A ThingMaker based industry?

[GeoffAO]

So I was kicking some ideas with those I know have an interest in playing Traveler 5. After explaining some of the unique features an intriguing one floated to the top.

Say a group of players wanted to run a corporation. This would include many adventure aspects such as corporate espionage, deal making, sabotage etc.
However they also want to design new products with the thing maker and run them out into the galaxy using the trade mechanics.

I was so intrigued I took another look at the trade section of the book, which I had mostly skimmed on my first read through. As best as I can understand, it all comes down to the TL of the "thing", the originating world and the destination world. So if I assumed that that all their manufacturing for a given product (which getting set up could have adventure hooks a plenty) would be from the same world, the only fluctuation in value would come from the final destination and the Actual Value rolls. Is that correct? Also, is their any player advice or game mechanics that would help deal with manufacturing at a large scale? I know my friends, and details will be important once things get going.

 

[robject]

Depends how mechanical you want to make things. If you want to involve role-playing, I can see all sorts of plot hooks just falling onto your plate just in setting up a high-tech manufacturing process.

Even the prototyping process is fraught with fun. For example, you might rule that the players need to hire Craftsmen to produce hand-crafted prototypes, requiring interpersonal tasks ("Personals") and the resulting "reaction roll" type issues. Then you have personality conflicts between the craftsmen and management, manufacturing companies, government meddling, even possibly labor unions and system programmers. Then you have the innate variability in quality in the prototypes (QREBS).

Now I suggest that each element of quality could have a special requirement. For example, a single world might not be sufficient for building particularly intricate high TL things. You might want processed plant fibers with particular characteristics from a certain world in order to raise Ease Of Use / Ergonomics. And your company might have a partnership with Makhidkarun which stipulates in a contract somewhere that flux switches need to be imported from their warehouse on Pixie, which impacts Reliability (negatively!) but the contract is a club Makhidkarun is using to make sure it gets its piece of the pie. And so on.

So I see this could potentially bloom into a corporate game, centered around manufacturing, product niche, brand identity...

 

[RandyB]

Depends how mechanical you want to make things. If you want to involve role-playing, I can see all sorts of plot hooks just falling onto your plate just in setting up a high-tech manufacturing process.

Even the prototyping process is fraught with fun. For example, you might rule that the players need to hire Craftsmen to produce hand-crafted prototypes, requiring interpersonal tasks ("Personals") and the resulting "reaction roll" type issues. Then you have personality conflicts between the craftsmen and management, manufacturing companies, government meddling, even possibly labor unions and system programmers. Then you have the innate variability in quality in the prototypes (QREBS).

So I see this could potentially bloom into a corporate game, centered around manufacturning, product niche, brand identity...

All of which could either be at a "realistic" level ("It happens sometimes, but not all the time.") or at a "dramatic" level ("It never happens." or "It happens constantly.")

 

[GeoffAO]

Even the prototyping process is fraught with fun. For example, you might rule that the players need to hire Craftsmen to produce hand-crafted prototypes, requiring interpersonal tasks ("Personals") and the resulting "reaction roll" type issues. Then you have personality conflicts between the craftsmen and management, manufacturing companies, government meddling, even possibly labor unions and system programmers. Then you have the innate variability in quality in the prototypes (QREBS).

I really like this idea. Especially with the interpersonal hiccups along the way. In fact as we're discussing this, I'm envisioning my players failing to properly vet a protoypist who is actually a corporate spy for a competitor.

 

[Ulsyus]

Have you had a look at the GT Far Trader book? Though it's more geared toward merchanting on a starship, there's a lot of material in it that you could draw upon for this type of campaign.