• Overview
  • Map
  • Areas
  • Points of Interest
  • Characters
  • Races
  • Classes
  • Factions
  • Monsters
  • Items
  • Spells
  • Feats
  • Quests
  • One-Shots
  • Game Master
  1. Drift💫A Space Odyssey
  3. Lore

Money, Credit, and Risk

Money

  • Central Credits. The official money of the Authority. It is stable in the Core and worth less on the Rim.

  • Company scrip. Company money. It works at company stores, clinics and fuel depots, and almost nowhere else. Many workers get paid in it.

  • Rim tokens. Unlicensed credit run by local money changers and syndicates. Fast and cheap, but a crash can wipe it out overnight.

  • Changing money. Most crews carry some of all three. Every exchange costs a fee. Rim money changers charge 10 to 25 percent.

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Getting Paid

  • Most jobs pay half up front and half on delivery. Crews that do not get the first half usually do not get the second.

  • Bulk goods are cheap in the Core and expensive on the Rim. Rim minerals, chemicals and storm power go the other way. Hauling between them pays, if nothing breaks.

  • Delays eat profit. A cargo stuck in port can cost more in loan interest than it is worth.

  • Insurance is expensive and covers only certain lanes. Syndicate toll lanes cancel it. Most Rim crews fly without it.

  • * *

Bounties

  • The Authority, big companies, the Grand Council and syndicates post bounties on fugitives, pirates, ice jackers and debt skippers.

  • Bounties are listed at bounty offices and on bar screens. Each one has a face, a name, a price and what the target did.

  • Bring the target to a bounty office or an Authority station. Alive pays full. Dead usually pays less, or not at all.

  • Authority bounties pay in Central Credits, minus the office's cut. Syndicate bounties pay in cash, and nobody asks questions.

  • Most bounties are small. A few are big enough to clear a crew's debts, and those draw every hunter in the sector.

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Debt and Everyday Risks

  • Loan sharks. Syndicates lend fast against future jobs. Miss a payment and they take the ship or the crew.

  • Old debts. Many crew members still owe years of work from old contracts. Some lenders follow people from port to port and make ships hand them over.

  • Scrip traps. Workers paid in scrip cannot afford to leave without taking on more debt.

  • Old credits. Credits lose value on the Rim if they sit too long. Crews carrying old notes take a loss.

  • Token crashes. Rim money changers crash, close or cheat. A crew that keeps all its money with one changer can lose everything.