Commander Drax
SOC-12
Hi Guys, check out these optional rules that I've created for my own campaign...
Any chance someone can look into them or perhaps playtest them and give some feedback....
The Effects of Economic Competition in Traveller
This section details an optional rule set designed to simulate the effects of a fluid free market economy in traveller and is designed to work with all rule sets.
The reason why these optional rules came about was for the simple reason that for the many years that I have been a gamer (both as a player and referee) whenever one of my characters bought an item (usually as a result of battle damage) such as a map box when leaving planet A, it was exactly the same price as it would be on the next world visited (Planet B). Why? Put simply I charged the PC's whatever price the item was listed at in the source book.
Needless to say in a freewheeling economy driven by market forces as existent in the Third Imperium and its neighbouring states, this would be unrealistic.
So in designing these rules I have assumed that all items listed in the various sourcebooks or rule sets are manufactured locally (if sufficient industrial base exists) or are otherwise imported from various nearby star systems.
Before considering the effects on price, the level of competition has to be determined, as after all competition is a factor of population, government and technology.
Namely high population worlds with higher tech manufacturing centres and governments that actively support competition will have many more competing companies and organisations vying for a larger slice of both the on-world and off-world competition, this would have the effect of driving prices of goods, services and labour down. In comparison low population worlds will have less of an industrial infrastructure so prices would be expected to be somewhat higher especially for imported goods.
A final consideration is the complexity of the local starport as better facilities bring more business to a given world than a poorer grade facility and thus stimulate greater levels of competition, driving prices down.
In order to simulate these various effects and create a price modifier for all available items, (clothing, equipment, vehicles, weaponry, starships etc) can all have their prices adjusted by the following:
The quick and dirty method is simply to total up the following modifiers and compare against the actual value table of the trade and commerce chapter of your favourite traveller rulebook, with the following modifiers,
21 - Pop (UWP) + (Trade Qualifier) + (Starport) + (Tech level modifier)
Tech Level modifier (-1 per level above tech level required to manufacture the item and +1 per tech level below the level needed to manufacture the item to a maximum of -2 or + 2 respectively)
Starports: A-2, B -1, C=0, D+1, E+2, X+4
Ag + 1 In -3 Ni -1 R-2 Po +3
E.g. consider the case of a map box bought on an industrial world (population 8), a B class port and a Tech level of 11, the map box is a tech level 9 item with a baseline price of Cr2000.
Plugging the values into the formula as given raises:
21 - 8 (population) -3 (industrial) -1 (starport B) -2 (Tech level modifier)
21 -8 -3 -1 -2 = 7 checking against the actual value table on Page 359 of the T20 Travellers Handbook = 70% value or Cr 1400.
Hence it can be noted that low population non industrial or poor worlds are going to be the most expensive places to buy items, particularly if those items are of a higher tech level meaning that they are either first production run prototypes or more likely an imported item.
The same map box on a tech level 7 non-industrial world with a D class starport and a population of 5 would cost.
21-5-1+1 + 2 = 18 or Cr2000 x 180% = Cr3600
This should be sufficient for most game situations, though if you as referee have decided there is extensive competition for the same types of items on this world then further modify the prices by 1-2 d6 (1-12%), likewise a lack of reasonable competition could force prices up by an easy (1-12 %).
In the example given above on a world with lots of competing businesses selling high tech map boxes imported from else where in the Imperium or its surrounds the price could easily fall by up to 12% making the lowest price for a map box Cr2992, likewise a disturbing lack of competition could push prices to Cr3808, (almost double the price it would be elsewhere in the Imperium).
Likewise a high tech world (Tl-13) with a large population (9) a solid industrial base (-3), along with various competing companies and a class A starport (-2) would be the best place to get a good deal on a new build ship, such as a Tl-9 Jump 1 Free Trader.
