Long, long ago, in this galaxy far, far away... It was 1977 or 8, and having mucked about a bit with D&D, we were now mucking about with Traveller. Sci-fi was much more interesting to my (milvet-heavy) group, and we were stumbling around The Spinward Marches in what now seems a profoundly clueless fog. I was the ref because no one else had the experience or confidence, and I was the one who had bought the LBBs.
So, one day while inbound to ________ (what, I should remember the name of every backwater planet after 26 years? Hell, I still smoked in those days!) the PC's were beset by pirates. Said pirates blew out their weaponry in no time, and were closing to board. The PCs were frantic not to lose their ship or their (characters) lives, and scratching for some further means of resistance. Being an inexperienced, soft-hearted ref, I allowed some ridiculous die-rolls and allowed the PCs to hot wire a reload missile so as to fire from the cargo deck. As the BGs approached to within (I forget the numbers; ridiculously close) the PCs opened the cargo doors and fired! Kazango-ed the pirate ship big-time, and the launch full of boarding party surrendered under threat of eating the (pure bluff) next one. Course, all their cargo got beat up pretty bad, what with the decompression and then the exhaust gasses(?!), but hey the BGs had rewards on 'em, and the new (former) pirate ship was _much_ bigger...
So lately that one came to mind again (?!) and I have been wondering... The next time the PCs get overly creative while under the gun, how should I resolve the effect of fire from whatever they put out the cargo door this time? Some examples:
4mm VRFGG - say, an Astrin?
2.3GJ Heavy Fusion Gun - like, an Intrepid
My personal favorite - 10 GJ meson gun/Terrapin meson sled! :-o
This has further led me to wonder, what is the etiquette for being boarded by pirates? As opposed to say, boarding by a revenue cutter (real or fake), IN interdiction check, SPA Medical Team (There's been an outbreak of...), or whatever.
If piracy gains an automatic death sentence, there's an incentive not to leave witnesses, which is an incentive not to surrender, etc.
If (as seems to me) the PCs' ship is the most valuable thing they own (why bother getting all sweaty shifting their cargo of fertilizer?), can't the PCs use their ship as a 'Polish hostage' (Blazing Saddles: "Don't nobody move or [Cleavon Little] gets it!")? "You'll take my ship when you pry it from my cold dead fingers!" "Your offer is accepted. Whahaagh!" MIB
Just how do we persuade the PCs that they don't have to die today? But they _could_.
So, how close does the BG mother ship need to approach, how good are BG sensors at reading battle damage? Can we 'lie doggo' and pretend they got us? I figure even the dumbest pirates aren't going to dock their main vessel to a (would-be) prize? I also figure even Jayne was never dumb enough to cross over to a target ship in just a vacc suit.
Runequest was a lot better organized for things like ransom. For years, I had a character who could say "My ransom is a thousand Lunars" in twenty-three languages!
So, I repeat, what are the mechanics of surrendering one's ship and surviving?
![Confused :confused: :confused:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
So, one day while inbound to ________ (what, I should remember the name of every backwater planet after 26 years? Hell, I still smoked in those days!) the PC's were beset by pirates. Said pirates blew out their weaponry in no time, and were closing to board. The PCs were frantic not to lose their ship or their (characters) lives, and scratching for some further means of resistance. Being an inexperienced, soft-hearted ref, I allowed some ridiculous die-rolls and allowed the PCs to hot wire a reload missile so as to fire from the cargo deck. As the BGs approached to within (I forget the numbers; ridiculously close) the PCs opened the cargo doors and fired! Kazango-ed the pirate ship big-time, and the launch full of boarding party surrendered under threat of eating the (pure bluff) next one. Course, all their cargo got beat up pretty bad, what with the decompression and then the exhaust gasses(?!), but hey the BGs had rewards on 'em, and the new (former) pirate ship was _much_ bigger...
So lately that one came to mind again (?!) and I have been wondering... The next time the PCs get overly creative while under the gun, how should I resolve the effect of fire from whatever they put out the cargo door this time? Some examples:
4mm VRFGG - say, an Astrin?
2.3GJ Heavy Fusion Gun - like, an Intrepid
My personal favorite - 10 GJ meson gun/Terrapin meson sled! :-o
This has further led me to wonder, what is the etiquette for being boarded by pirates? As opposed to say, boarding by a revenue cutter (real or fake), IN interdiction check, SPA Medical Team (There's been an outbreak of...), or whatever.
If piracy gains an automatic death sentence, there's an incentive not to leave witnesses, which is an incentive not to surrender, etc.
If (as seems to me) the PCs' ship is the most valuable thing they own (why bother getting all sweaty shifting their cargo of fertilizer?), can't the PCs use their ship as a 'Polish hostage' (Blazing Saddles: "Don't nobody move or [Cleavon Little] gets it!")? "You'll take my ship when you pry it from my cold dead fingers!" "Your offer is accepted. Whahaagh!" MIB
Just how do we persuade the PCs that they don't have to die today? But they _could_.
So, how close does the BG mother ship need to approach, how good are BG sensors at reading battle damage? Can we 'lie doggo' and pretend they got us? I figure even the dumbest pirates aren't going to dock their main vessel to a (would-be) prize? I also figure even Jayne was never dumb enough to cross over to a target ship in just a vacc suit.
Runequest was a lot better organized for things like ransom. For years, I had a character who could say "My ransom is a thousand Lunars" in twenty-three languages!
So, I repeat, what are the mechanics of surrendering one's ship and surviving?