GM Tarondor's Skandersvik - Traveller (Inactive)

Game Master Tarondor

Freyjason wrote:

and of course selling drugs would be bad mojo ... ;)

Wisdom in what you choose NOT to trade can be an important part of your Satisfaction rating, to be sure. Sundstrom is trying to create an image of Sword Worlds goods as necessary and reliable.

To confirm though: if Frey chooses to spend 27,500 of his own credits to enhance transactional success of the speculation team, that is his choice. He would account for the allocation & recovery of his own funds, and the profit goes back into his base speculation fund, correct?

That sounds generous actually... using your own funds as part of your seed money, but only giving the profits to the group and not taking a cut. Sounds pretty Sword-World to me. Obviously up to the DM though. :)

I guess there's no problem with that, if you want to do it.

I guess there's no problem with that, if you want to do it.

To buy all the Medical Supplies, and all the Pharma, and all the Biochemicals, is 227,500 ... and Frey will be able to pitch those pretty well once he uploads the right Expert program ;)

That sounds generous actually... using your own funds as part of your seed money, but only giving the profits to the group and not taking a cut. Sounds pretty Sword-World to me. Obviously up to the DM though. :)

Yay @ Frey!!!

Isn't that exactly how teamwork makes the dream work!?!?

If Frey is willing to invest 13.75% as much as the owner, only recoup his seed money (if he even chooses to), AND shoulder any losses if needed, that seems to be a good thing to me too.

Okay, so here is a proposal for Cor/Frey. (Perhaps offered at the Skander Trade Committee Meeting that Frey suggested.)

I can throw in all of my money to help Frey out in getting medical supplies, since that is what he wants, and he will be using very few slots.

That means with Zaeta+Frey's money (300,000+235,000) he could get 4 tons of medical supplies. @127,500 a pop that is 510,000, with 25,000 left over (the leftover will be from Frey's personal fund, so he could keep it).

We put those in Cor's extra 4 slots, and then we load Frey's area with freight (or he could use his remaining money to load up with common consumables). What do you guys think?

Also, if Crastor wants something easy, here are some options:

--Take both lots of weapon freight for Bularia. Won't have to mess with trading for 6 planets, and then cash in.

--If you want something less long-term: 50 tons of Common Industrial Goods is exactly 200,000. Simple Simon, and you are done with all slots filled, all money used.

Okay, so here is a proposal for Cor/Frey. (Perhaps offered at the Skander Trade Committee Meeting that Frey suggested.)

I can throw in all of my money to help Frey out in getting medical supplies, since that is what he wants, and he will be using very few slots.

That means with Zaeta+Frey's money (300,000+235,000) he could get 4 tons of medical supplies. @127,500 a pop that is 510,000, with 25,000 left over (the leftover will be from Frey's personal fund, so he could keep it).

We put those in Cor's extra 4 slots, and then we load Frey's area with freight (or he could use his remaining money to load up with common consumables). What do you guys think?

I think this is brilliant AND Frey offers to extend the overall purchasing power of the whole endeavor by 35kcr ... if needed.

Okay. I am going to assume that Cor is in, since he said I could use his extra slots last time. Posting it in Gameplay.

Okay. I am going to assume that Cor is in, since he said I could use his extra slots last time. Posting it in Gameplay.

Definitely!

Yeah, I'll have to see how this pans out. You really DO get a lot of profit for delivering the mail, eh? I think the speculative trading could be lucrative with a lot of cargo space, but given our rather small allotment I can see how mail might be the way to go.

Still gonna do the speculative trading thing for now, just to see how it pans out and it seems interesting. Tarondor, is there mail on every world we can pick up? So long as we have the space available? The only downside I can see is if we aren't able to arrive at that destination for some reason.

I don't necessarily think Mail is always the most profitable thing, but it costs us nothing but space, and is a sure thing. When we have more money, we might be able to get better profits on speculative goods, but that is partially chance, so filling up with things we just have to deliver is good at least for now.

Tarondor, is there mail on every world we can pick up? So long as we have the space available?

Depending on the population of the world and several other factors, yes.

The only downside I can see is if we aren't able to arrive at that destination for some reason.

It's a decent income, but it pales in comparison to what can be accomplished by successful speculative trading.

Darn, I didn't want any of the cargo space to be free... we could have loaded up another load of freight.

