Space Western - Would like Your Input

[Solomani666]

I also wouldn't worry overly much about the gov type either...

Just because the big government is a Republic, or Socialist, or whatever, doesn't mean that is the functional government out in the boondocks. Out there, things might be run by family/clans or tribal leaders or local corporate offices if things are run by anyone at all. Only the 'civilized' areas might follow the big government way 'over there somewhere' and those folks will just have to work with how things are run 'out here'.

The big government won't raise a fuss so long as there is no local fuss raised first and peace and trade are kept nice... otherwise, the cavalry gets called in to knock heads.

The powers 'out here' will do what they like, legal and illegal, until a fuss is raised that forces the big government to intervene. Greased palms help control how loud of a fuss the big government will tolerate/ignore.

That's exactly why they hired a marshal.


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[Solomani666]

Yep, people tend to forget this, that not all contraband is contraband on all worlds. Even the goods given are examples, not proscription.

Some excellent ideas on this thread, may well pinch a few myself

Still think that a very low law level is the way to go, 1 or 2, but the low population and limited wealth of the world likely to limit what weaponry is available, though I may allow some higher tech weapons, with the virtually non-existant industrial base on such a low pop world, anything more dangerous than a sharpened stick will be imported.

Egil

IMTU It is a corporation with every employee having at least a few voting shares, so internally it sort of functions as a participatory democracy with some people having a lot more say than others. The Planet deals with the Imperium as a Corporation.

A law level of 2 would allow people to carry automatic weapons and vehicle mounted heavy machine guns. A law level of 1 allows for laser rifles and fusion guns. Exactly the kinds of weapons that no one wants in a small town. That would be fine for a mafia or bootlegging campaign, but not for the wild west IMO.

Even Imperial weapons permits are not honored. If you have one you 'can' bring your gauss or or laser pistol out of the starport, but you will not be allowed to ride the monorail, rent a room in any hotel, purchase a meal or a drink in a saloon, or rent a vehicle. Lonesedians don't take too kindly to people strong armin' their way around their laws and flashin' their fancy offworlder weapons around.

They also make their own weapons and ammo locally.

Also the UWP is in error. The population is actually 3. No actual census of the population has ever been taken. When the IISS inquired as to the planets population, the person they were referred to was a person in the corporations HR department who simply gave them the total number of 'employees'. There are many 'independent settlers' and several towns on the other, non corporate controlled, islands so the total population is currently closer to 2000.

Each island has it's own marshal if it is big enough. The main island/corporation is the only agency that deals with the Imperium directly.

A UWP government classification of balkanisation (7) more accurately describes the planet as a whole. Most of the other islands are democratic (2) in nature with some of the smaller islands temporarily becoming gunslinger dictatorships (B), lead by religious fanatics (D), or taken over by pirates/raiders (6). These governments usually don't last all that long after the news spreads.


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[Liam Devlin]

Also the UWP is in error. The population is actually 3. No actual census of the population has ever been taken. When the IISS inquired as to the planets population, the person they were referred to was a person in the corporations HR department who simply gave them the total number of 'employees'. There are many 'independent settlers' and several towns on the other, non corporate controlled, islands so the total population is currently closer to 2000.

Each island has it's own marshal if it is big enough. The main island/corporation is the only agency that deals with the Imperium directly.

Indeed, the UWP is a sketch of what is "officially recorded" in the Imperium Star Charts. So, one must actually land, visit, and find out what is what...and of course, that can be an adventure in and of itself!

I reference a case in point in something I recently did for Spica on a planet--the inhabitants census given to Imperial starships/ merchants passing through does not include the minor alien race living there at all, because the census only counts its human "citizens".

Good stuff!

 

[Solomani666]

Do you have ungulate beasts of burden? You'll need a blacksmith / farrier to shoe them, and a nightsoil collector to gather up the useful leavings.

Does the world have its equivalent of edible chickens, ducks and geese? Poultry coops round the back, providing eggs, down and meat.

