Contacts and Allies over interstellar distances

[Golan2072]

Assuming a character has earned a Contact or an Ally, how do they work on interstellar distances? I.e. if the character desires to consult a contact, does he have to jump to a specific system to contact her? I'm asking this as I am writing an adventure in which the characters have a chance to learn some information about their Patron and mission before engaging in the mission itself; can they use contacts to find that information without making interstellar jumps, as the presence of multiple contacts on a relatively remote colonial world is not necessarily plausible.

 

[AnotherDilbert]

Mail, as in any electronic file?

The Imperium runs a mail-network with X-boats, subsidised merchants, and mail packages on free traders. It may take some time to reach its destination, but even remote worlds will get it eventually.

 

[Golan2072]

Of course. But the problem is that in most adventures you won't have time for a mail cycles of 2 or more weeks...

 

[AnotherDilbert]

If you are out in the boondocks you are months away from the rest of the universe, that is one of the basic defining tenets of Traveller. There is no way to send information quicker than a jumping ship.

Unless the Contact is mobile, and just happens to be in the vicinity (and that gets ridiculous if used too often), I'm out of ideas.

 

[nats]

Well if its not very recent info it would be accessible on a news internet type network presumably. I would have thought that all planets in the Imperium would receive regular electronic updates to their planetary news networks and this might form a way of finding out information on their patron. Of course this news would gradually be more and more out of date the further you went away from the newscentre and the fringe might not be getting most news until years after it really happened!

Reporters will need to send in their news to their local new centres which might take weeks and then that would have to filter out to the surrounding systems. I suppose news delays like that would actually result in most people being only intersted in hearing about their own 'neck of the woods' ie local subsector as that would be the only news that would be fairly accurate and up to date. The rest might be reported in yearly news programmes 'about what happened in the Imperium this year'.

So if the news of their patron was less than a few months old the chances are the characters wouldn't know about it unless the patron was within the same sub-sector.

 

[phavoc]

Assuming a character has earned a Contact or an Ally, how do they work on interstellar distances? I.e. if the character desires to consult a contact, does he have to jump to a specific system to contact her? I'm asking this as I am writing an adventure in which the characters have a chance to learn some information about their Patron and mission before engaging in the mission itself; can they use contacts to find that information without making interstellar jumps, as the presence of multiple contacts on a relatively remote colonial world is not necessarily plausible.

Consultation with a patron isn't possible due to distances, or at least not in a reasonable fashion. That's why missions where you have to travel for some time to arrive at your area of operations are based on objectives. It's the classic strategy vs. tactics concept.

In the scenario you are describing, it sounds like the characters may learn some background information prior to departing, so there shouldn't be an issue there. And don't forget that more powerful patrons are going to have their own local agents who look out for their interests, as well as others who have dealt with the patron in the past. In such an example, the past activities of a person are probably going to be more valuable than any other form of information. You can't easily spin a situation from a great distance when you can't continually adapt your story to changes. Just look at history and see how the speed of media has helped, or hindered, getting your message out. By time the patron learns of something and figures out how to address it, the minds of the people where it happened have already been affected and influenced.

Actually, this offers the sneaky referee a great many opportunities to inject disinformation and questions into the campaign so players have to make choices based on incomplete and sometimes incorrect information. It can be fun! (well for SOME...

 

[Silent Hunter]

Well if its not very recent info it would be accessible on a news internet type network presumably. I would have thought that all planets in the Imperium would receive regular electronic updates to their planetary news networks and this might form a way of finding out information on their patron. Of course this news would gradually be more and more out of date the further you went away from the newscentre and the fringe might not be getting most news until years after it really happened!

Reporters will need to send in their news to their local new centres which might take weeks and then that would have to filter out to the surrounding systems. I suppose news delays like that would actually result in most people being only intersted in hearing about their own 'neck of the woods' ie local subsector as that would be the only news that would be fairly accurate and up to date. The rest might be reported in yearly news programmes 'about what happened in the Imperium this year'.

So if the news of their patron was less than a few months old the chances are the characters wouldn't know about it unless the patron was within the same sub-sector.

It's probably worth looking into how it happened on Earth at TL2/TL3 level; you'd place great reliance on travellers bringing the news with them when they arrived - indeed, news reports for another system could be a cargo in its own right.

