High Passage on tramps

[rancke]

Or, "What's a nice millionaire like you doing on a ship like this?"

Assume for purposes of argument that no one (OK, very few) travel by free trader by choice, and that any potential passenger willing to pony up a High Passage to get aboard the PCs' ship has a compelling reason to do so (e.g. the Free Trader is the first ship going in the direction he wants to go, he doesn't want to leave behind records of his travels with a regular shipping company[*]). It follows that the quality of service offered by the free trader is of secondary importance to such passengers. So what changes in the standard rules would be reasonable?

[*] Any other reasons occur to anyone?​

Suggestions:

* If the number of middle and high passengers combined are less than the capacity of the ship, the high passengers only pay for a middle passage (Any such passenger with lots of luggage pays standard freight rate for it).

* If the number of middle and high passengers combined exceed the ship's capacity, a number equal to the excess (up to the number of potential high passengers) pays for a High Passage to preempt their passages.​

I'd also like a rule for attracting more passengers by offering a discount on the passage price, but I can't quite figure out something that works and is still reasonably simple.


Hans

 

[HG_B]

... any potential passenger willing to pony up a High Passage to get aboard the PCs' ship has a compelling reason to do so (e.g. the Free Trader is the first ship going in the direction he wants to go, he doesn't want to leave behind records of his travels with a regular shipping company[*]). It follows that the quality of service offered by the free trader is of secondary importance to such passengers. So what changes in the standard rules would be reasonable?

[*] Any other reasons occur to anyone?​

Suggestions:

* If the number of middle and high passengers combined are less than the capacity of the ship, the high passengers only pay for a middle passage for their ticket (Any such passenger with lots of luggage pays standard freight rate for it).

* If the number of middle and high passengers combined exceed the ship's capacity, a number equal to the excess (up to the number of potential high passengers) pays for a High Passage to preempt their passages.

Hans​

1st: The ONLY reason I see is to bump a Mid passage because of an EXTREMELY urgent situation. (I would scrap the record reasons as the Imperial star ports keep records too). Also, on the frontier areas there probably isn't regularly scheduled passenger liners.

3nd: Your rule above is what I already use. My players are wary because often times there is something not good going on with these types of passengers. :devil: But I have will be shifting the tables to reflect more Mid and less high passage dice rolled.​

 

[McPerth]

I'd also like a rule for attracting more passengers by offering a discount on the passage price, but I can't quite figure out something that works and is still reasonably simple.


Hans

Might this be useful?

From MT V&V (page 91, vargr specific rules for starship economics)):

Revenue: Characters in charge of starship operations can vary their price by the usual 25% figure. If this is done, add a DM +1 per 5% reduction in price when rolling to obtain passangers and cargo*; apply a DM -1 per 5% price hike.

* note (mine): I guess it should read freight instead of cargo, as cargo is bought for speculation and not dependent on the fixed price charged (I'll post that on the MT errata thread, BTW).

 

[NW_Paul]

I vaguely recall a requirement that in order to offer High Passage, a person with Steward -1 or greater is required. This is not typically a position that most PCs keep filled on their tramp freighters.

Lacking said steward, I think I would only allow Middle Passage to be offered.

 

[rancke]

I vaguely recall a requirement that in order to offer High Passage, a person with Steward -1 or greater is required. This is not typically a position that most PCs keep filled on their tramp freighters.

Lacking said steward, I think I would only allow Middle Passage to be offered.

That's what the rules say, yes. The premise of this thread, however, is that high passengers wouldn't want to travel by a free trader unless they had some strong reason to do so, and that such a reason would be sufficient to make them overlook any lack of proper stewarding on said free trader. It is, IMO, silly to expect a free trader to provide the same service as a regular passenger liner.


Hans

 

[NW_Paul]

That's what the rules say, yes. The premise of this thread, however, is that high passengers wouldn't want to travel by a free trader unless they had some strong reason to do so, and that such a reason would be sufficient to make them overlook any lack of proper stewarding on said free trader. It is, IMO, silly to expect a free trader to provide the same service as a regular passenger liner.


Hans

Hmmm... Well, subsidized liners are like subsidized merchants - the cost of the vessel is partially defrayed by the subsidy to cover a set route. Many worlds in the Imperium are not served by passenger liners, and a merchant vessel may be the only option for getting there.

