But isn't that the point of Traveller? You don't actually have $10M, you've got $40M debt, and you'd better start making some money to make those payments. And

But isn't that the point of Traveller? You don't actually have $10M, you've got $40M debt, and you'd better start making some money to make those payments. And if you get behind, well, maybe take some risk, like smuggling stuff past some pirates for much higher profit, but at much higher risk. Or maybe check out that mysterious derelict ship to see if there's anything worth salvaging that can put you back on track to paying down your ship. Piracy is a bigger mystery; I guess the only explanation is that they stole those ships, rather than buying them legitimately, because piracy is a poor investment. Or is it? Piracy was rampant in the Caribbean some centuries ago, and it still exists in some places. And privateering could be a profitable business. One thing that helped, is that neither side really wanted to fight. Often pirates would let the crew live and keep the ship as long as they handed over the cargo without a fight, and that would be a better deal for both sides than a fight to the death where one ship sinks and the other is badly damaged. But I also feel like the cargo has to be worth more. It's been ages since I've seen those rules, but if the merchant is making $200k on a trip, that doesn't mean the cargo is worth $200k, it means the cargo is worth $200k more at the destination than it was at the source, and the real value could be a lot more. And if the ship is insured (which means piracy is probably rare enough), it might not even hurt the crew much to surrender their cargo. Except of course that rag-tag band of former military people that's behind on paying down the mortgage on their ship and cutting costs where they can, but somehow also in possession of more weaponry than your average merchant.