Pirates of Drinax: Involving the Florians

[J. L. Brown]

Simply put; the new Kingdom of Drinax is struggling to be taken seriously, and so cooks up a plan to shut down trade & get the major players to come to the bargaining table. How this plays out with the Imperium and the Aslan clans is described in some (but not enough) detail -- but the Kingdom has to be blockading Wildeman (B) and Cordan (A). Those are the final two links of the Florian J-2 trade route; and the Kingdom might also be blockading Arunisiir (B), which is a third link on the same route.

So, if the Florian route is blocked or partially blocked, then it makes some sense to have them to be part of the negotiations. I would like to put together material that allows this to happen in a Pirates of Drinax campaign, but am hindered by two things:
1} the canonical Florian trade routes don't make a lot of sense; and
2} Florian values and motivations are vague and mysterious.

I believe the canon J-2 route is 14 jumps:
Fist (B) -2- Wildeman (B) -2- Cordan (A) -2- Arunisiir (B) -2- Blue (B) -2- Torpol (B) -2- Oghma (B) -2- Thebus (B) -1- Number One (C) -2- Acis (B) -2- Tyr (A) -2- Caldos (B) -1- Janus (C) -2- 291-540 (E) -2- Yggdrasil (B).

While the canon J-3 route is 11 jumps:
Fist (B) -2- Wildeman (B) -3- Arunisiir (B) -2- Blue (B) -2- Torpol (B) -2- Oghma (B) -2- Thebus (B) -3- Acis (B) -2- Tyr (A) -3- Janus (C) -2- 291-540 (E) -2- Yggdrasil (B).

Neither of these ever actually enters Florian space, and both stop at the mysteriously useless 291-540 (E); they also both bypass Dpres -- which (in 'Fire on the Sindalian Main') has a possible encounter with a Tobian Commerce Guild Galoof-class freighter which is assigned to regular runs on the Florian route.

1} Ending at Yggdrasil (B) is an odd choice -- it is an Amber zone, and outside of the Florian League -- Boronu (B), Forandin (B), and Ilnest (B) all seem to be better choices. The last two are even on the Yggdrasil Trace.
2} skipping Dpres (B) creates potential conflict with other published material; and
3} stopping at 291-540 (E) instead of Connaught (D) is strange. 291-540 has a gas giant for wilderness refuelling, but skimming fuel is riskier than dipping oceans of normal planets -- and both of them are obviously inferior to simply buying refined fuel at Dpres (B).
4} starting the J-3 route at Fist is weird; a J-3 ship could leave from the Tobia Main at Nekrino (A) via:
Nekrino (A) -3- Chalchiutlicue (B) [or: Palindrome (B) or even Realgar (B)] -2- Vume (B) -3- Salif (A) -3- Tyr (A) -3- Janus (C) -3- Dpres (B) -3- Ilnest (B) -- but apparently this does not happen.

A} What should the trade routes actually be?
B} What systems should be considered 'Other Key Systems'?
C} Given the Florian League imports & exports, what should a loot table for ships on the route look like?
D} What actions throughout the campaign should affect standing with the Florian League?
E} What conditions and stipulations affect the Florian League treaty negotiations?

I have some ideas, and will be posting them over time.

 

[J. L. Brown]

On the trade route question, this is what TravellerMap.com recommends for the J-2 route:
Fist (B) -J2- Iilgan (C) -J2- Exocet (A) -J2- Blue (B) -J2- Torpol (B) -J2- Marduk (C) -J2- Thebus (B) -J2- Ace (E & Amber) -J2- Tyr (A) -J2- Caldos (B) -J1- Janus (C) -J2- Connaught (D) -J1- Dpres (B) -J2- Forandin (B)

This obviously is not perfect; Iilgan (C) and Exocet (A) are not on the Hierate trade route. But Wildeman (B), Cordan (A), and Arunisiir (B) are -- so the Imperial Navy is not going to set aside ships from its' very limited pool to patrol Iilgan & Exocet. That seems like a valid (and, depending on the rate of piracy, sensible) reason for the trade route to prefer to not use the Exocet portion -- but it might promote Exocet & Iilgan to 'Other Key Systems' because they could be used to bypass the blockade.

