"Credits aren't money. Money implies stability. Credits are a number that goes up when you do something someone powerful wanted done, and down whenever you need to breathe, eat, or not die."
The galactic standard currency is the Credit, universally abbreviated to Creds. One Credit roughly equals the cost of one processed protein food slab; the baseline unit of survival. Everything else is priced relative to that.
Creds are digital by default. Your pSlab tracks your balance, transactions are logged by the Unicore Banking Network, and every purchase above 500 Creds generates a record that CORSEC can subpoena. This is by design. The galaxy runs on surveillance as much as it runs on commerce.
For transactions you don't want logged, there are Credit Tokens; physical, encrypted, untraceable. Possession is ownership. The 2% encoding fee is the price of anonymity.
The galaxy is not a fair place. The gap between what a dock worker earns and what a corporate executive spends on lunch is measured in orders of magnitude. For operatives, the people this book is about, the relevant scale looks like this:
| Cost Range | What It Buys |
|---|---|
| 1-10 | Food slab, water ration, a bad drink at a worse bar |
| 10-50 | Data chip, basic tools, ammunition reloads, a night in a shared pod |
| 50-200 | Standard E-Cells, basic medical supplies, a decent meal, passage between stations |
| 200-1,000 | Sidearms, basic armour, field kits, a week of O-Bills |
| 1,000-5,000 | Combat weapons, tactical gear, specialist equipment, minor ship repairs |
| 5,000-20,000 | Military-grade hardware, advanced AI, cybernetic implants, vehicle modifications |
| 20,000-100,000 | Heavy ordnance, powered armour, ship components, a very large bribe |
| 100,000+ | Ships, property, corporate favours, the kind of trouble that follows you between systems |
You start with nothing. Rank 0 operatives are fresh recruits; warm bodies with potential and empty pockets. Your Techglomerate provides your starting equipment (listed on your Core Specialist page), a place to sleep, and a meal schedule. That is your compensation until you prove you're worth paying.
At Rank 1, you complete Basic Training and begin receiving mission pay. Starting Creds at Rank 1 depend on your affiliation:
| Affiliation | Starting Creds | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Corporation | 500 | Standard recruitment package. Reliable, taxed. |
| Syndicate | 300 | Less upfront, fewer questions about how you earn more. |
| Under the Radar | 200 | Nobody is paying you a salary. Budget accordingly. |
Starting equipment from your Core Specialist is free; it is issued, not purchased. You do not spend your starting Creds on it. Starting Creds are pocket money: ammunition, consumables, a sidearm upgrade, or a round of drinks at the nearest port bar.
The primary source of income for operatives. Mission pay scales with the mission's Tier and your Rank within your Techglomerate.
| Mission Tier | Base Pay (per operative) |
|---|---|
| Tier 1 (Ranks 1-3) | 200-1,000 per Op |
| Tier 2 (Ranks 4-7) | 1,000-5,000 per Op |
| Tier 3 (Ranks 8-10) | 5,000-25,000 per Op |
The GM sets exact pay based on mission difficulty, employer, and objectives. Hazard pay, bonuses for secondary objectives, and performance incentives are common. So are deductions for collateral damage, lost equipment, and "administrative fees" that nobody can explain but everyone pays.
MERCS NPNP Rule: MERCS operatives follow the No Pay, No Play rule; minimum contract fee is 500 Creds × Rank. A Rank 5 Merc doesn't get out of bed for less than 2,500 Creds. See MERCS for contract details.
Anything not bolted down, and some things that are, can be sold. Weapons, armour, gear, data sticks, and salvage from the field all have resale value. Standard resale is 25% of list price through legitimate channels, or 40-60% through the DarkNet if you don't mind the company.
Items above your Security Level cannot be sold through legitimate channels. You can carry them, use them, and explain them to CORSEC if they ask; but you cannot walk into a licensed vendor and sell a Sec Level 4 prototype. The DarkNet has no such restrictions.
Between missions, operatives with the right skills can earn supplementary income. Repair work, medical services, hacking jobs, cargo runs, information brokering; if you have a skill, someone will pay for it. Side hustle income is modest (50-500 Creds per Lockdown or R&R period) but adds up, and the contacts you make are often worth more than the credits.
All equipment in the Gear and Weapons chapters lists a Cost in Creds and a Security Level. To purchase an item:
Corporation and Syndicate Quartermasters stock their organisation's standard gear at list price. Independent vendors charge what the market will bear; typically list price in civilised space, 150-200% in frontier systems, and "make me an offer" on the Outer Rim.
Operatives on active duty don't generally pay living costs; your Techglomerate covers O-Bills, food, and a bunk. Between missions, or for anyone operating Under the Radar, the galaxy charges rent:
| Expense | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| O-Bills (station living) | 30-200/week | Oxygen, waste, shared pod, one food slab/day. Price depends on the station, who's running it, and when the last Weeper docked. |
| Private quarters | 200/week | Your own pod. Luxury. |
| G's Fee (leaving a planet) | 500-5,000 | Depends on gravity well. Earth-standard ≈ 2,000. |
| The Bounce (round trip) | G's Fee × 2 | Plus port fees, customs, and whatever "inspection surcharge" they invent |
| Passage (inter-station) | 100-500 | Cargo class. Don't ask what's in the other crates. |
| Passage (inter-system) | 1,000-10,000 | Duration and distance dependent. Cryo is cheaper. |
Running out of Creds while Upside is how you become an Indent; an indentured servant to whatever corporation is willing to cover your O-Bills in exchange for your labour. Indents don't choose their assignments. Avoid this.