The problem that I have with the "large ship" universe of High Guard is the economics of merchant ships in that system. Consider a star ship version of the Paul R. Tregurtha Great Lakes bulk carrier. In 1981, she cost about $60 million to build, so I think I can assume about a straight Dollar to Imperial Credit ratio of 1 to 1.
In Traveller Displacement tons, she is about 7300 dTons. Her hull cost alone, at 100,000 Credit per dTon, assuming a Cylinder body shape, is 730 million Credits. Assuming Jump and Maneuver Drives at 1 each, they will each take up 2 per cent of the hull, while a Tech Level 9-12 power plant will be 3 per cent of the hull. That give 146 dTons for the Jump Drive, 146 dTons for the Maneuver Drive, and 219 tons for the Power Plant. The Bridge is equal to 2 per cent of the hull tonnage, so another 146 tons. Costs for this equipment and a computer is as follows.
Jump Drive 1 = 146 X 4 Million Credit per dTon = 584 Million Credits
Maneuver Drive 1 = 146 X 1.5 Million Credits per dTon = 219 Million Credits
Power Plant 1 = 219 X 3 Million Credits per dTon = 657 Million Credits
Bridge of 146 dTons at 5000 Credits per dTon of ship so 7300 X 5000 Credits = 36.5 Million Credits
Computer for a G Code Hull is a minimum of Computer 4, so another 30 Million Credits for the required computer. (The cost of the Bridge and Computer alone are greater than the cost of the RW ship.)
Just that costs a total of 2.2565 Billion Credits. As this is intended as a merchant ship, I have added no weapons nor hull armor, but I have not added any ship's vehicles nor any staterooms for the crew, which I have also not computed. That equals to 37.5 times the cost of the Tregurtha, and gives you a very basic bulk carrier, with a maximum of 26 jumps a year, assuming one jump every 2 weeks. The Tregurtha probably makes that many cargo carrying trips in the Great Lakes shipping season, as the big Lake boats run pretty much continuously.
Given the capital cost of the ship, plus operating expenses in terms of Traveller, how is the tentative ship discussed going to make sufficient money to pay for itself? Remember, it is a basic bulk carrier, designed to carry large amounts of cheap commodities like iron ore pellets or coal, costing much less that one thousand credits per ton.
Change a couple of parameters and it is VERY doable.
Biggest one is get them off the finance plan, built from cash in pocket or low cost financing by megacorps or governments.
Second is not assume they are on some tramp steamer/break bulk economics, but rather a fixed route with a given contract that the ships was expressly built for.
In the case of a bulk freighter as postulated, something like say metals from an asteroid belt 1 parsec away to a terraforming project, or a government subsisdized run from an ag planet to a mining/industrial facility on a non-ag planet.
Back of the envelope calc without pricing it all out, I figure it breaks even at 20 years. For our terraformers, that might be one project, or 4 5-year projects.
It could pay off in less time if there is rapid turnaround with two crews and fast attaching cargo modules/containers.
Or if the cargo is that much more valuable items like radioactives.
Costs can be dropped with a dispersed structure, that's good for a few years off.
Finally, the existence of such ships shouldn't affect the players that much. That's because the players are in the break bulk small lots irregular business, and giant freighters are on regular routes and times with predictable virtually guaranteed loads.
If the players are looking to break into the major shipping business it counts, but otherwise it should be 'captain, Edmund Fitzgerald bearing 42 at 2 LS, 7300-ton out of Orion Belt, likely a load of Iridium for the atmo processors on Canopus IV', background fluff or potentially adventure for salvage/rescue (or they rescue the players).
Make them incidental encounters, maybe 1 out of 10, and they just add color. No need to banish, OR make a big deal of their existence.
