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Cost of Living in SARP

Eistheid

Eistheid

Inactive Member
Retired Member
Today the question of the cost of living in SARP came up and I found myself wondering how long it would take for a character on basic pay to assemble basic amenities such as a wardrobe, toiletries, bedding, stuff like that.

I was pointed to the rule that 1 KS = $1 which has helped some with my needs.

@Aendri has already offered to write up a small setting article to put this rule up on the wiki to help those who wonder later on.

I would however like to get input from the player base, GMs, and FMs to see what they think that the general cost of living in key locations would be, how much the price of necessary goods or luxuries would fluctuate between planet and locale on those planets.

Hopefully this will give players who want to write out shopping trips, eating at restaurants or even keep track of what they can get with their wealth by way of more mundane possessions.

The more input and feedback this gets the better we'll be able to represent not only the general costs of things in SARP but also give an idea of the relative wealth of the worlds and how trade works in the setting. All of which could be useful for RP.
 
In the Yamataian Economy article, this is briefly touched on:
In an aggressive move to wipe out poverty, the Yamatai Star Empire provides 1000 KS to each citizen on a monthly basis. The money helps make sure everyone has food and fights social inequality. To get LACY, a character would have to be a citizen of Yamatai, as defined by Yamataian Law and apply for it. The money is provided “no strings attached” regardless of employment status or other income. LACY is provided to citizens of any age.

The Living Allowance for Citizens of Yamatai (LACY), is primarily for food since housing is already covered. The amount was based on providing for three 10-KS meals a day (900 KS), plus an additional 100 KS for miscellaneous expenses.
Click to expand...
Essentially, if your house is already paid for, Yamatai expects that you can survive on 30 KS a day for food, plus 100 KS for other things. Obviously this won't be enough for the finer things in life, but that's the money Yamatai gives people who don't work for a living. Employed people get this survival money plus whatever their job is paying them.
 
Wes, basically what I'm thinking of is taking entries like that, from all over the place, and compiling them into an article that everyone can link back to, and have a much broader (and more specific to a given region) information all in one place.

Something like
OVERALL
... National
...... Regional

And then have that information for everything we can get, that way people have a good reference chart for "Oh, hey, cost of living is cheap in yamatai, but luxuries are more expensive, it might be worth it to import stuff from Delsauria", or even just going out to eat at a restaurant somewhere. Doesn't need to be comprehensive, but something that covers the core stuff so people don't have to guess every time.
 
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Standard of living is going to vary by every faction. I will start work on a page about that for the HSC when I return from HonorCon.
 
That's why I want to try and get a general listing up for people. Not something that tries to set it all in stone, but just enough that someone can know within reason what stuff would be like in a given area.
 
So you want to say 'At Planet A, this sells for 100-250 KS legally, black market value 200-270 KS', but in a chart form?
Try making a chart template with an example on it and passing it around to the setting managers- assuming it gets approved.

That way, there won't be five dozen different types of charts for everyone to figure out.
 
Core Yamatai: Major source of High Technology and Consumer Goods, restricted by Government.
Desired Goods: Luxury Goods, preferably Exotic. Luxury Foodstuffs and Organic Consumables sell well. Black Contraband (illegal), if smuggled in, is very highly priced at sparse Black Markets, often held under the favour of a wealthy person.

Outer Yamatai: Material Resources, Luxury Foodstuffs and Organic Consumables. Mostly state-owned, goods mostly spoken for already.
Desired Goods: Middle Technology, Grey Contraband (semi-legal), Consumer Goods.

Core Nepleslia: BOOZE, Middle Technology and Weaponry (loose restrictions), Grey Contraband. PMC's supermarket.
Desired Goods: Material Resources, High Technology, Luxury Goods. Sale of Black Contraband will anger the local cartels, but Grey Contraband is fine (low value).

Outer Nepleslia: Material Resources (Freespacer motherships), Black Contraband, Luxury and Consumer Goods. Open market, volatile but free access to independents.
Desired Goods: BOOZE, Weaponry, [BULK] Organic Consumables (Freespacer motherships), Consumer Goods.



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Performed a rough market analysis on the Yamatai and Nepleslia regions, based on local production and demand. Is this an accurate assessment?
 
Yamatai bits seem fine to me.
 
I was wondering if it were possible to make a directory of what systems make what goods/services they provide and what goods/services they'd want, for approximately how much, etc..

Is there any interest in that sort of thing? It's something I could look into doing after Xmas, since I did something similar for a friend once.
 
Talonis Wolf said:
I was wondering if it were possible to make a directory of what systems make what goods/services they provide and what goods/services they'd want, for approximately how much, etc..

Is there any interest in that sort of thing? It's something I could look into doing after Xmas, since I did something similar for a friend once.
Click to expand...
You have my support. Time to stat the systems, liven it up a bit.

Dibs on submitting a gas giant called Deleris, a major producer of reactor-grade helium fuel.
 
I think there is, but the amount of work involved has prevented it from happening thus far. I think we should concentrate on the "main" systems first and try to get faction managers both involved and actively helping.
 
Yamatai's systems are listed under Yamatai:Territory if that helps.
 
Not sure if this article happened, but this was a thing that has struck me a few times. Like I can't imagine very many people within Yamatai struggling below "middle-class standards", but know as a fact that the Brolt (for example) would have many who lived low/middle-class lives in comparison to middle/upper. If there's an article floating around, that'd be a neat thing to make more handily available for those interested in a more detailed past/upbringing for their characters!
 
Imagine the cost of living in Yamatai is very low for citizens, because of the social welfare programs they have. In particular:
  • Yamatai provides basic housing for anyone who needs a home.
  • Medical care is provided free of charge for citizens.
  • The LACY (Living Allowance for Citizens of Yamatai) is a fund that provides 1000 KS a month for food expenses.
See: https://wiki.stararmy.com/doku.php?id=yamatai:economy

The combination of these benefits listed above has reduced poverty in Yamatai to very low levels in the civilized parts of Yamatai. If you're willing to settle for a small apartment and simple food, you can effectively live for free. However, if you want a nice house, fancy dining and the other perks of wealth, you will probably need to get a job.

That said, there's still some poverty in Yamatai among non-citizen residents and frontier people who are away from the centers of Yamataian economic power.

I imagine that, if anywhere, the cost of living is probably highest in places that everyone wants to be at, like the "resort planet" of Hanako's World.
 
The living allowance on Yamatai is pretty generous, since it lets someone eat a restaurant for every meal with some to spare. I think some people might still get in trouble if they find ways to spend it on vices like gambling, or any other addiction Yamatai still allows them to put money into. Or if they go into debt to buy something they can't afford and aren't willing to relinquish. Even then, they could probably survive by preparing their own meals, if they know how.
 
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