This prestigious vessel would normally retail at Mcr51.36, though taking into the above works out to be 5 or 50% value or a nice mortgage of Mcr25.68 or Cr101,700 every month. With competing shipyards in the area it could be even less. It is for this reason that most ship yards tend to build vessels at their maximum sustainable tech level in this case 13, or in the absence of competition will build designs one or two tech levels lower. In the case of a vessel being built from components available at tech 9 manufactured at a tech level 15 yard, many of its systems aboard such as commo, avionics and other electronics and life support etc would be considered to be Tl-13 at the lowest, though more likely tech level 15. Thus the bridge would have holo-dynamic linked control panels as opposed to tech level 9 computer displays. Likewise the core processor whilst only rated as a model 1 and equivalent in power to tech 9 processors would still be considered at minimum a tech 13 system as needed to support the bridge terminals and electronics, life support etc.
A contemporary comparison would be your average motorcar, it might contain components freely available since the early 20th century such as carburettors, headlights, air filters, engine heads, pistons and a gearbox etc, but in no way could a modern car be built back in the 1900's even if performance was identical. Subtle things such as machining of components has changed and better light weight materials are available like various plastics and fibreglass compared to hard and soft steel and wood.
Coming back to the subject at hand, vessels bought from such places, would be cheaper to buy and cheaper to finance and as a result possibly more profitable and more economically competitive as passengers and cargoes could be transported for less whilst still remaining profitable and in competition with other similar traders probably lower their prices thus making the cost of transport between the stars cheaper and by definition much more accessible to the ordinary folk of the Imperium.
The free market economy as (very basically) simulated by the rules given above neatly explains how some worlds are shipbuilding centres of excellence whilst on others the cost of a short-range communicator would be extortionate. It could even lead to adventure possibilities or additional flavour added to the background as a local robotic manufacturing firm on the very fringes of the Imperium might be renowned as a high quality low cost provider and thus draw merchant traffic into the area from elsewhere.
It even makes sense for this model to apply to life support and berthing costs, tempting characters to stock up where the life support is cheap, which unfortunately might prevent them from taking on that nice high paying large cargo later on, if there's suddenly no room. In my Traveller universe I keep fuel costs, berthing and life support the same on all imperial ports as prices quoted contain a great deal of Imperial taxes to maintain the port and its associated Imperial presence (marines etc). Beyond the frontier though, any thing could happen…
Any chance someone can look into them or perhaps playtest them and give some feedback....
The Effects of Economic Competition in Traveller
This section details an optional rule set designed to simulate the effects of a fluid free market economy in traveller and is designed to work with all rule sets.
The reason why these optional rules came about was for the simple reason that for the many years that I have been a gamer (both as a player and referee) whenever one of my characters bought an item (usually as a result of battle damage) such as a map box when leaving planet A, it was exactly the same price as it would be on the next world visited (Planet B). Why? Put simply I charged the PC's whatever price the item was listed at in the source book.
Needless to say in a freewheeling economy driven by market forces as existent in the Third Imperium and its neighbouring states, this would be unrealistic.
So in designing these rules I have assumed that all items listed in the various sourcebooks or rule sets are manufactured locally (if sufficient industrial base exists) or are otherwise imported from various nearby star systems.
Before considering the effects on price, the level of competition has to be determined, as after all competition is a factor of population, government and technology.
Namely high population worlds with higher tech manufacturing centres and governments that actively support competition will have many more competing companies and organisations vying for a larger slice of both the on-world and off-world competition, this would have the effect of driving prices of goods, services and labour down. In comparison low population worlds will have less of an industrial infrastructure so prices would be expected to be somewhat higher especially for imported goods.
A final consideration is the complexity of the local starport as better facilities bring more business to a given world than a poorer grade facility and thus stimulate greater levels of competition, driving prices down.
In order to simulate these various effects and create a price modifier for all available items, (clothing, equipment, vehicles, weaponry, starships etc) can all have their prices adjusted by the following:
The quick and dirty method is simply to total up the following modifiers and compare against the actual value table of the trade and commerce chapter of your favourite traveller rulebook, with the following modifiers,
21 - Pop (UWP) + (Trade Qualifier) + (Starport) + (Tech level modifier)
Tech Level modifier (-1 per level above tech level required to manufacture the item and +1 per tech level below the level needed to manufacture the item to a maximum of -2 or + 2 respectively)
Starports: A-2, B -1, C=0, D+1, E+2, X+4
Ag + 1 In -3 Ni -1 R-2 Po +3
E.g. consider the case of a map box bought on an industrial world (population 8), a B class port and a Tech level of 11, the map box is a tech level 9 item with a baseline price of Cr2000.
