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A couple other questions to consider.
Magic items are common and cheap, how common are spellcasters among the average population? Does everyone know a spellcaster unlike the old pathfinder/DND ratios?
Are spaceships as common to own as, say a Cessna? Or are they far more rare?
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I think that we see examples in some SFS scenarios. The average person has similar to nowadays. I think that the average person in SF has a living space (likely apartment). Laudry, dishwasher, basic entertainment, and gets extra for whimsical spending.
I'd say that ships are most common as business ownership. Probably similar in expenditure to a place of business.
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I think it would depend on what city/planet/solar system they live in. Example, a human might live pretty well on Absalom Station, but not so much in the Vesk Empire.
Let's start with NPC statistics for CR 1/3:
Expert: 3 Master Skills (+7), 2 Good Skills (+3)
Combatant: 1 Master Skills (+7), 2 Good Skills (+3)
Spellcaster: 2 Master Skills (+7), 1 Good Skills (+3)
I imagine most regular NPCs are built with the expert array, and they probably have Profession as a master skill or good skill.
If they are on their own and need to roll for Earn a Living, their weekly wages vary from an average of 27 to 35.
A Poor Meal costs 1 credit, or 21 credits per week, being the cheapest food option other than Field Rations. The cheapest lodging option would be a Sleep Pod for 1 credit/night, but "you can find accommodations at half to one-quarter the listed price if you book in advance and pay for them in 30-day blocks", so a monthly sleep pod can go as low as 7,5 credits per month, or 1,8 credits per week.
A +3 profession NPC has to pony up 22,8 credits of his 27 weekly wages to survive, leaving him 4 credits to go out for a meal in a Poor Chain Dining (2 credits) a couple of times, or getting four Minor Intoxicants (1 credit), which might help him accept his meaningless existence.
But, according to Starvation And Thirst rules, "A character can go without eating food for 3 days. After this time, the character must succeed at a Constitution check (DC = 10 + 1 per previous check) each day or take 1d6 nonlethal damage". So, if you plan properly, you only really need to eat once every four days - you can save a lot of money this way.
Off course, a lucky NPC might get a PC to mooch off, working as a Professional Freelancer (skill bonus x 2 per day).
And if the poor slob doesn't have Profession as one of his skills, he can get a sugar daddy PC and get paid for Unskilled Labor (4 credits per day or 1 per hour), which is actually a little better than the average +3 profession.
I'd assume rolling profession to earn a living is like working gig jobs, or getting a low paying job working behind a register, that sort of thing. There's probably a different pay scale for 8-5 office jobs, or say construction work.
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We can also assume that adventurers are doing the equivalent of staying in motels and eating out. Things are cheaper if you have a long term lease on an apartment and cook your groceries at home.
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I'll address everything going by RAW, since it's slightly entertaining.
I'd assume rolling profession to earn a living is like working gig jobs, or getting a low paying job working behind a register, that sort of thing. There's probably a different pay scale for 8-5 office jobs, or say construction work.
Earn a Living
You can use Profession to earn money. A single check generally represents a week of work, and you earn a number of credits equal to double your Profession skill check result.Increasing your CR and, by consequence, your Master and Good skill bonuses, would represent getting a better job or getting paid better in your regular job.
It sounds bad, but NPCs tend to have a free ranged and /or melee weapon with an item level that matches their CR and that isn't cheap. There are some upsides!
Things are cheaper if you have a long term lease on an apartment and cook your groceries at home.
I couldn’t find rules for buying a house or renting it, other than the hotel prices. Still on lodging, a suite with one bed would cost at least 37,5 credits a month, if "you book in advance and pay for them in 30-day blocks", instead of the regular 150 credits if you pay up every night. Maybe a couple can share a bed and split the bill - that'd be only 18,75 credits a month, what a steal!
But on cooking by yourself, no such luck.
Crafting Equipment and Magic Items
“A player character can create all the items presented in this chapter as long as he has the skills, materials, tools, and time needed to construct it. He must have a number of ranks in the appropriate skill equal to the item level of the item to be created.”
“For any food or drink, the appropriate skill is Life Science.”
“To create an item, you must have UPBs with a total value equal to the price of the item to be created.”
And since 1 UPB = 1 credit, cooking your own food costs the same as buying it done.
Even crazy things like the Culinary Synthesizer doesn’t cut on the cost, just on the time and work.
And regular “camping” stuff like the Mess Kit and the Self-Heating Pot don’t have any mechanics on using them for free food.
Even Profession (Cook) won’t let you cook free food for yourself, only to make money, but, by “Crafting Equipment and Magic Items” rules, “At a GM’s discretion, an appropriate Profession skill can be used for a narrower range of items”, so you can still cook without being a scientist. If the GM allows it.
