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Juggling Economics

CarlP

SOC-11
Howdy! I hope I've selected the right place for this topic. But if it has to be moved, I'll understand. I was hoping to discuss some ideas I had about changing around some aspects of starship economics. I've already searched the archives, and read over whatever I could find. But it still didn't resolve all the issues I had. So, I thought I'd share my ideas with this group, and let some bigger brains than mine have a go at it.


Okay, first, I'm wanting starship travel to be less expensive. I like the idea of it being more availalbe to the masses, and it seems a bit too expensive currently.

There is an option in the T20 rules where fuel costs are halved. I like that, and will be using it. I can use the standard designs as-is, because I like the idea of a ship having enough fuel for two jumps. Maybe it's my pilot's training, but I want that reserve of fuel. ;)

Also, I looked at the fuel costs, and they are consistent. They're five tons per parsec base (modified by the size of the hull). This means that the fuel cost will be the same to go the same distance, whether you do it in one big jump or a couple of smaller jumps. I'm willing to go for that. The higher J drives are more efficient, having lower tonnage to haul the ship the same distance. This gives the higher jump numbers, I think, a reason to be.

My last issue involves time in jump space. Each jump takes a week, despite the distance jumped. I'm not sure I care for that. I like the idea of the time it takes to travel being consistent. I'm not sure how much it should be. Some thoughts:

One day per parsec. That makes the little Jump-1 ships very quick to get around. Almost like commuter flights. Which, honestly, has some appeal to me.

One week per parsec. That puts the little J1 guys where they always have been. But that means the long jumps take six weeks. Whoa! That's a long time cooped up in a tin-can.

Two days per parsec, still keeps the J1 ships zipping around pretty quickly. J3 ships are the ones that will be spending a week in jumpspace. And the long jumps, J6, would be 12 days in jumpspace, which isn't too bad.

Or maybe something nonlinear? Square the jump number to get the number of days in jump space? Hmmm. Who would take a J6 trip, when they could take six J1 hops? Maybe nonlinear in the other direction, where a J6 takes less time than six J1? Maybe something where J1 is two days, and J6 is around ten days, with the other jumps appropriately spaced between them.

Okay, there are my ideas. It seems that every time I change one factor, something else changes. Not necessarily breaks, but requires tweaking. I'm wanting to play a game, not run an economic model. And I want to keep it simple, too. So, do these seem like some reasonable ideas?

I appreciate any input y'all can give me. Thanks.
 
Just remember that if you are making your own traveller universe, any amount of time in Jump space and any cost or volume of jump fuel you set as reasonable will work fine. BUT! The time line and some of the key historical events in Traveller cannon exist specifically because it takes one week in jump space. Marc Miller himself identified the delay in communications as a key component (I believe it was only #1 out of 5 or so) in the thinking about the history and spread of humaniti in the third imperium.
But if this is only going to be something you do in your own created Traveller universe, where you make up the history and galactic geography (cosmography?) then "get crazy with the cheez whiz!"
 
Liam,

Thank you. That is an excellent article. I'm still reading it, but it's certainly giving me food for thought.
 
One thought I've had on starship economics, if you are wanting to make it cheaper and easier for the masses: Base the cost on the parsec, or on the jump, or in some way to make the small jumps cheaper. Nearly everyone can afford a J1, although they might have to buy several of them to get where they are going. J3 or J4 is for the wealthy, or those who are willing to pay more to get there sooner. J5 and J6 is for nobles and ultra-rich businessmen.

If the longer jumps in your TU take longer in jump space than the shorter jumps, then the ships doing a longer jump would be like luxury liners and the short jump ships would be like tramp steamers, or buses, trains and ferry boats in a third world country.
 
I had similar thoughts to your own, and adapted this rule outlined bellow. I cut and pasted this from one of my older post. Right now I’m working on adding nano technology to MTU with out busting the economic system.

One rule that I was interested in was the optional 50% jump fuel rule in T20. However upon thinking about it, it would drastically change the nature of the Traveller universe. The J-5 route through the Great Rift, the frontier wars, military strategy, starship economics, travel times, communication and nature of feudal system would be jeopardized. I believe, the purpose of the 50% fuel rule is to make starships more profitable by allowing more cargo space or by giving adventures more personal space. However, there are better way to do it.

By using the G:T Far Trader rule that items that are produced at Tech levels higher than the item itself are cheaper. The first tier or level higher are 50% cheaper, and next tier higher are an additional 25% cheaper, because of the cost of production is cheaper at higher levels, and the TL currency exchange rules also in Far Trader. The need to use the 50% fuel rule would be moot, and would increases the level of starship traffic, just by making financing more realistic and thus making a merchant and adventuring career a reasonable economic career choice.

I’m fine with the one-week jump rule, after all that’s why you have stateroom and it gives PCs some study and creative time to advance those skills. But the rule about using all you J6 fuel if you jumped one parsec just doesn’t make sense to me.

Have you tied the Traveller Mailing list, it's free and has an archives search, or the Steve Jackson’s JTAS site? Jackson’s site is a biweekly e-magazine that has three years of back issues you can read. I joined both, mailing list requires some wading through the topics and I the JTAS was worth the cost.

http://tml.travellercentral.com/

http://jtas.sjgames.com/
 
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