Originally posted by Bhoins:
"Difference in starship jump drive capacity have no specific effect on passage prices. A jump-3 starship charges the same passage price as a jump-1 starship. The difference is that a jump-3 ship can reach a destination in one jump, while the jump-1 ship would take three seperate jumps (through two intermediate destinations, and requiring three seperate tickets) to reach it. Higher jump numbers also make otherwise inaccessable destinations within reach. But for two ships of differening jump numbers going to the same destination in one jump, each would charge the same cargo or passage price." (Book 2 pg. 9 also copied directly into MT and T20 rules)
sigh
We (i.e. specifically you and I) already went through this exact paragraph once. Is it really necessary to do so again?
Apparently.
First, the above quote must always be taken into context within the surrounding text. So, let's do so. (All quotes that follow are being taken from The Traveller Book. I imagine the other books are either the same, or close enough.)
Let's back up to the previous section on cargo. This is important. It says:
"The referee should determine all worlds accessible to the starship (depending on jump number), and roll for each such world on the cargo table."
You might say, "Wait, that is for cargo. Why do we need to look at cargo for the passangers?" Fair enough. The answer is in the first paragraph in the passenger section. It says:
"After a starship has accepted cargo for a specific destination, passengers will present themselves for transport to that destination."
OK. This gives us the context of the following paragraphs dealing with taking on passengers. Specifically, we are getting passengers that are to go to a specific destination, which has been determined by the cargo we just took on in the previous section.
Putting this all together, we now know that we have a specific destination world that we are seeking passengers for, we already know this world (because of our cargo) and it is within our jump range. (Please note that last, very important, detail.)
Before moving on to your paragraph, I want to point out one more sentence:
"Passage is always sold on the basis of transport to the announced destination, rather than on jump distance."
Now, on to your quote. The first part says:
"Differences in starship jump drive capacity have no specific effect on passage prices. A jump-3 starship charges the same passage price as a jump-1 starship."
Remember: we already know the destination, and it is within our ship's jump range. Consequently, this quote must be taken within that context. Fundamentally, it is simply restating the sentence I just quoted prior to this.
On to the nasty part:
"The difference is that a jump-3 ship can reach a destination in one jump, while the jump-1 ship would take three separate jumps (through two intermediate destination, and requiring three separate tickets) to reach it. Higher jump numbers also may make otherwise inaccessible destinations within reach."
This would appear to be the passage that is tripping you up. The fundamental problem is that you are reading way too much into it. Note that it it references a generic "a destination", not our specific destination we found back in the cargo section. All the passage is noting is that a destination 3 parsecs away can be reached on a single ticket with a jump-3 ship, but would require three tickets with a jump-1 ship. That is all it is saying. It is not qualifying any purchase price, as that has already been explicitly defined earlier. It isn't directly referencing "our" destination.
Finally:
"But for two ships of differing jump numbers going to the same destination in one jump, each would charge the same cargo or passage price."
Again, this should be very, very clear, and directly ties back into the quotes a pointed out that come before your "problem" passage. It is explicitly saying that a jump-3 ship going one parsec will charge the same as a jump-1 ship going one parsec.
Again, I understand that you won't buy this explanation because you simply don't want to. Fine, that is your choice. But, despite the potentionally poor wording of the "problem" two sentences, the rules are very clear and very unambiguous. Cargo and passengers are charge by jump, not by distance. Period.
Also, consider one other thing. If all of the rules in a game say one thing, but a single sentence (or two)
seem to say the opposite, then it is pretty obvious that either a) you are reading it wrong or b) the writer/editor screwed up. Either way you don't toss out all of the other rules in favor of the single exception.
In summary, you are reading the rules wrong because they seem stupid to you. Quite frankly, that rule (price per jump)
is stupid. But, unfortunately, that is the unambiguous rule.
