In Classic Traveller, there are five canonical starship expenses: (1) Fuel, (2) Life Support, (3) Routine [Annual] Maintenance, (4) Crew Salaries, and (5) Berthing Costs. The first four expenses are fairly large, generally costing tens of thousands of credits, but berthing costs are so cheap as to be almost negligible in comparison: Cr100 to land and remain for up to six days, and Cr100 for each additional day spent in port. Why track such a small expense?
Mongoose Traveller does a few interesting things with berthing costs: First, berthing costs increase with starport quality. Berthing at a Class A port will cost thousands of credits, while berthing at a Class D port will only cost dozens of credits. Second, MgT introduces a random element into the calculation, so the expense of berthing varies. I like this approach quite a bit, and use this system for non-aligned worlds in the Buffer Zone of Dark Nebula.
The Third Imperium, however, and to a lesser extent the Solomani Confederation, takes great pains to standardize starport charges. And as I looked through different editions, I was once again struck by how neatly and elegantly T20 handled this topic. I use the following table, adopted from the T20 core rules, for starport fees in the Imperium or Confederation:
| Starport Type | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category | Service | A | B | C | D | E/X |
| Landing Rights1 | (24 hour max) | 100 | 50 | 20 | 10 | – |
| Berthing2 | Landing and Berthing (up to 6 days) | 500 | 250 | 100 | 50 | – |
| Berthing (per day after 6) | 500 | 250 | 100 | 50 | – | |
| Orbital Berthing3 | (up to 6 days) | 100 | 50 | 20 | 10 | – |
| (per day after 6) | 100 | 50 | 20 | 10 | – | |
| Cargo Handling (per ton) | Standard | 40 | 30 | 20 | 10 | – |
| Security | 50 | 40 | 30 | 20 | – | |
| Hazardous | 70 | 60 | 50 | 40 | – | |
| Cargo Shuttle Service (per ton) | Standard | 30 | 20 | 10 | 5 | – |
| Security | 40 | 30 | 20 | 10 | – | |
| Hazardous | 60 | 50 | 40 | 30 | – | |
| Passenger Shuttle Service | (single passenger, 200 kg baggage) | 100 | 75 | 50 | 25 | – |
| Warehousing (per week per ton) | Standard | 15 | 10 | 5 | – | – |
| Security/Refrigerated | 25 | 15 | 10 | – | – | |
| Hazardous | 50 | 25 | 15 | – | – | |
1 One-time docking and departure clearance at the starport, no other services.
2 Add Cr500 to the listed costs for orbital starports.
3 Provides an orbital “parking slot” where a ship may remain during its stay.
Copyright Information
The Type R illustration at the beginning of the blog is by Jesse DeGraff and appeared in GURPS Traveller: Far Trader (2004), published by Steve Jackson games.
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I like this and will adopt your table :) the only thing I may also do is adjust the costs based on trade codes: rich worlds are 1.5 times the cost, poor 0.5 times the cost for berths.
ReplyDeleteI almost want to make a port fee per planet now and take into account population, TL, government. Probably won't but I think it could add more flavor so that every port has its own distinct pricing structure. If you are into that level of detail (and as I mostly play solo at this point, guess I am interested in that level of detail!)
There definitely needs to be some variation on port fees for ships. I like what you've done so far, but I'd go further.
ReplyDeleteIf you look at the fees that ports charge, you will find some which are flat rates for all ships, some based on length, some based on Gross Tonnage (an indirect measure of volume) and some per service provided.
I think your rates for cargo handling and warehousing might be to high. How many 1 dTon containers per hour would a stevedore (earning Cr20ph) be able to load/unload? Take that number and divide by 40 (to reflect wages, overhead costs and port profit) and you have the rate per dTon. The hourly wages per stevedore might vary according to port class and TL, but so would the cargo volume they can shift per hour thanks to improved mechanisation, so the charge per dTon might work out roughly the same.
Good thoughts. My players haven't hauled a lot of cargo so I've never really stress-tested some of those handling costs.
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