IMTU Resources

If I’m going to mention Resources in the Bio Shticks I need to define them.

In character creation, Resources 1 is worth a very large amount of money or legal authorization. Examples were:

·         1/8th of a merchant ship (5 years invested on 45 years of payments)

·         Combat-quality vacc suit (Armor 2, self-sealing, weapons pods, propulsion, magnetics, etc.)

·         High Passage on a passenger ship for one for one week. Decadent Imperials have a lot of cash.

·         In 2015 US$ it’s about $40,000

This is to keep PCs focused on only buying big, character defining things.

In play that’s too high to be a good metric. Now Resources 1 equals roughly 1/50th that amount, which comes to.

·         1 Month of docking fees and medical care at JW station

·         1 Month of upkeep, fuel and crew food for the ship

·         1 Month of payments on the ship’s loan.

·         Rumblewear for all PCs (see 2.2.7)

·         Cheap blades for all PCs (break on a Fumble, plus whatever other problems come up)

·         One Quality blade.

·         1000 “Credits”, just to keep things simple.

·         Resources 8 will buy you a Pistol.

·         You need another Resources 4 for a legal permit.

·         Resources 12 will buy you a Rifle or SMG

·         You need another Resources 6 for a Wildside rifle permit, good for hunting on low tech planets. No other Rifle or SMG permits are acceptable.

I like the game within a game of the Free Trader concept but want to make it as easy and conceptual as possible.

Players know they need to make 3000 credits a month. 1000 credits of which come as in-kind payments from JW Station where each week of work for the station covers them for a month. A 2 week Jump drive round trip pays this month and next but they have to cover their other two obligations. This should be enough to keep players hopping and make clear which deals are worth taking, which ones aren’t and which ones are too good to be true.

There’s a constant run of smaller deals – mail and supply runs through the reef – that are assumed in this as none of them take much fuel and they help defray expenses and buy little indulgences. That’s what gives the group pocket change, and it makes the rest of the currency system invisible while keeping the feel of scraping by that’s needed for a starting Free Trader game.