Trade Routes going to Law level 9+

[bubbacleese]

I've got Spinward Marches and using Trin's Veil subsector for example. System Edenelt has law level D listed. In the Core Rulebook on page 176 is the Law Level chart. Law levels 9+ read under column Travellers "No offworlders permitted."

Now it seems to me that it would be hard to be one of the linked trade routes, as marked by the trade route lines (see Spinward Marches page 121), and not allow any offworlders to visit.

Here are 6 thru 9+ (0 - 5 are easy enough to land with)

6 "Visits discouraged; excessive contact with citizens forbidden"
7 "Citizens may not leave planet; visitors may not leave starport"
8 "Landing permitted only to imperial agents"
9+ "No offworlders permitted"

Assuming I'm reading this correctly we've knocked out a good bunch of the systems in the Spinward Marches other than clandestine visits. Or do we just ignore the Travellers column in the Core Rule book?

Bubba Cleese

 

[rust]

Or do we just ignore the Travellers column in the Core Rule book?

I tend to view such rules as ideas that I can use, modify or discard accor-
ding to the needs of my setting and campaign - just use whatever seems
best for your game, no matter what someone else has written somewhere. :wink:

 

[EDG]

6 "Visits discouraged; excessive contact with citizens forbidden"
7 "Citizens may not leave planet; visitors may not leave starport"
8 "Landing permitted only to imperial agents"
9+ "No offworlders permitted"

9+ does seem a bit daft to me. If the Starport is supposedly imperial territory (as it is supposedly in the OTU) then the local government should have no say at all in who can or can't land on it. If it isn't imperial territory though, then I guess the local gov can decide whatever it likes.

I'd say:

7: Citizens may not leave planet; visitors may not leave starport.
8: Citizens may not leave planet or work at starport; visitors may not leave or communicate with any citizens of the planet located outside the starport.
9+: Citizens may not leave planet, work at starport or communicate with anyone inside starport or offworld; visitors may not leave or communicate with any citizens of the planet located outside starport.

 

[Mongoose Gar]

Remember that not every planet will ban everything. Traditionally, Law Level applies to weapons; the new edition expands it to other topics, but that doesn't mean that a Law Level of 9+ bans all weapons, all drugs, all data, all tech, all outworlders and all psions. It only bans some of them (or even none, but is repressive in some other way.)

 

[StephenT]

In the OTU, the starport isn't legally part of the planet at all, and local laws don't apply there. It's an enclave of Imperial territory. You are perfectly free to land on the starport on a law level 9+ world. What you can't do is step over the extraterritoriality line.

Think West Berlin during the Cold War - the starport will be surrounded by a high security fence/moat/wall manned by armed guards with shoot-to-kill orders, to make sure that Imperial citizens don't cross over into the world's own sovereign territory.

So why go there at all? Well, there'll be the usual refuelling and repair facilities. Cargoes and passengers may be trans-shipped there. And the world will probably conduct its own trade with the Imperium, though probably through official state-owned companies or government agents rather than letting their own citizens come into contact with off-worlders directly.

 

[GypsyComet]

Along similar lines, I've imposed a "no Broker mods" rule on some worlds, or put the Amber Zone or Red Zone mod into effect on worlds in District 268 under certain circumstances. Pavabid, for example, is a world isolated by its ruler. Only he and his chosen band of loyal priests have any sanctioned contact with outsiders. As such, there is only one customer for speculative cargos on Pavabid, and only one source for same. Your skills mean nothing. Its their price or take it elsewhere.

Similarly, the cold war between Trexalon and Collace means that certain types of trade don't happen directly between them. By imposing a Red Zone on trade between them, the commerce system knocks the passenger availability way down, cancels all freight, and makes certain types of spec cargos "interesting".

Use the system. Don't let it use you.

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

Great ideas Gypsy.

Also, don't forget that ALL worlds outside of the Imperium should be considered Amber Zones for Imperial Citizens. I would limit that a bit and say that Imperial Client States (like Collace) are probably not Amber Zones, but each world will be different. Just because the government supports the Imperium that doesn't mean the citizens do.

 

[GypsyComet]

That's basically what I'm doing. The Imperial Clients in D268 all trade between themselves and with the Imperium as normal (and there is even a set of trade agreements in place, per the Tarsus boxed set), while taking spec cargos from Imperial or client space into non-aligned space carries either the Amber Zone mods or something similar, since the non-aligned worlds probably have strong opinions on Imperial stuff. Tarkine is a special case in 1105, being an occupied world.