What's your goto tech?

[Sigtrygg]

Bu and Embla are a money printing licence for Mongoose:

an expanded Bu and Embla's tour of the Spinward Marches,
a Bu and Embla coffee table art book guide to the Traveller universe
plushies
branded mugs, t-shirts, hoodies, patches, pins, caps, posters, mouse mats

youtube and tik tok shorts

comics, then graphic novel, then animations.

Bu an Ebla feature film...

 

[swordtart]

That's theoretically possible, but it requires quite a coincidence to make a tiny pop world have enough traffic to sustain such a thing. You can always find a reason for something interesting to be the case on a one-off basis to suit your players. But as a recurring situation it becomes much harder. Those are basically patron situations you are talking about, not tramp trade, the core of which is an unscheduled visit.

It is not IMPOSSIBLE to have a tiny pop world with tramp trade. But it is highly improbable so the more often you need to do it, the more problematic it becomes. That's why I said "very little likelihood" not "No possible way".

I don't see it requiring much of a coincidence, low pop worlds are probably less fussy on who can land there as they will welcome any passing trade, the smaller star ports have lower fees etc.

I actually think it is the larger worlds that should have less tramp trade. It is worth a corporate ship to go there and syphon up a months production and buy up everything and leave nothing for their competitors. Large populations mean large governments and that means government interference, corruption and vested interest. Large markets usually mean competition and narrower margins. Speculative trade is all about the margins.

I think you can come up with credible arguments either way, which way you go is personal preference.

 

[Arkathan]

I look at tramp trade at larger ports in the same way as I do tenders in a carrier group.
The carrier has the room to store everything that a tender needs to give to the group, so the tender unreps with the carrier, goes about its business and the small boys come to the carrier to unrep, since they are all going in the same direction anyway.
Of course, the carrier skims all the good stuff (Frosted Flakes, Honey Nut Cheerios, shrimp, etc. and passes on the Wheaties to the destroyers.

A large centralized hub is supplied by a few large ships. The main population center takes all it needs from the imports. Smaller ships move the remaining goods out to the other nearby planets.

Tramp trade is speculation on the Wheaties.

 

[Condottiere]

Caravans.

Both, in the sense you have a bunch of ships together as a convoy, and slowly make their way to each system as a collective.

And, you land the starship, and open up shop.