Scouts as spies

[eiladayn]

Originally posted by Jame#1:
Are there any descriptions of how such organizations would operate? In layman's terms, for someone what doesn't know the basics?

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In CT Book 6 Scouts on pg 5 it says....
"The Detached Duty Office was created to keep track of all retired and detached scout personnel in order to be able to swiftly recontact them and return them to active service in an emergency. In addition, the Detached Duty Office controls all surplus IISS craft (scout ships and courier vessels), making them available to some ex-Scouts if that will help the IISS in its missions. The office is divided into two branches- Records and Intelligence.
"The Records Branch maintains documentation on all Scouts serving on detached duty. Virtually all former Scouts fit this classification and are subject to recall for military service of for specific scout missions. Normally, however only those Scouts with surplus scout vessels on loan to them are actively monitored.
"The Intelligence Branch is an information gathering agency for the Scouts. Its primary function is to debrief detached duty Scouts when they visit scout bases for refuelling or for maintenance on their vessels. The Intelligence Branch also maintains active agents (spies) in areas where information is vitally needed."

That's it. The book does mention s security force that is apparently a strike force of commandos or shipboard light troops, "for special Scout activities, and as clandestine agents for the Intelligence Branch." (pg.6)

Paranoia Press published a book approved for use with Traveller called "Scouts and Assassins" it was written by Don Rapp and first published in 1980 (I have a copy). The assassin career could be doctored up to be one of these special troops of the IISS with just a little work.

Hope that helps.

Pappy

 

[Jame]

I'd be more interested in the clandestine agent template, but by all means, bring in the assassin.

 

[eiladayn]

The Assassin:

Enlistment 11+
DM +1 if Dex 9+
DM +2 if Int> Str by 2+

Draft None Rank and Service Skills
Survival 8+ Apprentice.....Blade-1
DM +2 if Int 9+ Assassin....Unarmed Cbt-1

Position 10+ Table of Ranks
DM +1 if Dex 8+ Rank 0 Apprentice
Rank 1 Hajji
Promotion 8+ Rank 2 Dacoit
DM +1 if End 8+ Rank 3 Thuggee
Reenlist 5+ Rank 4 Assassin
Rank 5 Master Assassin
Skills Tables
Personal Development Advanced Education
1 +1 Dexterity 1 Interrogation
2 +1 Endurance 2 Carousing
3 Bow Combat 3 Vacc Suit
4 Poisons/Antidotes 4 Recon
5 Blade Combat 5 Zero-G Combat
6 Gun Combat 6 Jack of all Trades

Service Skills Advanced Education(Edu 8+)
1 Unarmed Combat 1 Medical
2 Streetwise 2 Computer
3 Survival 3 Administration
4 Stealth 4 Pilot
5 Escape & Evasion 5 Electronic
6 Disguise 6 Instruction

New Skills

Disguise--This skill imparts the ability to effectively use techniques of camouflage and disguise to escape undue attention....
No expertise DM -4, per level of expertise +1

Escape & Evasion-This skill imparts the ability to search for hidden traps and to neutralize them once they are located, to make traps, to open most locks and locked doors, and to aid in escaping searches intent upon doing the player harm. A Basic throw of 7+ is required for success. DM's apply:no expertise -4; per level of experitise 1.

Poisons/Antidotes-This skill imparts the ability to recognize poisons and to prepare antidotes to nullify their effects. If the player also has Survival skills, it can be determined whether or not a substance will be harmful to eat. DM's apply: no expertise,-4; per level of expertise, +1.

Stealth-This skill imparts the ability to move about in darkened or near dark areas silently and without detection. A basic throw of 8+ is required to escape notice. DM's apply:no expertise -4;per level of expertise, +1.

Mustering Out Benefits
Die Material Benefit Cash Allowance
1 +1 Dexterity 1,000 Cr
2 + 1 Intelligence 2,000 Cr
3 Blade 3,000 Cr
4 Middle Passage 4,000 Cr
5 High Passage 5,000 Cr
6(+) Assassin's Guild 6,000 Cr

Assassin's Guild-provides a High Passage each month to its members in good standing, and it provides hostels and facilities on all worlds having a Population Level of 7+.(In the Empire I suppose) Such facilities are available without charge to Assassins and Master Assassins, and nominal rates to Thugees and below. Finally, it provides legal assistance (treat as skill level 3) for any member apprehended by local authorities who lives to stand trial!

DM's apply: Rank 4 and 5, add +1 to rolls for Material Benefits.

Retirement Pay: none
("Scouts & Assassins PPg.8-9)

 

[jchurchill]

Are there any descriptions of how such organizations would operate? In layman's terms, for someone what doesn't know the basics?
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Way back in this thread...way way back...I put up a outline/organizational chart of how my TU organizations worked. I can repost some of it. Some of the keen eyed among you might recognize some of it as based on real life organizations from the past.

 

[jchurchill]

-- I have 5 Imperial services/agencies in various states of regard and competence:

Admiralty : Naval Intelligence Division

Army (War Office) MIlitary Intelligence Branch

Foreign Office: Secret Intelligence Service

Home Office: Security Service

Colonial Office: Scout Service Intelligence Branch

All report to the Committee Of Imperial Defence and then onto the Imperial Cabinent ---

The NID and SIS tend to get the most budget and respect. The Scout IB gets respect but not not as big a budget.