The Canon route goes from Torpol (B) -J2- Oghma (B) -J2- Thebus (B); not through Marduk (C). Oghma has a better starport, but is infamously home to despised (low tech) planetary raiders. I think doing with the canon route & putting Marduk (C) on the list of 'Other Key Systems' is a sensible compromise.

From Thebus (B) the canon J-2 route is:
Thebus (B) -J1- Number One (C) -J2- Acis (B) -J2- Tyr (A) -J2- Caldos (B) -J1- Janus (C) -J2- 291-540 (E) -J2- Yggdrasil (B) + presumably a jump into the league -- a route that requires special efforts to maintain refined fuel depots at three places: Number One (C), Janus (C), and 291-540 (E).

The canon route skips the problematic amber-zoned, E-class 'Ace'; which seems sensible. But the canon route after Janus makes no sense.

So I end up on (systems in italics are unique to the J-2 route) the following 15-jump (same length as the canon) route:
Fist (B) -J2- Wildeman (C) -J2- Cordan (A) -J2- Arunisiir (B) -J2- Blue (B) -J2- Torpol (B) -J2- Oghma (B) -J2- Thebus (B) -J1- Number One (C) -J2- Acis (B) -J2- Tyr (A) -J2- Caldos (B) -J1- Janus (C) -J2- Connaught (D) -J1- Dpres (B) -J2- Forandin (B)

Ai) Is this route reasonably better than the canon route? Why, or why not? Which other J-2 routes should be considered?

All of the class (C) and worse ports need to have refined fuel available for the ships that come through, and that fuel is not available at the starport. That means that some amount of fuel is scooped, refined, and stored in a depot which is not the starport (this probably represents GeDeCo or some other megacorp) to support the trade traffic coming through. On the Florian route the major players deploy about 83.4k to 100k dTons of ships; making 3 jumps per month on a 15 jump route means that every port handles an average of 16680 to 20000 ships per month. A fuel service needs to supply 20% (on the J-2 route) or 30% (on the J-3 route) of that tonnage in fuel. That comes to 180 to 220 dTons of fuel (9 to 11 dTons of fuel processor) per day, plus tankage to hold enough to refill the thirstiest ships that routinely pass through; a Galoof takes 9105 dTons of fuel from empty. Those fuel stations are not free; the canon route needs four.

With the following for the 11-Jump J-3 route
Fist (B) -J2- Wildeman (C) -J3- Arunisiir (B) -J2- Blue (B) -J2- Torpol (B) -J2- Oghma (B) -J2- Thebus (B) -J3- Acis (B) -J2- Tyr (A) -J3- Janus (C) -J3- Dpres (B) -J2- Forandin (B)

And it seems like a J-3 captain could just skip the six jumps for between Arunisiir & Tyr, just by using the following four jumps;
Arunisiir (B) -J3- Clarke (B) -J3- Oghma (B) -J3- Number One (C) -J3- Tyr (A) -- and Clarke (B) is already on the list of 'Other Key Systems'.

So the question is, given the amended J-2 route (with 4 fuel stations)

Spoiler: The amended J-2 Florian route

Fist (B) -J2- Wildeman (C) -J2- Cordan (A) -J2- Arunisiir (B) -J2- Blue (B) -J2- Torpol (B) -J2- Oghma (B) -J2- Thebus (B) -J1- Number One (C) -J2- Acis (B) -J2- Tyr (A) -J2- Caldos (B) -J1- Janus (C) -J2- Connaught (D) -J1- Dpres (B) -J2- Forandin (B)

Which seems most reasonable for a J-3 route:
Aii) 11 Jumps & 10 major ports (the canon J-3 route) --

Fist (B) -J2- Wildeman (C) -J3- Arunisiir (B) -J2- Blue (B) -J2- Torpol (B) -J2- Oghma (B) -J2- Thebus (B) -J3- Acis (B) -J2- Tyr (A) -J3- Janus (C) -J3- Dpres (B) -J2- Forandin (B); or

