Interstellar Trade

Players with an interstellar starship can engage in interstellar trade, either as a side venture for more traditional adventures, or in a campaign centered around merchantry. Interstellar merchants are called Far Traders.

Trade Procedure

Simple Trade Procedure

This procedure is used in all games except Far Trader campaigns. Interstellar trade is a great way to change credits from one polity to another.

1. On a planet, characters can seek out trade goods at any reasonably sized market.
2. The GM rolls a 1d6 to determine if the trade goods are Low (1-3), Normal (4-5), or High (6) Value.
3. The GM determines the price of the goods per ton by rolling a 2d6 and multiplying it by the Value. Low Value is 2d6*10, Normal Value is 2d6*100, and High Value is 2d6*1000 per ton.
4. One character can make an opposed Trade/WIS or Trade/CHA test against the seller to get a better price. On a success, the 2d6 roll in the previous step is decreased by their Trade skill. On a failure, the 2d6 roll is increased by the opponent's Trade skill.
5. The characters either take the offer and pay local credits for as many tons as they can hold, or decline the trade. If the character's wait a week, they can attempt to find another good and start the process again from step 2.
6. If the characters accept the trade, they can attempt to sell the goods in a different system. When determining the price to sell the goods, the GM rolls 2d6+1 and multiplies it by the Value. The players can attempt to change the price as described in Step 4, but raising the roll on a success and lowering it on a failure.
7. The characters either accept the price or refuse the sale.

Full Trade Procedure

This procedure (and therules on this page) are only used for Far Trader campaigns.

1. A Far Trader arrives on a planet, lands in a polity, and puts Trade Goods up for sale.
2. The GM rolls on the Sales Chart, adding the Trader’s Expertise, subtracting any Friction, and adding any relevant Polity Tags modifiers to get the Sales Price for each good, which holds for one month.
3. The players decide which goods to sell. For each good sold, the GM checks Trouble.
4. If the sale completes, the Far Trader and their crew receive local credits for the goods.
5. The Far Traders may buy goods with local credits. The GM rolls on the polity’s Trade Table to see which two goods have the best deal.
6. The players can spend a day to seek out deals on other goods. Each day, the GM rolls again on the Trade Table. The new goods to cost 2 additional Friction for each previous deal sought. Special-order goods available on the planet cost a flat 8 Friction.
7. Once a good is selected, the GM rolls on the Sales Chart, adding the Trader’s Expertise, subtracting any Friction, and adding any relevant Polity Tags modifiers to get the Sales Price, which holds for one month.
8. The players decide what to buy. For each good bought, the GM checks Trouble.
9. If the sale completes, the Far Traders pay local credits for the goods.
10. The Far Traders pay for upkeep, pay crew salaries, purchase fuel, and leave. During this procedure, as a result of Trouble or to secure a better price, the Far Traders may engage in a Trade Adventure.

Trade Goods

Trade Goods are the bulk goods used in interstellar trade. Trade Goods have four components: Base Price, Size, TL, and Tags.

Base Price

This base price reflects the good’s inherent characteristics, its Tags, and it’s general desirability to sapients thoughout the stars. The Base Price is multiplied by the result on the Sales Chart to determine the Sales Price (see below.)

Size and Units

Trade Goods are measured in units, with up to 1 unit of a good being able to sold or bought per 10,000 inhabitants of a polity. A standard good has Normal size, meaning that it takes up 1 ton of cargo space per unit. However, some goods may have smaller or larger units:

TL

Each Trade Good has a Tech Level required to produce it. Goods that require TL4 industry won't be found on primitive worlds, and goods with TL0 can be made anywhere.

Tags

Each Trade Good has one to three Tags that encompass the good's utility and value. A Trade Good's tags will increase or decrease the price in certain polities, depending on its Tags modifiers (see below.)

Some goods have an additional special Tag: Common or Rare. This rarity is factored into the Base Price and marks these as very poor or very good interstellar cargoes.

