PoD - Oleb

[MasterGwydion]

One of My players asked Me, why Drinax even needs pirates? Certainly not to make more money. They are sitting on a huge collection of extremely expensive art and cultural treasures. My player asked, what kind of an idiot sends out a privateer instead of just selling a 200MCr statue to the Museum of Tobia and buying aTL-15 Asteroid Mining and Manufacturing Ship? They have all of the knowledge of TL-15 in the Scholars' Tower. They buy one ship to jump start their manufacturing and, "Viola!" in a few years they now have a TL-15 manufacturing base and can rebuild. Instead, they have spent 200 years doing next to nothing. How much money did they spend leasing ships so they could invade Asim for the food, which they don't even have enough ships with jump engines to even take advantage of? Heck! That little invasion cost them their prince. 20 years of cutting edge TL-15 medical care 24/7? I do not even want to think what that would cost in Traveller.

Especially, when you consider that the Drinax system has a Resources of B and an Efficiency of +3. They just lack infrastructure and labor, but the written description of Drinax says that they are out of resources, which is clearly not the case. How can you have a Resource level of B and be described as having no resources? Don't they have an entire planet worth of wreckage and ruins to salvage materials from? I understand about disease bombs and radiation, but that is what protective gear is for. The same protective gear that they manufacture for the Vespexers.

My answer to My player was a bad one. "It just is. Don't think about it or the whole campaign falls apart." I love the PoD campaign. It is one of My all time favorites in any game system, but the premise is built on a sand foundation of ignoring the rules of the setting and of the game system.

 

[AndrewW]

Oleb wants to live out his dream of being a pirate through the players.

 

[MasterGwydion]

Oleb wants to live out his dream of being a pirate through the players.

So, I guess My answer was right, even though I don't like it. Oleb is an idiot...lol

 

[Geir]

Think about all those Counts of Nowhere and Barons of Nonesuch. All they have left is their heirlooms. Not gonna sell them. On the other hand... if you have a pirate ship, you could just take them and sell them yourself...

 

[Condottiere]

Power projection.

 

[agentwigggles]

Well, the overly cramped nobility left on the floating palace, has been selling anything of value on for the last 200 years.
Drinax doesnt have any leverage. The statue and gems may be worth 200m.
No one will pay 200m.
No one has to pay 200m, when they're from Drinax.
Drinax needs the money. Drinax has no functional economy.
So everyone that even wants Drinax gaudy art, can just tell Oleb. 'Fuck off. I'll give you 50m.'
So Oleb been supporting a Anagathic habit for him and his daughter. A small SDB fleet, an even smaller Jump navy. The subjugation of nother planet. The subjugation of the drinax surviving population. The maintaince of the floating palace.
All that is expensive.

What about the Salvage?
What about it.
Its already spoken for. Thats how the Vesperex pay their taxes/trade with the Floating Palace for enviromental suits and equipment needed for hydropanic farms.
The Vesperex is salvaging as much as they can with what they have.

So lets say Drinax gets a mining ship.
That has a few problems.
Who is gonna crew it?
Any able spaceman is in the navy.
You can compell the Vesperex to serve on it, train them how to operate with the navy guys.
Okay.
No one will pay market rate for Drinax ore, regardless to its quality or amount.

Drinax has no economy. It has no military. It has no social leverage.
Drinax needs to sell the ore, more than anyone needs to buy it.
So Drinax gets to sell the ore, at break even prices, or maybe just one or two percent profit.
However, I strongly suspect they'll have crewing issues.
If you're teaching a Vesperex how to work a ship, you're teaching how to work in the merchant marines.
So they just leave, and go get a better job.

Though, let say that works mining ship gets market rate for ore, does well.

This doesnt solve Drinax actual problem.

The first problem, is that the Floating Palace, will fail, it will just drop out of the sky. It needs major replacement parts. Its been over crowded and under maintained for 200 years.

The second problem and the real problem.
The Aslan.
The Trojan Reach is a comfortable buffer between the 3I and Heirate.
Eventually the Aslan has to expand. Its the only way for their young males to gain any social mobility. Eventually a persuasive young aslan will rally enough second sons and clanless to go claim land.
And the Major clans will be forced to go into a Civil War to force the minor clans to wrangle them.
Or declare sancture support the war.
Drinax will burn, if it not envoloped by Mutual Defense Pact with the 3I or it manage to cobble Drinax Empire 2: Quest for Peace to make other parts of the Reach easier to deal with.

