On 27/12/21 02:56, Thomas Jones-Low - tjoneslow at gmail.com (via tml
list) wrote:
> On 12/26/2021 2:01 AM, Alex Goodwin - alex.goodwin at multitel.com.au
> (via tml list) wrote:
>> Hope you've survived your respective days without ending up too much
>> the worse for wear.
>>
>> The title question came up in argument with The Usual Suspects (Herr
>> Sweep, Edddles, Easy Frag - Wombat made like BRIAN BLESSED and didn't
>> talk much, or loudly), and I was a bit peeved I didn't have a really
>> solid answer.
>>
>> Given a base price level for at-berth refined fuel (such as GT's
>> Cr350/dton, or MGT2's Cr500/dton - call whatever such level 1), how
>> does the title question apply?
>
>     I don't think I've seen any set of Trade Rules address this level
> of detail.
Blast.
>
>     Most of the trade rules I've seen assume an Imperial background,
> where there is a larger economic interest (e.g. the Imperium) to set a
> static price for maintaining simple and easy trade. This also makes
> for easier calculation of trade prices by simply assuming everything
> is a simple constant.
Yeah, I noticed.  Not particularly helpful for the Advisoryverse.
>
>     If you are getting into this level of detail, there are a huge
> number of additional details that quickly come to mind: Taxes and
> Tarrifs, protection money, prices varying by TL, imported vs locally
> made equipment and parts, etc. If people blanch at the level of detail
> in the current trade rules, imagining this addition would be
> terrifying. It's not Adventures in Accurate Accounting for a reason.

I'll take a gameable abstraction, such as something I can implement in a
fork of PyRoute.

Maybe a distance penalty along affected links?  Relative price of X (X >
1) means links are (X - 1) pc longer.  A "cashtrographic" distance
penalty, if you'll pardon the lame pun.

For example, assume Teacup Station charges 3x the going rate for fuel. 
Dismal to Kushuggi 2631 (when it gets developed) is 4 pc
astrographically (via Teacup, at Kushuggi 2431), but a total of 8 pc
cashtrographically (+2 pc penalty per link adjoining Teacup, 2 such
links involved).

Would trade volume be perfectly inelastic wrt fuel price?  (ie,
completely unaffected)

How about somewhat inelastic?  (Total fuel revenue increasing with price)

>
>     One of the better takes I've seen (and I've in no way seen all of
> them) on Trade system in a non-Imperium setting would be in Suns of
> Gold, for Stars Without Number.
>
> https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/114950/Suns-of-Gold-Merchant-Campaigns-for-Stars-Without-Number
>
>
>     The core of this is to add another modifier on the CT trade system
> which makes it very difficult to make any money with (e.g. a -4 on all
> the rolls). *But* the players are allowed modify this more positively
> by, basically, having adventures. You do favors for the local
> merchants and rulers on the world, they grease the wheels for your
> trade efforts in the system. It encourages your players to be part of
> the local political scene(s), stick to a small group of worlds where
> they can be known and make connections.
>
Thanks for the reference.  Might see what I can mine from that.

Alex
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