CT Only: Low Passage and You!

[RockyMountainNavy]

Better Off Dead?

Looking at Tubbs' book The Winds of Gath - and assuming it to be a good inspirational source for Classic Traveller - one sees that CT probably understates the low berth mortality rate.

"There was no need for heat in this part of the ship and no intention of providing comfort. Just the bare metal, the ultraviolet lamps washing the naked, coffin-like boxes with their sterilizing glow. Here was where the livestock rode, doped, frozen, ninety per cent dead. Here was the steerage for travelers willing to gamble against the fifteen per cent mortality rate. Such travel was cheap—its sole virtue." (E C Tubbs, The Winds of Gath [ebook] p.3)

 

[RockyMountainNavy]

Low Berth Revival

Also from EC Tubbs' The Winds of Gath; I added emphasis in two places that may be helpful in imagining the process of revival from Low Berth:

"HE WOKE counting seconds, rising through interminable strata of ebony chill to warmth, light and a growing awareness. At thirty-two the eddy currents had warmed him back to normal. At fifty-eight his heart began beating under its own power. At seventy-three the pulmotor ceased helping his lungs. At two hundred and fifteen the lid swung open with a pneumatic hiss.

He lay enjoying the euphoria of resurrection.

It was always the same, this feeling of well-being. Each time he woke there was the surge of gladness that once again he had beaten the odds. His body tingled with life after the long sleep during which it had been given the opportunity to mend minor ills. The waking drugs stimulated his imagination. It was pleasant to lie, eyes closed, lost in the pleasure of the moment.

"You okay?"

The voice was sharp, anxious, breaking into his mood. Dumarest sighed and opened his eyes. The light was too bright. He lifted a hand to shield his face, lowered it as something blocked the glare. Benson stood looking down at him from the foot of the open box. He looked the same as Dumarest remembered, a small man with a puckered face, an elaborate fringe of beard and a slick of black hair, but how much did a man have to age before it showed?

"You made it," said the handler. He sounded pleased. "I didn't expect trouble but for a minute back there you had me worried." He leaned forward, his head blocking more of the light. "You sure that you're okay?"

Dumarest nodded, reluctantly recognizing the need to move. Reaching out, he clamped his hands on the edges of the box and slowly pulled himself upright. His body was as expected, nude, bleached white, the skin tight over prominent bone. Cautiously he flexed his muscles, inflated the barrel of his chest He had lost fat but little else. He was still numb for which he was thankful.

"I haven't lost a one yet," boasted the handler. "That's why you had me worried. I've got a clean score and I want it to stay that way."

It wouldn't, of course. Benson was still fresh at the game. Give him time and he would become less conscientious, more time and he would grow careless, finally he wouldn't give a damn. That's when some of his kind thought it cute to cut the dope and watch some poor devil scream his lungs raw with the agony of restored circulation."

 

[Carlobrand]

I think that we're preaching the same sermon. The big green button is for anybody to use. I said above, in my descritpions, that a Medic-2 can use the exteneded control panel.

What's this big red button for? :devil:

 

[Supplement Four]

Looking at Tubbs' book The Winds of Gath

Neat. I'm going to have to read that book.

What's this big red button for? :devil:

Never you mind. Just...don't....touch it.

 

[whartung]

If you just hit the big green button, then the passenger goes through the process and makes it or doesn't.

If there's a qualified Medic there, then when the passenger doesn't make it, they become a patient, and the Medic can use their skills in resuscitating the patient who would otherwise simply die due to lack of expertise of the attendant.

In simpler terms, the Medic is standing by with a crash cart that no one else knows how to use.

 

[mike wightman]

Once you have read EC Tubbs' Dumarest novels you will see where a lot of Traveller inspiration came from.

 

[Selandia]

E.C. Tubbs is to Traveller what Tolkein is to D & D (imho)

Selandia

 

[Supplement Four]

Once you have read EC Tubbs' Dumarest novels you will see where a lot of Traveller inspiration came from.

That's what I've heard, Mike. It might change my opinions on some OTU tropes.

 

[Frankymole]

E.C. Tubbs is to Traveller what Tolkein is to D & D (imho)

Selandia

Jack Vance for D&D (mechanics) like his approach to magic, too. I think even some of the spell names were from his (Dying Earth?) books.

 

[aramis]

Now that I'm actually awake, and looking at the original question... "Who the hell travels with a low passage in the Classic Traveller universe?"

We know, roughly, the average per capita income. Ok, we have two incompatible sources, but we can bracket from them.

Striker's rate is a good baseline.

Running some numbers based upon imperial worlds in the Marches - a bad baseline, but a baseline none the less - of Cr 14954 per person.
So KCr15 per person. (This is slewed pretty badly, though, but the high-pop high-TL correlation. Keeping in mind that 90% of the population lives on 8.3% of the worlds.) This gives, using standard imperial 4-week months, Cr1150/mo; using modern 30.43 day months, Cr1246/mo.

