How make part 10 a challenge?

J

JMISBEST

Mongoose
Hi.

I have been doing Pirates Of Drinax for 3.73 real years and, thanks to Anagthics bought with The Nobles Portfolio, 50.9 years, have been far too generous with why I allow the players and combined with sheer luck, Drinax's survival VS Aslan Fleet is definite and VS A Imperial Fleet has a better then even chance, their personnelly lead ships are even crewed by genetically modified slaves from The Glorious Empire that serve The Pcs with a fanatical loyalty

For example the players have 60 ships that range from 200 tons to 4,800 tons, they have the official support of all Pirate Lords other then Darokyn and have Darokyn's unofficial support, have gained the support of The Floranni League and all 3 of the lesser nations/alliances and Drinax commands 112 planets and 4,093 ships that range from 100 tons to 10,200 tons.

So having done all of that for close friends that I have known for more then 11 years and RP'G with for more then 7 years how do I make part 10-finalle a challenge without risking upsetting or even annoyig 5 of my top 8 friends and my best friend?
 
The simple answer: The power of the Imperial and Hierate fleets in Adventure 10 scale with the resources which the PCs accumulate. If they've already acquired the allegiance of essentially independent player in the Reaches and are essentially a de facto pocket empire with the resources of half-a-sector -- which is far beyond what the adventure tends to assume they'll -- the Great Powers should behave accordingly and demonstrate why they are so great by rolling up sufficient dakka to quell the insubordinate peons of the Outrim Void.

When determining what is "sufficient dakka", a few things that're worth remembering:
1) As fifty years have passed in-game, that's more than sufficient time for the PC's (presumably many and myriad) adversaries to have hatched and implemented their machinations. It's also more than enough time for military staffs to have compiled detailed campaign plans in the event of a war with this new power in the Reaches. It's entirely justifiable for each combatant to fight the campaign on its own terms and to have overwhelming force show up at inopportune times and places for the PCs, as the Imperium and Hierate are both competent enough to have developed plans to exploit whatever weaknesses the PCs' polity has.

2) The scope of the PCs' resources also raises opportunities for their adversaries. To-wit, the war for the fate of the ascendant Drinax is going to look a fair bit more like a conventional peer-level naval conflict rather than the interdiction of the Space Barbary Coast as contemplated by the original adventure. So while the PCs may have many thousands of tons of jump-capable ships, they've also got to allocate them across dozens of systems spanning eight or so subsectors to protect key fleet installations, economic and population centers, and appease coalition politics (see below). And if their largest ship is a modest 10,000-tons, they're going to be outgunned if the Imperium and/or Hierate come gunning for them with firepower appropriate for dealing with a half-sector pocket empire versus the Space Barbary Coast.

3) Coalition politics is going to be -- and should become immediately, if it's not already -- the bane of the PCs' existence. Assuming things are broadly the same as RAW, trying to keep the Floriani and Strend together in the same alliance is going to be like herding cats. Ditto Byrni, Hilfer, and the other high Law Level worlds in a coalition whose leadership is openly endorsed by Theev. And a half-dozen examples of contradictory impulses which could probably be found if you went digging. Unless the PCs are ruling their extensive pocket empire as Sindal Reincarnate, complete with orbital glassings and brutal suppression of dissent, keeping everyone together and going in the same direction is going to require considerable skill. A task which is going to be compounded by the inevitable diplomatic efforts of the Imperium and/or Hierate to exploit those existing divisions. And if they are ruling as Sindal Reincarnate, that just provides natural allies for the Imperium and/or Hierate to draw upon when the shooting starts.
 
Good ideas, but I forgot to mention that Theev may be the power behind the throne, but it is secret and unknown to anyone other tben Wrax, Hill, The Pcs and Drinax's Royal family and due to the creation of alias and bribed so-called spies The Impetrium and Aslan both believe that a coalition of The Ine Giver, The Zhodani and The Glorious Empire are trying to create a 3-way war between The Hierate, Drinax and The Imperium and are using surgically altered imposters and custom build imposter ships to accomplish this with the intend that they will let all 3 sides decimate each other and with the help of goverment traitors control within a century enough power to within 5 to 6 centuries rule A 4th Imperium

This means that unles the stuff they put in the contracts/deals/pacts drops their standings DM to at least -2 they will, due to Diplomat /5 and +3 SS DM get at least a +1/margial pass

Sorry I forgot to write that, I was doing it on my Internet connected WiiU and only had enough power to write the initial stuff
 
Allow me to echo ShawnDriscoll, then: Your game-world's creeped so far from where Adventure 10 thought you'd be that the adventure itself is going to provide precious little guidance to successfully resolving Drinax's fate. I'll refrain from the accusatory overtone, but if you want to end things with a challenge, you're going to have to look at where your game-world has ended up and apply logic to find potential antagonists.

In light of that, you might not bother with any negotiations at all: The PCs' have already pieced together a web of alliances while having enough deception and subterfuge to keep anyone from being the wiser that they're the ones behind it, and to the extent the Imperium might mind Drinax's formal annexation of half of the Reaches, it's in the service of creating an ally to fight the PsiCorps---er, Zhodani with. (Or so the Imperium believes, with the wheels-within-wheels of deception the players are engaged in.) The Hierate requires no negotiations either, as closing of that much of the Reaches to expansion is similarly intolerable, and it's just a matter of how many clans are willing to join whichever one(s) the PCs have angered the most over the course of the adventure to raise the banner of unlimited war to smash the Drinaxi upstarts once more.
 
Agree with the above.

The PCs have moved above Pirates into Empire mode. They are stronger than anything on the Imperial Border other than the big boys and should be treated as such.