Trading Goods

A Far Trader must go to a polity to buy or sell a Trade Good. Once there, the GM determines the selling price of the goods they have, and the buying price of any available goods. The Far Traders can decide whether to buy, sell, or seek better prices in other Polities. The GM then checks Trouble, and if no Trouble occurs, the transaction completes.

Each transaction of a Trade Good takes at least one day to complete, during which the Far Traders cannot do anything else (including rest.)

Polities

Polities are the powers that be in a star system or on a planet, any sovereign entity that can restrict trade (and other activities) within areas it controls. A polity might be a planet-bound state, a system hegemon, or a confederation of orbitals around a gas giant. Regardless, all major interstellar trade is conducted in polities.¹ In order to transact in a polity, a Far Trader must actually be in that polity, either in its planetary territory or in a major port. Attempting to sell to intrasystem traders will result in significant losses, and so is not done.

A Far Trader can buy or sell 1 unit per 10,000 people in the polity per month.

A Far Trader cannot transact Trade Goods between two polities in the same system. The margins are so low and the competition so fierce that it would lead to instant ruin. Far Traders interested in "local" business must invest in their Headquarters and Holdings. Certain adventures may allow an exception to this rule.

Trade Table

Each Polity has a Trade Table, a set of its ten most common Trade Goods.² When a Far Trader arrives in a Polity, the GM rolls twice on the Trade Table to determine what goods have the best deals this month. A polity's Trade Table starts as hidden from the players, and they will have to fill it in themselves through experience or rumors.

If the Far Trader wishes to buy other goods, the GM can roll again on the Trade Table, generating two additional goods, but with 2 additional Friction for the transaction. They can repeat this process as often as they wish. However, each subsequent reroll increases the Friction by 2 more than the previous roll. Each new roll takes a day. One player can make a Connect/INT skill check against difficulty 8. If they are successful, the price discovery happens in a few hours instead, allowing time for another price discovery. Additional Connect/INT skill checks can be made, but the difficulty increases by 1 each time.

If the Far Trader prefers, they may special order a Trade Good that could be reasonably found on the planet (even if it doesn't appear on the Trade Table), but it will have 8 Friction added to its transaction. A special order takes a day.

Example Trade Table

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Sale Price, Friction, and Expertise

Once the Far Trader has decided which items to buy or sell, the GM determines the Trade Good's Sale Price. The Sale Price is determined by rolling 3d6, modified as described below, and compared to the following chart:

The Price Modifier is multiplied against the Trade Good's Base Price and added to the Base Price. The result is its Sale Price for the next month.

The 3d6 roll is primarily modified by Friction, Expertise, and Polity Tag Modifiers.

Friction

Friction indicates how much of a far trader’s profit is going to be eaten up in taxes, extortion, payoffs, bribes, port insurance, and obscure yet costly local customs. The higher the Friction, the harder it is to turn a profit as the locals siphon off more of the take. Each Polity has a base Friction score, and special orders or Trouble can increase Friction as well. Friction from a polity usually ranges from 4 to 8 depending on the commercial friendliness of the society.

Friction always modifies against the players. If a player is trying to buy a Trade Good, the Friction will be added to the roll; and will be deducted from the roll when trying to sell.

Expertise

Expertise represents the chief Far Trader's business acumen. It is the sum of their Admin and Trade skills (with no penalty for lacking the skills), plus the better of their Intelligence or Charisma modifiers.³ Only one Far Trader's Expertise can be used during all the transactions in a polity.

Expertise always used opposite of Friction: subtracted when buying and added when selling.

Polity Tags Modifiers

Each polity has a set of two to six Polity Tag Modifiers. These modifiers are added to any transactions involving a Trade Good with the listed Tag. For example, a mining colony might have Mineral -2 as one of its modifiers. In that case, all transactions involving Trade Goods with the Mineral tag would have a -2 modifier. Polity Tags Modifiers are always added to the roll regardless of buying or selling.

