EDIT: simplified earlier "wall o' text".
Market Dice
Context: Each planet has an "economy" consisting of up to 6 empty spaces that can be filled with "supply cubes" or "demand chips." Think of a central hex surrounded by a ring of 6 hexes into which colored cubes or mini poker chips are placed. Colors correspond to the commodities Food, Energy, Tech, Medicine, and Precious Earth.
When players decide to trade with a planet, they roll "Market Dice" to generate the prices of trade items. When selling, players roll 1 die for each "demand chip." The dice represent what local merchants are willing to pay for the commodities. When buying, players roll 1 die for each "supply cube." The dice represent what local merchants are charging for goods.
Example 1: Player 'A' arrives at world 'B' with 2 Energy and 1 Food for trade. Planet 'B' has 3 Energy "demand chips" and 1 Food "demand chip." Player announces his desire to trade Energy and rolls 3 dice, resulting in '3', '2', and '1'. He decides to sell both his Energy for a total of 5 TU. He then announces his intent to trade Food, rolls a '1', and decides not to sell.
Players may trade only once per item per ship each turn.
If a planet has no demand, the player may sell at 1 TU.
If the planet has no supply of a commodity, players may not buy it.
Galactic Stores
All players begin the game at the central Star Base, which houses the Galactic Stores. The Stores will sell Food and Medicine to players for 2 TU per cargo unit, and buy back any resource at 1 TU per cargo unit. The Stores never run out of goods to sell or credits with which make purchases.
