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I've been looking at Unchained's Automatic Bonus Progression rules recently and it's a system I quite like.
However, it states that wealth by level should effectively be halved when using this system. I was wondering if there were any abstraction that actually removed wealth by level at all?
I am aware of Burning Wheel's resource attribute mechanic but I'm reluctant to introduce a random element to purchasing power. I am thinking more along the lines of something like a Resource Point system where you gain a certain number of RP per level that can be exchanged for items of a particular value. So this could represent good links with the black market underground or the fact that you might be personally wealthy or that you have a side business or whatever - it just removes the temptation to loot every body and peel the lead from the windows of every room you go in.
The issue I'm having is that I can't find a formula that adequately replicates the wealth by level table that I could use to determine how many Resource Points a character should gain per level to make this work.
So my question is whether anyone has better math-fu than myself to come up with that equation or if anyone has any alternative suggestions of how I could make this work?
I was wondering if there were any abstraction that actually removed wealth by level at all?
The Automatic Bonus Progression rules also say this: "If you want to remove magic items entirely (or make them so exceedingly rare that there is no expectation of finding them), consider giving the characters bonuses from the following table as if they were 2 levels higher. The table extends to 22nd level to account for games without magic items."
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That's the thing, I don't want to remove them entirely, just come up with some kind of halfway house between using ABP and some other resource to make additional purchases and not using magic items and purchasing at all
So I guess I'm looking to abstract economy rather than replace magic items all together.
If WBL followed a linear pattern it would be easy. I could say using ABP you gain a +1 resistance bonus this level and 2 Resource Points that can be used to purchase items of up to 500gp each etc to make up the difference.
So players wouldn't have to worry about killing everyone they meet and stripping their corpses. (Yes I am aware this could descend into a discussion about that's the player's issue, WBL is a guide etc and I'd like to curtail that up front by recognising those pointa but also trying to explore this thought experiment to see if it could work.)
I've been using a wealth system that I took from Evil Lincoln's house rules, which in turn seems based on the wealth system in d20 modern. It's available here. I know you said you don't like anything random, but you could eliminate that by mandating that the PCs take 10, or otherwise modify it.
I like using it for exactly the reasons you listed - PCs are less likely to loot all the bodies murderhobo style, and it's easier to support wealth from alternative revenue streams, such as income from a business.
In my home game, I have a couple things in place around magic items and wealth.
1. Something similar but distinct from the automatic bonus progression system (you choose from a list of 'big six' type bonuses as you level up. This is to cover the 'power' of magic items to the pure numbers of the characters.
2. Each character can choose a suite of extra abilities that expand as they level up that come in addition to their class. This is based on and includes the 'archetypes' (not paizo archetypes) from rogue genius games. This is to replace some of the flexibility that characters get from utility based magic items.
3. Non-consumable magic items (wands, scrolls, and potions) are not craftable by normal means. They are all priceless artifacts and extremely rare.
4. Each character will eventually find a handful of simple and interesting magic items over the course of their career that match the character or the story. They cant really be bought and sold as they are priceless (it would be like trying to buy a picasso painting in the real world, yes its possible, but there isnt exactly a picassomart to go pick things up on).
5. Character wealth is entirely a function of the story and the kind of game I am running. With the above rules, wealth has a very limited effect on mechanical power, so if a character wants to be fabulously wealthy, other then story implications, there isnt much of an issue. The impact of scrolls potions and wands, while not zero is not of the same order that permanent magic items that give numerical bonuses have.
Players can choose to be the rogue that takes everything that isnt nailed down, or the honorable fighter that would rather stay in a cheap in than loot his enemies corpses without any mechanical impact on their character.