"I'll Give You What You Want, IF You Do This For Me ..."

[ottarrus]

Folks, RPG gaming is a collective and collaborative effort. The referee writes the outline of a story and the PCs color in the details. Sometimes the narrative is structured around negative consequences... 'do [a] or else [z] happens'. There are times when this is a consequence of PC actions. And we've seen this technique used all over Western storytelling going all the way back to Gilgamesh. This is nothing new.
This technique isn't always a bad thing for a game. Like every other tool in a ref's Grab Bag of Fun, it has to be used only when warranted and only in small doses. On the one hand, PC actions should have reasonable consequences. On the other, you don't want to utterly rob the PCs of their agency and ability to effect the game.

 

[ottarrus]

Called a procurator fiscal in Scotland

That has an almost 'Imperial' sound to it...

 

[Midnightplat]

I was wondering if he meant Mystery on Arcturus Station.

Yes! That's the one I meant, I had it filed in my head as "Station Murder Mystery" so when I skimmed the titles of my actual scenarios file I just grabbed the first title that popped up thinking "that's it."

 

[Midnightplat]

That has an almost 'Imperial' sound to it...

To me Procurator Fiscal sounds like someone bound to do their duties within a pre-defined fiscal term. Much like SAUSAs (Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys) in the U.S. federal system are only "special" in that their working a defined contract limited to a year or two, whereas regular Assistant U.S. Attorneys enjoy the security of the civil service system.

Interesting to note that European and UK prosecutors often direct investigations, where U.S. Prosecutors rarely do, rather the investigative agency does the investigation and the American prosecutor vets the investigations for court processes and then prepares the case for court if evidence for a charge have been obtained.

Going back to coercion to link this back in, prosecutors, and to an extent just "the cops" can also be in position of having coercive leverage over Travellers, particularly the ones that engage in criminal activity. In the U.S. you have "cooperators" who will testify on behalf of the prosecutor in exchange for lenience regarding any criminal sanctions they themselves may be facing, these deals have to be worked out with attorneys. At the policing level you have informants who will tip off police to criminal activity, sometimes as a means for the police to turn a blind eye to the informants' lesser crimes. These sorts of involvements are supposed to be with oversight and documentation, often including potential prosecuting attorneys, but that's not always the case though such exceptions or actions contrary to best practice often result in scandalous outcomes and is classic "dirty cop" behavior.

 

[ottarrus]

@Midnightplat It's interesting to see how other countries do things... Rather like the difference in the term 'inquest' between the US and UK.

Back to Traveller, almost EVERY group of Traveller PCs is gonna break the law at some point. On some worlds just dressing different will get you hauled in for a chat with the nightsticks... and just like world travelers here on Earth, after awhile Traveller characters are so cosmopolitan that they would have great difficulty fitting in even on their homeworlds. 'Travel' is a culture all it's own.

 

[MonsterX]

And then you have Traveller, where a bunch of retired guys are having a midlife crisis, and decide (collectively) on a change of lifestyle.

Are you talking about the players, or about the characters?

 

[ottarrus]

Are you talking about the players, or about the characters?

Yes.
Come on, how many Traveller players are veterans and/or engineers? And I can assure you that all of us have wanted to unlimber a plasma rifle and 'explain' to some idjjit that their demands and expectations are not going to be met today.
That's honestly one thing I think all us grogs could do better... Stop arguing about the OTU long enough to recruit the next generation of grogs.

 

[Condottiere]

 

[Shadowblayde99]

This may be taking the thread a step backwards but how do characters learn about missions?

I get that some would be obvious like a computer based job board. But what about the ones where the characters would have never visited a planet before or met a person before or the job is very illegal?

I'm thinking specifically of all the patron adventures in chapter 14 of Pirates of Drinax e.g. someone wants the characters to assassinate someone or recover a missing pilot from gangs or transport weapons for someone.

Is there some sort of Dark Web in the Traveller universe? Are there intermediaries? How do characters find out who these intermediaries are?

What would seem unrealistic is the PCs going into a bar at the spaceport and asking the bartender for rumours and the bar tender saying that Joe Bloggs is looking to get hold of some illegal drugs and the PCs then go talk to him. Even more unlikely would be someone approaching the PCs out of the blue.

Why would anyone immediately trust the PCs? They could be undercover agents. Who would vouch for the PCs?

This seems quite tricky when the PCs are jumping all over the Trojan Reach and Comms is slow.

Any thoughts and suggestions?

 

[MonsterX]

This may be taking the thread a step backwards but how do characters learn about missions?

