CT Only: Spinward Flex Courier

[Spinward Flow]

So, let me get this straight.

In less than 3 months, each contestant has NET over 18MCr.

Yes.
Granted, it was a result of a "fortunate sequence of random chance" ... but the planned route and the capacities of the starship(s) involved made this outcome possible.
Can this outcome be reliably replicated every single time? Of course not! What a silly question! Harrumph! :rant:

But CAN it happen ... oh yes it can, as I've just demonstrated.
All of the dice rolls that made it happen are there, along with the thinking behind what was needed in order to "tip the scales" in the direction of this outcome being more likely to happen. The only TRUE random variable(s) in the mix were the availability of the Cybernetic Parts in the first place (1D6+1 for first die roll made this outcome more likely) and the fact that such goods are produced (and therefore, sold) more cheaply on Industrial worlds (-4 DM) and at the same time being in high demand (and therefore, bought) at a higher price on Agricultural, Non-industrial worlds (+5 DM). Under those conditions, the only way to lose money on a speculative cargo of that specific type would be if the price to obtain were 2D6-4=8 (110%) and the price at sale were 2D6+5=7 (100%) ... and even then you could hire a +2 broker at a type C starport for a +2 modifier on the sale price, yielding 2D6+5+2=9 (120%). Under those circumstances, as a "merchant prince" you buy at Cr 275,000 per ton and sell at Cr 300,000 per ton, with the broker taking a commission of Cr 30,000 per ton ... for a worst case scenario of a loss of Cr 5000 per ton, not including cost of shipping (which under subsidy would be another Cr 500 per ton to balance the books).

So, in the absolute worst case scenario of rolling 12 to buy and 2 to sell on 2D ... the net loss would be Cr 5500 per ton.

In this case, however, the dice rolls were 8 to buy and 9 to sell on 2D ... resulting in the 70% price to buy and the 400% price to sell. Didn't take an accounting major (or professional bean counter) to see that outcome as being possible once the buy price on Vilis for the Cybernetic Parts became a known quantity. Use of the +2 broker simply meant that any 2D6=8+ result would mean 400% price to sell, which are reasonably good odds and even a result of 7 would have been 300% price to sell and a result of 6 would have been a 200% price to sell, so the broker fee on commission for the sale was basically going to "pay for itself" due to the weighting of the DM towards high profit results being the most likely outcome.

I mean, that's what *I* would have done if I were the captain of the ship in such a speculative cargo circumstance. :coffeesip:

So.

I didn't read the entire thread.

In which case, that's on you.
The audit trail is there, if you're actually interested in seeing the evolution of the profit margin over time. As I've already mentioned, things are turning out somewhat more lopsided against the Far Trader than even I had anticipated going into this. I figured the Spinward Flex Courier stood a fair/decent chance of winning the comparison, but by this point in the race it's starting to look like the end result might be a blowout when not including the speculative cargo opportunities.

 

[Spinward Flow]

When do they:

1. Quit and retire. "I have 18MCr, why am I doing ANYTHING with the word "misjump" in it."
2. Start leveraging the money into expanding operations.
3. Start seeing real competition from others wanting to earn 6MCr a month.

1.
This is why I'm running this race the way that I am.
When you're dealing with a (1-1/36)^jumps probability for a misjump due to unrefined fuel the statistics do this with multiple jumps:

1. 97.22% chance no misjump
2. 94.52% chance no misjump
3. 91.90% chance no misjump
4. 89.34% chance no misjump
5. 86.86% chance no misjump
6. 84.45% chance no misjump
7. 82.10% chance no misjump
8. 79.82% chance no misjump
9. 77.60% chance no misjump
10. 75.45% chance no misjump

Obviously, the longer you keep rolling 2D ... the more opportunities for "boxcars" (12) to be the result, meaning a misjump.

Incidentally, after 25 jumps using unrefined fuel, there is only a 49.45% chance that the starship will NOT have a misjump during any of those 25 jumps. :coffeegulp:

Now I don't know about anyone else ... but over the long haul of 40 years to pay off the purchase of a starship, I'm not all that keen (as an investor, say) on the idea that after 25 jumps using unrefined fuel there's basically a 50/50 chance o: for the starship to be lost due to a misjump(!). If I'm in the accounting department of a merchant line (megacorp to fledgling line), I would consider that chance for misjump(s) to be unacceptably high over time :CoW: and organize the company accordingly ... meaning, if a merchant ship DOES NOT have a fuel purification plant onboard, the ONLY star systems it is allowed to go to (and therefore trade with) MUST have type A or B starports ONLY ... and ... the starship in question MUST be able to operate at a profit(!) while forced to purchase refined fuel from those type A or B starports after every jump ... NO EXCEPTIONS. :rant:

Of course, not every misjump will result in a complete write-off loss of starship and crew ... some will be recovered from and the ship will be capable of returning to its route ... but at what cost?? o:

So you're absolutely right on this particular score, and I agree with you completely in the sentiment behind this specific concern. Although the chances for a misjump to occur on any specific jump are indeed low (under 3%) when using unrefined fuel ... keep throwing the dice long enough and the risk starts compounding in a way that is very adverse to predictability of routine operations.

This is one of the reasons (among many others) why I vastly prefer LBB5.80 starship designs over LBB2.81 starship designs, because of the availability of the fuel purification plants in LBB5.80 ... and thus the "liberation" from the cost of paying for starport fuel, yielding advantages in wilderness refueling options without succumbing to the risk of misjumps. Sure, the cargo capacity (and therefore revenue generation capacity) of a starship decreases with a fuel purification plant onboard ... but the risk of loss for the entire starship to a misjump is an asymmetric one when it comes to the question of refined vs unrefined fuel (and where they can be obtained from, and at what price).

Your mileage may vary, of course.

2.
That is a question for the bean counters in the accounting department(s) of the merchant line and/or the subsidizing government. To be fair, it is a question that lies "outside" the scope of this Race to Profitability, while at the same time being a question that the results of this race are effectively asking once the results of the race are known. Only once all of the performance data is "in" for the entirety of the race from D'Ganzio to Ficant and back to D'Ganzio will it be made clear which starship generates higher profits (absolute amount) overall, and which starship generates profits more efficiently (rate of return over time) and also reliably(!) ... thereby determining "which way" the merchant line (megacorp to fledgling line) would be more incentivized to invest their profits in terms of expanding their operations along this specific route (in other words, which starship is a better "fit" to maximize returns on THIS route).

Once you've got the answer to that basic business model question ... that's all you need to know in order to either purchase more starships of the chosen type (in this case, Far Trader or Spinward Flex Courier) and either obtain financing for them through subsidy agreements (again) or purchase them outright upon construction delivery using cold hard cash so as to OWN the starship(s) outright and keep ALL of the profits from their operation for your merchant line.

Sure, you could perhaps "buy" 2 Far Traders for the price of 1 Spinward Flex Courier, simply due to the build price ... but those Far Traders won't be generating the same profit margin over time that the Spinward Flex Courier can, and those Far Traders will be a lot more expensive to operate as a matter of risk mitigation (not elimination, merely mitigation). Practical upshot being that the Far Traders (2) could wind up costing a company's balance sheet more than a Spinward Flex Courier (1) would over the long haul ... and that's not even including the fact that the Spinward Flex Courier is a far more capable starship, both as a Jump Tug and as a Maneuver Tug, in addition to being able to execute a 2J2 with no internal cargo in order to cross a 4 parsec "gap" between star systems along a specific route and still earn a profit by transporting x-mail(!) ... which is by no means a trivial upgrade in capabilities.

In other words, the Spinward Flex Courier can profit boldly, where no merchant has reliably profited before ... or words to that effect. :rofl:

3.
There's an old Terran saying about this.
Build a better mousetrap ...

I'm merely trying to demonstrate that the Spinward Flex Courier is a superior general purpose starship that performs better on both engineering specs AND more efficiently on the balance sheet than any of the alternatives in the 200 tons and under class along the fringes and frontiers of the Third Imperium, while only requiring TL=13 to build and maintain (an important consideration, all things considered). The ship may be more expensive to buy than the alternatives, but also be more profitable to operate, in addition to being safer and more reliable (6G maneuver, fuel purification plant) and even more flexible in its operations (hence the name) than any competing ship, including the "standard" ones, in its displacement class.

I've been banging on about the paradigm shift in economic reality this new starship class makes possible for over a month now. I honestly shouldn't be surprised by the resistance to the notion that There's Nothing New Under These Stars™ ... but sometimes people need to SEE for themselves exactly HOW a superior product manages to actually BE superior before they'll believe it (let alone want to use it in lieu of the alternatives). Entrenched inertia and ossified conventional wisdom takes a lot of effort to shift and overturn, after all ... so I'm doing my best at it.

 

[mike wightman]

That's because it isn't a new idea.

Using the crew fudge by building a less than 200t ship has been noted before.

You can build a 199t ship in CT LBB2 (77 edition), stick a fuel purifier in from LBB:5 since you are allowing mixing paradigms. I can get a 199t jump2 maneuver 1 design for around MCr55 full price. Using 81 edition the price goes up due to the increased pp.

And by the way, rules as written you have to be 600t to qualify for a subsidy :devil: :CoW:

The trick is to min/max the size of your cargo hold with an eye towards the likely size of cargo lots and to make sure you have capital for speculation.

 

[Spinward Flow]

That's because it isn't a new idea.

Using the crew fudge by building a less than 200t ship has been noted before.

Never claimed the idea was new ... merely claiming that the execution of the idea is new in the 194 ton Spinward Flex Courier TL=13 design.

