Steve Posted January 25, 2007 Report Share Posted January 25, 2007 I broke this out as a separate thread because I'm having a bit of trouble wrapping my head around the advanced trading rules from GURPS Traveller. Is there a spreadsheet around to help in calculating trade routes and determining profitability of different planets? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlHazred Posted January 25, 2007 Report Share Posted January 25, 2007 Re: Traveller: Free Trading And is the GURPS Traveller system better than the one in CT Book 7? Because I'm not enthused by Book 7's system -- bland, uninspired, and too mechanical. I mean, you don't even determine what it is you're trading! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexraccoon Posted January 25, 2007 Report Share Posted January 25, 2007 Re: Traveller: Free Trading dont know of the type of spreadsheet you're after but the following may be of interest http://home.houston.rr.com/tmixon/Trade/ spinward marches http://users.adelphia.net/~alaconius/ 2nd download gives a spreadsheet with gdp for spinward marches planets Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyrath Posted January 26, 2007 Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 Re: Traveller: Free Trading And is the GURPS Traveller system better than the one in CT Book 7? Because I'm not enthused by Book 7's system -- bland' date=' uninspired, and too mechanical. I mean, you don't even determine what it is you're trading![/quote'] I suppose it depends upon your definition of "better." Looking at it I suspect it is probably equally boring as far as game play goes. But it is based on a state of the art gravity economic theory model of inter-nation trade. Very accurate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted January 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 Re: Traveller: Free Trading dont know of the type of spreadsheet you're after but the following may be of interest http://home.houston.rr.com/tmixon/Trade/ spinward marches http://users.adelphia.net/~alaconius/ 2nd download gives a spreadsheet with gdp for spinward marches planets The trade map looks great! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlHazred Posted January 26, 2007 Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 Re: Traveller: Free Trading I suppose it depends upon your definition of "better." Looking at it I suspect it is probably equally boring as far as game play goes. But it is based on a state of the art gravity economic theory model of inter-nation trade. Very accurate. This isn't the rules in the basic GURPS Traveller book, is it? You're talking about GURPS Far Trader? Thanks for reminding me, I need to pick that one up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyrath Posted January 26, 2007 Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 Re: Traveller: Free Trading This isn't the rules in the basic GURPS Traveller book' date=' is it? You're talking about GURPS Far Trader? Thanks for reminding me, I need to pick that one up! Yes, you are correct. Sorry for the confusion. I've read many game rules for trading, but the GURPS:Far Trader really impressed the heck out of me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajackson Posted January 27, 2007 Report Share Posted January 27, 2007 Re: Traveller: Free Trading GURPS Traveller: Far Trader is economically sensible, and not very useful in-game (not that CT is better); macroeconomics may be interesting, but they rarely offer much in the way of game play hooks, and frankly, the mechanics in GT:FT encourage someone running a ship to, well, run a ship. Not go adventuring or doing interesting things. This is largely a legacy fault with Traveller; the way starship costs works means that lost time is lost money, and often a bunch of lost money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted January 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2007 Re: Traveller: Free Trading My experience with Traveller is that playing it as written you have to really focus on being a merchant in order to keep the ship running, not an adventurer who just trades on the side as part of playing. The upside of this is that you tend to make more money trading than you do adventuring. Realistic? I guess. Fun? Well, maybe if you have Ferengi blood in you. Actually, the Ferengi might work pretty well in the Traveller universe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peregrine Posted January 27, 2007 Report Share Posted January 27, 2007 Re: Traveller: Free Trading That's always been my big beef with Traveller, much as I love it otherwise. "Scarcity of resources" is not fun gaming for me; I certainly don't insist on my character being able to buy anything and everything they might want, but if the main theme of the game is "one step ahead of bankruptcy/poverty/repossession", count me out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyrath Posted January 27, 2007 Report Share Posted January 27, 2007 Re: Traveller: Free Trading My experience with Traveller is that playing it as written you have to really focus on being a merchant in order to keep the ship running, not an adventurer who just trades on the side as part of playing. The upside of this is that you tend to make more money trading than you do adventuring. Realistic? I guess. Fun? Well, maybe if you have Ferengi blood in you. This actually simulates the situation found in Andre Norton's Solar Queen novels about free traders. It sounds like you would prefer a starship owner that had adventures like the late lamented TV show Tales of the Gold Monkey. That show could be a good source of plot seeds. Replace "Pacific Ocean" with "deep space", replace "island" with "wilderness planet", replace the nations with various interstellar empires, replace the yes/no barking dog with something like TRON's "bit", you can keep the spies, femme fatales, ex patriots, and colony governors intact. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted January 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2007 Re: Traveller: Free Trading Actually, that's pretty close to what I was thinking. Firefly might be a better example. Enemy agents, native cults and femme fatales. Pulp Traveller anyone? My group might get a little restless if they gamed out the wheeling and dealing of a Free Trader. In order to GM it, I need to get a grasp on the economic model used too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
assault Posted January 28, 2007 Report Share Posted January 28, 2007 Re: Traveller: Free Trading My experience with Traveller is that playing it as written you have to really focus on being a merchant in order to keep the ship running' date=' not an adventurer who just trades on the side as part of playing.[/quote'] This is really only a problem with a bad GM. Merchants go places and meet people - and that's when adventures happen. Running trade as just an exercise in spreadsheeting is, as you noted, dull. Making deals in a dodgy startown bar isn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted January 29, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2007 Re: Traveller: Free Trading Well, I do like a given structure for figuring out how much a cargo will make in profit. I was just having troubles figuring out the numbers for the advanced trade rules. I may just stick with basic trading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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