Ask MongooseMatt ANYTHING!!!

[Terry Mixon]

Okay, not really anything, but when we post questions about the rules or potential typos in the feedback area, we often don't receive a response, so I'm creating this thread in the hopes of getting some response to questions we have, even if it is "we're looking at that" or some such.

I'll kick this off with a question I posted a few days ago. The emergency low berths in High Guard 2022 Update are listed at MC1 a pop. Seems real pricy since Mongoose 1e and all the previous versions of Traveller we checked had it being KCr100. In Mongoose 1e, it was listed as MCr.1 and we suspect a typo. Can we get some clartity on that so we can update the starship build sheet to reflect what we suspect if we're right? Thanks.

Also, allow me to suggest that adding KCr, BCr (or GCr to please @Geir), and TCr to your repertoire would be really helpful and would minimize the complaints about not having comma separation in your big numbers, too.

And sorry for all the wild AMA questions you're about to get @MongooseMatt.

 

[ottarrus]

@Mongoose Matt

VERY off the wall question!

Regarding the Telepath or Clairvoyance Psionic powers:
Can a Telepath or Clairvoyant project an image into a mechanical device?
For example, a clairvoyant perceives a sequence of events. They want to store the experience on a format that can be accessed by others even when they [the clairvoyant] are not present. Can they record the vision like a film into a mechanical device or must they verbally describe it or draw it or otherwise record the experience manually?

It would seem to me that the Zhodani would possess the technology to record the vision directly, like a film or 3V, but this technology is very rare in the Imperium.

 

[MongooseMatt]

Can a Telepath or Clairvoyant project an image into a mechanical device?

As it stands, no.

However, it is not beyond the possible that someone, somewhere in Charted Space, has figured out how to do this.

 

[Condottiere]

Here's something that puzzled me, for the past couple of years.

It costs a kilostarbux to turn on the air conditioning in a default stateroom, and another one per occupant.

1. What happens when you have three occupants in a four tonne stateroom?

2. What if that extra occupant is a rugrat?

3. Or two?

4. Does that mean for every human onboard, regardless of number of staterooms, life support will cost a kilostarbux, per?

5. And, if so, where's that life support coming from?

6. How much does a cow cost for life support, if installed in a default stateroom?

 

[ottarrus]

As it stands, no.

However, it is not beyond the possible that someone, somewhere in Charted Space, has figured out how to do this.

Well, that'd make recording the images from the Tobiak device the Zhos base their Core Expeditions on a lot more complicated. OTOH, it is more logical from an OTU technological standpoint.
Perhaps the Zhos record the experience on a wafer chip? That might circumvent the problem.

 

[boggo2300]

Here's something that puzzled me, for the past couple of years.

It costs a kilostarbux to turn on the air conditioning in a default stateroom, and another one per occupant.

1. What happens when you have three occupants in a four tonne stateroom?

2. What if that extra occupant is a rugrat?

3. Or two?

4. Does that mean for every human onboard, regardless of number of staterooms, life support will cost a kilostarbux, per?

5. And, if so, where's that life support coming from?

6. How much does a cow cost for life support, if installed in a default stateroom?

it says it quite clearly,

Cr.1000 for every stateroom, even if it's unoccupied
Cr.1000 for every person on board the ship, this is in addition to the monthly life support cost for any and all staterooms, and is unrelated to it.

Three people cannot live in 1 stateroom, only 2
The life support comes from the ships life-support systems, it's what they are for after all..
If you want to houserule that life support for two children is the same as for 1 adult, or that 2 children can take up one occupancy in a stateroom thats reasonable.

 

[Terry Mixon]

For passengers we tend to assume one per, unless the ship is really a 'pack 'em in' type design.

I can work with this. Except for cruise liners in the other thread. It really feels like they would skew heavily toward double occupancy based on couples wanting to travel together. Would you agree with that as a general assumption?

 

[MongooseMatt]

I can work with this. Except for cruise liners in the other thread. It really feels like they would skew heavily toward double occupancy based on couples wanting to travel together. Would you agree with that as a general assumption?

I would say that, in general and certainly on lower class liners, every stateroom has one bed plus another that gets folded down above it as and when, so you can sell each stateroom as a single or a twin.

The problem, and this we have never tackled, is what you do when a customer wants a double The once strong Puritan Spacelines has been losing business of late.

In game terms? Honestly, I would keep all staterooms the same cost and size, and assume they have simply been configured as singles, twins (or single/twin) or doubles.