You can build a 199t ship in CT LBB2 (77 edition), stick a fuel purifier in from LBB:5 since you are allowing mixing paradigms.

Except, for the purposes of this race, I'm explicitly and deliberately NOT mixing paradigms between LBB2 and LBB5.

The Far Trader is as "pure" of a LBB2 design ship as I can manage which is capable of running the route. Information for the Far Trader's specs is pulled from LBB S7, as previously specified. It is a "stock" design standard that I am using with no aftermarket modification whatsoever.

The Spinward Flex Courier is a "pure" LBB5 design ship.

That's about as close as the two get towards mixing paradigms ... in that they don't within the context of each ship taken individually.

I can get a 199t jump2 maneuver 1 design for around MCr55 full price. Using 81 edition the price goes up due to the increased pp.

I'm sure you can.
However, I personally recommend Maneuver-2 as the absolute minimum for a "wilderness" ready frontier merchant, since world size: 8+ can present challenges to ships limited to Maneuver-1 ... unless of course you incorporate a small craft into the design for surface to orbit transfers of passengers, cargo and (of course) fuel for wilderness refueling options.

And by the way, rules as written you have to be 600t to qualify for a subsidy :devil: :CoW:

Then how do you explain the 400-ton Subsidized Merchant standard starship design detailed on LBB2.81, p19 ...?

Subsidies: The government may subsidize larger commercial vessels (built on type 600 hulls or larger), primarily to assure consistent service to specific worlds.

That's an inconsistency within the RAW of a single LBB2 print edition ... type 600 hulls or larger only, oh and by the way here's a 400 hull that qualifies.
The simplest way is rectify the inconsistency is to assume that subsidizing governments will have a bias towards 600+ ton hull starships for subsidies, meaning 600+ ton starships form the bulk of subsidy approvals (because, bureaucracy) ... but the fact that a 400 ton Subsidized Merchant exists as a STANDARD starship design then conclusively demonstrates that smaller hulls are not outright "prevented" from receiving subsidies or being considered for them.

The resolution to the inconsistency then becomes a matter of bias and scrutiny as part of the subsidy approval process. The presumption then becomes that larger hulls better manage economies of scale and generate higher revenue returns (and thus, returns on investment) for the subsidizing government than smaller hulls ... so the onus of "convincing" the subsidizing authority that a smaller hull starship is worth the investment of a subsidy invites greater scrutiny of the business model case than use of a larger hull for the same route plan. Not that it can't be done, just that the economic case needs to be more compelling than the alternative(s).

In other words, you need to do better than a different starship type would to get a subsidy with a smaller hull than a larger hull ... because heightened scrutiny, as opposed to pre-emptive rejection out of hand.

You must be this high to ride this ride and all that jazz may work fine for roller coasters, but interstellar commerce (and the subsidizing of it) isn't quite so cut and dried of a case to make.

As you can see, I'm in the process of building that economic use case with this Race to Profitability right now.

Incidentally, since I'm recording all of the dice rolls for everything, once the race against the 200-ton Far Trader is completed, I would be able to "replicate" the race conditions/results using a 600-ton Subsidized Liner (jump-3, maneuver-1, power plant-3) and pit its performance profile against the Spinward Flex Courier along the same route ... just to test to see if a 194 ton courier can still yield a higher profit margin than a 600 ton liner with a 20 ton Launch to interface surface to orbit.

The trick is to min/max the size of your cargo hold with an eye towards the likely size of cargo lots and to make sure you have capital for speculation.

Already ahead of you.

 

[Spinward Flow]

Choleosti C200100 – 9 (Non-industrial, Vacuum World, G) to Garda-Vilis ^X B978868 – A S (G)

Origin (Choleosti): Starport C, Size 2, Population 1
Destination (Garda-Vilis): Starport B - Scout Base, Size 9, Population 8
DM: +3 (passenger), +1 (cargo), -1 (tech level), -1 first die (speculative cargo)
Passengers: No High, 1D-2 Middle, 2D-6 Low
Cargo: 1D-4 Major, 1D-4 Minor, No Incidental
Starship Encounters: C 2D (10 is pirate)

Gas Giant: Choleosti data specifies the mainworld is a moon of the gas giant (1) in-system.
Gas Giant (Monoda): 1D=4 is a Small Gas Giant (LBB6, p28)
Small Gas Giant radius is 20,000km to 60,000km (LBB6, p39), so (2D6-2)*4000+20,000=(4-2)*4000+20,000=28,000km radius (56,000km diameter)
100 diameters from gas giant = 5,600,000km
Choleosti orbit of gas giant (2D=5=close) at (2D6=6) 7 radii from Monoda, 196,000km (LBB6, p28).

Passengers
1D+0 = 5 Middle
2D-4 = 8 Low

Cargo
1D-4 = 0 Major
1D-4 = 0 Minor

Speculative Cargo
15 Crystals. Cr 20,000 per ton (base price), DM: +0 price modifier. 1 ton
Buy price (2D+0=8): 110% base price (Cr 22,000 total)



Far Trader

Breakout from jump at ~100 diameters from Choleosti/Vilis occurs at 19h 071-1105, ~5,600,000km from Monoda, the small gas giant that Choleosti orbits at 168,000km above the planet's cloud tops (196,000km from the center of Monoda).
Transit to Choleosti downport is 5,404,000km, which at 1G takes 775 minutes (13 hours). During this descent to Choleosti (2D6=4) there are no starship encounters.

Although most type C starports have a highport and a downport, the limited population of 13 permanent inhabitants on the Choleosti moon, most of which maintain the automated starport, means the starport has no orbital highport facilities, requiring moonfall to the surface in order to access starport services.

By 8h 072-1105 the Far Trader has touched down in their assigned berth at the starport on Choleosti.
The Far Trader has no cargo to unload and the 2 high passengers disembark within 1 hour by 9h 072-1105.
Of the 4 low passengers, their survival (5+ on 2D6) rolls are 8, 3, 5 and 5, resulting in 1 fatality again and 2 "touch and go" recoveries that require an extra 1 hour each to resuscitate successfully. All (surviving) passengers are able to disembark by 11h 072-1105.

Berthing Fees: Cr 100 for 6 days​

Fuel state aboard the Far Trader is that 40 tons were used for a single jump-2 and the power plant has been operational for 8 days (3 tons), leaving only 7 tons of unrefined fuel remaining in the fuel tanks upon arrival at Cholesti Station. Since the gas giant Monoda is known to have a heavily contaminated atmosphere, which the specially built fuel purifiers of Cholesti Station is able to handle (albeit only up to unrefined standards), the captain decides to purchase 20 tons of unrefined fuel at the type C starport (enough for 1 parsec) rather than risk skimming the nearby gas giant and having an even higher probability of a drive failure or misjump than is nominal when using unrefined fuel. The fuel transfer into the Far Trader's internal fuel tanks takes 1 hour. Routine 16 hour drive maintenance will be completed while the captain negotiates for cargo and passengers.

Unrefined fuel: Cr 2000 (20 tons)​

Owing to the fact that Choleosti is a moon with such a low population (code: 1) and an early interstellar tech level (TL=9), it takes less than 1 day for the captain to realize that there is no major or minor cargo waiting to be shipped to Garda-Vilis, although 13 passengers (5 middle, 8 low) appear eager to leave (presumably all transitory migrants to the moon) who respond to the comm-link broadcast of the opportunity. Not wanting to waste more time on Choleosti than necessary, the captain even offers to move the Far Trader to the passengers wherever they are on the moon, rather than waiting for them to arrange transport to the starport, just to be able to leave Choleosti faster and be en route to the jump point for Garda-Vilis that much sooner. In the last hour before liftoff, word comes in of a slightly overpriced speculative cargo opportunity for 1 ton of Crystals, which the captain summarily declines, not wanting to delay departure for such a paltry cargo which is unlikely to turn a profit.

Clearance to liftoff from the Cholesti Station is granted at 8h 073-1105 and the Far Trader spends the next 8 hours making ballistic hops around Choleosti to pick up individual passengers waiting on the surface of the moon wearing vacc suits who need to be picked up by Air/Raft and brought onboard while the Far Trader hovers above the moon's terrain.

The captain is only able to book 5 middle passengers, 4 low passengers and no cargo whatsoever.

Life Support cost: Cr 16,000 (8 staterooms), Cr 400 (4 low berths)
Passenger revenue: Cr 40,000 (middle), Cr 4000 (low)
Cargo Transport revenue: Cr 0 (0 tons)​

The last passenger is brought onboard by 16h 073-1105. Since all passengers boarded the Far Trader from the surface of Choleosti, they will all need to be delivered to the surface of Garda-Vilis, which is not going to be something the Far Trader is capable of doing unassisted since Garda-Vilis is world size: 9 and has a surface gravity above 1G, which is greater than the capacity of the Far Trader's maneuver drive. So the Far Trader captain will need to pay for orbital shuttle services at Garda-Vilis for all passengers in order to complete their transport tickets according to customs regulations.

The Far Trader lifts off from the surface of the moon Choleosti for the last time and begins its outbound transit to a jump point, a distance of 5,404,000km, which at 1G takes 775 minutes (13 hours). During this ascent away from Choleosti (2D6=8) a starship encounter with a 200-ton Free Trader inbound to Choleosti from Garda-Vilis as part of their regular route along the Vilis Trace occurs. Information about the current demand for starship services on Choleosti (now) and Garda-Vilis (a week ago) are exchanged between the two captains, along with other rumors and gossip.