Also, a businessperson may be on Rhylanor, and have just missed the liner to Fulacin, and the next one won't call for another 6 weeks. Maybe he has an important, and not necessarily nefarious, meeting he has to attend...

From the trader perspective, with a 2,000 credit premium for High over Middle, it would be a worthwhile investment to carry a Steward in order to offer the service.

 

[rancke]

Also, a businessperson may be on Rhylanor, and have just missed the liner to Fulacin, and the next one won't call for another 6 weeks. Maybe he has an important, and not necessarily nefarious, meeting he has to attend...

Exactly my point. Is the businessperson going to wait six weeks for the next sheduled liner just because the free trader doesn't have a steward? Not in my opinion.

From the trader perspective, with a 2,000 credit premium for High over Middle, it would be a worthwhile investment to carry a Steward in order to offer the service.

Only if carrying the steward results in high passengers that the ship would otherwise not have had. Which I don't think it would. As per the assumption set forth in the first post of this thread.

Oh, and a steward costs life support in addition to salary and take up a stateroom that can't be used to carry a passenger.


Hans

 

[NW_Paul]

Exactly my point. Is the businessperson going to wait six weeks for the next sheduled liner just because the free trader doesn't have a steward? Not in my opinion.

Hans

I agree with you, however the business person might opt for a free trader offering High Passage over one that only offers Middle, just because they prefer the amenities.

When I travel by air, I avoid flying Southwest Airlines because they don't offer the option of flying 1st Class. I'm not always able to fly 1st Class, however when I can, I would choose an airline that offered it over one that does not.

 

[SpaceBadger]

Call me a heretic, but I consider High Passage and Middle Passage as standards of service for marketing purposes - and usually for pricing, too, but that is not set in stone and there certainly are not laws that require ship captains to honor pre-written passage tickets.

(Yes, it may be in a captain's interest to honor the passage tickets if the guaranteed redemption amount is good enough for the price he wants for that berth, but that is his decision, not some kind of Space Law.)

Likewise, it is up to a captain's personal sense of honor and what is right as to who gets on board at lift-off and who might get bumped, not necessarily a High Psg always bumping a prior-booked Middle Psg - unless the captain is especially money-grubbing, or feels the High Passenger has priorities other than mere money that justify bumping.

One can't just show up at a ship that is ready for lift-off, waving a High Psg ticket and demanding that someone be bumped to make room! (Unless it is a government voucher, then the captain has to weigh his sense of what is right vs his sense of how much trouble he could get in for not honoring it.)

 

[rancke]

Call me a heretic, but I consider High Passage and Middle Passage as standards of service for marketing purposes - and usually for pricing, too, but that is not set in stone and there certainly are not laws that require ship captains to honor pre-written passage tickets.

(Yes, it may be in a captain's interest to honor the passage tickets if the guaranteed redemption amount is good enough for the price he wants for that berth, but that is his decision, not some kind of Space Law.)

I, on the other hand, think it is some kind of space law (Imperial Edict 318, to be specific), and that's because of the "bumping" rule.

To illustrate what I mean, have a look at the handful of examples of what I call passage vouchers that I've posted in the Imperial Museum of Art.

A Priority Passage Voucher, or "High Passage" as it's usually known, was originally intended for high Imperial officials traveling on official business. Over time this purpose became somewhat diluted, and by the Classic Era they were issued to people quite far down the organisatorial 'food chains' and freely traded outside the organizations. People who are planning to use them to pay for a jump-1 or jump-2 ticket will often try to sell them to someone planning to make a jump-3 or higher trip.

A Standard Passage Voucher, or "Mid Passage" as it's usually known, was originally intended for low-ranking Imperial civil servants and military personnel. Originally issued only by Imperial ministries and military organizations, the enabling Imperial Edict 318 has been amended on several occasions to allow a few civilian organizations, such as the various megacorporations and the Travellers' Aid Society, to issue their own vouchers.

(It seems to me more reasonable that the Imperium would reserve the right to issue Priority Passage vouchers to Imperial organizations, but we've been told that the benefit TAS gives out six times a year is a High Passage. IMTU it is a mid passage, but...)

And here's a Low Passage Voucher. Note the disclaimer at the bottom. Although travel in low berth is nowhere near as dangerous as numerous urban legends would have it, detrimental effects have been known to occur.


Hans