Does the settlement see frequent violence? You'll need a brig, and also an undertaker's office.

Beasts of burden:

Thunder [Thun-dur] (working title, probably will stick) 6 legged mammal slightly larger than a rhino. named after the sound a herd makes when on the run.

Thundar [Thun-daar] (working title probably will stick) Female thunder.

Shuffler (working title, probably will stick) Castrated thunder. Beast of burden.

No-Name-Yet 6 legged riding mammal. About the size of a Clydesdale horse.



Predators:

No-Name-Yet 6 legged pouncer. 100kg.

Sting Wings. Blood sucking insect. 30cm+ wingspan. 0.1kg empty. If 6 or so catch you passed out, you can wake up anemic or dead.



(All I got worked out so far for the fauna. Still playing with the stats on these and other suggestions from forum members)



Frequent violence?:

There is fist fight every day and a gunfight every week.

The jail is in the marshals quarters/office. There are no prisons.


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[Dave Chase]

...

Frequent violence?:

There is fist fight every day and a gunfight every week.

The jail is in the marshals quarters/office. There are no prisons.


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A gunfight every week? Does this mean someone is shooting every week or that shots and possible victims every week?

For a population as small as you are listing, a gunfight that involves 2 or more people with injuries or death every week, will weaken your work force in a small town.

That's a min of 52 (assuming earth weeks) of injuries or death in a year.
If the total population is 2000 to 3000 and assuming that 1/3 are childern or old, and that your largest town is probably around 1000 individuals, that means you are losing a tenth of your work force (in man hours or death) each year.

Dave Chase

 

[Liam Devlin]

Beasts of burden:

Thunder [Thun-dur] (working title, probably will stick) 6 legged mammal slightly larger than a rhino. named after the sound a herd makes when on the run.

Thundar [Thun-daar] (working title probably will stick) Female thunder.

Shuffler (working title, probably will stick) Castrated thunder. Beast of burden.

No-Name-Yet 6 legged riding mammal. About the size of a Clydesdale horse.

I suggest for your clydesdale beast:
:arrow: 'Napaahayop', (from the Tagalog phrase Six legged beast of anim na paa hayop)
:arrow: Or a Hewan (Hewan-berkaki-enam/ Indonesian)
:arrow: or a Haiwan (Haiwan berkaki /Malay)
:arrow: Sispyebèt (Sis pye bèt Haitian Creole)

Predators:

No-Name-Yet 6 legged pouncer. 100kg.

Sting Wings. Blood sucking insect. 30cm+ wingspan. 0.1kg empty. If 6 or so catch you passed out, you can wake up anemic or dead.

(All I got worked out so far for the fauna. Still playing with the stats on these and other suggestions from forum members)
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for the 100kg pouncer, try...Catarhuura

 

[Solomani666]

I will probably go with "Haiwan" since the PC is Arabic and haiwan means "animal" in his native language.

He'll probably get a kick out of that .

Thanks!

P.S. Where did you get Catarhuura from?.


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[Solomani666]

...

Frequent violence?:

There is fist fight every day and a gunfight every week.

The jail is in the marshals quarters/office. There are no prisons.


.

A gunfight every week? Does this mean someone is shooting every week or that shots and possible victims every week?

For a population as small as you are listing, a gunfight that involves 2 or more people with injuries or death every week, will weaken your work force in a small town.

That's a min of 52 (assuming earth weeks) of injuries or death in a year.
If the total population is 2000 to 3000 and assuming that 1/3 are childern or old, and that your largest town is probably around 1000 individuals, that means you are losing a tenth of your work force (in man hours or death) each year.

Dave Chase

Naaw... It's mostly them off worlders that cause a heap of trouble then are slow to the draw. It ain't like we shoot 'em in the head or nothin'. We just shoot 'em once or twice till they fall over, and then Doc fixes 'em up real good so as they can make it back to the starport and be on their merry way.


