Homegrown Corporation Writeups For Your Traveller Universe

[Limpin Legin]

Yes, I'm a qualified archaeologist, so understand the scenarios. All I'm saying is that I haven't worked out the economics of it yet. In the UK, ... Then the regulatory and planning landscape changed with the introduction of PPG 16, which multiplied greatly the number of excavations that happened, but because most of that is being funded by developers for no perceived benefit by them it's now done on a shoe string.

Well, for the purposes of the game, the scope of digs not only includes archaeology but also includes prospecting for minerals, testing sites as being solid for building Starports, etc. There can be more money in this sort of thing ... however, a little imagination leeway is needed since it is based in science fiction and not always science fact. What do you think?

 

[ResslynHalvik]

I know it's not in your concept but perhaps expand expand the type of jobs your business does. The one comes to mind is a bit grim but with all those digging robots perhaps a side hustle of helping disaster recovery. Especially with the fifth war happening I can see ruined cities and sadly someone has to go through and recover bodies and important items.

I like this! Yes, an archaeology operating far from home will have heaving clearing machinery, medium machines to remove the overburden, and then some very fine robotic stratigraphic excavators that need smarts to stop if finds anything.

 

[Condottiere]

You could do pop archaeology:

 

[ResslynHalvik]

Yeah. I appeared on some of those! (As set-dressing, not presenting. Some of my lecturers and research leaders presented)

 

[MasterGwydion]

Yes - this is what I am failing to be able to work out - where in the economy of a system or or sub-sector or sector there are customers who have the need for the service and the means to pay for it, in enough volume that the company is a going concern. Even if they plug gaps in the capital and operational costs with under-the-counter or off-thebooks activtiies (such as illegal sales of rare artefacts), it would be very noticeable at audit that a company with expensive ships and equipment was keeping head above water on an apparent trading loss.

This is why companies like this do not exist today. There is no way to make money doing it, outside of straight up tomb-robbery. Groups are usually funded by museums, universities, governments, or wealthy patrons.

 

[ResslynHalvik]

Most archaeology in the UK is done by commercial units acting on commission from developers. What there's less of, in our parochial window of time and space, is long-season excavations. I should probably look to Egypt for inspiration of how it works.
It's the wilderness operations aspect that doesn't exist much in our world today, mostly because we don't have remote wildernesses any more. And, of course, it's that aspect which is most fun for a game.

 

[MasterGwydion]

Most archaeology in the UK is done by commercial units acting on commission from developers. What there's less of, in our parochial window of time and space, is long-season excavations. I should probably look to Egypt for inspiration of how it works.
It's the wilderness operations aspect that doesn't exist much in our world today, mostly because we don't have remote wildernesses any more. And, of course, it's that aspect which is most fun for a game.

Right, the kind of thing you are talking about is the multi-month-long or multi-year-long expeditions, not doing site surveys for developers.

 

[ResslynHalvik]

Prezackly

 

[Ol'Weedy]

A better model might be "The Curse of Oak Island".
An 'archaeology' dig show that has been going on for 12 years, without finding much of anything. Since if they actually DID find anything there, it would be such big news, that they would never be able to keep it under wraps for as long as it would take to spit out a new episode. Everyone would already know the big reveal on the news.
Despite this being obvious, and pretty much rendering the whole premise of the show pointless if you give it any thought, the show has been running since 2014.
So apparently, you don't actually need, you know, archaeology, to have a successful archaeology show.

 

[phavoc]

Coming to this one a little late...

I had created a Marches- based conglomerate (in)famous for its anagathics. The head of the company (the father) hadn't been seen in years, and the wife and daughter were managing things, but didn't outright control/own the company since they had no body and couldn't declare the father dead. He was kinda like Howard Hughes - just a lot older.

The mother/daughter duo hated one another and actively worked against each other in order to gain money, power and, well, they just needed an outlet for the familial feelings! They also actively plotted the elimination of each other.

And they were pretty amoral - power and profits over anything else. The daughter had her own carve-out of the company and she was utilizing her company to make improvements in anagathics as well as looking at other types of drugs. The fact that she needed actual human bodies and some of their components didn't bother her. The initial adventure started of at Rethe, and the players were getting roped into transporting unwitting test subjects to a lab ship (not from the book, but one created for the adventure). This opened up into a zombie-ish type of adventure where they were had to solve the mystery of what was happening and why. Along the way they would get to a secret lab base, with more zombies. And, unfortunately for them, they couldn't just go in blasting since some of the people were very valuable scientists - so they were limited to stunners and non-lethal weapons. The 'cure' was pretty basic - just salt (stole that idea from the original Star Trek where the creature just needed NaCL, and found it convenient in people...).

The ending of the adventure had them meeting up with a special representative who worked for Norris, who nukes the lab, lab ship and (unfortunately for the Travellers) their ship as well. They are given a launch and dropped off at Regina. IF they happen to search the ship they find about 40 MCr worth of anagathics onboard. I wanted them to think a bit rather than just hand them the reward. Needless to say they are now enemies of the mother/daughter, kinda sort in debt/can call in a favor with Norris' little organization, and the father is hanging around somewhere.

The next adventure would have them being asked to check out an expedition on a moon. Just so happens it's an ancient site. At the very end the moon (orbiting a gas giant) implodes and forms a stable wormhole to Far Frontiers sector. But it's size limited - nothing larger than 1,000 tons can go through. I wanted to open up adventuring outside of Spinward Marches and also offer the players the ability to do things they might not normally be able to do in Imperial space. The ship size limitation was specific as well - I didn't want them or even the Imperium being able to send big warships through. Anything that goes through is going to be size limited, thus even if we got to Empire building the locals could still have much larger hammers to smash them with - if it went that direction.

