Help! Players broke my plot!

[Garuda]

You're far too nice to your players.

They're messing with planet size politics and economics and they should get their fingers well and truly burnt for it.

If they have transfered massed funds off world then the planet's economy will collapse. Having a bunch of wannabe world leaders suddenly find themselves in charge of a planetary mess is going to attract them a lot of enemies.

No neighbour is going to like a new power coming into being - that is a direct threat to system stability. Even the most fervent friend of a neighbouring system will suddenly turn against them if they now feel threatened. Your players may have had good relations with the imperium a few months ago, but now they have turned into cheating, untrustworthy bullies with a private army. They must be stamped on - hard! Friendships are over.

 

[Shiloh]

You're far too nice to your players.

I agree. And to be honest, from what you've said, it's that inclination to let them get away with stuff that has led to this pretty pass.

You've let them do stuff that simply isn't feasible: you can't transfer national-scale treasuries because they don't actually exist except on paper (unless you're talking pre-industrial civilisation) and if you tried to liquidate the assets, the economy would collapse, unless they brought in a Megacorp that just happened to fancy buying a planet.

"Command level access to all computers"? And they let them have it? Sorry, but that's just plain unbeleivable. No matter how persuasive the players, as soon as the principals tried to activate any such orders, they'd be told it a) couldn't be done, and b) shouldn't be done by their advisers and technicians. And doing it once for each side? What is this? Planet Gullible? The people in power aren't patsies, and aren't going to hand over control like that.

They're messing with planet size politics and economics and they should get their fingers well and truly burnt for it.

And those people running a nation state aren't going to just roll over and give up. Even assuming they got out a few trillion creds, a planetary economy that could survive that will have *plenty* of other cash, and the exisiting power bases still control the production base. Is their army big enough to wage a war of conquest in the face of a population roused against them by their legitimate leaders?

...attract them a lot of enemies...

However, since you handed them the rope, it's probably fair to make it a nice bouncy kernmantel one with a sit-harness on the end and a good belay point, so they'll stop with an unpleasant jerk and maybe slam into the rockface a bit, but it won't break their neck like a nice hempen noose would. Mutiny and assassins hunting them at least. Leave 'em with a core/cadre of troops if you want them to be able to fulfil their merc. ambitions, but everything has to have consequences. Especially overreaching yourself.

Maybe they have the political, administrative, leadership and propaganda skills to parlay their position into something tenable, but at that point, why were they not already running a planet?

 

[Commander Drax]

Then when you've killed their egotistical dreams and ambitions, start killing their reputation, when their plans have failed and they've been forced to abandon the planet, let the word of their staggering greed and incompetence travel outwards at 1 parsec per week, no sane mercenary would ever work with them again, lest they be tarred with the same brush! As reputations are everything in Merc circles.

Reputation for success = good pay and positive reactions from potential mercs.

Reputation for failure = no pay/and or death and negative reactions from potential mercs

It's that simple.

New ID's and cosmetic surgery will be required.

 

[Shiloh]

...word...travel outwards at 1 parsec per week...

Until you reach an X-boat station, then either assume J-4 or work it out (4 per week on the 'route' and 1 per week outward from each station) along the axis the players are moving (and assume it's reached pretty much everywhere they'd go in other directions, by the time they've side- or backtracked).

 

[starfleet]

Plus unless the imperium's nobels and navy in the sector are ALL corrupt, their status with the imperium isn't going to hold much weight vs what they have done.

Oh it might stop them being shot on sight by the imperium itself but it won't stop them loosing status, loosing allies and contacts etc as those contacts hear what has been done.

If you look at historical mercanary forces along with other setting merc forces NOTHING is frowned on more then a Merc company that breaks contract with out extremely good reason, and those who actually turn on their contractor (with out provication) generally never work again in that field... EVER. Why? Because no one is willing to trust them would you honestly?

Apart form the Merc contract side which by the way means that they have definantly LOST their bond which is held in a seperate account and paid on completion (See Merc book presuming your using it's rules), lets look at the other points:

1. They have forcefully occupied a planet using troops who are obviously of dubious nature. The troops owe NILL loyality to them, their loyality is likely to actually be TO the planet, their families and their beliefs. The moment the players show that the planet isn't their prime intrest a large chunk of those troops are going to mutiny against the PLAYERS this time. Especially if they are being forcefully removed from said families etc for what appears to be no reason.