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[Solomani666]

The starport facilities are TL 11, but are owned and operated by Imperium.

The local industry can sustain a TL 7 infrastructure.

Some non-military items of TL 9 are imported from Natoko 1 jump away.

Automatic weapons of any kind as well as weapons above TL 7 are strictly forbidden.
Imperial weapons permits are NOT honored.

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Mssr Solomani666,

Are you in possession of MGT: Starports?

Given the usual extrality-line issues, the SPA Port Governor & his/her/its Director's guidance there, and your clash of jurisdictions between the Imperial Marshal and the town Marshal. You do mention the nearest town (major settlement) is 50km away.

From the sounds of things you described thus far, your 'Startown' sounds like it resides there, and not a shanty-town squatting just outside the Downport. Given the differences between Starport LL and the planet's LL you've room for friction on the weapon's issue no doubt.

More smalltown/ Western feel ideas:

:arrow: A single General Goods store, family owned & operated of course, and prices are set for offworlders higher than locals

:arrow: A general flea market/ produce/ fish market where bartering and haggling is permitted...

:arrow: There's only one Hotel, but several saloons (Sorry sir, the rooms upstairs are where the employee's live!)

:arrow: Boarding Houses--families with grown up children now renting out their kid's former rooms...

:arrow: Lots of laundry lines out behind houses--why buy Maytag when you have sunshine for free?

Just some visual touches for ya!

At least two hotels...

One will be a "dance hall" and saloon if you get my drift.


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[Liam Devlin]

I will probably go with "Haiwan" since the PC is Arabic and haiwan means "animal" in his native language.

He'll probably get a kick out of that .

Thanks!

P.S. Where did you get Catarhuura from?.


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The simple answer is:
"I made it up."

Long answer:
Sounded a cross bewteen caterwaul and the weapon Katar, wanted a phonetic suffix to the sound it makes, a raspy growl, -huura was what I came up with on the fly.

<bows> You're most welcome again!

 

[Liam Devlin]

Solomani666:

At least two hotels...

One will be a "dance hall" if you get my drift.

Aloha! :twisted: :wink:
That I do brudda, that I do...

 

[Liam Devlin]

In addition to to the Western/ Small town flavor, going with why the town has hired a Marshal to enforce their laws (the ones the citizens have agreed to abide by), you will be prepared to have your archetype NPC's handy:

Individual NPC's

:arrow: The Town Doctor (The Sawbones, patches up gunshot wounds, etc, delivers babies, probably one of the more learned men/women in town)
:arrow: The Town Drunk (every small town has one at least), & may double as village idiot...
:arrow: The School Marm (Somebody's got to teach the working class kids from those corporate blue-collar settlers here!)
:arrow: The gunsmith (Somebody who makes and repairs the locally made weapons)
:arrow: The Bartender, usually found at the 'Dance Hall', keeping mum and serving the best of brews...
:arrow: The Madam/Saloon/Dance Hall Boss--Miss Kitty, of Gunsmoke TV series is one such...
:arrow: The Preacher/ Padre/ Reverend--Might be a firebrand, might be a laid back fellow, either way, if the town didn't like him/her, he/she'd be gone on the next ship...

The NPC Groups

:arrow: The Hired Hands, anything from farm hands, to Cowboys, these unmarried types do the hard work, get paid, come into town, and well...let off some steam...
:arrow: The Ladies' Auxillary --the fussbudgets who pester the marshal & Mayor to keep the riffraff and drunkenness down to a minmum; usually older married/ widower types...
:arrow: The Ranchers--got the big spreads, cattle and riding beasts, usually at odds with the sod-busting farmers...
:arrow: The Farmers --got land/ orchards, etc. usually at water rights and land rights odds with ranchers..
:arrow: The Fishermen --somewhere in the middle, making a living by the cast of nets in the sea, usually at odds with the land-dwellers...

