Each adventuring ship has a continuing need for money to pay expenses such as crew salary, maintenance, life support, and other supplies. This cash flow is handled through the Ship’s Account —Traveller5 Book 1, p 30.
I never set out to play Papers and Paychecks. But Traveller, with its mortgages, salaries, maintenance funds, and pensions can sometimes feel a little like it. And when you like to tinker with the rules as much as I do, understanding the ramifications of all that tinkering is pretty important.
An ideal Traveller campaign will provide enough rewards to let the players feel successful but to also keep them hungry enough to continue to strike out into the blackness of space. Given the complexity of starship economics, further complicated by some house rules, it’s pretty easy to get the balance out of whack: either the players are so flush they have no incentive to adventure, or so poor that they can’t hope to keep up with a crushing ship payment.
It took me a few iterations to finally come up with an armed packet design that I felt comfortable with, and then modify that for the PC’s Starjammer. I needed to figure crew requirements and salaries for starships, maintenance costs, and even berthing fees.
The only way to test this all was to build the ship’s account and then track the revenues and expenses across a few different games. I built a fairly simple spreadsheet that also helped me keep track of in-game time. The following table is a decent representation of my sheet:
| Date | Location | Transaction (Cr) | Description | Balance (Cr) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 243-1102 | Stanko (A555649-C) | 750,000 | 1st Payment for KST Charter | 750,000 |
| 247-1102 | Stanko (A555649-C) | (250,000) | Replacement Delgado XS-7 missiles (12) | 500,000 |
| 249-1102 | Stanko (A555649-C) | (45,500) | Fuel (91 tons, refined) | 454,500 |
| 250-1102 | Stanko (A555649-C) | (15,000) | Berthing Fees (35 days, Class A)1 | 439,500 |
| 250-1102 | Stanko (A555649-C) | (720) | Cargo Handling (18 tons) | 438,780 |
| 278-1102 | Double (A541500-E) | (45,500) | Fuel (91 tons, refined) | 393,280 |
| 278-1102 | Double (A541500-E) | (33,800) | Renew Life Support Systems2 | 359,480 |
| 278-1102 | Double (A541500-E) | (7,797) | Annual Maintenance Fund3 | 351,683 |
| 278-1102 | Double (A541500-E) | (35,225) | Crew Salaries | 316,458 |
| 279-1102 | Double (A541500-E) | (2,339) | Monthly Maintenance | 314,119 |
| 285-1102 | Double (A541500-E) | (3,000) | Berthing Fees (8 days, Class A orbital) | 311,119 |
| 292-1102 | Goodhurst (A535649-D) | (45,000) | Fuel (90 tons, refined) | 266,119 |
| 298-1102 | Goodhurst (A535649-D) | (500) | Berthing Costs (Class A) | 265,619 |
| 305-1102 | Chorus (A944768-C) | (45,500) | Fuel (91 tons, refined) | 220,119 |
| 305-1102 | Chorus (A944768-C) | (37,800) | Renew Life Support Systems | 182,319 |
| 306-1102 | Chorus (A944768-C) | (2,339) | Monthly Maintenance | 179,980 |
| 307-1102 | Chorus (A944768-C) | (7,797) | Annual Maintenance Fund | 172,183 |
| 307-1102 | Chorus (A944768-C) | (35,225) | Crew Salaries | 136,958 |
| 311-1102 | Chorus (A944768-C) | (1,000) | Berthing Fees (Class A orbital) | 135,958 |
| 319-1102 | Xian (B7B48DC-9) | (45,000) | Fuel (90 tons, refined) | 90,958 |
| 322-1102 | Xian (B7B48DC-9) | (750) | Berthing Fees (Class B orbital) | 90,208 |
| 350-1102 | Wu (B66A99A-E) | (57,417) | Crew Salaries (includes hazard pay)4 | 32,791 |
| 352-1102 | Wu (B66A99A-E) | (720) | Cargo Handling (18 tons) | 32,071 |
| 352-1102 | Wu (B66A99A-E) | (7,797) | Annual Maintenance Fund | 24,274 |
| 352-1102 | Wu (B66A99A-E) | (2,339) | Monthly Maintenance | 21,935 |
| 356-1102 | Wu (B66A99A-E) | 250,000 | 2nd Payment for KST Charter | 271,935 |
| 358-1102 | Wu (B66A99A-E) | (180,000) | Crew Bonuses | 91,935 |
| 004-1103 | Wu (B66A99A-E) | (35,225) | Crew Salaries | 56,710 |
| 011-1103 | Wu (B66A99A-E) | 650,000 | 1st Payment for Ross Charter | 706,710 |
| 012-1103 | Wu (B66A99A-E) | (45,500) | Fuel (91 tons, refined) | 661,210 |
| 012-1103 | Wu (B66A99A-E) | (37,800) | Renew Life Support Systems | 623,410 |
| 012-1103 | Wu (B66A99A-E) | (7,797) | Annual Maintenance Fund | 615,613 |
| 012-1103 | Wu (B66A99A-E) | (2,339) | Monthly Maintenance | 613,274 |
| 012-1103 | Wu (B66A99A-E) | (16,500) | Berthing Fees (27 days, Class B Orbital) | 596,774 |
| 019-1103 | Linate (A200544-E) | (30,000) | Fuel (60 tons, refined) | 566,774 |
| 021-1103 | Linate (A200544-E) | (500) | Berthing Fees (Class A) | 566,274 |
| 029-1103 | Angle (A977223-A) | (30,500) | Fuel (61 tons, refined) | 535,774 |
