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[EuchreJack]

Hm, I'd probably run with the idea that most items are cheaper than you might think.  One energy credit can feed a peasant for a year.  The term "Post-Scarcety" means something, right?  Cheap stuff is "basically free", you ask you get.  Bars of soap, dinner, and climbing gear is probably freely given with a hospitality roll.  Employers probably provide most transportation, the only exception is that the Python cell might want its own storage vehicle (van, cargo plane, boat, mobile fortress).  It would probably act as portable dojo, or at least carry all the stuff the Python cell needs.  Exchanging martial arts techniques is one way the Python cell gives back to the community.

Reminder: An adventure squad in a Post-Scarcety Samurai realm isn't trying to get rich.  We're not filthy merchants!  They're trying to get Honor.

Now the specialist gear, rocket launchers, talismans, potions, etc...that is stuff they'd collect.  Martial Arts, Religious, and Mystical stuff.  I mean, just look at what gets people excited in Martial Arts films.  Take out the greed, and there you go.  It's all about Power.  Good samurai obtain power to protect and serve the community while the community provides for the Samurai.  Bad samurai obtain power to take what they want and intimidate the community into providing for them.  The fact those are so similar is why the Peasants hate the samurai, but would never say so openly, unless they're in a Militia.

[Skynet]

I added a Price List and an NPC Generator to the "Game Materials" chapter, and added some material about megacorporations and peasants to the "Social Relations in the Samurai Republic" chapter. I haven't mentioned the "samurai-training simulations" yet though - I might mention it later if I find a good place to put it.

By the way, I defined megacorporations as "samurai-based military organizations" (not, you know, the business corporations that tend to play a major role in cyberpunk literature), and also tried to imply that these corporations aren't really about wealth accumulation, but power accumulation. Not sure if I pulled that off or not.

Spoiler: "Origins of the Megacorporations" (click to show/hide)

Origins of the Megacorporations - During the Revolutionary War, the samurai established informal rebellious organizations to help organize the resistance against the AI-Empress. After the establishment of the Samurai Republic, ambitious rebel leaders converted these informal rebellious organizations into “formal” military organizations - the megacorporations.

According to the samurai, the universe is a violent, brutal place...and a strong military is sometimes necessary to stop injustice, solve social problems, and preserve stability. The megacorporations would regularly justify their existence by pointing to numerous threats to the Samurai Republic - banditry, space piracy, and the occasional peasant uprisings.

Steel may build the megacorporations...but it can never justify them. A strict code of honor (originally developed by Gendō Mujun himself) legitimized the status quo, mitigated against abuse, and reduced civil strife. Without honor, steel would have no point.

Spoiler: "Peasants" (click to show/hide)

Peasants - The productive members of society, responsible for producing the goods and services that samurai society is dependent on. An informal social contract once existed in Gizen - the samurai provide “protection” to the peasants, and the peasants support the samurai’s extravagant lifestyles.

Under this social contract, peasants are allowed to control the “means of production”. However, peasants must pay onerous taxes and accept the advice of samurai “consultants”. The peasants may have all the wealth, but the samurai hold all the power.

The samurai do genuinely care for their peasantry, in the same way as a peasant may care for their own personal property. But even benevolence has its limits.

After the Apocalypse and the Shadow War, all surviving peasants pledged their loyalty to either the Peasant Militia or the Shadow. A state of war now exists between the peasants and the samurai, and it will take delicate negotiations to end the civil strife and reunify the universe.

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After doing some preliminary research into Japanese history, I believe that I'd be best off studying the Sengoku period in Japanese history, where everything is in flux and society is ruined by endless war. Even the Peasant Militia exist in that period, in the form of the Ikkō-ikki. The term Gekokujō ("the lower rules the higher") also seem especially well-suited for "Samurai World" (the samurai defeated the AI-Empress, the peasants defeated the samurai).

"Legend of the Five Rings" tried to blend the Sengoku era of "war between the clans" with the Edo era of stability and prosperity. Generally, violence between the clans take place during the summer...and in the winter, 'politics' reigns as the Emperor hosts the regular Winter Court and make important policy decisions. At first, I tried to reflect that same dynamic in Samurai World, but it's a pretty artificial one...and ultimately, I have to decide whether to lean more towards Sengoku or Edo. And quite frankly, the strict caste system of the Edo era does not seem to make much sense in a universe where the peasants have successfully overthrew their feudal overlords. Sengoku seems like a more natural ft.