At 5h 074-1105, the Far Trader initiates jump-1 to Garda-Vilis/Vilis and (2d6=6) a misjump does not occur.
Time spent in jump will be 154 hours.
Breakout from jump at ~100 diameters from Garda-Vilis/Vilis will occur at 15h 080-1105.

Total gross costs in Choleosti system: Cr 18,500
Total gross revenue in Choleosti system: Cr 44,000
Remaining revenue after subsidy: Cr 22,000
Net profit in Choleosti system: Cr 3,500
Total net profit from 0h 001-1105 through 15h 080-1105: Cr 18,157,275​

 

[Spinward Flow]

Choleosti C200100 – 9 (Non-industrial, Vacuum World, G) to Garda-Vilis ^X B978868 – A S (G)

Origin (Choleosti): Starport C, Size 2, Population 1
Destination (Garda-Vilis): Starport B - Scout Base, Size 9, Population 8
DM: +3 (passenger), +1 (cargo), -1 (tech level), -1 first die (speculative cargo)
Passengers: No High, 1D-2 Middle, 2D-6 Low
Cargo: 1D-4 Major, 1D-4 Minor, No Incidental
Starship Encounters: C 2D (10 is pirate)

Gas Giant: Choleosti data specifies the mainworld is a moon of the gas giant (1) in-system.
Gas Giant (Monoda): 1D=4 is a Small Gas Giant (LBB6, p28)
Small Gas Giant radius is 20,000km to 60,000km (LBB6, p39), so (2D6-2)*4000+20,000=(4-2)*4000+20,000=28,000km radius (56,000km diameter)
100 diameters from gas giant = 5,600,000km
Choleosti orbit of gas giant (2D=5=close) at (2D6=6) 7 radii from Monoda, 196,000km (LBB6, p28).

Passengers
1D+0 = 5 Middle
2D-4 = 8 Low

Cargo
1D-4 = 0 Major
1D-4 = 0 Minor

Speculative Cargo
15 Crystals. Cr 20,000 per ton (base price), DM: +0 price modifier. 1 ton
Buy price (2D+0=8): 110% base price (Cr 22,000 total)



Spinward Flex Courier

Breakout from jump at ~100 diameters from Choleosti/Vilis occurs at 8h 068-1105, ~5,600,000km from Monoda, the small gas giant that Choleosti orbits at 168,000km above the planet's cloud tops (196,000km from the center of Monoda).
Transit to Choleosti downport is 5,404,000km, which at 6G takes 317 minutes (6 hours). During this descent to Choleosti (2D6=4) there are no starship encounters.

Although most type C starports have a highport and a downport, the limited population of 13 permanent inhabitants on the Choleosti moon, most of which maintain the automated starport, means the starport has no orbital highport facilities, requiring moonfall to the surface in order to access starport services.

By 14h 068-1105 the Spinward Flex Courier has touched down in their assigned berth at the starport on Choleosti.
The Spinward Flex Courier has only (up to 5 tons of) x-mail to deliver, which takes 15 minutes and is completed by 15h 068-1105.

Berthing Fees: Cr 100 for 6 days
X-mail Delivery revenue: Cr 25,000 (LBB2.81, p9)​

Fuel state aboard the Spinward Flex Courier is that 38.8 tons were used for a single jump-2 and the power plant has been operational for 8 days (3.3 tons), however 40 tons of unrefined fuel reserve had been stored in the inflatable fuel bladder in the cargo bay and transferred into the internal fuel tanks and purified on 065-1105 during jump. Upon arrival at Cholesti Station, the Spinward Flex Courier has 48.4 tons of refined fuel remaining in the internal fuel tanks, sufficient for 2 parsecs of jump range and another 23 days of power plant operation, so refueling will not be necessary until arriving at Garda-Vilis or even Arkadia (if circumstances permit).

Routine 16 hour drive maintenance is undertaken while the captain negotiates for cargo to transport to Garda-Vilis, with an understanding that if no cargo is available for booking in that time the Spinward Flex Courier will take onboard (up to 5 tons of) x-mail and depart the system with an empty cargo hold. Since Choleosti is a moon with such a low population (code: 1) and an early interstellar tech level (TL=9), it takes less than those 16 hours of routine drive maintenance for the captain to realize that there simply is no major or minor cargo waiting to be shipped to Garda-Vilis. Not wanting to waste more time on Choleosti than necessary, the captain notifies starport control of their intent to depart at 7h 069-1105.

In the last hour before liftoff, word comes in of a slightly overpriced speculative cargo opportunity for 1 ton of Crystals, which the captain summarily declines, not wanting to delay departure for such a paltry cargo which is unlikely to turn a profit. Instead, (up to 5 tons of) x-mail loading during the 6-7h 069-1105 prior to sealing the starship for liftoff continues so as to take every last possible communication that arrives up to the last minute.

Life Support cost: Cr 4,000 (2 staterooms)
Cargo Transport revenue: Cr 0 (0 tons)​

The Spinward Flex Courier lifts off from Cholesti Station at 7h 069-1105 and begins its outbound transit to a jump point, a distance of 5,404,000km, which at 6G takes 317 minutes (6 hours). During this ascent away from Choleosti (2D6=8) a starship encounter with a 200-ton Free Trader inbound to Choleosti from Garda-Vilis as part of their regular route along the Vilis Trace occurs. Information about the current demand for starship services on Choleosti (now) and Garda-Vilis (a week ago) are exchanged between the two captains, along with other rumors and gossip.

At 13h 069-1105, the Spinward Flex Courier initiates jump-1 to Garda-Vilis/Vilis.
Time spent in jump will be 154 hours.
During 071-1105, while still in jump space, the captain pays out the another half-month of crew salaries prior to breakout at Garda-Vilis.

Crew Salaries (2 weeks): Cr 3500​

Breakout from jump at ~100 diameters from Garda-Vilis/Vilis will occur at 1h 076-1105.

Total gross costs in Choleosti system: Cr 7600
Total gross revenue in Choleosti system: Cr 25,000
Remaining revenue after subsidy: Cr 12,500
Net profit in Choleosti system: Cr 4900
Total net profit from 0h 001-1105 through 1h 076-1105: Cr 18,200,100​

 

[Spinward Flow]

Man ... things are NOT looking good for Team Far Trader right now. o:

The Spinward Flex Courier just made 1.4x the profit margin of the Far Trader in this system ... but if there had just been 1 more middle passengers (so full passenger booking) needing transport to Garda-Vilis they would have been more profitable through Choleosti than the Spinward Flex Courier was (by a mere Cr 300 o: on an empty cargo bay). The problem is, Choleosti is just that marginal of a port of call ... and the Spinward Flex Courier is basically able to grind out profit margins consistently even in such mercantile poor locations that there isn't any cargo available (and the speculative cargo isn't worth the trouble).

This is something that just keeps happening in this race ... the Spinward Flex Courier just keeps grinding out more profit margin every single jump due to the efficiency of its cost to revenue balance, with x-mail being the key factor keeping the balance sheet in the black no matter what the port of call (as predicted, planned for and designed).

And now, the Spinward Flex Courier has extended their lead over the Far Trader to 4.5 days ahead because of the enormous (relative to other planets along the this route) Jump Shadow around the gas giant that Choleosti orbits. Transits down from and back up to the jump point takes 13 hours at 1G but only 6 hours at 6G ... and again, the Free Trader's departure was delayed by the need to book and board passengers and the Free Trader needed to go pick up the passengers rather than wait for them to travel to the starport while the Spinward Flex Courier could just power up and leave once their 16 hour routine drive maintenance procedures were completed.

So far, out of all the ports of call on this run, Choleosti here has been the quickest turn around before heading back out into space for the next jump (aside from maybe Tavonni, but Tavonni has no population and is just a "refueling pit stop" of a world). Then again, as a vacuum world with a population code of 1, it's not like there is a major economy here generating exports, so it's only to be expected, I suppose.



Still, we're nearly at the halfway point of this race ... with only Garda-Vilis and Arkadia before reaching Ficant. Then the route reverses back to D'Ganzio, so we'll get to see what happens with the trading opportunities flowing "in the other direction" along this specific route, since the circumstances are not going be "symmetrical" on the return with what they were on the way outbound.

Bu we're getting there.

I hope everyone who is following this thread is enjoying these results as much as I am.
If nothing else, a lot of the little details that I'm not glossing over have wound up being very educational in terms of informing thinking about starship design because of how they wind up inter(re)acting with the ways the starship is free to navigate and maneuver, not to mention generate profits even in the most meager and marginal of markets. I had already modeled a lot of this stuff in my head, in generic/general terms, when designing the Spinward Flex Courier, but seeing it all "play out" like it has in this campaign exercise ... let's say that even I am learning things about all the different and disparate elements that go into making a really useful and versatile starship. I mean, I even found a use case for the Far Trader's Air/Raft in picking up passengers from the surface of a moon with no atmosphere and away from the starport! How cool is that? :rofl:

 

[Spinward Flow]

Garda-Vilis ^X B978868 – A S (G) to Arkadia E546845 – 6 (G)
World size: 8 (14,300km)
100 diameters = 1,430,000km

Origin (Garda-Vilis): Starport B - Scout Base, Size 9, Population 8
Destination (Arkadia): Starport E, Size 5, Population 8
DM: +3 (passenger), +1 (cargo), +4 (tech level), +0 first die (speculative cargo)
Passengers: 3D-1D High, 3D-1D Middle, 4D Low
Cargo: 1D+4 Major, 1D+5 Minor, 1D-2 Incidental
Starship Encounters: B 2D+1
Gas Giant: Garda-Vilis data entry contains no information on distance to gas giants (2) from the mainworld

