-----Yep, yep. I agree deception is the best way and probably more often used that just gunning your way in.
Boarding Actions: Do those really happen?
- Thread starter Shadowfax
- Start date
-----Yep, yep. I agree deception is the best way and probably more often used that just gunning your way in.
--------------------I wonder . . .
----------------If I am a Vargr, Sword Worlder, Solimani or whatever. None of this stuff interests me does it? Its like another country. Its like what supposedly happens here, when they say that the Polish come over the border and steal German cars, taking them back for sale in the East in Poland or Russia, where-ever.
---------- I just steal your ship take it over the border. I yank out the transponder, give it a new transponder suited to my space (Vargr, Sol, SW, whatever) and give her a new name and a new coat of paint and voilá its a new ship. Maybe someone will come over the border looking for her, but the Imperial Navy probably won't risk an incursion for the loss of a few ships in isolated incidents right? They probably don't want an international incident. Look at what happens in the straights of Malaka on earth. Ships disappear their and are taken back to certain countries that we won't name directly (for fear of future persecution after assimilation has occurred) and they are refitted, overhauled, repainted and sent out to fly under another flag.
----------------This probably happens in Traveller too right? I mean, I realize that there are probably local pirates that operate differently, but I bet the bigger operations do this and use the borders of interstellar Empires as their safe-havens. So it is not always the secret pirate base in the asteroid belt, the gas giant or the secluded system, but the international border from Vietnam to Laos, from Afghanistan to Pakistan from the Imperium to the Vargr Extents, that gives piracy a chance - right?
---------------Yep. I bet a lot of pirates and privateers have the "select who you are" transponder too.
----------------------I am wondering how often that would happen though. The reason is that you have a lot of risk involved there. There is a good chance that you will shoot up the cargo you are trying to get at, when you try to disable the ship. Then the crew may or may not fight back and may or may not be effective at fighting back. I'll give you big points there, but what cargo is worth all that? Wouldn't you want the ship more than anything else if you could get it? Yet, you have to shoot the ship up so bad to board her and gain control. There might not be much left. There may not be any profit in it.
---------------------Its a dangerous verse out there. belt fed Auto-weapons are available at tech 6. If there was a danger of pirates it is reasonable to assume that crews would be armed and that merchants might in fact travel in convoy or with escort protection. I concede that you have a point about the merchant crews especially if they are facing a better-armed pirate. The question in my mind is how often does this happen and how does it happen. If pirate boarding actions of the type that you describe are infrequent and irregular in terms of how often and where they occur then I could concur with this. Most Merchants would not hire security, but take out an insurance policy. The ship probably would try to out-maneuver/outrun the pirate and would stand down rather than start a running space battle. The crew would probably have been given instructions by the mega-corporation, company or owner not to resist at all so as to avoid damaging the ship. Anti-hijack and coded shutdowns would then act like the time-vaults of a bank insuring that the pirates couldn't steal the ship. They'd enter, take the cargo and leave - very civilized.
-----------------In bad cases the pirates would try to take the ship with them either impressing or marooning the crew or they might take some hostages and try to get ransom money. I guess there are really a myriad of possible scenarios and a lot of it depends as you say on the forces involved.
------------------In the worst case, the pirates would be blood-thirsty and would take no prisoners, though I see no real motive for this in most cases. Pirates are about profit and killing people doesn't bring you any more profit it just puts a bigger price tag on your head.
--------------------Yeah, I doubt that many merchant crews are going to blow their vessel. That is a pretty daring move. If the pirate was known for not taking prisoners or for mistreating them, then I could see the crew maybe doing something like this. Otherwise they are probably given instructions like bank personnel to not resist and to not give the pirates a reason to damage anything. This is of course a different story if the pirates can fly away with the entire ship.
---------------------I suppose that it is probably safe to bet that the pirates are better armed and armored than the crews. The pirates are operating outside the law and are going to have military equipment that the crews may not be allowed to have. how does that work though? I mean, we go by law level, but is there a law level in space? Could and would a merchant captain pick up surplus military arms and armor for the purposes of defending his ship? Once again there are a lot of possibilities and it is a big verse out there.
