Speculative Trade

I have to agree with Adrian Hurt's comments that the old Book 2 system
for speculative cargo is superior to the newer
Merchant Prince/Megatraveller system.  On the other hand, the old system
is not perfect.  I have noticed that someone with the appropriate skills
and a little luck can make a *huge* profit in a very short time with the
Book 2 system.  I'm not sure if the problem is the modifiers for some
cargos, the price percentage table, or the lack of a limit to the DM on
the price roll.  Furthermore, as he points out, you are just as likely
to find food available on an Industrial world as machinery.

It seems to me the ideal system would have, aside from a few
adjustments, the following:
     1)     A set of tables for each trade classification,
            giving base purchase price for each item on this type of
	    world, possibly with tech level modifiers.
     2)     A master list with all possible cargos, their base resale
	    price, resale price modifiers for each trade classification,
	    and again possibly for TL.  It would also have any notes
	    regarding special considerations: special handling,
	    packing for products that don't come in standard cargo
	    containers, etc.

	    For example:
	    		---- Resale ----
	    Item	Value	Modifiers	Source Worlds
	    Grain	Cr500	Ag -30%		Ag
				Hi Pop +20%
	    Notes:
		Shipped in bulk: cargo hold must be devoted to grain,
		and have installed a special liner.  Explosive: Air in
		hold must be filtered to remove grain dust, or any
		spark or flame will cause an explosion.

I also like the idea of adding a negotiation task for MT, to replace the
skill bonus one gets on the Actual Value table in Book 2.  This would
make for a little more role-playing in the trading process, and help
minimize the effectiveness of a high Broker (or Admin, in Traveller)
skill.  (Recently, I had a group that included a Broker-5 ex-Merchant
turn Cr 700,000 in MCr 24 in about three months game time, using a 400
ton subsidized merchant.  I refuse to let this happen again.  In the
meantime, a highly valuable and underpriced cargo will come available,
tying up most of their capital.  Then the man who arranged the sale will
tell the pirates which ship it's on, and they'll be waiting.  It's low
and underhanded, but *highly* effective.)

Developing all this looks like a rather daunting and time consuming
task, and I would like to get some feedback before beginning.  If there
is enough interest, I'd also like to get some help from the net.  If we
can agree on a format, I'd be happy to collate entries for the master
list.  Then each person working on the project could prepare the
available cargo table for one trade classification.  The references
given below would provide a good starting point.  Any takers?  Any
comments?

References:
	Traveller Book 2, _Starships_
	_Megatraveller Referee's Manual_
	"Cargo: A Merchant Prince Variant", _Challenge_ #26.

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Mark Power				[email removed]
Health Information Systems
University of Alabama Hospital
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