Forum

I am reposting this from Modiphius forums, as the audience is not the same, but the question is worth asking:
---
An interesting debate (of conflict to be precise  ) occurred last session, as the group is getting more and more to the end of the month and bills have to be paid… It is related to the cost of living section in the rulebook and single sentence in the ship maintenance paragraph. But first things first.

The section COSTS OF LIVING AND EVERYDAY EXPENSES on p.104-105 introduce something I like a lot in roleplaying games - monthly upkeep that takes care of the annoying expense management activities that happens in other games such as Symbaroum. Helps to improve the roleplay aspect of the game by reducing the time spend on inventory management. The categories in the table 6.1 define different standards and upkeep for the different environments.

In my understanding of the rules, the player picks how he would like to live and ensures he has the necessary funds each month. Those cover the expenses and I more or less tend to use this system as the Credit Rating one in Call of Cthulhu, where you don’t track an expense unless it is above your daily allowance. Here it is not that detailed, but I can say that you have to find a money to buy this everyday item as it is big portion of your living standard.

So for me, it does not matter if the PCs spend most of their time flying, on the planet’s surface or 50/50, they want to aim for this kind of lifestyle.
Now, in the SERVICE AND MAINTENANCE on p.155. there is the following sentence: Servicing your ship (a technology test) also resupplies food, drink and other consumables, as well as reactor isotopes, antimatter etc.

You see where I am going. The players state that because they own expensive ship, they don’t have to do any upkeep based on the costs of living table and every time they service the ship all is good. They can live like kings because have Class 4 ship for example.

I disagree here, because I compare it to the real life scenario - if i own expensive property, its taxes and maintenance fees are high, but it does not mean that I automatically get expensive furniture, the best food shipped from around the globe and etc.

How do you handle this if you happened to have such discussion with your groups?

I would also disagree, because servicing costs are per ship and very low in a modern station. I think they are that low because you basically need to pay them every time you make a portal jump or stay in transit more than six days or so. Still, even considering that you will pay those costs roughly 5 times per month, it still seems cheap, if that includes fuel and consumables. I gather fuel must be costly, so the rest is really just toilet paper and minimal survival rations, and water and oxygen. Plus general cleanup and linens and such.

I would definitely impose the cost of living over and beyond the ship maintenance.

Cost of living is an average: sure, if you spend the segment in space, it should cost less, but overall, the idea is that some segments will cost less, others more, and everything averages out to the specified amount. Your character has personal expenses: messaging services, proxies, kohol, restaurant fees, hotels, new clothing, books, etc. So unless the character wants to eat ramen everyday and let his clothing slowly wear to rags, they need to pay up! It’s just like ship maintenance, in fact!

I interpreted the rules to mean that when you stop for service, you not only take care of materials for the ship, you also buy groceries and consumables, presumably buying enough for the trip and maybe a little extra just in case. However, the cost and quality of the groceries are defined by the living expenses, not the service costs.

In servicing, it does mention food, but I also impose lifestyle costs to my players.
But on a ship, you can easily go by with a spartan lifestyle.

That seems fair. If you are stuck on the ship and you serviced this segment you probably have emergency rations and similar to last you a little while. Unless you have an arboretum in which case you can live somewhat comfortably until you get your ship back to restock.

In servicing, it does mention food, but I also impose lifestyle costs to my players.
But on a ship, you can easily go by with a spartan lifestyle.

This was exactly the problematic paragraph that unleashed the argument with the players. But for me it does not make sense to live like a king and have this covered by a service fee. When you own a yach and they do maintenance jobs at the harbor, they don't bring you black caviar just because the fees are high. Therefore when we are back again at this topic, my ruling will be like that - spartan style, naked walls and simple rations that are not good even with water.

And you need to pay the Spartan lifestyle in an advanced environment fee. Which is 500 birr per month per person.

That's 14 birr a day. Binoculars cost 100, so 14 a day is still pretty cheap!