There's a couple of holes in the Universe game I want to add on to make it more trader-friendly. These are fairly crude off-the-top-of-my-head hacks, meant for simplicity and ease of use rather than straight realism. Feel free to critique.
Starships: Given the standard rules, it seems unlikely the players will ever own their own starships... At least at first. These rules are meant to eventually put the characters in charge of owning their own starships and pursuing their own economic fortunes.
Credit: Characters in good standing (i.e. not wanted by the federation) can 'borrow' an amount up to double their starting money at an interest rate of 10%. The GM can alter this rate as he sees fit, and characters skilled in negotiation and business may attempt to reduce this rate. It can never be reduced lower than 5%, in any case.
This number should be recorded on the player logsheet as a 'credit rating'. It is not mandatory for characters to borrow money, but it should be possible.
This debt must be repaid on a monthly basis, by wiring the money back to the crediting authority. As long as payments (of up to 10% of the total debt) are repaid on a regular basis, the character can maintain this debt up to the limit of his credit rating for the life of his character.
Failure to make payments is cause for Law Enforcement interference. Consequences include seizure of property, fines, jail, elimination of credit rating, and anything else the GM decides.
Cargo Pods: As per the rulebook, a new Cargo Pod costs 35 Trans (35000 Mils). It holds 35 tons of cargo. It can be attached to any spacegoing ship.
However, characters interested in trade who are unable to buy their own cargo pods, may be able to 'rent' space in a space-going cargo pod for a variable rate. This amount will be equal to the distance in AU's multiplied by 10mils, for every ton of space rented. This cost also covers energy fees, and standard loading and unloading of the actual cargo to the ship. The minimal cost to rent cargo in any case will be 250 Mils.
33.4.1
Standard Interplanetary Rate for personal travel: [distance travelled in AU] * 40 mils.
33.4.2
Standard Cargo Pod Rental Rate: [distance travelled in AU] * 10 mils * [# of Tons shipment]
Certain types of cargo (jewels, etc) are small enough that they can be personally carried by the character.
Living Cargo - Moving living cargo can be quite expensive. A Living Cargo Pod contains 50 pressurized and heated compartments, and employs a fulltime crewmember. Renting a biological compartment for moving living cargo on an interplanetary route costs [distance travelled in AU] * 13 mils * [# of compartments needed]
33.4.4 Buffered Cargo Rental
Buffered Cargo - for fragile and organic items is slightly more expensive.
Buffered Cargo Pod Rental Rate: [distance travelled in AU] * 17 mils * [# of Tons shipment] . Minimum rental is 250 Mils. Keep in mind that each Buffered Cargo Pod only holds up to 20 tons, and requires a crewman to maintain.
Damn you, man. Where the hell do I get these Universe rules?
!i!
Quote from: Ian AbsentiaDamn you, man. Where the hell do I get these Universe rules?
!i!
Well, I'd feel a little weird giving you the link , because supposedly this guy shouldn't be selling scans of the old book. But since I actually own a rag-eared copy of it, and the book itself is entombed and out of print I guess I don't feel too bad.
Here's the link. http://members.iinet.net.au/~avalon11/Universe/Universe.htm
I have checked around in the last few days and there is an old cadre of fans out there still maintaining fan pages for Universe. They all enthusiastically link to this guy, and I don't see any other way for you to get the stuff. So I think it's ok.
Er.. Unless I send it to you for free. PM me. It's a big download, so I may have to stick it on a putfile. I'll also give you the GMs screen because it has the Sar System Generation' forms that you can print out.
Criminal Credit:
Characters with bad credit or have a 'Wanted by the Federation' status (former Space Pirates especially) may also be able to borrow money from various criminal or underworld organizations. The amount borrowable is equal to 5x the characters starting wealth, but the interest rate is a minimum of 20% (and likely to go higher). In addition, a character who fails to pay off a loan to a crime figure will 1) find himself unable to borrow money from anyone. and 2) eventually find himself the victim of harassment, intimidation, and violence.