awarded baronies

[flykiller]

Safe deposit boxes, secure storage, secure meeting rooms, and the like can definitely be found at banks and other financial institutions.

yeah, but have trouble visualizing that in a port. downtown sure, but not for transient passengers.

unless one ups the "port" to a "city". which I'd love to do, but I'm limited by how many pixels will fit onto the allotted space. not to mention time ....

Some ports won't allow them on-site, some ports will

I'm envisioning this as a referee tool, so there will be blank spaces for game refs to fill in as they see fit.

Brokerages are going to be with all the other offices and not tucked away in a dedicated warehouse. Import/export firms will have offices where their goods are located. Brokers are putting buyers, shippers, and sellers together while the I/E types are buying, shipping, and selling on their own.

I was envisioning the "brokerage" to be multi-purpose use by merchant crew - hiring, brokerage, selling/purchasing, "tavern" - looking to get in, dump goods, have fun, get goods, get out. does that make sense or am I just not getting it?

You'll need a bonded warehouse too, some place where goods have been landed but not yet cleared through the planet's xtrality/tariff line.

excellent, too logical and game-useful to ignore. I'll add it. have to move the fence a bit.

"Replenishment services" are chandlers right? Life support, rations, and all that?

yep, though I didn't know there was a word for it or even that it existed, just thought it would be a good idea. and selandia's description makes it clear it's a lot more important than I thought, especially for out-on-their-own starships. I'll try to make it bigger, but again I'm out of room.

 

[flykiller]

Consider biological quarantine areas to inspect incoming cargo for pests or invasive or diseased plants.

another thing I missed. gudak is the #1 food producer in the region, it will pay attention to that kind of thing. and I suppose not just them, everyone will attempt to maintain their exisiting ecosystems.

would the inspections take place before unloading, or after? on the pavement, or in a secure facility?

 

[Whipsnade]

yeah, but have trouble visualizing that in a port. downtown sure, but not for transient passengers.

Not for passengers, but for crews and traders. Not the home office either, but branch offices.

You exited jump and radioed/masered your flight plan, chandler's shopping list, and letters of credit to the port. After landing and passing whatever inspections and practiques were needed, you'll need to meet with whatever financial institution will be servicing your credit. Are you going to want to travel downtown for that or will there be a branch office in port?

I'm envisioning this as a referee tool, so there will be blank spaces for game refs to fill in as they see fit.

Which is why it's so useful. You're providing the framework referees can "dress" to suit their needs. You're also wisely drawing a line between generally useful framework and heavily detailed location more towards the framework end of the spectrum.

I was envisioning the "brokerage" to be multi-purpose use by merchant crew - hiring, brokerage, selling/purchasing, "tavern" - looking to get in, dump goods, have fun, get goods, get out. does that make sense or am I just not getting it?

It makes sense. You and I were using the term "brokerage" differently. My view was more narrow, your view is more useful.

excellent, too logical and game-useful to ignore. I'll add it. have to move the fence a bit.

No need. Take some floor space from that big manufacturing center. I'd dial back any manufacturing and/or processing presence inside the extrality line anyway.

Processing or repackaging bonded goods before they cross the import tariff line like "bottled in bond" liquor? Sure. Manufacturing fungible widgets and packaging supplies for visiting ships? Sure. Some activity that will need to constantly move materials, supplies, workers, and finished goods back and forth across the xtrality line? That's a little tougher.

yep, though I didn't know there was a word for it or even that it existed, just thought it would be a good idea. and selandia's description makes it clear it's a lot more important than I thought, especially for out-on-their-own starships. I'll try to make it bigger, but again I'm out of room.

Selandia's real world example was wonderful, wasn't it? I hope he expands on it.

 

[Selandia]

In Real World, important persons, like the Captain or Chief are like PC in RP: they do not have the time to go shop for the crew's toothbrushes or the 4" paintbrush with a crooked handle for a odd corner paint job in ER.

Figure starting your adventure with "Tonight your adventure is you go purchase new coverall"... no go... There is no Starwar episode XXIII "The overall do not fit".

Beside large quantity goods (2 weeks of food for many peoples), a lot of shipboard purchase is on a retail scale, even if on a "large retail" (48 rolls of toilet paper). You do not want to carry around a year worth of light bulbs and toilet paper even if you could get it at 10% discount providing you waste 3 hours to go to SpaceMart.