 

[Condottiere]

 

[Ol'Weedy]

Of course, your corporation don't have to actually sell anything...
(First 30 seconds only)
From SNL

 

[ottarrus]

I'm still fiddling about with my 'alien megacorp' but here is what I've got so far

TSOKNAEKS DIVERSIFIED S.A. is a holdings firm with interests in the interface trade from the Third Imperium and the various governments of the Vargr Extents. Beginning as an expert cargo transshipment company, Tsonknaeks has branched out into civilian shipbuilding, arts and entertainment, and juried import /exports between Humaniti and Vargr.
Headquartered on Pretoria /Pretoria [Den 0406], the firm has been owned by the Kathszorethz family since its inception. The current chairman of the board is Countess Yzkell Kathszorethz, Countess Marz, a grand dame-varg of the Denebian nobility. She is 55, old for a Vargr, and her muzzle is now fully gray but her wise advice in Vargr affairs touches three subcultures... Aekhu, Gvegh and Ovaghoun. In her career as a diplomat for the Foreign Ministry, Countess Yzkell has traveled from Antares /Antares to Thoengling /Thoengling and has contacts on the Vargr frontier from Lishun to Gvurrdon Sectors.

 

[Terry Mixon]

I'm still fiddling about with my 'alien megacorp' but here is what I've got so far

TSOKNAEKS DIVERSIFIED S.A. is a holdings firm with interests in the interface trade from the Third Imperium and the various governments of the Vargr Extents. Beginning as an expert cargo transshipment company, Tsonknaeks has branched out into civilian shipbuilding, arts and entertainment, and juried import /exports between Humaniti and Vargr.
Headquartered on Pretoria /Pretoria [Den 0406], the firm has been owned by the Kathszorethz family since its inception. The current chairman of the board is Countess Yzkell Kathszorethz, Countess Marz, a grand dame-varg of the Denebian nobility. She is 55, old for a Vargr, and her muzzle is now fully gray but her wise advice in Vargr affairs touches three subcultures... Aekhu, Gvegh and Ovaghoun. In her career as a diplomat for the Foreign Ministry, Countess Yzkell has traveled from Antares /Antares to Thoengling /Thoengling and has contacts on the Vargr frontier from Lishun to Gvurrdon Sectors.

Sounds interesting. I still want to see a Vargr "Empire" book because I have difficulty imagining how trade could even work there. Or government on a large scale.

 

[Condottiere]

I've been analyzing them.

They have no widespread institutional memory, and tend to be rather self centred, or self interested.

Definition of interest is rather localized.

 

[ottarrus]

Sounds interesting. I still want to see a Vargr "Empire" book because I have difficulty imagining how trade could even work there. Or government on a large scale.

Well we know that Vargr are inherently suspicious of long-term stability. They see the 1000 year old government of the Third Imperium and the even longer tenure of the Zhodani Consulate as 'Humaniti's steamroller' absorbing worlds and crushing the Vargr propensity for 'responsible change'.

And we all know that the Imperium and the Zhos see the entire Vargr Extents as the banana republic junta of the week. Were it not for some border worlds being absorbed to stabilize the borders, both governments would have as little to do with the Extents as possible politically. Sure, they're happy to do business, exchange in some minor diplomacy, and patrol the border heavily, but beyond that they're happy to let the Vargs stew in their dog dish.

But none of this is any more convoluted than the diplomacy the Imperium has to do with the Aslan. So how DOES a Vargr government become 'stable'? For that matter, how do you define 'stability' in a Vargr context?

With all that on the table, yeah, I could see Vargr book that details not only the governments but also delves into Vargr cultures. What makes Aekhu different from Irilitok?

But looking at some of the artwork that's come out for the Aslan and Vargr, I'm afraid that the the Imperial Palace of the Thoengling Empire is gonna look like some sled-dog head with a roller coaster coming out of the mouth.

 

[Terry Mixon]

Well we know that Vargr are inherently suspicious of long-term stability. They see the 1000 year old government of the Third Imperium and the even longer tenure of the Zhodani Consulate as 'Humaniti's steamroller' absorbing worlds and crushing the Vargr propensity for 'responsible change'.

And we all know that the Imperium and the Zhos see the entire Vargr Extents as the banana republic junta of the week. Were it not for some border worlds being absorbed to stabilize the borders, both governments would have as little to do with the Extents as possible politically. Sure, they're happy to do business, exchange in some minor diplomacy, and patrol the border heavily, but beyond that they're happy to let the Vargs stew in their dog dish.

But none of this is any more convoluted than the diplomacy the Imperium has to do with the Aslan. So how DOES a Vargr government become 'stable'? For that matter, how do you define 'stability' in a Vargr context?

With all that on the table, yeah, I could see Vargr book that details not only the governments but also delves into Vargr cultures. What makes Aekhu different from Irilitok?

But looking at some of the artwork that's come out for the Aslan and Vargr, I'm afraid that the the Imperial Palace of the Thoengling Empire is gonna look like some sled-dog head with a roller coaster coming out of the mouth.

I suspect you're not wrong. Still, they may like that.

 

[ottarrus]

I suspect you're not wrong. Still, they may like that.

Ahem...

 

[ottarrus]

Seriously, if the pattern established by the artists that did ACS 1 was used for the entire Traveller line, the Imperial Palace on Capital would like the Death Star with a Burger King crown on top.

 

[Terry Mixon]

Seriously, if the pattern established by the artists that did ACS 1 was used for the entire Traveller line, the Imperial Palace on Capital would like the Death Star with a Burger King crown on top.

It's not far off, really...