Plugging the values into the formula as given raises:
21 - 8 (population) -3 (industrial) -1 (starport B) -2 (Tech level modifier)
21 -8 -3 -1 -2 = 7 checking against the actual value table on Page 359 of the T20 Travellers Handbook = 70% value or Cr 1400.
Hence it can be noted that low population non industrial or poor worlds are going to be the most expensive places to buy items, particularly if those items are of a higher tech level meaning that they are either first production run prototypes or more likely an imported item.
The same map box on a tech level 7 non-industrial world with a D class starport and a population of 5 would cost.
21-5-1+1 + 2 = 18 or Cr2000 x 180% = Cr3600
This should be sufficient for most game situations, though if you as referee have decided there is extensive competition for the same types of items on this world then further modify the prices by 1-2 d6 (1-12%), likewise a lack of reasonable competition could force prices up by an easy (1-12 %).
In the example given above on a world with lots of competing businesses selling high tech map boxes imported from else where in the Imperium or its surrounds the price could easily fall by up to 12% making the lowest price for a map box Cr2992, likewise a disturbing lack of competition could push prices to Cr3808, (almost double the price it would be elsewhere in the Imperium).
Likewise a high tech world (Tl-13) with a large population (9) a solid industrial base (-3), along with various competing companies and a class A starport (-2) would be the best place to get a good deal on a new build ship, such as a Tl-9 Jump 1 Free Trader.
This prestigious vessel would normally retail at Mcr51.36, though taking into the above works out to be 5 or 50% value or a nice mortgage of Mcr25.68 or Cr101,700 every month. With competing shipyards in the area it could be even less. It is for this reason that most ship yards tend to build vessels at their maximum sustainable tech level in this case 13, or in the absence of competition will build designs one or two tech levels lower. In the case of a vessel being built from components available at tech 9 manufactured at a tech level 15 yard, many of its systems aboard such as commo, avionics and other electronics and life support etc would be considered to be Tl-13 at the lowest, though more likely tech level 15. Thus the bridge would have holo-dynamic linked control panels as opposed to tech level 9 computer displays. Likewise the core processor whilst only rated as a model 1 and equivalent in power to tech 9 processors would still be considered at minimum a tech 13 system as needed to support the bridge terminals and electronics, life support etc.
A contemporary comparison would be your average motorcar, it might contain components freely available since the early 20th century such as carburettors, headlights, air filters, engine heads, pistons and a gearbox etc, but in no way could a modern car be built back in the 1900's even if performance was identical. Subtle things such as machining of components has changed and better light weight materials are available like various plastics and fibreglass compared to hard and soft steel and wood.
Coming back to the subject at hand, vessels bought from such places, would be cheaper to buy and cheaper to finance and as a result possibly more profitable and more economically competitive as passengers and cargoes could be transported for less whilst still remaining profitable and in competition with other similar traders probably lower their prices thus making the cost of transport between the stars cheaper and by definition much more accessible to the ordinary folk of the Imperium.
The free market economy as (very basically) simulated by the rules given above neatly explains how some worlds are shipbuilding centres of excellence whilst on others the cost of a short-range communicator would be extortionate. It could even lead to adventure possibilities or additional flavour added to the background as a local robotic manufacturing firm on the very fringes of the Imperium might be renowned as a high quality low cost provider and thus draw merchant traffic into the area from elsewhere.
It even makes sense for this model to apply to life support and berthing costs, tempting characters to stock up where the life support is cheap, which unfortunately might prevent them from taking on that nice high paying large cargo later on, if there's suddenly no room. In my Traveller universe I keep fuel costs, berthing and life support the same on all imperial ports as prices quoted contain a great deal of Imperial taxes to maintain the port and its associated Imperial presence (marines etc). Beyond the frontier though, any thing could happen…