Chandlers would acquire from regular suppliers (with the relevant discount) Engineroom store (wiping rags, solvent, lubricant, hydraulic fluid...) light maintenance part (light bulbs, on-off switch, sealant tape, standard valve and wiring...), basic tooling (screw driver, drill bits, pipe wrench...) special clothing (acid resistant iron toed work boots, special coverall and antislip gloves) that are often bought on retail scale by ships that would rather pay you to do their shopping rather than do it themselves (shopaholic like "Pumpkin Marcy" love that job). There are many chandlers per port and quotation are asked in advance from them to insure lowest cost.

Anything, casual equipment as above, exceptionnal issue like furniture, or specialized service should be available at the Chandler.

Example, how do you handle the certification of your liferaft, or VacSuit in Traveller? The way it works is the Chandler is picking a "new/refurbished" certified raft, delivers it to you and pick up the "old" raft that is returned to the maker for inspection and re-certification. The exchange cost is the "certification cost" plus fee.

Some demands are tricky (Good old Law Level): old fridge requiring Freon, we got fined for exporting dangerous CFC (Ship was flagged Cyprus). Morphine for the medkit (the old stock was expired) of a Greek flagged tramp, the RCMP Narc squad was unable to tel us how to legally export it (since the ship was foreign territory) No Joke, I Quote: Them " We can't tell you how to do it legally, we can only arrest you if you do it illegally" - Me " to know that we are doing it illegally, you must know how to do it Legally?" -them "No, we never deal with legal transactions"

Client would be diversified. The Indian cargo ship was treating his crew poorly, exept for the choice of Rice and Curry and Tea. Everything else was as cheap as possible, they sent the ship to the St-Lawrence winter with gear fit for Bordeaux, because we are on the same lattitude, like one "Tainted athmosphere" require the same filter as another "Tainted athmosphere" in traveller!!! On the other hand, we had a German Warship. Instruction were "only the best". I did not knew that there was Gourmet Saurkrautz until then, and morning bread roll had to come onboard warm as proof of freshness!

If a player ask where we buy this, ref simply says "radio the shipyard" or "radio the Chandlers". And then "Mama" just show up at the airlock with the (usually legal) basket of goodies. That is how you run an adventure using an ACS without making running the ACS an adventure (unless the ref wish it, of course)

have fun

Selandia

 

[flykiller]

Figure starting your adventure with 'Tonight your adventure is you go purchase new coverall'... no go... There is no Starwar episode XXIII 'The overall do not fit' ... If a player ask where we buy this, ref simply says 'radio the shipyard'"

completely agree, and most of the time that's exactly how a game will go. but what I'm trying to do here is draw a game environment that depicts a "realistic" setting. this allows the referee and players to make choices as to how they will use it. off the top of my head, for example ... someone wants to smuggle some terribly illegal contraband aboard a ship. they look around the port, see the chandlers' office, and realize there's an opening there to do so. the idea is to provide an environment for the gamers - let them decide what to do with it.

and let me reiterate. all my deckplans/drawings are done in mspaint. if anyone wants to change anything, it's easy, feel free.

 

[kilemall]

I'd make a lot of this facility business dependent on the starport level, with premium servicing available (at a price) for A and maybe you DO have to 'go downtown' for fiscal/brokerage services at C and D ports.

Or mix and match for specific situations- for instance, a C port A population high law level may be spartan support, but have a large extrality manufacturing section to provide desperately needed jobs and income- or conversely all the desirable services are 'across the line' to drive business planetside instead of interstellar concerns.

ANY and EVERY starport is going to have serious efforts in place to prevent bio-contamination, vacuum world as much as an Ag world.

Any artificial environment that exists for tainted, exotic, insidious or no atmosphere conditions is just as sensitive a functioning ecosystem since it is all that is keeping it's people alive.

Probably understating the issue when one considers such things as the Great Oxygenation Event and microbes that can turn iron into sulfuric acid.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Oxygenation_Event

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Mountain_Mine#Bacteria_and_Archaea

 

[flykiller]

ANY and EVERY starport is going to have serious efforts in place to prevent bio-contamination

that probably would disallow everything I have here, and require starting over.

 

[kilemall]

that probably would disallow everything I have here, and require starting over.