Local Credits

All goods and services in a polity (not just Trade Goods) must be bought in that polity's currency, referred to as local credits.⁴ Selling will earn the Far Trader local credits, which can then be used to buy Trade Goods, or other goods and services. Local credits will be noted in logs with the name of the issuing polity, e.g. Victorian Credits or Amity Credits. Local credits are generally worthless outside of their polity. Moneychangers in a trade hub will be able to exchange foreign credits for local credits at a 1000:1 ratio. Polities on the same planet will be able to exchange each others' credits for a 10:1 ratio. A Far Trader can exchange up to 1,000,000 foreign credits per month.

The one exception to local credits is colonies of interstellar powers, who are separate polities from their overlord, but have their economy "dollarized" with their overlord's currency.

Trouble

When buying or selling, there is always a chance for complications to arise.

Each polity has a Trouble score from 1 to 5, the general likelihood that something goes awry during the transaction. After each purchase or sale, the GM rolls 1d10; if the roll is equal to or lower than the Trouble score, then a Trouble occurs. The GM then either rolls on the polity's Trouble Table or makes up a relevant Trouble. Like a Trade Table, the Trouble score and table is initially hidden from the players and must be discovered.

Trouble can have a number of effects. It might delay the transaction (and any further transactions) by weeks, it might add Friction to the transaction, and goods might be destroyed or stolen. The Far Traders can choose to accept this Trouble, eating whatever delays and costs it causes, or can attempt an Adventure to resolve it.

Trade Adventures

Far Traders quickly realize that playing by the rules and following the process describe above is hardly a way to make the windfall profits of their dreams. There's too many wily bandits, greedy portmasters, and rapacious governments to ever succeed while playing by the rules. The difference between a bankrupt and oligarchic Far Trader is the latter's ability to make their own opportunities.

While trading, Far Traders may decide to engage in a Trade Adventure. These are conduct in the typical RPG style, with each player controlling their character, moving them through the world, engaging in social interactions, tests of skill, and occasionally combat. Typically, Far Traders engage in Trade Adventures to resolve Trouble during a transaction, or to lower the Friction on a transaction.

Trade Adventures fall into one of a few categories, depending on their goal: Do A Favor, Unseat Authority, Kill Target, Establish Holding, Retrieve Plunder, and Incite Rebellion. When starting a Trade Adventure, the players state their goal (lower Friction, resolve Trouble, etc.), using their knowledge of the situation and polity. The GM determines the most applicable adventure category, and generates an adventure.

The players can help choose which type of adventure they want to engage in for their own advantage. For example, a Retrieve Plunder adventure might be a straightforward way to recover stolen goods, but Doing A Favor might be easier with the players' skillset and still net them additional goods to make up for what they lost.

Passengers

Far Traders (and other entrepreneurial starship operators) can supplement their trading income by carrying passengers.

There are two categories of passengers: Steerage and Luxury. Steerage Passengers pay 500 credits per hex, and Luxury Passengers pay 1,000 credits per hex, based on the number of hexes to their destination, collected at arrival. Steerage passengers will accept being put in cold sleep pods, and cost 15 credits per day to support otherwise. Luxury passengers expect high-class accommodations, and cost 30 credits per day to support.

Passengers also have a type, which determines how much space they require and how far they need to go.

• Adventurers: The assorted space weirdos who make the sector so damn colorful. Each adventurer will travel to a location 1d20 hexes away, and will be willing to share rutters if it is infrequently traveled. Each adventurer needs 1d20 tons of cargo space.
• Bounty Hunters: Hunters and trackers of the most dangerous game. Bounty Hunters will travel to a random polity or space object 1d4-1 (min. 1) hexes away. Bounty hunters require 1 ton of cargo space.
• Envoys: Representatives of governments, religions, megacorps and other organizations sent to advance their masters’ interests on other planets. Missionaries, diplomats, and factfinders are all envoys. All envoys are luxury passengers. Each envoy will travel to a random polity in a system 1d10 hexes away. Each envoy needs 1d10 * 0.1 tons of cargo space.
• Mercenaries: Mercenary companies without organic logistics support might subcontract their soldiers' transport to and from warzones. Steerage mercenaries are the fighting troops, and luxury mercenaries and the officers. All mercenaries on a planet will be going to the same location, and will request to travel together. Mercenaries will travel any active conflict 1d6 hexes away. Each mercenary requires 0.1 tons of cargo space. If there are 6 or more mercenaries, they will require that a piece of heavy equipment (10 tons) be transported as well.
• Refugees: Those unfortunates who must flee their home due to persecution or chaos. All refugees are steerage passengers. Refugees want to get to the first safe polity within 1d4 hexes. Each refugee needs 0.5 tons of cargo space. There is a 50% chance that, when they arrive, the refugee will only have half the money they promised.
• Workers: Staff of outposts, colonies, and orbitals. Steerage workers are the common blue collar stiffs, while luxury workers are managers and overseers. Workers will travel to a random outpost, colony, or space station 1d6 hexes away. Workers require 0.1 tons of cargo space, but there is a 50% chance that a luxury worker will be an engineer requiring 10 tons of cargo space.

