Wealth is ridiculously cheap and letting players do things like acquire massive super-human ability just because they have it can and will devastate certain kinds of adventures.
I wouldn't say "just because" they have it. If they're going to buy black market stuff, they'll need either Social Skills or Black Ops, maybe both, probably with appropriate specializations.
I'd also require role-play. If the PC says, "I'm going buy my black market Dynamo suit now," I'd say, "Alright, just where are you looking for one?" I'd require some kind of feasible plan, then role-play it out. And frankly, something like this may take more than one PC. The talents of several may be needed. Getting gear you can't buy at Wal-Mart is an adventure in itself, even with high Wealth.
You lost me here. Obviously, if you don't have a certain maturity level, the game's a wash anyway. I might say to the Wealth oriented player, "You realize Shapeshifty and Cosmic If have Actions that could make this go a lot easier. Are you going to ask them to help?" Got to get the Band of Brothers thing going, otherwise, it's just a headache. I've walked away from games where I didn't like the maturity level.
If we're being true to the comics, if a character has the requisite Wealth, other Actions, and role-plays brilliantly, what he can do in Marvel Earth is astonishing. I'd say that if it's possible for the character to do it inside the game universe, then I probably wouldn't disallow it on grounds of game balance.
If the other players don't like the fact that now Mr. Street has an AIM model 7.0 Adamantium Death Suit, I'd try to get them to role play that in-character. Instead of Player B complaining to the GM about Player A, I'd try to get Player B to see it from Shapeshifty's point of view. How Would Shapeshifty feel about Mr. Street acquiring all this criminal high-tech gear?
Once Player B knows how Shapeshifty feels, then Shapeshifty and Mr. Street have an in-character discussion. Or even an in-character argument. GM breaks in to make sure
characters are talking, not
players.Hey, that might not work. One can but try to train players to be good role-players. Sometimes you fail. Sometimes you need OOC discussions about where the game is going.
Hammer doesn't just have Wealth, though. He's got high Intelligence, Business, Social Skills, and Black Ops, including appropriate specializations. Add it all together and he's a criminal matermind, right up there with Ernst Stavro Blofeld and Fu Manchu. Bill Gates may heve more money, but Gates doesn't have the savvy to interact with the criminal element the way Hammer does.
So how many wealthy PC's will have a skill set like that? Hammer is probably a forty-stone character based entirely on what he does. Maybe there should be a Modifier called "Army of Goons" that represents the endless amounts of cannon fodder people Kingpin, Hammer, Lex Luthor and others seem to be able to recruit. Kingpin actually has an equipment listing to that effect on his sheet.
(Now there's something I'd like to see worked out and written up as a Modifier: Army of Goons. Pay 6 stones for a network of local thugs, 9 stones for the likes of Hellfire Club mercenaries, or 12 stones for your own worldwide terrorist network.)
Anyway, it seems unlikely any one PC could descend into the criminal underworld to get exactly what they want from HYDRA, AIM, etc. There's a hundred things that could go wrong. Successfully getting this stuff is an adventure in itself. And if it's too easy, stands to reason the PC is being set up, and the price comes later.
Because Iron Fist, as a comic book character, sticks to his concept, his motif.
If he were to buy the used Iron Man armor, it would be a one-off. The Red Hulk beats him up one issue, he buys the suit, beats up Rulk in the next issue, then sends the suit back to Tony Stark. That's perfectly fine. Good use of Wealth to solve a problem.
But if he keeps the suit after that, all sorts of other problems arise. For one, the suit may interefere with the balance of his "ki" leading to penalties in play. For another, Tony Stark's gonna be pissed. Justin Hammer makes him an offer for it, and if Iron Fist turns him down, Hammer starts the hostile takeover of Rand Industries....
That's what players have to understand. There's no free lunch—because if there was, there would be no game. Sure, they bought the suit fair and square. I'm game with that. Holding on to it is a seperate problem.
If the players
can't be made to understand all this ... I dunno, maybe it's time to break out the Monopoly Board.