Hmm, I don't know about that.

You just make it a defining characteristic of each starport's situation, like anything else.

The main change would be a funnel everything goes through at one point to be quarantined/scanned.

Could be for a C port/TL6 place quarantine periods are mandatory as there is no other way to catch issues or do expensive searches and tests.

Could be an A port/TL13 can scan for everything in one pass as you roll through the gates.

Differentiate also by LL or by situation- like any human organization, starport quarantine is likely to get lax as threats do not materialize, bribery clears 'obstacles', or space plagues tighten up EVERY port in the subsector.

 

[flykiller]

The main change would be a funnel everything goes through at one point to be quarantined/scanned.

well, the quickest way to implement it here would be to say it's elsewhere ....

 

[kilemall]

well, the quickest way to implement it here would be to say it's elsewhere ....

For your presently mapped facility in this thread, probably. Or, like I said the scanning is already built into all the major entry/exit gateways and is unobtrusive, until it gets obtrusive.

 

[Grav_Moped]

well, the quickest way to implement it here would be to say it's elsewhere ....

Some of it could be managed at the cargo's point of origin, assuming agreements were in place.

 

[Selandia]

I'd make a lot of this facility business dependent on the starport level, with premium servicing available (at a price) for A and maybe you DO have to 'go downtown' for fiscal/brokerage services at C and D ports.

Or mix and match for specific situations- for instance, a C port A population high law level may be spartan support, but have a large extrality manufacturing section to provide desperately needed jobs and income- or conversely all the desirable services are 'across the line' to drive business planetside instead of interstellar concerns.

Good remark, given T5, figuring the "mission" of a Starport will have a great impact on that Starport design

From T5 Text Master PDF p.308

"The starport, as an organization, is committed to a mission
(that mission may or may not be clearly or publicly stated).
Typical missions are:
To efficiently provide facilities and services necessary
to accommodate interplanetary and interstellar traffic for this world.
To produce a maximum of income for the organization which operates this starport.
To insulate this world, to the maximum extent possible, from outside influences.
To meet the minimum requirements for maintaining interstellar trade."

The starport under discussion seems to be geared for the first type of mission as it is trying to offers every services. As such it is a good template

Ref may just edit out what they do not need given the adventure they wish to impose or the setting they wish to offer to the players.

have fun

Selandia

 

[flykiller]

Or mix and match for specific situations- for instance, a C port A population high law level may be spartan support, but have a large extrality manufacturing section to provide desperately needed jobs and income- or conversely all the desirable services are 'across the line' to drive business planetside instead of interstellar concerns.

Good remark

it is. but at this point all I'm trying to do is draw "a port", in such a way that 1) any referee can tailor it to his own uses, and 2) it supports game action. riot on the tarmac, terrorist action at the gate, drunken pc's going off to play, police surveillance on the concourse, smuggling something through customs, accident on the deck, meeting the factors, called in by the baron - there's enough in this starport layout that the referee and players can point to and say, "that, there". since my in-system game demo I've become fond of the notion of combining strategic and tactical features on one map. I believe this starport layout begins to support that.

 

[flykiller]

update 6

the outport exchange is just outside the extrality line. it's where the crews go to have a good time, and where the captains go to sell cargo and find new crew and cargo. what should be there?

incomplete key

-----------------------
imperial port authority
-----------------------
--------
03 level
--------
--------
02 level
--------
--------
01 level
--------
--- administration
ADM general administration office
a1    personnel
a2    union rep
a3    protocol
a4    supervision
a5    treaty implementation
a6    law level issues
a7    records
a8    history
--- bunkroom section
B   bunkroom control (assign, maintenance, etc)
bm    men's (one left unlabled to show roomette size)
bw    women's
ba    aliens'
--- conference rooms
C     large
c     small
--- embassy offices
eS    shakamash/amda
eU    upag
e1    unishpiir
e2    rathas
e3    tscho
e4    khikaeg
e5    iliika
--- finances
FIN general financial office
f1    collections
f2    disbursements
--- hotel/food-service
FSC   food service/catering
hall  dining hall
h1    office
h2    pantry
j1    janitor's closet
j2    janitor's closet
j3    janitor's closet
pc    power/comms
m1    building maintenance
--- legal
L   general legal office
L1    contracts
L2    obligation/termination
L3    advocacy
L4    prosecutions
L5    prospectors' office
L6    offworld legal liaison
L7    treaty interpretation
--- operations
OPS   operations central
PCh   port chief's office
o1    future plans
o2    external ops
o3    internal ops
o4    procurement
--- customer relations
r1    passengers, masters/captains/crew
r2    planet, local system
r3    + (user defined)
r4    agencies (imperial, military, corporate)
r5    private corporate (union, contractors)
r6    security station
r7    access control passage
--- port security
SEC   office
s1    VIP
s2    nobility
s3    deck
s4    external
s5    buildings
--- miscellaneous
mars  men's toilets
venus women's toilets
at    aliens' toilets
+     user-defined
---------
main deck
---------

