Freight and Passenger DMs

[steelbrok]

I'm not seeing one (but may have missed it!) but is there no DM on the Freight/Passenger tables based on distance between worlds?

 

[AnotherDilbert]

None that I have seen.

It's even not clearly defined if the world mods are for the target or destination world. I use both...

 

[Garran]

My impression is that both rolls only take into account the origin planet, with the results showing how many people/shipments want to go to your destination, whatever it is (and however far away it may be), on the basis that there's always going to be a more-or-less steady flow of passengers and freight (and mail) moving about, and your destination may not even be their final stop.

 

[Condottiere]

Supply and demand.

Interestingly enough, it was being practiced by airline booking algorithms.

If you book early, a cabin next to the power plant, in the off season, you might get a favourable rate.

 

[steelbrok]

I looked through earlier posts about the origin/destination/both world's DMs. I took the consensus to be both.

If you only use one or the other you can get big imbalances between what is flowing between worlds. So if you have a hi pop and hi tech world and a low pop/tech world trading then:

If you only use origin world DMs then the hi pop/tech world is sending much more to the lo pop/tech world than it receives
If you only use destination world DMs then the reverse.

For freight it makes a certain amount of sense for goods tonnage to be greater going from lo tech to high tech (raw materials exchanged for finished goods?)
But I'm minded to say that net passenger flow would be the other way

Using the DMs for both worlds eliminates those imbalances

 

[steelbrok]

Just noticed another discrepancy.
Under the Broker skill it says it takes 1d6 hours to find a buyer but in the trade section it says that finding a buyer takes the same length of time as finding a supplier which is 1d6 days!

 

[AnotherDilbert]

Under the Broker skill it says it takes 1d6 hours to find a buyer but in the trade section it says that finding a buyer takes the same length of time as finding a supplier which is 1d6 days!

I would say it's for different things. The Skill chapter describes a generic example task, the Trade chapter describes a task specifically for speculative cargo.

The rolls for regular cargo must be much faster, since we do several of them in the ~5 days we generally spend in port.

 

[steelbrok]

Under the Broker skill it says it takes 1d6 hours to find a buyer but in the trade section it says that finding a buyer takes the same length of time as finding a supplier which is 1d6 days!

I would say it's for different things. The Skill chapter describes a generic example task, the Trade chapter describes a task specifically for speculative cargo.

The rolls for regular cargo must be much faster, since we do several of them in the ~5 days we generally spend in port.

Fair enough

 

[steelbrok]

I was wondering about applying a -1/parsec DM to freight availability.

 

[phavoc]

Freight loads should also be available to other worlds (e.g. NOT the mainworld) in other systems, in support of mining colonies,etc. Plus the odd space station as well.

Most regularly scheduled cargo between primary starports will be handled by the bigger freight lines. Free traders and such are like independent long-haul truckers who take cargo's from point to point. It would be cheaper if someone can get a cargo delivered in another system to that specific location rather than ship main starport to main starport and then have to engage secondary transport. PC's could also be chartered to pick up loads and deliver them to secondary ports on another planet (such as industrial or private spaceports and not the main starport).

 

[steelbrok]

On lower tech worlds or lower population (either way less transport infrastructure) I always reckon there's a good chance a ship will have to deliver cargo lots across the planet. This also makes it easier to hook them into adventures away from the Star Port

 

[Condottiere]

If a world imports more than it exports, freight rates going in the other direction should be peanuts.