Any deeper rules than this are probably madness, but we may do a cheeky 'spaceliners' book sometime in the future where we go into detail on staterooms and common area configuration. Or maybe someone in the TAS programme will beat us to it...

 

[CordwainerFish]

Any deeper rules than this are probably madness

Someone should sell paperweights with that on them.

 

[Terry Mixon]

I would say that, in general and certainly on lower class liners, every stateroom has one bed plus another that gets folded down above it as and when, so you can sell each stateroom as a single or a twin.

The problem, and this we have never tackled, is what you do when a customer wants a double The once strong Puritan Spacelines has been losing business of late.

In game terms? Honestly, I would keep all staterooms the same cost and size, and assume they have simply been configured as singles, twins (or single/twin) or doubles.

Any deeper rules than this are probably madness, but we may do a cheeky 'spaceliners' book sometime in the future where we go into detail on staterooms and common area configuration. Or maybe someone in the TAS programme will beat us to it...

I can agree with all of this but I’ll repeat the question. For an experience cruse—in general—would you agree that the passenger complement would skew toward double occupancy? No rules needed to make the staterooms change. Just a steward to adjust the fold out bed to lay right next to the other bed and make it a double. I’m talking how passengers would come and expect to be housed.

 

[Condottiere]

it says it quite clearly,

Cr.1000 for every stateroom, even if it's unoccupied
Cr.1000 for every person on board the ship, this is in addition to the monthly life support cost for any and all staterooms, and is unrelated to it.

Three people cannot live in 1 stateroom, only 2
The life support comes from the ships life-support systems, it's what they are for after all..
If you want to houserule that life support for two children is the same as for 1 adult, or that 2 children can take up one occupancy in a stateroom thats reasonable.

Actually, by introducing half a dozen more options, Mongoose confused the issue.

This is a secure chamber with reinforced walls and a door that can be manually locked from the outside. Designed to hold up to six prisoners, it can uncomfortably hold double that number in a pinch. There are no internal facilities or controls, save for a curtained fresher and six pull down slabs that can be used as beds. Although intended for restraining captives or crew held on a charge, quite often the majority of time a brig is actually used as a temporary office or storage area.

A brig consumes 4 tons and costs MCr0.25. Life support costs are Cr250 per ton.

1. Does the life support cost increase, when you double the number of prisoners from six to twelve, in a four tonne cell?

2. Are we paying one kilostarbux per prisoner, in addition?

3. Wouldn't it be cheaper just to throw them out the airlock?

4. Especially, since they appear to be diluting the life support pool?

5. And in terms of operating overhead, we could take the brute force approach, and switch off power to a stateroom, which should eliminate that operating expense.

 

[MongooseMatt]

I can agree with all of this but I’ll repeat the question. For an experience cruse—in general—would you agree that the passenger complement would skew toward double occupancy? No rules needed to make the staterooms change. Just a steward to adjust the fold out bed to lay right next to the other bed and make it a double. I’m talking how passengers would come and expect to be housed.

For a cruise ship, probably not - I mean... I wouldn't want to go on a ship like that

For a 'budget' lines passenger ship, might make a degree of sense.

It really would depend on what you want to reflect with a particular ship or spaceline.

 

[Terry Mixon]

For a cruise ship, probably not - I mean... I wouldn't want to go on a ship like that

For a 'budget' lines passenger ship, might make a degree of sense.

It really would depend on what you want to reflect with a particular ship or spaceline.

I’m just trying to fit human nature into this. People going on vacation and experience things like crises will bring family.

Maybe the adjoining doors suggested earlier is a better way to go. If, as I would expect, a lot of couples go on these cruises, they would reserve two adjoining cabins. One for sleeping and the other for living. It has been flitting around my brain but the other person stated it better and the idea has gelled.

 

[MasterGwydion]

it says it quite clearly,

Cr.1000 for every stateroom, even if it's unoccupied

So let Me get this straight... This 1,000Cr per stateroom covers what exactly?

"Life Support and Supplies: Each stateroom on a ship costs Cr1000 every Maintenance Period. This cost covers supplies for the life support system as well as food and water, although meals at this level will be rather spartan. Each person on board a ship who is not in a low berth will cost an additional Cr1000 every Maintenance Period in life support costs. Each occupied low berth costs Cr100 every Maintenance Period."

Food. It covers food and some other stuff. How is an empty stateroom costing food?

Cr.1000 for every person on board the ship, this is in addition to the monthly life support cost for any and all staterooms, and is unrelated to it.