Passengers Available

Passengers can be found in any polity of 1 million people or more. The number of passengers available each month depend on the TL and population of the polity:⁵

1-10 Million

10-100 Million

100+ Million

Cargo Shipments and Courier Work

Far Traders (and other entrepreneurial starship operators) can also supplement their trading income by shipping cargo and carrying mail.

The roll for the number of Luxury passengers on a planet is the roll for the number of loads of cargo to be shipped on a planet. Each load of cargo takes up 2d20 tons and must be shipped to the largest polity 2d12 hexes away. The entire load must be shipped at once. After paying the brokers' fees, insurance, and container costs, shipping cargo generates 500 credits per ton per hex traveled.

It is assumed that tramp freighters pick up system-to-system mail where they can, and pass it on electronically in exchange for a handful of credits each time they travel. However, the GM may determine that instead of a Luxury passenger being available, a message or small package of negligible tonnage requires a courier. It will need to be carried to a random location 2d20 hexes away, and the recipient will pay 100 credits per hex traveled. The person offering the job will set a time limit, typically the number of days it would take a spike-1 ship to get to the destination; if the package does not arrive within that time, there is no payment. The payment is also voided if the ship is boarded by pirates, as the message can no longer be trusted to be secret.

Appendix: Trade Good Tags

Agricultural

Agricultural goods are usually edible substances or raw building materials for those worlds too poor or primitive to use ceraplast or other advanced construction tech. Other worlds have a cultural or aesthetic preference for natural materials for their buildings.

Alien

Alien goods are those defined by their xenological origin. They have some qualities or function unknown to ordinary human goods and are clearly some fascinating product of alien artifice.

Armaments

Armaments includes all military goods and killing machines fit for individual use, and able to be deployed by military, police, and civilians. Small arms, armor, and military survival kits fall under this heading. Ordinary rations and uniforms may not qualify, but ultra-concentrated food substitutes and armored battle harness certainly would.

Astronautic

Astronautic commodities have to do with spaceflight. It requires a large and sophisticated industrial base to construct astronautic components, and many worlds lack the rare minerals necessary for building spike drives or interstellar starships of any kind.

Biological

Biological goods are cargoes that cannot be grown or cultured in mass agriculture, yet do not require post- or pretech laboratories and factories that biotech goods require. Scientific samples, cultured microorganisms, and rare spices and wood fall under this category.

Biotech

Biotech wares are the product of advanced gengineering and sophisticated eugenic therapies. In the case of living organisms, even very primitive worlds might have a functional breeding stock of this good, but most worlds require at least postech expertise to offer this type of commodity.

Chemical

Chemical goods are similar to mineral goods, but are refined to their most useful compounds. They also include manufactured compounds that are need for cryogenic technology, industrial process, and chemical warfare.

Computer

Computer goods are those that incorporate or form part of thinking machines. It includes all the microchips, processors, and computing devices that undergird any advanced civilization.

Consumer

Consumer goods cover the innumerable cosmetics, appliances, labor-saving devices and fashion accessories produced by the ingenuity of countless worlds. Their sheer novelty can often excite buyers on distant worlds, along with the cachet that exists in using costly offworld products.

