I'm contemplating a BRP/Call of Cthulhu game using materials from Stars Without Number and Hulks & Horrors. So help me brain storm all the way money goes in and out for a Space Salvager team:
Income
raw materials
machinery
alien specimens
cultural artifacts
alien documents
working technology
fees/wages/pay for specific tasks
usage rights/fees for a claimed area
plunder
Expenses
vechicle
fuel
travel
food
repair
maintenance
ammunition
weaponry
amour
exploration suits
dues
taxes
employees/hirelings
pay/dividends
facilities
IT
sector claims/permits
being plundered
What am I missing?
Looks pretty comprehensive. I can think of a few things:
(1) You're assuming that the scavenger owns his ship, rather than rents/leases/mortgages it.
(2) On the credit side, the depreciation on the hull could be a tax writeoff.
(3) While this wouldn't normally be a part of the genre -- the Tramp Belter in the Rickety Ship held together with used, patched parts, duct tape and bailing wire -- they might be required to have some manner of insurance on the ship, or insurance for any employees.
(4) There might be a lien against the ship -- held by creditors, or against a potential loss in a pending legal case -- or, if it's military surplus, the Space Forces might have the right to re-nationalize the ship in the event of an emergency, which would be a debit against its value.
There's some potential for some fun stuff there. Like Lonestar owing Pizza The Hutt a million spacebucks.
I'm still thinking about how much of this will end up seeing play. There's something to be said for having a clear economic game driving play in a game about being space salvagers or sci-fi dungeoneers. Just like getting GP in early D&D. It also sort of integrates BECMI-type realm building right from the get-go as a sector can be explored for salvage and developed into a domain.
Quote from: NathanIW;738920There's some potential for some fun stuff there. Like Lonestar owing Pizza The Hutt a million spacebucks.
Well, sure. A friend of mine, who was a title examiner, ran into me once at the local Registry of Deeds while I was recording some titles. We get to talking, while we're in line, and he mutters that he's running short on plotlines for his Traveller group: too successful, too much money.
So I says to him, hang on: where
are we right now? Think of this field we're in. What happens, do you think, if the party's shoreside financial manager mortgaged their ship behind their backs, embezzled all the funds, absconded for the next system over, and the sheriff's slapped a do-not-fly lien on their ship pending creditor action?
I imagine something of the sort could happen to a belter. Those loans he secured with the ship to Keep Her Flyin' are overdue, there's a port hold on the vessel, only the party knows there's the Big Score out there ... if only they can get off the ground without being shot down.
I was thinking of basically making the salvage company a group character that they're all part of. Like a co-operative that different people sign up with as different characters come and go. I had a very successful D&D campaign where the players started off as the movers and shakers of a barony with a noble ruler who was still a child with his mother acting as regent and chair of their council. I was thinking of doing something similar here, but in spaaace. Instead of founding villages, clearing threats and incentivizing settlers, they'll be clearing salvage, exploring new worlds, clearing threats and incentivizing settlers. If there's ever someone who ends up being crooked and stealing from their coffers, I'm sure the seeking of revenge will make for interesting play.