This puts a round trip mid passage ticket higher than 1 year's income for the average man. Directly comparable to a 14-day ocean cruise line passage. Which said cruise is, for the average guy, is a once-in-a-lifetime trip, and quite possibly a "never go anywhere"... And High passage is 25% more cost, and so even less feasible for the average guy, at 1.34 years vs 1.07.

The Low passage is just under 2 months salary for the same trip... 1.7 months salary. The average guy might be able to swing this several times in a career. He's unlikely to do so, but he might. So, let's figure that 0.1% of people actually want to get off world (which matches some poll I saw over 10 years ago).

Let's also assume a fairly normal wealth distribution for western nations (a major stretch) - I'll draw from the UK, because the data is available easily, and average the various indicator percentiles' income point as a fraction of mean income over the data range to hand to determine that... we get the following breakpoints:

Percentile	1%	5%	10%	25%	50%	75%	90%	95%	99%
Cr/year	Cr3394	Cr4071	Cr4802	Cr6716	Cr10426	Cr16422	Cr24623	Cr33459	Cr76089
Fraction of Mean	23.252%	27.892%	32.902%	46.016%	71.429%	112.509%	168.7%	229.235%	521.3%
Cr/month	Cr261	Cr313	Cr369	Cr517	Cr802	Cr1263	Cr1894	Cr2574	Cr5853

This gives us Joe Normal actually making KCr10.4. Which pushes a high passage to 2 years income - that's also, not surprisingly, the low-end price range for buying an RV. The kind of thing you do once, and pay for for 10 years.

For the bottom 25%, even low passage is a major expense - 4-8 months income.

So, who travels Low?

Looking at the generated extrapolations...
The middle income class retiree who wants to get off world. He scrimps and saves, and freezes himself for shipment.
The lower income class escaping a bad situation. Probably one way.
The terminally wanderlustful who lack the skills to hitchhike (working passage) - think like the guys who get out of the military, and then go on walkabout for a decade.

 

[Carlobrand]

E.C. Tubbs is to Traveller what Tolkein is to D & D (imho)...

Oddly enough, I've never read Tubbs, or at least not that I can recall. Asimov, Clarke, Niven, all manner of writers; even pushed my way through Verne (quite enjoyable, but takes a bit of getting used to the old manner of writing). Not Tubbs.

Hmmm ... I will have to rectify that omission.

 

[BytePro]

Looking at Tubbs' book The Winds of Gath - and assuming it to be a good inspirational source for Classic Traveller - one sees that CT probably understates the low berth mortality rate.

CT puts it at around 17% with no medic-2 and 8% with, but then with 6 and under End that raises to around 28% and 17% respectively - which, for PCs and NPCs at least are ~40% odds (sans career adjustments).

So, who travels Low?

Looking at the generated extrapolations...
The middle income class retiree who wants to get off world. He scrimps and saves, and freezes himself for shipment.
The lower income class escaping a bad situation. Probably one way.
The terminally wanderlustful who lack the skills to hitchhike (working passage) - think like the guys who get out of the military, and then go on walkabout for a decade.

Good extrapolations - and PCs who don't have ships or credits!

Then there are the folks, with little or no real choice in the matter, whose transport would be paid by someone else. Prison transfers, low income (mining) megacorp 'employees', and government deportees come to mind.

 

[rancke]

CT puts it at around 17% with no medic-2 and 8% with, but then with 6 and under End that raises to around 28% and 17% respectively - which, for PCs and NPCs at least are ~40% odds (sans career adjustments).

Good extrapolations - and PCs who don't have ships or credits!

Quite apart from the world-building implications (some of which are, after all, debatable), it is, IMO, a terrible game mechanic. I certainly would be miffed if any referee told me that, "Oh, by the way, your character is dead, please roll up a new one." If I played with a referee who ran his game By The Book, I'd simply refuse to travel by Low Berth. If he wanted my character to go to another world, he'd have to provide another option; otherwise I'd stay on the world I was on, thank you very much.


Hans

 

[Supplement Four]

Good extrapolations - and PCs who don't have ships or credits!

Let's also remember that, by extrapolation, most people in the OTU do not travel. Most stay on their home worlds their entire lives. It's that special breed of citizen, called a "Traveller", who lives among the stars.

I certainly would be miffed if any referee told me that, "Oh, by the way, your character is dead, please roll up a new one." If I played with a referee who ran his game By The Book, I'd simply refuse to travel by Low Berth.

Exactly (about never travelling via low berth). I've never had a PC attempt it in any Classic Traveller game I've ever run (I usally run CT pretty close to the book, but cold berths are safer in other versions of the game--so, I've had players put their characters into those).

But, I enforce the death rule in CT character generation, too. I think it's a necessary part of Classic Traveller generation. I think the hurt/forced muster rule on a failed survival throw hurts the chargen system, and I never use it.

 

[rancke]

Let's also remember that, by extrapolation, most people in the OTU do not travel. Most stay on their home worlds their entire lives. It's that special breed of citizen, called a "Traveller", who lives among the stars.

