Gentlemen Trader Campaign

[kilemall]

So, was thinking about the trade rules and the 1 ton High Passage luggage limit.

Being a gentlemen trader would be a really nice campaign version.

Get to a world, keep in touch with the trade deals roll once a week, meantime explore the world one is on, get into misadventures, look around, TRAVEL.

Then THE deal comes up, the money is put down to buy the speculative lot, book the cargo and High Passage to go along with it, and move onto the next world, paying your way with your trading acumen.

Not having to keep moving with the demands of paying for ship and crew, you have time to wait for the optimal buy. Course you may miss The Deal because you are in jail or are busy being chased by icecats on a hunt, but that's okay, you have time to get back to the next one.

But then it hit me- the whole trade system is set to service the ship operator, not the traveller/customer (not counting the charter rules).

So what IS the availability of ships? Could a gentlemen trader get the buy of a lifetime but have to warehouse while waiting for outbound ships to the right destination?

That's my first question to you.

The second is, if you were playing a gentlemen traveller, you want to stay light on your feet but be equipped for what you may encounter. You travel in style, and so it's High Passage or nothing. What would you pack into your 1 ton luggage capacity?

 

[RandyB]

The ship mortgage is such an inherent assumption in Traveller trade that I'm not sure if any of the trade systems will stand up without it. I'm far, far from an expert on any of them though, so I could be severely wrong or severely right.

 

[aramis]

The ship mortgage is such an inherent assumption in Traveller trade that I'm not sure if any of the trade systems will stand up without it. I'm far, far from an expert on any of them though, so I could be severely wrong or severely right.

At least, under Bk2, the price for J1 is profitable for freight, so non-owbner spec is quite doable. If you add Bk7 skills (trader and broker), it becomes almost too profitable.

Killing the Mortgage (whether by spec sans ship, or by paid off ship) makes low volume runs profitable, and empty space is usually better speculated...

 

[Kilgs]

I think GURPS Far Trader has a system for a calculating ships in/arriving at any particular system. The solo ruleset Star Trader has a system for this type of gaming without a ship. I don't think the lack of a ship hurts because you have so many new costs and variables.

-Origin Warehousing (while finding shipping)
-Destination Warehousing (while finding buyer)
-Taxation (since you might be bringing goods actually into the planetary government's sphere, as opposed to Highport, you may be put on the hook for more taxation)
-Freight costs
-Middle/High Passage

I haven't run the numbers but I'm sure it would work.

You would be restricting yourself to smaller shipments also. It doesn't help if you get a great deal on 100 tons if the only ship that's available has 20t empty in their hold!

ON BEING/LOOKING A GENTLEMAN TRADER
The idea is neat. I think I would definitely have an escort/security with me at all times. You're playing with too much money and juggling balls to be responsible for your own security. Another expense... but in my 1ton luggage container:

Lots and lots of clothes... need to fit in everywhere. Also, gifts from various worlds as gift-giving is a strong component of many cultures and business deals. Nothing fancy but exotic-looking little things from planets I have visited. Never know when a little Gamian Crystal from Beldore III will get you an invitation to dinner at the Commerce Guild on some planet.
Good tech for security. Having no office means having good portable security devices for anti-surveillance. You could rely on your security guy but best to be prepared.

Another thought, that came up after reading Vatta's War, was what about the Gentleman Trader who rents X tons from a specific ship on a regular basis or a run? What kind of a freight rate/passenger rate would that person get? I've always wondered if deals like that would be more common on the fringes...
-Spacer agrees to work passage and gets paid in tonnage

It's a solid deal but never worked out the economics of it.

 

[mike wightman]

There ws an article in a JTAS about trading without Travelling - this is just an extension where you travel along with your cargo to its destination.

If you have the money to buy the speculative lot, pay the 1000Cr per ton shipping cost and pay for your middle or high passage then this is a perfectly reasonable scenario to plt a campaign around.

The richer you get the more expensive the speculative trade lot you can buy and the more potential profit you can make.

