Cost for transport on a jumpship

[bblaney]

How much would it cost to just transport an individual for one jump on a jumpship?

[Tai Dai Cultist]

I don't know of any resource newer than Dropships and Jumpships that tackles the fees levied for jump travel.. and even it doesn't go down to the individual.

But according to pages 50-51, the going rate for a dropship to travel 1 jump is 50,000 cbills per jump.  If you want to charter say a Merchant class jumpship, you'll have to make it worth the captain's while to the tune of 100,000 cbills per jump.  Of course, you might be able to negotiate a smaller fee since you're paying for what is essentially a 'full load' for each jump without him having to wait to otherwise fill up at each system.  On the other hand, if you're going someplace dangerous or away from the beaten path, maybe not.  Indeed, if he's going to have to jump the ship BACK to civilation/trade routes, you might end up having to pay for a 'round trip' you don't even take.

[guardiandashi]

when melessa steiner was setting up her travel from tharkad to new Avalon (under cover) I want to say she only paid 2-3000 cbills for the entire trip (round trip to go there and come back as a "cruise" but that was in part because she was going on a civilian liner dropship on a regular "tour package" and wasn't taking a significant amount of cargo, or any heavy military equipment.

[Coldwyn]

How much would it cost to just transport an individual for one jump on a jumpship?

A JumpShip charges 30-50K per DropShip per Jump.
Hiring a whole DropShip and crew is 30K - 4M per jump.

Taking the Buccaneer as an example, as it is civilian, it´ll be 250K/Jump that can carry 2,3K tons. Now cramming that with troopers (28 men, 2 tons), that´s net us 32.2K people on board (man, that must smell). So, 300K(DS and JS)/32.2K would be an average of 10 CBills/person or 100 CBill/ton of cargo.

Now, going by what guardiandashi said about the trip Tarkhad - New Avalon, I think the tonnage figure comes pretty close, as the per soldier breakdown would work out with basic infantry and military cots and such, whereas a "real" passenger would need better accomodations, better foodstuff and the cost for a galley, and so on. going from the 100 CB/Ton vallue on a 20 Jump trip would end up with a bill of 2K.

[bblaney]

Thanks

This is for an individual as a passenger, not military or what not, so 200 c-bills a jump sounds perfect

Thanks again!!!!

[Tai Dai Cultist]

Thanks

This is for an individual as a passenger, not military or what not, so 200 c-bills a jump sounds perfect

Thanks again!!!!

That actually sounds hella low, and more akin to what travelling military 'cattlecar' might be.  Remember most of the Inner Sphere has never left their own birth planet because interstellar travel is simply so pricey.  Look at the fluff about how 'Travel & Loan' sleaze businesses trap people on Solaris 7 for more information about how expensive interstellar tourism is.

If you want to transport an individual in style, not in a hotbunk shared with 2 other smelly guys, I get a figure in excess of 1k cbills per jump.

Consider: A monarch class dropship is the quintessential passenger liner provided in canon, and its owner expects to rake in 228,000cbills in tolls per jump.  If it's fully booked, it carries 266 passengers.  That's a fee of around 857 cbills per person, assuming the cruise line operates the monarch completely without profit. (and the jumpship for some reason doesn't charge its customary 50,000 fee to travel the jump)  Add in the overhead of paying the crew of 34, maintenance on the ship, fuel, insurance, licensing with various realms and worlds, docking fees for space stations.. the lack of competition (due to rarity of space travel) means I'd expect to see ticket prices where the sky is the limit.  You'd be lucky to get away with 1k cbill per jump.  If I owned a Monarch class dropship, I'd probably charge twice or thrice that and still find paying passengers.

And that price assumes you want to travel a preplanned route when the liner is scheduled to go.  If you want to go somewhere that deviates from the scheduled route, or on your schedule instead of the liner's, then the price is whatever the dropship/jumpship captain wants it to be.  And will be pretty astronomical.

[Coldwyn]

qTai Dai Cultist:

Argumenting when using a Monarch is pretty pointless. That´s like camparing renting a Bentley with chauffeur to using a Greyhound.

[Tai Dai Cultist]

If the comparison were accurate* it doesn't work against me, it works FOR me.

If a monarch is a Bentley, then why are there no greyhound analogues in canon?

Let's say Buccaneer class vessel is converted to be a mass-passenger transport.  A nonconverted Buc earns 256k per jump, and there's no point in going through a conversion to make less money so let's keep the same number.

A Buc has 2308 potential tonnage.  Let's say you want to ditch first class and just make a passenger vessel that carries as many passengers as possible.  2nd class accommodations cost 7 tons per passenger.  That means you can fit in 329 2nd class passengers.   That means you must charge over 778 cbills per head per jump just to break even.  Dropships don't stay flying by breaking even, so again probably something like 1k per person sounds about right.  And now you're flying 2nd class, instead of 1st class on a Monarch.

*The reason the comparison doesn't work is Monarchs are described (pg 44 TRO3057) as carrying passengers in 'relative comfort'.  Doesn't sound like a Bentley to me.. that'd be a Princess class.

[Coldwyn]

Before I go on, let´s compare some sources. Where to you get your prices from?

[Tai Dai Cultist]

I don't know of any resource newer than Dropships and Jumpships that tackles the fees levied for jump travel.. and even it doesn't go down to the individual.

But according to pages 50-51...

Dropships and Jumpships.

Granted, this is from the dawning era of BattleTech where they used to also give numbers on 'Mech production in House Atlases.

But, since we don't have anything (that I'm aware of) since the DS/JS that gives contrary numbers, I don't see any reason to not use them.

[Coldwyn]

Dropships and Jumpships.

Granted, this is from the dawning era of BattleTech where they used to also give numbers on 'Mech production in House Atlases.