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Well, there is one way of getting free food, but it doesn’t necessarily involve cooking: Live Off the Land
“You can use Survival to keep yourself and others fed in the wild by hunting and foraging, enabling you to move up to half your overland speed without needing food and water supplies. Typically, one check determines the success of your efforts for a single day. You can provide food and water for one other character for every 2 points by which the result of your check exceeds 10. In some cases, an environment may be so inhospitable (such as an airless asteroid) that it is impossible to live off the land. You can’t take 20 on Survival checks to live off the land.”
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If I was cursed to be a Starfinder NPC, I’d go through Field Rations until I had enough money for a Clear Spindle Aeon Stone. It could be my NPC’s family heirloom.
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I'll address everything going by RAW, since it's slightly entertaining.
I'd assume rolling profession to earn a living is like working gig jobs, or getting a low paying job working behind a register, that sort of thing. There's probably a different pay scale for 8-5 office jobs, or say construction work.Earn a Living
You can use Profession to earn money. A single check generally represents a week of work, and you earn a number of credits equal to double your Profession skill check result.Increasing your CR and, by consequence, your Master and Good skill bonuses, would represent getting a better job or getting paid better in your regular job.
It sounds bad, but NPCs tend to have a free ranged and /or melee weapon with an item level that matches their CR and that isn't cheap. There are some upsides!
Yes, but what does a CR 1/3 NPC expert really represent? The mooch, the bum, the teenager trying to make a buck and pay for college? Or the average citizen? Probably the former.
I also wouldn't use the PC earn a living activity to simulate the NPC career activity. They don't need to be similar, even if the first gives us a jumping off point.
I couldn’t find rules for buying a house or renting it, other than the hotel prices. Still on lodging, a suite with one bed would cost at least 37,5 credits a month, if "you book in advance and pay for them in 30-day blocks", instead of the regular 150 credits if you pay up every night. Maybe a couple can share a bed and split the bill - that'd be only 18,75 credits a month, what a steal!
Of course there aren't rules for long term leases or salary payments. PCs in starfinder aren't paying for such things in most cases. NPCs do, but they aren't necessarily making their money in the same way as the more transient PCs.
Now, in some campaigns that's different. It's currently up to the GM to figure it out, but I don't think long term hotel prices & the earn a living activity are going to be the best starting point to figuring such a thing out either.
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Breaking this away from game mechanics, the real answer is going to depend on accumulated physical capital (so Aballon uber alles) and "human" capital (so lashunta/elves/ysoki/barathu) for productivity modified by cost of inputs/resources (mining and putting on a train locally is a lot cheaper than shipping on a starship) which is going to favor places like Aballon a bit more, set Akiton a bit behind, and LOL Apostae and Aucturn having to import everything.
Eox is presumably big on accumulated capital from thousands of years and relatively modest but efficient production by undead, as well as a profitable necrograft monopoly.
Nobody wants to play the rules game, boring.
Yes, but what does a CR 1/3 NPC expert really represent? The mooch, the bum, the teenager trying to make a buck and pay for college? Or the average citizen? Probably the former.
A CR 1 NPC would represent an average threat to a party of 4 level 1 PCs armed to the teeth with 1000 credits worth of gear each. I assume most unnamed NPCs in the universe are CR 1/3.
We have a bunch of NPCs in the Pact Worlds book, here are the lowest CR ones:
CR 1/2: Gang Tough
CR 1: Space Pirate, Security Guard
CR 2: Gang Pusher
Nobody wants to play the rules game, boring.
Yes, but what does a CR 1/3 NPC expert really represent? The mooch, the bum, the teenager trying to make a buck and pay for college? Or the average citizen? Probably the former.A CR 1 NPC would represent an average threat to a party of 4 level 1 PCs armed to the teeth with 1000 credits worth of gear each. I assume most unnamed NPCs in the universe are CR 1/3.
We have a bunch of NPCs in the Pact Worlds book, here are the lowest CR ones:
CR 1/2: Gang Tough
CR 1: Space Pirate, Security Guard
CR 2: Gang Pusher
security guard sounds like your average blue collar worker to me.
And your average group of level 1 PCs armed to the teeth sounds like your average group of punks that hassle security, so I don't see the problem with the average NPC being CR1.
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Nobody wants to play the rules game, boring.
Yes, but what does a CR 1/3 NPC expert really represent? The mooch, the bum, the teenager trying to make a buck and pay for college? Or the average citizen? Probably the former.A CR 1 NPC would represent an average threat to a party of 4 level 1 PCs armed to the teeth with 1000 credits worth of gear each. I assume most unnamed NPCs in the universe are CR 1/3.
