3/26/2019 Economics Guide - MES IE - Google Docs

*v.2 (updated 9/24/2018)

MES Infinite Edge Venue

Space: The Infinite Edge 

Economics Guide
Introduction
The human economy has been complicated since the first currency changed hands, but as humanity has
grown and expanded, it has only gotten more complex. Goods, services, and currencies have changed
over the years, but one truth is constant: humanity needs trade to survive and flourish; no system has
access to all the materials and goods it needs, and so deals are made.

The purpose of this guide is to provide a reference point for the intersystem economy system, including
trading, currency, and the ways the Unions interact with the Protectorate as a whole.

The following sections are contained within this Guide:

★ Currencies: The different types of currency used in the Protectorate
★ Materials & Their Uses: The different uses of unusual materials
★ Trade: How trade is executed between systems
★ Union Benefits: The benefits that Unions receive for interacting with the economy systems

Currencies
While many systems throughout the galaxy may utilize local currencies for day to day transactions, there
are two main currencies which are recognized and used in intergalactic trade.

The first of these currencies, the Empyreal Credit, is the official currency of the Empyreal Protectorate
and the most widespread form of spendable currency currently in existence. Officially certified and
distributed by the Protectorate itself, the Credit is considered to be stable and reliable for trade, somewhat
grudgingly in some Verge systems. For this reason, the Credit is the preferred transactional currency of
the MegaCorps as well as the Merchant’s Union. Often handled in virtual form, physical Credit notes do
still exist in circulation and are often seen in smaller systems where Empyreal banking is not readily
available or convenient. The Credit is the standard form of currency for intersystem trading, and personal
quantities are represented through the Resources merit.

The second currency that has achieved wide recognition is the Conservator’s Union Favor. While
officially, it is an informal tool used by the Union to track debts owed between members, and occasionally
outsiders, in practice the system is widespread even outside of the Union. Due to the protections offered
by the Conservator Union, many who work with the Unions will accept such Favors as payment for
services, providing they are properly registered. For more information on Favors, see the Favor System.

Trade
Trade across interstellar distances remains a complicated and logistically difficult affair. Even though
getting large quantities of resources out of a gravity well is not the herculean feat it once was, moving

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large quantities of goods through the void between planets and systems remains difficult and time
consuming. While the Stygian Gates shorten the time required to traverse between systems considerably,
and consequently make modern inter-system commerce possible, they also introduce a host of their own
difficulties. Customs, gate travel bureaucracy, and the psychological difficulty of travelling through the
spaces between gates means that inter-system trading is undertaken only by dedicated and determined
merchants.

On top of the mental stresses of trading are the physical limitations of the Gates. While a diameter
measured in kilometers may seem ample enough, such an opening is dwarfed in comparison to the
ravenous demand of a large planetary economy. The very best technology can construct transports that
will never leave their system, too large to fit through their system’s Stygian Gates, and indeed many Core
World systems have several such vessels whose job is to do nothing more than ferry almost
unfathomable volumes of cargo around the system. The actual ships that ply the uncertain space
between the gates are still truly massive creations, with some measuring over one hundred cubic
kilometers in volume, travelling between the largest Sygian Gates. Such massive vessels are the
exclusive purview of the Megacorps and the Empyreal Defense Force. Even if an individual could own
one, pressure from the Megacorps would prevent them from being able to trade at any of their sanctioned
ports, and the lumbering size and conspicuous nature of such vessels has made the few attempts at
illicitly building them the stuff of holo-vid comedies rather than practical enterprise.

Due to these restrictions, individuals are limited to owning ships about the size of a large Frigate or
smaller. The transport of goods in smaller vessels is still common and often extremely lucrative, especially
out where the edges of civilization are hazy or frayed. Thanks to the broad acceptance of the Empyreal
Credit and the Conservator’s Union Favor, as well as the ability to negotiate a deal from several jumps
away thanks to StarNet communications, the Expanse and the Verge see a thriving stream of smaller
craft moving common and rare goods and materials between worlds. While it’s almost impossible for
these smaller craft to supply the local demand of even a low-tech developing world, the goal is to
supplement the local production and bring in rare commodities, as less developed colonies are usually
self sufficient in their necessities.

