Dear Father, I hope this letter finds you well, though such hopes are meagre in sight of the Lords watchful eye which is cast upon you. I am writing to say that I have been contemplating ur conversation from earlier this year, and while I had considered previously simply purchasing indulgences, you have inspired me to at east reduce the impact of my sins of necessity, and I have spent a significant portion of my income in forgiving the interest due on debts owed to me, most especially amongst those with he least ability to pay, and I must in the spirit of honesty reveal, no information of value to trade. I have included a copy of my ledger regarding these forgiven debts, and while I realize this is not the equivalent of forswearing the sin of usury, I hope that these advances will demonstrate that my heart is, if not fully in the right place, moving in the right direction.
yours in faith, Rilcheaux
(follows with a ledger detailing the forgiveness of 6MP of interest on debts)
*in game terms this is my plan to implement cash for using money to overcome resistance/increase bond strength. These are at a rate of 5 pts/lb, so 6 lbs/yr should overcome resistance at 30 points/yr, intended to be mixed with what stories might arise. Also to begin a correspondence with Villanus on Divine Lore
I am quite well, as I hope you are also. I am most heartened to hear that you have had a change of heart and are willing to turn away, at least to some extent, from your sinful ways. The road to Heaven is a hard one, but still it may begin with small steps. I can hope that you will see that you must take further action to return to God's Grace. But for now I shall be content with what you have done. And please know that I regularly pray for the Holy Spirit to come to you and inspire you in God's name.
I have hoped to return to Arans again, for I find your community quite fascinating. Unfortunately, however, my duties have kept me far too busy. Thankfully it seems as if the Inquisition is winding down, and I will soon be able to devote myself to other tasks. Perhaps some day in the future we shall again meet in person.
Yours in the service of Our LORD,
Fr. Matheus Vilanis[/size]
Does Rilcheaux actually own 6 mythic pounds of debt that he can forgive? I mean, just how much debt does Rilcheaux own? I know he has a reputation as a usurer. But does the Flaw Usurer necessarily mean that in addition to the reputation he has vast amounts of debt that he could either collect or forgive? I would tend to think that the actual resource of debt owned is something that should be developed in game. It seems odd that a Flaw would grant such resources.
I'm not entirely certain that will work. I defer to the troupe on this. But my reading of the rules have them being more restrictive.
First, the rules at the end of Societas for using money in place of agency points specifically say that money may be used to increase the bond strength of an agent. However, the rules say nothing about being able to use money to overcome the resistance of a potential agent. Since Fr. Vilanis doesn't have a Bond Strength at the moment, not being an agent, I'm not sure that you can spend cash on him. When talking about using cash, the rules state that "a principal must tread lightly if he has such individuals as part of his agency." That supports what is said about only being able to use money on existing agents.
Second, the rules specifically say that "One Mythic Pound’s worth of material goods can take the place of 5 agency experience points (or 4 shillings per point) without need for a story." I take this to mean that you can spend one mythic pound once to take the place of 5 agency points without the need for a story. After that, you need to have a story to get any more agency points. (Though I'd say you might be able to spend 1 mythic pound after each relevant story...)
For support, I rely on the portion of the rules that states that "[m]oney can be used to increase the Bond Strength of an agent, but agents are not generally employees, and only so much loyalty can be bought. To certain types of agents, this might seem suspiciously like bribery, and a principal must tread lightly if he has such individuals as part of his agency." It seems counter to this to say that you can spend as much money as you want at an exchange rate of 1 mythic pound/5 agency points. That sounds suspiciously like bribery.
Also, where is Rilcheaux getting 6 mythic pounds per year? He's not Wealthy, and Redcaps don't make that much.
Marko? Fixer? Any thoughts?
Fr. Vilanis would be happy to start up such a correspondence.
The Userer flaw includes a 10 lb/yr income, which presumably is above repayment of principle.
As to the delicacy of using money, that is why he is spending it as charity instead of making a direct contribution. As to the limitation of using money it specifies that it can only be used to buy a bond strength of up to 3. However on further review it does indicate money cannot be used to buy agents, which presumably means overcoming resistance...so this approach will have to wait until RIlcheaux can recruit through stories or if the troupe is willing to allow another method for during the jump...
I can accept Mythic Pounds & Mythic Pennies. But I draw the line at Schillings. No Mythic Schillings!
Pesatas, Pesos, Reals, Dinars, Marks, Silver or Gold, all fine
No Schillings!
Whoever this money changer guy is, Carmen will eventually seek an audience with him. She has relatives in the financial industry operating in Barcelona, and she has incorporated some of their ideas into the finances of the covenant, and seeks to expand upon it. She has a vision of the whole of Andorra becoming a banking center for the whole of Mythic Europe.
On the second, I mostly agree. Too much money in too little time, even if it doesn't appear suspicious (which it might, even if given to charity!), won't do much to cement a reputation, which takes time to build. So I'd say you might spend 1MP, depending on the NPC and the form it takes*, with the possibility to spend one again after several years.
IMO, the rules clearly aim for 2 things:
Allowing a character to have an existing network and enjoy it
Force the characters into stories, by requiring them to recruit new agents. Thus the restrictions on money spending.
This may be stupid, but, for exemple, instead of saying "I spend 1MP now", you could say "I spend 1mp over 5 years", for exemple.
If you look at the structure (which I initially misread), money can only be used between a bond of 0 and 3, and 1 mythic pound is worth 5 points. The bond advances as an art, which means that level 3 is 6 points. In short this pretty much exists as a 1 time 'buy' from level 1 to 3.
The only issue in this situation is that Rilcheaux would reasonably be seeking out adventures to build his network which likely will only involve him or himself and some grogs at a time when we are skipping years with minimal stories... and probably seeking to interject some of these stories while he is 'on duty' and traveling around Europe delivering messages.