Re-examining ship benefits for mustering out

[JAFARR]

Mustering out ship benefits​

1. Use MgT’s idea of pooling benefits called ship shares. This allows an option when multiple characters in a party muster out with a ship. They can combine them on a single ship.

2. Convert extra TAS benefits to ship shares. TAS will yield 1.8 MCr worth of high passages in 30 years plus the 1 MCr membership fee. Convert any multiple TAS to 3 MCr in ship benefit which can be pooled with others to aid in ship purchase.

3. Scouts receive use of a scout ship and multiple benefits are wasted. Convert the first award to 5 MCr and successive awards to 3MCr in poolable ship credits.

4. Merchants, scientists, and nobles can pay off various ships with the first award granting possession and 4 additional awards paying off the ship. Convert all awards to 5 MCr in poolable credits. (Free Traders attaining rank O-6 forfeit one benefit roll and get automatic 5 MCr credit.)

5. Pirates receive a ship with 1 award and lose any additional award. Convert this to 5 MCr in poolable credits per award.

Here is another method​

All PCs have either TAS or ship ownership as mustering out benefits. Count each TAS benefit after the first as 25 ship shares. Do the same with ship benefits. Count a 100 Ton ship (a scout) as 100 ship shares. Therefore your 25 shares equal MCr 6.9075 in buying power to purchase ships.

(A) Type R at MCr100.035 equals 14.5 benefit rolls to pay off – add some weapons and call it 15 full benefits.

(B)Type A2 at MCr66.175 equals 9.6 benefit rolls so add some weapons and call it 10 rolls.

(C) Type A at MCr37.08 or 5.4 benefit rolls so add weapons and call it 6 rolls.

Extra rolls can purchase small craft etc.

 

[mike wightman]

I like your ideas, makes it much easier for the PCs to have a ship.

Have you tried playing Traveller where none of the PCs have a ship? To get from world to world they must buy passage, work for their passage, take the risk of being a stowaway or rely on the good graces of a patron to provide the means for transport.

 

[Spinward Flow]

Have you tried playing Traveller where none of the PCs have a ship? To get from world to world they must buy passage, work for their passage, take the risk of being a stowaway or rely on the good graces of a patron to provide the means for transport.

WAY back in the day, after a certain book had been published (everyone here will guess the title shortly), I got to play in a hitchhiker campaign.

Starting equipment was "The Book" ... an Electronic Thumb ... and a Towel.
Characters started at age: 18 and had one skill added ... Electronics-0 ... so they could operate "The Book" and the Thumb.

It was ... a peculiar experience.
Also, those characters didn't last all that long for some reason ...

I think that the fact that they were up against the (new at the time) JTAS #4 p28-30 Bestiary monster may have had something to do with the ... brevity ... of that particular campaign.

 

[HanleyTucks]

All good ideas.

As SF said, they can have fun adventures without owning a ship but paying for travel. I'd also point out they could have the use of a ship without owning it - they could rent it, be hired crew on it, salvage and repair it, or steal it.

 

[McPerth]

I already commented this some times: when a character received a ship multiple times as benefit, I always allowed him to either have a b etter ship (a far or fat trader instead o f a free trader), to ha ve 10 years paid off (as rules) or to have a Space skill (as in CT:LLB6/MT), o nthe way weapons be nefits act if received more than once.

So, to give an example, a Scout receiving a ship 3 times would have his s cout and 2 space skills or a larger ship (let's say a far trader used as a scoutor my own design IISS Intelligence Courrier in MgT1E) and a space skill.

 

[Spinward Flow]

or to have a Space skill

In CT, if you get a weapon benefit multiple times, you can either get additional weapons or get +1 skill in a weapon you've already received as a muster out benefit.

"Space" skills as a cascade option were not yet developed as of the printing of LBB1-3 (and LBB S4), but came into vogue later on with the extended chargen of LBB4-7.

Preventing mustering out benefits from being "wasted" at the end of chargen has a lot of value, so the option to take a "space" cascade skill option when rolling "extra" ship benefits makes too much sense to be thrown away.

 

[Condottiere]

Each service has it's own reasons for granting easy credit and/or access to starships surplus to their requirements, and aren't necessarily transferable.