 

[MasterGwydion]

Well, the overly cramped nobility left on the floating palace, has been selling anything of value on for the last 200 years.
Drinax doesnt have any leverage. The statue and gems may be worth 200m.
No one will pay 200m.
No one has to pay 200m, when they're from Drinax.
Drinax needs the money. Drinax has no functional economy.
So everyone that even wants Drinax gaudy art, can just tell Oleb. 'Fuck off. I'll give you 50m.'
So Oleb been supporting a Anagathic habit for him and his daughter. A small SDB fleet, an even smaller Jump navy. The subjugation of nother planet. The subjugation of the drinax surviving population. The maintaince of the floating palace.
All that is expensive.

What about the Salvage?
What about it.
Its already spoken for. Thats how the Vesperex pay their taxes/trade with the Floating Palace for enviromental suits and equipment needed for hydropanic farms.
The Vesperex is salvaging as much as they can with what they have.

So lets say Drinax gets a mining ship.
That has a few problems.
Who is gonna crew it?
Any able spaceman is in the navy.
You can compell the Vesperex to serve on it, train them how to operate with the navy guys.
Okay.
No one will pay market rate for Drinax ore, regardless to its quality or amount.

They are not selling the ore. It is a mining and manufacturing ship. It would have TL-15 Manufacturing Plants. This is how they build their infrasturcture and quit hemorrhaging money.

Drinax has no economy. It has no military. It has no social leverage.
Drinax needs to sell the ore, more than anyone needs to buy it.
So Drinax gets to sell the ore, at break even prices, or maybe just one or two percent profit.
However, I strongly suspect they'll have crewing issues.
If you're teaching a Vesperex how to work a ship, you're teaching how to work in the merchant marines.
So they just leave, and go get a better job.

Though, let say that works mining ship gets market rate for ore, does well.

This doesnt solve Drinax actual problem.

The first problem, is that the Floating Palace, will fail, it will just drop out of the sky. It needs major replacement parts. Its been over crowded and under maintained for 200 years.

It fixes this problem.

The second problem and the real problem.
The Aslan.

Nothing fixes this problem. lol

The Trojan Reach is a comfortable buffer between the 3I and Heirate.
Eventually the Aslan has to expand. Its the only way for their young males to gain any social mobility. Eventually a persuasive young aslan will rally enough second sons and clanless to go claim land.
And the Major clans will be forced to go into a Civil War to force the minor clans to wrangle them.
Or declare sancture support the war.
Drinax will burn, if it not envoloped by Mutual Defense Pact with the 3I or it manage to cobble Drinax Empire 2: Quest for Peace to make other parts of the Reach easier to deal with.

 

[MonkeyX]

also the Drinax companion adventure gives him a good reason to think it’s cool. I have it that most of the aggressive stuff is suggested by Rao and the diplomatic stuff by his son. Oleb in the short story is an adventurer so I think he just wants to relive that too.

 

[Condottiere]

Going by the Russians, expansion might be the only choice, when faced by contraction.

 

[agentwigggles]

They are not selling the ore. It is a mining and manufacturing ship. It would have TL-15 Manufacturing Plants. This is how they build their infrasturcture and quit hemorrhaging money.

My questions for ytu is who employed to do work that and for me that would be a long time table. Decades. This isnt a challenge. This is being curious.

 

[MasterGwydion]

My questions for ytu is who employed to do work that and for me that would be a long time table. Decades. This isnt a challenge. This is being curious.

Actually, I did the math. mining and building everything from scratch with the Mining and Manufacturing ship takes about 10 years.

Long time employment is good for job security. Pilot is likely Drinaxi Navy. The ship is likely not jump-capable, just to increase the amount of space that can be used by the mining and manufacturing components. One Engineer/Maintenance guy and 100% Common Area. All of the 2 employees can be paid each month by selling a few tons of TL-15 Advanced Electronics or TL-15 Sindali robots to someone through Sal or someone else. Within 10 years you are building up to 10,000-Dtons TL-15 ships inside a moon of one of the systems' gas giants and you have a multibillion Credit manufacturing economy.