Cargo Thieving in Traveller

P

phavoc

Emperor Mongoose
Something for the enterprising player or referee who's looking to adapt real-world scam techniques to Traveller. This would be especially useful for players looking to scam cargoes on smaller worlds with less frequent starship traffic. Basically you hack into the networks of say the starport or a freight service and insert your ships' fake bonafides so you arrive before the legitimate crew/ship and pick up your 'free' cargo. No shooting, low risk and by the time they realize they have been hoodwinked you are already gone... or left orbit... or made it out of the starport...

Hopefully. No shooting, right???

http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/31/us/nut-thefts-california/index.html
 
Sounds like a great adventure just waiting to happen. PC Crew steals a load, only to find out some crime organization was using that load to smuggle something themselves so the PCs have just ripped off a crime family and a cargo handler both. :lol:

"Honest Mr. Corleone, we didn't know it was your cargo....."
 
-Daniel- said:
Sounds like a great adventure just waiting to happen. PC Crew steals a load, only to find out some crime organization was using that load to smuggle something themselves so the PCs have just ripped off a crime family and a cargo handler both. :lol:
Click to expand...

Even I get boarded sometimes.
 
This is a very real thing. It's very easy to loose track of few crates or a cargo container dockside in real life. Especially if the dock crew is being paid off to look the other way. back in the 80s hen I was a deck hand on an oil company supply boat for a while If we got our full cargo list we were surprised. Our manifest seemed to be a suggested load at best. it was months before they figured out who was skimming cargoes

actually altering shipping records would be profitable. a few tons of high-end electronics would be worth a chunk of Credits especially if your investment was zero. Of course, you have to be very prudent about how often you try that scam, and where. The trio who were skimming supplies to the oil rigs only got caught because they got sloppy and someone saw them loading cases of steaks into the back of a van.
 
wbnc said:
This is a very real thing.
Click to expand...
Yes, Cargo theft is a real thing. But you have to admit, the idea of adding it into the "three stooges" environment that often follows normal PCs and it makes for a load of fun for the GM. :lol:
 
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