---------------------Yeah, but on some all you need is a granny with a broom (ok maybe a LAG or a shotgun) to repel the boarders. You can bottle them up then too.
-----------------------hmmm . . . I suppose. Damage to cargo and ship's systems are maybe not always pre-programmed, but the pirate would have to have some knowledge of the target ship's layout and there is no telling if the owners have made changes to the layout. There is a lot of risk for the pirate:
1. The pirate needs good intelligence about the cargo.
2. The pirate needs good intelligence about the crew and the crew's arms and armor.
3. The pirate needs to take out the guns and maneuver drive of the ship without
a.) damaging the cargo
b.) destroying the ship
c.) damaging the ship too badly (in the event that the pirate wants to try
to take the ship as part of the booty)
4. Its better if the pirate knows something about the layout of the ship
The whole thing has to be profitable and there is a lot of risk. This speaks against the capt-blood-style boarding action.
---------------------Yeah, this is the question. How well armed is your average merchant crew? Do the planetary law levels of the systems that you want to trade with dictate your crew's arms and armor? Or is the ship the domain of the captain and crew? I could imagine that some governments would say you cannot bring a pea-shooter dirtside with you and if we find it on your ship we'll impound your ship, try you and throw you in jail or at least make you pay a fine for a weapons violation. On the other hand I could imagine there being some law that says a captain and crew can have whatever they want to have on their ship as long as it doesn't leave the ship. What laws govern the equipment in the ship's arsenal? If the latter law is in effect then you may have crews armed with lasers and plasma guns greeting your pirate boarding party. Otherwise, I could see the criminal pirate being better-armed and armored than your merchant crews in most cases. If the Pirates are better-armed and armored then it would be an argument to support the capt-blood style boarding action.
--------------------------All good and viable points. Thanks for the input.
---------------------Does anyone know how it is with law levels? Does the law level of the visited system place constraints that govern the contents of a ships arsenal? Or is the ship the domain of the captain and crew?
---------------My guess is that it is different everywhere. Some systems try to prohibit what the captain and crew have on board according to their law level. Others allow the captain and crew to have whatever they want in their arsenal as long as it stays on the ship.
---------------Whatever the case is this is a significant determinant of how well a crew could be armed.
---------------------Yeah. I have thought of that, but we are discussing more the run of the mill pirate boarding actions here not really military boarding actions.
-----------------The Zhos probably wouldn't engage in piracy its beneath their moral principles, but I could see them using psi-commandos in a military boarding action. In fact, there is a scenario for this in the Broadsword adventure. You ahve to remember though only about 20% of Zho society is psionic and not all of them are teleports, so the incidence of this sort of boarding action would be low.
------------------On the other hand, the Zhos are not the only people with pisonics and a pirate captain might use a couple of teleports to get the drop on the crew. Its a crap shoot though. I wouldn't want to be one of the teleports jumping onto an unfriendly ship. What if someone is in the room that you jump into. The minutes of disorientation that you have after jumping (plus the potential nausea) put you at high risk.
---------------Are you sure you aren't playing with the guys I play with? That sounds like my guys! They would do something like that.
-----------------I am sure that storming a starport with mercs gets everyone invloved into a lot of hot water don't you? The starport authority would probably (provided they could id you) refuse to service your ship. You'd be shunned. How did you work it with your guys in that case? Did they get away Scott-free or did you hassle them because of it later?
-----------------I was gonna reply, "that would only work in America," but you beat me to it! http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Discuss/images/icons/icon10.gif
far-trader
SOC-14 10K
Canonically the law level in the UWP applies only to the world. The Starport is extraterritorial and comes under Imperial Law. Ships are allowed any ship mounted weapons (except nukes of course) and any personal weapons on board, though the Starport(s) itself is Law Level 2 iirc. And you can bet any local Imperial Starport Authority will be as well or better armed, and skilled, and frown on a show of force without cause from the PCs.
The ship itself is under the rule of the Captain within the rules of the Imperium of course (no nukes, no slavery, etc.). So if the Captain says the crew get SMGs and the passengers get nothing, that's the way it is.
A quesiton of degrees
--------------Ok, that is good to know.
---------------------And if the captain equips his boys with combat armor and Military weapons those pirates that we were talking about earlier are going to get a hell of a reception when they try to board.
