First adventure and a Noble question

[Jak Nazryth]

The first night was a success. The mini-adventure (part of their character generation) took place as their last mission of their last term aboard the 1200 ton Merchant Cruiser "Leviathan". As a GM I felt it was important to have all the new players have a practice game so I made them role play part of their character creation as apposed to simply rolling dice. And as I had hoped, it REALLY gelled the players into a very well rounded party and group of friends, already knowing each other "before the game starts" They rescued the Vice President of a manufacturing facility (which creates ship drive components) on a corporate moon. They got to test out a variety of skills, combat, streetwise, and psionics. The VP also needed his office computer repaired (damaged in the initial fighting) so the character had to make an electronics check to fix, then a computer check to retrieve the damaged date. They got the data rescued the VP, and got back to the ship. The VP was so grateful to being rescued from an Aslan with cybernetics, he award each player with 1 ship share towards a Winters Corp. star ship.
The players rolled their final mustering out benefits and officially "retired" with 3 terms of service each, and they are all 30 years old. (I imposed a 3 term limit) Between mustering out and the 1 share per person award, my 6 player group has a total of 19 ship shares! (and I awarded 1 each because I didn't think they would be rolling many ship shares at mustering out... 00ps)
So now the players are deciding on a ship. I had several J-3 designs and they are also looking at a bunch of cannon ships. The ONLY other person who has every played Traveller is an Engineer, and he runs his own game on Saturdays. He has also offered to design a couple of ships for the parties consideration. But as I feared, at least half of the guys are glazing over the amount of paperwork needed to make payments, meet cost of salaries, etc.. For all of them but one, this is their very first time at playing Traveller and were all kinda taken off guard by the sheer volume of in-game time need to be taken out of each night of gaming, just to try and meet monthly payments.

Then somebody purposed an idea nobody has ever considered before...
One of my players is a Noble, rank of Baron, Social 13. In GURPS if you get Rank and Title, you also get and advantage called Wealth. Wealth allows a player automatic income every single month. The players want to use their Baron's wealth and influence to help pay a good portion of monthly expense so the game won't get bogged down in paperwork and spreadsheets so much that it stops making the game fun for them.

I just woke up this morning and realized I haven't a clue about how Traveller Nobility works (AS A GAME MECHANIC) for the players. I need to bone up on the subject fast. This is the very first player I've GM'd or even as a player encountered, who is playing a Noble.... ever!
Does anyone know of cannon Mongoose Rules that allow players with high Nobility titles a monthly income? Selling off some of their wealth to simply buy a ship? "Dad, can I have my inheritance now please?" That sort of thing. The party has a 30 year old freaking Barron on board! (Who also happens to own the most ship shares) so he will be "owner" of the ship.

The next game is in two weeks. They will pick a ship by then, and I have to come up with a fair scheme on how to convert Noble rank in to cold hard cash.

Any thoughts?

 

[DFW]

Why not give them a scout ship and be done with it?

 

[barnest2]

Why not give them a scout ship and be done with it?

Maybe because they want to choose their own ship?

 

[rust]

The Dilettante supplement covers this with rules for an independent inco-
me and management of the sources of this income. However, using these
rules would add another layer of paperwork to the game.

Since your baron is still quite young, he could well be the son or brother
of the person who actually has both the title and the responsibilty to stay
at home and manage the fief. This absent person could pay your baron a
regular stipend, perhaps turning him into a "remittance man" who is paid
to stay abroad and keep out of the familiy business until he is recalled for
some reason (which usually never happens).

Historically this was not unusual for younger sons, having them out of the
way often made life much easier for their older brother, because a feudal
system works best with only one undisputed ruler at the top and no poten-
tial replacements in the immediate vicinity.

 

[DFW]

Why not give them a scout ship and be done with it?

Maybe because they want to choose their own ship?

Make it a different kind of Scout ship.

 

[Jak Nazryth]

Why not give them a scout ship and be done with it?

There were no scouts in the group.

Another option I mentioned in a different thread, and mentioned to the group last night, is for the Winters Corp to give them a break in finance fees (divide ship cost by 360 in stead of 240) but then the Winters Corp could recall them at any time for company based missions (when I role an 11 or 12 at the beginning of each scenario)
They are mulling it over.

 

[Jak Nazryth]

Anyway I may take a look at dilitante, though I never really wanted to purchase it. Like I said, this is the very first time in my experience anyone has ever chosen to play a noble. AND it's also the first time not one person has chosen to play a scout! Therefore, no "free' scout ship in the party.

