Intro. to Pirates of Drinax?

[Condottiere]

Machiavelli knew it was a case of incentivization, where a militia's was security of their society and as fast as possible conclusion to the conflict, whereas a mercenary wanted continuous employment at minimum risk.

A mercenary's loyalty was to the paymaster, whose interests might not coincide with that of the electorate; on the other hand, mercenaries also ensure that the electorate do not need to risk their lives on the battlefield.

A professional army recruited from the electorate is supposedly a way to balance out these risks and costs.

 

[tytalan]

First it is never stated that the harrier is Drinax’s only ship in fact this is really silly since Drinax has already conquered Asim and obviously has to import everything to maintain the floating palace. Also the Harrier was floating in the Ort cloud so they had to have in system ships just to retrieve it. So no the Harrier is not their only ship tho I would expect no more than maybe a half dozen jump ships and maybe twice that number of in system ships. The Advantage of the Harrier is nobody can connect it with modern Drinax which feed into my second point.
Second with little or no direct connection to Drinax the King can deny any connection to the ship. He needs money and he needs ships but he needs allies even more. In the end the crew are disposable in fact the king could very likely have to arrange for his own modest but hopefully larger Navy to publicly destroy the ship.
Third it would be stupid for the king not to have a failsafe or three planned.
Forth it’s obvious from the description of the intrigue of the palace that the king can’t afford to create any home brewed heroes. I would expect and one from Drinax or Asim is going to have something the king can use to discredit them.

 

[Ragnar60]

First it is never stated that the harrier is Drinax’s only ship in fact this is really silly since Drinax has already conquered Asim and obviously has to import everything to maintain the floating palace. Also the Harrier was floating in the Ort cloud so they had to have in system ships just to retrieve it. So no the Harrier is not their only ship tho I would expect no more than maybe a half dozen jump ships and maybe twice that number of in system ships. The Advantage of the Harrier is nobody can connect it with modern Drinax which feed into my second point.
Second with little or no direct connection to Drinax the King can deny any connection to the ship. He needs money and he needs ships but he needs allies even more. In the end the crew are disposable in fact the king could very likely have to arrange for his own modest but hopefully larger Navy to publicly destroy the ship.
Third it would be stupid for the king not to have a failsafe or three planned.
Forth it’s obvious from the description of the intrigue of the palace that the king can afford to create any home brewed heroes. I would expect and one from Drinax or Asim is going to have something the king can use to discredit them.

Drinax only has 2-3 Scout ships as its jump capable navy. It has 3-4 SDB's plus a certain number of light craft + fighters as its in-system navy. Asim was invaded using hired transports to transport the non-jump capable navy & hawk men. It is all in the books and e-novels. The Harrier was going to be Lord Wrax's flagship, until Oleg and Rao came up with the piracy idea! The Harrier is by far and away Drinax's best warship and the only jump capable one. Harrick has a yacht and maybe some of the nobles including Rao may have access to a yacht or safari ship! Unless the players give the Drinaxi navy ships, the Drinaxi navy has no way of hunting the PC's down if they just decide to make off with the Harrier.

The problem with the Harrier is that it is almost unique in 1105, but is still in the databases as a Sindalian or Drinaxi warship. The only other people to have them are the Church of Nom from Goertel, several subsectors over, who use them to keep the Glorious Empire and everybody else away from Goertel. Drinax is also the Harriers only Haven when the players start out.

 

[Subzero001]

Drinax only has 2-3 Scout ships as its jump capable navy. It has 3-4 SDB's plus a certain number of light craft + fighters as its in-system navy. Asim was invaded using hired transports to transport the non-jump capable navy & hawk men. It is all in the books and e-novels. The Harrier was going to be Lord Wrax's flagship, until Oleg and Rao came up with the piracy idea! The Harrier is by far and away Drinax's best warship and the only jump capable one. Harrick has a yacht and maybe some of the nobles including Rao may have access to a yacht or safari ship! Unless the players give the Drinaxi navy ships, the Drinaxi navy has no way of hunting the PC's down if they just decide to make off with the Harrier.

