IISS reward system
- Thread starter Ezarhon
- Start date
ResslynHalvik
Cosmic Mongoose
I like this! Although - everything in Charted Space is already, well, charted?
I'll try to find the source but I remember reading somewhere that every 20 years the IISS surveys every system in a sector. Each system surveyed / every report generated results in a payment of like Cr50,000 when turned in at the nearest Scout Base. This is more like an independent audit compared to IISS trusting the data shared by the local system governments.
Since every other Scout is also offered this(Detached Duty or not), I'd have your players roll a 1d4 to represent the 25% chance the planet had already been surveyed by somebody else first. (assuming the year is 1105 so 5 of the 20-year mission is already complete)
**EDIT** I found it. This was actually the plot of the initial adventure "The Imperial Fringe" (which is actually more of a loose campaign framework than a true adventure)
Since every other Scout is also offered this(Detached Duty or not), I'd have your players roll a 1d4 to represent the 25% chance the planet had already been surveyed by somebody else first. (assuming the year is 1105 so 5 of the 20-year mission is already complete)
**EDIT** I found it. This was actually the plot of the initial adventure "The Imperial Fringe" (which is actually more of a loose campaign framework than a true adventure)
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ResslynHalvik
Cosmic Mongoose
See, this is why my brain is defective. I see that and think, yeah, but you also need to factor in distance from the nearest IISS base, using an inverse square rule
Ezarhon
Banded Mongoose
The Cr50,000 in "The Imperial Fringe" was for updating the UWP of known systems. The system my players have found is a previously undiscovered one. However, using this information as a basis, I think I might infer that an 'unregistered' discovery might net 10x or 100x this amount given the nature of the planet. 10x for rock balls and 100x for unique ones and perhaps a bonus for discovery of a new Sophont.
Ezarhon
Banded Mongoose
Apologies, I meant for registering a discovery, not for updating registered ones.
What's the scale of discovery you're thinking of? A new planet in an existing system? a Rock ball in a "empty" hex?
Anything with a star has probably been charted since you can see the light. (In which case you can survey it and I think the Cr50,000 would be fair)
From there, I'd say it depends on how useful the discovery might be.
Refueling point across the Great Rift? a MCr or 2 (with the understanding you won't tell anybody about it so the INI can use it for classified operations)
The aforementioned rockball in an empty hex? that would get you an "attaboy now get out of my office"
however, that loops us back into "Referee will need to make the determination" when you started this by asking for published guidelines...
Anything with a star has probably been charted since you can see the light. (In which case you can survey it and I think the Cr50,000 would be fair)
From there, I'd say it depends on how useful the discovery might be.
Refueling point across the Great Rift? a MCr or 2 (with the understanding you won't tell anybody about it so the INI can use it for classified operations)
The aforementioned rockball in an empty hex? that would get you an "attaboy now get out of my office"
however, that loops us back into "Referee will need to make the determination" when you started this by asking for published guidelines...
Ezarhon
Banded Mongoose
A brand new undiscovered system in Hex 2619 in the Reft sector, NW end of the Anundarluu cloud, with a new race, planet etc plus a few anomalies.
LOL
In truth I was just looking for a generic guideline for pricing discoveries but I think you helped me decide how to proceed.
To Tha Moon!
Cosmic Mongoose
Main World re-survey at Cr50,000 per World is Cr1,600,000 or MCr1.6 (MegaCredits) just for Regina subsector.
In MegaTravveler, they had a Class II Survey which went through a whole star system, but it doesn't say what you would be paid for it..
That screen shot above would be nice, but I don't think there's anything in Traveller to generate it.
WHULorigan
Emperor Mongoose
In T5 CharGen Scouts get a Discoverer's Land Grant (presumably at or near the location on-world), which operates similar to a Noble Land Grant by generating Income of Cr 10,000 per annum per world trade code for the Land Grant Hex (Cr 5000 per annum straight if there are no codes).
The catch is that the Title of Land is only actualizable:
1) Once the world is part of the Imperium or an Imperial Client State,
2) The grantee actually takes possession of the claim and improves the property value so that it becomes part of the economy to generate the Income.
Until that time the Imperium pays standard fees of Cr 1000 per annum as a stipend.
Ezarhon
Banded Mongoose
While I appreciate the effort you put in to this post, I am not confident my players would commit to such responsibility. They just want to take the money and run for the most part. ;-)
ottarrus
Emperor Mongoose
It's pretty much an IMTU decision.
