Navigator's Guild Hazard Index
The Navigator's Guild Hazard Index (or GHI for short) is a standardized rubric for adjusting Navigator's Guild service prices based on the danger expected to be found along a given route. Because Guild members are bound by contract cards that become a matter of record once issued, actuarial tools like the GHI are crucial for keeping the industry profitable in addition to safe and reliable.
Execution
The GHI tables take into account a wide variety of environmental and geopolitical conditions and are regularly adjusted to take account of any changes in these conditions.
The tesseracts closest to a given cube layer are the strongest determinants of that layer's environmental conditions, and, thus, play a consistently strong role in calculating the regional GHI. The closest tesseract ('TC,' as determined through commissure connections) has a stronger influence than the adjacent one ('TA,' as determined through inflection layer connections), so the GHI 'bonus' is weighted towards the closest tesseract.
Regional modifiers ('M') include the presence of active warzones (i.e. the ongoing War of Reunification), criminal elements dangeous to travelers (i.e. Avarix Corps activites), the presence or absence of support facilities (i.e. the docking spires at Godshead Rock), and sometimes weather-related events (i.e. seasonal changes in circumvection currents). These conditions are in constant flux, requiring Regional modifiers frequently, but don't universally, apply to an entire cube layer; it's not that small-scale threats don't have any influence on pricing and acceptance decisions for Guild contract cards, but threats that can't extend beyond a single cube face usually don't threaten high-flying guild assets.
The generalized formula for setting the GHI for a given region of the Manifold is:
TC + (TA - 2) + Σ(M1+M2+...)
The results of this formula are then compared to a separate chart (see Components and Tools) to determine the base rate for passage to, from, or through the region. Each intermediate step of the trip calculated separately and added together to set a final trip fare. Navigators may use this final value as a starting point for price negotiations, but are bound to Guild regulations regarding minimum advertised pricing.Components and tools
To speed negotiations, Guild navigators often use a wheel chart/slide rule combination instrument to perform the necessary calculations and predict regional risks. This tool closely resembles similar charts used for navigational calculations, but feature replaceable sliding cards on the back to reflect updated regional modifiers and pricing.
Participants
Updating GHI actuarial tables is a full-time job within the Guild, involving the efforts of meteorologists, field reporters with The Guild Gazette, insurance adjusters, and government liaisons at the various regional Guild halls. Data is gathered and assessed at the Castle of Aurorae to create new GHI tables for the ultimate approval of the Guild Board of Trustees. Once the Board approves, these updated tables are reproduced and distributed to the Guild navigators through offices at the Guild halls.
Observance
New official GHI tables are usually pushed out through the Guild halls annually. Sudden large changes that affect the tables may require the creation of a supplement on shorter notice. In exigent circumstances (i.e. the assault on Silkenvault and the Vianne Tributaries Facility by The Garbage Man and his 125 Hands), encrypted RadNet transmissions from the Castle of Aurorae will alert memers of the Guild to manually update their GHI lookup charts until a more permanent adjustment can be made.
Navigator's Guild Standard by BCGR_Wurth
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Related Organizations
Eventually, the Guild Hazard Index will serve as the basis for a physical prop and DIY game tool for Game Masters in the BCGR tabletop roleplaying system. Using the GHI will allow Game Masters to generate random encounters based on the location of an encounter to facilitate instant action and/or a West Marches style of play. It will also potentially allow the Game Master to set rates for NPC Navigator's Guild members for use in social encounters. Keep an eye on this space for any updates on this project!
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