Low Berth Survival modifiers

[JEH]

Is the +1 for Low Berth survival for Medic-2 per medic crew member/revival robot, or max +1?

If not, how is the high death rate mitigated?

Is there a bonus for higher tech level low berths?

 

[atpollard]

Starting with this:

LBB2, page 5:
Low Passage- Transportation while in cold sleep (suspended animation) is possible at relatively low cost to the passenger. The passenger is placed in a low passage berth before the ship takes off, and travels the entire journey in a state of suspended animation. He does not age, and requires very little life support. Unfortunately, the low passage system involves some intrinsic dangers to the passenger, and he runs some risk of not surviving the voyage. Throw 5+ for each passenger, when he is revived after the ship has landed. DMs: Attending medic of expertise of 2 or better, +llo;w passenger with an endurance of 6 or less, - 1. Failure to achieve the throw to revive results in death for the passenger. Refunds or civil liability if a low passenger fails to survive the trip are not allowed. Low passage costs Cr1,000 and includes a baggage allowance of 10 kilograms.

The Low Lottery: It is customary for the captain to contribute Cr10 out of each low passage towards a lottery. Each low passenger randomly guesses the number of low passengers who will survive the trip. If the winner does not himself survive, the captain receives the money. The ship's steward administers the lottery.

Yes ...
there is only a single +1 for having a medic-2 or higher present
Low passage is dangerous ... dangerous enough that they gamble on how many passengers will die

Having dealt with the rule as written ...
It is one of the less popular rules in the game and in the opinion of some, renders low berth a non-option. Others, however find inspiration in the Dumarest novels (which I probably mis-spelled and have never read).

It is an area that is often house ruled to change the results to something more acceptable to the referee/players.

Later editions of the game, generally have safer low berths, for example:

MegaTraveller:
Low Passage: Transportation while in cryogenic sleep (suspended animation) is possible at relatively low cost to the passenger. The passenger is placed in a low passage berth before the ship takes off and travels the entire journey in a state of suspended animation. He does not age, and requires very little life support. Unfortunately, the low passage system involves some intrinsic dangers to the passenger, and he runs some risk of not surviving the voyage. Surviving uses the following UTP:

To survive a low passage voyage: Routine, Medical, Edu, 1 min. (fateful).

Referee: The Medical skill and Education characteristics used as modifiers to this task roll are those of the attending physician at the time of deberthing, not those of the character at risk. Various affects occur for any mishap (roll 2D):
Superficial Mishap: The subject temporarily suffers 1 D wounds for 1-6 days, after which healing is automatic; skin loses some of its tone and color for 1-6 weeks, having a gray, wrinkled appearance.
Minor Mishap: The subject temporarily suffers 2D wounds for 1-6 days, after which healing is automatic; subject experiences motor function problems for 1-6 weeks with corresponding loss of 2 points of dexterity during that time.
Major Mishap: The Subject suffers 3D permanent wounds; the subject’s internal organs are damaged; and the Subject must undergo medical diagnosis and treatment to restore full health.

Which roughly translates to a Classic Traveller roll of:
Revive from Low Berth in 10 minutes: Roll 7+ on 2D6; +1 per level of Medical skill, +1 if Edu 1-5, +2 if Edu 6-10, +3 if Edu 11-15
So a Medic 2 with an EDU of 12 would roll 2D6+5 for success on 7+ ... automatic success.
A Medic 1 with an EDU of 8 would roll 2D6+3 for success on 7+.
A Medic 0 with an EDU of 4 would roll 2D6+1 for success on 7+.

 

[Ulsyus]

There's a fairly lengthy discussion about some of this here

 

[ShapeShifter]

In strict accordance with the Dumarest books, which feature very abundant references to Low Passage and various consequences of the risk involved, I have houseruled a few items to increase survivability, viz.

1) In the books there is great emphasis often placed upon survivability if the subject has taken on more body fat before being placed in deep hibernation. This seems to imply that (contrary to LLB1, p.24, top) the metabolism is still operative, but only very greatly retarded (et vide Chap. 1 of the premier novel The Winds of Gath, p. 1, on the "pulmotor"). Conversely, those who enter Low sleep with very little body fat have a far greater chance of death while in the low berth. Consequently I think it is necessary to alter the END stat, or otherwise some descriptor on the PC card that indicates that the character took the time to "fatten up" before the flight, or refrained to do so for whatsoever reason. So if he doesn't take the time to increase his body fat significantly, the END should be automatically set to 6, or a penalty imposed to the throw.

2) If the subject upon entering a low berth was recently wounded, severely injured or had not fully recovered from such, I impose a penalty to the survival throw. (E.g. Leon Harvey in Book 13: Eye of the Zodiac, 1976). Tentative solution: set END to 6 or impose -1 or -2 DM to the survival throw.

