MGT Trade Rules
- Thread starter atpollard
- Start date
They do to me. It looks like a bit of Bk7/MT thrown in, and a dash of T20.
And they work rather well, once you wrap your brain around them. Definitely worth stealing for other editions.
One concept that I found interesting was the way buying (or selling) speculative cargo was split from the CT single task (you find a seller and make a deal) to two different tasks (you hire a local to find a seller; you hire a broker to close the deal). It appears to open up some roleplaying possibilities for our group.
The part about what happens if you reject a deal seems a little unclear. That could use a little more explanation - Perhaps MGT: Merchant Prince will clarify it?
The part about what happens if you reject a deal seems a little unclear. That could use a little more explanation - Perhaps MGT: Merchant Prince will clarify it?
far-trader
SOC-14 10K
Odd. We always did it as two distinct deals in CT, right from the start...
Deal 1 The PCs wander around startown (or roll dice if in a hurry) looking for a short lot to buy for speculative purposes. Can be a lot of role play in it.
Deal 2 (repeat as needed) The PCs wander around a new startown (or roll dice if in a hurry) to find a broker (or do it themselves without bonuses*) to see what they can get for their short lot. Again, can be a lot of role play in it.
* no Broker skills for wanderers in MTU
That's a good thing
I'm just a little mystyfied you didn't see it that way before.Oh wait a second. Do you mean it splits each act, the purchase and the sale, into two parts? Hire a local to find a prospect (seller or buyer) and then hire a broker to close the deal (purchase or sale)?
Maybe. But it's right there in CT Book 2 if you mean for a deal involving a hired broker (and presumably applicable in the case of MGT and a hired finder). You pay the brokerage fee regardless of following through with the deal or not.
FarTrader,
You are preaching to the choir when you extol the virtues of CT to me, it is my system of choice, but there are a number of interesting dynamics introduced in the MGT re-imagined rules. I apologize if I get this wrong, I have seen only bits and pieces of MGT, but here is a basic comparison of CT and MGT trade:
Role-playing aside (which is limited by player/ref imagination and independent of any rule system), the basic mechanic of CT is find a broker at the Starport, roll one cargo on the Trade Table, Roll for purchase price, apply world modifiers, buy it all (or don’t). House rules abound, but that is the core of the official rules for CT.
The basic mechanic of MGT is hire a Local at the Starport to find a seller for you. Once you find a seller, hire a Broker to close the deal. The process takes 1D6 days, but can be rushed to 1D6 hours if you are willing to accept a penalty on the purchase price roll. The seller has 1D6 different cargoes for sale. If you reject one of the cargoes, it appears that the Seller will not deal with you for a week. (This point is a little unclear – it either means that you must buy some of each cargo in order to be offered the next cargo, or it means that if you reject all of his cargoes today, then you cannot check for any new cargoes for a week.) You have the option to buy either some or all of each cargo offered for sale (up to how much he has – rolled like CT). With the ‘Find a cargo’ and the ‘Buy a cargo’ rolls divided between two checks, it increases the NPC encounter potential beyond CT. Multiple cargoes available and buying part of the cargo are now explicit core rules rather than ‘logical’ house rules.
For our group, this means that multiple party members can beat the bushes around the Starport using their ‘appropriate’ skills to locate sellers and then Comm the ship’s Broker to close the best deal/deals. This includes guidelines for Streetwise to find a 'black market' and Computer to buy/sell on-line. We also have rules for characters ‘helping’ the Broker to reduce the time required for the deal. Both are nice touches that would have required Referee Fiat in CT, but now have official guidelines in MGT. THAT is how MGT has improved our role-playing opportunities. (YMMV)
With all of the negative press that other parts of MGT has received, it seemed appropriate to point out something done well (IMHO) when I encountered it. The Trade rules appear to have been done well.
You are preaching to the choir when you extol the virtues of CT to me, it is my system of choice, but there are a number of interesting dynamics introduced in the MGT re-imagined rules. I apologize if I get this wrong, I have seen only bits and pieces of MGT, but here is a basic comparison of CT and MGT trade:
Role-playing aside (which is limited by player/ref imagination and independent of any rule system), the basic mechanic of CT is find a broker at the Starport, roll one cargo on the Trade Table, Roll for purchase price, apply world modifiers, buy it all (or don’t). House rules abound, but that is the core of the official rules for CT.
The basic mechanic of MGT is hire a Local at the Starport to find a seller for you. Once you find a seller, hire a Broker to close the deal. The process takes 1D6 days, but can be rushed to 1D6 hours if you are willing to accept a penalty on the purchase price roll. The seller has 1D6 different cargoes for sale. If you reject one of the cargoes, it appears that the Seller will not deal with you for a week. (This point is a little unclear – it either means that you must buy some of each cargo in order to be offered the next cargo, or it means that if you reject all of his cargoes today, then you cannot check for any new cargoes for a week.) You have the option to buy either some or all of each cargo offered for sale (up to how much he has – rolled like CT). With the ‘Find a cargo’ and the ‘Buy a cargo’ rolls divided between two checks, it increases the NPC encounter potential beyond CT. Multiple cargoes available and buying part of the cargo are now explicit core rules rather than ‘logical’ house rules.
For our group, this means that multiple party members can beat the bushes around the Starport using their ‘appropriate’ skills to locate sellers and then Comm the ship’s Broker to close the best deal/deals. This includes guidelines for Streetwise to find a 'black market' and Computer to buy/sell on-line. We also have rules for characters ‘helping’ the Broker to reduce the time required for the deal. Both are nice touches that would have required Referee Fiat in CT, but now have official guidelines in MGT. THAT is how MGT has improved our role-playing opportunities. (YMMV)
With all of the negative press that other parts of MGT has received, it seemed appropriate to point out something done well (IMHO) when I encountered it. The Trade rules appear to have been done well.
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dmccoy1693
SOC-13
It works for me. Took me a time or two to figure out exactly what I"m doing, but after that it worked good. I now do all the rolling for my players before game and let them make an additional broker roll to see if they can make minor adjustments to the price. But otherwise, it works nicely.
CosmicGamer
SOC-14 1K
The timing of 1d6 days can be reduced in various increments such as 10-60 hours, or even 1 to 6 minutes. The time increments are given in a table and each 'step' quicker you rush to perform a task gives a -1DM while each step slower you studiously act gives a +1DM.
The timing, in this case, is for the skill check for a player or hired local guide to find a seller or buyer and will not effect the price, just your success in finding someone.
The 1d6 is in addition to the common trade cargoes and cargoes available due to the worlds trade codes - unless you are dealing with the black market.
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far-trader
SOC-14 10K
Thanks for the briefing atpollard. Quite interesting. Not overly complicated but adds much to the game.
And again thank you for that. In fact, this is exactly the type of example many of us had been looking for when complaining about the less than stellar bits and requesting that the MGT fans give concrete examples of good stuff instead of the typical knee-jerk, name calling, MGT is perfect, responses that turned a few of us off. None of us wanted MGT to fail (what a ridiculous idea that was) and our desire to see mistakes admitted and good stuff pointed out should have made that clear. But enough of that, carry on with the trumpeting of the gems hidden in MGT
And again thank you for that. In fact, this is exactly the type of example many of us had been looking for when complaining about the less than stellar bits and requesting that the MGT fans give concrete examples of good stuff instead of the typical knee-jerk, name calling, MGT is perfect, responses that turned a few of us off. None of us wanted MGT to fail (what a ridiculous idea that was) and our desire to see mistakes admitted and good stuff pointed out should have made that clear. But enough of that, carry on with the trumpeting of the gems hidden in MGT
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