"Startown would cater to the crews and naive travellers, and maybe less naive travellers. And less naive natives.
Probably also easier to meet contacts and brokers for less savoury cargo."
"Startown is not going to repair your ship, though they may try to sell you one..."
"Think Subic bay, Texas street, Bangkok."
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[/FONT]Purpose. Startown is the destination for shore leave by civilian and military crew. As a warehousing district (presumably between the starport and the world), Startown lets player characters find their comfortable level of risk while still being close to the safety of a starport and, usually, their ship.
Getting Your Feet Wet. In other words, Startown is like a low-level hybrid town/dungeon. Characters may sortie out to it during the daytime and buy equipment with little risk. They may stray off the main arteries, trading a little more risk for the option of finding something interesting. And finally, they may rent a room at night, head into the streets, and dish out vigilante justice. Or be part of the problem.
It's Mardi Gras every day.
Learning About Traveller. As a "beginner's dungeon", it can also introduce new players to Traveller in general, and a setting in particular, and without a referee. A player can roll up a character and then take him into Startown -- probably during the day, on the main drag. There, he can rent a room, grab a bite, buy second-hand equipment, and get hired on a starship. Note that one can do a lot of this at the Starport itself -- but I would say that Startown is cheap. It's where you go if you don't have membership in TAS (or its 1900 equivalent). Once again, you can dial the safety level to what you're comfortable with, and learn as you go.
Central City. Separate from Startown, this is less of a dungeon, and more like the castle or keep. Everything is expensive, so the players who visit here are invited, entitled, or wealthy. Megacorps do their business here, as do nobles and government agencies. Here there are "thousands of businesses taking offworld resources and converting them into interesting products for export of import."
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STARTOWN MAP
Though there are many types of Startowns, their offerings tend to be organized based on risk, with the least risky places grouped along a Main Drag, and increasingly risky destinations located further away.
Thus each of the following should be roughly classified according to personal risk (Main Drag, Off-Main, and Red Zone). Also note that risk in all areas increases at night.
Startown Generator. Starting from the Extrality Line, a few dice rolls generates the Main Drag and several branching streets, optionally filled with various things to see and experience, or open for customization as usual. Also, modular Startown segments can be "geomorphically" combined for quick variation, from "main street" to "den of thieves" to "mafia stronghold" and "church of the sub-genius", and so on.
Process: draw a line leading away from the Extrality Gate. This is the Main Drag. Next, roll 1D. Draw that many side streets off of the Main Drag. These are Off-Main streets. For each side of each Off-Main street, roll 1D. If that number is 1 or 2, then that's the number of buildings fronting that side of that street, starting with the corner off of the Main Drag. If that number is 3 or more, then there are 2 buildings fronting that side of the street, with the remainder of the buildings on a branch street -- a Red Zone street.
Now you have three classes of 'buildings':
(1) those on corners of the Main Drag are Main Drag buildings. Roll 2D on the Main Drag table to determine the nature of each of these.
(2) those on the Off-Main streets proper. Roll 2D on the Off-Main table for each.
(3) those on the Red Zone streets. Roll 2D on the Red Zone table for each.
Main Drag
Place Liberally: "Taxi" service.
2-3. Off-port cargo factor "offices" (local or fly-by-night).
4. Recruiter.
5. Cheap Hotel (Cr10/night)
6. Casino.
7. (No more than once) Mass-transport station (maglev, grav train, shinkansen...).
8. Bar.
9. Greasy Spoon.
10. Street Vendor outside a Bar.
11. Cheap Hotel (Cr9/night)
12. (No more than once) Two secondhand starship lots.
Off-Main
Always: Police and Jail.
Place Liberally: Hiring halls. Includes "contract" (slave) hiring.
Place Liberally: Secondhand/pawn equipment. Outfitters' shops will be built like bunkers.
2. "Check-cashing"/bail bond kiosks.
3. Live music or event outside a sleazy bar or casino.
4. Sleazier casinos.
5. Even cheaper Hotel (e.g. Cr7/night)
6. Sleazier food.
7. Sleazier bars.
8. (No more than once) Arena, gladiator-style.
9. (No more than once) Secondhand/pawn vehicles and heavy equipment. Outfitters' shops will be built like bunkers.
10. Food kitchen, faith-based or otherwise.
11. Sophont Club (one particular sophont type). Don't get involved with Llellewyloly hot tub gatherings...
12. (No more than once) NEW equipment shop. Outfitters' shops will be built like bunkers.
Red Zone
Place Liberally: Warehousing (local-to-starport).
2. Virtual experiences: music, arenas, scenarios.
3. Loan sharks.
4. Grifter outside junk shop.
5. Brothel.
6. Dangerously cheap Hotel (e.g. Cr3/night)
7. Horrible establishment. Roll 1D: 1-2: Bar, 3-4: Casino, 5-6: Greasy Spoon.
8. Tattoo parlors, fly-by-night wafer jacks and implants.
9. Healers (street or shack-based).
10. Church missions (be they well-known, obscure, traditional, or nutjob).
11. Freak show/"zoo": building or land for the strange things that get found/confiscated.
12. Hazardous chemical production or storage - things that the starport may want to keep at arms' length.
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Probably also easier to meet contacts and brokers for less savoury cargo."