Mechanics
For players, transporting goods between systems requires three things: a ship, a downtime action, and
something to transport. Ships and the amount of cargo or passengers they can transport are listed in the
Spaceships and Stygian Gates guide.

Unless otherwise noted, one cubic meter of cargo space equals one unit of material used for crafting. If
other materials need to be transported, keep in mind that the actual raw volume of an object may not be
the appropriate space for it to take up in cargo. Some objects can be broken down and made smaller
while others require buffer space or bulky and complex packaging. Note that when smuggling illegal
goods, characters may need make additional checks to hide the goods during an inspection, bribe their
way through, or otherwise avoid consequences. These additional checks are at the discretion of the
presiding Storyteller.

Materials & Their Uses

While nearly every form of physical good (and some non-physical) are traded in and between sectors, the
most common type of trading involves raw materials and the goods crafted from them. Consisting of a
wide spectrum of organic and inorganic substances, these are the components utilized in crafting and

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research throughout the Expanse and the Verge. While every system boasts its own caches of different
types of Material, the rarest variants are often found exclusively in the Verge. For more information on
Materials, see the Materials Guide.

Most often, these traded materials are turned into a variety of goods, all useful but of varying degrees of
legality. Due to the scarcity of the components involved and the legal status of the final product, the trade
of such goods is often done discreetly and at a premium; in fact, the profit from transporting and selling
such goods is profitable enough in current markets that it has become a focal point for many members of
the Merchant’s Union. For more information on Crafting, see the Crafting Guide.

Union Benefits
Due to their specialization toward different aspects of the economy, the Unions have developed certain
affinities over time which often make them uniquely suited to certain tasks. As a result, any PC who is a
member of a Union benefits from certain bonuses and abilities.

Conservators
Primary benefit: As the keepers of the Favor economy, Conservators have unique access to the ledgers
available throughout the Union. They are both the only ones who can issue their own favors, as well as
being facilitators of non-Conservator favors.
Downtime benefit: Conservators may spend a downtime to earn a Universal Favor, which may be called
in on any local NPC

Entertainers

Primary benefit: Once per month, you can work through your network of fans, admirers, and peers to
make connections outside your norm. Choose one of your Contacts or Allies and exchange them for
another contact or ally; this change is temporary, lasting for the rest of the session and returning to normal
at the next game you attend if not used.
Downtime benefit: Entertainers can spend a single Downtime to inspire others. They can bestow the
Steadfast or Inspired conditions on a number of characters equal to their unmodified dots in the skill they
use for inspiration.

Explorers
Explorers Union Members specialize in noticing the details.
Primary benefit: When uncovering Clues, Explorers generate an additional Clue. In situations where
investigating without utilizing the Clues system, Explorers get a +3 to all rolls to uncover information.
Downtime benefit: Explorers get one extra Downtime action which can only be spent on investigating
points of interest. A point of interest can be a resource node, or a location or item related to the local
story.

Mercenaries

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Primary benefit: Due to their sponsorship of the Bounty System, Mercenaries are generally immune to
prosecution for crimes committed within the direct service of a bounty, provided they can prove their
Union membership in good standing, the existence and details of the Bounty they are servicing, and take
all reasonable precautions to minimize collateral damage.
Downtime benefit: Mercenaries can spend a single Downtime action per month to work Mercenary jobs.
This allows them to come into game with a one time use of a 3-dot social merit (such as Resources,
Allies, or Contacts) relevant to the work performed.

Merchants
Members of the Merchants Union are among the most well-connected individuals in the galaxy.

Primary benefit: By leveraging their network of trade partners and associates they are able to acquire a
variety of Materials, even those not native to their current system of residence as described in the
Materials Guide. Materials may be acquired at an Availability rating equal to their dot value in the chart
below, and are not limited to the Materials normally harvested on the VSS; no Merchant may acquire
more than four total units of uncommon or two total units of rare material in a given month this way.

Common Materials (1 unit) ••

Uncommon Materials (1 unit) •••

Rare Materials (1 unit) •••••

Downtime benefit: Merchants spend one less downtime every month for travel between systems. They
can extend this benefit to other characters that they are transporting, up to the number of people they can
comfortably fit in their Spaceship, as defined by the ship’s Capacity.

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