---------------------It is hard for me to figure out what is "allowed" and what is socially "accepted". For example in the US guns are allowed, but only a few guys would walk through the Mall with their holsters and their Armalite 15s. The question is, so how is it in traveller. If the captain can equip her guys any way she wants, then provided she had the money, she could get them all battledress and FGMP15s. Ok, that is a bit too far! That is probably military equipment and illegal, but lets say she could get combat armor and laser rifles for her men. Would she do it? Or would there be a social stigma against a merchant captain arming her men to the teeth with military arms and armor?
---------------------On one hand, I tend to think that there are just things that people do not normally do even though they are allowed. Just like you don't talk in the library you don't flash your SMGs in front of paying customers and you don't buy military or paramilitary arms and armor for your crew in everycase if you are just a merchantman.
----------------------On the other hand I tend to think that if I were that Merchant captain I would be thinking something along the lines of trust in Allah, but carry a hidden blackmarket FGMP-15 for those pirates!
---------------------I guess I am trying to strike a plausible cord between those two extremes.
--------------Ok, that is good to know.
---------------------And if the captain equips his boys with combat armor and Military weapons those pirates that we were talking about earlier are going to get a hell of a reception when they try to board.
---------------------It is hard for me to figure out what is "allowed" and what is socially "accepted". For example in the US guns are allowed, but only a few guys would walk through the Mall with their holsters and their Armalite 15s. The question is, so how is it in traveller. If the captain can equip her guys any way she wants, then provided she had the money, she could get them all battledress and FGMP15s. Ok, that is a bit too far! That is probably military equipment and illegal, but lets say she could get combat armor and laser rifles for her men. Would she do it? Or would there be a social stigma against a merchant captain arming her men to the teeth with military arms and armor?
---------------------On one hand, I tend to think that there are just things that people do not normally do even though they are allowed. Just like you don't talk in the library you don't flash your SMGs in front of paying customers and you don't buy military or paramilitary arms and armor for your crew in everycase if you are just a merchantman.
----------------------On the other hand I tend to think that if I were that Merchant captain I would be thinking something along the lines of trust in Allah, but carry a hidden blackmarket FGMP-15 for those pirates!
---------------------I guess I am trying to strike a plausible cord between those two extremes.
mbrinkhues
SOC-14 1K
A few things to consider:
+ Certain weapons are legal in space and on a Imperial Starport. IIRC that is "Assault Rifles and less" so no Fusion Guns, no belt-fed weapons
+ Depending on how you read some stuff BattleDress may be very restricted. IIRC a passage in MT can be read "Only for the Empire, trusted governments and a very few selected Noble Bodyguard and Merc units" How that effects CombatArmor (Unpowered BD in CT/MT) is another question
+ Skills!
Feeding, using and maintaining military weapons isn't something Joe Average picks up in HighSchool. And even related weapons (M240, M60, MG42/59) are different enough in critical regions to make each a subskill of it's own (1) Sure Traveller does not model this (IIRC only GURPS does in it's advanced rules) but gamers can look at IRL sometimes. And it does not end with having the skill, you need regular (once per month i.e) training
+ Money
If you have ever seen a 250round belt going through an MG42/59 you know that those beasts are expensive. The belt rips through in less than 30 seconds with time enough left for changing the barrel. And the weapon itself isn't cheap either
+ Imperial Data Package
The "10 Percent off for standard hulls" is IIRC due to most ships being build from a basic set of plans, making one Beowulf or Stellar class just like another. This helps minimise crew training, eases inter-ship transfer and makes getting spares easier. So the majority of ships will have the same layout where it counts. Blowing through "Wallplate 0815/right" you may find out that the captain/owner has joined three cabins to house it's harem but you won't find yourself in the cargo hold
(1) Never swap weapons with an M60 gunner if you have a MG42/59. You'll need force to make him give up your weapon again. And the M60 doesn't even make a decend club.
+ Certain weapons are legal in space and on a Imperial Starport. IIRC that is "Assault Rifles and less" so no Fusion Guns, no belt-fed weapons
+ Depending on how you read some stuff BattleDress may be very restricted. IIRC a passage in MT can be read "Only for the Empire, trusted governments and a very few selected Noble Bodyguard and Merc units" How that effects CombatArmor (Unpowered BD in CT/MT) is another question
+ Skills!
