Boardroom and Curia addenda concept?

hal · 01-10-2017, 01:44 PM

Hello Folks,
I'm running a one on one cyberpunk campaign for a player and his character was built on a touch over 400 points (I usually keep it at about 200 for the most part, but it was Christmas and all...)

Long story short, he wanted to play a character who owned his own business, specifically, one that built robotic models, and he owns a patent on a TL 9 (Classic TL 9, not GURPS 4e TL 9) Minicomputer that is a robotic computer/brain with neural-net and Genius chip embedded.

In any event, his character has roughly 300 million in assets, and we started messing around with Boadroom and Curia in conjunction with GURPS TRAVELLER: FAR TRADER (classic of course!). The idea was to have stocks that could be treated as "owned" stocks or, to use the rules for stock growth of value over time for the player character's company.

To that end, I started playing around with the following ideas:

A CEO (Chief Executive Officer) is responsible for a company much like a captain is responsible for a ship. The CEO, in order to do his job properly, needs the services of the following:

Marketing: This division of the company determines not only how to sell the products via advertising and marketing per se, but also engages in research and development of product plans that are marketable. Building a robot that no one wants is a recipe for bankruptcy.

Accounting: This division insures not only that money is accounted for so that there isn't waste involved, but also pays its bills in a timely manner and insures that the company is paid in a timely manner. Cash flow issues can lead the perception that a company is in financial straits even without necessarily heading towards bankruptcy. This is also the department that may or may not engage in some under the table reporting of income for taxation purposes.

Manufacturing: this division insures that the product is made in a timely fashion, that budgets are maintained, and that the product doesn't suffer from liability issues in the event that something goes wrong with the product. At times, someone in manufacturing may determine that they can save the company money by cutting corners...

Legal: this division insures that third party contracts are as they should be, and determine the course of action when things go wrong. They're responsible for Non-disclosure agreements and anything else that may have legal ramifications. Necessary for the health of the company.

Research and Development: this department insures that products are in the pipeline for future markets, and is responsible for ironing out bugs within any given system that will reach the market as a commodity.

Personnel: while a department that is necessary for the overall Health of the organization, it is also in part, part of the structure for the administration of the company's policies with regards to hiring, paying payroll, etc.

My goal in this process, is to set it up such that there are the following company types:

Starting - Just starting out. This adjective may be applied along with others depending on the environment the company operates within
Competitive: This company is in a market where there are others fighting for market share.
Stable: this company has arrived in its niche and is largely going to stay in its position. There isn't much room for fast advancements or profits, but it pays dividends regularly, and is relatively easily managed.
Moderate: This company has moderate risk factors invovled. It pays dividends from time to time, or it increases in value, but the change in value is half normal.
Risky: this company has risks involved, and gets the standard increases or losses in stock value, almost rarely ever pays dividends - either half the gain in value AND dividends, or full gain in value but no dividends
High Risk: This is a company, that if it survives, will eventually be deemed Risky, its losses are double normal, and its gains are potentially up to double normal.

I want to flesh this out further, but here's the gist of the plan:

The CEO rolls against his skill level with modifiers for the Stock market environment (boom on thru bust as depicted in GURPS TRAVELLER FAR TRADER). The CEO also has penalties to his skill roll based upon how his division leaders do their jobs. Division leaders roll at their skill levels such that a crit success adds +2 to the CEO's die roll. A normal Success adds +1 to the CEO's roll. A success by 0 to 3 results in a +0 to the CEO's roll. A failure is -1, and a crit failure is -2.

A CEO's roll is generally rolled at Skill-5 to begin with, which each of his departments hopefully adding to his overall roll to the extent that he can do his job adequately.

If the CEO succeeds in his roll, the stock's value may go up by 1d6%. If he makes his roll by a given value (4+), his stock may rise 2d6%. A crit success might indicate a 3d6% increase in value. Failure results in 1d6% loss, etc (the system works both directions in mirror images of each other.

The idea might be to use Board Room and Curia to determine the costs of each department, and have the "company" be comprised of the sum of all of those departments.

