In the Black

[MichaelL65]

Originally posted by Smiling DM:
GM to PC's: Sure, here's some TL14 Pharmceuticals for a song. You need to stop by the warehouse at 3AM, and come to the rear entrance . . .

To which the CFO's PC replied: Great! We'll be there!

BTW, we did make money on the sale, but not near as much as we should have. We only lost the captain in the process (We got him back, but what we got back didn't last much longer).

And Jon, I noticed you haven't made any comments about why piracy wouldn't work...

 

[Smiling DM]

Originally posted by MichaelL65:
And Jon, I noticed you haven't made any comments about why piracy wouldn't work...

Well, with Lucan pulling the fleet out of Old Expanses, what do YOU think will happen in terms of piracy? Didn't want to say anything because I may just use it as a means of fleecing . . . or shall we say 'weaning' you all from your hard currency. Time will tell.

 

[jwmkfox]

Hello:
You were looking for ways to make the party earn less money (or seperate them from the money they are making).
1) Someone mentioned pirates.
A) The cargo hold gets hit and they loose some of the cargo
B) Damage to ship
C) Medical Expenses
D) Insurance goes up
"What do you mean you don't have insurance for your ship?!?!?!?!? No thank you I will get someone else to haul my cargo, THANK YOU!"
2) Each year the ship is suppose to be inspected by the Navy (or at a Scout Base) or something like that. "Can you say micro crack in the fusion unit. It will be at least a week to replace it, if we have the appropriate fusion plant to put in."
3) Someone mentioned taxes. The tax of 10% on everything should help a little.
4) Competition. Someone else notices that the group is making Tons oh money(TM). They go into competition with the group. "Sorry guys, only have a small amount of cargo left over. The other guys bought it all a day ago and left already."
5) Underworld wants their cut on the profit for doing buisness at THEIR port.
6) Can someone say REBELLION? This system is now a red zone by order of the Imperial Navy. Lets just see what you have for cargo. If it is something that can help the rebels you are aiding and abetting.
7) "Did you do a monthly maintenance? IF you did you would have noticed that the seal for the cargo bay was getting worn. You did not! Oh well, decompressurization of the cargo hold killed all the plants and wildlife. Oh and those drugs that says do not freeze or expose to a vacumn are now ruined. That machinery, well, we have to recalibrate it. That will take 20% off the profit.
"
9) "Sir, I am sorry you can not go to that cargo pad." In the background they see the security guy start to scream "HIT THE DECK HE'S GOING TO BLOW THE FUEL TRUCK!!" Suicidial worker just offed himself by driving driving the truck into the nice, shinny starship because it represented everything he could not afford in his miserable job.
10) "Hello Sir, I am doing contrabane and health inspection before you enter the system. Why are you all looking a little pale. Hmmm, let me take a quick sample here. SH*$(%*^&#(@) you con the crawling crud!!" Over his comm device, "CODE 1A I say again CODE 1A!!" As they see the SDB break the connection and stand by with guns locked on and charged.

Hope this gives you a few ideas.
John W. Fox

 

[Smiling DM]

Originally posted by John W. Fox:
Hello:
You were looking for ways to make the party earn less money (or seperate them from the money they are making).
1) Someone mentioned pirates.

Yeah, but pirates just seem to heavy handed - if they are that thick about a ship, then someone is gonna notice and take action.

D) Insurance goes up
"What do you mean you don't have insurance for your ship?!?!?!?!? No thank you I will get someone else to haul my cargo, THANK YOU!"

::snip::

9) "Sir, I am sorry you can not go to that cargo pad." In the background they see the security guy start to scream "HIT THE DECK HE'S GOING TO BLOW THE FUEL TRUCK!!" Suicidial worker just offed himself by driving driving the truck into the nice, shinny starship because it represented everything he could not afford in his miserable job.

10) "Hello Sir, I am doing contrabane and health inspection before you enter the system. Why are you all looking a little pale. Hmmm, let me take a quick sample here. SH*$(%*^&#(@) you con the crawling crud!!" Over his comm device, "CODE 1A I say again CODE 1A!!" As they see the SDB break the connection and stand by with guns locked on and charged.

Hope this gives you a few ideas.
John W. Fox

I like the ones above - they strike me as new/novel/subtle. The others seem a bit to cliche'.

Thanks for all the mentions. I was really trying to get a status update on the "In the Black" sourcebook, but I seem to have failed (even direct e-mails aren't working either).

I guess patience is a virtue - I've just never been described as being virtuous.

 

[jwmkfox]

Hello Egain:
Here is another thought that might make things interesting.
I was in a game where we had obtained a second hand Free Trader. According to the papers the ship was fine and good. Only after taking and running the VIN numbers through the Imperial data base for ships that had skipped (or been stolen) did we find out that our papers (which we assumed were good) were actually fake. That spawned another adventure when the Imperial Spy Service showed up and wanted us to do a job because the leader knew one of the guy and knew the ship was hot. We said "Yes."
Another idea is to have a cargo not be what it says. IF you have been reading the TML (Traveller Mail List) there was talk about automated mines or dolls that are booby trapped. The crew gets a cargo that is mislabled (someone is smuggling weapons) and they go into automatic mode. The crew has to figure out a way to disarm them and save the ship and then explain why the stuff is not being delivered and inform the military about the stuff.
Another idea is to have the ship computer go sentient on them and start to demmand upgrades etc.
Still another is to have a bunch of passengers be hijackers and try to seize the ship.
Lastly, they come into port, unload and suddenly things start to happen and the provizional government decides it needs all the ships it can get its hands on and "borrows" or seizes the ship.

John W. Fox

 

[MichaelL65]

The biggest problem SmilingDM will have with anything you post here, is some of his players roam these boards...

 

[Smiling DM]

Originally posted by MichaelL65:
The biggest problem SmilingDM will have with anything you post here, is some of his players roam these boards...

Like that would stop me.

Besides, if you I hint at one of these ideas, and you guys react accordingly, what if that is exactly the WRONG thing to do, because the event is actually something else in disguise. It wouldn't be the first time that I used PC knowledge against the group.

 

[Antares Administration]

(Copied from Starship Design 101/For Your Information - Trade Design 101)

Based upon the discussion and activity that's taken place already, it looks like Starport Design 101 will be fabulously successful. Way to go Liam and Shane, and all contributors!

In that vein, I just had a brief discussion with MJD, and have received approval to prepare to launch Trade Design 101. The goal will be to design a GM Aide for all things trade-related, from the macro (planetary trade data) to the micro (speculative goods, financing, who knows?).

So far, I have support from Smiling DM, and I'm hoping to enlist more folks as the summer goes on. With luck and hard work, the result will be the "In the Black" product that many people have talked about elsewhere on CotI.

We will not launch Trade Design 101 until Shane and Liam are reasonably satisfied with the results of their project. That way, CotI activity is focused on one project at a time, we can learn from Starports before we launch Trade, and we can design a Trade product which complements "Ports of Call".

Have fun with Starport Design, everyone. There's more to come!

Paul Nemeth
AA

 

[bolie]

My group seems to be headed down the road of the "Merchenary", mercenaries with a ship who trade when they can. We're making okay money, so far (but Mythmere is our DM, so I'm sure that won't last), but we'll probably spend all we make (keep) on better equipment, at least for a while.

As far as the lethality of combat goes, we're finding that it's still a hell of a lot of fun to blow things up and shoot up the place than play spreadsheet games for money. Not that we won't strive for the money, but that's just because I need better Combat Armor and a bigger gun (and more grenades, and new turrets for our ship, and a GCarrier for joy rides, and etc...).

Bolie IV