The Security Service has an undeserved reputation for hiring ex-colonial police officers

The Army IB has a bad reputation as gun happy unsophisticates. But tactical military intelligence is really their raison d'etre as Nathan Arizona would say.

Structure of the SIS:

Divided into Regional Controllers and REquirements Sections. The Controllers [6] correspond to the 6 major intersteller powers INTU
and there are 10 section numberd by Roman numeral that direct information sought and send it on to the appropriate bureau:

I Political

II Military [liason with War Office]

III Naval

IV Close Orbit and Airspace

V. Counterespionage {with Liason officers to the Security Service]

the other sections -- not in front of me and not as critical are

VI Industrial & Scientific

VII Finacial [Paymaster dept]

VIII Communications

IX Cyphers [Imperial Code & Cypher School]

X Media

The Security Service is broken down into Branches

A. Admin

B. Counterespionage

C. Security [Internal investigations and vetting]

D. Military [Liason with Admiralty and The Army]

E. Aliens [Those from outside the Empire living in it...resident aliens, not just ET]

F. Colonial [Defence Security Officers in areas under Imperial control]

Feel free to borrow whatever may be of use. I can provide a ferw more details of NID in the future as well as MIB. For the Scouts I just use the Organization outlined in book 6. I also have details of SIS and Security Service too
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[jchurchill]

RE Assassins:

Interesting to see the skill lists and attributes
One can build a perfectly good assassin using the Rogue chargen though...very flexible.

 

[eiladayn]

Can't take any credit for any of it except typing it into the chat, but I did like the escape/evasion and poisons skills and if you replaced the guild with the IISS and mustered out as a Scout it would work for a spy.

Pappy

 

[savage]

Come on... the scouts are just mailmen...and women.
Fancy pony express riders of a sort.

I can see it now, "deliver this mail to Deneb 4. While there break into the safe of the Baron and borrow his original Beatles anthology".


Savage

 

[Jame]

Nice assassin progession! But why not make the intial Blade skill interchangeable or gotten with a Gun skill, for those who prefer being a sniper? And would the Imperium of the OTU use an assassin, or hunt them down?

 

[kaladorn]

Speaking strictly on behalf of the Special Security Service, of course the IISS does not use assassins. We prefer to think of them as 'cleaners'.

The Empire is a big place. There are a number of messes that can be most expediently cleaned up by one man or a team of them. Sometimes these messes are of the moving, animate variety. And yes, although we deplore this kind of activity generally, and of course hunt-down freelancers or those working for other powers within our sphere of interest, we sometimes find it necessary to employ such methods - as the cheapest, most effective way, to protect Imperial interests and Imperial citizens.

But as I said at first, we don't call them assassins.

 

[Jame]

Of course not. Far be it from the IISS, IRIS, or the IN (and whatever I've missed) to use assassins... Just people who go over there in a completely unrelated fashion to whatever events occur there!

 

[eiladayn]

Originally posted by Jame#1:
Nice assassin progession! But why not make the intial Blade skill interchangeable or gotten with a Gun skill, for those who prefer being a sniper? And would the Imperium of the OTU use an assassin, or hunt them down?

OK, like I said, I can't take any credit for the work other than typing it into the discussion, but I thought it was a good beginning for a spy character, or a "Custodial Cleansing Agent" if you so prefer.

Pappy

 

[kaladorn]

I'm having images of Harvey Kietel in Pulp Fiction and Leon in The Professional. But not, not, not images of Antonia Banderas or Sylvester Stallone. Nope. No how, no way. Nor Tom Berrenger. Not gonna happen.

On a more serious notes:

Any large empire probably officially eschews assasination. OTOH, any large empire probably uses assassins. They can't support it legally, as it represents a precedent they don't want used against them (targeting enemy leaders directly), but because it can be rather effective if it works, especially on backwaters, it will probably be used as a reasonable (if ruthless) economy of force measure by any large empire.

Why does the old bit of obfuscation known as the "Health Alteration Committee" come to mind?

 

[jatay3]

The IISS's reputation as "good-guys" is too valueable to use them as assasins. Their reputation allows them to mingle with indigenous groups in a way other institutions can't.Also a large number of recruits would be attracted to the scouts that wouldn't be if they had a bad reputation.
It is not to hard for the Emperor to create a separate team of assasins that is not officialy acknowleged. Or they can use mercs hired by someone who is hired by someone else who is hired by someone else. Like the Corelone family the Imperium "has a lot of buffers"(reference:Godfather II).

 

[eiladayn]

You're right, I don't see the IISS using assassins, what I was saying is that the assassin character type might serve as a BEGINNING template for the spies Jame was asking about in first post. But I think there is a lot of justification for using Scouts as spies in the CT canon.

Pappy

 

[Jame]

Originally posted by eiladayn:
You're right, I don't see the IISS using assassins, what I was saying is that the assassin character type might serve as a BEGINNING template for the spies Jame was asking about in first post. But I think there is a lot of justification for using Scouts as spies in the CT canon.

Pappy

Certainly right. Though the scouts serve as a better model for the type of spy I had in mind - they weren't necessarily there to kill anyone.

 

[eiladayn]

Yep, I don't think spies really want or need to kill people, it just attracts too much attention which is something they really don't want. Violence causes all kinds of problems for the spy who'd much rather sneak in, get the information etc. and sneak out with no one the wiser. If the enemy knows his info is leaked then he reacts and eliminates the advantage the spy's folks just gained with the stolen goods.

Pappy