We have a bunch of NPCs in the Pact Worlds book, here are the lowest CR ones:
CR 1/2: Gang Tough
CR 1: Space Pirate, Security Guard
CR 2: Gang Pushersecurity guard sounds like your average blue collar worker to me.
And your average group of level 1 PCs armed to the teeth sounds like your average group of punks that hassle security, so I don't see the problem with the average NPC being CR1.
Other examples of NPCs below one are Maraquoi hunters, Damais, Orc Technicians, and I'm sure there are others. If we're talking about average civilians you'll find on the street, 1/3 or 1/2 seems appropriate, as most civilians never see actual combat their entire life, where as the security guards are expected to engage in some form of combat. Not exactly the security you'll see at Walmart, but it works just fine either way. It's probably a matter of preference.
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And your average group of level 1 PCs armed to the teeth sounds like your average group of punks that hassle security, so I don't see the problem with the average NPC being CR1.
Those are some tough, deadly, heavy and advanced melee weapons wielding, spell-using punks you got there.
Other examples of NPCs below one are Maraquoi hunters, Damais, Orc Technicians, and I'm sure there are others. If we're talking about average civilians you'll find on the street, 1/3 or 1/2 seems appropriate, as most civilians never see actual combat their entire life, where as the security guards are expected to engage in some form of combat. Not exactly the security you'll see at Walmart, but it works just fine either way. It's probably a matter of preference.
If you sort the aliens on AoNSRD by CR you get most of the current examples available: http://aonsrd.com/Aliens.aspx?Letter=All
My favorite is the Formian Worker, CR 1/2... with Profession (Miner) +9!
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For better context on CR 1 NPCs, these are all CR 1: Akata, Jinsul Warrior, Ghoul... I just don't see the average Absalom Station inhabitant being a match for these.
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Other examples of NPCs below one are Maraquoi hunters, Damais, Orc Technicians, and I'm sure there are others. If we're talking about average civilians you'll find on the street, 1/3 or 1/2 seems appropriate, as most civilians never see actual combat their entire life, where as the security guards are expected to engage in some form of combat. Not exactly the security you'll see at Walmart, but it works just fine either way. It's probably a matter of preference.Which means they would technically not allowed to posses many items because of item levels, just in case they come into contact with PCs.
But is this really how you think the Pact World looks like? By the rules you are right. Guess the rules are not that well thought out.
Rather than meticulously track every arms dealer, contact, guild, and license a character has access to, the game assumes that in typical settlements you can find and purchase anything with an item level no greater than your character level + 1, and at major settlements items up to your character level + 2. The GM can restrict access to some items (even those of an appropriate level) or make items of a higher level available for purchase (possibly at a greatly increased price or in return for a favor done for the seller).
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Rather than meticulously track every arms dealer, contact, guild, and license a character has access to, the game assumes that in typical settlements you can find and purchase anything with an item level no greater than your character level + 1, and at major settlements items up to your character level + 2. The GM can restrict access to some items (even those of an appropriate level) or make items of a higher level available for purchase (possibly at a greatly increased price or in return for a favor done for the seller).Too bad item levels also apply to mundane or civilian items.
So better do a favor to Amazon when buying a new gadget. Even abstracted this item level concept does not really work economic systems you would expect in SciFi settings (mass production and retail).
The point of that quote was to show that civilians can buy items above their level and even higher than the recommended item level above their own at the GM's discretion. It's not as cut and dry as you're making it out to be.
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Too bad item levels also apply to mundane or civilian items.
So better do a favor to Amazon when buying a new gadget. Even abstracted this item level concept does not really work economic systems you would expect in SciFi settings (mass production and retail).
Real life has some weird examples like that too. There's a restaurant shop here that won't sell to people without a business license, you can't buy commercial bug spray without a license, anyone can buy a hunting rifle but throwing stars are illegal, and you can buy a claymore but since a round tube with a sharpened edge medical punch is medical equipment you need a license to buy it...
Reality: sometimes people forget how unrealistic it is.
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Reality: sometimes people forget how unrealistic it is.
A further case in point.
A pair of stereo speakers.
Verses a reliable automobile.
Please don't talk to me about Starfinder prices.
I would think in terms of:
What is literally required for survival
What is necessary for meaningful economic activity
What do the powers that be want people to have?
What do they now want them to have?
So they obviously have food. At a minimum level, processed, widely available, nutritious foods, but there will also be culturally valuable foods.
Shelter. This may be purchased, or may be provided at a basic level to any permanent residents, depending on the society. There isn't much value to political or financial powers to give people a lot, so I assume this is a small apartment (in town) or a simple, linear house with a yard (rural or frontier).