Thoughts?

01-10-2017, 01:44 PM	#1
hal Join Date: Aug 2004	Boardroom and Curia addenda concept? Hello Folks, I'm running a one on one cyberpunk campaign for a player and his character was built on a touch over 400 points (I usually keep it at about 200 for the most part, but it was Christmas and all...) Long story short, he wanted to play a character who owned his own business, specifically, one that built robotic models, and he owns a patent on a TL 9 (Classic TL 9, not GURPS 4e TL 9) Minicomputer that is a robotic computer/brain with neural-net and Genius chip embedded. In any event, his character has roughly 300 million in assets, and we started messing around with Boadroom and Curia in conjunction with GURPS TRAVELLER: FAR TRADER (classic of course!). The idea was to have stocks that could be treated as "owned" stocks or, to use the rules for stock growth of value over time for the player character's company. To that end, I started playing around with the following ideas: A CEO (Chief Executive Officer) is responsible for a company much like a captain is responsible for a ship. The CEO, in order to do his job properly, needs the services of the following: Marketing: This division of the company determines not only how to sell the products via advertising and marketing per se, but also engages in research and development of product plans that are marketable. Building a robot that no one wants is a recipe for bankruptcy. Accounting: This division insures not only that money is accounted for so that there isn't waste involved, but also pays its bills in a timely manner and insures that the company is paid in a timely manner. Cash flow issues can lead the perception that a company is in financial straits even without necessarily heading towards bankruptcy. This is also the department that may or may not engage in some under the table reporting of income for taxation purposes. Manufacturing: this division insures that the product is made in a timely fashion, that budgets are maintained, and that the product doesn't suffer from liability issues in the event that something goes wrong with the product. At times, someone in manufacturing may determine that they can save the company money by cutting corners... Legal: this division insures that third party contracts are as they should be, and determine the course of action when things go wrong. They're responsible for Non-disclosure agreements and anything else that may have legal ramifications. Necessary for the health of the company. Research and Development: this department insures that products are in the pipeline for future markets, and is responsible for ironing out bugs within any given system that will reach the market as a commodity. Personnel: while a department that is necessary for the overall Health of the organization, it is also in part, part of the structure for the administration of the company's policies with regards to hiring, paying payroll, etc. My goal in this process, is to set it up such that there are the following company types: Starting - Just starting out. This adjective may be applied along with others depending on the environment the company operates within Competitive: This company is in a market where there are others fighting for market share. Stable: this company has arrived in its niche and is largely going to stay in its position. There isn't much room for fast advancements or profits, but it pays dividends regularly, and is relatively easily managed. Moderate: This company has moderate risk factors invovled. It pays dividends from time to time, or it increases in value, but the change in value is half normal. Risky: this company has risks involved, and gets the standard increases or losses in stock value, almost rarely ever pays dividends - either half the gain in value AND dividends, or full gain in value but no dividends High Risk: This is a company, that if it survives, will eventually be deemed Risky, its losses are double normal, and its gains are potentially up to double normal. I want to flesh this out further, but here's the gist of the plan: The CEO rolls against his skill level with modifiers for the Stock market environment (boom on thru bust as depicted in GURPS TRAVELLER FAR TRADER). The CEO also has penalties to his skill roll based upon how his division leaders do their jobs. Division leaders roll at their skill levels such that a crit success adds +2 to the CEO's die roll. A normal Success adds +1 to the CEO's roll. A success by 0 to 3 results in a +0 to the CEO's roll. A failure is -1, and a crit failure is -2. A CEO's roll is generally rolled at Skill-5 to begin with, which each of his departments hopefully adding to his overall roll to the extent that he can do his job adequately. If the CEO succeeds in his roll, the stock's value may go up by 1d6%. If he makes his roll by a given value (4+), his stock may rise 2d6%. A crit success might indicate a 3d6% increase in value. Failure results in 1d6% loss, etc (the system works both directions in mirror images of each other. The idea might be to use Board Room and Curia to determine the costs of each department, and have the "company" be comprised of the sum of all of those departments. Thoughts?