I was poking around various blog posts, and found this one at the Great Dungeon of the North about Traveller starship fees. I've always sort of glossed over the fees for a few things, but as with my other gaming, costing things is a challenge for me in fantasy games and Traveller (the only SF game I actually run or play)
Costs should vary, though in the Traveller universe, at least in the Imperium, there are rules and regulations to standardize that pricing. Mongoose has introduced a few variants in pricing that I sort of like: jump costs are not a flat Cr1000/jump for cargo (though that too is always contested). I've not looked at the T20 rules - I don't think I have those on CD (yet! as I also don't have one of the GURPS CDs, if I can find a 3rd and there is a 443 thing for 4 CDs for the price of 3, I may have to go there after all!) But a few topics in COTI have indicated that there are some really nice changes in T20. Poke through the Classic forum about what would you change in Classic for that. Some interesting discussion.
I do like that different ports will have different charges: after all, you are probably getting better and more up to date equipment at a class A port versus a class C or even a D.
And that list also gives me warehouse fees. I do have the GURPS books and at one time I had read through the Starports book. I don't recall fees being variable in there, but I may have missed it. But there is a lot of info that can be useful even for Classic games. How GURPS describes warehousing:
Starports possess a large amount of empty space for the purposes of holding cargo until claimed and transported. In most cases, these are simply large, enclosed facilities. They may be located above or below ground at a downport, depending on needs and conditions. A transit shedis a warehouse located at a berth, for temporary storage of cargo just prior to loading or after unloading. In standard free standing berths (see p. 76), the transit shed is simply the space around the landed starship, but still inside the walled berth. Other warehouses are used for long-term storage, particularly of duty-free goods passing through the starport’s XT zone. They are normally centralized, away from the high-traffic sections of the port, some within the XT line and some outside in the local startown. Those outside the XT line will be local, usually commercial, property and not operated by the SPA. In all cases, warehouses are secured against theft by a variety of means. SPA realizes that the security of cargo awaiting transport is an important concern of merchants and corporations using their facilities. Standard SPA warehouse security measures are heavily automated, with a computer program linked to a variety of TL10+sensors providing the first line of defense, and human security personnel only summoned when a problem is detected. Port directors have the authority to customize their security measures, however. A thief with all the electronic countermeasures for standard SPA sensors might find a not-so-easily-spoofed security guard on site . . .
In looking for fees. either I can't see them or they are not there. I also looked in the GURPS Traveller core book (which I've never done as it is only in PDF and I just don't read PDFs the same way as something on paper). Anyway, I do recall that Classic had the flat Cr100/week for the first week regardless of port level. Assuming I can get back to my solo game (where does the time go?) I may do that as part of the world exploration I am doing in MTU.
In fact, I may even add yet one more straight multiplier: a rich world would be 1.5x the amount in those charts, a poor world .5x the costs. If I really wanted to get picky, you could also adjust based on the world government.
All this is part of the joy of Traveller for me. There are systems that a solo player can really get into. Traveller is a game that consists of several games, and I don't think its world building, as part of the rules, is matched by any other RPG I've seen or played. I think there are some extensive rules in Castles and Crusades for some world building, but it is all for a fantasy world. Traveller encompasses all the worlds. And the space between worlds. And the stars. And planetoid belts. Societies from stone age to incomprehensible future societies. And originally in 3 small A5 sized books!
Need to get back to my Travellers Guide posts, and perhaps add the berthing fee charts. I miss making planets for that. So now I am really hoping to get back the Malik and his adventures in the League of Planets. As I am playing instead of running the Sunday games, maybe I'll have some time!
And no wonder Traveller is often considered accountants in space :)
Finally, a picture of the still WIP of my character for the Fantasy Trip. It is the one on the left, though the mini is an Elf, my character is a regular human. The other archer is wearing chain and Prentum only wears leather. And by the way, we cleared out a vampire nest in our first session! Using a couple different shades of green, and I reversed the colors for each. Elf Green and Army Green from some Zombiecide paint sets I got.
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