more trade questions

[Chernobyl]

Core Book page 161

Available Passengers:
PTV of 13...6D8 low passengers? really? D8?

Also, subtracting a one or more dice rolled from a larger number of dice rolled rolled seems silly. would have made more sense to do something like
2D6
2D6+1
2D6+2
3D6
which provides a nice, steady progression of averages
rather than
2D6
3D6-1D6
3D6-1D6
3D6
because statistically, 3D6-1D6 is no different than 2D6. why not just have 2D6?

and Averages work out funny in some places...

for a PTV of 1, you average 1 Low Passenger (2D6-6) but 1.5 Middle Passengers.

 

[rust]

because statistically, 3D6-1D6 is no different than 2D6. why not just have 2D6?

2D6 would generate a minimum number of 2 passengers and a maximum
number of 12 passengers, 3D6-1D6 generates a minimum number of 0
passengers and a maximum number of 17 passengers.

 

[DFW]

Available Passengers:
PTV of 13...6D8 low passengers? really? D8?

Not really

 

[Chernobyl]

Core rules page 165

here's another one on speculative trade...what's the point in listing a purchase DM of +0? Or a sale DM of +0?
I mean, if there's no modifier...why list it?

 

[rust]

I mean, if there's no modifier...why list it?

To avoid an empty line, which could be caused by "forgot entry" as well
as by "no modifier". The same reason why empty pages often have so-
mething like "This is an empty page" printed on them.

 

[alex_greene]

I mean, if there's no modifier...why list it?

To avoid an empty line, which could be caused by "forgot entry" as well
as by "no modifier". The same reason why empty pages often have so-
mething like "This is an empty page" printed on them.

I also include the +0 modifier in describing Average(+0) skill checks, simply because all the other difficulty modifiers have a DM, so you need a +0 for Average so you'll know what that one's modifier is.

 

[Chernobyl]

because statistically, 3D6-1D6 is no different than 2D6. why not just have 2D6?

2D6 would generate a minimum number of 2 passengers and a maximum
number of 12 passengers, 3D6-1D6 generates a minimum number of 0
passengers and a maximum number of 17 passengers.

OK, for fun, I ran the numbers.
the result of 3D6-1D6 falls outside the bounds of a 2D6 roll (less than 2 and greater than 12) about 10.8% of the time, not a statistically insignificant number, but still pretty small.

 

[Chernobyl]

why was the base cost of hauling freight changed from 1000/parsec to 500/parsec between the core rules and merchant princes?

 

[rust]

why was the base cost of hauling freight changed from 1000/parsec to 500/parsec between the core rules and merchant princes?

The core rules use a flat price, Merchant Prince uses skills (Broker, Persu-
ade) to add to a lower base price. With a base price of 1,000 Credits per
parsec plus modification through the skills getting rich quickly would have
been a bit too easy, I think.

 

[GypsyComet]

Got another one. Low Pop is specifically broken out as a trade code, taking over the lower end of what used to be Non-Industrial.

Pre MGT Non-Ind: Pop 6-
MGT Non-Ind: Pop 4-6
MGT Lo-Pop: Pop 1-3

Non-Ind shows up in the Trade Goods table quite a bit, but Low-Pop shows up only two times, despite being a more extreme version of Non-Ind that should influence trade decisions.

Would it seem reasonable to apply the Non-Ind Purchase and Sale mods to Low-Pop worlds? A different mod? Just looking at the mods on the Passenger and Freight tables suggest that the mods for Low-Pop should be tuned a bit.

 

[zozotroll]

Just change it

 

[Chernobyl]

If I recall correctly (someone may need to check on this) the NI trade code completely overlaps the Lo-Pop. So, if you're Lo, you're automatically NI. In any event, as stated in other threads, the Trade Code list is not correct, and is missing many codes that should be applied to worlds. I think I posted a correct list somewhere on this board.

Chern

 

[rust]

If I recall correctly (someone may need to check on this) the NI trade code completely overlaps the Lo-Pop. So, if you're Lo, you're automatically NI.

In Mongoose Traveller the Low Population trade code is for worlds with a
population code of 1 - 3, the Non Industrial trade code is for worlds with
a population code of 4 - 6.

 

[GypsyComet]

Yes, they used to overlap, but don't now. The Trade DMs for Low-Pop are sparse enough (Live Animals and Radioactives are the only DMs listed) that the author of that table was probably under the same impression as Chernobyl.

As an aside, my math education may be drawing me to interpret the instructions of that table incorrectly. The instructions say to use the "largest" DM. To me this means that, for example, a Low-Pop Asteroid Belt would get a -4 on Radioactives because -4 is a larger DM than +2.

I could see it being interpreted as "higher" by some, including the authors, meaning the above example would go to the +2 instead, so I figure it's worth mentioning.

 

[DFW]

As an aside, my math education may be drawing me to interpret the instructions of that table incorrectly. The instructions say to use the "largest" DM. To me this means that, for example, a Low-Pop Asteroid Belt would get a -4 on Radioactives because -4 is a larger DM than +2.

You are correct. -4 is a larger dice modifier than +2.