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Jobs - the work they offer

Jobs are the work a side posts at its stations. Two steps: write the job, then put it in a side's offer list.

Add a ## Jobs chapter:

## [Jobs](jobs)

### [Convoy Escort](escort)
---
Tier: 1
Goal: dock station
Pays: 260 credits
---
A lantern convoy needs a shepherd through the dark miles. See it safe to
port and the Combine settles up.

### [Veil Bounty](bounty)
---
Tier: 1
Goal: destroy 3 raiders
Pays: 300 credits
---
The Veil has been working the lanes again. There is a standing price on
their hulls - three will do for a start.

### [Quiet Cargo](smuggle)
---
Tier: 2
Goal: recover 2 contraband
Pays: 480 credits
---
Sealed crates, no manifest, no questions. Bring them in quietly and be
paid the same way.

Then give each side its offerings - add an Offers: line to the side fact sheets from the Sides page:

// in the Lantern Combine's fence:
Offers: escort, bounty

// in the Red Veil's fence:
Offers: smuggle, bounty

The words in Offers: are the job keys from your ## Jobs headings - that's how the two connect.

About the facts

  • Goal is the whole mechanic, and you write it as an order to the captain, in English. The first verb picks the objective type:

    You write... The game tracks...
    destroy 4 raiders kills
    recover 3 provisions cargo collected
    scan 2 derelicts science scans
    dock station a docking
    reach 5, -4 traveling to a system

    The same line is shown to players as the objective, so write it well.

  • Tier is how trusted a captain must be before the side offers this work: 1 is offered to anyone the side will talk to, 2 to captains in good standing, 3 to proven friends. Higher-tier work should pay better and read more sensitive - you are writing the side's inner circle.

  • Pays - the reward. Standing quietly scales it up for captains a side likes.
  • Accept On / Engage On (optional) - which bridge station may take on or travel to this job, e.g. Accept On: comms. Leave them off and the job uses the ship's usual stations (in Open Universe, command accepts work at comms while the helm flies to it); add one only for a task that belongs to a single console.

Where the cargo names come from

recover goals name trade goods. Five exist out of the box: provisions, ore, gas, tech, and contraband. You can reshape the economy with a ## Goods chapter later - see The dials.

In play

Hail a side station and its work is on offer, gated by standing. Completing a side's job earns standing along the traits that side values - do the Combine's honest work and the Combine starts to love you.

Next: Story and goals - give the sandbox a spine.