Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
Is it worth collecting a bounty, interstellarly?
Traveller Friday II – The truth behind the Career of Bounty Hunting in Traveller and Charted Space? Alternative Bounty Hunter career?
- Thread starter Micky
- Start date
-Daniel-
Emperor Mongoose
How much is the bounty- is always my question?
A percent of a recovered ship vs a few thousand creds on a wanted person are very different.
-Daniel-
Emperor Mongoose
Just an alternate way to think of it. The game interests you, the official setting helps you get a taste of what could be, the setting you come up with will hooks you the rest of the way. Unlike your experiences, I have been playing Traveller for decades and I have never played in a game that was the official 3i setting as presented in the books. Almost always it is a mutant of the 3i or not the 3i at all.
I do agree the better the official setting the more it helps retain interest of people. As they buy and read new content (or collect up old content they did not have yet) they locate fun items and elements to blend into their own settings. The official settings give them a foundation to start with. And thus, in that regard, I agree it helps keep them interested.
Oh and great post and thoughts. I am enjoying reading them.
Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
Easiest is a wanted poster notification via ecks boat, to the local system bounty hunter guilds.
The issue would be where to deliver the bounty and collect the reward, assuming the bountee turns up there, and gets caught.
For a repossession, you'll need a hacker, an engineer, and a pilot/astrogator.
The issue would be where to deliver the bounty and collect the reward, assuming the bountee turns up there, and gets caught.
For a repossession, you'll need a hacker, an engineer, and a pilot/astrogator.
Arkathan
Emperor Mongoose
Where to deliver depends on the referee and the system you are in. A lenient referee could allow current starport security to effect initial incarceration, with extradition to follow. Also the terms of the bounty, whether they want him delivered.
Repo: OR, a jump net of sufficient size.
Terry Mixon
Emperor Mongoose
The way I handle it is that unless the bounty issuer is paying for them to haul the bounty back, it can be turned over to security at any Class A or B starport. Payment is in escrow and will catch up with them at some point.
Arkathan
Emperor Mongoose
I do it in a similar way, but since it is credits, and the authorities have the bounty warrant, the imaginary money is available immediately, unless the issuing body wants the criminal's body delivered.
Terry Mixon
Emperor Mongoose
That's probably a good idea.
Your right that the Marines are not meant for long term but that doesn’t change the fact that they come in first take care of the problem. Once that’s done than they hand over the garrison job to the army to change the society. This actually helps the army as they are not the ones that turned large areas to radioactive rubble.
ottarrus
Emperor Mongoose
Well, IMTU, there are Army units every single bit as good as the Imperial Marines at wrecking things, and every Subsector Army has at least one division that can drop from orbit like the Hand of the Emperor and correct any deficiencies His Imperial Majesty might find with the locals.
The difference between the Marines and the United Armies is one of doctrine and training. This is is how it works IMTU [yours will no doubt vary]
- The Marines never field a force larger than a brigade of 2-4 battalions; whereas when the Army deploys they're just getting started at the brigade level.
- The Marines are routinely assigned as Ship's Troops aboard Navy vessels. Army troops almost never get that assignment. Ship's troops not only help protect and defend their ship [as armed guards, gunnery crews, and as part of damage control parties] but they also act as tripwire force. Oftentimes the first notice a subsector government gets of a major local problem is being notified that Captain 'X' of the INS 'Y' had to deploy his Marine company to handle 'Z' problem.
- The Marine Way is 'get in, wreck everything, get out'. A lot of the time this is sufficient to bring recalcitrant Imperial subjects to the bargaining table. The Army Way is to go in and fight police actions, peacekeeping missions, and full scale wars until the victory conditions are met. They have a full toolbox for these jobs... sure, all the combat arms, but also psychological warfare companies, civil affairs companies, hospital battalions, engineer brigades, the whole menu. These are tools the Marines just don't have.
- If the Marines are the scalpel of an Imperial force package, then the Army is the hammer and the spinal mount of a dreadnought squadron are the guillotine blade. Which one the sector or subsector government uses to solve a problem depends on the magnitude of the problem.
- And the Uncaring Buddha of War help the Subsector Duke who chooses the force package that makes things worse.
actionman
Emperor Mongoose
Thank you for stating this very important insight. I think that a compelling official setting is absolutely critical. After genre, the setting is the biggest draw for people to play a particular game, even when they don't know if they'll like the game mechanics or not. I think it's a big reason why Runequest never became a serious competitor with D&D in the early days. Glorantha was too weird and complicated for the young people who were a huge part of the customer base in those days, even though Runequest's Chaosium game mechanics were excellent.
actionman
Emperor Mongoose
I've always considered the Imperial Marines to perform a similar role IMTU. They form the spearhead and break the enemy defenses then turn over the long campaign to the Imperial Army. Also, the Imperial Army gets stuck dealing with the messes the Imperial Marines make, such as wanton destruction, atrocities, and the profound ill will of the planetary population.