2. Even if they have taken the central command and control systems of the planet over based on your discription the planet had a full blown civil war going on, the Goverment would have had soldiers who can not be brought as would the rebel forces. When civil war break's out you ALWAYS have fanatics those who's loyality can not be brought because they believe in the 'cause' at all cost. Look at modern Iraq or Afghan for example, do you think the forces that our troops are going up against on a day to day basis are being 'paid' in cash? For the most part, no they go out and try and kill as many of our troops as they can because they BELIEVE their Views are 100% correct and over 5 years of combat hasn't changed that.

3. With out stationing troops at EVERY major industrial, argicultural, support plant in the world (and the minor ones) which is unless this world is an EXTREMELY small colony impossible.. Those plants can and will be taken over by the forces already in control. Farms etc don't need power to run they just need water.. once farms and the like are taken then your local source of food supply begins to be cut off. Industrial plants control manufactured goods and raw materials if mines are taken over shortages of steel etc quickly become evident.. Power Plants and Utlitites quickly shut down modern cities and the like.

The rebels and the outted goverment can take these and begin making a profit for themselves, they can also hit and strike goods being transfered from location to location thus 'blockading' the supplies and taking them for themselves.

What happens here is that the population begins to see that their standard of living is going down the drain... if you don't have power you get upset.. if your water stops working you get more upset when the population gets upset you have civil unrest and then violance.

Even if the players attempt to bring in supplies unless they are buying in MASS (like several hundred thousand tons a day) level they are NEVER going to be able to keep the supplies open and they will quickly find themselves bankrupt because their own money is being spent and they have nothing to sell in return.

4. The Imperium...... even though you've said that the imperium isn't a major player in your game and that the 'players' have contacts and good realations lets face it they have DESTABILIZED an entire planet and likely the damned system as well.. unless they can miraculasly prevent a civil uprising etc etc etc the system is likely to find the Imperium changing it's status to RED and dropping a fleet ontop of it, at this point Boom there goes their so called supply of money because they transfered it 'Off world' (see 5 for my view on this), there goes any avenue for supplies to be brought in or money to be made on the interstellar level.. the fact they caused the mess isn't going to make any one in the imperium happy and even if they where NOBELS they'd likely find themselves that far up the creek with out a paddle that the rapid's approching are roaring in their ears and they can't stop the ride. In other words the Imperium is gonna be PISSED and I'd show them that.

5. You said they transfered the worlds money off planet.. ok lets presume they transfered the contents of the mint and the planets equivlency of a treasury... you do realise that these funds are 'electronic' which you've pointed out.. that also means on an Interstellar level the banks are likely to question where the hell they got such large amounts. Not to mention as pointed out in Traveller currency beyond the local level is a pain in the ass because it's not uncommon for it to take weeks for something to be approved, yeah ok they draw the cash for next month's payment... what happens if the next ship into the system doesn't arrive... ever? that money is never added into the planetary accounts, those troops never get paid etc etc. Then if their own production base on planet is being harrased or even occupied they have no way of getting any more.. The remaining currency is going to suddenly drop through the floor like it did durring the collapse of the USSR ... yeah they might have a TRILLION Credits local... too bad that a meal costs several thousand.




The players by the sounds of it have happly wrapped enough rope around their necks, take history use it and have the results occure as they REALLY would. It is VERY VERY VERY VERY rare that a Military dictatorship from an OUTSIDE source ever maintains power with out a significant military presence of it's OWN SOURCE to back it up, to watch over every 'local' soldier and keep the guns on their heads... Run the events of a planet destabilizing, either the players are gonna figure out how much of a mess they have gotten themselves into and either ask the imperium for help to clean it up and likely get a large slap on the wrist and a massive fine if not more.. Or they are gonna HANG themselves with the rope THEY wrapped around their own necks..

Traveller is a gritty system.. make certain they remember that and that for every action their is a reaction normally in the form of consequences and this time those consequences aren't likely to be GOOD at ALL, in any shape or form.