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Cargo

Spending Build Points

Source Ports of Call pg. 169
The following section expands on the rules for spending Build Points and includes some obligatory expenditures (like upgrading the PCs’ starship so they can take on bigger jobs and bigger threats), as well as new options (like a comfortable lifestyle or the hiring of employees). The PCs can hold onto as many unspent BP as they like.

Expansion

Source Ports of Call pg. 169
The PCs can spend BP to hire agents, professional representatives, and even full-time employees who work for them. They can even buy another starship and hire crew to haul cargo as part of their overall business. When the PCs hirepersonnel to expand their business, you decide the NPCs’ stats (though usually, an NPC has a total skill bonus in a handful of skills equal to 4 + 1-1/2 × their CR). They are generally loyal to the PCs but won’t risk their lives. If treated poorly, they might leave the PCs’ service. Employees hired by the PCs agree to a 1-year contract; at the end of that term, the PCs must renew this contract or the NPC leaves their service.
Planetary Agent: A planetary agent costs BP equal to the agent’s CR, which can be no higher than the party’s APL; as the party’s APL increases, the PCs can spend the difference to raise the agent’s CR. The agent lives on one world or space station, and though they might have many other clients, they work on the PCs’ behalf to perform the find cargo and find buyer downtime activities. The agent can also perform the gather information task of the Diplomacy skill. The agent won’t leave the world upon which they’re stationed. The PCs must supply the agent with the credits or other requirements necessary for any task the NPC is asked to perform.
System-Wide Representative: A system-wide representative is similar to a planetary agent but will travel to any world in a single star system (such as the Pact Worlds system). A system-wide representative costs BP equal to twice the representative’s CR, which can be no higher than the party’s APL.
Starship: The PCs can use their BP to buy another starship. This starship can’t be higher in tier than the party’s APL – 2 and is likely to be much lower. The PCs must spend additional BP equal to 5 × the starship’s tier to hire an NPC crew to run this starship; each crew member has a CR equal to the starship’s tier, and they follow the PCs’ instructions when it comes to buying, transporting, and selling cargo, as well as the day-to-day operations of the starship. All the BP earned by this second ship goes to the party’s pool of BP, and the PCs are responsible for the other costs of any additional starships they own.

Insurance

Source Ports of Call pg. 170
The PCs can insure their starship or cargo, so that if their starship is destroyed or their cargo is lost, they can recover some or all of the value. Starship insurance policies cost a number of BP equal to a percentage of their starship’s total BP value at time of purchase (see below). An insurance policy remains in effect for 1 year; after this time, the PCs must buy a new policy (at a higher price if their starship has increased in BP value). If the PCs’ starship is completely destroyed while the policy is in effect, the PCs receive a percentage of the ship’s BP value in payment. The rest of the BP the PCs spent on their starship are lost!
Starship insurance policies are rated bronze, silver, and gold. A bronze insurance policy costs 5% of the starship’s total BP value and pays out 50% of that value. A silver insurance policy costs 10% of the starship’s total BP value and pays out 75% of that value. A gold insurance policy costs 15% of the starship’s total BP value and pays out 100% of that value.
To insure cargo, the PCs can buy a policy for 10% of the cargo’s buy price (minimum 1 BP). If the cargo is lost and not delivered, and the PCs can prove that they weren’t negligent or didn’t steal the cargo, they’re repaid BP equal to the cargo’s buy price.
The PCs can have only one insurance policy per starship and per each cargo.

Lifestyle

Source Ports of Call pg. 170
The PCs can spend BP to live the good life. There are two degrees of lifestyle expenditure: comfortable and luxurious. These degrees assume a group of 4 PCs; you can adjust the costs for larger and smaller groups as you see fit.
Comfortable: The party spends 1 BP to live comfortably for 1 month on a single world or space station. The PCs reside in spacious lodgings decorated to their taste, have access to stylish personal transportation, and enjoy their favorite entertainments. They partake in high-quality food and drink whenever they wish and attire themselves in fashionable and flattering clothing. This lifestyle doesn’t impart any mechanical benefits to the characters.
Luxurious: The party spends 5 BP to live in luxury for 1 month on a single world or space station. The PCs reside in fabulous homes in an elite neighborhood; they have multiple forms of personal transportation, including custom-made vehicles and antiques, and their wardrobe is full of unique fashions made for them by famous designers (equivalent to formal wear). A large staff of professionals—housekeepers, gardeners, personal tailors, groomers, and chauffeurs—see to everyday chores the PCs don’t wish to concern themselves with (each professional is a professional freelancer with a skill bonus equal to the party’s APL). When they wish to be entertained, they have tickets to all the most exclusive galas and parties, or they hire legendary performers and throw the party themselves. This lifestyle doesn’t impart any mechanical benefits to the characters.

Upgrades

Source Ports of Call pg. 171
The PCs can spend BP on their starship if they have the time and facilities required to make such upgrades (Starfinder CoreRulebook 305). Using this system, the total BP value of the PCs’ starship can be no more than 5% higher than the value listed for its tier in Table 9-1: Starship Base Statistics on page 294 of the Core Rulebook.
For example, a group of 1st-level PCs have a tier 1 starship on which they’ve spent a total of 52 Build Points (saving the rest to purchase cargo). As they accumulate BP by selling cargo, they can spend at most 5 BP to upgrade their starship, raising its BP value to 57 (5% more than the 55 BP used to normally create a tier 1 starship). When their APL rises to 2, this group can upgrade their starship further, but not to a value higher than 78 BP (because a tier 2 starship is normally created with 75 BP). The PCs still can’t spend more than 1,000 BP on their starship when their APL reaches 20th.

Downgrades

Source Ports of Call pg. 171
Due to bad luck or mishandling of cargo, the PCs might end up with no spare BP to keep the cycle of buying and selling going. In such cases, you can reward the PCs with BP as treasure (see below) to get them back on track, but if you want to be less generous, the PCs can sell parts of their starship to acquire BP. There’s no added cost to do this; for instance, if the PCs want to hock their vessel’s coilgun, they receive the weapon’s full BP cost of 6.