The problem with the Harrier is that it is almost unique in 1105, but is still in the databases as a Sindalian or Drinaxi warship. The only other people to have them are the Church of Nom from Goertel, several subsectors over, who use them to keep the Glorious Empire and everybody else away from Goertel. Drinax is also the Harriers only Haven when the players start out.

how about a few of these "Quick Ship File: Starguard System Defence Boat" it just came out from Moon Toad Publishing

 

[tytalan]

So my numbers were a little high that doesn’t change the fact that the sector doesn’t know that Drinax has the Harrier. In fact everyone know they don’t have it which proves my point. As for hunting it down that’s not the type of failsafe the king would depend on

 

[tytalan]

Drinax only has 2-3 Scout ships as its jump capable navy. It has 3-4 SDB's plus a certain number of light craft + fighters as its in-system navy. Asim was invaded using hired transports to transport the non-jump capable navy & hawk men. It is all in the books and e-novels. The Harrier was going to be Lord Wrax's flagship, until Oleg and Rao came up with the piracy idea! The Harrier is by far and away Drinax's best warship and the only jump capable one. Harrick has a yacht and maybe some of the nobles including Rao may have access to a yacht or safari ship! Unless the players give the Drinaxi navy ships, the Drinaxi navy has no way of hunting the PC's down if they just decide to make off with the Harrier.

The problem with the Harrier is that it is almost unique in 1105, but is still in the databases as a Sindalian or Drinaxi warship. The only other people to have them are the Church of Nom from Goertel, several subsectors over, who use them to keep the Glorious Empire and everybody else away from Goertel. Drinax is also the Harriers only Haven when the players start out.

Also E-Novels are not game sourcebooks so it’s up to the GM if they want to decide if they are actually canon in his universe or not. From what you just said about the ships they had they wouldn’t have even been able to salvage the harrier to begin with. Also they have to have a jump 2 merchant ship to keep the palace floating.

 

[Ragnar60]

Also E-Novels are not game sourcebooks so it’s up to the GM if they want to decide if they are actually canon in his universe or not. From what you just said about the ships they had they wouldn’t have even been able to salvage the harrier to begin with. Also they have to have a jump 2 merchant ship to keep the palace floating.

You play your game, I will play mine!

 

[IanBruntlett]

Also E-Novels are not game sourcebooks so it’s up to the GM if they want to decide if they are actually canon in his universe or not. From what you just said about the ships they had they wouldn’t have even been able to salvage the harrier to begin with. Also they have to have a jump 2 merchant ship to keep the palace floating.

I wonder if these e-novels will ever appear as physical novels.

 

[Anstett]

I wonder if these e-novels will ever appear as physical novels.

They are (most of them) in various formats so you can do Print on Demand if you prefer to read dead trees.
For a Bound edition of several stories together might be cost prohibitive.

 

[MongooseMatt]

For a Bound edition of several stories together might be cost prohibitive.

We were discussing this earlier today - we'll see how it goes!

 

[J. L. Brown]

No arguments there, but rather misses my point. Looking at the Floating Palace Drinaxians, nearly all are so hidebound as to be useless for what Oleg wants the PC's to do, not unlike the Communal Militias and Contadini of late Medieval Italy, which is why the Condottieri came about!

It is what Oleg wants the PC's to do that is part of the problem. Not just be very successful Pirates, but also World Builders, Empire Builders and the sneakiest Diplomats this side of the Core. Granted the Drinaxians aren't capable enough to do this, BUT how does Oleg and Rao know the PC's are? Do the PC's have 4's in Gunnery, Piloting, Diplomacy,and / or Tactics which might make them famous sector wide? That is why I am toying with those two insistances in my first reply above.

Remember also that Oleg is effectively giving a third of a billion credit down payment to the PC's, by giving the Harrier to the PC's in the first place. Sure they are supposed to give it back, but if they swan off to Theev and never look back, what is Oleg going to do about it? After all, the PC's aren't accredited mercenaries, are they? That is why I think the PC's need some realistic link to Drinax, to earn the potential trust shown.

