Duke on board - Need Advice

[aramis]

Yep. Sometimes the 3rd Imperium is very much a mafia. I didn't meant to imply that imperial nobles, or those with the chutzpah to wage a trade war without targeting civilian populations beyond whats necessary for a trade war, wasn't tolerated or in some cases, encouraged. 3I does have a darkside.

Every system of rule-by-nobles has a tendency to look like the mafia.

And a sector or subsector duke within his assigned turf, he's definitely NOT "just another diplomat with a title"... he's the man who can call the navy and cut your world off. In fact, I'd expect part of the 3I membership is granting all "Working" nobility (Planetary barons, viscounts, marquis, and counts) full and locally-irrevocable diplomatic immunity.

Likewise, on-world fiefs are likely to be just as extraterritorial as starports.... the 3I is not, after all, the UK-in-space.

 

[MCEvans]

Just imagine if there were any Knights as crew on the March Harrier!!!!!:devil::rofl::rofl::rofl:

 

[Cryton]

Every system of rule-by-nobles has a tendency to look like the mafia.

And a sector or subsector duke within his assigned turf, he's definitely NOT "just another diplomat with a title"... he's the man who can call the navy and cut your world off. In fact, I'd expect part of the 3I membership is granting all "Working" nobility (Planetary barons, viscounts, marquis, and counts) full and locally-irrevocable diplomatic immunity.

Likewise, on-world fiefs are likely to be just as extraterritorial as starports.... the 3I is not, after all, the UK-in-space.

Rank doth have its privileges. :rofl:

 

[aramis]

Just imagine if there were any Knights as crew on the March Harrier!!!!!:devil::rofl::rofl::rofl:

Knights are, functionally, pretty much ALL honor nobles....

 

[rancke]

Yep. Sometimes the 3rd Imperium is very much a mafia. I didn't meant to imply that imperial nobles, or those with the chutzpah to wage a trade war without targeting civilian populations beyond whats necessary for a trade war, wasn't tolerated or in some cases, encouraged. 3I does have a darkside.

From the admittedly scanty evidence it looks like shenanigans like trade wars and backing one side in a civil war against the other are mostly committed by interstellar corporations and that the Imperium tries to restrain them and protect the member worlds. Though no doubt that varies from duchy to duchy according to the whim (or principles) of the local duke.


Hans

 

[McPerth]

And if one out of every 36 people in the Imperium gets a chance to join the Nobles, you're looking at a couple of million dukes even at the worst odds you quote.

I don't believe 1 in 36 Imperial citizens may join nobility, but about characters, 6 in 36 (1 in 6) may (SS 10+)

Landed aka high nobles are canon, and CGen can produce them using S4: COTI or MT... but getting the rolls in the noble career...
a titular baron is 10+ to get position, then 12+ to get promoted 3 times of 7 tries prior to mandatory retirement. So 10/36*1/36*1/36*1/36=10/1679616 to make it in 3 terms.
Baron to Duke in 3: 0.000005953741807651273
Baron to duke in 4: 0.000005788360090772071
Baron to duke in 5: 0.000005627572310472847
Still pretty rare.

Don't forget if your character has INT 10+ he has a +1 to the roll, so tripling his/her chances of being promoted (and so scale in social ladder).

Also a character may end with SS 15 (or more, but rules disallow that) due to mustering out/skill tables (most probably in the Navy, if he/she attains rank 5), but I guess in this case are honorary titles (though any title he had at the begining of CharGen is landed, not honorary, IMHO).

 

[rancke]

I don't believe 1 in 36 Imperial citizens may join nobility, but about characters, 6 in 36 (1 in 6) may (SS 10+)

Neither do I. I was alluding to the fallacy inherent in using any of the Character Generation systems for estimating the demographic composition of any Traveller society or sub-group thereof.

As for joining the Nobles with a SL of 10, it does require two more sixes in order to become an Imperial duke.


Hans

 

[Uxi]

IMTU, the character would have been 2nd or 3rd youngest brother or kid of a Duke (for this example), but not actually the Duke.

 

[rancke]

IMTU, the character would have been 2nd or 3rd youngest brother or kid of a Duke (for this example), but not actually the Duke.