-------------------------
public passenger terminal
-------------------------
---------------------------------
upper public concourse (pax mall)
---------------------------------
mars  mens'toilets
venus women's toilets
A     alien "lounge"/facility (configurable setting)
ATW  "all these worlds" club (soc A+ only)
a     alien toilets
B     bank branch
BS    bank branch with adjacent safety deposit box facility
b     bots-are-us (valet/cleaning, purchase/rentals )
bar   bar (alcohol)
C     clothiers (assembled/tailored on the spot)
ct    courtesy grav transport
DC    data center (comms matching/links, data uploads, general news/info)
eS    shakamash/amda embassy
eU    upag embassy
e     unishpiir embassy
e     rathas embassy
e     tscho embassy
e     khikaeg embassy
e     iliika embassy
equip equipment shop
F     pax freight (incoming, outgoing, storage)
f     footwear (cut/assembled on the spot)
g     game/video/tri center
K     kiddie playland
P     medical/police booth
R     transport (airrafts, taxis, gigs)
real  properties/estate (facilities/properties/housing, temporary/sales)
S     souveneir shop
T     taco bell (fast food)
tav   tavern (alcohol, food)
V     visitors agency (events/tickets, travel/booking, announcements, alien services)
x     custodial station
+     user-defined (small business, art/culture, social concern, school/church project)
--------------------------------------
lower public concourse (street access)
--------------------------------------
A     pax ticketing/check-in - regular lines
b     pax ticketing/check-in - ad hoc private lines
ct    courtesy grav transport
I     information kiosk
lb->  lowberth passenger intake
lb<-  lowberth passenger discharge
lugg  luggage discharge
R     riser to upper deck
        outer slots - staircases (right up, left down)
        inner slots - escalators (right up, left down)
        center slot - courtesy grav transport way
S     security station
s     upper deck access screening
----------------------------------------
main deck (below upper public concourse)
----------------------------------------

--------------------------
private passenger terminal
--------------------------
---------------------------------------
private concourse upper and lower level
---------------------------------------
bot  robot services
club entertainment lounge
cc   courtesy cargo pick-up
ct   courtesy transport (grav)
FL   ship factor, luggage intake
R    riser to upper deck
       outer slots - staircases (right up, left down)
       inner slots - escalators (right up, left down)
       center slot - courtesy transport way
s      upper deck access screening
S    security station
+    user-defined
-----------------------------------------
main deck (below upper private concourse)
-----------------------------------------

----------------
outport exchange
----------------

-----------------
security stations
-----------------
-------
general
-------
     full camera/ir/nv/sensor systems
     full card/rfid photo/biometric recognition
     guards in light body armor and sidearms
     heavier weapons on standby
     police bots on standby
     airrafts/grav bikes on standby to pursue as necessary
     hardened "safe" room manned at all times to guarantee alarm/response/report capability
-----
gates
-----
x1   crew gate
       primarily deals with outgoing/incoming ship crew, in various states of order/disorder
       supports cargo gate
x2   cargo gate
       responsible for cargo container traffic
       generally only looks for obvious problems
       frequently relies on port authority access control to tell it what to allow/disallow
       may conduct snap inspection
x3   public passenger gate
       generally only looks for obvious problems
x4   port authority gate
       careful access verification
x5   private passenger gate
       careful access verification
-------------------
security procedures
-------------------
     pax incoming/outgoing
     parking entry
     cargo access port
     imperial port authority access
       tracking chip on handcuff ring
       security central (where?)
     robot response
       non-lethal bots (initial response)
       net/taser/grapple
     shooter-bots (final response)
       tech 12
       heavy - wheeled
       light - grav