Cultural

Cultural products are intimately tied with the history, traditions, and cultural values of a particular world. They may take the form of clothing, artwork, music, entertainment holos, or almost anything else that is vividly and clearly a product of their society.

Energetic

Energetic goods are defined by their instability. From fossil fuels to uranium, from explosives to power cells, Energetic goods are capable of releasing tons of energy in a useful (or at least desired) manner. This also makes them riskier to transport and necessitates protocols for safe handling.

Heavy Weaponry

Heavy weaponry covers all military goods that require more infrastructure to use effectively. Gravtanks, artillery pieces, or even quantum ECM generators would fall under heavy weaponry. These goods often bring in the most scrutiny outside of maltech itself.

Information

Information goods are primarily valuable for what they can teach, not just what they are. Because of their makeup, information goods can often be very compact. However, the nature of information goods means that only large amounts of new, exciting information will command good prices.

Livestock

Livestock are valuable even in the relatively small numbers that can be traded across interstellar distances. Even a few breeding pairs can add important genetic diversity to a world’s stock pool, and some strains are gengineered for superb growth and yields.

Low Tech

Low Tech goods are those defined by their simplicity of manufacture. Any society with access to even the most primitive tools can create such a product- clothing, booze, hand tools, and other products that require no sophistication in their production.

Luxury

Luxury wares offer some exotic pleasure or alien delight to the buyer. While poor worlds rarely have the surplus to afford these rarities, wealthier and more decadent worlds might want nothing more than a constant stream of these new pleasures.

Maltech

Maltech is universally reviled, hated, and feared. Slave-things gengineered from human stock, lunatic unbraked AI cores, cannibalistic ghoul immortality tech, crust-cracking doomsday devices... if the tech provokes automatic revulsion, it’s probably maltech. Still, maltech is always has its uses for some cold few.

Medical

Medical tech is widely valued, particularly since most worlds have a wide selection of native sicknesses and syndromes unknown on other worlds. Most colony worlds have only a minimal fit with human biology, and the consequences can be bitter to the natives.

Mineral

Mineral wares are metal ingots, refined ore extracts, and other concentrated mineral products. Raw ore is almost never shipped offworld due to its bulk, but most worlds can manage even complex mineral extraction processes with enough offworlder oversight- and enough contempt for safety and pollution controls.

Postech

Postech goods are those products that could only be produced by postech-capable planets. Just because a product was built on a postech world does not mean it qualifies for this type. The type only applies if its qualities hinge on its technological development.

Pretech

Pretech commodities are extremely rare. They do something miraculous or impossible to ordinary tech, though this thing may be so specific to pretech industry or so reliant on psitech support that it has no practical use in the modern day. Even semifunctional pretech junk remains precious in the hands of sufficiently inventive engineers, however.

Religious

Religious goods are those integral to the function of a local faith. Sanctified vestments, holy foods, sacred oils, or anything else that might be required by the creed could qualify for this type.

Robotics

Robotics goods include the key components to assemble anything from human-sized androids to industrial drones. Robotics goods are defined by being automata, whatever their intended purpose is.

Sapient

Sapient “goods” are intelligent beings. This type is usually applied to slaves, though remarkably advanced robots might also qualify. Most developed worlds do not deal kindly with slavers, though many tyrannical and primitive planets deal freely in people.

Survival

Survival goods are uncommon, built specifically to nurture colonies and outposts on remote worlds. Few worlds offer them as a common trade good, though most advanced worlds can build them to suit a special order.

Tool

Tool cargoes can range from simple hammers and knives to crates of metatools and still more exotic pretech implements. Tools of any kind tend to be precious on primitive worlds, though such planets often get more use out of simple, macro-scale tools rather than nanotech chip impurity filters and the like.

Vehicle

Vehicle types apply to everything from riding beasts to gravtanks. Many such cargos are actually consist only of the engines and vital components of the vehicle, with the rest to be constructed out of local materials. Fully-assembled vehicles are almost never shipped, though a few far traders have made a killing in bringing fully-operational gravtanks into the teeth of a primitive world’s battlefields, launching the tanks right out of the cargo holds.