Strange Cargo
Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2016 5:58 pm
So in many previous games transporting cargo has been a lesser element of our games, either as method to support the world-hopping adventure or as a hook to draw players into Guild drama. How interplanetary trade works is a dead-spot in the cannon of Fading suns so I'm curious how others handle this aspect of the game world.
My take is that there would be three kinds of interplanetary Trade arrangements:
The first would be the merchant ship, a freighter or cargo lander, usually owned by a Charioteer, that haggles goods at low prices one one planet and flies them to a planet where the demand is greater. These operations would be small crews for low overhead and likely specialize in a category of goods like Clothing or Alcohol where their connections on the planets they serve give them an advantage in trade. These ventures are all-in and likely don't take many chances as a bad cargo run or two is all that it takes to ruin their business.
The second would be enterprises that have production on one world and distribution on another, such as a Noble family that owns vineyards on one planet and wine shops on another. They utilize interplanetary trade to expand the sales-base of their enterprise to more customers, so these are less likely to be common commodities and more likely to be firearms or fine-crafted furniture or goods that already have a limited market. They may have their own ship or more likely they contract to have their freight shipped with a trusted ship owner.
The third isn't really trade but just transportation. A lot of people would need services to transport their goods not for sale to other planets. People moving to another world would likely be taking there furniture and home decor with them. In a primitive economy with poor banking, payment is is often handled in trade goods. Ravenna's Duke might be sending tons of premium cut lumber to the Delphi as part of his planetary tithes. The Nobles and the Church also have the need to consolidate resources as often it is cheaper to ship 200 head of cattle from one planet to another than it is to purchase cattle on that planet. These shipments ignore much of the taxes of trade but still have to pass through customs inspections.
The Charioteers and Muster serve a unique position in interplanetary commerce as one of the only interplanetary logisticians. The Muster can assign a tracking number to a cargo container or collection of crates and the Charioteers can track that shipment across the known worlds by checking it in and out as it travels through spaceports and land transportation. If you arranged freight through the Charioteers it may cost a bit more but you can go to the Boatswain's offices on Criticorrum and confirm that freight that was sent out of a farm on Kish was delivered to a rural camp on Severus, although it may take several months for that confirmation to be broadcast to Critcorrum. Additionally the little problems shipments face tend to disappear when the Roustabout Tracking number is on your crates, you're less likely to steal a few items out of a crate in an inspection warehouse when the folks who will have to pay for them are friends with Chainers.
There is very little regulation of what ships off planet because it quickly becomes someone else's problem. Most space ports will open and inspect cargo containers to ensure there's no smuggling going on but this is a low priority for port security and likely isn't done on every container. People are watched a little more carefully. Likely there are law enforcement personnel checking Boatswain passenger lists in any spaceport against wanted lists for anything suspicious.
Goods shipped off planet need to be transported to the spaceport or to a location where a lander can access them or in some cases shuttled up to a ship in orbit, but in most cases anything that would justify the expense of being shipped by shuttle would be a very expensive cargo to cover the cost. In most cases cargo that doesn't need temperature regulation or life support would be transported in void-locked cargo containers that are likely attached to the outside of cargo freighters. Goods that have to be kept at room temperature or livestock (slaves) have to be transported in ship compartments and cannot be packed in a container larger than can be carried through a ship's cargo airlock unless it is shipped via a lander with a cargo ramp. So shipping static goods like cloth or high tech components can be very inexpensive but transporting fresh fruit or exotic animals is much much more expensive.
Cargo landing on a planet is a source of great regulation. Anything arriving from another world has to be checked for elements that could be dangerous or illegal like smuggled drugs or dangerous technology or just plain weapons. Both the Church and Nobles have an interest in this regulation so they are both given time to inspect incoming cargo in independent warehouses. The church doesn't need to look at much and can often inspect cargo as it comes off the ship but the Nobles will want to confirm who is receiving cargo, verify the proper market value so they are taxed correctly, and many planetary rulers keep a survey of what's being imported for their own economic planning. It is not unusual for cargo to take days to get through customs. Having a friend in the custom's office of a Spaceport or being good with bribes can shorten that wait time exponentially.
Goods that don't have a fairly high price tag or goods that aren't very stable just don't travel between planets because the price of transport exceeds to profit to be had. In general lightweight goods that require less packing tend to be the sweetspot for interplanetary trade, high tech, medicines, r spices. Slightly less efficient but still viable are heavy or perishable goods that are unique to a planet, exotic preserves like canned fruits or Wine, books, or machined parts made on a patent, lower still on the trade priorities would be inexpensive goods that are in short supply on a neighboring planet that are stable enough to transport cheaply like wood or fuel or grains. These shipments usually have much tighter margins and only transport in gigantic bulk shipments, and typically only when demand on on the destination planet seems likely to outstrip supply or other factors would make the destination's market for that good very attractive.
So what do you think?
Lets say you on planet A have a ridiculous surplus of widgets and you believe there is a market for them on planet B. How do you imagine the process works?