-------
artwork
-------
----------------
public concourse
----------------
z1   water fountain/grav-water sculpture
       mountain stream, water falls on both sides down to pools at pax concourse level
         dynamic gravitic sculpture of water nymphs and fish
         the nymphs play and cavort at the top of the water source
         the fish jump from the pools up the water falls to the water source at the top
         the "fish" may be grabbed, but then drain away
         sometimes aliens attempt to eat the fish or to use the fountain as a toilet
z2   bronze statues
       Scout Pilot Kalag Adla Mikhi and Scout Engineer Stephan Holmes, and their mothers
         upon responding to a distressed ship Port Authority Search & Rescue Scout Pilot
         Adla Mikhi found the ship had only minimal manual control and would require
         constant pilot guidance to prevent its impact on a city of Gudak, requiring
         that pilot to remain aboard until impact.  After ensuring all ship crew were
         evacuated Scout Adla Mikhi elected to remain aboard to perform the task and
         dismissed the remainder of the team.  But the ship's engineering plant was
         unstable and Port Authority Search and Rescue Scout Engineer Stephan Holmes
         returned aboard to guarantee what little maneuver power was available.  They
         successfully diverted the ship, dying in the act.

         the statue shows Adla Mikhi in scout hazard suit, striding forward and looking
         up with arm raised.  His mother is depicted behind him to his right, striding
         with him and hand on his shoulder, gazing at him.  Stephan Holmes is depicted
         to Mikhi's left and striding one pace behind, reading data from a sensor tool,
         his mother positioned similarly to Mikhi's.

         they are positioned on the pax concourse just overlooking the lower level.  on
         moving up from lower level to the pax concourse passengers perceive them to be
         larger than life, but upon arrival at the pax concourse level they are
         perceived as human-sized and ordinary.
z3   -
-----------------
private concourse
-----------------
z4   -
z5   grav-air sculpture
       dynamic gravitic sculpture of various flight themes using aerial dust and mist
         various aerial creatures - birds, insects, native gudak aerials - love to ride
         the gravitic projections of this sculpture.  currently being studied by several
         local art schools and biology colleges seeking to incorporate the animals' play
         into the dynamic presentations.

-------
off-map
-------
A->  startown
       downtown
B->  landing zones
C->  ?
D->  industrial
       slums

 

[flykiller]

outport exchange

 

[PVernon]

Flykiller, What is the general scale of the maps?

 

[flykiller]

on the port map, 1 pixel is about 1 standard deckplan square - 1.5m by 1.5m. for the outport facility graphic I expanded that by 400% both ways, so maybe 1 foot per pixel.

but I don't want to get too hung up in that. I wanted something that 1) was game-useable, 2) depicted "an entire port", 3) fit onto a single sheet of paper, and 4) was discernible to the human eye despite the limited space and pixel size (the outport exchange graphic - I just copied that section and hit "skew 400%/400%" and pasted it over, didn't try to rescale anything - breaks that set of parameters, but I thought it was justified because the location is very likely to be the scene of most game action and thus deserved somewhat more detail).

when doing the tavern I was considering whether I should depict the tables and benches. decided not to - life is short. in fact except for clean-up I think I'm done with this. hate to leave something only partially finished, but I think I've provided enough for a competent referee to use in a game and to inspire anyone else to draw something similar for their own games.

 

[Winged Cat]

anyone ever use this?

I am running a one-shot tomorrow, which starts at one starport and is planned to end at another. (The bulk of the action happens during a single jump.) If there's action at either starport, I may use this.

One question: if a SOC 7- type comes in on, say, the Maus, and the mall is SOC 8+ only, how does that person get to the parking area? Or is it just the shops in the mall that are SOC 8+ (enforced either via security at the doors, or via the clerks just refusing to do business with someone too low class and encouraging them to leave), and anyone can walk through the mall if just going through it?

 

[flykiller]

One question: if a SOC 7- type comes in on, say, the Maus, and the mall is SOC 8+ only, how does that person get to the parking area?

I had envisioned the mall as being on the second deck, with the lower level as being the personal baggage / lowberth install / ship crew passage deck. so they'd walk under the mall right out to the parking lot.

I may use this.

enjoy.

 

[flykiller]

anyone else ever use this?