Ramble time!

So, if you'll forgive me for using the word "typical", your typical Rogue Trader would seem to be a very driven, powerful, and potentially covetous being. Whether their goal is to write their name in the stars, legitimately serve Him on the Golden Throne, or just get all the moneys, because they are in a unique position to be Scrooge McDuck, they are likely to be on a near-constant string of quests, money-making ventures, and more, trying to get as rich, famous, and connected, as they possibly can, perhaps as quickly as they possibly can, with an entire organization behind them, spurring them ever forward toward ever-greater success, or risk, and death. So, when you find that weird stone among the jewels, who understands that you DO only need so much to live, and to be happy, and if you aren't the biggest, loudest fish in the pond, some of the other fish won't as readily notice you, and single you out, how much do you need , to stay happy?

I'll ask it more in regular words now. You are a Rogue Trader, and you have a ship, a crew, and a certain amount of obligations. Assuming your organization at least somewhat runs itself, taking care of contracts, transporting cargoes, and such, while you duel xenos, raid tombs, sleep with Inquisitors, and dance the fine line between Rogue Trader and heretic; the more "heroic stuff", how much of a run does it take to simply maintain your ship, your crew, and your probably somewhat inflated lifestyle? If you are more a risk-taker, how long could that ship, and crew, afford to sit in port, while she gets patched up, from some serious damage, before your Profit Factor actually decreases, possibly substantially so? As said, your dynasty may be more than just you, and your ship, but some of that should take care of itself, off-screen, and without you; when it doesn't, that can be some Misfortune for the plot. Wrath Umbolt seems somewhat afraid to take risks, even with his ship in fine condition, but he still makes a few easy runs, and keeps his ship, his crew, and himself in comfortable living, emphasis on that last word. I guess my point is, in a game that said "money? Those figures would quickly become meaningless, and whole parts of your wealth won't even be wealth, in the monetary sense!", how much Profit Factor should it take to maintain your ship comfortably, if you don't have the drive, just then, to run another Egarian gauntlet, or fight ff more Rak'gols? In a way that maybe approximates money, how much does it cost you to keep your ship in port, either for repairs, or just because? It's great if you can run an Endeavor that nets you +10 Profit Factor, but the risk commensurate with that gain might be equally huge, possibly moreso than the overall gains may justify. Here's hoping this thing makes some sense. If your ship isn't hideously damaged, or populated by the worst bar-fighting dregs in space, tearing up the port, every night, how quickly will your PF actually decrease, and force you to run an endeavor, just to stave off loss, when an entire ship, loaded with priceless treasures, might be worth only +3 PF?

I just impose a penalty on my players' profit factor, and as long as they keep it paid then the ship will be assumed to keep maintained and up-to-date without issue. It's a pretty rough guide here: https://rogue-trader-the-hos-dynasty.obsidianportal.com/wiki_pages/ship-maintenance-fees . If they choose not to pay, then every mission you send that ship out on has an escalating chance based on the missing maintenance of catastrophic failure. So the first mission for a Transport would have a 1% chance of failure, the second would be a 2% and so on... for grand cruisers they get bad really fast, which seems appropriate.

I'm happy with this, because Profit Factor represents constant streams of revenue, so you're devoting your constant revenue stream to keeping your ship maintained and up-to-date. The money you spend on maintenance gradually replenishes itself (only to be spent on maintenance again)

I don't assess a PF penalty for each and ship the RT is running, but instead just for those that aren't "working." If the dynasty has set a Vagabond to ply a trade route the dynasty has established I find it excessive to add the PF for that route, then subtract the PF for the Vagabond. I just count the PF from the route less worth less and iet it go at that. If the dynasty is running with a frigate escort for that same Vagabond on that trade route, then I assess PF penalty.

I don't assess a PF penalty for each and ship the RT is running, but instead just for those that aren't "working." If the dynasty has set a Vagabond to ply a trade route the dynasty has established I find it excessive to add the PF for that route, then subtract the PF for the Vagabond. I just count the PF from the route less worth less and iet it go at that. If the dynasty is running with a frigate escort for that same Vagabond on that trade route, then I assess PF penalty.

They can get it both ways, where if they own a ship and assign it to trade routes then they can make extra profit factor (for not having to pay for renting another Transport for example).

The rules are mostly there because if they're owning a massive fleet in case they ever feel the urge to secede from the Imperium and set up their own Empire, it's going to be expensive to keep those ships going unless they're making money. Transports make money, everything else gets expensive.