High, Middle and Low Passages

[tbeard1999]

Here's a way to make the High Passages and Middle Passages valuable to travelers, beyond their cash value.

"Passage Warrants" are actually a type of Imperial Warrant, occasionally issued by nobles to deserving employees.

They are legally binding commands from the Emperor and direct the recipient to carry the bearer if space is available, in at least the class designated (high, middle, low), no questions asked, for a single jump of any distance.

They are "bearer documents", meaning that they can be used by any person who has them. No special ID check is required, or allowed by law. Normal ID checks carried out on all passengers may be done, of course.

If necessary, the recipient must cancel a normal passenger's ticket (the fine print on all tickets notes this). The only defense to this warrant is that the recipient is unable to carry out the flight due to unavoidable problems (the jump drive is being repaired, etc.). The recipient is *not* required to make a special trip, however. He simply must take the warrant bearer on his next flight.

Warrants are not binding on ships of the Imperial Navy, Imperial Scout Service or the Xboat service. However, captains of these ship will often honor them, so there’s no harm in asking.

If a legitimate recipient refuses to honor the warrant, the bearer can take it to the nearest Imperial authority for enforcement. The warrant directs all Imperial officials to *immediately* use all reasonable means to enforce the bearer's rights.

In addition to enforcing the warrant, the Imperial authority may fine the person refusing the warrant cr50,000. This is a strict liability offense, meaning no excuses will be considered.

Finally, the person refusing the warrant can be charged with a misdemeanor punishable by 3 months jail time.

These sanctions are rarely required, however. Virtually all captains will simply obey them without question. (Imagine a squad of irate Imperial Marines in battle dress showing up to enforce the warrant...) The captain of the ship keeps the warrant and can use it, redeem it, sell it, etc.

A passage warrant can be redeemed ("cashed in") at an Imperial Reserve Bank (usually several per subsector) for 5 times the face value, so captains are usually happy to take them. Still, many starship captains have a warrant stuck in their wallets for a rainy day. It is illegal to sell warrants, but the law is seldom enforced. If one turns up on the black market, the price will be at least 25% more than the redemption price. Probably *much* more.

The high passages awarded by the Travellers' Aid Society are not passage warrants.

Note that passage warrants work much like the "letters of transit" in Casablanca. There could be a good Traveller adventure in that movie...

 

[tbeard1999]

Here's a way to make the High Passages and Middle Passages valuable to travelers, beyond their cash value.

“Passage Warrants” are actually a type of Imperial Warrant, occasionally issued by nobles to deserving employees.

They are legally binding commands from the Emperor and direct the recipient to carry the bearer if space is available, in at least the class designated (high, middle, low), no questions asked, for a single jump of any distance.

They are “bearer documents”, meaning that they can be used by any person who has them. No special ID check is required, or allowed by law. Normal ID checks carried out on all passengers may be done, of course.

If necessary, the recipient must cancel a normal passenger’s ticket (the fine print on all tickets notes this). The only defense to this warrant is that the recipient is unable to carry out the flight due to unavoidable problems (the jump drive is being repaired, etc.). The recipient is *not* required to make a special trip, however. He simply must take the warrant bearer on his next flight.

Warrants are not binding on ships of the Imperial Navy, Imperial Scout Service or the Xboat service. However, captains of these ship will often honor them, so there’s no harm in asking.

If a legitimate recipient refuses to honor the warrant, the bearer can take it to the nearest Imperial authority for enforcement. The warrant directs all Imperial officials to *immediately* use all reasonable means to enforce the bearer’s rights.

In addition to enforcing the warrant, the Imperial authority may fine the person refusing the warrant cr50,000. This is a strict liability offense, meaning no excuses will be considered.

Finally, the person refusing the warrant can be charged with a misdemeanor punishable by 3 months jail time.

These sanctions are rarely required, however. Virtually all captains will simply obey them without question. (Imagine a squad of irate Imperial Marines in battle dress showing up to enforce the warrant…) The captain of the ship keeps the warrant and can use it, redeem it, sell it, etc.

A passage warrant can be redeemed (“cashed in”) at an Imperial Reserve Bank (usually several per subsector) for 5 times the face value, so captains are usually happy to take them. Still, many starship captains have a warrant stuck in their wallets for a rainy day… It is illegal to sell warrants, but the law is seldom enforced. If one turns up on the black market, the price will be at least 25% more than the redemption price. Probably *much* more.

