Debt

Written by Jack Shirai and Edited by Violet Ballard

As a baseline, a crew can take on a maximum of 20 Debt.

Different ships can be purchased for different amounts of debt.

Debt	Ship Class	Recommended Ship
5	0	Mini-Ship
10	1	Raider
15	2	Freighter
20	3	Salvage Cutter

You can trade in a ship to receive half of its value back. Starting off with 20 Debt and a Class 3 ship is a bad idea, and you're better off starting small and working your way up. Class 4 and 5 ships are generally not operated by independent contractors and so aren't covered here.

For crews without ships, Debt might represent what they owe a loan shark, or be used for buying themselves out of a Company contract, or anything else financially devastating.

What's in it for the Crew?

Taking on Debt isn't all bad! When a crew has Debt, their creditors pay for the following costs:

• Fuel and warp cores.

• Minor repairs and maintenance.

• Contractor salaries (but not signing bonuses, which are paid out-of-pocket).

Benefits

Debt can be taken on by the crew for various other benefits.

• Ship Upgrades: Gain 1 Debt for one upgrade worth up to 5mcr.

  • You can stack debt for larger purchases, but you can only get 1 upgrade for 1 Debt.

• Major Ship Repairs: Gain 1 Debt to conduct 1 Major Repair

• Cybermods: Gain 1 Debt to pay for 1 Master Tier Cybermod, or several lower ones.

• Hard Currency: Gain 1 Debt and obtain 2d10 * 1kcr to be split amongst the entire crew.

Shore Leave

Crews looking to relax can also gain 1 Debt in order to go on Shore Leave. When they do, each crew member can take one of the below Shore Leave actions. Use the included character sheet that includes the space for skill and condition ticks. You can still pay for Shore Leave, train skills, and convert Stress to Saves using the stock Mothership 1e rules, but they're paid for out-of-pocket, and there is more complex accounting involved. Debt can streamline things or make them more complicated depending on how much you balance taking on Debt and paying for things out of pocket.

Shore Leave Actions

• Relax: Convert All Stress to Stats or , no roll required.

  • All of your Stress above your minimum is divided as you like between your Stats and Saves.

• Seek Psychiatric Treatment: Choose one of the below options.

  • Cure a condition.

  • Reduce minimum Stress to 2.

• Train a Skill: Take 3 ticks toward learning a new skill.

• Work on a project: Take 3 ticks towards a skill-based project.

• Get Medical Care: Choose One of the below options.

  • Heal all Wounds

  • Restore a diminished Stat or Save

• Moonlight: Gain 1d10 * 500c.

In addition, each crew member heals up to their Maximum Health (but don't clear Wounds unless they get Medical Care) and reduces their Stress to their minimum.

Of course, a crew can always pay for everything out-of-pocket by following the Mothership 1e rules as written. It's more complicated and expensive, but you don't have to take on more Debt.

Debt Checks

A Debt Check determines whether a crew can handle the pressure of the interest piling up on their obligations.

To make a Debt Check, roll the Panic Die (1d20) and attempt to roll greater than your current Debt. If you fail, look up the relevant result on the Debt Table.

The crew makes a Debt Check when:

• They finish Shore Leave.

• They gain Debt for any other reason.

• They otherwise go a significant period without bringing in any real work.

• They upset their creditors somehow.

Debt Table

d20	Debt Result
1	DIVIDEND. Spending reward programs accrue, giving each crew member a free interstellar travel voucher.
2	OPPORTUNITY. The crew’s creditors demand they do a sensitive and/or dangerous job for them, at enhanced pay.
3	ANXIETY. Each crew member gains 1 Stress.
4	CREDIT LIMIT. The crew cannot take on additional Debt or go on Shore Leave until the next time Debt is reduced.
5	WEAR AND TEAR. The piece of armor with the most AP breaks.
6	NEPOTISM. The crew’s creditors foist a contractor of dubious merit on them.
7	LOCKDOWN. The crew cannot travel out of their current system until Debt is reduced. Each crew member permanently raises their Minimum Stress by 1.
8	BEHEST. The crew’s creditors demand they do a job for them, at regular pay.
9	OUT OF WARRANTY. Each crew member determines the piece of equipment they use most often. It breaks.
10	PAYROLL ISSUE. Contractor paychecks bounce. Pay each contractor one month’s salary out of pocket, or make a Loyalty save to prevent them from quitting.
11	ASSURANCE. The crew’s creditors must approve all of their major movements and employment decisions until the next time Debt is reduced.
12	FROZEN. The crew cannot spend credits until the next time Debt is reduced.
13	BEST BEFORE. All of the crew’s consumable items (meds, food, ammo) expire.
14	CHAPERONE. A representative of the crew’s creditors joins them on their next job. It would be extremely bad for the crew if the rep were harmed.
15	HEADHUNTER. A faction attempts to poach the crew’s contractors with an offer their creditors won’t match. Make a Loyalty save to prevent them from quitting.
16	FINAL NOTICE. The crew loses all of its credits to a critically overdue bill.
17	LOCKOUT. The crew is barred from a particular port until their Debt is cleared. Each crew member permanently raises their Minimum Stress by 1.
18	CONSOLIDATION. A new organization acquires the crew’s Debt, and things are going to change around here. Roll again on this table for the immediate effect.
19	EXTORTION. The crew’s creditors demand they do a job for them, without pay.
20	FORECLOSURE. A squad of repos arrives to reclaim the crew’s belongings, by deadly force if necessary.

Digging Yourself Out

Debt tracks “big” income and costs. Most jobs that a crew will take on pay in the form of reducing their Debt:

• 1 Debt: Any standard job. A particularly good load of salvage or precious materials.

• 2 or 3 Debt: A longer or complex job, or one that might warrant Hazard Pay. A singularly valuable piece of salvage (e.g. a prototype, a minor artifact).

• 4+ Debt: Meticulous heists, or genuine acts of heroism that save infrastructure (and maybe also lives). Artifacts that could change the balance of power in a sector.

You can build a job board where you assign jobs Debt values. If you use pre-written modules, you can have a job that corresponds to each module with the amount of debt corresponding to the number of sessions that you think it will take to play through the module.

A crew still tracks “small” income and expenditures, and a few credits always trickle over into their account after their creditors take their share of any reward. When a crew gets paid for a job or sells a haul, they reduce their Debt and then roll 2d10 * 1kcr to be split amongst the entire crew.

Crews having trouble scraping together pocket money might be able to find “off the books” work that pays Moonlighting rates without reducing Debt. This is universally frowned upon by creditors.