Honestly, for an Empire covering half a sector, they don't have a good Navy. An Imperial Battlefleet with half-a-dozen 500Kton Ships-of-the-Line would wipe them out without breaking a sweat. I assume the Hierate has similar forces they could put into play if needed...

The PCs need to develop a REAL Navy if they want to remain independent; think Trillion Credit Squadron. I think that a visit by the Duchess of the Spinward Marches to Drinax might be in order - aboard a Tigress of course with associated support ships (say 1 million tons of ships). That visit might show the PCs that they are not in the same class as the Imperium YET.

Of course, they could become a Client State of the Imperium (helpful) or align with the Zhodani (an Imperial threat); either way, the Hierate is not going to want them there and are likely their most powerful enemy. The Imperium may see them as a nice buffer to deal with the Aslan without them having to sacrifice worlds or troops.
 
Ooops

I just realized that that was the fleet size from the 1 were I was a assisstant GM, not the full GM.

In the current campaign it is 115 worlds, they are guarded by 8,646 ships that range in size from 300 ton medium Scoutships to A 32,800 ton version of The 25,000 ton Polemos Class Fleet Cruiser and it has took a total of 70.4 years

Sorry. Please amend your answers.
 
I also forgot to mention that The Pcs command 66 ships that range in size from 400 ton versions of The 200 ton Drinax Harrier they started with to A Prototype 8,300 ton Aslan Version of The 2,000 ton Escort Carrier that they stole from The Glorious Empire.

Quite a sizeable fleet by itself. Right Traveller fans
 
You have a few options. The first being:

Why have the finale? They've finished the adventure, and had a grand time of it. Describe the signing ceremony as the kingdom gets its client state status and recognition from the Empires that surround it. Raise the spectre of a real fleet and Naval base being placed uncomfortably close to the borders. List off the array of political cat herding issues their motley collection of factions is facing. Assume 3 pressing problems per planet and 5 per Main sequence. They are now recognized powers.


OR: (Spoiler alert)
What about the prediction of the psycho-historian of Trantor that is not called that for copyright reasons? According to him the empire is doomed. If you want that to happen have a plot unfold at the signing ceremony where Zhodani controlled pawns assassinate diplomats and planted treasonous activity is uncovered by the media. Megatonnage fleets ensue and the players can watch as their empire is consumed.

What do your players want to do? They have 80 years of game time invested, 3 years real time, Do they want to keep going? or wrap it up in style and start again one sector over with beginning Travellers who want to use piracy to carve their empire into pieces?
 
You're obviously way beyond the scope of the campaign as envisaged, especially in terms of elapsed time. So, throw my Part 10 as written out the window - it's of no use to you. You need to answer the following questions - or, more precisely, set up a situation in game where the _players_ answer them.

* How does Drinax deal with the Aslan threat? They may be strong enough to turn back an Aslan invasion, but the Aslan are going to keep expanding, and there are trillions of Aslan across the Great Rift. The Imperium stopped the Aslan with the Peace of Ftahair; can Drinax pull of something similar?

* How does Drinax cut a deal with the Imperium? Given the sheer size and power of your Drinax, the Imperium may be far more interested in having them as a buffer against the Aslan than anything else -but they'd have to give up piracy and stop attacking Imperial trade routes. (And beating an Imperial fleet is a _bad_ thing in this context, because it means the Imperium will send a much bigger fleet next time...)

* What about GeDeCo? Are they still a factor? They might see the Kingdom of Drinax as an ideal pawn, especially if they can eliminate those troublesome player characters and install more pliable puppets.

* What do the Floriani get out of this? You could, if you want a big finale instead of a epilogue session, have their allies demand that Drinax secure a key Ancient site for mysterious reasons...

* Finally, to echo other comments - there's no need to make the end of the campaign a challenge. You could look ahead another 50 years, then another 250 years, then another 1000 years or something similar, and see the full history of the reborn Kingdom.
 
The Navy is too small and too spread out. Take the large warship of AnotherDilbert and it would wipe the floor with anything and everything you have.

Even the 75 000 Ton ship from adventure 6 would take out any world and fleet guarding it. Your alliance may make the group of planets seem a nicely organized target for the Imperium. The Imperial Navy can work down the Hierate route and take over everything along the way.

Or it could be another Ihatei horde coming from deep within the Hierate. The massive ships and escorts will overwhelm your smaller ships.

What did you decide to do about the Jaskarl report and the prediction that the Aslan will take over? or the entry at the end of episode 10 that says Drinax was destroyed by 1119? Your 80 year span seems to have skipped over a few important dates. What are you doing about the predictions of psychohistory?
 
On a different but related topic 1 GM friend of mine has been doing this for 4.8 real-years, 112.8 ingame years and controls 231 planets across 4 sectors, 3 of them via A Deep Space Nine Inspired Wormhole, commands 16,478 ships that range from 500 tons to 40,700 tons and is due to, unknown to all but me and The GM has been allowed due to the 34 year old player being The 58 year old GM's illegitimate daughter who he/The GM has always a soft spot.

What advise should I give The GM on what forces The Imperium and Hierate should use
 
More ideas please.

This time for a friend who, cos he thinks its fun, wants to do Adventure 10 only and do its using The Drinax I listed earlier
 
Can I please have some more ideas. I put the campaign on hold until I got a better picture of what to do. Also my assistant GM took over while I was away for a week seeing friends I haven't seen in almost 17 years and he foolishly let Drinax buy A 263,700 ton Freighter and converted it into the lightest Battleship in History. Now they refuse to unwrite it and I am not going to lose friends this good over A RPG. Please advise?
 
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