Just be careful you always have the stake money to start again if you get a few unlucky trade rolls.

 

[pshrynk]

Plus, you would have to figure in the risks inherent with being the Gentleman Trader that ship owners don't face. Spoilage. Graft. Actual cut-throat competition. A referee would have to shape the adventures around increasing risks for this sort of character to compensate for not having to deal with a mortgage.

 

[kilemall]

Plus, you would have to figure in the risks inherent with being the Gentleman Trader that ship owners don't face. Spoilage. Graft. Actual cut-throat competition. A referee would have to shape the adventures around increasing risks for this sort of character to compensate for not having to deal with a mortgage.

Warehousing. Cargo insurance. Stevedoring to/from the dock.

Absolutely. You don't dodge trouble just because you aren't the ship owner/operator.

And, of course, if the pirates DO come, you might find yourself pitching in on the gunnery or boarding to protect what's yours, if feasible or necessary because these pirates don't 'play by the rules', etc.

And at a certain point, the Gentlemen Trader may have to consider lowering himself to smuggling, for debts fiscal and personal, or good old greed.

 

[pshrynk]

Warehousing. Cargo insurance. Stevedoring to/from the dock.

Absolutely. You don't dodge trouble just because you aren't the ship owner/operator.

And, of course, if the pirates DO come, you might find yourself pitching in on the gunnery or boarding to protect what's yours, if feasible or necessary because these pirates don't 'play by the rules', etc.

And at a certain point, the Gentlemen Trader may have to consider lowering himself to smuggling, for debts fiscal and personal, or good old greed.

And isn't that the guts of most novels dealing with Gentleman Traders?

 

[kilemall]

I think GURPS Far Trader has a system for a calculating ships in/arriving at any particular system. The solo ruleset Star Trader has a system for this type of gaming without a ship. I don't think the lack of a ship hurts because you have so many new costs and variables.

-Origin Warehousing (while finding shipping)
-Destination Warehousing (while finding buyer)
-Taxation (since you might be bringing goods actually into the planetary government's sphere, as opposed to Highport, you may be put on the hook for more taxation)
-Freight costs
-Middle/High Passage

I haven't run the numbers but I'm sure it would work.

You would be restricting yourself to smaller shipments also. It doesn't help if you get a great deal on 100 tons if the only ship that's available has 20t empty in their hold!

ON BEING/LOOKING A GENTLEMAN TRADER
The idea is neat. I think I would definitely have an escort/security with me at all times. You're playing with too much money and juggling balls to be responsible for your own security. Another expense... but in my 1ton luggage container:

Lots and lots of clothes... need to fit in everywhere. Also, gifts from various worlds as gift-giving is a strong component of many cultures and business deals. Nothing fancy but exotic-looking little things from planets I have visited. Never know when a little Gamian Crystal from Beldore III will get you an invitation to dinner at the Commerce Guild on some planet.
Good tech for security. Having no office means having good portable security devices for anti-surveillance. You could rely on your security guy but best to be prepared.

Another thought, that came up after reading Vatta's War, was what about the Gentleman Trader who rents X tons from a specific ship on a regular basis or a run? What kind of a freight rate/passenger rate would that person get? I've always wondered if deals like that would be more common on the fringes...
-Spacer agrees to work passage and gets paid in tonnage

It's a solid deal but never worked out the economics of it.

All good points.

I particularly like the gifts part, had not considered it but it would be a tool of the trade.

The 100 ton cargo/20 ton ship available issue is precisely why I'd like to figure out how to do this cheap and easy.

Maybe not even mess with ship numbers, rather use the LBB2 cargo roll to determine the biggest slot available that week with accompanying passage.

Perhaps our GT has to cool his heels which hurts the profit margin of the cargo, even if he has no losses otherwise.

Perhaps he has to charter just to lift and break even.

Perhaps he has to turn around and sell it right back on that planet to avoid further losses. Perhaps the person who sold that cargo perfectly well knows that and makes a living fleecing GTs with too eager a wallet.