Problematic Theev

[thesmiths4]

Theev needs a better cover story, I think. Pirates operating out in the open, even with a megacorp behind them, are just too much of a target for an imperial police action.

Perhaps there's an area for offworlders who don't know the "secret greeting", where their ships are serviced and repaired, then sent on their way. The locals are unfriendly, which gets them the Amber travel zone rating. Or perhaps, from time to time, a ship mysteriously disappears (when the crew figures out too much) in the vicinity of Theev, and that concerns authorities, too?

 

[DickNervous]

Theev is.... well interesting, and teeming with possibilities.

If you have the Pirates of Drinax adventure you get more background on the system and what is going on there. I don't want to post anything here due to the fact that it would be a spoiler. If you never plan on being a player in that adventure, then grab it (here) and check it out.

 

[thesmiths4]

That may be, but they need a better cover story, IMHO. (And thanks for the explanation!)

 

[DickNervous]

Look at it this way. As the "authorities" you have two choices:

1. You can allow the pirates to congregate openly in a single location where they think they are untouchable you will always know where to find them and can even infiltrate them and therefore know what they are doing, their strengths, weaknesses, and even influence what they do.

2. You can smash them every time they try to set up shop and be playing whack-a-mole with dozens or even hundreds of different pirate groups throughout the entire sector and never being able to get a handle on what they are doing.

Now, knowing full well that you will never be able to eradicate them completely, which do you think is the wiser choice?

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

And tell me Mr. Imperial Mucky-Muck, what gives you the legal authority to attack an independent world? We Aslan do not take kindly to the naked agression of the Imperium in this matter... Our Friends in the Florian League have also expressed their concern over this Imperial act of War.

Seriously, since Theev is outside of the Imperium, there is not much they can do OPENLY about it. The individual pirates caught in the act, yes, but against an independent world???

Also, GeDeCo has SOME pull with the Imperial bureaucracy in this sector... maybe they just keep bribing the right officials to keep anything from happening.

 

[DickNervous]

And tell me Mr. Imperial Mucky-Muck, what gives you the legal authority to attack an independent world? We Aslan do not take kindly to the naked agression of the Imperium in this matter... Our Friends in the Florian League have also expressed their concern over this Imperial act of War.

Seriously, since Theev is outside of the Imperium, there is not much they can do OPENLY about it. The individual pirates caught in the act, yes, but against an independent world???

Also, GeDeCo has SOME pull with the Imperial bureaucracy in this sector... maybe they just keep bribing the right officials to keep anything from happening.

Now, now, we all know that both Imperial and Aslan officials are all 100% honest and loyal, especially here at the farthest reaches at the edge of their respective empires. To suggest such a thing as a legitimate megacorp bribing officials is practically treason!

 

[phavoc]

With GeDoCo behind them its possible to import everything they need. But that’s the problem – everything has to be imported unless the pirates are bringing captured ships back to the planet to be sliced and diced and rebuilt. With such a small population everything has to be imported – tools, ship materials, jump drives, maneuver drives, etc. That’s going to be a LOT of shipping to have to be explained away – especially to a “hidden” base.

So that’s a slight hitch to the story, but you can run with part of it. Theev system is the only one with an Amber travel code, but no reason is given for what they star charts would mark it as Amber. An official-sounding explanation should be added which would deter most merchants, miners and adventurers from traveling to the system.

 

[DickNervous]

With GeDoCo behind them its possible to import everything they need. But that’s the problem – everything has to be imported unless the pirates are bringing captured ships back to the planet to be sliced and diced and rebuilt. With such a small population everything has to be imported – tools, ship materials, jump drives, maneuver drives, etc. That’s going to be a LOT of shipping to have to be explained away – especially to a “hidden” base.

So that’s a slight hitch to the story, but you can run with part of it. Theev system is the only one with an Amber travel code, but no reason is given for what they star charts would mark it as Amber. An official-sounding explanation should be added which would deter most merchants, miners and adventurers from traveling to the system.

In my campaign Theev has a thriving business and bustling shipyard that is very busy fixing ships of dubious ownership and even purchasing such ships from people to be chopped for parts. Theev is also the place to go for hiring mercenaries as well as purchasing goods that might be less than legal in most of the Imperium.

I look at it as the equivalent of the "shady neighborhood" or "back alley" of any big modern city where you would go to buy/sell/learn things that might not be acceptable back home, wherever that is.

 

[phavoc]

The issue is that it still needs a source of new materials and goods. It's listed as a TL 15 world, and it's too small to be totally self supporting. So all that gear has to be inported. The ships it strips are going to lower tech, as they are most likely built in sector.

It's not that it couldn't exist. We've proven the concept here on Earth. But we've also proven it takes regular supply runs and importation of tech, spares and gear to keep it functioning as such.