Crew Requirements and Salary

Even with AI salary negotiators, employment interviews remain tense and frustrating affairs in the Third Imperium.

Most starship requirements in the Third Imperium are imposed by commercial interests rather than governments. Mortgage holders, cargo brokers, and the insurers that cover everyone all need to ensure that their investments are secure. The Travellers’ Aid Society needs to assure its members that starships will provide safety, timely, and comfortable passage.

If you owned a private starship free and clear, and were only carrying your friends and your own possessions, you could pretty much crew a ship however you liked—though some worlds or starports might turn you away if they believed your ship represented a safety risk.

But if a lender owns any part of your ship, or if your ship is being chartered by a third party, or if you hold a mail contract, or if you are engaged in any kind of commerce—which includes carrying passengers or freight for fee—you are subject to crew requirements that are established by private ship classification societies such as the Travellers’ Aid Society or Lloyd’s Register.

Every edition recognizes that smaller ships can and often do run skinny and, as such, the authorities generally afford these ships a certain flexibility in filling crew requirements. PCs should always be given choices that offer risks, costs, rewards, and consequences. If the PCs want to skip annual maintenance, ignore the malfunctioning comms, or use unqualified crew in order to eke out a little more profit, they absolutely should be given the opportunity. One misjump might be enough to scare some captains straight, but serial scofflaws might find themselves in the black books of financiers and brokers. Conversely, PCs that invest in luxury accommodations, extra crew, and better equipment should be given more opportunities to land plum contracts and wealthy clients. (And maybe attract tougher competitors!)

Ideally, each required crew position would be filled by a single, qualified crewmember. More commonly, a single crewmember fills multiple positions. And while crewmembers can theoretically try to cover as many different positions as they like, I stick to the old CT rule:

One person may fill two crew positions, providing he or she has the skills needed for both jobs. However, . . . the individual draws salary equal to 75% of each position. . . . No person may assume the duties of more than two crew positions except in the case of an emergency (The Traveller Book 61).

The note about emergencies calls to mind an important distinction between a crewmember serving in a position and one acting in a position. Anyone can act in any crew position. A maintenance hand untrained in Pilot can take the helm if the ship’s pilot is somehow incapacitated, or if the pilot is present but occupied with an Astrogation task. An astrogator with Engineer 0 can stand watch in the engine room while the engineer is asleep. But only a qualified crewmember can serve in and draw salary for a required position.

Similarly, I would not allow a robot, software program, or uncertified crewmember with a skill wafer to serve in a required position, though each could temporarily act in such a role. Each of these options could be extremely helpful in easing regular workloads or responding to an emergency, and in fact might well be better at the task than a qualified crewmember with minimal skill levels and low characteristic scores. But they couldn’t hold a certification and thus wouldn’t “count” in terms of filling crew requirements and they certainly couldn’t draw a salary. This restriction is probably driven by deep cultural prejudices as much as regulations or safety statistics: “I don't care what that blasted toaster is rated for, I only want to fly on a ship with a real human engineer!”

Crew Exams

All certifications are likely subject to regular renewals, perhaps on a 4 year basis. Renewals can be conducted at any TAS facility for a modest fee, and probably include an elementary examination. This might be interesting to play out if a PC had forged their qualifications or has recently suffered an aging crisis or other permanent characteristic loss.

Crewmembers are subject to annual physicals, normally performed by the ship’s medical officer and probably done in conjunction with annual ship maintenance. These physicals are notoriously easy to pass: ”You’re telling me that your chief engineer, who has pretty clearly got the Canopian Palsy and, what—narcolepsy?—cleared his last physical?”

In addition, anyone holding a Master’s or Mate’s license must pass an annual psychological screening. Unlike the physicals, these tests are no joke: absolutely no one wants to take any risk with a multi-megacredit vessel capable of acting as a kinetic weapon of mass destruction. If you use the Sanity characteristic, this might be a SAN 6+ check. If not, perhaps a similar INT or SOC check. The Solomani Confederation probably performs a security check as well, even for civilians—maybe especially for civilians.

Crew Salaries

MgT2 High Guard notes that the salary “values on the Crew Requirements table shows a monthly average for skill level 1 crew, with the presumption that +50% will be added for every skill level above this.” The salary increase for higher skill levels is pretty extreme; I much prefer CT’s more modest +10% increase per additional skill level (The Traveller Book 52, 55). 

A ship’s master or executive officer is paid either for that position or whatever crew positions they serve in, whichever is greater. An executive officer (base salary Cr8,000) with Pilot 1 and Astrogation 0 serving as the ship’s pilot (base salary Cr6,000) and astrogator (base salary Cr5,000) would be paid Cr8,250—75% of the sum of the pilot’s and astrogator’s pay.

A Traveller can act in a position they aren’t certified for, but they can’t be paid for that position. All ships are required to designate a master, but only someone with a Master’s License can get paid a master’s salary.

