/punishment.

I actually checked the IH, and it's a lot more strongly worded than I thought. Evidently, having any trade skill automatically puts you in the Trading social and income class. Which is weird, because Psykers are Supine Class, but always start with either Trade (Merchant) or Trade (Soothsayer). I suppose the default incomes represent what a player would earn if they did not choose to use their trade class?

I think the Scum income charts are fun, but yeah. You'd think a Gang Lord would be raking in the dough, at the risk of hard time. I suspect the idea is for Acoyltes to invest in roleplayed moneymaking schemes, and thereby build contacts.

How about a "one roll per rank" approach?

So, if you are rank three, you roll three dice and will perhaps get

2x Stealing
1x Scrounging

and cash in the money.

The rank increase will thereby show that you start to be more "streetwise" and have a greater ease at finding targets/oppurtunities for this or that.

Yes, a high ranking scum could thereby generate a lot of money. "Crime pays, otherwise I wouldn´t be doing it!"

Hmm, yeah, that's actually a valid interpretation of the rule, since you get a * (special) rank increase at each rank. It also increases the fun of seeing what you get with each roll.

Hodgepodge said:

Well not if you real the text, where it says pretty much straight that the roll on the scum income table determines the Scum's income for each month, and the example also says that this is his income, not his income increase.

I like the idea of the scum getting an option to get more dough from his illegal activities, but actually giving as much as possibly 80 or more is a bit too much. And even worse, you might as well luck out and roll a 10 in your first career advancement, giving you 50+(FP d10) MORE income , and chances are you have more Fate Points the lower rank you have If that happens, you have basically quadroupled your basic income at just one rank.

Of course, in the Underworld chance play a good part, but then again it's never the street level people who cash in (or if they do they get killed because of it by some crime boss), it's the winners on the top who takes all.

¨Maybe we should make a new random table dependent on rank instead? And maybe add in some chance of being busted, noticed by Arbites etc. We could even use the psychic phenomena system, just replacing the result with minor mishaps, and 75- would be the bad table, possibly death. Of course the lure of using more dice to get potentially more money should be there too

The problem with not giving the scum any increase as he ranks up is that he will rapidly be the poorest member of the group in a few ranks. This generally doesn't make for happy players. Plus it doesn't make sense that a rank 1 Scum doesn't make any more money than a rank 5 scum. Giving him multiple rolls averages out fairly well. Sure on the high end he could average more than the noble born, but making multiple near max rolls get increasingly unlikely as he ranks up.

If the PCs are buying their own gear this often leads to the all noble born party. At the very least the scum will pick up a trade skill which could be at odds with a character concept. Personally I tend to view a PCs personal funds as the PCs personal funds. The =][= doesn't expect their minions to have to steal to be able to afford ammo. In my games personal income is either spent on entertainment, or things the PCs wants rather than needs. The =][= provides everything the PCs need (not want) unless the mission requires them be really deep undercover. (Of course in deep cover missions they can't use personal funds either...)

Nice. Thanks for the answers. I will take the multiple rolls idea.

I have 5 players.

The cleric noble born is the rich one, of course. He was also an able business man (a surprise for me, he es new to roleplaying) and with that he justified the excess money without problem.

The arbiter uses to work closely with the local arbiter chapter, so he guess his salary.

The guardsman/comisar do the same with the local guard.

Our psychic became the pet of a Comisar (a real one) at the last campaign, so he got his money from there.

But our scum, was really poor. She sometimes tried to do some bussines, but is difficult with our Holier than Thou cleric/arbiter/comisar team. Now she is living with a exiled noble who pays for most of her expenses, but she dislikes the idea.

Also the Inquisitor uses to give them some equipment, and if he send them far, some thrones.

Thanks again

Jorge