But oh well, I guess it gives us a little extra space to pick stuff up on Spume.

Friends. I'm laid up with COVID. Sick as a dog. I'll check in as and when I can.

Oh crud! Feel better, my friend!

REST - it's really critical. We will be here.

Sorry to hear that, Ref. Rest up, and we'll be here when you are able to return. :)

Maybe Frey should do health examinations ...

I will be on vacation from tonight through Monday. I am not sure what my internet situation will be through the trip, but I will try and be available to post at least once a day. Bot me as needed if I am taking to long.

Apologies folks, I'm around but went on vacation expecting to have internet and found I couldn't log into my account on Paizo for some reason... Will catch up today and post!

Folks:

I'm sorry to have been away. My recovery from COVID is going poorly and leaving me exhausted. If I'm player in your game, please bot me. If I'm the GM - I'll be back in the saddle as soon as I can.

I will say it again: REST.

I went through the worst gout attack of my life recently. I couldn't sit, I couldn't sleep, I couldn't think. It sukd.

Get better.

Definitely, rest and feel better! We'll be here!

Take care of yourself. We can pick up when you are ready.

Hey folks! My strength is slowly returning and I am going to try to get back to gaming today or tomorrow. Please forgive a slow start, but I will do as my strength allows.

Good to hear, GM! Welcome back, and rest easy whilst doing so! :)

Trading Breakdown as a reminder from last time.

Total available cargo area (unless someone sells something):

Zaeta 25 slots
Crastor 30 slots

Think this is where Cor stands currently with his trading:

Purchases on Narsil:
Advanced Electronics (1 ton at 55k cr); Common Consumables (32 tons at 375 cr each; Common Electronics (6 tons at 9k cr each); Common Industrial Goods (31 tons at 4k cr each); Pharmaceuticals (1 ton at 55k cr)

Total Purchases (credits):
55,000; 12,000; 54,000; 124,000; 55,000
300,000 cr total allowance
0k remaining

Total space used (tons):
1; 32; 6; 31; 1

71 tons
4 tons remaining (used by Frey)

Selling on on Spume:
Advanced Electronics (1 ton at 90k cr for a 35k profit); Common Industrial Goods (3 tons at 9k cr each for a 15k profit); Pharmaceuticals (1 ton at 100k cr for a 45k profit)
95,000 credit profit

Cargo Inventory Remaining:
Common Consumables (32 tons at 375 cr each
Common Electronics (6 tons at 9k cr each)
Common Industrial Goods (28 tons at 4k cr each)

Total space remaining (tons):
66 tons
9 tons remaining (4 tons used by Frey, currently)

Total Profits/Loss:
-300,000 credits spent for original cargo
+217,000 credits for cargo sold on Spume
------------------
(83,000) credits

Hey folks! My strength is slowly returning and I am going to try to get back to gaming today or tomorrow. Please forgive a slow start, but I will do as my strength allows.

GM: how are you feeling?

I need to admit, I will be travelling this Sunday and I am slightly somewhat more than a little terrified(ish). Really hope you are feeling much better!

I'd say I'm at 50-60%. I still sleep a lot, but I can stay awake while driving, so that's a plus.

I'd say I'm at 50-60%. I still sleep a lot, but I can stay awake while driving, so that's a plus.

Please try to make the "awake while driving" a trend not an anomaly

FYI - You have plenty of free tonnage available. See the "Tonnage" tab on the Trading Summary.

I think that tab is only covering speculative cargo... we have a lot filled with mail and freight.

I have my 75 slots full, Frey's 50 are full, Cor's 75 are full, Yuri doesn't have any (he donated his to Cor and I), and Crastor is the only one who has room. I'll break it down in another post.

Team Cargo Area:

Corellon (75):

==Speculative Goods==

32 Common Consumables (Corellon)
6 Common Electronics (Corellon)
28 Common Industrial Goods (Corellon)
3 Medical Supplies (Frey/Zaeta)
5 Uncommon Ore (Frey/Zaeta)
1 Gems and Crystals (Frey/Zaeta)

TOTAL 75/75

Zaeta (75):

25 Tons of Mail (Condaria: 5 tons / Bularia: 20 tons)
25 Tons of Freight (Condaria: 25 tons)
25 Tons of Speculative Goods (Spume: 25 Uncommon Ore)

TOTAL 75/75

Frey (50):

50 Tons of Freight (Condaria: 20 tons / 15 tons, Kardin: 15 tons)

TOTAL 50/50

Crastor (50):

==Speculative Goods==

11 tons of gems (Crastor)
9 tons of common ore (Crastor)
7 Tons of Gems and Crystals (Frey/Zaeta)

TOTAL 27/50

Group Total: 227/250

(Everyone was also full except Crastor when we left the last planet... we just sold stuff, and I delivered mail and freight.)