I presume you're prepared for this all.[/b]

 

[alex_greene]

Now throw in some anachronisms:-

- The "Western Union" Man: runs the local comm hub. Nobody in the town, and I mean nobody, is without a personal comm. Also doubles as the local ISP and satellite connection with the Starport and, therefore, with the wider Imperium. Serves as the local TV station, post office, money order station. Want money wired from your account in the Starport? Make the funds transfer here.

- School: Mostly screens, but a lot of paper books and an old-fashioned library, pens and paper and some rooms without terminals and signal-damped so personal comms can't be used. Why? To teach the children to read from a book, to work out mathematics without a computer and to write with a pen.

- Temple: Once a tenday week, the community comes together to celebrate its unique identity and community spirit. Passages from various philosophical works are read out by the local "preacher" during this time. The population is kept on the straight and narrow through readings of the philosophies of various thinkers of the past few millennia. The most popular readings come from ancient Terran philosophers - Wilhelm Reich, Soren Kierkegaard, Surak of Vulcan and his Prophet, Spock - whose existence is debated, but whose 5,000 year old teachings form the basis of an entire religion ...

 

[Iron Domokun]

You could fudge it. "No personal concealable weapons" becomes a local ordnance prohibiting the actual concealment of weapons. Open carry is fine.

 

[Solomani666]

In addition to to the Western/ Small town flavor, going with why the town has hired a Marshal to enforce their laws (the ones the citizens have agreed to abide by), you will be prepared to have your archetype NPC's handy:

Individual NPC's

:arrow: The Town Doctor (The Sawbones, patches up gunshot wounds, etc, delivers babies, probably one of the more learned men/women in town)
:arrow: The Town Drunk (every small town has one at least), & may double as village idiot...
:arrow: The School Marm (Somebody's got to teach the working class kids from those corporate blue-collar settlers here!)
:arrow: The gunsmith (Somebody who makes and repairs the locally made weapons)
:arrow: The Bartender, usually found at the 'Dance Hall', keeping mum and serving the best of brews...
:arrow: The Madam/Saloon/Dance Hall Boss--Miss Kitty, of Gunsmoke TV series is one such...
:arrow: The Preacher/ Padre/ Reverend--Might be a firebrand, might be a laid back fellow, either way, if the town didn't like him/her, he/she'd be gone on the next ship...

The NPC Groups

:arrow: The Hired Hands, anything from farm hands, to Cowboys, these unmarried types do the hard work, get paid, come into town, and well...let off some steam...
:arrow: The Ladies' Auxillary --the fussbudgets who pester the marshal & Mayor to keep the riffraff and drunkenness down to a minmum; usually older married/ widower types...
:arrow: The Ranchers--got the big spreads, cattle and riding beasts, usually at odds with the sod-busting farmers...
:arrow: The Farmers --got land/ orchards, etc. usually at water rights and land rights odds with ranchers..
:arrow: The Fishermen --somewhere in the middle, making a living by the cast of nets in the sea, usually at odds with the land-dwellers...

I presume you're prepared for this all.[/b]

The ladies auxiliary idea is fantastic!
5 I think should be a right good pain in the ass, with one being the defacto leader.
When they get excited, they all talk/nag at the same time.
The leader will be fixated on the memories of her departed husband, with her recounts of his brave and daring exploits growing over time. I can hear her now, "Well hear now Marshall, if Charles(?) were alive, he wouldn't stand for this nonsense! He would march right in there and..."


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[Solomani666]

Now throw in some anachronisms:-

- Temple: Once a tenday week, the community comes together to celebrate its unique identity and community spirit. Passages from various philosophical works are read out by the local "preacher" during this time. The population is kept on the straight and narrow through readings of the philosophies of various thinkers of the past few millennia. The most popular readings come from ancient Terran philosophers - Wilhelm Reich, Soren Kierkegaard, Surak of Vulcan and his Prophet, Spock - whose existence is debated, but whose 5,000 year old teachings form the basis of an entire religion ...

