Guide to Wages and Pay

The Cost of Living

Contents

In the 25th century, when megacorporations dominate the Orion Spur, living is not something one can do for free. While some can eke out a meager existence on frontier worlds where money is not needed to provide for oneself, in civilized space megacorporations squeeze everything they can out of the people, charging for as much as they can. This includes their own employees, and even on top-of-the-line ships, like the SCCV Horizon, very few things come for free to the people who work aboard. This page is designed to show how much the employees aboard the Horizon are paid, and how much they need to spend to do things as a percentage of their income, instead of how much actual credits they get paid, though it is still possible to calculate that.

THIS IS A MECHANICAL GUIDE, NOT A LORE PAGE. IT IS NOT MANDATORY TO FOLLOW THIS GUIDE, AND IT IS ONLY HERE FOR POTENTIAL USE BY PLAYERS WHO WISH TO PERSONALLY USE IT.

Salaries and Wages

Salaries and wages are determined by the position an employee fulfils aboard the NSS Aurora. This ranges between one and twenty, with the latter being the highest-paid positions. This number is a significant factor in randomising the bank account of a character aboard the SCCV Horizon. The numbers below are on a monthly basis, for ease of calculations. These numbers are gotten by taking the economic modifier of each job, or how much they get paid weekly, and multiplying it by 4, then removing some points to account for income tax. Each modifier point represents 450 standard Biesel credits.

Command

Captain: 76

Executive Officer: 36

Chief Medical Officer: 36

Research Director: 56

Head of Security: 36

Chief Engineer: 36

Operations Manager: 36

Command Support

Bridge Crew: 17

Liaison and representatives: Due to their position, Liaisons and Representatives are paid differently depending on the entity they represent. All Liasons and Representatives will have the costs of their time on the Horizon covered by the entity they represent.

Medical

Physician: 23

Surgeon: 23

Pharmacist: 17

Psychiatrist: 17

First Responder: 13

Medical Intern: 4

Research

Scientist: 23

Xenobiologist: 23

Lab Assistant: 4

Security

Warden: 17

Investigator: 17

Officer: 13

Cadet: 4

Engineering

Station engineer: 17

Atmos tech: 17

Apprentice: 4

Operations

Miner: 17

Machinist: 17

Hangar tech: 8

Civilian & Service

Janitor: 4

Chaplain: 4

Bartender: 4

Chef/Cook: 4

Assistant: 4

Visitor: 4

Other adjustments

This includes things that can either add or subtract the value of a character's salaries and wages, such as a character's familial wealth, should they be supported by them, or species.

Wealth Modifiers

Wealthy: x1.30 modifier points

Well-off: x1.15 modifier points

Average: x1 modifier points

Poor: x0.85 modifier points

Destitute: x0.5 modifier points

Species

Human: 0

Skrell: 0

Unathi: -1

Tajara: -1

Dionae: -2

IPC: -2

Vaurca: -3

Wants and Needs

A character's salaries and wages are used to fulfil their wants and needs. This can range from spending a significant amount of their income on housing, entertainment, and even buying tickets to travel the Orion Spur through ferries and whatnot. Similarly to the above, it ranges on a numerical scale. This is on a monthly basis and does not need additional calculations. Obviously, this is not an exhaustive list of all the things your character may wish to purchase, so if an item you think your character would have is not on this list, either find the nearest comparable item and make up a believable number. This section is also broken up into two parts, ongoing costs, and one time costs.

Ongoing Costs

Housing

SCCV Horizon

Dormitory Room on the SCCV Horizon: Free

Cubicle room on the SCCV Horizon: -6

Condominium room on the SCCV Horizon: -12

Corapt or Family Corapt on the SCCV Horizon: -25 standard, -10 for Command Staff, free for Captain.

Off-ship Residence

Low-end apartment: -3

Mid-end apartment: -5

High-end apartment: -10

Low-end house: -5

Mid-end house: -8

High-end house: -15

Diet

Pauper's diet: -2

Commoner's diet: -3

Aristocrat's diet: -7

Charging

Something only Positronic crew have to deal with is charging. Most corporations will provide charging for free to owned IPCs, adding it to the total they need to work off before freedom. Un-owned IPCs have to pay for their own charging on a monthly basis, the amount they require varies on the IPCs level of activity, such as running. Un-owned IPCs in command do not get a discount.

Low Activity: -2

Medium Activity: -3

High Activity: -5

Entertainment

Finding Entertainment aboard the SCCV Horizon is a challenge. However, the ship's bar, kitchen, and opportunities during shore leave give some entertainment to the crew, of which almost none is free.

One outing a week: -1

Two to three outings a week: -2

Four to five outings a week: -3

Six to seven outings a week: -4

Eight or more outings a week: -6

One Time Costs

Automobiles

Motorcycles

Low-end motorcycle: -4

Mid-end motorcycle: -7

High-end motorcycle: -10

Cars

Low-end car: -5

Mid-end car: -8

High-end car: -12

Maintenance

Low damage crash/Small issue: -5

Medium damage crash/Medium issue: -8

High damage crash/Bad issue: Minus The original price of the automobile

Consumer Electronics

Low-quality computer/gaming console: -2

Standard-quality computer/gaming console: -3

High-quality computer/gaming console: -5

Standard Tablets and Laptops: -2

Small TV: -1

Medium TV: -1.5

Large TV: -2

Examples

This includes examples and a guideline of sorts on how to calculate the class of your character.

Maria

Maria is a Chef and moonlights as a Bartender aboard the SCCV Horizon. She is an IPC Shell. She is self-owned.

Maria's combined income is eight points for a week. She is neither well-off nor underpaid, so does not have any additions or subtractions on that front.

She lives in a dormitory aboard the Horizon, deducting zero points.

Due to Maria being an IPC, she is paid less than her organic counterparts. This deducts two points.

Maria does not eat, but is a fairly active IPC working two separate jobs, charging herself semi-frequently, and deducting three points.

Maria goes out once a week, often to the local Trinary Perfection Church of whichever region the Horizon finds itself in, and deducts one point.

As a poor self-owned IPC, the Trinary Perfection gives her a little money each month, adding one point.

Recently Maria bought a small TV for her dormitory to watch her favorite shows on, deducting one point.

Maria is left with two point this month, which she can either spend or save as she sees fit.

Oleg El-Amin

Oleg El-Amin is a miner aboard the SCCV. He is a Zhan-Khazan Tajara.

Oleg's income for the month is seventeen points. He is underpaid, offered a low contract by Orion, and therefore he has been deducted two points (20 x 0.85 = 14.4, rounding up to 15) from his gross personal income.

Due to Oleg being a Zhan-Khazan Tajara, he is paid less than his Human and Skrell peers. This deducts one point.

He rents a low-end apartment where his wife and son live in Little Adhomai (District 6), and as the district is a horrible ghetto, rent is incredibly cheap, deducting one point.

Aboard the Horizon, Oleg lives in a dormitory, deducting zero points.

He recently bought a mid-end car for his wife's birthday, deducting three points.

Oleg is considered quite overweight compared to his peers. It is mostly due to his extreme diet, where while he does not eat expensive food, he eats a lot, which deducts a further four points.

Additionally, Oleg is fond of the drink. He frequents the bar aboard the SCCV Horizon and gambles online. This leads to a deduction of four points.

Oleg is left with zero points this month, which he can spend or save as he sees fit.