TRADE AND MANUFACTURE

The vast bulk of manufacturing is carried out by “Fabricators”, which are the equivalent of extremely high-tech 3-D printers. These machines take basic organic and inorganic matter and create a vast variety of finished goods. There are 2 types of fabricators, Mech-fabricators, which produce metallic and other non-organic products and Bio-Fabricators which produce food, clothing, medicines and other organic products. Fabricators also come in several sizes: Home Fabricators, Commercial Fabricators, Shipboard Fabricators and Industrial Fabricators.

While finished goods are made on each individual worlds by means of fabricators, there is still a need for trade between worlds based on the 6 inputs needed to produce goods from a fabricator. These inputs include the 4 so-called input cubes (power, mech, bio and data), and 2 sorts of bulk materials (biomass and ore-mass).

• Power Cube: this is a 1-lb anti-matter battery that can only be produced in large asteroid fields (Class 4 systems). Each Power Cube can be used to power a powered weapon, combined to fuel a star-ship or vehicle for a fixed period of time, operate a fabricator to create a certain volume of output, etc.
• Mech Cube: this is a 1-lb cube of magnetically confined nano-bots, which must be consumed in the process of operating a Mech-Fabricator to produce sophisticated items, such as star-ship components, weaponry. These can only be produced in low-gravity orbit around planets abundant in certain rare elements (Class 2 Systems).
• Bio Cube: this a 1-lb cube of various strands of DNA and complex organic compounds which is used to operate a Bio-Fabricator. These are necessary to make desirable and flavorful foods, cutting-edge medicine etc. These can only be produced on agricultural planets with stable fertile atmospheres and biomes (Class 3 Systems).
• Data Cube: this is a 1-lb cube containing a collection of patterns and instructions for all publicly known devices, foods, medicines, etc. It is simultaneously a highly complex Digital Rights and Royalty Payment system. Each time a fabricator is used, using one of the patterns on a Data Cube, the cube burns out and the use is transmitted to the system Data Center and payment is made to the Pattern Rights Holder (usually a Corporation or Government Agency). Data cubes can only be produced on Sector Capitals by the government. Unlike the other types of cubes which are standardized and uniform, there are restricted versions of the Data Cube which must be used to produce weaponry, FTL drives, Genetic Manipulations, and certain other classified items.

There are 2 sorts of bulk materials used to create objects in a fabricator: biomass and ore-mass.

• Biomass: This is an undifferentiated pile of organic material (kelp, coal, methane gas, huge turnips, lawn waste, rotting whale carcass etc.) that is fed into a bio-fabricator to create an equivalent mass of finished product.
• Ore-Mass: This is an unrefined pile of non-organic rocks, minerals etc. that is fed into a mech-fabricator to create an equivalent mass of finished product.

Frank Intrepid wants to use his ship's fabricators to make a motorcycle and a week's worth of rations for a short expedition on planet. He would first go to his mech-fabricator and feed in as much ore-mass as would equal the mass of the motorcycle and then use a sufficient number of power cubes to activate the fabricator, enough mech-cubes to construct the cycle and enough data cubes to pay the patent holder for the plans, and then the fabricator would in an hour or so, spit out the motorcycle (which you would use power cubes to run). He then would put in enough biomass in his bio-fabricator to equal the mass of one-week's food, 1 power cube and if he wanted to make it taste like anything but warm socks, a data cube and a bio cube.

That will be the in-story explanation of how things work. Since our money system in the campaign is going to be abstract, the details of the number of cubes and mass is not going to come up, unless for some story reason we know we don't have cubes or mass to use the fabricators. Otherwise, it all acts a store you carry around with you on your ship.

What gets traded between worlds is mostly going to be the 6 inputs (cubes and mass), Contraband, and luxuries.

• Cubes: each planet description will say what cubes are imported or exported to the world. You can expect small trade ships to be coming and going carrying these items.
• Biomass and Ore-mass: these are only economically viable when carried in huge trade haulers in immense amounts.
• Luxury Goods: exotic foods, ancient artifacts, refreshing beverages often have a trade value worth the transport.
• Contraband: drugs banned by government regulation, illegal scientific information or equipment, mutagenic products, information contrary to regulation can all be taken from world to world.

A Bank of any of the cubes has a notional value of 1 credit. Each Bank takes up a quarter of a cargo hold, half a smuggling compartment, and is approximately the size of a square inch on a shipboard map.

If you try to sell a Bank of cubes on a planet that exports that sort of cube, it's worth half. If you try to sell it on a planet that imports that sort of cube it is worth double. If the heat is on and buyers are looking for import stamps, you'll have to find a fence and he will give you 10% of an honest sale (rounding up). A crate of luxury items or contraband might have a variety of values, roll 1d6, which can ace, for the notional value and it will require fencing (only 10% net) if the heat is on.

Stealing a bulk hauler of biomass or ore-mass will require a prearranged buyer/patron since the quantity is so noticeable and large. Carrying this cargo is outside the scope of the Space Bastards' vessels as these titanic vessels are capital ships, and would require a level of cunning and planning to hijack one.