Feeding, using and maintaining military weapons isn't something Joe Average picks up in HighSchool. And even related weapons (M240, M60, MG42/59) are different enough in critical regions to make each a subskill of it's own (1) Sure Traveller does not model this (IIRC only GURPS does in it's advanced rules) but gamers can look at IRL sometimes. And it does not end with having the skill, you need regular (once per month i.e) training
+ Money
If you have ever seen a 250round belt going through an MG42/59 you know that those beasts are expensive. The belt rips through in less than 30 seconds with time enough left for changing the barrel. And the weapon itself isn't cheap either
+ Imperial Data Package
The "10 Percent off for standard hulls" is IIRC due to most ships being build from a basic set of plans, making one Beowulf or Stellar class just like another. This helps minimise crew training, eases inter-ship transfer and makes getting spares easier. So the majority of ships will have the same layout where it counts. Blowing through "Wallplate 0815/right" you may find out that the captain/owner has joined three cabins to house it's harem but you won't find yourself in the cargo hold
(1) Never swap weapons with an M60 gunner if you have a MG42/59. You'll need force to make him give up your weapon again. And the M60 doesn't even make a decend club.
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---------------------------According to one of the earlier posts you can have anything you want on your ship and its not illegal. See the previous post from Far Trader, where he states:
"Canonically the law level in the UWP applies only to the world. The Starport is extraterritorial and comes under Imperial Law. Ships are allowed any ship mounted weapons (except nukes of course) and any personal weapons on board, though the Starport(s) itself is Law Level 2 iirc. And you can bet any local Imperial Starport Authority will be as well or better armed, and skilled, and frown on a show of force without cause from the PCs.
The ship itself is under the rule of the Captain within the rules of the Imperium of course (no nukes, no slavery, etc.). So if the Captain says the crew get SMGs and the passengers get nothing, that's the way it is."
----------------------IMTU Battle dress is nearly impossible to buy even on the black market. Combat armor, Combat environment armor and environment suits are readily available and in some cases may even be bought legally.
------------------What is IIRC?
-----------------We obviously went to different high schools. ; - ) But I do know what you are saying. Still, training like that is not that hard to get if you can pay for it.
-----------------Yes, exhilarating isn't it? I was always glad I didn't have to pay for it. I think this is probably the biggest hurdel to the average free-trader in Traveller. They are probably not making the kind of profit they need to outfit their crews really well. The bigger are, but the question here is. Even if they have the money do they outfit their crews for defense? I mean, look at corporations today. They cut spending where ever they can to increase shareholder value? It is reasonable to assume that bigger shipping companies/lines might do this as well provided that the incidence of piracy and boarding actions was relatively infrequent. If the probability of attack is low or the mode of attack is different (i.e. pulling the ship aside and waiting Vs boarding with guns blazing) then my bet is the companies will not spend anything on defense. They would probably plan for some losses, but as long as it remained within acceptable financial limits, they just wouldn't really care.
--------------------Yeah, I agree. What is IIRC though? You are killing me with TLAs.
----------------Also where does the expression "wallplate 0815" come from? I find this quite funny, because the term "0815" is a figure of speech here in Germany for anything that is commonplace and I have never heard anyone else in the traveller community say it before.
(1) Never swap weapons with an M60 gunner if you have a MG42/59. You'll need force to make him give up your weapon again. And the M60 doesn't even make a decend club.