Passengers
3D-1D+7 = 7-2+7 = 12 High
3D-1D+7 = 10-1+7 = 16 Middle
4D+7 = 14+7 = 21 Low

Cargo
1D+9 = 4+9 = 13 Major (60, 60, 40, 10, 40, 20, 60, 40, 30, 10, 60, 40, 20 ton lots)
1D+10 = 1+10 = 11 Minor (20, 15, 20, 15, 30, 30, 10, 15, 20, 15, 5 ton lots)
1D+3 = 6+3 = 9 Incidental (4, 3, 6, 2, 4, 1, 5, 5, 6 ton lots)

Speculative Cargo
43 Ammunition. Cr 30,000 per ton (base price), DM: +0 price modifier. 8 tons
Buy price (2D+0=3): 50% base price (Cr 120,000 total)



Far Trader

Breakout from jump at ~100 diameters from Garda-Vilis/Vilis occurs at 15h 080-1105, ~1,430,000km from Garda-Vilis.
Transit to Garda-Vilis orbit is 1,420,000km to the highport 10,000km above Garda-Vilis, which at 1G takes 398 minutes (7 hours). During this descent to Garda-Vilis orbit (2D6+1=10) there is a starship encounter with a 600-ton Subsidized Liner that runs passengers and cargo exclusively between Vilis and Garda-Vilis, subsidized by the Vilis government (which Garda-Vilis is a colony of with a Captive Government, code: 6). Rumors, gossip and recommendations for shore leave establishments get traded over comm channels.

By 22h 080-1105 the Far Trader has successfully docked at their assigned berth in the Garda-Vilis highport in orbit.
The Far Trader has no cargo to unload and the 5 middle passengers disembark within 1 hour by 23h 080-1105.
Of the 4 low passengers, their survival (5+ on 2D6) rolls are 11, 5, 3 and 11, resulting in 1 fatality again and 1 "touch and go" recovery that the crew medic manages to save.

Berthing Fees: Cr 100 for 6 days​

Since the Far Trader with its 1G maneuver drive will not be able to lift off from the surface of Garda-Vilis (surface gravity is higher than 1G) the Far Trader captain needs to book orbital shuttle services to transfer all 8 surviving passengers from Choleosti to the surface of Garda-Vilis to comply with customs regulations on their passage. Orbital shuttle fees are (2D6=6) Cr 60 per passenger.

Orbital Shuttle costs: Cr 480 (8 passengers)​

Fuel state aboard the Far Trader is that 20 tons were used for a single jump-1 and the power plant has been operational for 16.5 days (6 tons), leaving only 4 tons of unrefined fuel remaining in the fuel tanks upon arrival at Garda-Vilis highport. Since the next system on the trade route is Arkadia, only 1 parsec from Garda-Vilis, the Far Trader captain opts to sell the 4 tons of remaining unrefined fuel to the starport and replace it with 25 tons of refined fuel for the jump to Arkadia. Draining the internal fuel tanks of 27 tons of unrefined fuel takes 1 hour, followed by loading of 25 tons of refined fuel, which also takes 1 hour. This fuel swap will prevent the chance of a misjump en route to Arkadia.

Routine 16 hour drive maintenance will be completed while the captain negotiates for cargo and passengers, and because Arkadia has a type E starport all passengers and cargo will need to be brought up from the surface of Garda-Vilis to the Far Trader in orbit by orbital shuttle (at the Far Trader's expense) for delivery to the surface of Arkadia.

Unrefined fuel sale revenue: Cr 400 (4 tons)
Refined fuel purchase cost: Cr 12,500 (25 tons)​

Since Garda-Vilis has an interstellar community tech level (TL=10) and a type B starport, arrangements for bookings of passengers and cargo can all be completed within 1 day by 1h 082-1105 for arrival at the Garda-Vilis downport by 6h 086-1105 for loading onto orbital shuttles (1 hour) before transport to the highport in orbit 1 hour after receiving clearance to launch from the downport. Once the orbital shuttles have arrived with all passengers and cargo, those passengers and cargo will need to be unloaded from the shuttles (1 hour) and loaded onto the Far Trader in orbit.

On 083-1105 the captain pays out a half month of crew salaries 2 days early so the crew can afford to "waste some of their pay" outside the starship, if they're inclined to take some leave. However, crew members who want to go down to the surface of Garda-Vilis, rather than remain in the highport, will need to pay for their orbital shuttle fees themselves, both down and back up (a Cr 120 round trip). All crew are to report fit for duty early 086-1105, although if the steward/medic is planetside at that time they can be shuttled up to the highport with the first passengers to liftoff from the downport so as to guide them to the Far Trader's berth at the highport.

Crew salaries cost (2 weeks): Cr 6950​

While negotiating for cargo, the captain of the Far Trader is contacted by a seller, who cannot reveal their identity and is using a computer voice on an audio only channel. The seller has a shipment of 8 tons of ammunition for sale, provided the captain can guarantee the ammunition will be taken out of Garda-Vilis system with no questions asked and a guarantee of "no imperial entanglements" after the sale. Whoever needs to unload these crates of ammunition must be somewhat desperate to make them disappear, since they're offering to sell the lot at 50% of what it's worth on the open market. The Far Trader captain accepts the offer to purchase the speculative cargo lot of 8 tons of ammunition at Cr 120,000 (half up front, half on delivery of the goods) with the intent of transporting the lot to Arkadia for sale.

The captain books 7 high passengers, 4 low passengers, along with 8 tons of speculative cargo (which the captain has to "buy" cargo space for to balance the books on the subsidy), two major cargos of 10 tons each, one minor cargo of 10 tons, and five incidental cargos of 6, 5, 5, 4 and 3 tons. The reason for booking individual cargo lots of 10 tons or below is to facilitate flexibility in choice and timing of orbital shuttle flights so as to avoid a bottleneck in availability for the larger shuttles that would create longer delays.

Life Support cost: Cr 20,000 (10 staterooms), Cr 400 (4 low berths)
Passenger revenue: Cr 70,000 (high), Cr 4000 (low)
Cargo Transport revenue: Cr 61,000 (61 tons)
Orbital Shuttle costs: Cr 610 (61 tons cargo), Cr 660 (11 passengers)
Speculative Cargo purchase: Cr 120,000 (8 tons)
Speculative Cargo transport cost: Cr 8000​

Passengers and cargo are loaded onto multiple shuttles for the transit to orbit, starting at 6h 086-1105 over the next 6 hours, with passengers and cargo arriving piecemeal in waves as availability permits. All passengers and cargo finish transferring aboard the Far Trader by 14h 086-1105.

Clearance for departure from the Garda-Vilis highport for an outbound trajectory to the jump point is delayed by 1 hour due to local orbit traffic congestion. At 15h 086-1105 the Far Trader successfully undocks and begins the outbound transit of 1,420,000km to the jump point, which at 1G takes 398 minutes (7 hours). During this transit to the jump point (2D6+1=11) there is a starship encounter with a 400-ton Subsidized Merchant inbound to Garda-Vilis that has just arrived from Vilis. News, rumors and gossip is exchanged over comm channels, including the latest reports that the off-again/on-again insurgency movement on Garda-Vilis may be heating up again.

At 22h 086-1105, the Far Trader initiates jump-1 to Arkadia/Vilis.
Time spent in jump will be 159 hours.
Breakout from jump at ~100 diameters from Arkadia/Vilis will occur at 13h 093-1105.

Total gross costs in Garda-Vilis system: Cr 167,400
Total gross revenue in Garda-Vilis system: Cr 137,700
Remaining revenue after subsidy: Cr 68,850
Net profit in Garda-Vilis system: Cr -98,550
Total net profit from 0h 001-1105 through 13h 093-1105: Cr 18,058,725​

 

[Spinward Flow]

Garda-Vilis ^X B978868 – A S (G) to Arkadia E546845 – 6 (G)
World size: 8 (14,300km)
100 diameters = 1,430,000km

Origin (Garda-Vilis): Starport B - Scout Base, Size 9, Population 8
Destination (Arkadia): Starport E, Size 5, Population 8
DM: +3 (passenger), +1 (cargo), +4 (tech level), +0 first die (speculative cargo)
Passengers: 3D-1D High, 3D-1D Middle, 4D Low
Cargo: 1D+4 Major, 1D+5 Minor, 1D-2 Incidental
Starship Encounters: B 2D+1
Gas Giant: Garda-Vilis data entry contains no information on distance to gas giants (2) from the mainworld

Passengers
3D-1D+7 = 7-2+7 = 12 High
3D-1D+7 = 10-1+7 = 16 Middle
4D+7 = 14+7 = 21 Low

Cargo
1D+9 = 4+9 = 13 Major (60, 60, 40, 10, 40, 20, 60, 40, 30, 10, 60, 40, 20 ton lots)
1D+10 = 1+10 = 11 Minor (20, 15, 20, 15, 30, 30, 10, 15, 20, 15, 5 ton lots)
1D+3 = 6+3 = 9 Incidental (4, 3, 6, 2, 4, 1, 5, 5, 6 ton lots)

Speculative Cargo
43 Ammunition. Cr 30,000 per ton (base price), DM: +0 price modifier. 8 tons
Buy price (2D+0=3): 50% base price (Cr 120,000 total)



Spinward Flex Courier

Breakout from jump at ~100 diameters from Garda-Vilis/Vilis occurs at 1h 076-1105, ~1,430,000km from Garda-Vilis.
Transit to the surface of Garda-Vilis is 1,430,000km, which at 6G takes 163 minutes (3 hours). During this descent to Garda-Vilis (2D6+1=10) there is a starship encounter with a 600-ton Subsidized Liner that runs passengers and cargo exclusively between Vilis and Garda-Vilis, subsidized by the Vilis government (which Garda-Vilis is a colony of with a Captive Government, code: 6). Rumors, gossip and recommendations for shore leave establishments get traded over comm channels.