Given the medieval setting and postwar economy of the Fadung Suns world, what types of goods are the products that are transported from world to world?
My take is that there would be three kinds of interplanetary Trade arrangements:
The first would be the merchant ship, a freighter or cargo lander, usually owned by a Charioteer, that haggles goods at low prices one one planet and flies them to a planet where the demand is greater. These operations would be small crews for low overhead and likely specialize in a category of goods like Clothing or Alcohol where their connections on the planets they serve give them an advantage in trade. These ventures are all-in and likely don't take many chances as a bad cargo run or two is all that it takes to ruin their business.
The second would be enterprises that have production on one world and distribution on another, such as a Noble family that owns vineyards on one planet and wine shops on another. They utilize interplanetary trade to expand the sales-base of their enterprise to more customers, so these are less likely to be common commodities and more likely to be firearms or fine-crafted furniture or goods that already have a limited market. They may have their own ship or more likely they contract to have their freight shipped with a trusted ship owner.
The third isn't really trade but just transportation. A lot of people would need services to transport their goods not for sale to other planets. People moving to another world would likely be taking there furniture and home decor with them. In a primitive economy with poor banking, payment is is often handled in trade goods. Ravenna's Duke might be sending tons of premium cut lumber to the Delphi as part of his planetary tithes. The Nobles and the Church also have the need to consolidate resources as often it is cheaper to ship 200 head of cattle from one planet to another than it is to purchase cattle on that planet. These shipments ignore much of the taxes of trade but still have to pass through customs inspections.
The Charioteers and Muster serve a unique position in interplanetary commerce as one of the only interplanetary logisticians. The Muster can assign a tracking number to a cargo container or collection of crates and the Charioteers can track that shipment across the known worlds by checking it in and out as it travels through spaceports and land transportation. If you arranged freight through the Charioteers it may cost a bit more but you can go to the Boatswain's offices on Criticorrum and confirm that freight that was sent out of a farm on Kish was delivered to a rural camp on Severus, although it may take several months for that confirmation to be broadcast to Critcorrum. Additionally the little problems shipments face tend to disappear when the Roustabout Tracking number is on your crates, you're less likely to steal a few items out of a crate in an inspection warehouse when the folks who will have to pay for them are friends with Chainers.
There is very little regulation of what ships off planet because it quickly becomes someone else's problem. Most space ports will open and inspect cargo containers to ensure there's no smuggling going on but this is a low priority for port security and likely isn't done on every container. People are watched a little more carefully. Likely there are law enforcement personnel checking Boatswain passenger lists in any spaceport against wanted lists for anything suspicious.
Goods shipped off planet need to be transported to the spaceport or to a location where a lander can access them or in some cases shuttled up to a ship in orbit, but in most cases anything that would justify the expense of being shipped by shuttle would be a very expensive cargo to cover the cost. In most cases cargo that doesn't need temperature regulation or life support would be transported in void-locked cargo containers that are likely attached to the outside of cargo freighters. Goods that have to be kept at room temperature or livestock (slaves) have to be transported in ship compartments and cannot be packed in a container larger than can be carried through a ship's cargo airlock unless it is shipped via a lander with a cargo ramp. So shipping static goods like cloth or high tech components can be very inexpensive but transporting fresh fruit or exotic animals is much much more expensive.
Cargo landing on a planet is a source of great regulation. Anything arriving from another world has to be checked for elements that could be dangerous or illegal like smuggled drugs or dangerous technology or just plain weapons. Both the Church and Nobles have an interest in this regulation so they are both given time to inspect incoming cargo in independent warehouses. The church doesn't need to look at much and can often inspect cargo as it comes off the ship but the Nobles will want to confirm who is receiving cargo, verify the proper market value so they are taxed correctly, and many planetary rulers keep a survey of what's being imported for their own economic planning. It is not unusual for cargo to take days to get through customs. Having a friend in the custom's office of a Spaceport or being good with bribes can shorten that wait time exponentially.
Goods that don't have a fairly high price tag or goods that aren't very stable just don't travel between planets because the price of transport exceeds to profit to be had. In general lightweight goods that require less packing tend to be the sweetspot for interplanetary trade, high tech, medicines, r spices. Slightly less efficient but still viable are heavy or perishable goods that are unique to a planet, exotic preserves like canned fruits or Wine, books, or machined parts made on a patent, lower still on the trade priorities would be inexpensive goods that are in short supply on a neighboring planet that are stable enough to transport cheaply like wood or fuel or grains. These shipments usually have much tighter margins and only transport in gigantic bulk shipments, and typically only when demand on on the destination planet seems likely to outstrip supply or other factors would make the destination's market for that good very attractive.
So what do you think?
Lets say you on planet A have a ridiculous surplus of widgets and you believe there is a market for them on planet B. How do you imagine the process works?
Given the medieval setting and postwar economy of the Fadung Suns world, what types of goods are the products that are transported from world to world?