Which does not include food. Actually, I cannot find anywhere that tells Me what this 1,000Cr per person actually pays for.

 

[boggo2300]

Actually, by introducing half a dozen more options, Mongoose confused the issue.

This is a secure chamber with reinforced walls and a door that can be manually locked from the outside. Designed to hold up to six prisoners, it can uncomfortably hold double that number in a pinch. There are no internal facilities or controls, save for a curtained fresher and six pull down slabs that can be used as beds. Although intended for restraining captives or crew held on a charge, quite often the majority of time a brig is actually used as a temporary office or storage area.

A brig consumes 4 tons and costs MCr0.25. Life support costs are Cr250 per ton.

1. Does the life support cost increase, when you double the number of prisoners from six to twelve, in a four tonne cell?

2. Are we paying one kilostarbux per prisoner, in addition?

3. Wouldn't it be cheaper just to throw them out the airlock?

4. Especially, since they appear to be diluting the life support pool?

5. And in terms of operating overhead, we could take the brute force approach, and switch off power to a stateroom, which should eliminate that operating expense.

no life support costs for quarters are for the room not the occupants, same as with staterooms, it's unrelated to the number of prisoners
yes, every person on the ship requires Cr.1000 per maintenance period life support
obviously yes
diluting it how?
yes, but thats more detail than the game models, and way more than most referees would want to bother with, but if thats what you want to do, house rule it

 

[MasterGwydion]

no life support costs for quarters are for the room not the occupants, same as with staterooms, it's unrelated to the number of prisoners
yes, every person on the ship requires Cr.1000 per maintenance period life support
obviously yes
diluting it how?
yes, but thats more detail than the game models, and way more than most referees would want to bother with, but if thats what you want to do, house rule it

See My previous statement on this. The life support cost per stateroom, includes food. The life support costs per person include, what?

 

[boggo2300]

So let Me get this straight... This 1,000Cr per stateroom covers what exactly?

"Life Support and Supplies: Each stateroom on a ship costs Cr1000 every Maintenance Period. This cost covers supplies for the life support system as well as food and water, although meals at this level will be rather spartan. Each person on board a ship who is not in a low berth will cost an additional Cr1000 every Maintenance Period in life support costs. Each occupied low berth costs Cr100 every Maintenance Period."

Food. It covers food and some other stuff. How is an empty stateroom costing food?

Keeping the minibar in the cabin stocked for all I know

Which does not include food. Actually, I cannot find anywhere that tells Me what this 1,000Cr per person actually pays for.

well, since if you don't pay it they don't keep living, I'd say, air water and food, since the food included in the stateroom are "rather spartan" I would suggest it includes food better than survival rations.

 

[boggo2300]

See My previous statement on this. The life support cost per stateroom, includes food. The life support costs per person include, what?

no it includes SPARTAN food supplies, it also includes heating and lighting the room, the cost per person would likely include additional air, heat, and better food than the "spartan food" that is covered by the stateroom cost, personally I like the idea of that part of the cost being the equivalent of the minibar

 

[MasterGwydion]

Keeping the minibar in the cabin stocked for all I know

Why would you have to refresh the mini-bar every maintenance period if no one eats the food?

well, since if you don't pay it they don't keep living, I'd say, air water and food, since the food included in the stateroom are "rather spartan" I would suggest it includes food better than survival rations.

We can guess, but Mongoose doesn't say what it pays for. It does say what the cost per stateroom is for though. I do get tired of players asking what things cost or what things are covered by such costs. Just write the rule well the first time and avoid all of this confusion. Or at least fix it so this confusion can end.

 

[MasterGwydion]

no it includes SPARTAN food supplies, it also includes heating and lighting the room, the cost per person would likely include additional air, heat, and better food than the "spartan food" that is covered by the stateroom cost, personally I like the idea of that part of the cost being the equivalent of the minibar

Yeah, but it doesn't say that anywhere. So, that is your houserule. Are you still paying for food that no one eats when those rooms are empty? Do Chirpers come by and eat your food when no one is looking? Is this why you have to replace the food and water every month? lolz

 

[boggo2300]

Why would you have to refresh the mini-bar every maintenance period if no one eats the food?

We can guess, but Mongoose doesn't say what it pays for. It does say what the cost per stateroom is for though. I do get tired of players asking what things cost or what things are covered by such costs. Just write the rule well the first time and avoid all of this confusion. Or at least fix it so this confusion can end.

never worked in a hotel huh