---------------------------How true. : - )
mbrinkhues
SOC-14 1K
IIRC = If I remember correctly also "Sofern mich meine Erinnerung nicht täuscht"
IMHO = In my honest opinion "Meiner Meinung nach"
As for my use of 0815 (and 4711): Like rust and you I am one of the resident germans here (1)
Starships are not lawless. As Far Trader states the Imperial Space (Imperial Starport, Ships in Transit etc) has a LawLevel. Not totally sure wether it is 2 or 4 (I'd have to check) but it's high enough to rule out certain weapons in the hand of a ships crew. The CT/MT rules set have a quite explicit exclusion list by LawLevel
And the big lines like Tukera or Oberlindes operate dedicated escort ships (i.e the Route Protectors) and Intelligence Services (i.e the Vemenes). Plus they operate larger ships in saver regions (You won't find Tukera in Sektor 286), have the ear of the local admiral (Their owners are Imperial Nobles, some with high connections like Blain Tukera who's married to Duchess Margaret who's a close relative of the Imperator) and a profit margin that allows operating armed ships with well-trained gunners in the few Imperial regions where it counts
(1) Btw:
MG 08/15 was the term for the Imperial German Armies maschine gun in WWI. Today 08/15 means "standard, just like it is always done, plain, nothing special"
4711 is/was an Eau de Toilet quite common in germany. If I am tired of 08/15 I use this number
IMHO = In my honest opinion "Meiner Meinung nach"
As for my use of 0815 (and 4711): Like rust and you I am one of the resident germans here
(1)Starships are not lawless. As Far Trader states the Imperial Space (Imperial Starport, Ships in Transit etc) has a LawLevel. Not totally sure wether it is 2 or 4 (I'd have to check) but it's high enough to rule out certain weapons in the hand of a ships crew. The CT/MT rules set have a quite explicit exclusion list by LawLevel
And the big lines like Tukera or Oberlindes operate dedicated escort ships (i.e the Route Protectors) and Intelligence Services (i.e the Vemenes). Plus they operate larger ships in saver regions (You won't find Tukera in Sektor 286), have the ear of the local admiral (Their owners are Imperial Nobles, some with high connections like Blain Tukera who's married to Duchess Margaret who's a close relative of the Imperator) and a profit margin that allows operating armed ships with well-trained gunners in the few Imperial regions where it counts
(1) Btw:
MG 08/15 was the term for the Imperial German Armies maschine gun in WWI. Today 08/15 means "standard, just like it is always done, plain, nothing special"
4711 is/was an Eau de Toilet quite common in germany. If I am tired of 08/15 I use this number
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CosmicGamer
SOC-14 1K
These assumptions are fine, but the assumption that the 'codes' are only good for one month is incorrect. I was purposely vague.
A possible example:
- The 'codes' COULD be good for 6 months
- you jump around for a month and now have 5 months left
- you make a payment but the company has no offices at the current location so it is sent via Xboat. You keep sending in payments each month.
- after 3 months you finally stop somewhere that has a class B starport. The company that provided the mortgage has an office at all class A, B, and C starports within the area they authorize ships to operate. [Imagine how long it would take to get payment if a mortgage company lets you operate a couple subsectors away from their closest office. You remember the mortgage agreement you signed?] Someone from the company comes out to the ship after verifying all payments are up to date and they update the 'codes'. The new 'codes' are good for 6 months.
'codes' is in quotes because this was the simplest way to explain it at the time. Again, the details don't matter IMTU. This could be a circuit card that is replaced after opening up a system, codes entered into a computer, a card like in some cable TV or satellite receivers that is removed and replaced with a new one. It can be multiple things and things that I have not mentioned or can't dream up because I personally don't live on a TL11 world.
The concept is that the mortgage company protects their investment and somehow the ship is 'compromised' if it doesn't check in every so often.
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CosmicGamer
SOC-14 1K
Borders are known for being a bit more 'wild'. IMTU, you still have to get around the fact the transponder is very difficult to remove or replicate. You also don't buy one off the shelf of your local general store. Also, the transponder is just one of many deterrents.
-----------------Ok, got you about the deterrent. If someone offered to sell you a ship without a transponder you'd know why the price was so low. = )
-----------------Why is it hard to remove? Is it linked to a satchel charge or built into some other important component like the jump drive?
--------------Ok, you can't get an imperial transponder easy, but lets say I am a Vargr Pirate clan. I just hijack the ship or board and take it. In any case, I get the ship. Then I rip the transponder out and I put in a Vargr transponder that works in the Extents. Its not like the imperial navy is going to come looking for me is it?
--------------My point is that Vargr Transponders are probably different from Imperial transponders and different from ZHO transponders which are different from Sword Worlder transponders and those are different from Darrian transponders and so on. I understand why you couldn't get an imperial transponder off the shelf. There is probably a ministry responsible for issuing them and they have a huge long number and its all registered and recorded and all that. Sort of like the VIN number on a car or something. In fact, maybe the ship's transponder number is stamped into thousands of key parts on the ship as well, so that you can match them, but what is to stop you from just going over the border where the law of the imperium doesn't count anymore?