RUST, you almost hit the nail on the head.
Mike (the player and GM on the alternating Tuesday night) described his noble character as a spoiled rich kid who just wanted to get the heck away from his family and slum it with the rest of the galaxy. And his family was eager for him to go. In fact in his original idea, he was planning on a noble/rogue who's family thinks him dead. But since then he's modified his story and is now just kind of a black sheep.

So, in Dilettante there are rules similar to the GURPs advantage "Wealth"?
Anyone else dealt with nobles or know of a similar Mongoose game mechanic for cashing in on high social standing and status?

 

[rust]

So, in Dilettante there are rules similar to the GURPs advantage "Wealth"?

The "Wealth" chapter has only 4 pages, and I am not sure whether the
rest of the book would be of much use for you.

 

[hdan]

So, in Dilettante there are rules similar to the GURPs advantage "Wealth"?

The "Wealth" chapter has only 4 pages, and I am not sure whether the
rest of the book would be of much use for you.

The Dilettante "Portfolio" rule is pretty cool, but I think that maybe DFW's "give them a decent space ship with no monthly payment" might be the way to go. You could also have the character roll a Soc test when approaching a starport to see if he can get some "consideration" for docking fees or fuel or something.

Dilettante also has some "fame" rules that degrade a character's Social Standing as you get farther from their "base". So while the character may have the bearing and upkeep of a Soc-13 noble, outside of his subsector, he may not have as effectively high a Social Standing as he is expecting.

Which in practical terms means that if he's going "undercover", nobody will recognize him, but if he goes out decked out as a full-on Imperial Baron, he will get respect from the common man (and maybe even be hassled a little bit for autographs if his family is well liked), but government official may remind him that he's pretty far from home, and not be as swayed by his apparent nobility as they normally would.

 

[SSWarlock]

When it comes to nobility, there are Imperial Nobles and planetary nobles. Both can get fiefs in the form of land which generate income but only Imperial Nobility have the inter-system authority (in some cases) to pull strings that will benefit them personally. Planetary nobility can pull strings but usually only on the planet or sometimes within a single star system.

Book 8: Dilettante covers the wealth (from domain lands, stipends, etc.) and social aspects of nobility but is mainly written to cover the living styles of the rich and famous, regardless of the source of said wealth and fame. The GURPS book on Nobility goes into much, much more detail. Right now, I use both books to manage nobility; GURPS for background material on the responsibilities of both Imperial and planetary nobility and Dilettante for the Mongoose specific rules governing wealth and social aspects.

The "Dilettante" career in Book 8 covers specifically the life of black sheep nobility who are paid a stipend to "just go away and stay away."

 

[Jak Nazryth]

The "Dilettante" career in Book 8 covers specifically the life of black sheep nobility who are paid a stipend to "just go away and stay away."[/quote]


I think this is the kind of character the playing is going for.

 

[BP]

The Winters Corp VP might be able to help the group find a 'late model' starship (of the plans they select) at a drastically reduced price. He would also likely know of any 'repo's or be a good reference for a patron (can include banks, megacorps, etc.) that has need of a crew and can 'loan' a ship.

The Noble's rich uncle who recently passed is also a good bet for a starship...

And the rules are just reference - no need for trade rules if you decide. Heck, the players can be offered a 'trade charter' that guarantees them enough goods/profit on any run in a region of space to meet ship payments.

 

[77thPatron]

I typically tack this on to any game I use (CT, MGT, etc.). It works well and makes the players understand that nobility has as many obligations as privileges.

http://members.ozemail.com.au/~iandl57/Page19.html

 

[TC]

I use the same resource 77th posted in my campaigns. It works, and it nicely fleshes out what it means to be SOC X.

 

[Egil Skallagrimsson]

I think that maybe DFW's "give them a decent space ship with no monthly payment" might be the way to go.

Yeah, from what Jak has said about his group this really sounds the way to go, they clearly want something of higher spec than the S class Scout, fair enough, but they don't own the ship, owned by the noble's family firm or whatever. You may want to require the group to cover the fees for maintence and fuel, or perhaps that is covered as well. How about a story arc where the aim is to take the ship from one side of the sector to the other? Mora to Garoo? Lot of opportunities for adventures on the way. Perhaps a rival family/starship business want the players ship? etc etc.

Let them keep the ship shares, they may yet use them it they decide that they want to get into starship economic later on?

If you are really going to play up the noble side of this, then it might be worth buying Dilettante, really liked 77th Patron's link as well.

Egil