Aiii) 10 Jumps & 9 major ports --

Fist (B) -J2- Wildeman (C) -J3- Arunisiir (B) -J3- Clarke (B) -J2- Oghma (B) -J2- Thebus (B) -J3- Acis (B) -J2- Tyr (A) -J3- Janus (C) -J3- Dpres (B) -J2- Forandin (B); or

Aiv) 9 Jumps & 7 major ports --

Fist (B) -J2- Wildeman (C) -J3- Arunisiir (B) -J3- Clarke (B) -J3- Oghma (B) -J3- Number One (C) -J3- Tyr (A) -J3- Janus (C) -J3- Dpres (B) -J2- Forandin (B)

Note that none of these routes require additional fuel depots over those depots which already must be built & maintained for J-2 route.

And is it reasonable to add any or all of the following to the list of 'Other Key Systems'?
Bi) Exocet (A),
Bii) Iilgan (C),
Biii) Marduk (C),
Biv) 291-540 (E).

Resolving these makes it possible to start filling out a Blockade Trade Route Table like this:

Trade Route Table
Jump-3 Route (Aiii)	Jump-2 Route	Roll	Other Key Systems	Roll
Wildeman (B) +4	Wildeman (B) +4	15+	Exocet (A)
	Cordan (A) +2	12+	Iilgan (C)
Arunisiir (B) +3*	Arunisiir (B) +3*	10+*	Marduk (C)
Clarke (B) +1		7+*	291-540 (E)
	Blue (B) +1	8+*	Ace (E)
	Torpol (B) +1	7+*	Hecarda (B)
Oghma (B) +2	Oghma (B) +2
Thebus (B) +2	Thebus (B) +2
	Number One (C) +1
Acis (B) +2	Acis (B) +2
Tyr (A) +2	Tyr (A) +2
	Caldos (B) +1
Janus (C) +2	Janus (C) +2
	Connaught* (D) +1
Dpres* (B) +2	Dpres* (B) +2

Values listed with and asterisk(*) are either modified from the canon listing, or need to be re-examined. The letter in parentheses after the system is the starport type, followed by the number of trade routes which pass through the system. I hope it is clear what I am trying to do; any insights would be welcome.

 

[J. L. Brown]

On the subject of Loot Tables for ships on the Florian routes:

The imports and exports between the Imperium and the Hierate are listed as being as follows:

The Aslan import high-technology goods, live animals, and spices;
they primarily export precious metals, crystals and gems, uncommon raw materials, petrochemicals, uncommon ore, and textiles,.

The imports are (100 + 10 + 6) / 3 = 38.7 kCr/dTon, and
the exports are (50 + 20 + 20 + 10 + 5 + 3) / 6 = 18 kCr/dTon.

One of the spices in particular, is Dustspice which was originally native to Romar (Spinward Marches 2140), and which Aslan find particularly desirable. MgT 1e Compedium #2, page 66 prices it at from 0.5 kCr to 11 kCr per kilogram, but has weirdly low kilograms per dTon. If you instead figure that DustSpice is similar in density to Cinnamon, then a 13.5 m^3 dTon is worth right at 3 MCr (for 0.5 kCr/kg) up to 66.2 MCr (for the highest grade at 11 kCr/kg spice).

The loot table looks like this:

