Huge Wealth from Spec Trading
- Thread starter PsiTraveller
- Start date
Condottiere
SOC-14 5K
Situational awareness - the broker to operate efficiently has to know all the players, and the in and outs of local market conditions, usually based on years of experience.
salochin999
SOC-13
I think the problem with the trade speculation is although getting a 400% markup seems plausible with a dedicated trader character selling hitech parts to boonie systems those boonie systems are unlikely to have the cash or demand for large quantities at a time so ideally (imo) players should be able to make a killing with their computer parts but over the course of a whole trip i.e. buy the hitech parts at an alpha system and then hawk them 1-6 dtons at a time to multiple systems in the boonies.
One simple way to damp down the profits from spec. trade is to give the systems a broker too i.e. make it so the players are competing against an NPC with broker skill
say roll d6
1-2 NPC Broker-1
3-4 NPC Broker-2
5 NPC Broker-3
6 NPC Broker-4
star port
A DM+3
B DM+2
C DM+1
This would
1) damp down the player profits
2) incentivize trade in the boonies
3) still make it possible for a dedicated trader character to shine
One simple way to damp down the profits from spec. trade is to give the systems a broker too i.e. make it so the players are competing against an NPC with broker skill
say roll d6
1-2 NPC Broker-1
3-4 NPC Broker-2
5 NPC Broker-3
6 NPC Broker-4
star port
A DM+3
B DM+2
C DM+1
This would
1) damp down the player profits
2) incentivize trade in the boonies
3) still make it possible for a dedicated trader character to shine
Exactly this! If a DM can't let a character play to their strengths they need to let the group know up front. It's a game, people play to have fun. What's wrong with being rich?
The problem is that Merchant Prince is b-o-r-i-n-g. On the other hand, Book 2 rules can be a little over-the-top if played straight.
For my money the whole "trading thing" should be just an excuse to get the players out and doing something. Make the trade the adventure! Add in some obstacles - transportation is required, officials are corrupt or tie them up in red tape, the Vargr Mob gets involved, whatever! By the time they sort it all out, if they still manage to close the deal, they will have deserved their money - and more importantly, have had an ADVENTURE while doing it! ;-)
BTW, I modified the Book 2 lists by adding stuff from all over the place (http://members.tip.net.au/~davidjw/tavspecs/maint/trade/Acknowledgements.htm) and put them upon my website.
Go to:
=> Tavonni Repair Bays
==> House Rules
====> Trade Tables
;-)
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Totally agree. And why shouldn't they "win", if that's the sort of game they want. Let him buy another ship. Then he has to role-play through transferring/renewing its certifications, hiring a crew, hoping that the crew he just hired is not going to "skip" - all sorts of fun and games.
Just imagine: one day he'll get an SOS call from the other ship asking for him to come and bail them out of trouble. The other captain has somehow run afoul of the local laws and the second ship is impounded. Now the PCs have to travel clear across 2 subsectors to rescue Ship 2 from the locals. Or maybe it gets pirated. Or something else.
Allow the thing to pay, sure, but not for "free" - make it require some sort of in-game "maintenance", in whatever form you want to come up with (i.e. not always monetary, but always requiring the player's attention). TANSTAAFL.
The operative clause is 'if that's the sort of game they want'. If the sort of game they want is 'hard-scrabble free traders', they should not win huge wealth, ever. However, unless the the referee has an understanding with the players, he should make sure the PCs don't win huge wealth in the first place rather than to let them win huge wealth and then high-handedly take it away from them again.
Now, if the players know up front that any huge windfall they may get is going to prove evanescent, that's a different story. And does have the advantage that the referee can use the trade system as is.
Hans
PsiTraveller
SOC-10
My players are trying to figure out a good trade sequence to end up at an advanced repair yard with enough cash to repair the ship. They hate the wonkiness of it all, and lacked ship shares to get it repaired.
Timerover51
SOC-14 5K
The following quote comes from a very fascinating book that I found on the Internet Archive, ORIENTAL COMMERCE; or THE East Indian Trader's Complete Guide, written by an Englishman who had been in the service of the Honourable East India Company. It covers the various ports, islands, and countries that a ship might stop at on the way from England to India, along with Southeast Asia and Australia. Quite an interesting book. It is dated 1825.
Aside from being an interesting commentary on American taste in wine circa 1820, it does pose all sorts of possibilities for Traveller players who have been doing well in speculative trading.
They contract for a large quantity of an alcoholic beverage, and sample a case or two. The quantity is such that sampling or checking every case is totally impossible. They think that they are getting a large shipment of the equivalent of London Particular. What they actually have is a few case of Grade 1, while the rest is Grade 4 and 5. When they sell the low-grade beverage as the finest quality stuff, the switch is discovered upon tasting it, and the players find themselves in extremely warm water with the local authorities. The possibilities for playing switches with cargo is endless.
Aside from being an interesting commentary on American taste in wine circa 1820, it does pose all sorts of possibilities for Traveller players who have been doing well in speculative trading.
They contract for a large quantity of an alcoholic beverage, and sample a case or two. The quantity is such that sampling or checking every case is totally impossible. They think that they are getting a large shipment of the equivalent of London Particular. What they actually have is a few case of Grade 1, while the rest is Grade 4 and 5. When they sell the low-grade beverage as the finest quality stuff, the switch is discovered upon tasting it, and the players find themselves in extremely warm water with the local authorities. The possibilities for playing switches with cargo is endless.
Lycanorukke
SOC-13
There was a scenario like that in the old MT 'Knightfall' adventure.
The player could buy a lot of expensive 'premium grade' ore to spec trade. But if they had someone who knew basic geology and inspected the ore they find out the ore is low grade crap, and the assessor was bribed for the 'premium' label. If they bought the lot, they would find out it was rubbish when they tried to sell it.
Another scenario was that buried under the ore was a couple of dead miners (victims of a corporate muscle in). Of course customs scanners are a bit more sensitive....
Big money trades would, IMTU, cause people to get greedy. Yes, you just cleared multiple MCr in that series of trades, but the second one made you a target for pirates. The fourth one made you VERY rich, and allowed the pirates to draw a bead on you....
I do not believe in punishing characters for success, but when the stakes are raised, the stakes are raised!
Condottiere
SOC-14 5K
Your success has made you a target by the Financial Regulatory Authority for insider trading.
You've forgotten to make appropriate campaign contributions; your competitors haven't.
You've forgotten to make appropriate campaign contributions; your competitors haven't.
a) It's very difficult to target a specific vessel for capture.
b) Any such attempt would be an adventure and subject to the requirement that the PCs have a decent chance to avoid negative consequences.
c) Filthy rich PCs can afford to lose a ship. They can also afford to finance a hunt for the culprits (Adventure time!). Once they track them down, they can sell off the pirate vessels they capture.
In other words, another excuse for arbitrarily removing the wealth the PCs have gained without giving them a chance to avoid it? The excuse doesn't matter; it's bad refereeing anyway.
Hans
Condottiere
SOC-14 5K
Nothing really exists in a vacuum, not even hyperspace.
