Resources

Backgrounds

Resources changes a little over the ages, though the application of wealth really does not. The first writeup comes from the 3rd edition Masquerade, and is more applicable to the modern era. The second comes from the Dark Ages core rulebook.

Modern Era
Kincaid smiled as he turned the key, enjoying the shudder of the Porche's engine as it turned over flawlessly. It suited the others to take whatever they needed and discard it once they were done. Not him. In a half-remembered, long-gone life he'd thirsted for all the trappings of wealth, and it amused him no end to regularly shuck his "champion of the Sabbat" duties and dabble in the upper-class circles for all they were worth. Certainly, he couldn't enjoy the food and drink, and the savor of a beautiful woman had changed entirely - but luxury is luxury, even to the unliving.
Besides, he mused to himself as he roared out of the garage and into the night street, a car like this makes hunting so much easier.

This Trait describes your personal financial resources, or your access to such. A high resources rating doesn't necessarily reflect your liquid assets; this Background describes your standard of "living," your possessions and your buying power. No dots in Resources is just that: You have no permanent haven and no possessions save a few clothes and possibly a weapon or pocketful of coins.
You receive a basic allowance each month based on your rating; be certain to detail exactly where this money comes from, be it a job, trust fund or dividends. AFter all, your fortune may well run out over the course of the chronicle, depending on how well you maintain it. You can also sell your less liquid resources if you need the cash, but this can take weeks or even months, depending on what exactly you're trying to sell. Art buyers don't just pop out of the woodwork, after all.

1 Small savings: a small apartment and maybe a motorcycle. If liquidated, you would have about $1,000 in cash. Allowance of $500 a month.
2 Middle class: an apartment or condominium. If liquidated, you would have at least $8,000 in cash. Allowance of $1200 a month.
3 Large savings: A homeowner or someone with some equity. If liquidated, you would have at least $50,000 in cash. Allowance of $3000 a month.
4 Well off: a member of the upper class. YOu own a very large house, or perhaps a dilapidated mansion. If liquidated, you would have at least $500,000 in cash. Allowance of $9000 a month.
5 Ridiculously affluent: a multimillionaire. Your haven is limited by little save your imagination. If liquidated, you would have at least $5,000,000 in cash. Allowance of $30,000 a month.

Dark Ages
Resources are valuable goods whose disposition your character controls. In the currency-scarce Dark Medieval world, these assets may be actual money, but they're more likely to be property of some sort - land, grazing rights, animals, tax claims in kind as well as money and so on. Remember that vampires don't need to arrange for any food except blood an that their actual needs (as opposed to wants) for shelter and the like are very easily accommodated. Resources for vampires go mostly to pay for luxuries and the associated expenses of developing and maintaining Status, Influence and other Backgrounds. A character with no dots in Resources has enough clothing and supplies to get by, but little margin for luxuries.

1) Sufficient. You can maintain a typical residence in the style of the social class you choose and seem unmiserly, even if fits of largess come seldom. You can maintain a servant or hire specific help as necessary.
2) Moderate. You can display yourself as a member in good standing of your chosen community, with the occasional gift and indulgence seemly for a person of quality. You can maintain a small staff of servants. A fraction of your resources are available in letters of credit, readily portable jewelry and other forms that let you maintain a standard of "living" at the one-dot level wherever you happen to be, for up to six months.
3) Comfortable. You are a prominent and established member of your community, with land and property, and the reputation which lets you draw on credit at very generous terms. Trust is as much a key resources as any particular valuable commodity at this level. You can maintain a one-dot quality of existence wherever you are without difficulty, for as long as you choose.
4) Wealthy. Troubadours spin tales about the richness of your clothes, the health of your livestock and the beauty of your home. You hold more wealth than many of the local authorities (and need to deal with their jealousy from time to time). When you travel, you can maintain a three-dot existence for up to a year, and a two-dot existence indefinitely.
5) Extremely Wealthy. Midas, Croesus and you, at least in the popular mind. You have vast and widely distributed assets, with huge staffs and connections to every level of society through a region. You travel with a minimum of three-dot comforts, more with a little effort. Kings and cardinals sometimes come to you for loans.