(010) Looking for Goods -- Regina to Jenghe

[Eris]

Over the next few days Edwardo looks around for Spec Cargo, Freight and Passengers (although you don't really have room for passengers other than Low Berth)

He tracks down three goods that might be good Speculative Cargoes:

Art Work. 1 dtons @ 250,000 base.
Buy mod Na -2, Ni -2, Po -4
Sell mod In +2, Ri +6.

Pigments/Dyes. 40 dtons @ 5,000 base.
Buy mod Ag -4, Po -2.
Sell mod Na +4, Ri +2.

Copper. 120 dtons @ 2,000 base.
Buy mod In -3, Po +1, Ri -2.
Sell mod In -3, Ri -1.

Edwardo checks with several brokers and collects a number of freight offers on lots needed to go from Regina to Jenghe.

Freight Lots (can't be split)
Priority (5Kcr/ton, time sensitive): 7 cargos (2 6 6 1 2 6 3)
Hazardous (7Kcr/ton): 7 cargos (2 3 6 2 5 4 5)
Security (5Kcr/ton, ship must be armed): 5 cargos (3 2 6 5 1)
Major (1Kcr/ton): 12 cargos (50 40 60 60 30 60 30 30 40 10 50 10)
Minor (1Kcr/ton): 13 cargos (5 25 30 5 10 15 20 25 5 10 25 10 20)
Incidental (1Kcr/ton): 9 cargos (6 6 4 1 4 6 2 1 3)

Passengers
High passengers: 10 (2 will share)
Middle passengers: 7 (3 will share)
Low passengers: 20

[Nuke66]

Just a question, what type of planet is Jenghe? At least in terms of trade codes. Agricultural, I'd guess after a little research

[Eris]

Just a question, what type of planet is Jenghe? At least in terms of trade codes. Agricultural, I'd guess after a little research

No, the only trade code right now for Jenghe is NI.

Jenghe is colony of Regina which runs the government here. However, it is virtually owned by Ling Standard Products and a LOT of mining takes place on the few land masses that still exist, that is part of what has caused the "taint" in the atmosphere. Rare earth elements and heavy metals are being strip mined over large areas. LSP is beginning to investigate mining below the surface of the vast shallow seas that cover most of Jenghe, but are being resisted by both Environmental and Economic groups for their own reasons.

Most of the population lives in one large city named Portland (2.5 million). There is very little infrastructure outside the city itself. Just mining camps and a few small towns.

In 971 (it is now 1085), a small moon crashed into Jenghe, destroying most of the world's dry land mass, and raising ocean levels considerably. Close to ninety percent of the population perished, and the world was placed under Regina's control. Jenghe has an unusually strong magnetic field, and the moon was primarily of nickel-iron composition, though whether this was the mechanism that triggered the disaster is unknown. Prior to this disaster the population of Jenghe was nearly 60 million, today it is just over 3 million.

Several interstellar financiers are investing in developing aquaculture here. Deep Caviar is already a luxury foodstuff in high demand. Producers cannot keep up with demand. It is hoped that Jenghe will soon have an AG (Agricultural World) trade rating, but it does not yet.

[Nuke66]

Thinking out loud, and opening discussion.

Take the art and pigments, pass on the copper.

Do we entertain the thought of hazardous cargo?

fill 7 or 8 of the low berths?

[joertexas]

Thinking out loud, and opening discussion.

Take the art and pigments, pass on the copper.

Do we entertain the thought of hazardous cargo?

fill 7 or 8 of the low berths?

I'd go with the priority and security cargoes, as many low passengers as we can take, and then fill out the rest of the cargo space with freight lots and speculative cargo.

[Tiglath]

I agree as above.

We could fill all the Low Berths or keep one vacant for emergencies (but we would still have the autodoc free). [If/When we buy one!]

I believe Hazardous Cargo might need skills we don’t have – Cargo Handling??? So I’m inclined to avoid it. I may well be wrong on this!

We have 156 tons of cargo to fill for the Jump 1 trip to Jenghe so something like:

All the Priority Cargo at 5 KCr per ton 26T
All the Security Cargo at 5 KCr per ton 17T
Major Cargo at 1 KCr per ton 100T
Incidental Cargo at 1 KCr per ton 12T

The art at 250 KCr per 1T

To fill us up at capacity (26 + 17 + 100 + 12 + 1 = 156T) and rocks us a profit of 327 KCr at Jenghe plus whatever Edwardo can score for the art.

I’m not quite sure how Spec Cargo works but we can swap that for Major cargo if it will make more money. I assume that with Edwardo brokering for us we can excel here but Jenghe doesn’t seem to want (no sale mods for a NI world) any of the spec cargo on offer. However, perhaps we should get the art as an investment anyway because Edwardo will sell it and when he does we will profit with no loss of cargo in the meantime.

[Eris]

Well, with that NI trade code, it just means there is no positive or negative modifier for the Art Works when it is sold. There is also no +/- modifier on the purchase of it on Regina.

Here's the table I'll be using:

Code: Select all

Table: Modified Price Table
Result     Purchase     Sale
2-             200%        40%
3              180%        50%
4              160%        60%
5              140%        70%
6              120%        80%
7              110%        90%
8              100%      100%
9                90%      110%
10              80%      120%
11              70%      140%
12              60%      160%
13              50%      180%
14              40%      200%
15              30%      300%
16+            20%      400%

Nuke hasn't rolled on that table yet for Edwardo's actual purchase price. Y'all need to decide on what you want to do first. With Edwardo's Broker-4 and no Trade Code mods, the worst roll would be 6, the best 16, and the average would be 11. When you sell a spec cargo he'll roll again on the table using Broker + Trade Codes at that location.