Entertainment. There is probably mass media. There are probably exceptional experiences offered to the wealthy. There is probably a slice of the working class that spend any surplus money they have on lavish entertainments, ranging from drugs to holos to sex-based business to sports.
They have a job, if they want one. It's useful to employers to make people a little desperate, so the typical job probably demands a lot while offering modest wages. People who can't or don't work depend on community resources, while people who don't want to work hard probably do "jobs" like acting as assistants to service providers, low-end entertainment, being in focus groups, or collecting reusables and recycleables.
They are probably not highly mobile. It's not useful to governments or corporations for people to be able to just leave, so various economic incentives exist, from the cost of vehicle ownership to regulations on move or travel. So well-payed workers and professionals can probably jaunt around, but it's doubtful they own spacecraft capable of extended travel. Working class people probably rely on mass transit, personal intraplanetary vehicles, and dedicated resorts.
This is an abstract, not simulationist, system here. It doesn't matter what the PC rules are for working jobs and buying items. These are rules for space cowboys. Civilians are gonna be using a different ruleset or, in reality, not have any rules at all.
To answer the thread question, Castroval, Verces, and Absalom station probably all live pretty decently. Most people probably live reasonably happy lives. Akiton is a bit tougher and probably reflect the more capitalism-worn parts of the world. Other planets are probably gonna be difficult to approximate considering how unique they are.
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Akiton= space detroit. With smaller rats
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Aren't the space dinosaurs on castrovelle in one giant continent/wildlife preserve? So if you're getting eaten there it's like getting squashed by a bison in yellowstone: not an everyday hazard and you asked for it.
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Aren't the space dinosaurs on castrovelle in one giant continent/wildlife preserve? So if you're getting eaten there it's like getting squashed by a bison in yellowstone: not an everyday hazard and you asked for it.
While this is correct, you COULD theoretically encounter renkrodas and other Castrovellian megafauna at a zoo or something. Accidents and breakouts could happen...
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How do you think the average person in Starfinder lives? What are his working conditions (and job options), how does he live, what is his general living standard, what sort of services can he use (health insurance, etc) and so on.
These are great questions and I would love to see a future product address them.
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One of the factors involved in answering the original question that I haven't seen addressed here yet is the nature of credits themselves and their function in the game system. The credit system was designed as a game mechanic to control the power level of the PCs relative to the threats they face at different character levels. It wasn't designed to simulate actual commerce.
Furthermore, the credit system scales with the item level system (though imperfectly) to abstractly represent the idea of availability of items. This replaces mechanics from systems such as d20 Modern that had separate mechanics for availability and tech level.
With so many concepts wrapped up in the relationship between credits and item level, I feel it would be complicated, at best, to reliably extrapolate from it the kind of relationships that would exist among the more mundane aspects of daily life in the Starfinder setting.
I would tend to favor the idea, already alluded to by some here, of defining the daily life of NPCs on an entirely separate basis, similar to the way that aliens and NPCs are now built using their own, separate design process from the process used to build PCs.
The difficulty, even with this, would be handling the way that the NPC economy interacted with the PC economy.
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I think the economy works ok for the average joe as long as you realize the lodging prices are for a hotel room and we don't have a price for a rent by month/pay a mortgage and theres no generic bag of groceries for food
theres no generic bag of groceries for food
I think that is the UPB - NPCs probably get an UPB allowance on top of salary, so they can use it on their home culinary synthesizer.
Cooking is probably an art form, reserved for the elite.
That's actually how I read it. The meal prices are meant to be for 'special occasions'.
A week's worth of rations or a day's worth of MRE's are 1cr. It takes 1 UPB to make either of them yourself assuming you have a single 'rank' in an appropriate skill. I feel like most people would, most of the time, just live off of those and all those 'meals out' prices would be for like, date night. Not something they're doing 3x a day.
That puts weekly 'cost of living' at the low end at like 8cr/week. That's well under what any CR 1/3-1 creature could afford with a Day Job check.
I'd assume rolling profession to earn a living is like working gig jobs, or getting a low paying job working behind a register, that sort of thing. There's probably a different pay scale for 8-5 office jobs, or say construction work.
I just assumed the rules as written were poorly play tested and simply broken. The equivalent rules in Pathfinder 2Ed can allow for a reasonable income even with the skills of low-level NPC.
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They don't.
NPCs only exist when a PC is close by. Starfinder is very poorly made when it comes to believable world building. Something which I think is because of it's Dungeon Crawl roots, the broken economy and the level system.
Don't get me wrong SF is a nice system, but it's more geared towards dungeon crawl then a to a living and breathing universe.