 

[Askold]

Send a message to the contact: "Hey it's A here, could you dig up some information concerning X, you can send the data (and the bill) to me at the [insert system]" and then wait for several weeks. If you send the letter on an X-boat it should be moving faster than the average ship. If the players have a Jump-4 capable ship then flying to the contact might be faster.

...Then there's the extra time that it takes for the contact to dig up the data IF they are willing to help.

If the characters are going to do some other jobs while waiting for the info then they can set up the "mailing address" as some planet that they are going to visit occasionally or one where they will be at at the time when they estimate some answer to be coming.

Things like this aren't easy in Traveller and unless the contact either is one that is very likely to be able to provide the information (Imperial agent or a person working for the same organization as the Patron for example.) it is faster to try to find someone local that you can get the information from.

 

[Condottiere]

Since there is some form of equivalence exchange, as they say in alchemy, or at least, Japanese alchemy, the further distant your contact is, the closer ties you may have with them.

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

Assuming a character has earned a Contact or an Ally, how do they work on interstellar distances?

They don't. It's just part of their background history.

 

[dmccoy1693]

As they say, "Keep your friends close, and your useful contacts closer."

 

[nats]

Assuming a character has earned a Contact or an Ally, how do they work on interstellar distances?

They don't. It's just part of their background history.

Not at all. If you have a contact or an ally you can call on them to help you out - that is the whole point.

If you want some superb ideas I can recommend buying Gamemastering by Brian Jamison or you can even get a free copy here:

http://www.gamemastering.info/

It is a superb reference for fleshing out characters, worlds, campaigns and general role play game advice for referees I got a paper copy from Amazon and is one of the best books I own and even directly references Traveller many times.

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

Not at all. If you have a contact or an ally you can call on them to help you out - that is the whole point.

If you're a Mary Sue maybe. Can you call on your highschool chums? Even with Facebook? And do what with such people from your past that's relevant to now? Some contacts will just have to wait for another campaign. BTW, Brian Jamison's answer to everything is to change the rules if they don't work.

 

[IanBruntlett]

Not at all. If you have a contact or an ally you can call on them to help you out - that is the whole point.

If you want some superb ideas I can recommend buying Gamemastering by Brian Jamison or you can even get a free copy here:

http://www.gamemastering.info/

It is a superb reference for fleshing out characters, worlds, campaigns and general role play game advice for referees I got a paper copy from Amazon and is one of the best books I own and even directly references Traveller many times.

Awesome! Thanks for the link. I also recommend "Gamemastering" by Dominic Wasch but it is expensive on Amazon UK now.

 

[Askold]

Not at all. If you have a contact or an ally you can call on them to help you out - that is the whole point.

If you're a Mary Sue maybe. Can you call on your highschool chums? Even with Facebook? And do what with such people from your past that's relevant to now? Some contacts will just have to wait for another campaign. BTW, Brian Jamison's answer to everything is to change the rules if they don't work.

...But the rules specifically say that you can call up your contacts and ask for help. Not all of them will help for free but the very reason why the contacts (and rivals) exist is that the players gain NPCs from the character's background that can affect the game helping/hindering the character.

 

[nats]

Yeah I have to say that the use of contacts, allies and rivals is precisely to create a feeling the characters are not the only people there, that they have this wealth of contacts that they can call on, and can come across people then once knew that have their own agendas that may rival them etc, and that they may we have a nemesis or a guardian angel watching over them. these are very powerful role playing concepts and only a mug will dismiss them out of hand. I applaud Mongoose Traveller for adding these things but its doesnt go far enough, that 'Gamemastering' book I mentioned will show you the way to really getting some great role playing into your games.

 

[PsiTraveller]

Your Patron may have business offices in the local (or close) system. Your name may be known to them as a person to help out. A continuous stream of messages may be coming in with every trading ship/Xboat service.

The Patron could have a yacht and a schedule that is known to the player. Or a TAS membership and a travel route that swings close by.

If you want a Patron as a resource have them close to the action. If the Patron is 15 Jumps away they may not be the best plot hook.

Personally I like construction and transportation companies owned by rich Patrons. That way they can always be at the local job site looking at the installation of the new item X, and then hand another trouble shooting job to the player.

 

[Condottiere]

Deadman's hand - the player characters are following instructions of a patron who's long been dead.

 

[Silent Hunter]

Deadman's hand - the player characters are following instructions of a patron who's long been dead.

Or time delayed instructions sent via mail i.e. do not open until said date. Now that could be a plot in itself... getting orders back before they are put into effect.