Fringe Space: The SWADE Equivalent of Rep Dice

"Instead of using cash, credits or gold pieces to track how well a Character does in his career, we use Rep d6." - 5150 No Limits Maiden Voyage

As I mused recently, the Increasing and Decreasing Rep Dice which are so prominent in 5150 duplicate other effects in SWADE, and are the clunkiest part of my current rulings. Let's look at their purpose and effects, and see if there are things in SWADE which cover the same ground.

Purpose: Rep dice in 5150 cover both cash and experience points.

• You get IRD for doing heroic things and being paid, and you lose them for doing unheroic things and paying expenses.
• IRD and DRD earned during a month cancel each other out.
• If, at the end of a month, you have only IRD, roll that many d6; if any result is a 6, or is higher than your current Rep, it goes up one.
• If you only have DRD left, roll that many d6; if any result is a 1, your Rep goes down one point. Notice that it is easier to increase Rep than decrease it.
• You keep a cumulative running total of all Rep Dice earned in your lifetime; the total when you retire determines your final wealth and lifestyle, and your overall objective is to make that total as high as possible.

SWADE character improvement is measured by Advances, awarded periodically for playing the game - usually one every other session, in my solo games one every 8 posts. This is the equivalent of improving actual Rep. However, available Advances include Rich and Filthy Rich, which improve your character's salary and lifestyle; these are the equivalent of lifetime Rep totals.

The equivalents of losing Rep points in SWADE are the rolls on the Injury Table or the Fear Table, which can give a character permanent reductions in characteristics or extra Hindrances. However, Advances can be used to buy these off, returning the character to their earlier status - just as in 5150, where increases in Rep can offset decreases.

I normally use SWADE's Wealth optional rules, because I really can't be bothered keeping track of every purchase and titbit of revenue; I did that for a living for over four decades and it is absolutely not fast or fun, though it does sometimes make me furious. That does leave me with the need to understand how expenses and payment are handled.

Expenses are easy, because Wealth die type reduces periodically (monthly) back to your default Wealth die type (usually d6). It can also be reduced by making large purchases. If I were feeling harsh, I could say that there is no limit to how low the periodic reductions can take your Wealth die. I think I might do that for Simon, to represent the crippling financial drag of maintaining a starship. Note however that most Job Offers pay your ship upkeep as well as whatever else you get.

For income, SWADE recommends increasing the Wealth die type one step for an average task, two for a particularly lucrative reward, and three for something truly outstanding. Looking at 5150, I see that pay for a job can range from 1 to 7 IRD, an especially lucrative salvage job could earn you 12 IRD, and a heavy freighter full of contraband could theoretically be worth 17 IRD to its captain. However, looking at the kind of work Simon does, a range of 2-6 IRD is more credible.

So, let's say a Wealth die type increase is equivalent to three IRD, and there's no lower limit to how far periodic losses can drop his Wealth die type. Let's try that for a bit and see how it goes.