On 2018-02-27 at 9:08 PM, CaptainRaspberry said:

Their answer: "We want to make a frak-ton of money."

Does anyone have any anecdotes to share? Advice and wisdom? Ever tried something similar, or do you have a good reason why no one should ever do this ever?

This is basically my groups single motivation above all else. As you said it quickly becomes boring when the new toys lose their appeal after a few uses. Some reflections in no particular order:

1. They usually don't need a frackin ton of money - they just want to be able to buy all the cool equipment. There is a line between being able to buy all the cyber tech and buying a small moon. The right mix can make sure balance is maintained.

2. If the campaign is money intensive, monetary rewards can still be used. Just increase them. Instead of 25 000 for a job, offer the PCs 250 000. In a normal campaign this might distort game balance, but if the PCs are already flush with cash it won't really matter.

3. Nit-picking, but if they said they want to "make" a frak-ton of money, nothing says they need to *have* a frack-ton of money. Just dangle a lot of really big pay offs down the line and they will pursue them with vigor as long as they feel there is a shot. This obviously only works for a while. Make the campaign about finding a lost treasure ship with vast wealth (all the coins turned useless), a forgotten relic than could be worth millions (once state of the art technology, now mass produced on Corellia) or helping a business man with a corporate take over (he obviously stiffs the PCs in the end).

4. Give the PCs one big shiny toy each. Something worth a lot, but also very useful (so they don't sell it). A superior customized armor with all the bells and whistles, a really fantastic weapon or an amazing ship (just hand them the book before starting the campaign and say "money is no object"). They will guard that thing with their LIFE. It also creates a good angle when you really need to frighten them. Instead of threatening life or death, their new shiny toy could be destroyed / stolen. It's like the line from Terry Pratchett: “ I think that sick people in Ankh-Morpork generally go to a vet. It’s generally a better bet. There’s more pressure on a vet to get it right. People say “it was god’s will” when granny dies, but they get really angry when they lose a cow. ”

5. Anecdote: Many years ago during a wild west campaign, one player managed to acquire a horse that was probably the fastest horse in the west. It was FAST. It won racing competitions without even breaking a sweat. His PC spent every XP he could find on riding, horse management etc. Turns out, a horse is a lot more difficult to protect than your average PC. It led to some very interesting combat scenarios where you either try to help your mates survive, or you follow your horse that wasn't a big fan of noises and guns. I think the die that killed it is still somewhere out in the snow.

H ope any of this helps!

So, I've been thinking about, if I absolutely had to run a game about a group of players making a lot of money, how I would go about running the game so I wouldn't end up hating it. What I've come up with is a system that's based on Age of Rebellion 's Duty mechanic... a one-way black market banking system that serves as a measuring stick for how far the players are until the end goal/end of the campaign.

I would work with my players to figure out exactly how much money their characters would consider "winning." I would also ensure that my players understood that once the money is deposited into the bank, their characters cannot withdraw it until a certain threshold is hit. However, as a reward for depositing stolen money into the black market bank (say, every 100,000 credits), all the players would receive free touchstone rewards. Like AoR, it could be a piece of desired individual equipment at Rarity 3 + Touchstone level, a new ship for the group, or a business front that serves as a base.

Players should always have enough cash on hand to, say, bribe someone or buy a piece of mission specific and necessary equipment, but it's expected that the majority of a haul will go into the account.

On 3/7/2018 at 1:33 AM, Powermind said:

This is basically my groups single motivation above all else.

The next thing out of my lips as a GM would be "Why?"

Do they owe the hutts? Do they have to pay for an operation for Little Timmy? Are they trying to buy out a rival operation that threw loved ones under the bus.

The incorrect answer is: "Because!" At that point, being a story based game and all, I would send them away and tell them to come up with a reason that they need a huge stinking pile of credits that isn't "our money bin is getting low"