But, since we don't have anything (that I'm aware of) since the DS/JS that gives contrary numbers, I don't see any reason to not use them.

Ah, ok, I´m basing mine on the Transport Cost section of Field Manual: Mercenaries, which seems to be newer and breaks the numbers down a bit more, with rebates, usual shipping lines and such.

[Tai Dai Cultist]

If the OP wants to know how much it costs to send 1 infantryman through the stars, that'd be a way to go.  Passengers don't travel that way, however.  Prisoners, maybe, but not paying passengers.

Since the numbers in DS/JS are from the perspective of a dropship's operator rather than the individual (and pretty vague anyway.. are those fees net or gross?  Before or after paying 50k for jump fees?) here's another way to look at what an interstellar traveler might expect to pay.

Lodging.

It should cost at least as much to stay on a dropship for weeks/months at a time as it does to stay in a hotel for the same duration.  Personally, I think it should cost a good bit more, since spacecraft should have higher overhead costs than static buildings.  Not to mention you use the accomodations 24/7, AND rely on it for every breath of air and every drop of water.

How much more is a matter for GM taste.

[Coldwyn]

Actually, the numbers given in FM:Mercs seem to indicate that the JS/DS owners want to make a tidy profit, as the numbers you pay when you´re the actual owner widely differ.
Sure, the "Per Trooper" numbers given above are rediculously low and the travel conforts will lack (smelly, smelly, cabbage, cabbage), but the per tons numer seems quite ok and consistent with the few sources we have about civilian travel.

For me, that´s a bit like looking at those transfer ships I take when visiting Finnland or Sweden (No frills but get there) and cruising on the Queen Mary II

[guardiandashi]

see I agree with coldwyn abit also

what I see it as yes the AVERAGE cost per passenger is ~700 cbills /jump

what you do is get a number of first class passengers they fund something like 80+% of the cost of the jumps/trip all the "steerage" and the non first class passengers have to do is keep the line from loosing money and they basically get mostly paid for by the premium passengers

[Armitage72]

The Mechwarrior Companion (2e) and Mechwarrior 3e both list 2,200 - 4,000 C-Bills per jump.  MWC specifies that it's for a single passenger and three pieces of carry on luggage.

[boilerman]

JackMc over at the Heavy Metal Pro boards years ago looked at cost per jump for DropShips.  He was a business major in college at the time.  Very interesting info.

http://www.heavymetalpro.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4122&hilit=mortgage

We all know that the BT universe runs on "FASA Physics". I am a business major and today while trying to set up fee schedule for my mercs' jumpships, I found conclusive evidence that the universe is also powered by "FASA Economics".

In several different sourcebooks, the fee for transporting a dropships is listed as a flat 50,000 c-bills. When I plugged numbers into a spreadsheet, I found that the rate actually varies by type of jumpship.

I worked off the following assumptions:

1. Jumpships are purchased with a 10% down payment
2. Jumpships are financed at a compounding annual rate of 5%
3. Jumpships are fianced for a period of thirty years
4. The lender requires insurance equal to 5% of the monthly payment
5. An amount equal to 2% of the payment is put in a "Rainy Day" fund
6. Jumpships will average three jumps per month, 6 with LF batteries
7. A jumpship always jumps with a full complement of dropships
8. Investors will demand the standard 12.5% annual return on investment
9. Crew wages and monthly maintenace fees are based off of info in FM:Mercs and TRO:3057

Given that, I get the following costs(rounded up to the nearest 500 c-bills) per dropship, per jump.

Scout: $529,500 c-bills

Marchant: $391,500 c-bills

Invader: $293,500 c-bills

Magellan: $728,500 c-bills

Chimeisho: $338,000 c-bills

Tramp: $449,500 c-bills

Star Lord: $219,500 c-bills

Monolith: $195,000 c-bills

If a ship is jumping to a system with a recharge station, the fee is equal to 50% of the normal fee + (Recharge Fee/number of Dropships carried)

-Jackmc

[russtarvin]

Ok, to move this up to the Chaos Campaign system, what would the WP or SP costs for chartering a dropship for transport or for combat transport then? I want to use the Track system as a simple way of keeping track of everything without getting into the c-bills and cents.

[Paul]

Purchasing the Track Cost includes the transportation to get you there.

[Cowdragon]

I've often wondered this myself. Good to know!

[russtarvin]

Very good to know. Thanks Paul.

[Paul]

np

Now, for RPG purposes, it may be worthwhile to expand slightly: WP expenditures and earning are abstract. When you take on additional objectives, you don't find a crate with cash waiting for you back at base.* Sometimes the WP represents favors or 'good luck' coming your way, while spending WP can be seen as you cashing in on your contacts, your preceding career of resources, favors and even luck. Right place and the right time.

So, that could mean that as far as the story to the players is concerned, you're getting a "free" JumpShip ride, which might actually be you cashing in a favor, or now owing someone. Perhaps you blackmailed the JumpShip's owner, (who'll exact revenge later) or perhaps someone else forced the JumpShip owner to take you on, someone who'll come knocking at a later date, or maybe it's someone who's trying to lure you in to a trap by making sure you get to your mission that's 'destined' to fail...

Bottom line: WP are supposed to make your life easier, but never let them restrict your creativity or your story.

Added suggestion: see what happens when you present Tracks and objectives without telling the players how much they score for each objective... It takes all the pointscoring out of the equation, and puts a lot more decision-making in the hands of the players.
Just make sure to never tell them what they scored, keep giving them more decisions.
And make sure that you're good at expressing which objectives are more important or have a higher priority.

Paul

* OK, fine, sometimes you will find a crate with cash** waiting for you...  ;)
** Who's to say your employer got you that crate?