Quite like Shadowblayde99 and Gavains takes on how the PC'S get involved! Any more like these?

I think you might paper over some of these if the players are doing tramp-merchant runs; one of their runs takes them to Asim, and the only outbound cargo is (quite possibly very profitable) food for Drinax. Like you said, nobody visits Drinax, so outsiders might be treated a bit like minor celebrities, and everyone will want to hear stories and news of the not-inside-this-palace galaxy. Naturally Oleb gets first crack at anyone who seems interesting, simply by custom and royal prerogative. If he enjoys a swashbuckling story or two while moderately sloshed (ie, at an occassion where there is food; or people; or 'a special occassion'; or not), then some casual remark by an uppity courtier or lesser rival could stick in Olen's craw and get him to impulsively appoint the characters ('by royal command'). Princess Rao will ensure a Hawk Warrior or two -- or other agents -- tag along on the first few missions. Or maybe Oleb is not entirely a fool, as has had the Scholar's tower plant a few subtle devices to ensure that agents of Drinax can always shut the Harrier down. But I like the idea of requiring one of the characters to have some tie(s) to Drinax already -- and it is they who get the loan of a fancy new ship.

 

[Garran]

It doesn't have to be their first visit to the place either. If Rao and/or Oleb have been cooking up this idea for a while then they've probably been looking into the people who've passed through Drinax - whether they're traders, or pirates, or whatever else - to gauge which of them might be suitable for the job.

A PC who isn't Drinaxian but who has contacts or allies on the palace is an especially good candidate. Some of the people/institutions are obvious options for this (the Scholar's Tower, the Imperial Ambassador, Lord Wrax), but a high-SOC PC may well have met or dealt with the royals themselves at some point; bear in mind that Oleb was roaming around adventuring before he became the King, and Rao and Harrick presumably visit other planets now and then. Even if not the royals, the Palace is packed full of nobles who may have got mixed up in things elsewhere over the years and come into contact with a PC then.

 

[harunmushod]

Is it just me or does the Introduction to Pirates of Drinax seem more than a little unlikely, particularly if none of the PC's are from Drinax? Some things to consider:

1. King Oleg is giving Drinax's ONLY interstellar warship to a bunch of strangers, who may actually be pirates!
2. How can Oleg even remotely trust a party of strangers not to give away Drinax's involvement in piracy, inadvertently or by intention, particularly if some of the PC's are ex-Imperial Military or Aslan of good standing?
3. Why are the PC's even on Drinax, particularly if they are not Drinaxian natives?
4. What have the PC's done to garner the attention of Drinax?

I know Oleg and Rao are desperate, but the above questions still need answering in my mind!

How did other GM's answer these questions in their campaigns or perhaps start the campaign differently from starting in Oleg's throne room?

We generated new characters for Pirates of Drinax, all Dinaxian or from Asim, all of them had to at least try a Naval (Drinaxian Star Guard) career. Several of them ended up as naval officers, one of them a pirate. So that would explain why they were chosen.

I agree about the ship, which is why I chose to run a combination of Marooned on Marduk and High N Dry as a mission to get their first pirate ship, but also substituted a jump-2 armed merchant for the scoutship in High n Dry. They can get the Harrier once they have a measure of success as privateers under their belt (thank you Andy Slack for the advice not to give the Travellers the Harrier to begin with).

 

[Ragnar60]

I'm doing Sun and Shadow first then the PCs will get asked by an Imperial Agent to help Drinax to take control of the area. Unbeknownst to them, the agent is really working for GeDeCo on their secret plan. Oleb will accept the PCs because he thinks he will have unofficial / secret Imperial backing to create his empire which will act as a buffer between the Imperium and the Hierate. It's good for everyone. Whether it succeeds or not is up to the PCs.

At what point in Sun & Shadow, did you have the Imperial Naval PC's jump ship to Drinax? Was it while the PC's were using the captured Pirate Far Trader to scout for Pirate bases? Out of interest what were the PC's motivation for jumping ship to Drinax? Were Oleg, Rao & the Gedeco Agent that convincing? Love the idea though!