TFL/Jobs

Jobs are the primary way the Crew of the Almighty Dollar make money. Jobs are generally the large contracts that hopefully fill most of the *Dollar's* hold and pay at least enough to mostly cover expenses. Additional money can be earned through side jobs, detailed below.

## The Job Cycle

1. The job cycle starts with the *Dollar* in a port of some kind, usually a Space station but sometimes a landing pad on a inhabited moon or planet.
2. The players decide what kind of job they are looking for, and where they are going to go. The types of jobs are listed below. Attention to the Star Map and details of the Star Systems will possibly result in more profitable jobs, possibly with less risk: jobs starting at Isha-Brud and going to Cheup-bap are generally going to be low pay, because Isha-Brud doesn't make much that Cheup-bap wants to buy, but jobs going the other way can be very profitable, since Cheup-bap exports armaments that the military depot at Isha-Brud wants to buy.
3. The GM creates the details of the job and presents them to the PCs.
4. The PCs decide whether to take the job, and negotiate payment. If they reject the job, they have to spend time in port looking for another job, but may decide to look for a different type of job to a different location.
5. If the PCs desire, they can look for side-jobs at this point.
6. The *Dollar* takes on freight, fuel, and provisions (and possibly passengers), and departs for the destination. This may involve deceiving an outbound customs inspection about the nature of the freight or passengers or blockade-running.
7. Depending on the job, complications may occur enroute: pirates, hijackers, living cargo escaping the hold, whatever. The crew deals with it.
8. The *Dollar* arrives at the destination system. It may be necessary to avoid a blockade or deceive the inbound customs inspection while smuggling. Other complications sometimes ensue.
9. The *Dollar* discharges its freight and passengers and gets paid. The cycle starts anew.

The players are in control of the destination and kind of job they want to take, and can refuse jobs. After they have taken a job, they have to deal with any complications that arise.

### Types of Jobs

Routine expenses include fuel costs, crew salary, docking fees, normal maintenance fees, and repaying the note on the *Dollar*. Routine expenses do not include installing new equipment or repairing battle damage. Repair fees for battle damage can easily match a month or more of routine expenses.

Venture jobs have the most potential upside, but also the most potential downside. For the other jobs, in the worst case, the crew doesn't earn enough money to pay for routine expenses and has to tap their monetary reserve, or possibly has to repair extensive battle damage at great expense. However, they do earn money, even if it isn't enough. Venture jobs require tapping the monetary reserve to buy the cargo at the beginning of the mission, and it is possible through miscalculation to be forced to sell the cargo at a loss, which means a negative payment for the jobs *before* paying expenses. Venture jobs have the most downside potential.

### Side jobs

The main job rarely involves shipping so much freight as to fill the *Dollar's* holds and passenger rooms. After taking a main job, the crew can decide to look for side jobs, which are small routine, smuggling, blockade-running, or venture jobs.

It takes a day and a Merchant skill roll (Propaganda can be used as a complementary skill) to find a routine or venture side job, with an additional routine or venture side job being available for every full 3 points of Margin of Success. Specify which type of side job is being sought before rolling. Alternately, it takes a day and a Streetwise skill roll (Propaganda can be used as a complementary skill) to find a smuggling or blockade-running side job, with an additional routine or venture side job being available for every full 3 points of Margin of Success. The type of smuggling or blockade-running jobs that are available will be chosen by the GM, depending on the starting port and destination.

At the same time as looking for freight side jobs, it is also possible to advertise for passengers with another Merchant or Streetwise skill roll (Propaganda can be used as a complementary skill). Success finds one lot of passengers, with an additional lot for every full 3 points of Margin of Success. Passengers may cause complications. Passengers found through Streetwise may pay better but are more likely to involve complications such as hijackers, hostile boarding attempts while on station, or additional attentions from local authorities looking for fugitives.