Monday, March 21, 2011

Accounting in my RPGs; A Traveller Businessplan; Researching on Soldiers

The only RPG that has Accounting in their game play is HARN, harn manor. Traveller can have accounting in its game play, especially when your trying to balance the budget of your Freetrader. Accounting in RPGs is a place for a Non-Accountant to Practice and get used to seeing and sorting through a spreadsheet.

Right now, I'm in the works with a generic spreadsheet of a Low Tech Income statement. Particularly a Medieval Fief and a Roman Villa. I'm actually making 2.5 spreadsheets: A generic spreadsheet with definitions and method of how to organizes that Cash-less data and the two examples: Villa and Fief.

I have a Balance Sheet in the works, particularly for the fief. Because of how the fief works where it is mostly leased lands, rents, duties, and contributions, I think a Balance Sheet would be useful.

Don't hold your breath, this might show up next month on 2nd week of april. Getting busier here at work and because the baby eats up a lot of my free time.

A traveller adventure begins with a Business plan.
Using Idiot's guide to Business Plans, I hope to make one using Traveller: Interstellar Wars as my setting. A business plan will require:
Balance Sheet, (breaking down the financial relationship of the characters and crew)
Projected Income Statement given the Proposed Projects/Missions
A SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats).
Organization Chart

Key notes:
Productivity =/= Pay. In Economic Theory Pay = Productivity, but this is FAR from reality. Its not just about keeping it realistic, but making the factors that make this decision hard keep true: Employment and Contract Barriers, loyalties, trustworthiness, and that uncertainty. Like the threat of trying to roll on the employment chart and that future employee might be liability to the teams's business. The same goes with

Low-Tech households, you can't really help who family happens to be. As how relatives can be a liability more than an asset, and why nepotistic practices tend to stay true... also the positive side of nepotism and cronyism in Low Tech eras.

Study and RPGs: Combat Leader's Field Guide and GURPS.
The exercise, in every chapter and topic point out what skill does this falls under. Note that there are Technical Skills and Theoretical Skills. Theoretical skills that deal with processes, methodologies and doctrines.

I'm doing this because I'm curious about breakdown the Idea of a soldier, not just into GURPS but in a way systemic way. Not just for RPG purposes, although it will be immensely useful for an RPG in multiple era's and settings, but looking at a profession so thoroughly studied and interpreted by so many different cultures and scientific bodies. The professional soldier is so thoroughly discussed by many cultures that the common ground and the differences make for a great study by which to look at trained professionals in general.

I was pointing out how research in Human Performance/Productivity Data is largely a trade secret for companies but Military research into the same general field is Accessible and highly enlightening about our human mental and physical limits.

2 comments:

aka John said...

Don't forget Pendragon's winter phase. Maybe not GAAP level accounting, but there still is a pretty decent system for an RPG.

justin aquino said...

it does! will check that out, thanks :D