The Financier is a phenomenal little class recently posted over on Basic Red. The idea is that you’re the wastrel offspring of some far off nobility. Too pampered to be any use on an adventure. Your main ability is to spend money on the rest of the party, and to gather a cabal of attaches which grows as you level. The usefulness of these varies, which is perfect. The class seems designed to be halfway between help and handicap for the rest of the party. I’m itching to play one.
I’m curious how the resources of the class would play at the table. 1000 money is certainly way more than most parties have to start with, but it’s also not enough to fully equip the party in the best mundane gear. Depending on where you get your gear prices from a set of plate mail might cost 450 (LL), 1,000 (LotFP), 1,200 (DCC). You’ll definitely need to make intelligent choices. I like that, but I also feel like this is something I’d want to tinker with after playtesting it a bit. Striking the balance between rich enough to open up interesting new possibilities, but poor enough to force intelligent choices is going to be a tricky balance to strike. One that will be particular to each campaign’s economy.
I really like the idea that the Financier allows the party to bring siege weapons to bear against dungeon problems. “If you think a catapult would help, I can buy us a catapult.” That sorta thing. Not in the first adventure, but once they’ve got a few treasure hauls and had their wealth doubled that would be a fun way to take things.
John Salway & Jesse Cox on g+ have already suggested the addition of a Lawyer attache. Someone who could whip up contracts and help smooth over legal troubles. I’d like to further suggest:
Tame Philosopher: Educated enough to make any nonsense sound deep. Their primary role is to have conversations with the financier that make their employer feel smart. Once per level the Financier may roll an intelligence check as if they had 18 in that ability. The Tame Philosopher may be deployed to distract any faux-intellectuals the party comes across.
Groom: Tends to any animals the party has brought with them. Keeps them properly fed, trained, and presentable. Any rolls that would normally be made to direct these creatures gain a bonus of 1. Creatures may learn 1 more trick than normally allowed.
Priest: A spiritual advisor to the Financier, whose primary job is to theologically justify their actions. Their presence makes the Financier immune to guilt.
I’d also explicitly note that these attendants can’t be left behind. They go wherever the Financier goes, making all sorts of racket.
Is it weird, that when I read “Groom”, I initially thought that his class would be ‘the dude you marry off into the dungeon to solve your problems’.