Speculative Trade #

Most interstellar trade and shipping is carried out by immense mass haulers, contracted by the Trade Consortium. However, small independent vessels can turn a profit by speculating on expensive goods, buying low and selling high.

There are three broad categories of trade goods: Agricultural, Consumer Products, and High-tech. Each category has a base price per load, modified by a die roll to get the current price.

Agricultural goods tend to be cheapest on worlds with high Habitability. Consumer Products tend to be cheapest on worlds with a high Population. High-tech goods tend to be cheapest on worlds with a high Tech Class. When the relevant attribute is low, goods tend to be more expensive. Contraband is the exception. Contraband is more expensive on worlds with a high Authority rank.

The first time buying or selling contraband on a world requires spending a weekly action to make a throw to find a buyer or seller.

Specific trade goods are detailed by the referee. In-game events such as sabotage, market manipulation, and war can alter trade prices dramatically. A particularly high or low roll on prices might indicate a larger market issue or potential adventure.

The current price of a trade good load is 3d6 * 10% of the base price. A roll of 13, for example, indicates a current price of 130% base price. 13 credits per load when dealing in agricultural goods.

The roll is modified according to the rank of the relevant local world attribute. See the table below.

When selling goods, add 1 to the roll if the current location is more than 1 parsec distance from the goods' world of origin.

Trade Good Base Prices #

Trade Good Attribute Modifiers #

Add a modifier to the 3d6 price roll based on the relevant world attribute. A high attribute tends to create a lower price for relevant goods.

Prices fluctuate, but not quickly. If the crew waits for one week, they may re-roll a single die of the good’s price. They may continue to do this, re-rolling one die per week as long as they like.