The Strange Economics of Space Travel in RPGs
I’ve been doing prep work in anticipation of running Terracide in a few weeks. The players will have a starship, and are likely to be carrying cargo and passengers around. So I’ve been reading those sections of the rulebooks in Terracide, Traveller and the like. But I’m having a lot of WTF moments…
One of the main ones is what it costs to travel in Terracide - you can send a ton of freight to Proxima Centauri for $200 per light year (4.2 x 200 = $840), but if you want to go there on holiday, it will cost $33,600 for your return trip. And that’s the flights alone! That’s because passenger travel costs $4000 per light year.
For instance, in the setting background the TGO Corporation moved their HQ from UV Ceti to Kruger 60. Assuming they took the shortest route, that’s 3 jumps, totalling 22.3 light years... and thus costs $89,200 per person who was relocated. Of course, perhaps they decided that would put too big a dent into company profits and they instead sent their personnel in hibernation capsules. That would only cost $4460 per person.
So maybe the game designers want to encourage hibernation as the standard way to travel? One strand of evidence pointing to that is the existence of genetically engineered people who can hibernate at will. However, there is also a standard ‘cargo module’ to bolt onto your ship. That module can carry 100 passengers, awake and walking around for the whole 20 day voyage to Proxima Centauri.
What, you ask, is the problem? Well, the standard ship that the rulebook suggest for PCs to own is a smidgen under 26 metres long. So this passenger module is for that odd class of person - rich enough to be able to afford $33,600 for a round trip, but desperate enough that they are prepared to do so in a shipping container!
Traveller (Mongoose version) has a different quirk. Again you can travel to Proxima as a regular passenger (approx. $3000 to $3900) or in hibernation ($1000 to $1300). But if you pick the hibernation option YOU MIGHT DIE! That’s right, you’ve coughed up $1000 to fly ‘budget air’ and you might not survive the experience. In fact, using Mongoose’s own probability table on p49 of the rulebook, if an ordinary person (no Endurance modifier) is revived from hibernation by a competent GP (+2 skill) and this is a routine task for that GP (+2 modifier), then there is a 91.67% chance of success.
Or to put that in ‘holiday plans’ terms: 8 of the 100 people who boarded the ship with you are now dead. Who are these people with $1000 to burn and a death wish???
Meanwhile economics in the Serenity (Firefly) RPG has become a running joke in our campaign, especially the cost of hand grenades, which are $1.80 each. We generally take the piss with dialogue like this:
Captain: Welcome to our ship, passenger. Here is the key to your cabin, where you will find a mint on your pillow and a complementary box of grenades.
Space travel is cheap in the Serenity universe - that same trip to Proxima Centauri will cost a mere $50 to $255. In fact lots of things are ludicrously cheap. But fresh fruit and veg are extortionate! Our GM is basing all his food cost calculations on that scene where Shepherd Book pays for his passage with a small box of strawberries.
Comparative data on a one-way trip from Earth to Proxima Centauri in various RPGs
SYSTEM IN HIBERNATION REGULAR PASSENGER
Traveller $1300 $3900
Terracide $2230 $16800
2300AD $2000 flat fee $4200
Serenity n/a $170 average
Battlestar Galactica n/a Free - but there’s a Cylon Basestar waiting for you.
Doctor Who n/a Hang on a minute… this isn’t Proxima Centauri. We’re on Metebelis III.
One of the main ones is what it costs to travel in Terracide - you can send a ton of freight to Proxima Centauri for $200 per light year (4.2 x 200 = $840), but if you want to go there on holiday, it will cost $33,600 for your return trip. And that’s the flights alone! That’s because passenger travel costs $4000 per light year.
For instance, in the setting background the TGO Corporation moved their HQ from UV Ceti to Kruger 60. Assuming they took the shortest route, that’s 3 jumps, totalling 22.3 light years... and thus costs $89,200 per person who was relocated. Of course, perhaps they decided that would put too big a dent into company profits and they instead sent their personnel in hibernation capsules. That would only cost $4460 per person.
So maybe the game designers want to encourage hibernation as the standard way to travel? One strand of evidence pointing to that is the existence of genetically engineered people who can hibernate at will. However, there is also a standard ‘cargo module’ to bolt onto your ship. That module can carry 100 passengers, awake and walking around for the whole 20 day voyage to Proxima Centauri.
What, you ask, is the problem? Well, the standard ship that the rulebook suggest for PCs to own is a smidgen under 26 metres long. So this passenger module is for that odd class of person - rich enough to be able to afford $33,600 for a round trip, but desperate enough that they are prepared to do so in a shipping container!
Traveller (Mongoose version) has a different quirk. Again you can travel to Proxima as a regular passenger (approx. $3000 to $3900) or in hibernation ($1000 to $1300). But if you pick the hibernation option YOU MIGHT DIE! That’s right, you’ve coughed up $1000 to fly ‘budget air’ and you might not survive the experience. In fact, using Mongoose’s own probability table on p49 of the rulebook, if an ordinary person (no Endurance modifier) is revived from hibernation by a competent GP (+2 skill) and this is a routine task for that GP (+2 modifier), then there is a 91.67% chance of success.
Or to put that in ‘holiday plans’ terms: 8 of the 100 people who boarded the ship with you are now dead. Who are these people with $1000 to burn and a death wish???
Meanwhile economics in the Serenity (Firefly) RPG has become a running joke in our campaign, especially the cost of hand grenades, which are $1.80 each. We generally take the piss with dialogue like this:
Captain: Welcome to our ship, passenger. Here is the key to your cabin, where you will find a mint on your pillow and a complementary box of grenades.
Space travel is cheap in the Serenity universe - that same trip to Proxima Centauri will cost a mere $50 to $255. In fact lots of things are ludicrously cheap. But fresh fruit and veg are extortionate! Our GM is basing all his food cost calculations on that scene where Shepherd Book pays for his passage with a small box of strawberries.
Comparative data on a one-way trip from Earth to Proxima Centauri in various RPGs
SYSTEM IN HIBERNATION REGULAR PASSENGER
Traveller $1300 $3900
Terracide $2230 $16800
2300AD $2000 flat fee $4200
Serenity n/a $170 average
Battlestar Galactica n/a Free - but there’s a Cylon Basestar waiting for you.
Doctor Who n/a Hang on a minute… this isn’t Proxima Centauri. We’re on Metebelis III.