By 4h 076-1105 the Spinward Flex Courier makes a soft landing on the ocean at Garda-Vilis and begins wilderness refueling, which will take 1 hour to complete, after which fuel purification will commence.
The captain then makes a suborbital hop to land at the Garda-Vilis downport and parks the starship in its assigned berth by 6h 076-1105.
The Spinward Flex Courier has only (up to 5 tons of) x-mail to unload, which takes only 10 minutes and is completed by 7h 076-1105.

Berthing Fees: Cr 100 for 6 days
X-mail Delivery revenue: Cr 25,000 (LBB2.81, p9)​

Routine 16 hour drive maintenance will be completed while the captain negotiates for cargo and x-mail.

Since Garda-Vilis has an interstellar community tech level (TL=10) and a type B starport, arrangements for bookings of cargo and x-mail can all be completed within 1 day by 9h 077-1105 for arrival at the Garda-Vilis downport by 14h 081-1105.

While negotiating for cargo, the captain of the Spinward Flex Courier is contacted by a seller, who cannot reveal their identity and is using a computer voice on an audio only channel. The seller has a shipment of 8 tons of ammunition for sale, provided the captain can guarantee the ammunition will be taken out of Garda-Vilis system with no questions asked and a guarantee of "no imperial entanglements" after the sale. Whoever needs to unload these crates of ammunition must be somewhat desperate to make them disappear, since they're offering to sell the lot at 50% of what it's worth on the open market. The Spinward Flex Courier captain accepts the offer to purchase the speculative cargo lot of 8 tons of ammunition at Cr 120,000 (half up front, half on delivery of the goods) with the intent of transporting the lot to Arkadia for sale.

The captain books (up to 5 tons of) x-mail, along with 8 tons of speculative cargo (which the captain has to "buy" cargo space for to balance the books on the subsidy), one major cargo of 30 tons, and one incidental cargo of 2 tons.

Life Support cost: Cr 4,000 (2 staterooms)
Cargo Transport revenue: Cr 40,000 (40 tons)
Speculative Cargo purchase: Cr 120,000 (8 tons)
Speculative Cargo transport cost: Cr 8000​

Cargo loading of 45 tons (including up to 5 tons of x-mail) requires 90 minutes, from 14h 081-1105 to 16h 081-1105.

Clearance for departure from the Garda-Vilis downport for an outbound trajectory to the jump point is delayed by 1 hour due to local orbit traffic congestion. At 17h 081-1105 the Spinward Flex Courier achieves liftoff and begins the outbound transit of 1,430,000km to the jump point, which at 6G takes 163 minutes (3 hours). During this transit to the jump point (2D6+1=11) there is a starship encounter with a 400-ton Subsidized Merchant inbound to Garda-Vilis that has just arrived from Vilis. News, rumors and gossip is exchanged over comm channels, including the latest reports that the off-again/on-again insurgency movement on Garda-Vilis may be heating up again.

At 20h 081-1105, the Spinward Flex Courier initiates jump-1 to Arkadia/Vilis.
Time spent in jump will be 159 hours.
During 085-1105, while still in jump space, the captain pays out the another half-month of crew salaries prior to breakout at Garda-Vilis.

Crew Salaries (2 weeks): Cr 3500​

Breakout from jump at ~100 diameters from Arkadia/Vilis will occur at 11h 088-1105.

Total gross costs in Garda-Vilis system: Cr 135,600
Total gross revenue in Garda-Vilis system: Cr 65,000
Remaining revenue after subsidy: Cr 32,500
Net profit in Garda-Vilis system: Cr -103,100
Total net profit from 0h 001-1105 through 11h 088-1105: Cr 18,097,000​

 

[Spinward Flow]

Far Trader
Net profit in Garda-Vilis system: Cr -98,550

Spinward Flex Courier
Net profit in Garda-Vilis system: Cr -103,100

Finally ... at long last ... can it be true?
Has the Far Trader somehow managed to grind out a better profit margin than the Spinward Flex Courier? o:

Why yes indeed!
Team Far Trader succeeded in achieving a profit margin Cr 4550 better than the Spinward Flex Courier(!) which is great! They're finally starting to get back into the Race to Profitability and close the gap!

The problem is that the Spinward Flex Courier has seemingly built an almost impossible to overcome lead in profitability of Cr 38,275 from D'Ganzio through Garda-Vilis ... with only Arkadia and Ficant to go before reversing course all the way back to D'Ganzio. If the Spinward Flex Courier can keep slowly grinding out superior profit margins for the crew over the remainder of the race in through the "backwater worlds" along the route, even with the "annual overhaul penalty cost" at the end of the race to account for, the final result may not even be all that close. Because ...

Far Trader
Additional Ships Annual Overhaul: Cr 59,560 (LBB2.81, p8)

Spinward Flex Courier
Additional Ships Annual Overhaul: Cr 109,876 (LBB2.81, p8)

That means the Spinward Flex Courier needs to pay an extra Cr 50,316 in annual overhaul costs than the Far Trader does ... but the Spinward Flex Courier is already Cr 38,275 ahead on profit margin through the Garda-Vilis system while operating under a 50% subsidy rake on revenues and is within striking distance of having that extra Cr 50,316 needed to cover that extra annual overhaul cost by the midpoint of the race!

And as if that wasn't bad enough, the logistics of the need for orbital shuttles at Garda-Vilis due to the world size: 9 surface gravity above 1G limitation on the Far Trader means that the Spinward Flex Courier is now 5 days (plus a couple hours!) AHEAD of the Far Trader along this route! o:

I had originally been thinking that over the course of running this trade route the Spinward Flex Courier might "pull ahead" on time, simply due to the 6G vs 1G maneuver drive advantage ... but not to this extent before even reaching the halfway turnaround at Ficant. o:
At this point, it's largely a matter of how many days faster the Spinward Flex Courier will be able to finish running the route ahead of the Far Trader. IF is not a question anymore at this point, especially with the Garda-Vilis and Choleosti system logistical delays plus the limitations of 1G maneuver drives at Saurus and Lanth (both world size: 8) to wrestle with again on the return journey.

At this point in the race, I'm starting to think that the most likely outcome is for the Spinward Flex Courier to cross the finish line of the race by some 10-12 days(!) before the Far Trader does ... which on a 200-240 day start to finish time amounts to a ~5% time advantage even when "tethered" to a cargo business cycle that keeps the starships idle in port for 4 days awaiting cargo deliveries after booking them.



And I know that none of you can "watch" what's happening when I'm rolling dice for ship encounters, passengers, cargo and speculation ... but this time I just had to laugh myself silly when I saw the speculative cargo result for Garda-Vilis. :rofl:

I mean ... seriously ... someone is selling Ammunition ... on Garda-Vilis ... to an interstellar trader, at 50% off. o:
Even a cursory read of the Garda-Vilis wiki page for the world almost immediately brings to mind the notion (and adventure hook!) that something must have gone seriously wrong for an arms dealer (or a corrupt quartermaster) who needs the shipment of ammunition to "disappear" in a hurry in a way that doesn't involve stashing it somewhere on planet for later retrieval. My first thought upon seeing the results of the dice rolls, in the context of Garda-Vilis as a world setting, was ... this ammo has got to be "hot" and someone just needs to get rid of it as quickly as possible. :CoW:

After that, as a Referee, it would just be a matter of details.

• Are the authorities closing in?
• A rival dealer?
• Is this load of ammo something that was captured in a raid, but which now needs to "not be found" again in furtherance of someone's schemes?
• Did someone steal it from a warehouse (five finger discount) and are selling it below market price because anything they can get is "profit" for them (and they can't "safely" dispose of it any other way)?
• Does someone have a grudge against someone else in the arms business and this whole thing some kind of scheme to sell off a rival's stock after stealing it so the trail goes cold before they figure out what happened to it?

And yes, the Mos Eisley reference was entirely intentional.

 

[Spinward Flow]

Arkadia E546845 – 6 (G) to Ficant E567353 – 5 (Non-industrial)
World size: 5 (6300km)
100 diameters = 630,000km

Origin (Arkadia): Starport E, Size 5, Population 8
Destination (Ficant): Starport E, Size 5, Population 3
DM: -3 (passenger), -4 (cargo), +1 (tech level), +0 first die (speculative cargo)
Passengers: 3D-1D High, 3D-1D Middle, 4D Low
Cargo: 1D+4 Major, 1D+5 Minor, 1D-2 Incidental
Starship Encounters: E 2D (11-12 is pirate)
Gas Giant: Arkadia data entry contains no information on distance to gas giants (2) from the mainworld

Passengers
3D-1D-2 = 14-4-2 = 8 High
3D-1D-2 = 11-1-2 = 8 Middle
4D-2 = 13-2 = 11 Low

Cargo
1D+2 = 6+2 = 8 Major (30, 10, 30, 50, 30, 40, 50, 40 ton lots)
1D+3 = 5+3 = 8 Minor (20, 20, 30, 10, 15, 20, 15, 15 ton lots)
1D-4 = 4-4 = 0 Incidental

Speculative Cargo (buy)
13 Liquor. Cr 10,000 per ton (base price), DM: +0 price modifier. 15 tons
Buy price (2D+0=12): 170% base price (Cr 255,000 total)

Speculative Cargo (sell)
43 Ammunition. Cr 30,000 per ton (base price), DM: +0 price modifier. 8 tons
Buy price (2D+0=3): 50% base price (Cr 120,000 total)




Far Trader

Breakout from jump at ~100 diameters from Arkadia/Vilis occurs at 13h 093-1105, ~630,000km from Arkadia.
Transit to the type E "starport" on the surface of Arkadia is 630,000km, which at 1G takes 265 minutes (5 hours). During this descent to Arkadia (2D6=7) there are no starship encounters.

