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Bad Free Trader

Now, a C port would be more dicey. Some may be very strict (ie, planet has a high law level and a government type that is likely officious like a civil service bureaucracy) while others may be thoroughly corrupt and bribeable.

E and X wouldn't be a problem as there is no port as such. But, I would suspect that a ship headed to such destinations other than as an intermediate stop would be engaged in likely somewhat questionable business anyway.

I generally agree.

If we use starship encounter tables from CT, then sticking to the backwaters greatly increases the chance of piracy. I would think that Imperial law would still hold for anything not passing the extraterritoriality line.
 
Commercial driving licenses can have out of state restrictions or endorsements, too, to so that's another consideration maybe. In Oregon the pumpkin line is crossing the river to Vancouver unless you are endorsed for cross-state travel. other states have a similar patchwork of endorsements that can include the tags on the trucks ....and..the trailers, too.

So I guess if you really wanted to hassle your players to death the ship could need tags for cargo type, landing clearances for certain worlds s(like weight restrictions so it doesn't sink into the tarmac), license and permits of various types certifying the pilot for landing or orbit docking (only or for both), and all the cargo containers could need tags for all the myriad reasons imaginable.

Lots of potential red tape. You could have a pilot certified for orbit docking only, but the place only has a ground facility - which the ship weighs too much for. And some of the cargo isn't tagged to be safe in higher than .50G or it might be damaged....oh lots of fines there for local revenuers.
 
Lots of potential red tape. You could have a pilot certified for orbit docking only, but the place only has a ground facility - which the ship weighs too much for. And some of the cargo isn't tagged to be safe in higher than .50G or it might be damaged....oh lots of fines there for local revenuers.

And don't forget the unions...
 
There is a good twist, they get to the world and the longshoremen are on strike so no cargo is moving.
 
There is a good twist, they get to the world and the longshoremen are on strike so no cargo is moving.

ABsolutely! Some kinds of cargo get moved by one group, but "we don't do those containers in front..."you gotta get Local 348 to do those before we can get to the ones in back. I'm going on break."
 
Commercial driving licenses can have out of state restrictions or endorsements, too, to so that's another consideration maybe. In Oregon the pumpkin line is crossing the river to Vancouver unless you are endorsed for cross-state travel. other states have a similar patchwork of endorsements that can include the tags on the trucks ....and..the trailers, too.

So I guess if you really wanted to hassle your players to death the ship could need tags for cargo type, landing clearances for certain worlds s(like weight restrictions so it doesn't sink into the tarmac), license and permits of various types certifying the pilot for landing or orbit docking (only or for both), and all the cargo containers could need tags for all the myriad reasons imaginable.

Lots of potential red tape. You could have a pilot certified for orbit docking only, but the place only has a ground facility - which the ship weighs too much for. And some of the cargo isn't tagged to be safe in higher than .50G or it might be damaged....oh lots of fines there for local revenuers.

Or for certain loads, cargos etc.

Like:

All cargo is containerized on a world. Bulk cargos are not allowed.
Your pilot is not rated for hazardous, flammable, or some other dangerous load or, the ship is not certified for it.

Or, the cargo is something 'oversized' like say a mining vehicle the customer wants delivered but it won't fit through your cargo bay hatch.....

Or, you might need permits, and licensing on the world you are on from the world you are going to's local equivalent of a embassy before arriving or you risk arrest or hefty fines....

Or, there are restrictions on imports you need to be aware of:

Radioactives might be typical. Or, the planet won't allow food imported to protect local farmers and you just arrived with a cargo bay full of perishable fruit.....

Or there could be size restrictions. I had to ship a huge number of these things called Shore Power Cable Cradles to California when I was in the military. The trucks had to have 48' trailers not 53. These things were 13 feet long and 5 feet wide standing 5 feet tall. Because of this I could only put 6 on a truck load rather than 8 with 53' trailers.
A planet might not allow anything bigger than a say, 250 ton ship to land. Anything bigger has to stay in orbit. So, your 300 ton ship is unable to land and unload like you planned.....
 