| 029-1103 | Angle (A977223-A) | (36,500) | Renew Life Support Systems | 499,274 |
| 029-1103 | Angle (A977223-A) | (7,797) | Annual Maintenance Fund | 491,477 |
| 029-1103 | Angle (A977223-A) | (2,339) | Monthly Maintenance | 489,138 |
| 030-1103 | Angle (A977223-A) | (42,064) | Crew Salaries (includes hazard pay) | 447,074 |
| 032-1103 | Angle (A977223-A) | (500) | Berthing Fees (Class A) | 446,574 |
| 039-1103 | Colcan (B9C5268-9) | (30,000) | Fuel (60 tons, refined) | 416,574 |
| 040-1103 | Colcan (B9C5268-9) | (750) | Berthing Fees (Class B, Orbital) | 415,824 |
| 047-1103 | Wang (D789899-2) | (9,100) | Fuel (91 tons, unrefined) | 406,724 |
| 047-1103 | Wang (D789899-2) | (36,500) | Renew Life Support Systems | 370,224 |
| 060-1103 | Wang (D789899-2) | (7,797) | Annual Maintenance Fund | 362,427 |
| 065-1103 | Wang (D789899-2) | (37,225) | Crew Salaries | 325,202 |
| 065-1103 | Wang (D789899-2) | (700) | Berthing Fees (19 days, Class D) | 324,502 |
| 065-1103 | Wang (D789899-2) | (100) | Port Guide Fee | 324,402 |
| 065-1103 | Wang (D789899-2) | (15,233) | Starport Fines | 309,169 |
| 072-1103 | Colcan (B9C5268-9) | (45,000) | Fuel (90 tons, refined) | 264,169 |
| 075-1103 | Colcan (B9C5268-9) | (750) | Berthing Fees (Class B, Orbital) | 263,419 |
| 083-1103 | Baconan (C574534-7) | (9,100) | Fuel (91 tons, unrefined) | 254,319 |
| 085-1103 | Baconan (C574534-7) | (100) | Berthing Fees (Class C) | 254,219 |
| 092-1103 | Wu (B66A99A-E) | (45,000) | Fuel (90 tons, refined) | 209,219 |
| 092-1103 | Wu (B66A99A-E) | (34,500) | Renew Life Support Systems | 174,719 |
| 092-1103 | Wu (B66A99A-E) | (7,797) | Annual Maintenance Fund | 166,922 |
| 093-1103 | Wu (B66A99A-E) | (2,339) | Monthly Maintenance | 164,583 |
| 094-1103 | Wu (B66A99A-E) | 650,000 | 2nd Payment, Ross Charter | 814,583 |
| 095-1103 | Wu (B66A99A-E) | (37,225) | Crew Salaries | 777,358 |
| 095-1103 | Wu (B66A99A-E) | (180,000) | Crew Bonuses | 597,358 |
| 102-1103 | Wu (B66A99A-E) | (250,000) | Replacement Air/Raft | 347,358 |
| 103-1103 | Wu (B66A99A-E) | (750) | Berthing Costs (Class B Orbital) | 346,608 |
Notes
1 Berthing fees are per the T20 schedule.
2 Per CT Beltstrike, “Life support supplies include food, air, and water (to replace leakage from the recycling process), and consumable elements of the life support system, such as filters, CO2 absorbers, and so on.”
3 The Purser allocates Cr7,797 each month to a separate maintenance fund in anticipation of the ship’s annual overhaul (Cr93,564 total). Meanwhile, the Chief Engineer performs his own monthly maintenance to the tune of Cr2,339/month. Per our house rules, each monthly maintenance reduces the annual overhaul cost by 5%, up to 50%. So if all goes according to plan, the Chief Engineer’s efforts will reduce the annual overhaul costs to Cr46,782 and the savings can be transfered back to the Ship’s Account.
4 Hazard pay is double for work in Amber Zones and quintuple for work in Red Zones. See GURPS Traveller: Far Trader 27.
After reviewing the cashflow over about six months of game time, I think I am generally in the zone for balancing rewards and demands.
Charters appear to be a reasonably viable way for the Starjammer to make a living. The Owner had enough revenue to cover all expenses and even pay out some nice bonuses to the crew. (The Starjammer does not have a formal profit-sharing agreement, so Sonny was generous enough to just issue everyone equal shares.)
But that said, ongoing costs steadily ate away at the ship’s account: by 352-1102 the account didn’t have enough funds to make payroll or pay for a refueling. The Owner would clearly not be able to berth the ship and take a six-month sabbatical. A few unexpected repairs and the wolf could be at the airlock.
The cashflow is helped immensely by not having a mortgage payment: with one, the Starjammer would be deep in the red: six months of mortage would have been MCr4.678! Instead, the ship was a gift from Duchess Shanika Adelbert in exchange for the PC’s discretion regarding a matter of great delicacy.
In retrospect, a much, much better arrangement would have been for her to have retained an ownership stake in the ship. This would have added a bit more economic pressure but would not have been nearly as onerous as a full mortgage. But it would have also kept the PCs a bit more connected to this powerful patron, allowing her to more frequently call on them to render some new service for the Duchy of Walpurgis.
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