3) The death rate is always and without exception defined as 15 percent, this number is avoided by rolling 16 percent or more on percentile dice. Purists may be outraged at my straying from a "pure d6 system", but I have always aimed to adhere very closely to CT's primary literary inspiration.

4) If the freshly-revived subject is immediately allowed to drink down at least one cup of "Basic" (nutrient-, glucose- and protein-rich liquid with vitamins and minerals), that should grant a +1 to the survival throw.

 

[Orr]

In strict accordance with the Dumarest books, which feature very abundant references to Low Passage and various consequences of the risk involved, I have houseruled a few items to increase survivability, viz.

Wow, I really like those house rules. They bring a different feel to the situation, especially the bit that makes the players think twice about freezing their wounded and then thawing them out when it's convenient.

Thanks for sharing that material.

 

[Baron]

I see you are another Dumarest fan, always nice to run into a kindred spirit.

 

[BlackBat242]

I've been thinking about this, and I have come to a conclusion. I agree with Quint in another thread*:

Both of the classic examples (but not the only ones) of "travel via reduced-metabolism technology is dangerous" come from 1950s science-fiction (both Dumarest and the slightly-earlier Andre Norton novel**), and in both cases the technology was "experimental".

In Andre Norton's novel this was the first time the tech had ever been used, and in Dumarest it was developed for livestock transport (where losses aren't as critical) and adapted for human use without much further development.


So I am ruling in my Traveller that the listed survival rate (right at 10% fatalities) is for the first two TLs - I rule that reduced-metabolism (low-berth) technology (of whatever form you rule it to be in your game) is first introduced for mammal use (both animals and humans) at TL 8.

As TLs increase above that the improving technology would provide additional DMs in favor of the reviving low-berther - +1 @ TL10, +2 @ TL12, +3 @ TL14, & +4 @ TL16 (non-cumulative).

Thus, with TL 14 or 15 tech the revival roll would be [success 5+ on 2d6; +1DM for Med 2+; +3 for TL; -1 if End 6 or less]. This would mean automatic success if the revivee's End is 7+ and a med 2+ attendant is present (unless other factors are present). If no qualified attendant is present then failure would only occur on a roll of exactly 2.

For TL 12 & 13, a 7+ End character with a Med 2+ attendant would then only fail on a roll of exactly 2 (or 3 if no qualified attendant), and TL 10 & 11 would mean success on 3+ (4+ if no qualified attendant).




*

One of the easiest ways to "have your cake and eat it to" is to simply factor in TL. In the Dumarest saga for instance Low Berths were originally designed for the transportation of livestock, and this is implied to be at least a portion of the reason that the mortality rate is so high (just re-read Winds of Gath this past weekend).

Even if we don't posit that this was the case in the OTU (or semi-OTU) we can certainly take the MT/DGP version of reality where as TL increases the technology changes (and improves) and with that the mortality rate decreases. Plus, say in MgT we can also posit all of the modifiers to rolls that come from careful and slow task resolution rather than standard or speedy resolution.

If there is only one thing that I like about T5 (and I'll admit that there is more than one) it is that there is finally some actual guideline for how things function across tech levels (from prototypes at -3 TL to their ultimate developments at TL +4).

D.

**

Actually, the "low berth travel is dangerous" trope precedes the Dumarest Saga by a number of years.

The first Dumarest book, The Winds of Gath, was published in 1967.

In 1954 Andre Norton's The Stars Our Ours was published - the centerpiece of the novel is a trip from Terra to a world in another system, with the ship traveling FTL and everyone aboard in "cold sleep". 53* survived, 6 died in their cold-sleep boxes during the journey.

6/59 = 10.17% fatality rate.


* 25 men, 23 women, 1 infant boy, 4 girl children

 

[ShapeShifter]

In Andre Norton's novel this was the first time the tech had ever been used, and in Dumarest it was developed for livestock transport (where losses aren't as critical) and adapted for human use without much further development.

Yup. For livestock. o: I love to describe the cargo hold with giant, shiny-white cases shaped vaguely like cows, and when one peers into it a blueish human face can be seen through the frosty viewplace! It doesn't sound very comfortable either.

The Dumarest books even described ultraviolet lamps over the low berths to keep them sterile. Nice touch!

I really like the idea of a sliding safety/danger scale depending upon TL. Great concept! IMO, the general tech lvl of many worlds that Dumarest visits is not that impressive, and even downright dismal. Most are primitive backwaters with little traffic and few, if any, opportunities to earn enough for a passage offworld, a miserably place where anyone who lands there is doomed to make it their grave. Pretty bleak. Some worlds, though sparsely populated, are home to some pretty nasty fauna -- and even deadly flora.

God, I love those books! If you want some great inspiration for your campaign, pick up the first few!