Some interesting ideas to throw at players, but I think it would be fairly standard practice to make sure you know the regs for the worlds you're visiting. Anything else would be professional incompetence.

As a player, I would expect a Ref to assume as standard that my trader character is doing his job properly, and only throw things like this in if it's reasonable that my character wouldn't know.

A sudden strike may be valid, but a period of industrial unrest usually precedes strikes, and the possibility of strikes would be known amongst the trading community.

New regulations are possible, but legislation usually takes months to negotiate and the broad nature of the proposed new regs (if not the exact details) will be known parsecs away, months in advance on the trader grapevine.

As a Referee, my first question would be 'why don't the characters know about this?' and I would only throw it in if I could come up with a good answer.
 
You're right - it should be a one-off or at least rare thing.

Its a similar idea as the section in the Traveller Adventure when the players are stuck on a world with a nightmarish bureaucracy and have to scramble from petty official to official to get all the boxes filled to get off the world in time.

One good way I think to have it pop up more often would be to have a world run by multiple syndicates that constantly compete for control of this and that. So whenever you stop by you never know who's in charge of the starport and who runs the region beyond it, the transport infrastructure, etc...

After a while the players will get to know all the parties involved and what to expect when so-and-so answers the radio for landing clearance. But for a while it could lead to some minor amusement. Basically it comes down to "Oh good, blank is in charge now - he's easy to deal with" to "Oh crap, not this guy again, why hasn't somebody killed him yet? OK, get ready to pay the usual bribes - this might be an expensive trip."
 
ABsolutely! Some kinds of cargo get moved by one group, but "we don't do those containers in front..."you gotta get Local 348 to do those before we can get to the ones in back. I'm going on break."
I thought one of the prime faunctions of the Imperium was to negate planets/groups pulling these tricks and to standardize things. As long as the ship/cargo stays inside the extrality zone of a starport the locals can't do squat.

Carrying 20 tons of hard ⌧ to Planet Bible Thumper? 10 tons of crack from Arglebargle? Cool - as long as it doesn't void any Impie regs it's fine (of course _outside_ the extrality zone is a whole 'nother story).
But sell it over the phone and have the new owner pick it up from the starport warehouse - it's his problem now and the PC's are in the clear.
Locals could picket the starport when striking, but if they so much as set foot over the X-line they had better get to work.
 
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I thought one of the prime faunctions of the Imperium was to negate planets/groups pulling these tricks and to standardize things. As long as the ship/cargo stays inside the extrality zone of a starport the locals can't do squat.

Carrying 20 tons of hard ⌧ to Planet Bible Thumper? 10 tons of crack from Arglebargle? Cool - as long as it doesn't void any Impie regs it's fine (of course _outside_ the extrality zone is a whole 'nother story).
But sell it over the phone and have the new owner pick it up from the starport warehouse - it's his problem now and the PC's are in the clear.
Locals could picket the starport when striking, but if they so much as set foot over the X-line they had better get to work.

People who are not allowed to 'strike' (like firemen and police in some areas) call in sick or have work slowdowns to protest some issue, so the entire Starport might be operating at quarter speed ... operating at half staff (a bad case of SPA flu) and landing/handling one starship at a time (for safety reasons) while operating at the highest state of alert (sorry, but under security code red, every ship must be thoroughly scanned and every item of cargo compared to manifest before the ship is allowed to leave the landing field and offload its cargo. The next ship will simply need to wait in a holding orbit until the landing pad is clear.)

If the Starport staff is drawn from the local population, then it will be affected by local issues.

If the Starport is run by all off-worlders, then it may well be the source of local tension ... a starport selling '⌧' on planet 'Bible-Thumper' might have broken no Imperial Laws and still find its extrality line resembling an North-South Korea border crossing.
 
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I thought one of the prime faunctions of the Imperium was to negate planets/groups pulling these tricks and to standardize things. As long as the ship/cargo stays inside the extrality zone of a starport the locals can't do squat.

