A Newish Mode of Jump Housing - Sort of

[swordtart]

There is no reason why a 2 month long dose of fast drug should be used instead of a 10 day dose and allow them to come out on their own. So the fast drug is cheaper and the antidote not needed, let them come out on their own or pay for the antidote in advance.

Assuming that a "dose" has a defined time-span. It is not indicated that you need to keep taking doses over the 60 day period so does not necessarily follow that you can take a smaller dose with a reduced duration. It doesn't actually say it lasts 60 days, we tend to assume it is 60 days as that is what the time compression is expressed in, and that may be an absolute. In CT the description said a dose lasts 60 days, if you wanted a shorter duration you needed the antidote (at an eyewatering Cr900).

In reality when would you take fast and want it to ever last 60 days. MGT2 talks about it being an alternative to a Low Berth, a dose would be optimised for that, in a general sense you want it to last until you don't need it. If stranded you might want it to last more than 2 months, if using it for travel you only want it to last while the boring bit is happening. It may simply be an on-off type drug, when you take it you operate at the decreased metabolism until you take the antidote, and is "one dose" regardless of the time interval.

There is no indication that the cost of the drug is pro-rata either. Even if you could make it last a variable time, there is no reason why it would necessarily be cheaper for a shorter time period. For most medication if you want a longer effect you take several doses over a period of time, not a larger dose immediately since that will likely kill you. If you take quarter of a dose it may still last 60 days, but have quarter (or less) of the effect (only slowing time to a 15th). That would mean a subjective journey of 24 hours which makes the logistics a bit more difficult and still require the antidote.

If it were cheaper than a low berth, then no-one would use Low berths. Since Low berths and Fast Drug have always co-existed I tend to assume that Fast Drug is not preferred for some reason. Likely it is the relative profit margins and the convenience to the operator. For Fast to win the dose needs to be less than Cr50 per jump to equal the Low Berth, the delta in equipment costs are marginal so I can't see that being a telling factor. You need to to charge Cr500 plus your costs for it to be more profitable than carrying freight (which have no costs over running empty).

MGT2 says that Fast Drug is used "as a cheap substitute for a cryoberth". On face value that implies that travelling on it should be cheaper than going Low, but it doesn't actually say that. Even if Fast Drug did cost Cr500 (drug, antidote plus some life support) per jump and a low berth cost Cr50 per jump, it would take a lot of jumps for the cost of travelling on Fast Drug to be more expensive than the capital cost of the cryoberth plus the running cost.

It depends entirely on your table of course.

 

[Vormaerin]

I think "Cheap substitute for a cryoberth" means you don't have to actually /have/ a cryoberth. Not that it is necessarily a cheaper way for the customer to travel.

 

[Fluffy Bunny Feet]

Assuming that a "dose" has a defined time-span. It is not indicated that you need to keep taking doses over the 60 day period so does not necessarily follow that you can take a smaller dose with a reduced duration. It doesn't actually say it lasts 60 days, we tend to assume it is 60 days as that is what the time compression is expressed in, and that may be an absolute. In CT the description said a dose lasts 60 days, if you wanted a shorter duration you needed the antidote (at an eyewatering Cr900).

Page 106 Classic Traveller "The Traveller Book"

Fast drug is named because i t makes the universe (to its
user) appear to move much more quickly; the drug slows
down personal metabolism at a ratio of approximately 60
to 1. Users are extremely vulnerable because they are living
a t such a slow rate; but physical aging is also slowed, and
the need for consumable supplies is reduced, thus allowing
conservation of air and food. Fast drug takes effect im-
mediately upon ingestion; one dose lasts for 60 days,
making that time appear t o be only one day.

I'd assume unless it was explicitly changed by Mongoose that this is still canon.

 

[rinku]

Yeah, Mongoose seems to have skipped over duration, but there's no real reason not to use the 60 days that CT does.

It depends on how rapid the natural tail off is. It might not be wholly predictable and without the antidote side effects might linger for days to weeks; there are possibly practical reasons to apply the antidote before the passenger departs, and to include it as part of the package.

As well, it may be that a smaller dose won't do the job. One beer does not get most people drunk - it may be that the dosage of Fast Drug required for the effect to take place always means a duration or about 2 months. It could well be that a 10 day natural duration also means a lesser effect - proportionally that would be 10:1 (which might indeed be acceptable). Or... it may not be enough to affect the metabolism enough to matter. A 10 day dose might just give you a groggy, slurring passenger that does not sleep that you have to really keep a close eye on for a week.

 

[Fluffy Bunny Feet]

It depends on how rapid the natural tail off is. It might not be wholly predictable and without the antidote side effects might linger for days to weeks; there are possibly practical reasons to apply the antidote before the passenger departs, and to include it as part of the package.