I believe the process is described by AC/DC in their classic song, Dirty Deeds (Done Dirt Cheap)

"Here's what you gotta do
Pick up the phone, I'm always home
Call me anytime
Just ring, 3-6-2-4-3-6, hey
I lead a life of crime"

Has anyone ever tried ringing that number? Not that you'd necessarily want to share, if you had.

Actually, the best way is probably to embed the job in the characters' backstories, contact networks, or personal motivations. They have to help their friend or relative, a contact calls up and asks a favour, they need to be a part of a scientific discovery, they are honour bound to revenge a wrong, or they witness some activity from a slave ring, and they hate slavers. Financial or other material rewards might be an important part of it, or not, though if not, the mortgage will need to get paid somehow...

 

[alex_greene]

This may be taking the thread a step backwards but how do characters learn about missions?

I get that some would be obvious like a computer based job board. But what about the ones where the characters would have never visited a planet before or met a person before or the job is very illegal?

I'm thinking specifically of all the patron adventures in chapter 14 of Pirates of Drinax e.g. someone wants the characters to assassinate someone or recover a missing pilot from gangs or transport weapons for someone.

Is there some sort of Dark Web in the Traveller universe? Are there intermediaries? How do characters find out who these intermediaries are?

What would seem unrealistic is the PCs going into a bar at the spaceport and asking the bartender for rumours and the bar tender saying that Joe Bloggs is looking to get hold of some illegal drugs and the PCs then go talk to him. Even more unlikely would be someone approaching the PCs out of the blue.

Why would anyone immediately trust the PCs? They could be undercover agents. Who would vouch for the PCs?

This seems quite tricky when the PCs are jumping all over the Trojan Reach and Comms is slow.

Any thoughts and suggestions?

Allies and Contacts.
An account on the local datanets of every TL 7+ world you visit regularly.
TAS Membership.
Rumours.
Pillow talk.
The dying words of your last victim as they bleed out in your arms. "Go and see Melia ... she'll know what ... to ... do ..."
That Telepathy thing you've been hiding from your peers.
Ine Givar notice boards on the Shadow Datanets.
Classified ads in the local screamsheets, including the ones everybody misses such as Stamp Collector Monthly, Carp International (read that first word again) and Mums & Babies Weekly.
Scout and Naval personnel on shore leave (ply them with LOTS of drinks)
A Patron who did well by you that last time.
Posh shindigs (get your glad rags on, and learn a few moves so you too can dance like Gil Gerard and Pamela Hensley, or maybe Adam West).
Ancient Encounter Survivors Group meetings. Just don't get them started on the anal probe stuff, or your nightmares will never end.
Conventions, where people can marvel at the cosplay Zhodani, and the real Zhodani wander about wondering why everybody is thinking that they're also in costume.
(If you have Diplomat-1 or higher) Diplomatic channels.
(If you have Streetwise-1 or higher) The word on the street.
(If you have any Profession, Science or similar professional skill such as Art) Professional circles.

I've been refereeing Traveller for a looooong time ...

 

[Sigtrygg]

These are the typical ways I do it in my Spinward Marches based game.

Prior Imperial military service - a mustering out non-com gives you the contact details of a few people who look to employ ex-service personnel.
Prior Scout service - any scout base have job opportunities for "detached scouts". Note if you team up with a detached scout your resume will end up on the scout service data base, so whenever you call at a world with a scout base they may come looking for you with an offer.
Prior Merchant service - you will have contacts on the worlds you used to visit while in service. if you have relocated then you at least know to start with the brokers and corporation factors.

Then there are the representatives of the local subsector duke, or local megacorporation factor who may seek out "Travellers" who have proven their worth by accident or design,

Then there are locals such as Ine Givar and Oberlindes who are on the look out for trustworthy Travellers to do odd jobs.

 

[Midnightplat]

On criminal "jobs" if you read the novel sequel to the movie Heat, Heat 2, they go deeper into a how a "high line crew" like the robber characters in Heat go about getting lucrative criminal work; and then there's so much more on different types of criminal organizations and how trust and security are maintained. The writer, whose written a number of thrillers, is a former Assistant U.S. Attorney (federal prosecutor), so while it's a recent past (think it's set between 1990 and 2000) it's the sort of "wordly" novel a Traveller handler could definitely extrapolate on as to how to build a convincing underworld if they're at a loss. Content warning: there is sexual violence and a child in peril of physical violence (twice), it's a gritty noir; but very well written with a lot of potential for being instructive for "criminal world building".