2D roll	Imperium - Hierate	Hierate - Imperium
2	Advanced Weapons -- 150000 x 1 / 36 = 4167	Radioactives -- 1000000 x 1 / 36 = 27778
3	Live Animals -- 10000 x 2 / 36 = 556	Uncommon Ore -- 5000 x 2 / 36 = 278
4	Luxury Goods -- 200000 x 3 / 36 = 16667	Luxury Goods -- 200000 x 3 / 36 = 16667
5	Luxury Consumables -- 20000 x 4 / 36 = 2222	Luxury Consumables -- 20000 x 4 / 36 = 2222
6	Spices -- 6000 x 5 / 36 = 833	Textiles -- 3000 x 5 / 36 = 417
7	Basic Manufactured Goods -- 20000 x 6 * 36 = 3333	Basic Raw Materials -- 5000 x 6 / 36 = 833
8	Biochemicals -- 50000 x 5 / 36 = 6944	Polymers -- 7000 x 5 / 36 = 972
9	Pharmaceuticals -- 100000 x 4 / 36 = 11111	Crystals & Gems -- 20000 x 4 / 36 = 2222
10	Advanced Manufactured Goods -- 100000 x 3 / 36 = 8333	Uncommon Raw Materials -- 20000 x 3 / 36 = 1667
11	Advanced Machine Parts -- 75000 x 2 / 36 = 4167	Precious Metals -- 50000 x 2 / 36 = 2778
12	Illegal Luxuries -- 50000 x 1 * 36 = 1389	Illegal Weapons -- 150000 x 1 / 36 = 4167

And it is a bit weird; both sides come out to almost exactly 60 kCr/dTon, and many of the entries on the table are not mentioned in the 'imports and exports' for the two powers.

Now, not all loot on a freighter will be this stuff; a random freighter is (1d6 x 10 + 40) 50% to 100% full, and half the cargo is either 1) a cargo from the table, 2) cargo available at the last world, 3) cargo that sells well at the next world, or 4) randomly determined on the Core rulebook trade tables -- the all the rest is randomly determined from the Core rules in 20 dTon chunks.

---

The imports and exports between the Imperium and the Florian League are listed as being as follows:

The Florian League imports radioactives, computers and electronics, biochemicals, spices and medical supplies;
they export advanced manufactured goods, advanced vehicles, advanced weapons and other manufactured goods.

The imports are (1000 + 100 + 50 + 6 + 50) / 5 = 241.2 kCr/dTon, and
the exports are (100 + 180 + 150 + 20) / 4 = 112.5 kCr/dTon.

Given all of this,

Ci) What should the average value of a dTon on the Imperium - League loot table be? The imports and exports we know about are more than six times as valuable per dTon as goods on the Imperium - Hierate route, but I am hesitant to hand out an average value of 360 kCr/dTon.
Cii) Should we determine that ships on the Florian route have different default rules -- maybe they tend to have less empty cargo space, but only 33% is from the (high value) loot table, or something.
Ciii) Do the Florians have (probably not) any special attachment to Dustspice? They are variants of Humaniti, so I tend to think probably not... but maybe they do; or perhaps they have a special affinity for something else -- Old Janx Spirits, Oolong tea, Tillamook cheddar, something. Suggestions?

My work in progress table for the Florian League loot table so far is:

2D roll	Imperium - Florian League	Florian League - Imperium
2	Radioactives -- 1000000 x 1 / 36 = 27778	Advanced Vehicles -- 180000 x 1 / 36 = 5000
3	Biochemicals -- 50000 x 2 / 36 = 2778	Advanced Manufactured Goods -- 150000 x 2 / 36 = 8333
4
5	Spices -- 6000 x 4 / 36 = 667
6
7
8
9
10
11	Medical supplies -- 50000 x 2 / 36 = 2778	Common Manufactured Goods -- 20000 x 2 / 36 = 1111
12	Advanced Electronics -- 100000 x 1 / 36 = 2778	Advanced Weapons -- 150000 x 1 / 36 = 4167

The I->F side already totals 36779 Cr/dTon, and the F->I side totals 18611 Cr/dTon. These can be substantially changed by raising and lower th position of good on the tables, but right now they are pretty empty. This is very much a work in progress; it definitely needs some work. Suggestions?

