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Dungeons & Dragons	-	Dragon magazine	-	The Dragon #6

The “Bardukian Campaign” currently being played by several
members of the crew of the USS Benjamin Franklin (SSBN 640) has
produced some interesting developments due to the varied areas of interest
of the participants. What follows is a description of one of these
developments and suggestions for incorporating them into your own
campaign.

The question of sea trade is only touched upon lightly in Dungeons
and Dragons and when one of the players in the Bardukian Campaign
approached the dungeonmaster on the subject the immediate reaction
was, “Good grief!” The whole thing seemed too complex to handle,
since the player was interested in having a trading business running on
the side, while he (a fighting man) trooped about the countryside slaying
dragons.

After hashing over several possibilities, including setting up an entire
economic grid for imports and exports, it was felt that this was going
to produce too much paperwork for the D/M and too little sense of
risk on the part of the player/merchant. What finally evolved was a
compromise between the realism of an entire definition of the economic
structure of three coastal countries and the playability of a more abstract
system that reproduces the “feel” of the risky business of sea
trade.

A brief description of the trade routes is in order here. Note that
while the trading system was designed to fit the costal trade of the Bardukian
Campaign, it is not difficult to adapt to any campaign that has
a coast and coastal cities.

In the Bardukian Campaign there are three countries bordering the
Western Sea, Dromir, Barduk and Chu’unar. Dromir is the northernmost,
with its ports sometimes ice-bound in the winter; Barduk lies in a
more temperate zone and finally, Chu’unar to the south. All trading
and sailing is coastal in nature, with ships rarely venturing more than
fifty miles from land. There are nine ports along the coast, the distance
between the northernmost and southernmost being about 2500 miles.
The main trade route extends in a line from the northernmost port to
the southernmost port, linking all ports between.

The trading system below gives the player/merchant the opportunity
to take risks in hope of greater reward and also recreates the feeling
of insecurity present at seeing your heavily-laden large merchant
sail away, not knowing just how long it will be gone, or if it will return
at all. When a player/merchant decides to accompany the vesel on its
voyage the “Wilderness Adventure” rules of Dungeons and Dragons are
used. The rules presented below are intended to cover a trade business
carried on in the absence of the player/merchant under whatever orders
he gives to his ship captain.

SEA TRADE
1. Assumptions — No specific cargo is required; rather, it is assumed
that a cargo can be purchased in any port and that it will be saleable in
any other port. The maximum cargo capacity of a small merchant is
10,000 G.P. in value; that of a large merchant, 50,000 G.P. It is not
necessary that the maximum be carried if the player/merchant decides
otherwise.

2. Fees and Taxes — There is a pilot fee for all ports except the merchant’s
home port. This fee is 500 G.P. for a small merchant and 2500
G.P. for a large merchant. All countries have a 5% import tax, based
on the sale value of the cargo-in the receiving port.

3. Profit/Loss — the amount of profit or loss taken on the trip is determined
by the number of ports bypassed and a die roll. The more
ports bypassed, the greater the possible profit (or loss!) and the greater
the chance of the vessel being lost due to storms, pirates, sea monsters,
etc.

4. Procedure — The player/merchant “purchases” a cargo with his onhand
funds and writes a set of sailing orders for the captain. These
should specify what ports to stop at, what profit margin to accept, how
much cargo to buy, and possibly a maximum time to be gone. All this is
delivered to the D/M who will then determine the actual results of the
journey according to the “sailing orders” given him. Note that the
player/merchant will have no knowledge of the results until the ship returns
or word Beaches him of its loss. One important item is that the
player/merchant is not required to sell a cargo at a loss. If he so states
in his sailing orders, a port where a loss would be incurred can be departed
and sale attempted at another port. Note that if this option is
chosen, the port departed counts as a port bypassed. If no specific directions
are given to the captain, the cargo will be sold at whatever profit/
loss determined from the Profit/Loss Table.

5. Profit/Loss Determination — Given the sailing orders, the D/M
then rolls the percentile dice, cross-references with the appropriate
“Ports Bypassed” column, and determines the amount of the sale. Appropriate
deductions are made for the pilot fee, taxes, and possibly cost
of a new cargo, and the profit/loss for the port call determined. The
D/M then rolls for the amount of delay there will be before getting underway
(due to repairs, liberty, haggling over prices, etc.) and continue
the trip to the next port as specified by the sailing orders. This procedure
continues until the ship returns to its home port or is lost at sea. If
lost at sea, the delay in reporting it to the player/merchant is rolled for.
If the ship returns to its home port, it is simply a matter of notifying the
player/merchant when he and the ship arrive at the same point in gametime.

This system has worked very well so far in the Bardukian Campaign
and has added a little extra dimension to the game for those who
are so inclined. The only difficulty that has been encountered has been
the demand for a similar system to cover land trade . . . more on that
at a later date.

PROFIT/LOSS TABLE
Percentages expressed as percent of cargo value.
                                PORTS BYPASSED

% DICE	0	1	2	3	4	5	6+
01-05	85%	80%	70%	60%	50%	40%	30%
06-10	90%	85%	80%	70%	60%	50%	40%
11-15	95%	90%	85%	80%	70%	60%	50%
16-20	100%	95%	90%	85%	80%	70%	60%
21-25	105%	100%	95%	90%	90%	85%	80%
26-30	105%	105%	110%	115%	115%	120%	120%
31-35	110%	110%	115%	120%	125%	140%	150%
36-40	110%	115%	120%	130%	135%	160%	200%
41-60	110%	120%	130%	140%	150%	200%	300%
61-65	115%	125%	150%	160%	200%	300%	500%
66-70	120%	130%	160%	180%	250%	400%	X
71-75	125%	135%	180%	200%	350%	X	X
76-80	130%	140%	200%	300%	X	X	X
81-85	140%	150%	250%	X	X	X	X
86-90	150%	200%	X	X	X	X	X
91-00	X	X	X	X	X	X	X

X = ship lost, owner notified 3-8 weeks later.
A ship will be delayed 1-4 weeks at each port (other than its home port).
Example of Table: A ship carrying a 10000 G.P. cargo bypasses one
port and the dice are 62. Sale value is 11500 G.P., less 5% tax and the
pilot fee.