True, but what the locals can do outside the X-line can affect what occurs within.

Carrying 20 tons of hard ⌧ to Planet Bible Thumper? 10 tons of crack from Arglebargle? Cool - as long as it doesn't void any Impie regs it's fine ...But sell it over the phone and have the new owner pick it up from the starport warehouse - it's his problem now and the PC's are in the clear.

Yes, but in speculative trading, IMTU, this could certainly have an effect on price. This provides the REAL fun in a trading campaign. It's also what makes Broker, Trader, and Admin so important.

Locals could picket the starport when striking, but if they so much as set foot over the X-line they had better get to work.
However, if it is the locals who are working to starport, their regulations may not have any bearing, but cultural norms may cause labor issues (see ⌧ ref , supra). "If you want to unload that filth here, heathen, you'll have to do it yourself, and by-the-way, all the loaders are broken. Sorry it's all in 4dton containers. You can pray for your wretched soul while you unload those 7 containers by hand."

Per Icosahedron's comment of "why wouldn't players know about this stuff," knowing and being competent to negotiate are two different things: I know about tires, I know they go flat, but I can neither tell you when one is going to do so nor how to fix it: if I'm without my spare or AAA, it's a long walk. If I had to put a plug in a flat, that was capable of being plugged, then I could probably do it, if I had the kit.

Thus, if someone with Admin, Trader, or Broker skill is working it, I'm with Icosahedron: it will largely be chrome. If I have a merchant character without such skills, he's going to spot the potential problems, but probably not be able to fix them without help, or will have at least a good challenge in doing so. A IISS, IN, or Marine character will have a lesser ability to spot the problem.

Army, Others, Barabarians, or Scientists, for example, will have the same chance at spotting these problems as I would planning preventtive and corrective maintenance on a jet engine. I know it needs to be done, know it's important, but would probably not even be competent to hire the best person to do it.

In sum, a wealth of adventure opportunities without being necessarily being a morass of intractable problems. That said, as I understand the OTU, one can always "Stay on the Interstate," and travel from one starport to another without trading or engaging in activity that would either cross the X-line or be affected by what is on the other side; great for those "just passing through," but devoid of the fertile stuff of adventure.
 
If the Starport is run by all off-worlders, then it may well be the source of local tension ... a starport selling '⌧' on planet 'Bible-Thumper' might have broken no Imperial Laws and still find its extrality line resembling an North-South Korea border crossing.

While the ⌧ example was extreme, how far could the locals push things before someone at the SPA pushes back? Considering the Imperium is a "who's who of megacorp shareholders" they are not going to take to kindly to having their markets affected by some jumped up hicks on planet Podunk. If the planet of teetotallers caused problems for Tukera liners for transpoting alcohol or enviromentalists blocked Sternmetals radioactives shipment - how long before the company specialists showed up to 'facilitate communications and terminate hostilities'?

Granted PC's dont have this level of pull, but the spillover could bring in the big guys indirectly.

Yes, but in speculative trading, IMTU, this could certainly have an effect on price. This provides the REAL fun in a trading campaign. It's also what makes Broker, Trader, and Admin so important.

I agree here - even more so that characters with broker may be able to navigate the legailities but not actually sell the stuff. They simply dont have the contacts or know "who's who" on the planet. They may be able to get lucky on high pop worlds or highly desirable (aka illegal) cargo but not so much in other places. So you have to hire a broker - and if you cargo skirts the law bribe him and hope he doesn't tell interested parties.
 
Or the players wake up one morning to find the starport erilly silent due to the lack of locals, because of the ⌧. Wait, is that an armed mob at the gates? Who is manning the starport defenses (including air defence artillery)?
 
If the Starport is run by all off-worlders, then it may well be the source of local tension ... a starport selling '⌧' on planet 'Bible-Thumper' might have broken no Imperial Laws and still find its extrality line resembling an North-South Korea border crossing.