That would certainly be better than a duke, but you're still talking about someone who has the same relationship to someone far more powerful than Napoleon as Napoleon's brothers had to him -- and they became kings.

Unless he's cut off from his family in some way, a close relative of an Imperial duke has some formidable advantages. Probably considerable property of his own or if not a sizable allowance; the ability to get an interview with the duke at a moments notice; a position in society that makes a lot of people eager to hob-nob with him; a big bunch of fawning sycophants and people who'll give their eye teeth to do him favors; in short, every advantage you'd expect the younger brother of a present-day king to have, only a couple of orders of magnitude greater.

(And, of course, a regiment of paparazzi following him about, though that's not an advantage ).


Hans

 

[Uxi]

I could deal with that. Even outside of making him disinherited, etc.

In other games I either ran exclusive noble parties each with their own territories (which ended up more strategic/battle oriented with the oddball "adventure" here and there) as well as pure military campaigns with a tree of characters in different MOS, etc.

 

[rancke]

In other games I either ran exclusive noble parties each with their own territories (which ended up more strategic/battle oriented with the oddball "adventure" here and there) as well as pure military campaigns with a tree of characters in different MOS, etc.

Oh, that sort of campaigns with high-ranking rulers is no problem. I've run one myself (although that was a fantasy campaign) and I've been a player in a Traveller version. I was "only" a count to start with, but I ended up a duke!

My reservations is strictly about standard across-the-table Traveller floor-level adventurers campaigns.


Hans

 

[david.wendelken]

Firefly Ambassadors, for example, their SOC is significant if they can black list nobles for bad behavior.

I know this is an old thread, but the above statement is so totally wrong...

"Firefly Ambassadors" is, I assume, a reference to folks like Inara on Firefly.

She's not an ambassador, she's a prostitute. An expensive, classy prostitute.

When she black lists someone, she's blacklisting them with other prostitutes. That's all. Other prostitutes like her won't do business with the person.

The lowliest of streetwalkers today could do the same if prostitution were legalized and unionized.

 

[aramis]

I know this is an old thread, but the above statement is so totally wrong...

"Firefly Ambassadors" is, I assume, a reference to folks like Inara on Firefly.

She's not an ambassador, she's a prostitute. An expensive, classy prostitute.

When she black lists someone, she's blacklisting them with other prostitutes. That's all. Other prostitutes like her won't do business with the person.

The lowliest of streetwalkers today could do the same if prostitution were legalized and unionized.

Registered Companions are not prostitutes. No more so than a certified sex therapist with a PhD in sexual psychology is.

They are not paid for sex - they are paid for companionship and entertainment, and in some cases, sex-therapy, which may, at the companion's option, include sexual acts as part of the package. A combination of Geisha (who neither were nor are, as a class, prostitutes), and trained sex-therapist (not all of whom perform sexual acts with clients).

If that distinction is lost upon you, I would advise not bringing the subject up again, because it's a MAJOR ongoing subplot in the firefly storyline.

 

[Fritz_Brown]

because it's a MAJOR ongoing subplot in the firefly storyline.

If only. Joss, we need more Traveller stories from you.

 

[HG_B]

Registered Companions are not prostitutes. No more so than a certified sex therapist with a PhD in sexual psychology is.

Tell THAT to your wife.

 

[Carlobrand]

Tell THAT to your wife.

Well now, SOME have suggested that the matrimonial relationship is just a form of ...

Oop, my wife's looking.

 

[aramis]

Tell THAT to your wife.

I did. She agrees with me.

As for "ongoing", well, it's not resolved in Serenity. If there were a sequel, I suspect it would roll ending credits with "the Ballad of Mal & Inarra"...

 

[savage]

ambassadors

I know this is an old thread, but the above statement is so totally wrong...

"Firefly Ambassadors" is, I assume, a reference to folks like Inara on Firefly.

She's not an ambassador, she's a prostitute. An expensive, classy prostitute.

When she black lists someone, she's blacklisting them with other prostitutes. That's all. Other prostitutes like her won't do business with the person.

The lowliest of streetwalkers today could do the same if prostitution were legalized and unionized.

Ok i just had a really good laugh. I cannot believe your trying to explain this...:rofl:
However, your last statement is not correct. In legalized Nevada sex trade they do blacklist certain clients due to behavior. There was a good show on cable about one of these establishments.