You're quite right that I forgot the Freight. It's all good now.

I think you are still missing the freight that I delivered to Spume.

Looks like you got the 5 tons of mail, but I also delivered 20 tons of mining and survey equipment for Cr32,000... that's how I freed up the 25 slots that I refilled here.

... If you want, I can do those records for you so you don't have to take the time. I'm already figuring it all out, so it wouldn't be any extra for me. But if you want to keep records in a certain way, then no worries. Just in case you wanted it off your plate.

I appreciate the offer and may take you up on it, but not just yet. I want to get it straight in my head. As anyone who has ever played at my table will tell you, I trust my players completely and also hate math. But I push myself to do the things I'm bad at, so I want to get a handle on this myself!

With regard to the current discussion in gameplay, I agree that we shouldn't go this afternoon unless we want to split the party... which I am also fine with in general. Doesn't seem like a very battle oriented game, so I wouldn't freak out about them leaving to meet someone and then come back and get us. Maybe an in-character discussion about that is warranted.

I also agree with Cor to a certain extent about the game as a whole. It is fun, but there seem to be some external expectations to just make a whole bunch of stuff up in general with little guidance. No one wants to be railroaded, of course, but a little bit more help with whatever is expected would be good, rather than generic reminders to stick to our orders. We're trying, and out here meeting people, but I mean, I'm bad at meeting people in real life, so I might not be the best at all of this without better hints. No idea what we are expected to do with 5 days in this community and we've already been conversationally shut down with the leader. We can go meet a lot of people and heal the goat, then go meet the alcohol guy... guessing more opportunities will come up as we do this, but in my normal games, I mean, a lot of this is stuff we would fast forward through, so not sure if I am missing some specific clues somewhere. Are we supposed to be doing some political thing that I am totally missing?

We can go meet a lot of people and heal the goat, then go meet the alcohol guy... guessing more opportunities will come up as we do this,

Nope. This is pretty much it. Shallow end of the pond, still.

but in my normal games, I mean, a lot of this is stuff we would fast forward through,

Mine too. But some people are all about the role-playing, so this is their chance if they want it. Happy to fast forward if everyone's ready to move on.

so not sure if I am missing some specific clues somewhere.

Nope! It's a dusty farming town where the economic opportunities are slight!

Are we supposed to be doing some political thing that I am totally missing?

You are not. The pattern is: "Uneventful...Mostly Uneventful...Somewhat Interesting...Holy Crap, Look Out!"

Hope this helps.

Well, the "railroad" is Magnus Sundstrom's itinerary and his general directions. The rest is up to you. This isn't a Pathfinder AP, where the story is laid out in detail. It's up to you and me to make it up as we go along.

Let me tell you how the adventure is laid out (as spoiler-free as I can). There's a bunch of worlds where everything that happens is entirely up to you. There's some local flavor, but no adventures as such. Then, on certain worlds (or perhaps between them?) the adventure will start to unfold around you. You'll know when that starts happening, believe me.

But on many worlds (this one, for instance), there's no danger and no story. It's just you trading building relations and maybe gathering intel. You can talk to whom you like and go where you'd like within the time frame given to you by Magnus Sundstrom. This world (Condaria) is really about stretching your character's legs and expressing who they are as people before the poop hits the fan on another world.

So all the book tells me is that such and such deals are available in such-and-such places. I'm making these people (as well as goats and dogs) up to give you someone to interact with. You can do that as much or as little as you like.

So in short, there nothing you're SUPPOSED to be doing from the point of view of the GM. You have your instructions from Magnus and you can interpret them as you like.

What I've found as a PBP GM is that some players like the personal interaction and some are bored until combat (or infiltration, or whatever) starts. So I like to allow chances for discussion and interaction but generally keep things moving so that this campaign isn't still going a decade hence. I'm trying to strike a happy medium, not cutting you off.

Cripes! Why does the thing I write second always show up first?