[Nuke66]

Tying up 250k +/- might not be the best decision given our current funding. Assuming the average 'roll' we could double our money on pigments (5k to 10k) giving a net 5k, might as well haul freight for that. The copper is almost dead weight.

Just a mechanics question, I assume I can 'negotiate' a price before deciding whether or not to buy, is that correct?

I assume we are still considering equipment upgrades. What does our current 'wish list' come to? The skin suits are already a healthy number.

[Tiglath]

It is certainly Edwardo’s call IC - no one’s going to argue with Broker 4!

I agree a 250KCr purchase might mess up our cash flow but we easily make that back at Jenghe - even off standard cargo as above. Edwardo makes us more money on high end goods like this. The trouble is we're heading out along the border rather than to high end markets!

Top of pg.8 OOC is the few ideas re ‘bots that I put up. Those that received the best support were the Autodoc (40KCr) and two repair bots (10KCr each) for the ship.

Sigrun’s gun buying trip for the Ship’s Locker might well come in at about 10KCr.

Sigrun would also like to buy a VR training program to enhance her Recon skill which means she will have to owe the pot 10KCr for now (if we can afford that).

The above expenses will obviously reduce Edwardo’s available “venture capital” for trades etc. As will the 50KCr loans to other PCs to fund the new ship's “start up”.

[Eris]

Tying up 250k +/- might not be the best decision given our current funding. Assuming the average 'roll' we could double our money on pigments (5k to 10k) giving a net 5k, might as well haul freight for that. The copper is almost dead weight.

Just a mechanics question, I assume I can 'negotiate' a price before deciding whether or not to buy, is that correct?

I assume we are still considering equipment upgrades. What does our current 'wish list' come to? The skin suits are already a healthy number.

Mechanically, you can roll for best price on any or all of the goods to see what you can get them for before committing to buying anything. The trader does not have to accept this price, but if he rejects the deal, then he cannot deal with that supplier again for at least one week. After that week, he may attempt a new skill check to determine the purchase price for those goods.

Basically, roll 2d6 + (Broker or Int/3 or Soc/3) + (the largest Purchase DM that applies) the result is the percentage you multiply the Base Price by. When you sell it's the same thing just with the Sales DM rather than the Purchase DM.

[Nuke66]

ok, let's see how much Art will cost.

[2d6+4] = 7+4 = 11 buy art

Then pigments/dyes

[2d6+4] = 7+4 = 11 buy pigment

So, 175k for 1t Art and 140k for 40t of pigments.

215k for 41t of cargo.

[Eris]

Let's see...156 dtons of cargo space.

1. LSP is taking 50 dtons, leaving you with 106 dtons to fill.

2. You've identifed 41 dtons of spec cargo costing 251 Kcr (if you buy it), you have 65 dtons to devote to freight.

3. Carry all 43 dtons of Priority and Security Freight earns you 215 Kcr, and leaves 22 dtons for regular Freight, bringing your earnings to 237 Kcr on Freight.

4. Covering all but 14 Kcr of the Spec Cargoes you've identified.

5. If you forgo the Spec Cargo you fill the space with 63 dtons of Freight for a total of 300 KCr just off freight.

6. 300 KCr sure thing or 237 KCr + 180 KCr (lowest value possible) = 417 KCr.

If I got the math right...

[Tiglath]

Well, I try to steer clear of hard maths but 417KCr seems bigger than 300KCr so maybe we should go with that!

However, I think this has to be Edwardo's IC call.

[Nuke66]

I had 215K not 251k for cost...just to clarify

[Tiglath]

So, 175k for 1t Art and 140k for 40t of pigments.

215k for 41t of cargo.

I've just had a re-read moment.

Isn't it 315 KCr?

175 + 140 = 315

Still Edwardo's shout though - so go for it!

[Nuke66]

what do I need to roll here?

[Eris]

what do I need to roll here?

You've already rolled...and rolled well!

ok, let's see how much Art will cost.

[2d6+4] = 7+4 = 11 buy art (70% of 250,000 = 175,000)

Then pigments/dyes

[2d6+4] = 7+4 = 11 buy pigment (70% of 5,000 = 3,500)

So, 175k for 1t Art and 140k for 40t of pigments.

215k for 41t of cargo.

Edit: that's 315k for the 41 tons of cargo...sorry.

Here's a summary of your options:

1. Take 106 tons of freight (maxing Priority/Security cargo):

• earn 278 Kcr before you jump
• earn 0 when you arrive on Jenghe
• guaranteed profit of 278 Kcr

2. Take 41 tons of Spec cargo and 65 tons of freight (maxing Priority/Security cargo) and using your Broker skill:

• pay out 68 Kcr before you jump
• earn a range of from 315 Kcr to 1,350 Kcr when you sell on Jenghe
• guaranteed profit of: 247 Kcr to 1,282 Kcr (EV = 472 Kcr)

Personally, I'd go for option 2. Only, if you roll a 2 when you get the Jenghe do you do better with option 1. I'd only go for option 1 if I couldn't afford to pay out 68,000 cr right now.

Eris

[Nuke66]

option 2 it is.....

sorry for the delay been a bit tied up