Creation-Wealth Reference
How gear shopping actually works at character creation - a separate procedure from Pushing a Resource once play begins. See Weapons & Equipment for the full gear catalog.
What is my wealth at character creation?
Every character starts creation shopping with a creation-Wealth of 2. If you spent Resources Pool points on the Wealth Resource, the Level you bought replaces that 2 outright - it's not the higher of the two, just whichever one applies.
The Destitute Flaw overrides both: a Destitute character's creation-Wealth is 0, and they can't spend points on Wealth during creation at all.
Every item in the catalog carries a Wealth rating. Shopping happens in three steps, in order: take your packages, take your free items, then roll for the rest.
What do I get before I spend anything?
Take one Starting Package from every Level up to and including your creation-Wealth - one from each Level, not several from the top. Free, no roll.
What can I simply have?
Money stops being a decision long before it stops mattering. What you can simply have depends on how far the item sits below you:
Two or more Levels below your creation-Wealth: free, as many as you can reasonably carry and justify. A Wealth 5 character doesn't count flashlights.
At your creation-Wealth, or one Level below it: free, up to a number of items equal to your creation-Wealth.
Above your creation-Wealth: never free - and not a roll either. See below.
When do I roll?
Only for one more item from the band your free picks are already spent on - at your creation-Wealth or one Level below it. That's a Wealth Check: roll-under, standard critical results apply.
Success: the item is free.
Failure: you still get the item, and creation-Wealth drops by 1.
Critical failure: the same, except creation-Wealth drops by 2.
What if I want something above my Wealth?
The item can be had, and having it drops creation-Wealth straight to 0. A character who reaches that far walks away with their Starting Packages, their free items, and that one thing. The ask always goes through. What it costs is the ability to make the next one.
At creation-Wealth 0 the rolling stops, but the free items don't. Both free bands are measured against the Level you actually bought, not what's left of the pool - so a character who spent themselves down to nothing can still take anything two or more Levels below their Wealth, along with any of their free allowance they hadn't used yet.
What about the Black Market?
None of the steps above apply to The Black Market. Every purchase there is a transaction whatever it costs, gated by Black Market Access as well as by Wealth. Nobody hands you a jammer because you're rich.
Does this affect my Wealth once play begins?
Creation-Wealth carries across every purchase in this shopping pass, and then it's gone. It has no effect on your actual Wealth Resource, which stays at whatever Level you bought. Once creation ends this whole procedure stops applying: every purchase from then on uses the general Pushing a Resource rule instead.