Money. They say it makes the world go ‘round. They probably don’t mean it literally. But for your bureau, it’s true. Maybe it’s something you picked up from the study of financial contagion, and thinking how those economic strategies map to the Contagion you’re fighting now. Maybe all that time you spent around mages has rubbed off on you, imparting a little bit of that “covert magic” they keep talking about. Or maybe you’re just really, really good at using money to get whatever you want — so good that you can make things happen that no one would dream of.
It doesn’t matter. What matters is that being rich is your superpower. The acquisition of wealth isn’t the goal, but the means to a different end, because you can throw money at the problem. Any problem. At some point, someone with a passing knowledge of Greek coined the term “plutomancy” to describe this vector, and the name stuck. It’s just a simple matter of making your money work for you.
The beast stirs, fingering a gold coin from her lair. The mummy calls his cult and has them sell another of his stockpiled antiquities. The changeling carefully reads the fine print on a special kind of Royal Contract.
System: Each cryptocrat in the faction gains a separate Plutomancy Resources Merit equal to their dots in the authority vector. If the user already has dots in the Resources Merit (Chronicles of Darkness, p. 53), they are not added to the dots that Plutomancy grants — this isn’t additional income, but a supplemental revenue stream.
In addition, at the start of each story, all cryptocrats with access to Plutomancy gain a number of Plutomancy points equal to their Resource dots. These Plutomancy points can be used just like Willpower points, including paying for the cost of other vectors.
Any leftover Plutomancy points are lost at the end of the story. The cryptocrat gains a new pool of points at the start of the next story.
Cost: None
Requirement: When using Plutomancy points, the cryptocrat must activate their vector through the spending of money, financial acquisition, or some other conspicuous display of wealth.
Dice Pool: None
Duration: Permanent, as long as the cryptocrat is part of the faction
Edges
Beasts, Deviants, Hunters, Mummies: The nice thing about being rich is that you can pay for quality results. And when you’re a plutomancer, that means you always get quality results. Each time cryptocrats with this edge spend a Plutomancy point, it is equivalent to two Willpower points instead of just one.
Changelings, Demons, Mages, Prometheans, Sin- Eaters, Vampires, Werewolves: Money’s many purposes vary between its users. Money makes its owner glamorous, and it’s historically been used for the purchase of souls, or to change the world around the spender. Of course, some individuals exalt in the ability to make money from nothing, while others see it as a natural force with a spirit like any other. Then there are those who identify the connection between money and eternity, or money and death. Pluto is the god of the Underworld, after all. Cryptocrats with this edge can spend their Plutomancy points as Glamour, Aether, Mana, Pyros, Plasm, Vitae, or Essence, respective to their normal resource (e.g., a vampire cannot convert Plutomancy to Glamour, but can convert it to Vitae), as well as Willpower, in a one-to-one exchange as long as the action they take involves a conspicuous display of wealth.
Specializations
Tyrants: Some fear power. Some even fear money. These Begotten may use their rating in Plutomancy to act as bonus dice on any rolls where they’re attempting to cow others with their wealth.
Undertakers: These Sin-Eaters help those about to die to get their affairs in order. Nothing makes a ghost move from “ready to move on” to “I have unfinished business” like a contested will or a funeral that bankrupts a family. Not all power from wealth comes from flaunting it — there’s security that comes from quiet wealth as well. Sin-Eaters in an Undertaker krewe do not need to make conspicuous displays of wealth to use their Plutomancy. Further, they gain one additional Plutomancy at the start of each chapter.