Merchant
A Merchant is a sophont who engages in mercantile, trading ventures with a goal of making a profit.
- The best known and most prestigious merchants are interstellar ones such as Free Traders and Merchant Princes.
- Interstellar Trade at lower scales is speculative and risky. Large scale trade is much more stable, but very expensive.
- Please see the article Merchant Vessel to see the craft which serve these sophonts.
- It is a Vocation.
- See also Merchant Service.
Description (Specifications)[edit]
Very successful merchants are known as Merchant Princes and most venture offworld after they have purchased a Merchant Vessel. Interstellar Trade is very dangerous, but can also be very profitable. It takes a sophont with guts to venture out into the interstellar star lanes. Some might say that such risk taking behavior requires the Traveller Gene.
Image Repository[edit]
No information yet available.
History & Background (Dossier)[edit]
As soon as sophont societies develop organized cultures with social hierarchies, exchanges of goods and services occur, which in turn creates commerce, trade, markets, and stable economies.
While TL-0 societies are composed of protosophonts with very little concept of trade or barter, TL:1-3 societies have mastered many intergroup trade practices before the end of the technological epoch, which generally takes thousands to hundreds of thousands of years.
References & Contributors (Sources)[edit]
- Donald P. Rapp. Merchants & Merchandise (Paranoia Press, 1981), TBD.
- Bryan Steele. Merchant Prince (Mongoose Publishing, 2010), TBD.Marc Miller. Merchant Prince (Game Designers Workshop, 1985), TBD.
- Steve Daniels, Jim McLean, Christopher Thrash. Far Trader (Steve Jackson Games, 1999), TBD.
- Martin Dougherty, Hunter Gordon. The Traveller's Handbook (QuikLink Interactive, 2002), TBD.
- Marc Miller. T5 Core Rules (Far Future Enterprises, 2013), TBD.
- Traveller Wiki Editorial Team
- Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science