The high passages awarded by the Travellers’ Aid Society are not passage warrants.

Note that passage warrants work much like the "letters of transit" in Casablanca. There could be a good Traveller adventure in that movie...

Comments?

--Ty

 

[robject]

I like this. It reminds me of those local "repatriation bonds", I think they're called.

 

[robject]

I like this. It reminds me of those local "repatriation bonds", I think they're called.

 

[jfetters]

Interesting - that is a neat gimmick that players can be awarded after going through a hellish mission for a noble, or something of that nature.

Also useful if you are running a campaign where the group doesn't own their own starship (probably a rare occurrence, but not unheard of).

 

[jfetters]

Interesting - that is a neat gimmick that players can be awarded after going through a hellish mission for a noble, or something of that nature.

Also useful if you are running a campaign where the group doesn't own their own starship (probably a rare occurrence, but not unheard of).

 

[far-trader]

I like that too, a little more than the simple "priority ticket" (i.e. a muster ticket bumps a purchased ticket) lable I had for them. This additional valuation and durability makes them a valued muster out benefit (I made mine a multiple punch priority ticket to make them a more attractive muster benefit, 1 punch per rank or term served).

On that "durability" factor, I'm a little confused or you mistyped...

"The captain of the ship keeps the warrant and can use it, redeem it, sell it, etc."

Shouldn't that be "The holder of the warrant retains it and can later reuse it, redeem it, sell it, etc." Because if it is in fact "durable" and the Captain accepting it can use it (or redeem it or sell it, etc.) then it seems to me that it would be the holder who actually retains it. This may be going too far though without some limitation, like making it usable only once every two months or so, similar to the TAS dividend, or punch limited like I did.

 

[far-trader]

I like that too, a little more than the simple "priority ticket" (i.e. a muster ticket bumps a purchased ticket) lable I had for them. This additional valuation and durability makes them a valued muster out benefit (I made mine a multiple punch priority ticket to make them a more attractive muster benefit, 1 punch per rank or term served).

On that "durability" factor, I'm a little confused or you mistyped...

"The captain of the ship keeps the warrant and can use it, redeem it, sell it, etc."

Shouldn't that be "The holder of the warrant retains it and can later reuse it, redeem it, sell it, etc." Because if it is in fact "durable" and the Captain accepting it can use it (or redeem it or sell it, etc.) then it seems to me that it would be the holder who actually retains it. This may be going too far though without some limitation, like making it usable only once every two months or so, similar to the TAS dividend, or punch limited like I did.

 

[tbeard1999]

I also came across something in an old novel ("Flight of the Phoenix") that could produce some nice local flavor.

In World War I the RAF issued "ransom notes" to its pilots flying in India and Mesopotamia. These notes, written in Arabic, Urdu, Farsi, and Pashto, promised a reward to anyone bringing an unharmed British pilot or observer to the nearest British outpost. British airmen called the notes goolie chits. (Goolie was the Hindustani word for ball, and many hostile tribesmen had been turning captured airmen over to local women for castration.)

Oil companies continued the practice. Typically, the reward was something like 50 pounds per person brought in. A chit could be used to save any number of people.

No reason that these couldn't be found in Traveller...

 

[tbeard1999]

Originally posted by far-trader:
I like that too, a little more than the simple "priority ticket" (i.e. a muster ticket bumps a purchased ticket) lable I had for them. This additional valuation and durability makes them a valued muster out benefit (I made mine a multiple punch priority ticket to make them a more attractive muster benefit, 1 punch per rank or term served).

On that "durability" factor, I'm a little confused or you mistyped...

"The captain of the ship keeps the warrant and can use it, redeem it, sell it, etc."

Shouldn't that be "The holder of the warrant retains it and can later reuse it, redeem it, sell it, etc." Because if it is in fact "durable" and the Captain accepting it can use it (or redeem it or sell it, etc.) then it seems to me that it would be the holder who actually retains it. This may be going too far though without some limitation, like making it usable only once every two months or so, similar to the TAS dividend, or punch limited like I did.

The warrant must be surrendered to the starship captain because the captain must turn it in to an Imperial Reserve Bank for payment. And it can be used by anyone who has it.

