Trade goods are some of the most common traded resources in the galaxy. They make up the most universal components used in everyday life, whether in tech or in food. They consist of easily manufactural standard parts made of basic and/or cheap to produce raw materials, while a few are more special, like textiles. One of the most notable is the cheapest, the Enriched Protein Supplement, which makes up 90% of everyone’s diet; usually they’re pressed into PEP bars (Protein Enriched Parallelograms), but they can be cooked and altered with 3D food printers and more traditional techniques too.
Trade Goods are measured by Cargo Pod, or 1 space of cargo. When sold, you get precisely the amount listed. This makes them a good option for ‘loot’ if you prefer to go that route. See the Guide section of this website for more information on how to handle looting.
Trade Availability & Pricing
When the crew is ready to trade or when you reach a new system for the first time, your guide will draw 1 card. If the card is a number card of any suit they will draw 1 additional card. If it is a face card of any suit (jack, queen, king) they will draw two additional cards. If your guide draws an ace of any suit they will draw three cards.
Looking at these additional cards will tell you what is for sale in this system by comparing it to the list of Trade Goods below. If the suits match the item it is in stock and ready for purchase up to the value amount of the card. A jack for example would mean there are 11 of that item for sale right now. If there is a repeating suit you do not get a discount it just means there are more available. Using that logic, if we had a jack and a 2 that means there’d be 13 available. Note that some items require a combination of suits to be in stock, the best example is “Rare Metals” which requires 3 of the same suit. To quickly tell the difference the required combination of suits are in parentheses (♠♡♣♢). Order of cards drawn doesn’t matter, only that you can match what is inside (♠♡♣♢). If you need a combination of suits, use only the largest value card even if the suit is repeated. These are meant to be more rare and therefor much harder to find. If it is not surrounded by ( ) that means that all of the listed suits only need to show once or more to be in stock.
Finding a good trade route can be highly profitable, but don’t rely on it forever! Not only will more pirates take note of the increased traffic but the in stock items could change dramatically. For example if the crew forgets what was for sale there and how much quantity it had left or if the plot needs to move on, the guide may draw new cards for the system’s trade! Besides, if you keep doing that forever you’d buy everything out eventually.
When selling a trade good you’ll receive a profit for distance travelled from the location it was purchased from measured in STS up to 20 STS. For every STS travelled you will receive 5% for a maximum return on investment up to 100%. If for example you bought 1 cargo pod worth of EPS, travelled a minimum of 20 STS then sold it your gross sell price would be 2,000SC gaining you a net increase of 1,000SC.
You may not sell to a system where that type of item is available for trade. For example if my crew purchases EPS which is available in 75% of systems, we may have trouble selling it later.
| Name | Description; Availability | Price in SC |
|---|---|---|
| EPS | Enriched Protein Supplement. All your necessary vitamins, minerals, and cell-building amino acids, usually pressed together into PEP bars. Yum! One of these cubes could feed a small planet for a month, though how many would keep eating that long by choice is debatable. Generally sold to governments, who provide PEP bars free of charge to the needy.; ♠ or ♡ or ♣ | 1,000 |
| MUP | Multi Utility Polymer. Basic 3D Printer fuel. What most things are made of, from clothes to spaceships. Main component of Polyplaster and Polyweave.; ♠ or ♡ or ♢ | 1,000 |
| FAC | Fiber-optic Auxiliary Cable. Most circuits and connections are made of these.; ♣ or ♢ | 1,500 |
| Iron | Iron in its raw state. Although MUP has essentially replaced Iron and most needs for it there is still a high demand for steel, stainless steel, tungsten and more. After being refined Iron will be used in nearly all types of Advanced Alloys.; ♠ | 2,800 |
| Textiles | Whether grown by plant or animal, these fancy things are largely decorative, and rather rare. Primarily used in fancy clothes.; ♡ | 5,000 |
| CFDF | Cold Fusion Dynamo Fuel. A special mixture of smelly gray liquid that allows for a Cold Fusion Dynamo to burn nearly any material without pollutants and do so with high stability. A cold fusion dynamo requires atmosphere to run and consumes about 1 drop of CFDF per hour to power a small station or medium town on a temperate planet.; ♢ | 6,000 |
| STP | Standard Template Processer. The board these are attached to is also made of MUP and FAC, and they are designed to use as little rare minerals as possible. There are non-standard processors which are far more expensive, but they aren’t as ubiquitous as these, as you can do nearly any computing with them in large enough numbers.; ♣ | 8,000 |
| RER | Rare-Earthium Raw. The primary ingredient for creating RE-Batteries. One of the few materials that cannot yet be synthesized. Scientists and governments have been promising for years that our reliance on RER would diminish with new technologies and advancements. RER finds itself still extremely popular, even if synthesized competition is getting dangerously close to its performance.; (♠♡) or (♣♢) | 12,000 |
| EGF | Emergency Gel-Foam. This is the single most life saving material in all of Asteria. . . Assuming you don’t count food, water and air. This is what stops your ship, stations and more from losing their cosy environments from small or large pesky holes. EGF rapidly expands and hardens in the event of a vacuum. Usually placed in between the interior and exterior wall, this stuff is completely “dumb” in that it needs no computer to activate and save lives. EGF can also be tuned to a planet’s environment instead. Pre-dyed in caution yellow or orange and ready to be used in ship, station or base construction.; (♡♡) or (♢♢) | 30,000 |
| AA | Advanced Alloys. Processed metals that combine to make a more complex material. These are typically lighter and stronger than most other metals. Most often used in ship or station armor plating. The most common example is all of the different types of steel, but this can also be any other type of advanced metal; like tungsten or titanium. (This does not include Rare Metals); (♡♢) or (♠♣) | 75,000 |
| ANT | Advanced Nano-Tallus. High complexity soft material that is stronger than practically all Advanced Alloys but nearly as soft and flexible as fabric. ANT is utilized in space station construction, capital ships and luxury ships. It works as a great insulator, soft armor and when applied correctly can be air tight. (♣♣) | 180,000 |
| NVTI – Pod | NVTI is a self proclaimed tech company who will only ship their sealed cargo pods. Breaching the pod will apparently damage the sensitive equipment inside and alert NVTI instantly. Many years ago a crew was allegedly attacked and in the process a NVTI pod was opened, inside was a proprietary set of weapon computer components. These went on to raise many legal and ethics questions. Although that battle in the legal system is still raging, moving a NVTI – pod is still perfectly fine. (♠♠) | 900,000 |
| Rare Metals | Gold, Iridium or other extremely rare metals. “Very Heavy, do not lift” is mandatory to be posted on each cargo pod. Most law enforcement does not joke about it, if you’re shipping this around you’ve got the money to pay the fine.; (♠♠♠) or (♡♡♡) or (♣♣♣) or (♢♢♢) | 11Million |
Abide Asteria 