---------------So if the Extents is sort of this loose conglomeration that isn't really a "state", but shelters pirates like a kind of "rogue state" then the Vargr have the ship and are Scot free right? Maybe someone will find out where the ship went and mount a repo operation or something, but I doubt that the imperium would get involved unless it was a military vessel or unless there was a lot of piracy going on and it was putting a crimp on trade.
---------------As far as local piracy is concerned, I could see these local pirates having more of a problem with or because of transponders. These would be the guys operating within the Imperium and re-selling primarily within the Imperium, so they would either have to make fake transponders themselves (nearly impossible) or they would have to have a corrupted official helping them. Maybe the "Baron of Kinorb" (or whoever) is really behind all the piracy in the Spinward Marches and he provides the pirates with transponders? Perhaps he weakens political rivals, lets just say for the sake of argument the Duke of Regina, because the Duke can't stop the piracy and appears to be ineffective. The Baron of Kinorb takes in the money from the pirate operations and the re-selling of stolen vessels to the Vargr at the same time weakening his political rival by saying, "Look the mighty Duke of Regina said that he would boost the standard of living, but he cannot even stop the pirates that plague you." Then when the Baron makes is bid for political election or ascension, he rats the pirates out has a lightning class ship annihilate their base and claims victory over "the war on piracy". I realize this is all a bit simplistic, but you see what I am getting at? I am just trying to understand/justify/give form to piracy as it would exist in the traveller universe. No small task it would appear.
---------------I don't see "international" pirates as having a much of a problem with transponders as long as they sell the ships outside of the Empire where they pirated them, but maybe you have another angle on it? I am interested to hear how it works in your universe, because I am not so sure how it works in mine and talking about it with different people helps me flesh out my ideas.
------------------So why is it hard to remove the transponder?
If you follow the news, you're undoubtedly aware that ships passing through the Persian Gulf, where they're subject to attack by Somali pirates, are basically unarmed. On the face of it, it seems that arming a ship's crew with assault rifles and shotguns would solve this piracy problem. Most ships still go unarmed because they'd be denied entrance into many ports if they were carrying firearms.
I've never wholly bought the idea that starport extrality = anything goes. Even if the planet's laws don't extend onto the starport, the local government can still restrict what ships are and aren't allowed to pass through its atmosphere. A government that wants to keep weapons out of the hands of the people for any reason has the right to ban ships that carry personal weapons, whether they're bulk cargo or just the crew's handguns. If you're a free trader trying to scrape a living from spec cargos, the question of whether you're better off going without small arms or denying yourself certain markets could be a tough one.
Steve
I've never wholly bought the idea that starport extrality = anything goes. Even if the planet's laws don't extend onto the starport, the local government can still restrict what ships are and aren't allowed to pass through its atmosphere. A government that wants to keep weapons out of the hands of the people for any reason has the right to ban ships that carry personal weapons, whether they're bulk cargo or just the crew's handguns. If you're a free trader trying to scrape a living from spec cargos, the question of whether you're better off going without small arms or denying yourself certain markets could be a tough one.
Steve
mbrinkhues
SOC-14 1K
If you go by the OTU then there must be a virtual "safe corridor" between 100D and the Imperial Starport. Otherwise it doesn't make sense that the 3I rules "The space between the worlds, jumpspace and a starport in each system" and the whole idea of Imperial Trade collapses. An example:
The FreeTrader "Money for nothing" is chartered to transport 40dtons of (Imperial legal) "Recreative Literature" from Planet "Hefner" to Planet "Wankers". On that way he has to refuel on the religious conservative world "Pupils" where such literature is "burn of sight, keep one for the boss, don't tell anyone". Without the virtual "Imperial Space" that trade would end somewhere between 100D and the spaceport.
