What currency is used in SU, Free Colonies, by Ijad?

[Joshua A.C. Newman]

Out of curiosity, about how many american dollars would a peach cost in the free colonies?

… the "free colonies" aren't a discrete state. It's a blanket term (or even a political buzzword) to describe resistance to Solar Union rule. It could be used to describe colonies that have successfully established autonomy, or it could be used as a descriptor of a terrorist cell.

Yeah, that's like asking how many dollars can buy a Coke outside the United States.

For these reasons, a more useful line of inquiry might be to ask how much stuff that can be related to real world objects costs. How much does a used Conscript cost, or a handgun, or a herd of cattle, depending on location?

Free Colony labor frames are worth a few thousand dollars. Most are well-used and frequently tweaked and repaired. Think of them like small cars or motorcycles. The Conscript is the equivalent of a VW Beetle between the 1940s and 1970s: from its origins as the ST-02, to its redesignation as the LF-02 when it stopped being a viable weapon, through its re-weaponization as the ST-02D Commissar, it's sort of become a creative medium for those with frame-modding expertise.

Like, you don't think Afghani AK-47s actually come from Russia, do you?



The best, newest, fanciest labor frames are maybe $200k. These have the most comfortable control schemes, the largest number of cylinders to give the subtlest movements, and are optimal for mining, farming, or industry. Those are the equivalent of these:



Hot rodders will take a labor frame, put the equivalent of $50k into it over the course of five years and come out with something uniquely suited to rooftop races*, pit fights, or fighting evangelical Ijad missionaries.



The ST-10 Osprey favored by the Terran Transit Marines is a marvel of modern but unproven technologies. They're lighter and faster, but they achieve that by using capacitors that can only be used for a single sortie before needing a recharge. They cost 2-300k.

The ST-07 Chub that we're all so familiar with is something like $100k, though it's a weird thing to say since they're built within a local economy.

*Not making promises, but I'm also not going to say that I'm not itching to test some rules…

[afny]

Hot rodders will take a labor frame, put the equivalent of $50k into it over the course of five years and come out with something uniquely suited to rooftop races

I am ALL ABOUT this. Gotta make some Hobby Conscripts now.

[Soren]

Price also doesn't indicate some kind of linear relationship with quality, either - sometimes older weapons are more effective precisely because you've spent years tweaking and refining their designs, and you know from long experience exactly what they can and can't do. And sometimes you just don't need all that much sophistication because there are six of you and one of him, and anything better than a pointy stick is plenty of weapon to even the odds.

For example, an old ST-02 with the legs removed and a couple of propellant tanks in their place makes a perfectly good orbital interdiction frame. Better than some, because it's so lightweight - of course it has no armor to speak of and a systems failure means you die slowly, unable to scream lest you use up your oxygen faster. But you can build four of them for the cost of a fancy orbital design that hasn't had the bugs worked out, using commonly available household parts. If your house is a space station and your garage workshop is haunted by the ghost of Sergei Korolev.

And on some colonies, working or semi-working labor frames are easier to come by and cheaper than, for example, fresh eggs or butter, because the materials and factories are right there but the nearest chicken or cow is on the other side of a transit gate. It's all relative.

[afny]

For example, an old ST-02 with the legs removed and a couple of propellant tanks in their place makes a perfectly good orbital interdiction frame.

But...but it's only eighty percent complete!

[Soren]

For example, an old ST-02 with the legs removed and a couple of propellant tanks in their place makes a perfectly good orbital interdiction frame.

But...but it's only eighty percent complete!

Legs are just for show in space. The brass never understand that.

[apostateCourier]

For example, an old ST-02 with the legs removed and a couple of propellant tanks in their place makes a perfectly good orbital interdiction frame.

But...but it's only eighty percent complete!

Legs are just for show in space. The brass never understand that.

Well, legs are useful for boarding actions, if that kind of thing ever comes up.

[Joshua A.C. Newman]

That made me laugh so much. Like military brass are overly impressed by the vehicles that are most shaped like people.

[Xero010]

Out of curiosity, about how many american dollars would a peach cost in the free colonies?

I'm not an economist, but I don't think there is a realistic answer to this question (nor do I think any answer would be meaningful). Exchange rates fluctuate heavily even on small timescales; any comparison to a far future currency would be inaccurate. Even assuming an interstellar standard, prices of goods and services will vary wildly depending on availability--for instance, quality food on Earth or Mars will be priced differently than quality food on some corrupt backwater mining colony.

Furthermore, the "free colonies" aren't a discrete state. It's a blanket term (or even a political buzzword) to describe resistance to Solar Union rule. It could be used to describe colonies that have successfully established autonomy, or it could be used as a descriptor of a terrorist cell.

For these reasons, a more useful line of inquiry might be to ask how much stuff that can be related to real world objects costs. How much does a used Conscript cost, or a handgun, or a herd of cattle, depending on location?

Sorry. I hadn't thought it through that way. So what your saying any individual colony could be a "free colony". I had thought they were multiple colonies all working together against the Solar Union. The question about the peach was just to try and get understanding of how much the economy fluctuated from "modern times" to the current events taking place. But nevermind.

[afny]

Sorry. I hadn't thought it through that way. So what your saying any individual colony could be a "free colony". I had thought they were multiple colonies all working together against the Solar Union. The question about the peach was just to try and get understanding of how much the economy fluctuated from "modern times" to the current events taking place. But nevermind.

Yeah, the Free Colonies aren't a unified force in the way that the Solar Union is. It's just a buzz word that gets attached to colonies that buck SU control; the Most Serene Republic of Neo London on Garus IV might be called a Free Colony, and a force of guerrillas hiding out on Mars might be called Free Colonials, but they don't necessarily have anything to do with each other.

[Soren]

the Most Serene Republic of Neo London on Garus IV might be called a Free Colony, and a force of guerrillas hiding out on Mars might be called Free Colonials, but they don't necessarily have anything to do with each other.

Or even necessarily like each other; some of them may hate each other worse than they hate the Ijad or the Union. All politics are local politics, and if you've ever been near a PTA meeting, it's pretty much the same thing but with guns.

[Joshua A.C. Newman]

Yeah, I'm kinda keen on a campaign that's two street gangs an a group of Ijad fighting over the same territory. The SU's power is there only in that they made this situation. They might even be hanging back and waiting for these guys to pound each other good so their job is easier in a few years.