That actually helps a lot, thanks! I admit I do have a difficult time 'making things up' as a player because I don't want to create stuff that shouldn't be there (and I'm also very unaware of what the regular duties of a Second Officer aboard a starship might entail...)

I will do my best though, and feel free to consider Cor as being a rather quiet commander of this group, letting those more qualified in the situation to step forward and flex their skills while he watches for trouble or moves to assist when needed.

Daniel Stewart (who played Yuri Sokolov) has left the game.

Thanks for letting us know.

Think this is where Cor stands currently with his trading:

Purchases on Narsil:
Advanced Electronics (1 ton at 55k cr); Common Consumables (32 tons at 375 cr each; Common Electronics (6 tons at 9k cr each); Common Industrial Goods (31 tons at 4k cr each); Pharmaceuticals (1 ton at 55k cr)

Total Purchases (credits):
55,000; 12,000; 54,000; 124,000; 55,000
300,000 cr total allowance
0k remaining

Total space used (tons):
1; 32; 6; 31; 1

71 tons
4 tons remaining (used by Frey)

Selling on on Spume:
Advanced Electronics (1 ton at 90k cr for 90k cr); Common Industrial Goods (3 tons at 9k cr each for 27k cr); Pharmaceuticals (1 ton at 100k cr for 100k cr)

Cargo Inventory Remaining:
Common Consumables (32 tons purchased at 375 cr each)
Common Electronics (6 tons purchased at 9k cr each)
Common Industrial Goods (28 tons purchased at 4k cr each)

Total space remaining (tons):
32; 6; 28

66 tons
9 tons remaining (4 tons used by Frey, currently)

Selling on on Condaria:
Common Electronics (6 tons at 25k cr for 150k cr)

Cargo Inventory Remaining:
Common Consumables (32 tons purchased at 375 cr each
Common Industrial Goods (28 tons purchased at 4k cr each)

Total space remaining (tons):
32; 28

60 tons
15 tons remaining (4 tons used by Frey, currently)

Total Profits/Loss:
-300,000 credits spent for original cargo
+217,000 credits for cargo sold on Spume
+150,000 credits for cargo sold on Condaria
------------------
+67,000 credit profit

Goods on Hand: Condaria
(including moving freight around)

Corellon:

Cash on Hand: Cr367,000 (Started with 300,000)
(from Condaria Cr150,000 selling Common Electronics)

In Hold:

Speculative Goods:
Common Consumables (32 tons purchased at Cr375)
Common Electronics (6 tons purchased at Cr9,000)
Common Industrial Goods (28 tons purchased at Cr4,000)

Total Tonnage: 66/75

Zaeta:

Cash on Hand: Cr192,000 (Started with 300,000)
(From Condaria: Cr135,000 in freight/mail deliveries)

In Hold:

Speculative Goods:
Uncommon Ore (30 tons purchased at Cr3,750) [some moved]
Gems and Crystals (8 tons purchased at Cr15,000) [some moved]

Mail:
20 Tons (4 containers) bound for Bularia. Payout when delivered: Cr100,000

Total Tonnage: 58/75

Frey:

Cash on Hand: Cr176,000 (Started with Cr200,000)
(From Condaria: Cr176,000 in freight deliveries)

In Hold:

Speculative Goods:
Medical Supplies (3 tons purchased at Cr127,500)

Freight:
Kardin: LOT F: 15 tons (Personal and Commercial Computers). Payout when delivered: Cr123,000

Total Tonnage: 18/50

Crastor:

Cash on Hand: Cr4,900

In Hold:

Speculative Goods:
Gems (11 tons purchased at Cr17,000)
Common Ore (9 tons purchased at Cr900)

Total Tonnage 20/50

===Open Cargo Slots===

Corellon: 9 slots
Zaeta: 17 slots
Frey: 32 slots
Crastor: 30 slots

Total: 88 slots

Corellon sold those 6 tons of common electronics on Condaria for a pretty good profit. So he is only using 60 tons at the moment. Though the 15 tons of liquor he'll be purchasing will push that back up to 75 tons with 0 left over.

Oops, sorry. I wrote that you sold it, but didn't take it off the list. Apologies. I'll redo the list after we do other trading, and correct that, plus add the alcohol.

No worries, thanks for tracking for everyone! That's a handy resource to have for our trading excursions!