Great idea!
Since the full pool of players will have 4+ different religions, I thought about either inventing a religion, or leaving it out totally. Your idea about using philosophy instead works great. The 'Wise Book' can be quoted (often humorously) without infringing on any of the actual players sensibilities.

With your idea I can still have a sermons with all the fire and brimstone and make them funny at the same time. "Yer bad deeds will someday sneak up behind ya' like a Denobian swamp cat, and kick you in yer ass when you least expect it!"



I'll probably even compile a list of passages for the 'Wise Book":

Norris 2:5 “Men are like steel. When they lose their temper, they lose their worth.”

Schwarzenegger 1:5 "Even heroes have limits."
Schwarzenegger 2:12 "Anything that bleeds, can be killed."

Franklin 22:7 "To save a credit is to earn a credit"

etc...


This was a big help, thanks.

 

[Liam Devlin]

Now throw in some anachronisms:-

- Temple: Once a tenday week, the community comes together to celebrate its unique identity and community spirit. Passages from various philosophical works are read out by the local "preacher" during this time. The population is kept on the straight and narrow through readings of the philosophies of various thinkers of the past few millennia. The most popular readings come from ancient Terran philosophers - Wilhelm Reich, Soren Kierkegaard, Surak of Vulcan and his Prophet, Spock - whose existence is debated, but whose 5,000 year old teachings form the basis of an entire religion ...

Great idea!
Since the full pool of players will have 4+ different religions, I thought about either inventing a religion, or leaving it out totally. Your idea about using philosophy instead works great. The 'Wise Book' can be quoted (often humorously) without infringing on any of the actual players sensibilities.

With your idea I can still have a sermons with all the fire and brimstone and make them funny at the same time. "Yer bad deeds will someday sneak up behind ya' like a Denobian swamp cat, and kick you in yer ass when you least expect it!"



I'll probably even compile a list of passages for the 'Wise Book":

Norris 2:5 “Men are like steel. When they lose their temper, they lose their worth.”

Schwarzenegger 1:5 "Even heroes have limits."
Schwarzenegger 2:12 "Anything that bleeds, can be killed."

Franklin 22:7 "To save a credit is to earn a credit"

etc...


This was a big help, thanks.

Truman 1: 1 "The Credit stops here (with me)."

Roosevelt 2: 3 "The only thing we have to fear, is Fear itself."

Plato 1: 54 "This above all else citizen, go armed."

Heinlein 3: 6 "I came as a stranger in a strange land."

Einstein 4: 5-6 "There are two constants that are infinite in the Universe: Hydrogen and Stupidity. Why, you ask? Because Genius has limits."

--as suggestions...

 

[Liam Devlin]

Solomani666 said:

The ladies auxiliary idea is fantastic!
5 I think should be a right good pain in the ass, with one being the defacto leader.
When they get excited, they all talk/nag at the same time.
The leader will be fixated on the memories of her departed husband, with her recounts of his brave and daring exploits growing over time. I can hear her now, "Well hear now Marshall, if Charles(?) were alive, he wouldn't stand for this nonsense! He would march right in there and..."

At your service...

:arrow: Mari Liu Wiggins-Botherly, ringleader...widower, five adult children
:arrow: Teresa & Judith Chatterbux--spinster sisters, and usually yes-women to Mari Liu
:arrow: Emma Li Butterworthy--an immense woman (overweight)... of property & buried five husbands, and has a brood of twelve children...
:arrow: Liu Ciella Vandenhoot--a former dance Hall girl, widowed, 4 adult children and has 12 great grandchildren. Goes to Temple with Mari-Liu, likes to pray aloud when gathered before the Marshal "Lord, open the Marshal's eyes and ears to our cries.."

 

[Solomani666]

Note:

Please post/repost entries for the Acumen (philosophy book) in the new thread here:



http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=47769



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[alex_greene]

It would seem that I have inspired something ...