By 18h 093-1105 the Far Trader has successfully parked at the landing field on the surface of Arkadia.
The Far Trader has 53 tons cargo to unload, which takes 265 minutes (5 hours), during which the 7 high and 4 low passengers disembark by 23h 093-1105.
Of the 4 low passengers, their survival (5+ on 2D6) rolls are 8, 7, 5 and 12, resulting in 1 "touch and go" recovery that the crew medic manages to save so all low passengers survived the journey this time.

Berthing Fees: Cr 100 for 6 days​

Fuel state aboard the Far Trader is that 20 tons were used for a single jump-1 and the power plant has been operational for 8 days (2.9 tons), leaving only 2.1 tons of refined fuel remaining in the fuel tanks upon arrival at the "starport" on Arkadia which has no refueling facilities. This is sufficient fuel to keep the power plant operational for the next 5.5 days. The captain plans to fly the Far Trader to the planetary ocean on day 3 for wilderness refueling before returning to the "starport" to await the arrival of any cargo and passengers. Use of unrefined fuel will make it possible to misjump to Ficant.

Since Arkadia has an early atomic age tech level (TL=6) and a type E starport, arrangements for bookings of passengers and cargo will require a full 2 days of negotiations and will not all arrive until 12h 100-1105. On 096-1105, after completing routine 16 hour maintenance of the drives, the Far Trader spends 3 hours flying to the ocean (1 hour), wilderness refueling the fuel tanks to full (1 hour), and then flying back to the "starport" (1 hour). The captain also pays out a half month of crew salaries 3 days early so the crew can afford to "waste some of their pay" outside the starship, if they're inclined to take some leave. All crew are to report fit for duty early 100-1105. Since the Far Trader will be planetside for more than 6 days, an additional Cr 100 must be paid in berthing fees to the "starport" authority.

Crew salaries cost (2 weeks): Cr 6950
Berthing Fees: Cr 100 for 7th day​

While negotiating for cargo, the captain of the Far Trader is surprised to find that almost no one is in the market to buy the crates of ammunition purchased on Garda-Vilis. One offer to buy the load of ammunition comes in at essentially the same price as was originally paid on Garda-Vilis. The captain decides not to sell the ammunition and instead carry it to Ficant in hopes of finding a better offer there.

A speculative cargo of fine liquor is offered to the captain for purchase, but the price is so high that the captain has to politely (and eventually, forcefully) decline to make the purchase.

The captain books 7 high passengers, 4 low passengers, along with 8 tons of speculative cargo (which the captain has to "buy" cargo space for to balance the books on the subsidy), one major cargo of 50 tons.

Life Support cost: Cr 20,000 (10 staterooms), Cr 400 (4 low berths)
Passenger revenue: Cr 70,000 (high), Cr 4000 (low)
Cargo Transport revenue: Cr 58,000 (58 tons)
Speculative Cargo transport cost: Cr 8000 (8 tons)​

Passengers and cargo are brought onboard starting at 12h 100-1105 with the last passenger and cargo embarked 5 hours later by 17h 100-1105.

The Far Trader immediately lifts off and begins the outbound transit of 630,000km to the jump point, which at 1G takes 265 minutes (5 hours). During this transit to the jump point (2D6=7) there are no starship encounters.

At 22h 100-1105, the Far Trader initiates jump-2 to Ficant/Vilis (2D6=2) and there is no misjump.
Time spent in jump will be 150 hours.
Breakout from jump at ~100 diameters from Ficant/Vilis will occur at 4h 107-1105.

Total gross costs in Arkadia system: Cr 35,550
Total gross revenue in Arkadia system: Cr 132,000
Remaining revenue after subsidy: Cr 66,000
Net profit in Arkadia system: Cr 30,450
Total net profit from 0h 001-1105 through 4h 107-1105: Cr 18,084,475​

Spinward Flex Courier

Breakout from jump at ~100 diameters from Arkadia/Vilis occurs at 11h 088-1105, ~630,000km from Arkadia.
Transit to the type E "starport" on the surface of Arkadia is 630,000km, which at 6G takes 109 minutes (2 hours). During this descent to Arkadia (2D6=7) there are no starship encounters.

By 13h 088-1105 the Spinward Flex Courier has successfully parked at the landing field on the surface of Arkadia.
The Spinward Flex Courier has 37 tons cargo and (up to 5 tons of) x-mail to unload, which takes 185 minutes (4 hours), which is completed by 17h 088-1105.

Berthing Fees: Cr 100 for 6 days
X-mail Delivery revenue: Cr 25,000 (LBB2.81, p9)​

Fuel state aboard the Spinward Flex Courier is that 19.4 tons were used for a single jump-1 and the power plant has been operational for 8.5 days (3.5 tons), leaving only 27.6 tons of refined fuel remaining in the fuel tanks upon arrival at the "starport" on Arkadia which has no refueling facilities. The captain plans to fly the Spinward Flex Courier to the planetary ocean on day 3 for wilderness refueling before returning to the "starport" to await the arrival of any cargo and x-mail, leaving plenty of time to complete any fuel purification before departure for the jump point.

Since Arkadia has an early atomic age tech level (TL=6) and a type E starport, arrangements for bookings of cargo and x-mail will require a full 2 days of negotiations and will not all arrive until 18h 094-1105. On 091-1105, after completing routine 16 hour maintenance of the drives, the Spinward Flex Courier spends 3 hours flying to the ocean (1 hour), wilderness refueling the fuel tanks to full (1 hour), and then flying back to the "starport" (1 hour). After the wilderness refueling flight is completed, crew are permitted to leave the ship if they're inclined to take some leave. All crew are to report fit for duty by midday 094-1105. Since the Spinward Flex Courier will be planetside for more than 6 days, an additional Cr 100 must be paid in berthing fees to the "starport" authority.

Berthing Fees: Cr 100 for 7th day​

While negotiating for cargo, the captain of the Spinward Flex Courier is surprised to find that almost no one is in the market to buy the crates of ammunition purchased on Garda-Vilis. One offer to buy the load of ammunition comes in at essentially the same price as was originally paid on Garda-Vilis. The captain decides not to sell the ammunition and instead carry it to Ficant in hopes of finding a better offer there.

A speculative cargo of fine liquor is offered to the captain for purchase, but the price is so high that the captain has to politely (and eventually, forcefully) decline to make the purchase.

The captain books (up to 5 tons of) x-mail, 8 tons of speculative cargo (which the captain has to "buy" cargo space for to balance the books on the subsidy), and one major cargo of 30 tons.

Life Support cost: Cr 4,000 (2 staterooms)
Cargo Transport revenue: Cr 38,000 (38 tons)
Speculative Cargo transport cost: Cr 8000 (8 tons)​

X-mail and cargo are brought onboard starting at 18h 094-1105 with everything finally being stowed 3 hours later by 21h 094-1105.

The Spinward Flex Courier immediately lifts off and begins the outbound transit of 630,000km to the jump point, which at 6G takes 109 minutes (2 hours). During this transit to the jump point (2D6=7) there are no starship encounters.

At 23h 094-1105, the Spinward Flex Courier initiates jump-2 to Ficant/Vilis.
Time spent in jump will be 150 hours.
During 099-1105, while still in jump space, the captain pays out the another half-month of crew salaries prior to breakout at Ficant.

Crew Salaries (2 weeks): Cr 3500​

Breakout from jump at ~100 diameters from Ficant/Vilis will occur at 5h 101-1105.

Total gross costs in Arkadia system: Cr 15,750
Total gross revenue in Arkadia system: Cr 63,000
Remaining revenue after subsidy: Cr 31,500
Net profit in Arkadia system: Cr 15,750
Total net profit from 0h 001-1105 through 4h 107-1105: Cr 18,112,750​

 

[Spinward Flow]

Very interesting results in the Arkadia system.
For one thing, ALL of the low passengers survived the trip (for a change)!

Without needing to pay for refined fuel at a starport (because none is available at a type E "starport") and with a full outbound load of high passengers, low passengers and very nearly a full load of cargo (8 tons of which the captain needs to pay for to transport the ammunition speculative cargo to Ficant) ... Team Far Trader is finally starting to catch up in the Race to Profitability with Team Spinward Flex Courier.
After all, it's No Fun™ when it's all a foregone conclusion resulting in a blowout, right?

The most remarkable result when throwing dice for this system was the 2D6=3 for the sell price of the Ammunition bought at a 2D6=3 purchase price back on Garda-Vilis. Since there are no brokers at type E starports, there was no way to modify this result (short of captain skills, which are not a part of this demonstration race). So the thinking is to just keep hauling the Ammunition on to Ficant in hopes of the lot commanding a higher sale price there for a better profit.

And the Spinward Flex Courier just keeps grinding out marginally shorter turn around times due to the more powerful maneuver drive and the smaller cargo hold capacity (40+5 tons vs 61 tons) which then allows faster unload/load cycles, even with the (up to) +5 tons of x-mail factored in. So at this point in the race, the Spinward Flex Courier is an entire 6 days ahead of the Far Trader when running this route.