So, ship captain takes a warrant and transports passenger. He can then either collect his cr40,000 from the Imperium, or keep the warrant for his own use. Note that the Imperium doesn't mind if the warrant stays in play; as long as it is "out there", the Imperium pays nothing.

 

[tbeard1999]

Originally posted by far-trader:
I like that too, a little more than the simple "priority ticket" (i.e. a muster ticket bumps a purchased ticket) lable I had for them. This additional valuation and durability makes them a valued muster out benefit (I made mine a multiple punch priority ticket to make them a more attractive muster benefit, 1 punch per rank or term served).

On that "durability" factor, I'm a little confused or you mistyped...

"The captain of the ship keeps the warrant and can use it, redeem it, sell it, etc."

Shouldn't that be "The holder of the warrant retains it and can later reuse it, redeem it, sell it, etc." Because if it is in fact "durable" and the Captain accepting it can use it (or redeem it or sell it, etc.) then it seems to me that it would be the holder who actually retains it. This may be going too far though without some limitation, like making it usable only once every two months or so, similar to the TAS dividend, or punch limited like I did.

The warrant must be surrendered to the starship captain because the captain must turn it in to an Imperial Reserve Bank for payment. And it can be used by anyone who has it.

So, ship captain takes a warrant and transports passenger. He can then either collect his cr40,000 from the Imperium, or keep the warrant for his own use. Note that the Imperium doesn't mind if the warrant stays in play; as long as it is "out there", the Imperium pays nothing.

 

[Fritz_Brown]

Hmmmm, I think the Imperium would care if it stayed in play. It would be much like printing money on a regular basis and never expecting any of it to come back from banks to the reserve for destruction. The worth of one of these things would be steadily degraded as more and more of them circulated. If that eventually drove a slew of folks to cash them in, then you would have a wildly fluctuating market for these things (and, yes, a very specific market similar to any RW commodities market).

Now, if there are a limited number of these things, then they become more valuable rather than less so. But, they would stay in circulation for the most part, and no new ones could be issued (since they are limited in number).

 

[Fritz_Brown]

Hmmmm, I think the Imperium would care if it stayed in play. It would be much like printing money on a regular basis and never expecting any of it to come back from banks to the reserve for destruction. The worth of one of these things would be steadily degraded as more and more of them circulated. If that eventually drove a slew of folks to cash them in, then you would have a wildly fluctuating market for these things (and, yes, a very specific market similar to any RW commodities market).

Now, if there are a limited number of these things, then they become more valuable rather than less so. But, they would stay in circulation for the most part, and no new ones could be issued (since they are limited in number).

 

[tbeard1999]

Originally posted by Fritz88:
Hmmmm, I think the Imperium would care if it stayed in play. It would be much like printing money on a regular basis and never expecting any of it to come back from banks to the reserve for destruction. The worth of one of these things would be steadily degraded as more and more of them circulated. If that eventually drove a slew of folks to cash them in, then you would have a wildly fluctuating market for these things (and, yes, a very specific market similar to any RW commodities market).

Now, if there are a limited number of these things, then they become more valuable rather than less so. But, they would stay in circulation for the most part, and no new ones could be issued (since they are limited in number).

When the warrant is redeemed, the payment is charged to the noble who issued it. Thus, there aren't very many of these things around. If a noble decided to let everybody ride a starship for free, he'd be very quickly bankrupted. Remember...these things are very rare. An average ship captain might not see one in a decade.

--Ty

 

[tbeard1999]

Originally posted by Fritz88:
Hmmmm, I think the Imperium would care if it stayed in play. It would be much like printing money on a regular basis and never expecting any of it to come back from banks to the reserve for destruction. The worth of one of these things would be steadily degraded as more and more of them circulated. If that eventually drove a slew of folks to cash them in, then you would have a wildly fluctuating market for these things (and, yes, a very specific market similar to any RW commodities market).

Now, if there are a limited number of these things, then they become more valuable rather than less so. But, they would stay in circulation for the most part, and no new ones could be issued (since they are limited in number).

When the warrant is redeemed, the payment is charged to the noble who issued it. Thus, there aren't very many of these things around. If a noble decided to let everybody ride a starship for free, he'd be very quickly bankrupted. Remember...these things are very rare. An average ship captain might not see one in a decade.

--Ty

 

[Spinward Scout]

That's a neat idea. I'm keeping this one.

 

[Spinward Scout]

That's a neat idea. I'm keeping this one.

