Editing Genius The Transgression/Chapter Two: Character Creation (section)

===The Resources Merit:===
A genius has more need for Resources than normal people: she needs supplies, equipment, electricity, and space to work, and all of these cost money. There is also the constant risk that a genius might lose access to her supply of Resources, which could threaten the development of her wonders.

To that end, any genius with dots in the Resources Merit should specify where the money comes from. Each possibility offers drawbacks and the potential for sabotage and catastrophe.
Entrepreneurial Inventor: One of the riskiest of the ways a genius can make money, actually selling one's (normal) inventions, allows a genius to "hide in plain sight." To keep the money flowing, the Storyteller may call for a check once a month, either to come up with a good idea (Intelligence + Science), to put together a prototype (Intelligence + Crafts), to try to drum up some enthusiasm for the project (Manipulation + Expression – Jabir) or even to give a live demonstration (Presence + Socialize – Jabir). Failed rolls can result in money falling through for that month, or force a genius to do something risky in order to raise funds.

====Grant Money:====
The genius' money comes from an academic grant designed to support a field of development 
(that may or may not be related to what the genius does). Since this money is focused on laboratory support, spending it on purchases that can't be justified as a legitimate expense may draw the ire of the grant provider.
 
Too many such expenditures (say, more than one per month) may result in grant money being cut or a visit being paid to the genius' laboratory to see what's "really going on." This usually results in a desperate, perhaps futile cover-up by the genius.

====Parents:====
Younger geniuses can get by siphoning huge quantities of money from their rich parents. There are two problems with this. First, the amount of money siphoned requires that the genius' parents either be staggeringly rich (in which case they will probably be insane and/or annoying) or bad with numbers (and theft is a transgression, not to mention a crime that puts the genius at risk). Second, the constant intrusions, the parents wandering around the lab (possibly getting captured by things), and the "Are you on drugs?" speeches can wear on a young genius. Any slip-up may lead to a suspension of allowance. And don't think that having Inspired parents makes it any better: they're just as strapped for cash, and may not be above stealing 
from their kid's laboratory.

====Private Sector Job:====
The genius has a job that a normal technically-proficient person might have, such as 
employment as a chemist or a job hawking video games at the local electronics shop. The genius will have to put in time at this job, and probably gets called in at unwanted or unexpected times to cover shifts. Failure to show up may result in termination and a loss of Resources. Assume that the job is part-time and requires at least sixteen hours per week, with the occasional bonus shift thrown in for good measure. (The Storyteller should use the genius' private sector job as a springboard for adventure, not just as a time-sink or an impediment to adventure.)

====Theft:====
Of course, you can always just build giant robots and then rob banks with them. It's not like that's never occurred to mad scientists in the past. But burglary is dangerous and unpredictable, as are related tricks like blackmail and corporate fraud. They're immoral, too. Of course, it doesn't mean that geniuses haven't tried them. Theft is rarely reducible to a single roll: the genius will have to make plans, then get out there and mix it up with local law enforcement and private security―and any other geniuses who notice (and frown on) this kind of behavior.

====Trust Fund: ====
This should be the easiest way for a genius to stay wealthy. Every month a big wad of cash 
appears, or a lump sum is deposited in the genius' checking account. Of course, it's never that easy, since trust funds come from somewhere and that "somewhere" expects the genius to use those funds to live, not to buy "...50 kilos of Brazilian fertilizer...fifteen solid bronze statues of Spiro Agnew, eleven feet high...three cases of military-grade incendiaries...400 Apple IIe's, painted blue...." In other words, weird purchases (more than one or two wonders built per month) can send up a red flag, triggering an investigation into exactly what the 
genius is stockpiling, and why.

====University Position:====
The genius works at a school, teaching and publishing. The teaching doesn't take much time (what else are teaching assistants for?) but the genius will have to survive the constant onslaught of bright, curious people who want to know what she is doing. Once per month the genius will need to make some kind of roll, to publish a paper or fend off an inquiry about what she does―Intelligence + Expression, Manipulation + Subterfuge, etc., with the usual penalties for Jabir―or she may find herself investigated and, unless she has Tenure, tossed out on her ear.

====Additional effects:====

Next to where a genius records her Resources, note where that money comes from. Different dots may have different sources: the first dot may come from a private sector job, while the second comes from grant money. Failure to keep the money-lines flowing may result in the genius temporarily losing access to her Resources. Also, enemies may try to cut the genius off at the knees by attacking her funding. The Storyteller should, of course, see the source of the genius' Resources as a way to tell stories, not to sever the genius from her ability to make wonders. While disappointment is part of the game's mood, Genius is about creating wonders, not about being bored, broke, and frustrated. Storytellers should avoid forcing players to experience parts of their characters' lives that they (the players) find boring or uninspiring.