With the VIS the local forces can inspect the "Money for nothing" and can alert the local customs to her freight. But that's all they can do. Customs might start frisking down anybody who leaves the extrality zone of the starport and will likely do but as long as the cargo never leaves the port that and eating their headdress is all they can do. The crew could even meet with their sister ship "Chicks for Free" and load another 10dton of similar literatur importet from "Lair" and it would still be legal
The FreeTrader "Money for nothing" is chartered to transport 40dtons of (Imperial legal) "Recreative Literature" from Planet "Hefner" to Planet "Wankers". On that way he has to refuel on the religious conservative world "Pupils" where such literature is "burn of sight, keep one for the boss, don't tell anyone". Without the virtual "Imperial Space" that trade would end somewhere between 100D and the spaceport.
With the VIS the local forces can inspect the "Money for nothing" and can alert the local customs to her freight. But that's all they can do. Customs might start frisking down anybody who leaves the extrality zone of the starport and will likely do but as long as the cargo never leaves the port that and eating their headdress is all they can do. The crew could even meet with their sister ship "Chicks for Free" and load another 10dton of similar literatur importet from "Lair" and it would still be legal
Far Trader stated this above:
"Canonically the law level in the UWP applies only to the world. The Starport is extraterritorial and comes under Imperial Law. Ships are allowed any ship mounted weapons (except nukes of course) and any personal weapons on board, though the Starport(s) itself is Law Level 2 iirc. And you can bet any local Imperial Starport Authority will be as well or better armed, and skilled, and frown on a show of force without cause from the PCs.
The ship itself is under the rule of the Captain within the rules of the Imperium of course (no nukes, no slavery, etc.). So if the Captain says the crew get SMGs and the passengers get nothing, that's the way it is.
__________________
Dan "far-trader" Burns
"
---------------------He says it is canon, and it looks good to me. Note the part where he says that you are allowed to have any weapons that you want aboard your ship. You better not be carrying them off ship onto the promenade of the Starport, but you can have what you want onboard. This makes sense to me.
"Canonically the law level in the UWP applies only to the world. The Starport is extraterritorial and comes under Imperial Law. Ships are allowed any ship mounted weapons (except nukes of course) and any personal weapons on board, though the Starport(s) itself is Law Level 2 iirc. And you can bet any local Imperial Starport Authority will be as well or better armed, and skilled, and frown on a show of force without cause from the PCs.
The ship itself is under the rule of the Captain within the rules of the Imperium of course (no nukes, no slavery, etc.). So if the Captain says the crew get SMGs and the passengers get nothing, that's the way it is.
__________________
Dan "far-trader" Burns
"
---------------------He says it is canon, and it looks good to me. Note the part where he says that you are allowed to have any weapons that you want aboard your ship. You better not be carrying them off ship onto the promenade of the Starport, but you can have what you want onboard. This makes sense to me.
mbrinkhues
SOC-14 1K
Transponders:
From the description in the "Starship Operators Manual" (SOM) the actual civilian transponder is mounted somewhere difficult to reach, a quite acceptabel think since it's a "no maintenance" box in the OTU. It does have a few more capabilities than the real world think, acting as a flight log that can be accessed by the Imperial authorities. It is build in a way that opening it will normally damage/destroy it(1)
It is never defined wether the 3I accepts "foreign flag" transponders or requires foreign ships to either carry an Imperial unit OR offload/transfer cargo.
It's IIRC never specified who issues the transponders. If in doubt, use the Scouts, they'll be involved anyway (Spreading the Ship:Transponder data by X-Boat)
Spinward Marches and Piracy:
This is a GM's choice how he shows the 3I and it's aggressiveness/alertness(2)
The SM is one of two places in the 3I (SolRim is the other) where I can see little to no piracy. Each one is basically a "Cold War" zone with lots of patrolling to go on. One of the reasons I'd used neither as a background for Traveller. They are also the two places where I can see the 3I restricting "foreign flag" cargo ships.