Kind of makes me wonder if I'm going to wind up with a situation where the Far Trader is making the transit from jump point to the orbital starport at D'Ganzio and they'll have a starship encounter ... of the Spinward Flex Courier leaving D'Ganzio because they've already completed their 2 week annual overhaul when the Far Trader is finally arriving for their turn at the shipyard. It might not happen quite like that but at this point it's looking like a pretty close run thing. Definitely a Your Mileage May Vary kind of situation.

 

[Spinward Flow]

Ficant E567353 – 5 (Non-industrial) to Arkadia E546845 – 6 (G)
World size: 8400km
100 diameters = 840,000km

Origin (Ficant): Starport E, Size 5, Population 3
Destination (Arkadia): Starport E, Size 5, Population 8
DM: +3 (passenger), +1 (cargo), -1 (tech level), -1 first die (speculative cargo)
Passengers: 2D-2D High, 2D-1D Middle, 2D Low
Cargo: 1D-1 Major, 1D Minor, No Incidental
Starship Encounters: E 2D (11-12 is pirate)

Passengers
2D-2D+2 = 9-9+2 = 2 High
2D-1D+2 = 8-4+2 = 6 Middle
2D+2 = 7+2 = 9 Low

Cargo
1D-1 = 6-1 = 5 Major (10, 20, 40, 60, 10 ton lots)
1D = 1 = 1 Minor (30 ton lot)

Speculative Cargo (buy)
13 Liquor. Cr 10,000 per ton (base price), DM: +0 price modifier. 25 tons
Buy price (2D+0=12): 170% base price (Cr 255,000 total)

Speculative Cargo (sell)
43 Ammunition. Cr 30,000 per ton (base price), DM: +0 price modifier. 8 tons
Buy price (2D+0=10): 130% base price (Cr 312,000 total)




Far Trader

Breakout from jump at ~100 diameters from Ficant/Vilis occurs at 4h 107-1105, ~840,000km from Ficant.
Transit to the type E starport on the surface of Ficant is 840,000km, which at 1G takes 306 minutes (6 hours). During this descent to Ficant (2D6=10) there is a starship encounter with a 200-ton Free Trader departing from Ficant (presumably with 20 tons of demountable fuel tank loaded into the cargo bay in order to achieve the necessary range to reach Ficant at all using only jump-1).

By 10h 107-1105 the Far Trader has successfully parked at the landing field on the surface of Ficant.
The Far Trader has 50 tons cargo to unload, which takes 250 minutes (5 hours), during which the 7 high and 4 low passengers disembark by 15h 107-1105.
Of the 4 low passengers, their survival (5+ on 2D6) rolls are 5, 4, 8 and 4, resulting in 1 "touch and go" recovery that the crew medic manages to save and 2 fatalities.

Berthing Fees: Cr 100 for 6 days​

Fuel state aboard the Far Trader is that 40 tons were used for a single jump-2 and the power plant has been operational for 10 days (3.6 tons), leaving only 6.4 tons of refined fuel remaining in the fuel tanks upon arrival at the starport on Ficant which has no refueling facilities. This is sufficient fuel to keep the power plant operational for the next ~18 days.

Since Ficant has a pre-atomic age tech level (TL=5) and a type E starport, arrangements for bookings of passengers and cargo would normally require a full 2 days (or more) of negotiations are fortuitously cut short by the first few cargos available adding up to 60 tons which can all arrive by 0h 113-1105. This will permit the Far Trader to depart Ficant without needing to pay for a 7th day of berthing fees at the type E starport.

On 110-1105, after completing routine 16 hour maintenance of the drives, the Far Trader spends 3 hours flying to the ocean (1 hour), wilderness refueling the fuel tanks to full (1 hour), and then flying back to the starport (1 hour). The captain also pays out a half month of crew salaries 3 days early on 110-1105 so the crew can afford to "waste some of their pay" outside the starship, if they're inclined to take some leave. All crew are to report fit for duty late 112-1105.

Crew salaries cost (2 weeks): Cr 6950​

While negotiating for cargo, the captain of the Far Trader receives a respectable offer to purchase the 8 tons of ammunition remaining in the cargo hold, presumably because ammunition is an inherently expendable commodity that cannot be manufactured locally at high quality in sufficient quantity. The final sale price negotiated by the captain, without the benefit of a broker service, for the ammunition bought on Garda-Vilis is Cr 312,000.

Speculative Cargo sale price: Cr 312,000​

A speculative cargo of fine liquor is offered to the captain for purchase, but the price for it is the same exorbitant amount as was being asked back on Arkadia (and presumably originally distilled on Ficant and shipped to Arkadia). The captain again declines the offer to purchase (an even larger load this time) the liquor on offer here on Ficant.

The captain books 2 high passengers, 5 middle passengers, 4 low passengers, plus two major cargos of 10 and 20 tons and a minor cargo of 30 tons.

Life Support cost: Cr 20,000 (10 staterooms), Cr 400 (4 low berths)
Passenger revenue: Cr 60,000 (high), Cr 4000 (low)
Cargo Transport revenue: Cr 60,000 (60 tons)​

Passengers and cargo are brought onboard starting at 0h 113-1105 with the last passenger and cargo embarked 5 hours later by 5h 113-1105.

The Far Trader immediately lifts off and begins the outbound transit of 840,000km to the jump point, which at 1G takes 306 minutes (6 hours). During this transit to the jump point (2D6=6) there are no starship encounters.

At 11h 113-1105, the Far Trader initiates jump-2 to Arkadia/Vilis (2D6=2) and there is no misjump.
Time spent in jump will be 156 hours.
Breakout from jump at ~100 diameters from Arkadia/Vilis will occur at 23h 119-1105.

Total gross costs in Ficant system: Cr 27,450
Total gross revenue in Ficant system: Cr 124,000
Remaining revenue after subsidy: Cr 62,000
Speculative cargo sale (not subject to subsidy): Cr 312,000
Net profit in Ficant system: Cr 346,550
Total net profit from 0h 001-1105 through 23h 119-1105: Cr 18,431,025​

Spinward Flex Courier

Breakout from jump at ~100 diameters from Ficant/Vilis occurs at 5h 101-1105, ~840,000km from Ficant.
Transit to the type E starport on the surface of Ficant is 840,000km, which at 6G takes 125 minutes (3 hours). During this descent to Ficant (2D6=10) there is a starship encounter with a 200-ton Free Trader departing from Ficant (presumably with 20 tons of demountable fuel tank loaded into the cargo bay in order to achieve the necessary range to reach Ficant at all using only jump-1).

By 8h 101-1105 the Spinward Flex Courier has successfully parked at the landing field on the surface of Ficant.
The Spinward Flex Courier has (up to 5 tons of) x-mail and 30 tons cargo to unload, which takes 175 minutes (3 hours), which is completed by 11h 101-1105.

Berthing Fees: Cr 100 for 6 days
X-mail Delivery revenue: Cr 25,000 (LBB2.81, p9)​

Fuel state aboard the Spinward Flex Courier is that 38.8 tons were used for a single jump-2 and the power plant has been operational for 10 days (4.2 tons), leaving only 7.5 tons of refined fuel remaining in the fuel tanks upon arrival at the starport on Ficant which has no refueling facilities. This is sufficient fuel to keep the power plant operational for the next ~18 days.

Since Ficant has a pre-atomic age tech level (TL=5) and a type E starport, arrangements for bookings of x-mail and cargo would normally require a full 2 days (or more) of negotiations are fortuitously cut short by the first two cargos available adding up to 40 tons which can all arrive by 20h 106-1105. This will permit the Spinward Flex Courier to depart Ficant without needing to pay for a 7th day of berthing fees at the type E starport.

On 104-1105, after completing routine 16 hour maintenance of the drives, the Far Trader spends 3 hours flying to the ocean (1 hour), wilderness refueling the fuel tanks to full (1 hour), and then flying back to the starport (1 hour). This allows ample time for fuel purification to complete before liftoff for the jump point. All crew are to report fit for duty halfway through 106-1105 to prep the starship for loading and departure.

While negotiating for cargo, the captain of the Spinward Flex Courier receives a respectable offer to purchase the 8 tons of ammunition remaining in the cargo hold, presumably because ammunition is an inherently expendable commodity that cannot be manufactured locally at high quality in sufficient quantity. The final sale price negotiated by the captain, without the benefit of a broker service, for the ammunition bought on Garda-Vilis is Cr 312,000.

Speculative Cargo sale price: Cr 312,000​

A speculative cargo of fine liquor is offered to the captain for purchase, but the price for it is the same exorbitant amount as was being asked back on Arkadia (and presumably originally distilled on Ficant and shipped to Arkadia). The captain again declines the offer to purchase (an even larger load this time) the liquor on offer here on Ficant.

The captain books (up to 5 tons of) x-mail plus major cargo of 10 tons and a minor cargo of 30 tons.

Life Support cost: Cr 4,000 (2 staterooms)
Cargo Transport revenue: Cr 40,000 (40 tons)​

X-mail and cargo are brought onboard starting at 20h 106-1105 with everything brought onboard 4 hours later by 0h 107-1105.

The Spinward Flex Courier immediately lifts off and begins the outbound transit of 840,000km to the jump point, which at 6G takes 125 minutes (3 hours). During this transit to the jump point (2D6=6) there are no starship encounters.

At 3h 107-1105, the Spinward Flex Courier initiates jump-2 to Arkadia/Vilis (2D6=2).
Time spent in jump will be 156 hours.
On 113-1105, the captain pays out the another half-month of crew salaries prior to breakout at Ficant.

Crew Salaries (2 weeks): Cr 3500​

Breakout from jump at ~100 diameters from Arkadia/Vilis will occur at 15h 113-1105.

