A question of money

[Ottomancer]

Hi - I have a question about money in Traveller and hope someone can help clarify things.

My group and I are 10 sessions into Pirates of Drinax and loving it. They have recently been involved in a "joint venture" with some pirates and have a captured ship they want to sell and split the proceeds of. Assuming trust, one faction agrees to sell the vessel. How do they now send the other faction their cut? On page 97 of the core rules, it briefly talks about Credits, mentions physically minted currency, but that TL8+ planets also use electronic credits. It also states that large organisations sync their accounts using the x-boat network but that private citizens must make their own arrangements. Does this mean my group either have to:

1. Agree for the funds to be sent to a specific star system electronically via x-boat for collection, or
2. Go and pick up crates of physical credits?

Hope some of you lovely folks can help!

 

[Fluffy Bunny Feet]

Option 3 Take it in trade.

Trade could be services such as them assisting in another mission where you get the ship. It could be in valuables that you need/want, even persons you want to "acquire" either specific individuals or specific skill sets. Send them to a system you want to fear piracy for set time.

 

[mavikfelna]

Typically I would say 1. Arrange where you are sending the money, as in get a bank routing number and account number and a destination system, and then have the sending bank charge a 0.1% fee per jump to send it.

 

[Ottomancer]

Typically I would say 1. Arrange where you are sending the money, as in get a bank routing number and account number and a destination system, and then have the sending bank charge a 0.1% fee per jump to send it.

Thank you. This works.

 

[Arkathan]

Much simpler to just assume TL12 Vinmo. Credit transactions just work.

 

[J. L. Brown]

Hi - I have a question about money in Traveller and hope someone can help clarify things.

My group and I are 10 sessions into Pirates of Drinax and loving it. They have recently been involved in a "joint venture" with some pirates and have a captured ship they want to sell and split the proceeds of. Assuming trust, one faction agrees to sell the vessel. How do they now send the other faction their cut? On page 97 of the core rules, it briefly talks about Credits, mentions physically minted currency, but that TL8+ planets also use electronic credits. It also states that large organisations sync their accounts using the x-boat network but that private citizens must make their own arrangements. Does this mean my group either have to:

1. Agree for the funds to be sent to a specific star system electronically via x-boat for collection, or
2. Go and pick up crates of physical credits?

Hope some of you lovely folks can help!

For pirate bands? Strictly cash. The problem is that you are outside the Third Imperium, so the CrImp is not the obvious choice. There is an Aslan currency which is widely used in the Trojan Reach trans-rift territories (starts with an s, I forget; might be the Tlaiowaha-clan scrip) but that and the Floriani Tzlechtal (sp?) are also 'foreign' currencies. Your best bet is goods -- either very high-grade dustspice (which can go over a MCr per dTon), or other valuable equipment that the other pirates want -- weapons, armor, fancy sensor hardware, war-bots, extravagant luxuries, etc.

 

[Condottiere]

If I recall financing, you'd need a clearing house.

Usual pirate trope would have the parties splitting up the goodies on the spot.

 

[AndrewW]

Usual pirate trope would have the parties splitting up the goodies on the spot.

May not be together. Could be one party just supplied the information while another party carried out the raid. Or perhaps some where off doing a distraction while others make a heist. To meet up later perhaps, or perhaps to scatter and not be all together after.

 

[Fluffy Bunny Feet]

Usual pirate trope would have the parties splitting up the goodies on the spot.

How do you split a ship on the spot? That was the original issue the ship was to be sold by one faction and how was the other to receive their cut.

 

[actionman]

maybe some kind of encrypted device with the money on it that is acceptable to regional banks and all parties. maybe a combination of money and goods. sending that much money by xboat in an extremely low trust situation with dangerous people might not be the best idea. the pirates might say dont sell until we get a representative out there, then the cut can be paid to the rep on the spot.

 

[Condottiere]

Trust works based on past experience, and expected future collaborations.

I expect that if it were possible, one or two representatives would tag along.

 

[rinku]

Currency always requires some institution or tradition that gives value to the made up tokens that people use for convenience.

Could be gold having an intrinsic value. Or Cowrie Shells, or special limited issue bits of paper, or a centrally administered unit held as a number in (hopefully) secure accounts.

It's always contextual, and comes down to what value each party can agree on (which can be as simple as "we both agree that the central bank value is to be used")

 

[MasterGwydion]

Currency always requires some institution or tradition that gives value to the made up tokens that people use for convenience.

Could be gold having an intrinsic value. Or Cowrie Shells, or special limited issue bits of paper, or a centrally administered unit held as a number in (hopefully) secure accounts.

Or something such as lanthanum, that starfaring societies require in order to be a starfaring society.

 

[rinku]

That's still a material that has value because of its uses, like air, or an apple, or an ingot of iron.

All of which could be used as specie. Lanthanum, or gold, have uses, but their use as currency is separate to that.

And Lanthanum as such would be a poor basis for physical currency, since it's highly reactive. Most Lanthanum containing compounds react with something (Lanthanum reacts with water to produce lanthanum hydroxide, which itself reacts with atmospheric carbon dioxide...). One of the basic selling points for gold coinage is gold's lack of reactivity.

Lanthanum reserves could well be used as the basis for a currency though, in the same manner as petroleum has been.

 

[Ragnar60]

Best indicator for this, is in "Shadows of Sindal" aboard the liner "Hustwick". An Aslan delegation has 60 MCr in hard Aslan currency. According to the book the currency is registered as being part of the cargo on the pirated liner and the pirates would only get about 3 MCr for it, although Oleg, through his connections, might get 12 MCr! Even in the best fence might get 30 MCr for it! Large money transactions will finger a pirate unless the money has been laundered. Also in the cargo is 97 tons of Precious Metals, worth 4,850,000 Credits or more, unregistered and untraceable.

Assuming the captured ship was a standard A2 Far Trader, and you got 30% for fencing it, you would get 15,672,150 Cr for it, halved again would mean your band would owe the other pirates 7,836,075 Cr as their equal share. 6 tons each of Advanced Electronics, Advanced Machine Parts, Advanced manufactured Goods, and Precious Metals would just about cover that amount, with the difference being the transport costs to get the shipment to where the other band can pick them up. If your players have even a half decent Broker skill amongst them, they can get those Trade Goods for significantly less than the 7.8 MCr they owe the other Pirate band. All the advanced goods are needed for maintaining a ship, particularly a pirate ship, and the precious metals are just hard currency in an un-trackable form!