What fee would you suggest for both these forces?

[JMISBEST]

I'm toying with the idea of when I next do A Drinax Campaign having The Pcs hire, on Oleb's behalf, A Mercenary Fleet of 6 200 ton Scoutships, 4 400 ton Escorts, 2 400 ton TL 12 Tobian Made Versions of The 200 ton TL 15 Harrier, 1 600 ton version of The 300 ton Indigo Class Pirate Carrier and 1 600 ton Version of The 800 ton Mercenary Cruiser and A Mercenary Regiment of 800 Rank and File, 80 Sergeants, 20 Lieutenants, 5 Captains and 2 Colonels and wonder what fees you would suggest for both Forces?

 

[Old School]

Figure out the mortgage payments for the ships, along with their life support and operating costs. Then figure out the salaries for the troops. You have all the tool necessary to do these things. Add 50% for mercenaries' margin.

 

[steve98052]

[img=http://aussiememes.com.au/media/created/ONE-HUNDRED-MILLION-w4ti3a.jpg]Dr Evil[/img]

 

[Darkmoon]

Just so you know, it is possible to do a whole campaign where the players only have one ship (and that has a mortgage)

 

[MonkeyX]

So you decided the players will hire these exact ships? What if they don’t? You can’t railroad players this much. You can make those ships available for hire but the PCs won’t always do what you expects.

 

[steve98052]

So you decided the players will hire these exact ships? What if they don’t? . . .

Also, what if the player characters haggle? Would they get a less qualified or less morivated crew, or would they get a crew that regarded their bosses as a bunch of suckers if they paid asking price without haggling?

For hiring ships, I'd rule that the cost is based on the amortized cost of the ship and maintenance, plus profit, plus insurance, plus a fee to get the ship back to its home port if it's returned somewhere else -- with a large security deposit unless the crew had a great reputation.

For a short term lease -- less than a month or so -- I'd charge around 0.1% of the ship's purchase price, per day, for the ship, maintenance, and profit. For a longer lease, I'd charge about 10% of the ship's purchase price, per year.

For insurance, I'd charge maybe 10% of the lease cost for low-risk travel (no war zones!), and more for somewhat elevated risk. For high risk, like a war zone, I'd say no insurance, just a deposit large enough to cover the total value of the ship. Then why not just buy the ships and sell them later? Because the assets offered as a deposit (land, investments, etc.) might not be easy to sell, and the ships might not be easy to sell either.

What do you pay the crew? The standard rates for ship crews are in the books. The rates for fighting forces vary widely, depending on skills, equipment, and how much equipment is provided by the employer. But the ship crew prices are a starting point for deciding. And everyone from stewards to elite pilots should get hazard pay. Shares of spoils go only so far as a substitute for hazard pay, unless the employer has a reputation for great shares of spoils.