IMTU I consider the Imperial Marines a little bit like Dune's Sardaukar: extremely well trained elite professional troops, highly disciplined, equipped to the highest standard, given the best medical treatment, and intensely loyal to the Emperor (almost like an Imperial cult). In return for their unflinching loyalty, they receive a significant degree of lenience when it comes to their behavior in war zones and port leave. If operational effectiveness is not compromised, Imperial Marine and Imperial Navy commanders have a pronounced lack of interest in prosecuting behavior which could be considered war crimes or atrocities. Examples include systematic looting and the execution of so-called "disloyal elements" or "enemies of the Throne" (often identified by INI liaison officers, and just as often mass punishments). Their ship's troops role extends to enforcing loyalty to the Iridium Throne on Imperial Navy vessels, and shipboard Marine commanders have authorization to use lethal force to prevent naval commanders from turning their fleets against the Iridium Throne.
Within the Imperial Marines there are penal battalions, which are formed from marines serving severe punishments and criminals from across the Imperium. The training is brutal, the discipline is harsh, and conditions are spartan. These units are frequently forced through experimental performance enhancement programs, with minimal regard to health consequences. They are given the most dangerous and unethical missions, including the suppression and removal of undesirable populations, the destruction of "disloyal elements" among the Imperial nobility, and the destruction of mutinous or treasonous Imperial military units.
The Imperial Marines are the Iridium Throne's mailed fist, and when they show up, they're there to smash. Everything else, like occupation, counter insurgency, internal security, government stabilization, restoration of order, disaster relief, humanitarian operations, that's all the responsibility of the Imperial Army.
actionman
Emperor Mongoose
For bounty hunting in Traveller, I consider the long arm of the law to be something like a wide and tightening net. As alerts of the characters' crimes spread throughout the region, more and more worlds and starports turn hostile. Local and Imperial authorities will try to capture or kill them, but in areas where official authorities are weak, bounty hunters are hired as soon as a wanted character is detected in system. Bounty hunters with the resources may choose to pursue the characters if the bounty is worth it. It creates more and more challenges for the characters as they try to stay ahead of the alerts and dodge bounty hunters pursuing them. Sooner or later they will find themselves without anywhere they can do ship maintenance and the hunters and authorities closing in. This is then used to push them into new or lawless areas, and new adventures.
Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
I'd say that the Imperium Marines would be closer to the Stormtrooper Corps, if we're doing franchise comparisons.
actionman
Emperor Mongoose
Really? I imagined the Imperial Marines as at least competent, instead of offering token resistance before getting mown down like gentle lambs.
Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
Sigtrygg
Emperor Mongoose
The Dune miniseries showed the bit they missed from both films...
the Sardaukar massacring everyone in a fremen outpost and killing Paul and Chani's first son Leto...
actionman
Emperor Mongoose
The Sardaukar did alright against the Atreides, didn't they? Or did the Harkonnens carry them 
That was the price for the Harkonnens to get Arrakis back, they had to let the Sardaukar look good.
The Sardaukar were better than all forces in Dune except the Fremen (who were such GM NPC's, I swear. Friendship is magic, and so are Fremen. Edit: and the Bene Gesserit of course), while the Star Wars stormtroopers were pretty much worthless against anyone other than Jawas. Even the clone troopers were better than stormtroopers.
An aside, I read a very interesting article somewhere on how historical analysis shows that the idea of primitive people made tough by harsh conditions defeating civilized people is false. The impression comes from superficial views of history that note the times the primitive people won while ignoring or discounting all the times they were crushed and thrown back. Their victories come from particular military innovations, places to withdraw to that their more civilized enemies can't reach (mountains, swamps, etc.), pre-existing weaknesses in their civilized opponents, and the primitive people adopting the military methods of the more advanced societies. It was a really good analysis.
That was the price for the Harkonnens to get Arrakis back, they had to let the Sardaukar look good.The Sardaukar were better than all forces in Dune except the Fremen (who were such GM NPC's, I swear. Friendship is magic, and so are Fremen. Edit: and the Bene Gesserit of course), while the Star Wars stormtroopers were pretty much worthless against anyone other than Jawas. Even the clone troopers were better than stormtroopers.
An aside, I read a very interesting article somewhere on how historical analysis shows that the idea of primitive people made tough by harsh conditions defeating civilized people is false. The impression comes from superficial views of history that note the times the primitive people won while ignoring or discounting all the times they were crushed and thrown back. Their victories come from particular military innovations, places to withdraw to that their more civilized enemies can't reach (mountains, swamps, etc.), pre-existing weaknesses in their civilized opponents, and the primitive people adopting the military methods of the more advanced societies. It was a really good analysis.
actionman
Emperor Mongoose
Strangely the new movies had the chemical explosives bombing attack against Sietch Tabr instead of the Atreides in the first movie, which was the whole point of bringing the shield down.
