For those who want a little more structure for the Credit Rating stat, here are a few additional guidelines (Warning: These are really crunchy):
- If a character with a positive CR would have failed the roll without the CR bonus, his CR goes down by one. If the DN of the roll would have made success impossible without the CR bonus, his CR is reduced by the difference between the DN and the number the character would have rolled against without the CR.
- If the character misses more than a week of work, his CR goes down by 1 for the next month, unless he has paid vacation time or sick days that he can use.
- If a character receives a windfall (bonus, reward, lottery winning, etc.) compare the amount to his approximate monthly income. If the amount is less than his monthly income, his CR doesn't change (since expenses have a way of increasing to match income). If it's equal to our greater, his CR goes up by the amount of the windfall divided by the character's monthly income (rounded down). This bonus to the CR decreases by 1 point per month until it disappears.* If the CR bonus would be 10 or greater, the character may take a "Wealth" type Gimmick with a Number equal to 1/2 of the CR Bonus instead of increasing his CR.
- If, during an adventure, the character spends a lot of money or lives beyond his means, he must make a Credit Check. If the roll fails, his CR goes down by 1.
*If this method is used, the character's CR can go above +5.
Going into Debt:
If a character fails a credit check roll, he can still buy the item by going into debt (note: Most characters (at least in modern games) are assumed to carry some debt. A debt Flaw just means the character has more debt than he can reasonably handle.). The amount of the Flaw is equal to 1/3 of the DN for the roll. If the DN is higher than the character could roll with a normal Credit Check, the Flaw Penalty is doubled. If a character's Debt flaw ever goes above +5, it becomes a Weakness with a Number equal to the Flaw Penalty.
If a character has a "Wealth" type Gimmick, he can choose to reduce his Gimmick Number by 1 instead of taking a Flaw. If the DN for the item is greater than the character's Gimmick Number, he must reduce the Gimmick by the difference.
Getting Out of Debt:
Characters may trade in positive CR bonuses or bonuses from resource-related Skills in order to get rid resource-related Flaws (or negative CR penalties) on a 1:1 basis. Characters may also reduce the Number of Debt Weakness by trading in 5 points of positive CR or resource-related Skill Bonuses. If this reduces the Weakness to 5 or less, the Weakness reverts to a Flaw.
