This Week’s post digs into the ongoing development of Intergalactic Bastionland.
What's it like trading goods among the living stars?
MONEY AND POWER Small currencies aren’t tracked in the game. Major transactions use stellar fragments, commonly called frags, both a universal currency and key to space travel.
TRADE GOODS Trade requires knowing the good type and market type you are dealing with.
MARKET TYPES (roll d6 if unknown): 1. Grower: Farms and exporters of food and other organic matter. 2. Extractor: Mines and drilling rigs. 3. Foundry: Complexes primarily turning minerals into technical goods. 4. Workshop: Ware producers with little in the way of self-sufficiency. 5. Outpost: Isolated settlements that rely on imports for their basic needs. 6. Nexus: Trade hubs with eager buyers for finished products.
BUYING AND SELLING This table shows the typical value of each good in each market type.
Standard customs fee is 3 frags. This covers all buying and selling carried out during a single visit to a market.
Deals can be negotiated, but may require a Save to avoid souring things entirely.
MARKET FORCES Each time you arrive in a market, roll d6 and apply the result to all goods.
GOODS MODIFIERS In addition to a good type, goods may have a modifier that increases their sell value by 1, but adds a complication.
1. Illicit: Illegal to import. 2. Bulk: Must be traded as lots of 10. 3. Pressurised: Explode if disturbed. 4. Unstable: Lose 1 value every 3 days. 5. Fragile: If broken, worth 1 frag only. 6. Specialist: If sold to anybody but the intended buyer, worth 1 frag only.
MARKET MODIFIERS (roll d12 if unknown) In addition to a market type, each market has a modifier that affects trade:
1. Rich: +1 to all values 2. Poor: -1 to all values 3. Union: -1 to import values 4. Corporate: +1 to import values 5. Industrial: -1 to export values 6. Civic: +1 to export values 7. Prestige: Double value increases from market forces. 8. Abundant: Double value decreases from market forces. 9. Haven: Customs Fee is 1 frag. 10. Fortress: Customs Fee is 5 frags. 11. Archaic: Frags are not used here. Trade goods for goods only. 12. Volatile: Apply double effect from Market Forces.
Intergalactic Bastionland isn't really about trade (well, sometimes it might be... more on that another time).
Traveller isn't strictly about trade either, but the trade rules serve to nudge the players toward adventure (kinda).
I want some of that feel too, where it's difficult to make huge money on a straight deal, so you've got to take some chances.
Remember:
Travel costs are not included in the above
There's always someone with a bigger cargo ship
Markets are unstable
If a trade route seems really good then somebody wants to control it
But aside from making life as a pure trader unappealing, this system serves a few extra purposes.
Buying and selling isn't always about speculative trading! Perhaps you need a bunch of organic goods so that your favourite starport doesn't get wiped out by starvation. Perhaps you're selling a bunch of organics because you stole them from that starport you really hate. Sometimes you're just going somewhere anyway, so you might as well try to break even on your fuel costs with a middling trade deal on the side.
I'd also like the type/modifier combination to act as a shorthand reminder of what to expect from each location. Even before we dig into a world's full description we're offered a spark of flavour from whether it's a Fortress Extractor, a Prestige Outpost, or an Archaic Workshop.
Oh yeah, the world descriptions. I'll look at them next time.
Mappa Mundiis a gorgeously illustrated RPG with a focus on exploration and ecology. If you’ve been to any UK con in the last few years you’ve probably witnessed the buzz around it, otherwise go and check it out now.
Coming Soon
Over on Patreon I talk about the actual stars of the living stars, and the worlds that orbit them.
Here's what a star currently looks like in Intergalactic Bastionland.
Expect the full post here and on the blog next week.
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