As well, it may be that a smaller dose won't do the job. One beer does not get most people drunk - it may be that the dosage of Fast Drug required for the effect to take place always means a duration or about 2 months. It could well be that a 10 day natural duration also means a lesser effect - proportionally that would be 10:1 (which might indeed be acceptable). Or... it may not be enough to affect the metabolism enough to matter. A 10 day dose might just give you a groggy, slurring passenger that does not sleep that you have to really keep a close eye on for a week.

Anything in actual official publications to indicate any of that?

 

[swordtart]

Page 106 Classic Traveller "The Traveller Book"



I'd assume unless it was explicitly changed by Mongoose that this is still canon.

If you go by the CT ruling (or MT etc.), one dose lasts 60 days. There is no indication that you can have a "part dose". By the rules, if you want it to end before 60 days you have to take the antidote.

You can house rule it how you wish, but there is no evidence for part doses.

 

[Fluffy Bunny Feet]

If you go by the CT ruling (or MT etc.), one dose lasts 60 days. There is no indication that you can have a "part dose". By the rules, if you want it to end before 60 days you have to take the antidote.

You can house rule it how you wish, but there is no evidence for part doses.

Just as there aren't any (to my limited knowledge) for all the side effects and limits Rinku proposed.

I think what I will do is assume that the per/dose cost is 200 Cr as the rule currently specifies but that is because it needs to be adjusted to you personally and the drug itself is dirt cheap so whether the dose give you 6 hours or 60 days it is the same price. 60 days might just be the safe limit to be under. This works with the current edition not giving anything but the time ratio. So the standard drug for a single jump would put you under for 10-12 days depending on how much extra time is needed for actual final clearances to launch and how long before you expect to launch the fast passengers are boarded.

You'd probably need a certain medic level and TL level for the equipment used to provide an "accurate time". Now how accurate can it be and what might affect the accuracy?

Since fast becomes available at TL 10 one might assume that as a new drug you can have it at TL 9 but at extortionate prices and probably wildly inaccurate in how long it keeps you under. Low berths don't have a minimum TL for some reason but I'd likely put it as minimum TL 8-9, so it is available first.

 

[swordtart]

Just as there aren't any (to my limited knowledge) for all the side effects and limits Rinku proposed.

I couldn't find anything, it's all very vague (or rather very specific but only for the situation directly discussed).

I think what I will do is assume that the per/dose cost is 200 Cr as the rule currently specifies but that is because it needs to be adjusted to you personally and the drug itself is dirt cheap so whether the dose give you 6 hours or 60 days it is the same price. 60 days might just be the safe limit to be under. This works with the current edition not giving anything but the time ratio. So the standard drug for a single jump would put you under for 10-12 days depending on how much extra time is needed for actual final clearances to launch and how long before you expect to launch the fast passengers are boarded.

That would be my feeling too. The antidote can be reserved for emergency restoration and the duration tuned by medical magic, but at fixed cost.

You'd probably need a certain medic level and TL level for the equipment used to provide an "accurate time". Now how accurate can it be and what might affect the accuracy?

I want to steer clear of this requirement. Given the time in jump can be variable making an "accurate dose" is more art than science. I'd like Fast Drug to be more expensive than a conventional Low Berth but a little more convenient in not needing a real medic. Of the drugs in CSC only the Medicinal Drugs on p93 require a medic check, most just work. The rules already allows for 1D hours variability in recovery.

Since fast becomes available at TL 10 one might assume that as a new drug you can have it at TL 9 but at extortionate prices and probably wildly inaccurate in how long it keeps you under. Low berths don't have a minimum TL for some reason but I'd likely put it as minimum TL 8-9, so it is available first.

Robot Handbook gives the Low Berth option for a medical chamber coming in at TL10 (same TL as the Cryoberth).

 

[Fluffy Bunny Feet]

Robot Handbook gives the Low Berth option for a medical chamber coming in at TL10 (same TL as the Cryoberth).

Not on my list of acquired books unfortunately. One of several I'd like to get.

 

[swordtart]

Not on my list of acquired books unfortunately. One of several I'd like to get.

Bundle of Holding two Traveller offers on presently.

This one has the Robot handbook is in it. Less than the cost of a single book for 5 of them. The Imperial Navy one is also useful, I am getting it just for the Naval campaigns.

 

[rinku]

No. I was just making suggestions based on how real world drugs operate. The nearest equivalent would probably be a general anaesthetic or maybe some of the psychoactive drugs. As others have pointed out, allowing a 10 day duration is itself a house rule and seems to me be in the zone of underdosing a patient's general anaesthetic. Which means they might be numbed but still awake in the case of the GA, or be sluggish but not experiencing that much time dilation in the case of Fast Drug.