[Traveller] Trade skill

[Thile]

Trade skill: (Traveller Rules Page 59)
[T]he character can make a trade check to earn money on a planet that serves that profession. The amount of money that is raised is 100 Credits x the Effect of the check per month.

This means that a very skilled Biochemist (Skill level 3) that is reasonably well trained after years of university studies (Education 9 = skill mod +1) who do standard routine work will earn 500 credits per month

Average Roll: 7
+3 (Skill Level in Trade: Biochemistry)
+1 (Education Modifier)
+2 (Average task modifier)
---------------------------------------
13 (Skill Effect 5)

This means that this biochemist will earn just enough to have social status 2 and save about 100 credits per week as per the ''standard of living table'' on page 2. Still, in Dilettante, page 72, a cleaner is paid 1500 per month ? So this means that a cleaner can live in a better social standing that a well educated biochemist.

Please explain to me how you want this to work?

 

[hdan]

I always took that to mean how much EXTRA money they earned for the month, but you're right, it does seem odd.

 

[Thile]

Trade skill: (Traveller Rules Page 59)
[T]he character can make a trade check to earn money on a planet that serves that profession. The amount of money that is raised is 100 Credits x the Effect of the check per month.

This means that a very skilled Biochemist (Skill level 3) that is reasonably well trained after years of university studies (Education 9 = skill mod +1) who do standard routine work will earn 500 credits per month

Average Roll: 7
+3 (Skill Level in Trade: Biochemistry)
+1 (Education Modifier)
+2 (Average task modifier)
---------------------------------------
13 (Skill Effect 5)

This means that this biochemist will earn just enough to have social status 2 and save about 100 credits per week as per the ''standard of living table'' on page 2. Still, in Dilettante, page 72, a cleaner is paid 1500 per month ? So this means that a cleaner can live in a better social standing that a well educated biochemist.

Please explain to me how you want this to work?

If we use this system and think ourself a character who is a researcher for new ways to come up with new forms of medicine or other innovative stuff, this means that the roll would probably be harder as it is not routine to research new things, which means that such a person would actually be paid less than someone that does routine stuff day out and in.

 

[hdan]

Trade() is a pretty rare skill, only showing up for Citizens in the main rules, so my guess is that it doesn't come up much, so nobody ever noticed how broken it is.

Maybe it's a simple error, and should be 1,000Cr instead of 100Cr? In your example, a competent Tradesman with standard education would earn around Social Standing 8 or so living expenses.

Frankly it seems like the difficulty should be reversed - not the difficulty of the job to perform, but the difficulty in getting a lot of money doing that job. So Trade(Waiter) would be Difficult (but would allow using Carouse as a bonus for tips). But Trade(Biotechnician) would be Easy, since anyone qualified to do that job would have an easy time earning a lot of money doing it.

Yep, the more I work the math, the more likely it seems that the multiplier is missing an order of magnitude.

I've noticed that the Powers that Be rarely comment on Traveller threads, but I'd be interested to see if they concur.

 

[MongooseMatt]

The Trade skill is not meant to be a representation of total earnings of someone in a 'mundane' job - it is a reflection of what an adveturer/Traveller can do with the skills and knowledge _while_ they are adventuring, with all the things adventurers do.

However, if we do a Civilian/Scholar book, this is certainly something worth looking at.

 

[Thile]

The Trade skill is not meant to be a representation of total earnings of someone in a 'mundane' job - it is a reflection of what an adveturer/Traveller can do with the skills and knowledge _while_ they are adventuring, with all the things adventurers do.

However, if we do a Civilian/Scholar book, this is certainly something worth looking at.

Thank you, and while at it, if you do such a book, I would appreciate to see a chapter on how to build up a business. For example, my players have decided to set up a small taxi service on Esalin/Spinward Marches as two of the three person started the game with a ship's boat and the third got ''independent operation'' from the High Guard book. So While they are out adventuring, they have a taxi service to bigger shipping lines by transporting passengers from larger ships from orbit to the downport.

So a chapter about building offices, hiring personal, a quick way to roll for monthly success/failure (Income/loss of income) etc. Would be really nice. It can also aid in Merchant/Free tradet´r campaigns where the players build offices on worlds in order to have their own brokers etc to buy cargo for them while they are in space.

Please do a Scholar/Civilian book it is really needed.

 

[MongooseMatt]

Thank you, and while at it, if you do such a book, I would appreciate to see a chapter on how to build up a business. For example, my players have decided to set up a small taxi service on Esalin/Spinward Marches as two of the three person started the game with a ship's boat and the third got ''independent operation'' from the High Guard book. So While they are out adventuring, they have a taxi service to bigger shipping lines by transporting passengers from larger ships from orbit to the downport.

Well, we already have larger corporations in Merchant Prince but smaller businesses are indeed a good idea. If we go ahead with such a book, consider that one yoinked!