A crude first pass:

Commodity	Standard Base price	Fist	Wildeman	Cordan	Arunisiir	Blue	Torpol	Oghma	Thebus	Number One	Acis	Tyr	Caldos	Janus	Connaught	Dpres	Forandin
Radioactives	1000000	989400	990813	992227	993640	995053	996467	997880	999293	1000707	1002120	1003533	1004947	1006360	1007773	1009157	1010600
	<from the Hierate route>	1005600	1003800	1002200	1000600	999000	997400
	<Average price>	997500	997306	997214	997120	997026	996933
Advanced Electronics	100000	89400	90813	92227	93640	95053	96467	97880	99293	100707	102120	103533	104947	106360	107773	109187	110600
Biochemicals	50000	39400	40813	42227	43640	45053	46467	47880	49293	50707	52120	53533	54947	56360	57773	59187	60600
Medical Supplies	50000	39400	40813	42227	43640	45053	46467	47880	49293	50707	52120	53533	54947	56360	57773	59187	60600
Spices	6000	4728	4898	5067	5237	5406	5576	5746	5915	6085	6254	6424	6594	6763	6933	7102	7272

A misguided table for going the other way, since the exact list of goods is not finished:

Commodity	Standard Base price	Forandin	Dpres	Janus	Caldos	Tyr	Acis	Number One	Thebus	Oghma	Torpol	Blue	Arunisiir	Cordan	Wildeman	Fist

This is just a test, obviously. We need a list of all of the commonly-exchanged-goods to and from the Florian League to make a complete list.

 

[Anstett]

I think one of the wrinkles is the type of ship. For more established things (the items on the list of imports) there will be mega freighters traveling back and forth at scale who are making the bulk of the cargo and profits. Standard normal dependable levels of cargo.

For the adventure ship level trade I think there is a randomness for emptiness. A tramp trader is going to buy and sell along the route, not purchase to fill the whole hold at the beginning and sell in the League.

 

[Anstett]

On the trade route question, this is what TravellerMap.com recommends for the J-2 route:
Fist (B) -J2- Iilgan (C) -J2- Exocet (A) -J2- Blue (B) -J2- Torpol (B) -J2- Marduk (C) -J2- Thebus (B) -J2- Ace (E & Amber) -J2- Tyr (A) -J2- Caldos (B) -J1- Janus (C) -J2- Connaught (D) -J1- Dpres (B) -J2- Forandin (B)

The Canon route goes from Torpol (B) -J2- Oghma (B) -J2- Thebus (B); not through Marduk (C). Oghma has a better starport, but is infamously home to despised (low tech) raiders. I think doing with the canon route & putting Marduk (C) on the list of 'Other Key Systems' is a sensible compromise.


And is it reasonable to add any or all of the following to the list of 'Other Key Systems'?
Bi) Exocet (A),
Bii) Iilgan (C),
Biii) Marduk (C),
Biv) 291-540 (E).

I think this is very much a "doing things with imperfect knowledge that we thought at the time" versus hindsight is 22.

Marduk seems safer in our 'modern' view because of how that Cluster has developed over time with publishing. It is called the Oghma Cluster. Oghma and Marduk have the same number of systems J2 or J3 away.

If I were an accountant working out the best route Oghma over Marduk works for both J2 and J3 ignoring the political issues of the Oghma raiders.

If I were a captain dealing with security issues in the systems along the route I want Marduk.

If I am the referee I lean towards Oghma because it creates decision making tension for the group. Take the 'safer' route of Marduk but leave the potential convoy protections of the big freighters transiting through Oghma? Use the better Starport at Oghma for fueling, etc. Torpol to Marduk also has lots of previous adventure hooks.

Also which route makes GeDeCo more money? Torpol to Thebus goes through both so maybe they run a discount if you travel in larger groups?

 

[J. L. Brown]

I am not suggesting changing how the trade rules work; anyone making the Florian Run -- or doing world to world trades between systems on the Florian route -- still trades as normal. I am talking about setting up a Pirates of Drinax campaign specific 'Here is the loot on the NPC ship you just raided' exactly like the table on page 23 for 'loot' on the Hierate route. Certainly the first will inform the second, though.

The rules on page 23 of PoD1 imply that of the carried cargo (1d6 x10 + 40 = 50& to 100% of the ships cargo space), only about half is specifically for Hierate trade; and that seems to be about a one-in-four chance. The options the GM has are 1} Hierate-route specific goods (use this table), 2} Goods bought at the previous system; 3} Goods destined for the next system; 4} Random stuff from normal trade tables. This seems to imply that only about 9.375% of cargo space on the Hierate route is specific to the Hierate trade; which might be intended to reflect what adventure-scale 'tramp freighters' do because that is what the players as pirates are mostly expected to be raiding.