TTA describes a rather brutal border for Psaydi... more to keep people in than out, really, but still, a cultural boundary requiring permits and interviews to cross.
 
The Zila chapter! That's the one in TTA you should take a look at to see how complicated and frustrating one place could be when trying to ship merchandise purchased on a world to another. It "merely" involves getting 3 documents signed and countersigned but the time and effort involved can stretch to days.

Now not every world will be this way, but there are a myriad government types, and law level can also be used to help determine how fussy the locals are at making sure every i is dotted and t crossed on all the little bits of paper to cover every little lawyer-warning on documents.

Trader, Broker, Admin might be good for some of this, but Legal might be even better to make sure nobody gets scammed or forgets something before lifting off and then finding that next time they stop by they have a big fine or worse waiting for them.
 
I was talking about deep water vessels on the high seas out side of a states territorial waters.

I don't know the details, but basically the laws of the flag country basically in effect on any ship on the high seas. How they're enforced is a different matter, but it certainly possible for a party on the ship to be detained and turned over to the authorities even for a misdemeanor, it's more a matter of whether the ships commander will bother vs just telling people to stop being idiots.

But, even then, basically the Commander may have the power of enforcement, but can't make laws wholesale and is himself subject to the laws. But obviously there are details about what can and can't be done on a ship at sea vs delaying it until they reach a land based authority.
Well, if a crewman or passenger lifts the wallet of another crewman or passenger, a theft that's less than a certain amount and not covered by Imperial Law, how would that be covered? What would be the captains' prerogative?

I think that's something best left to the referee. To add humor he may play the captain as a real stickler for rules and regulations, and cite obscure codes dating back to the Sylean Federation, but that had never been taken off the books (the captain may be awarded a comely slave lass if the High Passenger cannot pay for his entire party...), or he may just invoke a fine and perhaps restricted movement onboard ship; i.e. confined to quarters until they reach port.

Or, if he's a real hard-@$$, perhaps even spacing (captain and government depending), which will open a whole other can of worms. What if one system's punishment is seen as barbaric in the eyes of another, yet both are part of the Imperium? What then?
 
Well, if a crewman or passenger lifts the wallet of another crewman or passenger, a theft that's less than a certain amount and not covered by Imperial Law, how would that be covered? What would be the captains' prerogative?

I would imagine it would be covered. If caught, the passenger should at least get his property back. In theory, the captain could hold the crewman, or contact the authorities at their destination and have the crewman arrested. He could discipline the crewman.

The other question is if the captain did nothing, does the victim have recourse to contact the authorities at the destination and have the crewman prosecuted. I would like to say "yes", simply because there are laws against even petty theft. Shoplifting, for example, is typically quite petty, yet it's prosecuted all the time with perpetrators held by store security for the police.

But, the overall point is that the once in deep/jump space, it's not as if no laws apply. Just like the same laws apply whether you're downtown in a city or in the middle of the desert with no one around. There are different hurdles that perhaps constrain prosecution, but the laws still apply.
 
Ships are extraterritorial. That is, a ship is always considered part of its registered home country.

So, it all depends upon what the laws of the registry world permit the captain. If they grant him permission to hold a hearing, he holds the hearing. If they grant him permission to search and seize, he can do so. If they say he's got to hold the suspect in quarters until turned over at the next port, well, that's what he has to do. And if he doesn't, file a complaint with his registrar world. THEY can pull his registry, or worse...
 
How would a passenger be able to find out a ship's registry? How can they find out whether it is owned by the captain or a bank? I could see the registry being broadcast with the transponder, at least until the Virus.

I could see there being a place for a law office that has bureaus in multiple starports that primarily exist to sue free traders.

"Have you or a loved one been screwed over by a free trader who thinks he can get away with murder? Call Caxon, Kadigashzi, and Ghogzge! Now with offices in 31 starports across the Spinward Marches! And now serving Darrian! No bad free trader is safe from us!"
 
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