Crew Positions

So, putting all of this together, here are my house rules for the qualifications and salary ranges for common starship crew positions. I’ve also added some background information from T20 and GT for the various crew positions since surprisingly, CT, MT, and MgT don’t actually provide much detail.

Master/Captain (Cr10,000 monthly): All ships require a commanding officer, who is usually termed the master or captain of the vessel, whatever their actual rank may be. Exactly who is in charge can vary from day to day. The master is personally responsible for the safety of the ship and everyone aboard, plus everyone who might be affected by the actions of the ship and her crew. The master must hold a Master’s License in order to draw a captain’s salary.

Executive Officer/First Officer (Cr8,000 monthly): The executive officer is the next most senior crewmember in rank and is second-in-command. Ideally, a commercial ship of 200 tons or more carries three licensed mates or masters in order to stand watches on the bridge, though this can be a heavy lift for a small ship. An executive officer must hold either a Master’s or Mate’s License in order to draw an XO’s salary.

Pilot (Cr6,000 monthly): The pilot is responsible for maneuvering the starship through normal space. While computer assistance takes much of the labor out of this task, a pilot is necessary in case of emergency. Each spacecraft and small craft requires a pilot, who must have a Pilot’s License for the appropriate craft. Pilots are paid an additional 10% for every skill level above 1 in the appropriate Pilot speciality. Any ship should ideally have at least one backup pilot and this is a legal requirement for passenger ships.

Astrogator (Cr5,000 monthly): The astrogator plots the ship’s course through jumpspace and operates the ship’s controls when in jumpspace. Despite the assistance of computers, jump plotting requires a lot of “feel” and a good astrogator is a valuable asset. The astrogator will usually handle real-space course plotting as well. A ship must carry a minimum of one astrogator (Astrogation 0 or better) if a jump drive is installed. Astrogators are paid an additional 10% for every skill level above 0 in Astrogation.

Engineer (Cr4,000 monthly): The engineer is responsible for jump and maneuver drives, power plant, and all technical matters and is usually also responsible for general maintenance. Any ship must have one engineer per 35 tons of drives and power plant. Engineers must possess either an Assistant Engineer’s License or Chief Engineer’s License. If there is more than one engineer, then the most skilled (or the oldest) becomes chief engineer. A chief engineer holding a Chief Engineer’s License receives +10% more pay. Any engineer is paid an additional 10% for every skill level above 1 in their highest rated Engineer speciality, plus an additional 10% for every additional Engineer speciality with skill level 1 or more. Thus, a Chief Engineer with Engineer (J-Drive) 2, Engineer (M-Drive) 1, and Engineer (Power) 1 would be entitled to a monthly salary of Cr5,600.

Steward (Cr3,000 monthly): The steward looks after the passengers, cooks meals and prepares drinks, and sometimes provides entertainment. If any high passengers are carried a steward is required. There must be at least one steward (Steward 0 or better) per eight high passengers or 100 middle passengers on the ship. If there is more than one steward, the most skilled is designated chief steward (or purser) and draws 10% more salary. Any steward is paid +10% for every skill level of Steward above 0.

Sensor Operator (Cr3,000 monthly): A Sensor Operator (sensop) operates sensors, communicators, and information systems. The pilot or astrogator often monitors sensors during normal-space flights. While anyone can operate these systems under normal conditions, under stress or in an unusual situation, someone with expertise is needed. Each commercial ship of 400 tons or more must have a sensop with a Sensor Operator’s Certificate. Sensops are paid an additional 10% for every skill level above 1 in their highest rated Electronics speciality, plus an additional 10% for every additional Electronics speciality with 1 or more skill levels.

Medical Officer (Cr2,000 monthly): On small ships a member of the crew may have a basic skill in first aid, but in order to obtain a license to carry passengers, a ship must have a properly trained medical officer. Many medical students take time out to earn a little cash and experience as a free trader medic before finishing their studies. Each starship of 200 tons or more must have a medical officer that must be either a CMT or M.D. In addition, there must be at least one medic per 120 crew and passengers carried. The highest skilled medical officer is designated the ship's doctor and draws 10% more pay. Medical Officers are paid +10% for every skill level of Medic above 1. A surgeon is paid an additional +10%.

Freightmaster (Cr2,000 monthly): A freightmaster is responsible for loading, securing, and offloading freight and cargo. All ships carrying cargo for pay require a freightmaster with a Cargomaster Certificate; on small ships, the freightmaster may double as one of the other officers. Hazardous or other special cargo requires a more advanced certification for safety. Freightmasters are paid +10% for every advanced cargo handler certification held.

Gunnery Officer (Cr1,000 monthly): One gunnery officer with a Turret Gunnery Certificate may be hired per turret on a ship. Ships with mail delivery contracts must be armed and must carry a gunner. Armed small craft require a gunner in addition to the pilot. If there is more than one gunner, the most skilled is designated the chief gunner and draws 10% more pay. Gunnery Officers are paid +10% for every skill level of Gunner (turrets) above 1. The gunner position may be omitted if there is no major threat to the ship.

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