 

[Fritz_Brown]

Originally posted by tbeard1999:
When the warrant is redeemed, the payment is charged to the noble who issued it. Thus, there aren't very many of these things around. If a noble decided to let everybody ride a starship for free, he'd be very quickly bankrupted. Remember...these things are very rare. An average ship captain might not see one in a decade.

Yeah, but the Imperium has been around for 1000 years. It seems easier to give a TAS membership than to issue one of these warrants. I'm trying to make this make sense, as I really like this idea.

I think the easiest answer is that technically they are supposed to be redeemed upon receipt. However, since they are bearer bonds, essentially, there is an illict trade in them. The redemption is no questions asked, but you don't want to tick off the wrong folks by having one that you shouldn't have. This could be the start of an adventure....

Characters are traded a warrant for services rendered and told there shouldn't be any problem redeeming it at the nearest somewhere. They turn it in, only to have the actual noble concerned present. This is a problem because that particular warrant was issued to: sibling/lover/child who has now disappeared; rival for safe passage to negotiations (at which the rival never showed); hero/trusted servant who has turned up dead near the characters last port of call; etc....

 

[Fritz_Brown]

Originally posted by tbeard1999:
When the warrant is redeemed, the payment is charged to the noble who issued it. Thus, there aren't very many of these things around. If a noble decided to let everybody ride a starship for free, he'd be very quickly bankrupted. Remember...these things are very rare. An average ship captain might not see one in a decade.

Yeah, but the Imperium has been around for 1000 years. It seems easier to give a TAS membership than to issue one of these warrants. I'm trying to make this make sense, as I really like this idea.

I think the easiest answer is that technically they are supposed to be redeemed upon receipt. However, since they are bearer bonds, essentially, there is an illict trade in them. The redemption is no questions asked, but you don't want to tick off the wrong folks by having one that you shouldn't have. This could be the start of an adventure....

Characters are traded a warrant for services rendered and told there shouldn't be any problem redeeming it at the nearest somewhere. They turn it in, only to have the actual noble concerned present. This is a problem because that particular warrant was issued to: sibling/lover/child who has now disappeared; rival for safe passage to negotiations (at which the rival never showed); hero/trusted servant who has turned up dead near the characters last port of call; etc....

 

[aramis]

IMTU, Passage warrants are bearer documents, much as the initial post of this thread. BUT, IMTU, they are issued by the IMoT (Trade), and are redeemed for 80% face value in cash, rest in payment in kind for fuel and LS reloads, and docking fees.

Starports usually bulk purchase, and thus can sell coupons for less than face value.

TAS coupons work the same way, and are issued not only to TAS members, but also to other concerns. While TAS coupons can only be redeemed at A-B-C ports, they will often be accepted elewhere and cashed at later ports.

I allow TAS members to buy extras for 500Cr off High and Mid, and Cr 50 off Low; TAS ports stock the chemicals in bulk, so they're puchasing the goods for 20-30% discount on what amounts to about 20% of costs., , or between 4% and 6% off, and TAS ports engender buisiness deals for 5% off berthing, so when coupons are cashed in, they're actually paying less than full face.

Non TAS Members can buy coupons at full face. THe advantages of coupons are that they're backed by TAS or IMoT.

The drawbacks: IMTU, If you accept coupons for any passengers (you can refuse them, but in so doing, can't cash any on-world for 28 days of either type), you can not charge higher rates for any passengers on board. If you are accepting coupons, you're required to notify passengers prior to boarding. The port will notify them of coupon regulations and their right to be charged no more than coupon rates.

Accepting more than coupon rates for passengers on a coupon accepting run is punishable by forfeiture of the ship, ship's cargo and stores, or fines totaling far more than 10x the value of all fares and cargos, possibly even incarceration. It varies widely and wildly, on purpose. The lottery aspect of being tried in the Local Noble's court by whatever courtiers may be present, with whatever press covering it who happen to be trusted enough to be allowed in, and only as many lawyers as the Noble cares to allow. (The defense is guaranteed one. The law may or may not be relevant to the court...)

Of course MTU is pretty much an "Evil Empire" who rigs trade for it's own benefit (specifically to keep worlds at each others' throats). Forget all that hype about maximizing trade; MTU wants trade to flow, but not to flow free, because free flowing trade will build alliances... long range ones.