The way I run the IISS Imperial Grand Survey [that's the official title of the Survey office] is this:
- Earlier in their history, when the Imperium was actively expanding, the Scouts were definitely on the lookout for colonizable worlds and resources for exploitation. But now in the Golden Age the Imperium has matured and is not looking to push the borders outward. To be completely honest, the Imperium has enough trouble staying communication with the worlds she already has. Oh, there might be some expansion into District 268, or acquiring some new worlds in Gateway or Crusis Margin, but it's widely felt that the Imperium has reached its 'natural borders'. [If only somebody could convince the Zhodani of that...]
This doe not mean that the IGS has 'nothing to do'. Societies are living, breathing things. They change and evolve. Those changes need to kept updated for a host of reasons... political, economic, sociological, etc. And not every resource has been accounted for. While the Second Survey was a vast improvement over the First, it takes **years** to fully chart every body in the average solar system and the great surveys simply didn't take that much time with the work. The Scouts were spread very thin trying to get the Second Survey done with a generation's worth of work! This is the boring drudgery of survey life... Jumping into Oort Clouds to see if the rocks are still in place... but these detailed surveys often come up with resources or scientific discoveries that were overlooked by 10,000 years of spaceflight and 3 empires!
And it is the IISS' job to be **completely** impartial in regards to their surveys, no matter who it benefits or who it inconveniences. The megacorps and nobles have had undue influence on Scout policy in the past. This has led to failed colonies [with the subsequent loss of lives], exploitation of native sophonts [ditto], undue profiteering that has led to tradewars, and a host of other symptoms of malice and decay in the service.
During his reign Emperor Strephon has appointed Senior Scout Leaders and Sector Scout Leaders with the specific mission of cleaning up the service. Some have been issued Limited Imperial Warrants with that mission in mind.
Again, all this is IMTU. This is how **I** run it, a struggle against decadence and laziness, but you're gonna run it your way and that's just fine.
The way I run the IISS Imperial Grand Survey [that's the official title of the Survey office] is this:
- Earlier in their history, when the Imperium was actively expanding, the Scouts were definitely on the lookout for colonizable worlds and resources for exploitation. But now in the Golden Age the Imperium has matured and is not looking to push the borders outward. To be completely honest, the Imperium has enough trouble staying communication with the worlds she already has. Oh, there might be some expansion into District 268, or acquiring some new worlds in Gateway or Crusis Margin, but it's widely felt that the Imperium has reached its 'natural borders'. [If only somebody could convince the Zhodani of that...]
This doe not mean that the IGS has 'nothing to do'. Societies are living, breathing things. They change and evolve. Those changes need to kept updated for a host of reasons... political, economic, sociological, etc. And not every resource has been accounted for. While the Second Survey was a vast improvement over the First, it takes **years** to fully chart every body in the average solar system and the great surveys simply didn't take that much time with the work. The Scouts were spread very thin trying to get the Second Survey done with a generation's worth of work! This is the boring drudgery of survey life... Jumping into Oort Clouds to see if the rocks are still in place... but these detailed surveys often come up with resources or scientific discoveries that were overlooked by 10,000 years of spaceflight and 3 empires!
And it is the IISS' job to be **completely** impartial in regards to their surveys, no matter who it benefits or who it inconveniences. The megacorps and nobles have had undue influence on Scout policy in the past. This has led to failed colonies [with the subsequent loss of lives], exploitation of native sophonts [ditto], undue profiteering that has led to tradewars, and a host of other symptoms of malice and decay in the service.
During his reign Emperor Strephon has appointed Senior Scout Leaders and Sector Scout Leaders with the specific mission of cleaning up the service. Some have been issued Limited Imperial Warrants with that mission in mind.
Again, all this is IMTU. This is how **I** run it, a struggle against decadence and laziness, but you're gonna run it your way and that's just fine.
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In Zozer’s Solo system for Traveller, in the Scouting campaign, survey points are allocated for discoveries made, data confirmed etc (with tables to help resolve each). Amassed survey points pay at 1,000 credits per point and an average survey will tend to give about ten. However, it’s assumed it can go much higher if you’re reporting a new world and not just a new volcano on a known world.
Ezarhon
Banded Mongoose
Interesting, the Survey Point roll of 1D6 is a bit arbitrary, but I like the system of gathering points for each 'interesting' item of discovery and pricing a total using them.
Since it’s a solo system, it actively needs arbitrary, random elements. Although naturally, with it being a solo system, you’re even more in charge of how things play out IYTU than ever, so raiding or lowering awards becomes even easier, if you have a plot idea in mind.