GeDeCo owns & runs the highport in the Oghma system, so they make more money if traffic goes that way; and setting up a fuel depot on Marduk is an added expense. If the players go through 'MakerGod', then Oghma changes & gets less raider-y.

 

[MasterGwydion]

I think this is very much a "doing things with imperfect knowledge that we thought at the time" versus hindsight is 22.

Marduk seems safer in our 'modern' view because of how that Cluster has developed over time with publishing. It is called the Oghma Cluster. Oghma and Marduk have the same number of systems J2 or J3 away.

If I were an accountant working out the best route Oghma over Marduk works for both J2 and J3 ignoring the political issues of the Oghma raiders.

If I were a captain dealing with security issues in the systems along the route I want Marduk.

If I am the referee I lean towards Oghma because it creates decision making tension for the group. Take the 'safer' route of Marduk but leave the potential convoy protections of the big freighters transiting through Oghma? Use the better Starport at Oghma for fueling, etc. Torpol to Marduk also has lots of previous adventure hooks.

Also which route makes GeDeCo more money? Torpol to Thebus goes through both so maybe they run a discount if you travel in larger groups?

Remember. The Oghma Raiders are not pirates. They do not usually attack ships. They raid planetary settlements. So the Raiders really aren't an issue for shipping. Plus, their ships are TL-9.

 

[MasterGwydion]

I can go and look for the book and page number if anyone cares, but that is what I remember off of the top of My head.

 

[J. L. Brown]

On the Hierate route the major players deploy 417k to 500k dTons of ships; while on the Florian route the major players deploy about 83.4k to 100k dTons of ships. On the Hierate route, it is reasonable to suppose that about half of all shipping is Aslan ships, and most (75%?) of them will belong to the Ahraoy'if 'Company of Grandmotherly Kindness'. There are published designs for Aslan ships, including trade ships, so inserting Aslan traders into the game is not difficult.

The Florian route presents more of a conundrum; the Floriani come off as insular and inclined to be isolationist -- would half of the ships on the Florian route be Floriani? Would it be less (I don't want to go too far from home), or would it be more (I do not trust others to do this task)? Florian ships are described as blocky, utilitarian, and ugly; and while their military has TL 14 and some TL 15 prototype ships, the Florian League averages TL 9.

Di) Would their merchant ships be TL 9 and 10? What resources are there for depicting Florian ships in game? Beyond the Floriani megacorp Gli! Fong! Uric! Ka which specializes in trade, are there any other known Florian businesses? Are there any published Florian ship designs?

These questions become more important when trying to incorporate the League into the PoD campaign, because 'Standing' is affected by piracy. Right now the things which affect Standing are:
Initial Standing: No value is given for the initial value of the players or the Kingdom of Drinax.

I think a -5 is appropriate, although lower might be reasonable for the slightly xenophobic Florians.​

Stealing Cargo: -1 per incident in which more than Cr100000 is stolen.
Per Infamous Incident: -1D for incidents where the pirates steal a large amount of cargo, capture ships, and otherwise ‘rock the boat’.

I think that 'stealing a ship instead of destroying it' falls here. No idea what 'a large amount of cargo' means; maybe more than 300000 Cr worth? 'Infamy' also implies the players and/or thier connection to Drinax are identified.​

Per Atrocity: -1D for incidents where the pirates destroy ships, murder prisoners, or otherwise breach the 'code of the stars'.

This obviously means that destroying Imperial ships lowers Imperial standing, Hierate ships lower Hierate standing, and Floriani ships lower League standing. This emphasizes the need for Florian ships.​

Per Interference: -1D for incidents where the pirates attack Imperial scoutships, couriers or registered convoys, damage starports or refuelling stations, or otherwise interfere with the flow of trade.