That's very true, but Traveller writers generally don't pay attention to that extrapolation. Starports are thronged, people travel for all sorts of reasons, some worlds have significant offworld tourist trade.

On top of that, I submit that cheaper interstellar travel increases plot possibilities. I'm not prepared to provide rigorous proof of that theory, but that's my belief.

But, I enforce the death rule in CT character generation, too. I think it's a necessary part of Classic Traveller generation. I think the hurt/forced muster rule on a failed survival throw hurts the chargen system, and I never use it.

I don't think it is necessary, but I don't mind it for the classic campaign (bunch of random characters traveling together having adventures). I do find it tedious for campaigns where the PCs have to have certain specific skills. And I think a tweaked, well-balanced character in many ways is more fun than a totally random character. Different kind of fun possibly.

But character generation is only a few hours. What I would object to is investing the amount of creativity that I usually invest in my characters over a number of game sessions and then be informed that a single die roll has destroyed that investment. If I'm to lose a character, I want more input than merely deciding to travel by low berth into the disastrous events leading up to that sad fate.


Hans

 

[Frankymole]

Thinking about the thronging starports, I was wondering about employees or contractors who get passages boooked for them by interstellar commercial entities (or recruited to an off-world job, perhaps on a Lo-pop planet that hasn't got a big recruitment pool). They'd either get a middle passage ticket, or low passage with some kind of life insurance (from the employer?) for their dependents to not be out of pocket if they die. Lower-skilled workers though might get little or no payout. Would any life insurance company actually cover anyone who travelled Low, though?

Not a concern for PCs, probably. Those guys even travel to Amber zones!

 

[Vladika]

Would any life insurance company actually cover anyone who travelled Low, though?

Sure they would, but, they'd play the odds and the odds aren't good.

 

[BytePro]

That's very true, but Traveller writers generally don't pay attention to that extrapolation. Starports are thronged, people travel for all sorts of reasons, some worlds have significant offworld tourist trade.

Given there is only one starport per system - even a very tiny percentage of folks involved in interstellar traveling would amount to many very busy ports. Not to say there aren't going to be some highly illogical and farfetched situations in the OTU based on its mostly random initial creation and the whims of various authors.

In general, no hard data is actually given for such percentages originally, and the extrapolations from given economics of how many can actually afford (especially non-LB) travel are necessarily based on compound assumptions and oversimplifications. There is plenty of room for huge disparities in wealth, cost of living, vacation times, and such, not to mention no explicit addressing of subsidies above the individual income level related to job sectors, to promote tourism, encourage commerce, etc., etc.

I do find it tedious for campaigns where the PCs have to have certain specific skills. And I think a tweaked, well-balanced character in many ways is more fun than a totally random character. Different kind of fun possibly.

CT basic chargen and skill scope largely avoided this issue, IME. Once more skills and more emphasis on skills, especially in a codified way, were added, it became more important to have explicit skills. The simplistic solution is to provide skills needed as post-gen substitution (or addition). MgT addressed this to a good degree with its package and connections skills.

I want more input than merely deciding to travel by low berth into the disastrous events leading up to that sad fate.

This.

PCs dying is fine in my games, its part of and parcel to the drama and fun, but eliminating a PC pretty much arbitrarily without providing viable options for the Players (especially as a team, at least), is not.

 

[rancke]

Given there is only one starport per system -

That's not a given. There's only one Imperial starport per system, but Terra has three starports and Regina five or six. Both these systems have interplanetary traffic too, of course.

...even a very tiny percentage of folks involved in interstellar traveling would amount to many very busy ports.

I doubt it, but I can't prove it. All I'm saying is that it is my impression that Traveller writers and illustrators haven't generally been concious of the implied scarcity of interstellar passenger traffic.

In general, no hard data is actually given for such percentages originally, and the extrapolations from given economics of how many can actually afford (especially non-LB) travel are necessarily based on compound assumptions and oversimplifications.

And the lack of hard data is the main reason I'm being so vague.

CT basic chargen and skill scope largely avoided this issue, IME. Once more skills and more emphasis on skills, especially in a codified way, were added, it became more important to have explicit skills. The simplistic solution is to provide skills needed as post-gen substitution (or addition). MgT addressed this to a good degree with its package and connections skills.

I addressed it by tweaking the original CT character generation rules. Once you give the player a major influence on skill selection (I admit that he always had some influence), the characters generated are no longer all that random and the process of getting a character with specific skills is less tedious.


Hans

 

[BytePro]

That's not a given.

LBB 5 - 'The major traffic center in the system is the starport; all others are called spaceports.' Italic emphasis GDW's.

The handfuls of systems actually written up is a pretty small (fraction of a) percentage of the entire OTU... and notably, exceptional enough to deserve a writeup.

I addressed it by tweaking the original CT character generation rules. Once you give the player a major influence on skill selection ...

That's another easy 'fix'.

Players enjoy the chargen process, but I also found (by surprise) it universally liked to simply pick from lists and makeup the story/character without the effort of rolling several up to find a favorite.