Poor wording in the Trade chapter

[Hakkonen]

I'm reading Chapter 11 of the core book, "Trade," and right away there's some problematic language. High passage "requires a stateroom, one ton of cargo space, and one level of Steward per ten passengers." I assume this is meant to be, "a stateroom and one ton of cargo space per passenger, plus one level of Steward per ten passengers," on the grounds that people wealthy enough to afford high passage aren't accustomed to bunking ten to a room.

A little later, "Freight shipments pay a fixed rate as shown on the Passage and Freight table." I assume the rate is per ton rather than per lot, based on real-world practices and common sense, but then, common sense isn't actually that common.

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

...

 

[arcador]

It's per ton.

 

[AnotherDilbert]

High passage "requires a stateroom, one ton of cargo space, and one level of Steward per ten passengers." I assume this is meant to be, "a stateroom and one ton of cargo space per passenger, plus one level of Steward per ten passengers," ...

Yes, of course. "one level of Steward" refers to level of skill, so a character with Steward-2 could care for 20 passengers.
Note that I have always considered the luggage allotment to be 1 ton = 1 tonne = 1000 kg, not displacement ton. (Low = 10 kg, Middle = 100 kg, High = 1000 kg.)

... "Freight shipments pay a fixed rate as shown on the Passage and Freight table." I assume the rate is per ton rather than per lot, ...

As already noted, per Dton.

 

[Hakkonen]

Note that I have always considered the luggage allotment to be 1 ton = 1 tonne = 1000 kg, not displacement ton. (Low = 10 kg, Middle = 100 kg, High = 1000 kg.)

This, itself, raises the issue that cargo is not otherwise measured by mass. How many kilos' worth of luggage fit into a displacement-ton's worth of volume? I'm going to go with the displacement-kilogram, for ease of bookkeeping: one high passenger, ten middle passengers, or one hundred low passengers use one Dton of cargo space.

As already noted, per Dton.

It would be nice if that were explicitly noted in the text.

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

...

 

[AnotherDilbert]

This, itself, raises the issue that cargo is not otherwise measured by mass. How many kilos' worth of luggage fit into a displacement-ton's worth of volume?

MT and TNE (that keeps track of mass) use a rough mass of 1 tonne per m³ so 14000 kg / Dton for cargo.

Luggage is probably less dense, say 5 - 10 tonnes / Dton?

 

[Condottiere]

You ever watch those films where the rich woman turns up with a large number of suitcases.

That might fit within fourteen cubic metres.

 

[Hakkonen]

You ever watch those films where the rich woman turns up with a large number of suitcases.

That might fit within fourteen cubic metres.

This is pretty much my thought process. There are two points: first, anyone paying for high passage is, by definition, wealthy. Sure, you'll get the occasional ascetic noble who has just the two suitcases, but most rich people have quite a bit of luggage. Second, interstellar travel takes a long time. There's the realspace transit to the 100-diameter limit, the week-long hyperspace jump, then another realspace transit; and that's only for trips of a single jump. It's entirely possible to spend month or more on a ship, and I really can't see Comtesse Delacroix wearing the same six dresses the whole time.

For those reasons, plus ease of bookkeeping, I'm sticking with the displacement-kilogram as the unit of luggage; it fits perfectly with the displacement-ton as the unit of cargo.

 

[NOLATrav]

...
For those reasons, plus ease of bookkeeping, I'm sticking with the displacement-kilogram as the unit of luggage; it fits perfectly with the displacement-ton as the unit of cargo.

I've never considered it any different than what you're proposing, for exactly the reasons you're suggesting. High passage grants you a dton in the cargo hold. Access to it during jump may require some role-playing however. So Comtesse Delacroix will likely have the steward and whomever they can wrangle to help shifting containers in the cargo bay to refresh her wardrobe if the crew wasn't prepared for it. Or that's not possible and the captain has to deal with her.

For Mid passengers there is a small, easily accessible cage or closet in the cargo bay which I grant to the ship for free; a Free Trader with a handful of Mid passengers can find an area to carry 500 kg or so of luggage without having to account for it. Same with working passage.

Low berths have a cubby hole/lockbox where the client's personal items are stored, part of the low berth unit itself.

 

[Condottiere]

I thought it was about one and half cubic metres for middle passage luggage, and basically a duffel bag for low berths.

 

[AnotherDilbert]

A suitcase is about 100 l = 0.1 m³ and ~20 - 25 kg.

1000 kg is about 40 - 50 suitcases.

1 Dt = 14 m³ is about 140 suitcases.

I suspect even la Contessa can limit herself to 40 suitcases in the spartan confines of a stateroom.

 

[Condottiere]

Fairly certain there exists a grav propelled version of the sea trunk, which means over twenty five kilogrammes.

However, terrestrial transport probably maintains certain sizes and weights for ease of handling.