If you want a good setting for pirats either step forward in time (Hard Times/post Rebellion) or use places like Gateway or (less Material) the Imperial-Julian Border in Antares
Selling ships
This (like piracy above) depends a lot on the GM's choice. If the 3I is "defending my borders, the rest is diplomacy" than in some sectors you can sell a ship "over the boarder". If it is "do it my way or I send the Emperors personal maroon-clad thugs"(3) then most smaller nations won't allow that
(1) Not to difficult to engineer even without using explosives. Basically build a sturdy, low box and place the electronics on both top and bottom with minimal space between them then weld shut. Anyone trying to get in will likely kill the boards. Consider it a "throw away" system
(2) The Imperial Fleet has a lot of nobles and "gentleman" in the top ranks. Those can be shown as "mostly quite capabel since the Naval Academies don't care about rank" or "mostly good for nothing else, bought the commission" and depending on the way one balances this scale one gets good or lousy border defences
(3) I always used the "rotten empire/evil marines/greedy nobles" paradigma established by MT/TNE
From the description in the "Starship Operators Manual" (SOM) the actual civilian transponder is mounted somewhere difficult to reach, a quite acceptabel think since it's a "no maintenance" box in the OTU. It does have a few more capabilities than the real world think, acting as a flight log that can be accessed by the Imperial authorities. It is build in a way that opening it will normally damage/destroy it(1)
It is never defined wether the 3I accepts "foreign flag" transponders or requires foreign ships to either carry an Imperial unit OR offload/transfer cargo.
It's IIRC never specified who issues the transponders. If in doubt, use the Scouts, they'll be involved anyway (Spreading the Ship:Transponder data by X-Boat)
Spinward Marches and Piracy:
This is a GM's choice how he shows the 3I and it's aggressiveness/alertness(2)
The SM is one of two places in the 3I (SolRim is the other) where I can see little to no piracy. Each one is basically a "Cold War" zone with lots of patrolling to go on. One of the reasons I'd used neither as a background for Traveller. They are also the two places where I can see the 3I restricting "foreign flag" cargo ships.
If you want a good setting for pirats either step forward in time (Hard Times/post Rebellion) or use places like Gateway or (less Material) the Imperial-Julian Border in Antares
Selling ships
This (like piracy above) depends a lot on the GM's choice. If the 3I is "defending my borders, the rest is diplomacy" than in some sectors you can sell a ship "over the boarder". If it is "do it my way or I send the Emperors personal maroon-clad thugs"(3) then most smaller nations won't allow that
(1) Not to difficult to engineer even without using explosives. Basically build a sturdy, low box and place the electronics on both top and bottom with minimal space between them then weld shut. Anyone trying to get in will likely kill the boards. Consider it a "throw away" system
(2) The Imperial Fleet has a lot of nobles and "gentleman" in the top ranks. Those can be shown as "mostly quite capabel since the Naval Academies don't care about rank" or "mostly good for nothing else, bought the commission" and depending on the way one balances this scale one gets good or lousy border defences
(3) I always used the "rotten empire/evil marines/greedy nobles" paradigma established by MT/TNE
mbrinkhues
SOC-14 1K
He says "If I remember correctly" and stresses the Law Level involved. And that LawLevel WILL affect what you can get aboard. Even if you consider your ship LawLevel-0 you still have to cross the starport gate and/or ground (Law Level-2), someone somewhere has to sell it (No weapons below LL2 on the port) and so on.
And IIRC there is a "Imperial Law applies to ports and ships in flight" passus somewhere in the material. Maybe not CT (never was my system anyway) but it makes sense to establish rules in the one region that is yours if you are the 3I
Oh and the english SMG is "Sub Maschine Gun" or Maschinenpistole (Think UZI or MP5) not "Schweres Maschinengewehr" (Heavy Maschin Gun). Automatic small arms are one thing, support weapons (Light Assault Gun/20mm, Maschine guns etc) are IMHO a totally different beast
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I think it would be hard to get Battle dress, and plamsa or fusion guns.
I think you COULD get combat Armor, Lasers, gauss rifles and maybe even belt-fed weapons if you wanted, if you could afford them.
Yet, my guess is that it is one of those things that just isn't done. Its like meeting the Queen in your long johns. Or walking into McDonalds with your SAW. Its just not done - you know? It scares the passengers away, makes securtity jumpy an' all that.
I think you COULD get combat Armor, Lasers, gauss rifles and maybe even belt-fed weapons if you wanted, if you could afford them.
Yet, my guess is that it is one of those things that just isn't done. Its like meeting the Queen in your long johns. Or walking into McDonalds with your SAW. Its just not done - you know? It scares the passengers away, makes securtity jumpy an' all that.
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