Criminal Masterminds

[Hemdian]

I need a plot that is morally wrong but not illegal in the Imperium, it may be illegal elsewhere. It should promise high reward, low to moderate risk.

A simple one would be the "Luvliner", a battered old Type-M is converted into a mobile brothel, stocked with 'talent', and flown to a world where such activities are illegal. Provided it says on the right side of the XT line there is nothing the local LEOs can do about it except try to intercept punters enroute (note its the punters who take any risk, not the Luvliner's owners or employees). How dark you want to go IYTU will influnce the talent you use to populate the Luvliner.

 

[fiat_knox]

A simple one would be the "Luvliner", a battered old Type-M is converted into a mobile brothel, stocked with 'talent', and flown to a world where such activities are illegal. Provided it says on the right side of the XT line there is nothing the local LEOs can do about it except try to intercept punters enroute (note its the punters who take any risk, not the Luvliner's owners or employees). How dark you want to go IYTU will influnce the talent you use to populate the Luvliner.

I did that one, only it was a Saint-class hospice ship (from the Mongoose Traders & Gunboats) that had been bought up by a rich, bored Noble. The player characters were the veneer of legitimacy; the owner lured them on board under the pretense that they were going to be travelling to Poor worlds, offering free charity surgery to locals who couldn't so much as afford a simple bandaid.

In the end, they made a lot of Contacts, and the "nurses" were very happy with the medics' assistance once a month, when they'd go in for their six monthly checkups, vaccine and contra booster shots.

I ended up writing the plot in as one of the Patrons in my Medic article for Mongoose's Signs & Portents.

But I moved away from the idea of it being a Subsidised Merchant. Too predictable. A ship classed as being designed for medical personnel and religious types on pilgrimages ... Customs and the law never suspect those, and they very rarely bother to check.

"Port Authority control here. State your destination, and stand by for an inspection."

"Hi. We're the, er, Errand of Mercy, and we're taking another lot of patients to the, er, leper colony on Menorb."

"Forget the inspection. Carry on."

 

[Hemdian]

Customs and the law never suspect those, and they very rarely bother to check.

Ah, but if prostitution isn't illegal under Imperial law then the Luvliner doesn't have to be covert. Indeed it can flaunt its wares publicly. It just sits right outside the jurisdiction of any planet where it is illegal.

I believe this has even been done in RL ... a small cruise ship that had to sail out into international waters before business could be transacted. And a parallel can be drawn to Radio Caroline, an unlicensed radio station based on a boat (not prostitution but exploiting the same legal loophole).

 

[fiat_knox]

This is what some vessels do: they have casinos and gambling on board, but head out to international waters before they open them.

They could have vessels registered on the edge of Imperial space, and venture into neutral territory with a full Jump's worth of extra fuel in the cargo hold, for the journey back.

Of course, venturing a little ways out of Imperial territory and into, say, Vargr or Zhodani space means that the protection of the law from which they are fleeing cannot reach them. That leaves them vulnerable to any passing heavily armed privateer which just happened to know that the liner was going to be there, and lie in wait for them.

 

[Gadrin]

This is what some vessels do: they have casinos and gambling on board, but head out to international waters before they open them.

you can do the same with a lab ship, just make sure it begins it's extra-Imperial "experiments" or "mixing" outside of Imperial Borders, assuming the ingredients aren't illegal in whatever place they dock at.

that might be how the Imperium could combat things like psi-drugs or rna-type of experimentation -- assault the building block's legality.

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[Icosahedron]

Does Imperial jurisdiction extend to jump space?

I think it would be difficult to prove - the first step would be to define where jump space is...

If there is no jurisdiction, then you have a whole week to do anything you want during a jump-0. No need to approach hostile space.

 

[Easterner9504]

J-Space

You'd be under jurisdiction of Ships's flag of registry. You don't get to murder/rob at will in mid-ocean beyond territorial waters so why would you in J-space?

 

[fiat_knox]

In The Spinward Marches, there's a thriving black market in Pysadian fruits ... but there's also a market for illegal Pysadian wines grown on Pysadi itself.

A prime example of a racket waiting to be taken over. The crook who corners the Pysadian booze market, and who survives the wrath of the planet's Religious Reich, can make herself a very happy sophont.

For as long as she can keep her hold on the reins ...

 

[Gadrin]

Does Imperial jurisdiction extend to jump space?

I think it would be difficult to prove - the first step would be to define where jump space is...

If there is no jurisdiction, then you have a whole week to do anything you want during a jump-0. No need to approach hostile space.

I meant physically beyond imperial borders, meaning the thick lines on those hex maps in the books.

Otherwise it'd be whatever you can get away with. If the Imperium knows what it takes to make Potion XYZ it will likely control it in some manner; how effective the control is depends on the locals executing the plan, not to mention the ingenuity of those doing the Bad Deed™. So anyone carrying any of the ingredients will need some sort of special paperwork unless carrying them can only mean one thing.

It's hard to say just how stringent customs would be. Ships could come out of jump away from a world and float a package in space with a transponder. Then a local ship (non-jump) could go out and try to pick it up. This stops any problems with customs inspections -- unless ANY craft leaving the world and returning gets inspected. Depends on the infrastructure (size of manpower). Next there's things like re-entry drops which is incredibly complex but less so at mid-tech levels (probably TTL10 or 11+). So if you can't inspect every ship, you do random checks. Then there's corruption/bribery to consider.

So it can get pretty grainy.


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