Again, 'Imperial' refers to a specific power; but the Floriani do NOT provide naval protection or escorts to the trade route. Couriers could be dipomatic ships, which we know the Floriani do use. 'Registered Convoys' and 'damage to facilities' is one way to make this stick to the characters -- but obviously the Florians do not care about stuff which is not on the Florian route; if the players bombard the starport at Hecarda, then only the Hecardans seem to care.​

Per Heroic Deed: +1D for attacking pirates or inflicting significant damage on the other Imperial power.

'Inflicting significant damage on the other Imperial power' -- I think this might open up a real can of worms. I think it is meant to indicate any 'Infamous' or 'Atrocity' or 'Interferance' level event, as long as it does not affect the power in question; so blow up an Aslan ship, the Imperium is pleased. But introducing a third (or more) 'Standing' changes the dynamics quite a bit; it goes from being a balanced '-1d6 from one & +1d6 to the other', to gaining twice from an act. Maybe we should tone this down somehow? Would Florians engage in this kind of schadenfreude?​

Per Month Elapsed Without Incident: Over time, Standing trends towards its starting point. The Travellers’ Standing moves one point towards its starting position after each month in which the pirates do nothing of consequence.

Dii) What adjustments need to be made to the guidelines above, or are they okay as written?
Diii) What other items can (or should) be included in how the Kingdom gains and loses Florian 'Standing'?

 

[Anstett]

GeDeCo owns & runs the highport in the Oghma system, so they make more money if traffic goes that way; and setting up a fuel depot on Marduk is an added expense. If the players go through 'MakerGod', then Oghma changes & gets less raider-y.

GeDeCo owns both Starports for Oghma and Marduk at the start of PoD.

 

[Anstett]

These questions become more important when trying to incorporate the League into the PoD campaign, because 'Standing' is affected by piracy. Right now the things which affect Standing are:
Initial Standing: No value is given for the initial value of the players or the Kingdom of Drinax.

I think a -5 is appropriate, although lower might be reasonable for the slightly xenophobic Florians.​

I think -5 is the highest it should start as they are distant and reserved (+1 diplomat check for reserved over xenophobic ;P ) and I can easily see it start lower.

Per Heroic Deed: +1D for attacking pirates or inflicting significant damage on the other Imperial power.

'Inflicting significant damage on the other Imperial power' -- I think this might open up a real can of worms. I think it is meant to indicate any 'Infamous' or 'Atrocity' or 'Interferance' level event, as long as it does not affect the power in question; so blow up an Aslan ship, the Imperium is pleased. But introducing a third (or more) 'Standing' changes the dynamics quite a bit; it goes from being a balanced '-1d6 from one & +1d6 to the other', to gaining twice from an act. Maybe we should tone this down somehow? Would Florians engage in this kind of schadenfreude?​

I think that a Heroic Deed for the Florians would be keeping their solitude intact. So defending a League ship and then letting it continue along with no questions asked, etc. Lacking a deed that has direct League application it does not move the needle.
Attacking raiders who are attacking a convoy and defending everyone? No change. Attack the raiders going after League shipping? Maybe a boost.

Per Month Elapsed Without Incident: Over time, Standing trends towards its starting point. The Travellers’ Standing moves one point towards its starting position after each month in which the pirates do nothing of consequence.

I would offer if the travellers have managed to move the needle then it stay where it is because the Florians have such a restricted view of the outside. If you manage to impress them it will stay there until otherwise changed by actions. If you upset them the same thing.

 

[J. L. Brown]

On the question of Florian League treaty adjustments, I have the following so far:

