IX PERSONAL FINANCE

IX.I Trade

Trade:

Only playing characters may trade. You may, however, include NPCs as part of the details of the 'story of the trade' within the post that describes the outcome of that trade. The trade is accomplished in four stages:
1. On the Trade thread under the Finances board, you publicly post the details of the proposed trade according to the parameters outlined below.
2. You obtain a ruling from the Magister (Nerva Servilius), who publicly posts the ruling on the Trade thread.
3. You post the expenses and outcome (profit or loss) on the Personal Finances thread.
4. You MUST write a post describing the trade, and incorporating the details into your character's story--this means more than posting buying the goods, or posting on the Trade Thread! If any of these steps is omitted, the censor is authorized to exact a penalty (i.e., you can lose your profit or your trading privileges).
5. Notify the Magister of the location of your Descriptive Post before updating your COH with your profits.
6. Trading is not in keeping with the dignity of the position of Senator. Therefore any member of the Senate caught trading is subject to a –1 penalty to their Auctoritas. In addition it is grounds for the Censors to dismiss a member from the Senate upon reading the roles (or not approve a candidate for Senate).
(a) There is a 5% chance on any trade endeavor that a trader will be caught trading.


Trade Mechanics
1. In order to trade, a person must first do one of two things:
(a) A trader must either purchase one or more caravans or one or more ships; or
(b) The trader can hire caravan(s) or ship(s) owned by another PC (at 10% of cost) to haul the cargo.
In case (a), the trader retains 100% of the profits. In case (b), the profit must be divided 30/70, with 30% of the profits going to the owner of the transport, and 70% of the profits going to the trader.
A Caravan consists of ten donkeys/wagons: when you purchase one load of Goods, you must hire/purchase one caravan;
A Ship is one vessel: one per cargo due to greater carrying capacity.
2. Next, you must purchase a cargo, either Standard or Luxury, one type per transport...you may NOT mix cargo types on a single transport. Cargoes and transports must be paid for in advance of the trade venture.
3. Costs of Transport and Cargo:
a. one Caravan=15000 D (half capacity of a ship)
b. one Ship=30000 D (one Cargo of 15,000 pounds)
c. one Cargo of Standard Goods=15000 D Land/ 30000 D Ship
d. one Cargo Luxury Goods=30000 D Land/ 60000 D Ship
4. Send details of the transaction: destination, type of cargo and carrier method to the Censor, who will issue the outcome on the Trade Thread.
5. If a caravan or ship arrives safely, profit is:
Double the cost of cargo for Standard goods,
Two and one half times cost of cargo for Luxury goods.
Distance will also affect profit:
Add 25% for trades longer than 12 RL days;
Subtract 25% for trades shorter than 8 RL days.
6. A Caravan takes 4 real life days to cross one province, ships cross western Mediterranean in 6 RL days, eastern Med. in 8 RL days figured from Rome. When counting provinces, count as Romans did--inclusively: Narbo to Rome is 3 provinces: Narbonensis, Cisalpina, Italia...not 2 as in border crossings.
7. Luxury goods can ONLY be purchased from or sold at significant trade
cities. All provincial capital ports are significant trade cities, otherwise ask the Magister if you
are unsure about whether a city is a "significant trade city." Standard
goods can be purchased anywhere.


Trade Evaluation And Risks
1. Weather and Risk of Attack affect Trade in the same way, by either land or sea: flood or avalanche by land, storm or hurricane by sea for weather, Bandits or Pirates in the case of Attack.
2. The risk of adverse Weather affecting a trading venture is 50% in Winter, 20% the rest of the year. Transports affected by weather are lost, along with their cargoes. Die Rolls are made for each transport or ship.
3. If weather does not affect a trading venture, there remains the risk of Attack, which is 10% in Winter, 30% the remainder of the year. Transports affected by Bandit/Pirate Attack lose their cargoes, but not the transporting media. Die Rolls are made for each transport or ship. Standard goods are 5% less likely to be attacked.
4. If a Roman legion or fleet is patrolling the destination area, the risk of bandit/pirate Attack is halved; if a region you must cross is in revolt or invaded, the risk of Attack is normal, whether roman forces are present at the destination or not.
5. The Trading Venture is successful if neither Weather nor Attack occurs during the journey.


IX.II Purchases and Sales

a) In order to make a purchase or transaction of any kind, be it land, gladiators, chariot teams, gifts, rewards, etc, players must post at the Personal Purchases thread, giving their starting balance, purchases, and ending balance.
b) In order to sell one’s possessions, the seller must first post that said items are for sale. The purchaser then posts the purchase. (NOTE: only PCs can sell items they own, and then only to other PCs).
c) PCs may purchase domuses for their players. They must post the value of their home and its location.


IX.III Loans

a) PCs may loan money to other PCs. In order to do this the loaner must post on the Loans thread the amount being loaned, the recipient, and when the loan must be repaid. They may also post interest rates for their loans.
b) PCs may also borrow from the NPC banker. In order to do this the PC must post how much they intend to borrow on the Loans thread. The NPC banker does not negotiate, it must be paid back in one year from the date of issuance or borrowed from again. It charges 10% interest. You can only borrow 300000 D, or an amount equal to your total assets, up to 900000 D. Failure to pay two years in a row will in you being found delinquent in your debts. You will have 10 days IRL grace period before you will be tried in court. The NPC banker will then seize all assets it can appropriate, if you are still lacking in your debt repayment you will be put into debtor prison until someone bails you out.


IX.IV Land Prices and Incomes

a) Land in the following areas costs 150000 D and generates an income of 37500 D per annum:

Central Italia (from Ancona to Neapolis)

b) Land in the following areas costs 120000 D and generates an income of 30000 D per annum:

Northern and Southern Italia
Sicilia
Achaea
Africa
Bithynia
Cilicia

c) Land in the following areas costs 90000 D and generates an income of 22500 D per annum:

Gallia Cisalpina
Gallia Narbonensis
Gallia Aquitania
Hispania Tarraconensis
Hispania Baetica
Macedonia
Illyricum
Cyrenaica

d) Suburan Insulae located within the city of Rome may also be purchased. These cost 150000 D and yield 37500 D a year. The maximum number of Insulae that may be purchased is 8.

e) Land may be bought in full, half, or quarter units, with prices and incomes adjusted accordingly. Each unit consists of 800 iugera, and PCs may purchase as much or as little as they wish, and can afford. Insulae are only available in full units.

f) Estates or Insulae purchased in the 13th and 14th weeks of the game year will yield only half their income. Estates or Insluae purchased in the 15th and 16th (ie the last two) weeks of the game year will yield no income.

g) Praetors/Propraetors/Proconsuls may purchase land in their province at a 25% discount. Quaestors may purchase land at a 10% discount. These discounts cannot be extended to others.

h) Land income is prone to disruptions based on the events occurring in the province the estate is located.

h) Every 20 estates contribute 1 Auctoritas, up to a maximum of 10.


IX.V Account Summaries

a) Personal account summaries will be posted by the Censor at the end of each game year. Discrepancies must be reported to the Magister within one week IRL of the account summaries being posted, otherwise they will not be accepted.

LVF