"Startown is not going to repair your ship, though they may try to sell you one..."
"Think Subic bay, Texas street, Bangkok."
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Startown Liberty said:
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[/FONT]Purpose. Startown is the destination for shore leave by civilian and military crew. As a warehousing district (presumably between the starport and the world), Startown lets player characters find their comfortable level of risk while still being close to the safety of a starport and, usually, their ship.
Getting Your Feet Wet. In other words, Startown is like a low-level hybrid town/dungeon. Characters may sortie out to it during the daytime and buy equipment with little risk. They may stray off the main arteries, trading a little more risk for the option of finding something interesting. And finally, they may rent a room at night, head into the streets, and dish out vigilante justice. Or be part of the problem.
It's Mardi Gras every day.
Learning About Traveller. As a "beginner's dungeon", it can also introduce new players to Traveller in general, and a setting in particular, and without a referee. A player can roll up a character and then take him into Startown -- probably during the day, on the main drag. There, he can rent a room, grab a bite, buy second-hand equipment, and get hired on a starship. Note that one can do a lot of this at the Starport itself -- but I would say that Startown is cheap. It's where you go if you don't have membership in TAS (or its 1900 equivalent). Once again, you can dial the safety level to what you're comfortable with, and learn as you go.
Central City. Separate from Startown, this is less of a dungeon, and more like the castle or keep. Everything is expensive, so the players who visit here are invited, entitled, or wealthy. Megacorps do their business here, as do nobles and government agencies. Here there are "thousands of businesses taking offworld resources and converting them into interesting products for export of import."
[FONT=arial,helvetica]
[/FONT]
STARTOWN MAP
Though there are many types of Startowns, their offerings tend to be organized based on risk, with the least risky places grouped along a Main Drag, and increasingly risky destinations located further away.
Thus each of the following should be roughly classified according to personal risk (Main Drag, Off-Main, and Red Zone). Also note that risk in all areas increases at night.
Startown Generator. Starting from the Extrality Line, a few dice rolls generates the Main Drag and several branching streets, optionally filled with various things to see and experience, or open for customization as usual. Also, modular Startown segments can be "geomorphically" combined for quick variation, from "main street" to "den of thieves" to "mafia stronghold" and "church of the sub-genius", and so on.
Process: draw a line leading away from the Extrality Gate. This is the Main Drag. Next, roll 1D. Draw that many side streets off of the Main Drag. These are Off-Main streets. For each side of each Off-Main street, roll 1D. If that number is 1 or 2, then that's the number of buildings fronting that side of that street, starting with the corner off of the Main Drag. If that number is 3 or more, then there are 2 buildings fronting that side of the street, with the remainder of the buildings on a branch street -- a Red Zone street.
Now you have three classes of 'buildings':
(1) those on corners of the Main Drag are Main Drag buildings. Roll 2D on the Main Drag table to determine the nature of each of these.
(2) those on the Off-Main streets proper. Roll 2D on the Off-Main table for each.
(3) those on the Red Zone streets. Roll 2D on the Red Zone table for each.
Main Drag
Place Liberally: "Taxi" service.
2-3. Off-port cargo factor "offices" (local or fly-by-night).
4. Recruiter.
5. Cheap Hotel (Cr10/night)
6. Casino.
7. (No more than once) Mass-transport station (maglev, grav train, shinkansen...).
8. Bar.
9. Greasy Spoon.
10. Street Vendor outside a Bar.
11. Cheap Hotel (Cr9/night)
12. (No more than once) Two secondhand starship lots.
Off-Main
Always: Police and Jail.
Place Liberally: Hiring halls. Includes "contract" (slave) hiring.
Place Liberally: Secondhand/pawn equipment. Outfitters' shops will be built like bunkers.
2. "Check-cashing"/bail bond kiosks.
3. Live music or event outside a sleazy bar or casino.
4. Sleazier casinos.
5. Even cheaper Hotel (e.g. Cr7/night)
6. Sleazier food.
7. Sleazier bars.
8. (No more than once) Arena, gladiator-style.
9. (No more than once) Secondhand/pawn vehicles and heavy equipment. Outfitters' shops will be built like bunkers.
10. Food kitchen, faith-based or otherwise.
11. Sophont Club (one particular sophont type). Don't get involved with Llellewyloly hot tub gatherings...
12. (No more than once) NEW equipment shop. Outfitters' shops will be built like bunkers.
Red Zone
Place Liberally: Warehousing (local-to-starport).
2. Virtual experiences: music, arenas, scenarios.
3. Loan sharks.
4. Grifter outside junk shop.
5. Brothel.
6. Dangerously cheap Hotel (e.g. Cr3/night)
7. Horrible establishment. Roll 1D: 1-2: Bar, 3-4: Casino, 5-6: Greasy Spoon.
8. Tattoo parlors, fly-by-night wafer jacks and implants.
9. Healers (street or shack-based).
10. Church missions (be they well-known, obscure, traditional, or nutjob).
11. Freak show/"zoo": building or land for the strange things that get found/confiscated.
12. Hazardous chemical production or storage - things that the starport may want to keep at arms' length.
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