Scarcity

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The planet is miserably poor in some vital necessity for civilization. Food, water, breathable atmosphere, workable metals, or some other staple of human society is available in very limited amounts. Control of this commodity rests in the hands of the planet's elite, and most conflicts revolve around its apportionment. While most far traders lack the cargo space to bring in truly world-changing amounts of the material, tech that breaks the scarcity through superior production or extraction techniques can result in convulsive change to the society. Even so, many far traders prefer to bring in more limited amounts, the better to string out the local profits as long as possible.

Leaders:
^{Who might be encountered while conducting business}

• Barbarous chieftain adorned in tokens of the material
• Grim gray technocrat in charge of distribution
• Engineering official responsible for production
• Ritualized semi-priestly official in charge of the material

Enemies:
^{Who might be encountered who opposes the group}

Saboteur bent on destroying a rival's supply of the material

Radical redistributionist with no fear of the consequences

Far trader bent on keeping the material scarce

Local elite trying to make sure the status remains quo

Complications:
^{How might the situation on the world be more complicated}

The scarcity is so recent that society is still coming to grips with it

The locals believe that the scarcity uplifts them and must be maintained

A crazed demagogue accuses the rulers of having a superabundant cache of the material

A nigh-unlimited supply or generation tech lies locked away behind ancient guards

Things:
^{What items might be found on the world}

Secret warehouse of the material

Material lost in fighting long ago

Ancient tech that creates the material

A virus or nanocontagion that destroys the material

Things:
^{What regulations might complicate things}

Wastage of the material is considered a hideously evil deed

Private trade in the material is forbidden

A special distributor caste manages all storage and disbursal of the material

The more of the material you possess the more spiritually worthy you are

Tags: Trade