Florian Negotiation Adjustments
	Adjustment	Effects
The Blockade
Lifting the Blockade	+0	Permits Negotiation
Also lifting the Jump-2/Jump-3 Blockade	+10
Lifting the Blockade from other key planets	+1 per planet
Trade Levies
Minimal Trade Levy	-5	The Kingdom will be impoverished for decades, and risks civil war in the short term and collapse in the medium.
Average Trade Levy	-10	What Princess Rao expected when she planned the rebirth of Drinax – the trade levies will sustain the Kingdom as it grows and matures.
Extortionate Trade Levy	-20	It is good to be the pirate king!
League Relations
Friendly Relations	+0	Normal relations between Drinax and the Florian League.
Non-Aggression Pact	+5	Drinax pledges not to attack the Florian League, and vice versa.
Favoured Trading	+5	Drinax favours trade with the Florian League not the Imperium or the Hierate.
Defence Pact	-30	The Florian League will come to the aid of Drinax if the Heirate or Impreium attack.
Florian League Naval Base	+10	Drinax will service Florian League scouts and naval patrols at minimal cost.
Aslan Relations
Harsher Levies on Aslan Merchants	+5	Whatever Trade Levies are imposed on the Florian League, the Aslan levy must be at least one level higher (Average if the Florian League Levy is Minimal)
No Non-Aggression Pact with Aslan	+5	The Kingdom will not sign a non-aggression pact with any Aslan clan.
Commitment to oppose Aslan expansion	+10	The Kingdom will stop the Aslan from claiming any worlds within its sphere of influence. Cannot be taken if the Travellers have promised not to interfere with Aslan expansion.
Imperial Relations
Harsher Levies on Imperial Merchants	+5	Whatever Trade Levies are imposed on the Florian League, the Imperial levy must be at least one level higher (Average if the Florian League Levy is Minimal)
Other Adjustments
Piracy punished by death throughout Kingdom	+10
GeDeCo advisors to all Kingdom governments	+10	Who does not love GeDeCo?
Arranged marriage between senior Drinaxian leader and a Barnai leader	+5	Pick a Traveller or nominate a suitable character
Answering for Atrocities	+5 or more	If the Travellers committed any terrible crimes against the Florian League, then they must answer for their crimes before a Florian League court. Check out Adventure 2: Prison Planet.
Apologies and reparations for piracy	+5	The Travellers must personally pay fines for acts of piracy committed against Imperial ships and individuals. Fines are up to the referee, but should be commensurate with the Travellers wealth.

This is just a beginning draft; I expect that we will find it to be incomplete and imperfect. Basically this is just a copy/paste of the Imperial negotiation factors. There are a couple that I think do not work -- like the arranged marriage, or the Defensive Pact. We can delete those, but I would like to have a similarly long list of negotiation points as the Imperium, Aslan clans, and others. Keep in mind that at some point I want there to be similar negotiations and adjustments with the Glorious Empire, the Zhodani, the Darrians, the Sword Worlders, the Belgardian Sojurnate, the Senlis Foederate, and the Strend Cluster -- even though all of those will be trickier because they have less of a stake in the Reach-based trade routes; still, keeping those in mind as we hammer out the Florian agenda will be helpful later.

Ei) What needs to be added, adjusted, or deleted from the above list?

Also, while we might make Florian standing harder to get or to affect, we might also take the approach that reaching an agreement with the Florian League is simply more difficult for any given Standing. For example, groups with a 20+ standing with the Imperium can get an agreement with a Diplomacy (Soc) of 8+; standing 6 to 19 can get an agreement with a roll of 10+, and so on.

Eii) Or perhaps the ranges of 'Standing' values are different (higher, or narrower, or both) reflecting the Floriani hesitancy to trust? For example:
30+ 'Ally' = Average (8+)
11 to 29 'Tolerated' = Difficult (10+)
0 to 10 'Ignored = Very Difficult (12+)
-10 to -1 'Irritant' = Formidable (14+)
-30 to -11 'Hated' = Virtually Impossible (16+)
-31 or lower 'Enemy of the State' = No Deal Possible

Eiii) Maybe all rolls with the Floriani simply have a one point (or maybe two, but I am sort of reserving that for the Glorious Empire who regard humans as prey animals and slaves) higher difficulty simply to reflect the difficulty of reaching a deal?
20+ 'Ally' = Average (9+)
6 to 19 'Tolerated' = Difficult (11+)
-5 to 5 'Ignored = Very Difficult (13+)
-20 to -6 'Irritant' = Formidable (15+)
-40 to -21 'Hated' = Virtually Impossible (17+)
-41 or lower 'Enemy of the State' = No Deal Possible