Spinward Flow
SOC-14 1K
You and I are just not going to see eye to eye on the interplanetary aspect.
Again, the Rules As Written (RAW) in LBB2 are distance agnostic for transport. Jump-1 or Jump-6 doesn't matter (per LBB2 RAW), it's still Cr 1000 per ton of cargo. The ipso facto implication of that then becomes ... Jump-0 is also Cr 1000 per ton of cargo ... and Jump-0 equals interplanetary rather than interstellar.
Other then a spreading favors through control of mail franchise scenario, a small craft is just so much cheaper that the whole valuation of what it costs for M-drive delivery drops precipitously.
Hence why I'm now exploring the Tender+Boat variation for the requisite cross-testing of the proposition relative to the first test case of the concept and business model embodied in the "all in one" starship Spinward Courier design.
After all, first I needed to figure out if the concept worked AT ALL before I could then start iterating on the basic features to develop even MORE capability at even lower cost (and even at lower tech levels!).
Just an off-the-shelf 6-G Ship's Boat is MCr 16
It's also poorly optimized for the use case I'm chasing after here, since it devotes too much tonnage to fuel (6.5 tons
whatever subsector polity paying for the mail contract can subsidize one such small craft per system for four systems and still come in under the price of one of your inter/intrasystem couriers
You're missing some of the necessary conversion costs that would be required (add a computer, swap accelerations couches for cabins, reduced fuel capacity. Not saying it can't be done (because it obviously could), but once you're done with those conversions the price isn't MCr 16 anymore. Right now, the LBB5.80 version I'm looking at is weighing in at just under MCr 25 per copy for the first ship of class, which then becomes MCr 20 in quantity production for additional copies (to contrast with your MCr 16 reference point).
plus reconfigure for passenger/staterooms or extra cargo in addition to the mail vault.
Exactly. That reconfiguration won't be done for free.
Something like 3/8 of the cost of the fast jump courier
More like 33% the price.
The problem though is that while systems with a type A or B starport of a matching tech level or higher can maintain a Mail Boat locally, star systems with a type C or below starport would not have the facilities to perform annual maintenance, so the only option for such star systems would be either a Spinward Courier jumping into the system and out again after making deliveries or a Tender+Mail Boat combination doing essentially the same thing. Without a type A or B starport, the longevity of even a small craft drops precipitously if annual maintenance cannot be performed, uh ... annually.
- to underscore my perception of what likely would happen, the subsidizing polity could reduce the mail delivery cost to Cr12000 and still have more profit baked in per local run. And if the full Cr25000 is paid, there will be small craft flocking to cover the market.
You're certainly welcome to gimp the profit potential of YTU however you see fit as a Referee.
Assuming the full price is paid for the mail rounds, the ONLY reason to not have local small craft delivery is that the outlying colonies are too sparse to support bi-weekly or monthly mail runs.
If they have a type C or below starport, they can't perform the annual maintenance that allow the small craft to continue operating reliably beyond their first year. It's not just a matter of financing ... there's also logistical support that needs to be accounted for as well. Without that annual maintenance capacity (requires tech level equal to or higher than the build tech level) then the useful lifespan of the small craft is severely curtailed.
Another point- by dropping from 6-G to 4-G, absolutely no other changes, the ship gains 10 tons of cargo or other repurposing and sheds MCr 15 in cost. On average that's going to be a per month mortgage drop of Cr 62500. The ship owner/operator gets a Cr31250 'bonus' of lower costs vs. losing one interplanetary run still puts them ahead AND having a more versatile ship seems no-brainer to me.
It's a no brainer if you never have to avoid pirates with a 4G maneuver drive.
Finally, I literally don't get your critique of how building in speculation/charter is going to ruin the whole concept.
Because speculation/charter isn't necessarily compatible with high tempo "touch and go" rapid mail delivery models of operations. This is where the swap to a Tender+Mail Boat configuration has a lot of advantages, since the Mail Boat can do the speedy "touch and go" mail deliveries with minimal parking time at each port of call (because faster is better for profit margins!) while the Tender "stays parked" at the mainworld to negotiate cargo shipments. You also have enough crew with the Tender+Mail Boat concept to be able to split up like that to cover more possibilities by having people in different places doing different things at the same time.
They aren't GOING to get optimal routes, that's why they got a subsidy in the first place.
No, the subsidy is there to tell the bank financing division to go prey on someone else with their usurious rates for repayment of the purchase cost on the ship.
But you can roll speculative cargo no matter where you are. The rules state you can buy partial lots so filling up the hold should be no problem in most cases. Many of the deals will have bad buy/sell trade code DM pairs you walk away from, it won't be gravy runs, but definitely doable- all it takes is a few per year to upgrade or a few years eventually pay off the debt. Plus be able to fit in an ATV, a fighter or other gear and you've got a nice light shenanigans ship.
Which is exactly the build scenario I'm finding with the Tender+Mail Boat combo.
Do the one-day turnround for bad speculation routes and not even try, hang for the couple days for the speculation try then stay for the loading or not.
The biggest challenge is trying to keep the overhead costs below Cr 12,400 per 2 weeks so as to account for "worst case scenario" situations where there's only a single world to deliver to and there is no cargo to transport so as a crew you have to break even on a single mail delivery alone. If overhead costs can be kept below that limit, that means that anything and everything you can do above and beyond that "worst case scenario" then becomes pure profit.
As for the more desirable speculation mail routes vs. not, well, that's what carousing bribery and admin are for, no? I expect there is a whole mail route pecking order/patronage system as to who gets them. Seniority? Best bribe? Best mailman/secret agent service to the Glorious Polity? MOAR play options!
NOW you're starting to see the potential for campaign ideas and setting potential for what would otherwise seem to be a rather hum-drum premise for a Traveller setting. I'm simply providing the hardware for use in the setting ... how you populate it as a Referee is where the possibilities start becoming almost endless.
Like I said in my original write up, I know that a "mail delivery" campaign sounds incredibly dull as a seed for an adventure campaign ... until you start thinking about the flows of information, rumors and gossip that you'll be able to pour into it, along with plenty of opportunities for patronage, side contracts and even charter scenario opportunities. It also doesn't have to be done as a subsidy (that's merely the most obvious/easy way to do it) since the mail delivery business could be a private venture.
Again, I see the Tender+Mail Boat option as having more opportunities for shenanigans (as you put it) to be possible, hence why I'm studying the differences it makes very closely.