Total gross costs in Ficant system: Cr 7600
Total gross revenue in Ficant system: Cr 65,000
Remaining revenue after subsidy: Cr 32,500
Speculative cargo sale (not subject to subsidy): Cr 312,000
Net profit in Ficant system: Cr 336,900
Total net profit from 0h 001-1105 through 15h 113-1105: Cr 18,449,650​

 

[Spinward Flow]

Once again, interesting results.

Definitely the right decision to haul the speculative cargo of ammunition all the way out to Ficant in order to find a buyer so as to sell that 8 tons of ammunition at a profit, rather than at a loss (due to transport costs).

Also interesting to see that Team Far Trader continues to make up lost profitability early in the race here on the relatively populous tail end of the route through passenger revenues combined with a full cargo manifest. By this midpoint in the race, the Spinward Flex Courier profit margin advantage has been whittled down to only Cr 18,625 overall throughout the entirety of the route so far. However, this narrowing of the gap in profitability between the two starships will presumably widen again starting at Garda-Vilis on the return route, quite possibly all the way through to D'Ganzio.

To quote a mildly competent former princess, "It's not over yet."

The time lead that the Spinward Flex Courier has had throughout the race continues to widen however, as it's now up to 6.33 days ahead of the Far Trader on the route. If there's a pirate attack at any point along the return to D'Ganzio, that could spell quite a lot of trouble for Team Far Trader (since the Spinward Flex Courier can break off by acceleration while the Far Trader cannot and would presumably be forced to surrender and be boarded). So we shall have to see how everything works out on that potential hazard to navigation, which hasn't happened yet ... :devil:

And it's always possible the Far Trader could misjump due to using unrefined fuel ...

 

[bookwyrm]

I actually had to go back and reread the Thread, but Low Passengers really have it tough. up to now, 8 Low Passengers have died.

the first two made me feel sad for them. then I guess they became part of the story. then there's the passage where all Low Passengers survived. that kind of woke me up and had me start counting. one trip had two Low Passengers die.

I can't help but wonder now, what drives these Passengers to Travel in such a dangerous way? I guess for an answer, I just have to look at the stories of people who make dangerous journeys today. I just read a fictional book, where a side story was of a person who survived a dangerous journey, but their spouse died along the way. the place they were leaving was worth the risk of a dangerous journey, knowing their lives were on the line.

personally, Low Passage seems such a difficult thing for me, I don't like making ships with them. unfortunately for me, they are also a good source of revenue, so a few ships have been designed with them. where's a good ships medic when you need one? (rhetorical question)

 

[robject]

Low berths are a *great* source of revenue. Tune the count based on the intended route! I think I like to have ten handy. But if the ship is designed to go between high population worlds, then more.

Carry a medic if you want to get a reputation for delivering low passengers alive to their destination. Otherwise... well the Traveller Universe does have a dash of tasty cynicism in it, on purpose, due to its roots.

Not just the roots, though. Dumarest set the stage, but only Loren Wiseman could invent the Low Lottery (guessing).


And then what's the lesson? Space travel is dangerous and shipping you carries a price tag.

 

[Spinward Flow]

I actually had to go back and reread the Thread, but Low Passengers really have it tough. up to now, 8 Low Passengers have died.

the first two made me feel sad for them. then I guess they became part of the story. then there's the passage where all Low Passengers survived. that kind of woke me up and had me start counting. one trip had two Low Passengers die.

It's one of those things I wasn't really expecting going into this, an average mortality rate of 25% for the low passengers thus far. Just to be sure, I went back to look at all of the low passenger survival rolls and found that of the 8 fatalities, if the attending medic had skill level 2 for a +1 DM on resuscitation rolls, the number of fatalities up to this point would have been only 5 ... with 3 more survivors, and 2 of those survivors would have been here on Ficant. But because the Far Trader has a steward/medic on staff filling two roles, and is therefore -1 to each skill due to pulling double duty (per RAW), having Steward-1 and Medical-2 yields a skill throughput of Steward-0/Medical-1 which is why the low passage survival rolls are 5+ instead of 4+, because if the medic had a higher skill level they would cost more in crew salary ... and the terms of the race are to showcase profit margins generated on a "minimal skill" crew for both ships (and what happens when you employ those minimally skilled crew members).

Odds of 2D6 rolling 4+ = 1-(1+2+3)/36 = 1-(6/36) = 83.33%
Odds of 2D6 rolling 5+ = 1-(1+2+3+4)/36 = 1-(10/36) = 72.22%

So it's kind of to be expected that on a ship with 4 low berths, the average survival rate for low passengers when the medic onboard has Medical-1 skill is going to wind up around 75% on average.

It's sad ... but that's Steerage Class accommodations for you, where you're effectively transported as if you were cargo (kinda sorta).

Makes me think about how miserable it would be to survive character generation, muster out with a low passage ticket and then when you use it your PC dies in transport ... so back to the character generation step for you Player.

Like the t-shirt says ...

S ome
C ome
U p
B arely
A live

I can't help but wonder now, what drives these Passengers to Travel in such a dangerous way? I guess for an answer, I just have to look at the stories of people who make dangerous journeys today. I just read a fictional book, where a side story was of a person who survived a dangerous journey, but their spouse died along the way. the place they were leaving was worth the risk of a dangerous journey, knowing their lives were on the line.

personally, Low Passage seems such a difficult thing for me, I don't like making ships with them. unfortunately for me, they are also a good source of revenue, so a few ships have been designed with them. where's a good ships medic when you need one? (rhetorical question)

From a purely economic standpoint, the "revenue density" of low passengers is reasonably high, although I would argue that a (live) medic is required to be onboard to monitor low passengers (not just high and middle passengers) per LBB2.

Low passenger: Cr 2000 per ton ticket price - Cr 200 per ton life support = Cr 1800 per ton (low berths are 0.5 tons each)
Middle passenger: Cr 2000 per ton ticket price - Cr 500 per ton life support = Cr 1500 per ton (staterooms are 4 tons each)
High passenger: Cr 2500 per ton ticket price - Cr 500 per ton life support = Cr 2000 per ton (staterooms are 4 tons each)
Cargo: Cr 1000 per ton
X-mail: Cr 5000 per ton (5 tons)

Of course, the above passenger revenue density numbers do not include the overhead costs associated with the crew needed to support those passengers (steward for high passengers, medic for any and all passengers) so the economics are slightly more nuanced than that kind of simplistic overview. But the simple fact of the matter is that a steward for high passengers costs an additional Cr 3500 per 2 weeks in salary and life support and you need 1 steward per 8 high passengers, so the only way you wind up coming out ahead on profit with high passengers over middle passengers is if you have 8 high passengers (add Cr 4000) versus 7 high passengers plus 1 middle passenger (add Cr 3500) so as to break even on the salary and life support cost of the steward ... and that's assuming the steward isn't pulling double duty so you have a separate medic aboard.

However, the key point is the one that you've already made ... which is that "ton for ton" low passengers tend to wind up being the most profitable in economic terms under LBB2, even if they're the least likely to survive the journey ... which is kind of bonkers, technologically and economically speaking, based on ticket pricing and ship overhead costs.

The thing I'm wanting to make clear here is that the "revenue density" of starship tonnage can be quantified, after a fashion.

• Bulk cargo is the revenue floor at Cr 1000 per ton.
• Passenger service ranges from Cr 1500-2000 per ton (not including steward and/or medic accommodations, life support and salaries).
• X-mail is valued at Cr 5000 per ton, but has a limit of only 5 tons.

And the name of the game as a "merchant prince" is to find a route you can run where those revenue densities can reasonably reliably exceed your overhead costs of needing to pay for crew salaries, life support, fuel and annual overhaul maintenance ... and the best way to do that is to run a route between populated worlds.

This is why I've gotten into the habit of trying to work out what value amount per ton of capacity a merchant ship I design needs to be carrying before that ship breaks even on profit at every port of call. If your passenger accommodations need to generate more than Cr 2000 per ton allocated to them, your starship will be operating in the red even with a full manifest of passengers. If your cargo accommodations need to generate more than Cr 1000 per ton allocated to them, your starship will only be profitable on the basis of speculative cargo (buy low/well high) since you'll be shipping bulk cargo at a loss.

Whenever I can figure out the 2 week overhead costs for a starship, I can just divide that number by the amount of passenger/cargo tons to figure out how much "revenue density" the starship needs to be generating just to break even. If I can get that number to under Cr 1000 per ton, then the starship will be profitable with a full manifest of passengers and cargo ... and of course the lower the number the more profitable the ship will be (on average).

Hope that makes sense for you as to why low passengers wind up feeling more profitable a lot of the time than middle or high passengers, ton for ton ... because usually they are, except in optimal edge cases involving some full manifest conditions.

 

[Spinward Flow]

but only Loren Wiseman could invent the Low Lottery (guessing).

The Low Lottery: It is customary for the captain to contribute Cr 10 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.

:toast:

 

[robject]

Yep. And Marc just told me he wrote it, but he's wondering if perhaps he got it from E. C. Tubb.

But I don't think the LOTTERY came from Dumarest books...?

 

[whartung]

Carry a medic if you want to get a reputation for delivering low passengers alive to their destination. Otherwise... well the Traveller Universe does have a dash of tasty cynicism in it, on purpose, due to its roots.

If a medic generates a notable better outcome, you'd think that ships would carry medics, and raise the price of their low passage, vs the bargain basement "best price off of Regina -- but you can die" ticket.

And that a low passage passenger would be willing to pony up the marginal extra fee to ensure there's a qualified medic aboard.