 

[Midnightplat]

But to speak more generally on criminal "mercenaries". Criminal orgs tend to not use freelancers unless they're looking for patsies, realistically. The myth of the freelance assassin is rarely a thing outside of a "legitimate" mercenary taking on criminal work, but the criminal org would not likely just let the guy go. Most sophisticated crim orgs really do organize themselves somewhat like families, either literal blood lines or chosen families. Some bond through common military experience, either actual war or membership in the same outfit (Los Zetas in Mexico would be a heavy handed example, an entire unit of Mexican military commandos opting to become a narco cartel, which was what Shadow Company was in Lethal Weapon) ... so military backgrounds could hook a character up with criminal work via military connections. Many criminal groups are leftover from military or paramilitary ventures and either moved onto extortion rackets or more lucrative but petty ventures (I remember in the 80s a diversion organizations in S. Korea - basically taking goods like soaps and shampoos designated to U.S. and British PXs and selling them in underground markets throughout southeast asia - they utilized the infiltration routes and logistics of Operation Phoenix to move its product around the region).

In game play, newcomers to a world looking for work would likely go to the proverbial "rough spacer bar", but they're not going to go to a bartender, say they're looking for work, and be given a job board. Realistically, if the barkeep were a fixer he'd think the Travelers were cops. What would likely happen is the barkeep or whoever handles vetting "new talent" would interview the team's face, get some verifiable info on them, and follow up (which will take time given comms in Traveller between worlds to vet the Travelers' claims), and it's really a "don't call us, we'll call you" situation. The criminal labor broker will connect potential employers or represent the employers in a followup conversation.

But that's realism, and could be tedious for a group who's not into social and downtime roleplaying (even though Traveller mechanics does give you cool things to do in downtime like training). So, depending on the group, there's nothing wrong with using the gaming trope of a barkeep with a job board in his head for efficiency's sake if the hiring is really a cutscene that the Travellers would rather just click through.

 

[MarkAlexander]

Alex, my friend, may I suggest that you're taking all this way too personally?
Well, let me be more clear... With all respect, I think your reaction to some of this is very visceral.

There are gonna be times in every campaign where the Travellers are going to have to make moral choice. And sometimes the players are gonna make the wrong one. As referees, we have to be prepared for that. Better than 90% of the combat in a Traveller game could be portrayed as Aggravated Murder by any halfway skilled government lawyer [in the US we call them District Attorneys, in the UK I think prosecutors are called King's Council?].
And given the lag time between the crime occurring and the authorities finding out about it, you can bloody well bet that by the time the cop catch up with the PCs they're probably have forgotten all about the crime.

King's Council are barristers who have been recognised for excellence. Barrister is the general term for the prosecution or defence lawyer. Judges are still judges, but we only have judge and jury trials for the most serious crimes. Most court cases are judged by three volunteer judges, called magistrates. This system only exists in England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own legal systems. The Isle of Man and the Channel Islands have their own governments. It's complicated.....

 

[ottarrus]

King's Council are barristers who have been recognised for excellence. Barrister is the general term for the prosecution or defence lawyer. Judges are still judges, but we only have judge and jury trials for the most serious crimes. Most court cases are judged by three volunteer judges, called magistrates. This system only exists in England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own legal systems. The Isle of Man and the Channel Islands have their own governments. It's complicated.....

Thanks for the explanation. My only real exposure to the UK's legal system is getting the news from Canada.
And while the US legal system is somewhat clearer, when you get down to the details it's equally odd. There's a lot more religious influence in America's legal system, for example. What's legal and what's not are very different things in Catholic Massachusetts, evangelical Protestant Georgia, or Mormon Utah.

 

[metlk]

Meh.

 

[Condottiere]

Sometimes you solicit, sometimes you go to the bar.

 

[To Tha Moon!]

I have a deep seated revulsion for Faustian deals. There are many better ways of getting Travellers into an adventure, which don't involve suspending a Sword of Damocles over their heads and forcing them to debase themselves for money, or just to get their ship off the ground.
Referees, take note. I've torn up character sheets and walked away from the table for less than this.

I get what you are saying about the Referee being good to the Player Characters, but that doesn't take the Criminal element into account.

Characters CAN come up against sneaky, greedy, unscrupulous, and abusive Patrons.

Han Solo smuggling Spice for Jabba the Hutt.
Quark working for his cousin (who owns a moon) selling weapons illegally on Deep Space Nine.
Mal gives the money back to Niska's Goons when he doesn't want to steal from the sick - and Niska puts a price out on him.

Science Fiction is full of those criminal types that would coerce the Characters into to doing something against their standards.

You just can't make it the whole game or the Players will definitely walk. 1 or 2 adventures out of 15 or so. More if there's a War going.

But Traveller is no stranger to Criminal adventures. It kinda started that way. A game like Shadowrun is almost completely based on that. Now, the group could be like Robin Hood and just steal from the Rich and all that. And some Players really like that.

 

[Condottiere]

Covert operations.