I had an idea. Suppose you rolled up a T20 character and you got a Soc score of 18? According to the T20 manual, that makes your character a Baron. Now the question is, what comes with that? My answer is a planet Barony. The planet is size 8 with a 7 hydrographics, a 6 atmosphere and a population of 4 (no more than 100,000 people although no census has been taken) The planet is a frontier planet and most of the people are frontier people living in single homesteads in the midst of an alien wilderness. Their are all sorts of wild creatures about including a native indigenous species of TL0 savages, the population number is of humans and standard traveller races only and doesn't include the natives. With the barony come the "castle" it is a high tech fortress with a hanger for 1 scout chip and 8 fighters. These fighters belong to your knights who have sworn alegiance to your Father and upon your Father's death you have inherited his Soc score and his title to the Barony. What killed your father is a bunch of Pirates who have made their base on your planet. the local count would like you to get rid of these pirates or else he may decide to reassign the planet to someone else, these pirates have been troubling his shipping as of late, and yes you can keep their loot. Oh by the way most of the citizens of this planet don't pay taxes, and most don't live in towns. There is a village outside your castle and these are the exceptions. The revenue of the entire planet is enough to keep your scoutship operating as well as the 8 fighters. The castle has a minimal staff of 5 people who aren't quite up to the job as the castle is quite large and it has seen better days. how does this sound as an adventure? Would anyone like to be the Baron? If so roll the character normally but assume he no older than 30 as far as prior history is concerned. Assign 18 to the character's social score. Any volunteers?
A Planet Barony PBEM?
- Thread starter TKalbfus
- Start date
Actually there is some travelling to do. There is a pirate base located on this planet which might have additional starships which you can keep if you capture them intact. The key thing is to sneak aboard their starships before they realize your there and thus prevent the pirates from taking off in them. The Baron would probably do some local traveling within the subsector and he'll need to buy some things for his planet. The planet is mostly wild with very little infrastructure and the baron's father settled it and managed to build the fortress, acquire a scout ship and knight 8 fighter pilots. That's about it. The fighter pilots used some of the local tax revenue to purchase the fighters. Not many of the locals do pay taxes, most of them are spread out into the wilderness and difficult to locate. Most taxpayers are townsfolk and that's where most of the revenue comes from. Each of the knight is in charge of a large swath of land on the planet's surface and that's where they get the revenue to pay for their fighters, they have sworn fealty to the Baron, the Baron has sworn Fealty to the Count in charge of the Subsector, he has a number of other barons runing other planets in the subsector. Most likely you'll be traveling around the subsector to defend it against incusions from outsiders, but for now, you have to deal with your own planet, which is a good place to start. I suppose one PC gets to play the Baron, while any other PCs may be knights or some other non-noble characters in search of their own fortune.
I tell you what. I've never played a PBEM RPG. But I'm willing to give it the ol' college try.
I don't have T20, but I do have most important parts of MT (can't find dang Ref manual atm), TNE, T4, and GT, and I've spent the most time poring over TNE stuff, so I know it the best. I also know GURPS reasonably well, but haven't really studied the GT stuff that thoroughly. I don't expect to get T20, seeing as how I have yet to play anything but MT, and that was 10 years ago.
I don't have a problem with being given a character, as long as it's not a crap character (level 2 newbie when everyone else is level 5 and already has enough magic to defeat two of anything in the book, unable to do anything worthwhile at all, crippled, or whatever).
Don't laugh, that happened to me, and is why I quit playing with my group; sick to death of meaningless santa-clausing D&D crap, players maxing out after only 2 levels, taking advantage of every little poorly-made rule to get beefed up so much that nothing could kill them (and then complaining if something rolled good enough to actually do it), and wanting nothing more than to go from zero to hero in the least-possible time.
Err... anyway, yeah, I'll play, if you can live with that.
I don't have T20, but I do have most important parts of MT (can't find dang Ref manual atm), TNE, T4, and GT, and I've spent the most time poring over TNE stuff, so I know it the best. I also know GURPS reasonably well, but haven't really studied the GT stuff that thoroughly. I don't expect to get T20, seeing as how I have yet to play anything but MT, and that was 10 years ago.
I don't have a problem with being given a character, as long as it's not a crap character (level 2 newbie when everyone else is level 5 and already has enough magic to defeat two of anything in the book, unable to do anything worthwhile at all, crippled, or whatever).
Don't laugh, that happened to me, and is why I quit playing with my group; sick to death of meaningless santa-clausing D&D crap, players maxing out after only 2 levels, taking advantage of every little poorly-made rule to get beefed up so much that nothing could kill them (and then complaining if something rolled good enough to actually do it), and wanting nothing more than to go from zero to hero in the least-possible time.
Err... anyway, yeah, I'll play, if you can live with that.
Hi.
This sounds like an interesting scenario. I've thought about running similar things in the past.
One possibility I would like to suggest is to beef up the population and balkanise the world. There's nothing like having a couple of rival baronies around to add some diplomacy and intrigue to the mix.
Not to mention the possibility of border skirmishes.
Alan B
This sounds like an interesting scenario. I've thought about running similar things in the past.
One possibility I would like to suggest is to beef up the population and balkanise the world. There's nothing like having a couple of rival baronies around to add some diplomacy and intrigue to the mix.
Not to mention the possibility of border skirmishes.
Alan B
Instead of a balkanized world, how about a noble from a neighboring system trying to horn in your holdings, such as mineral deposits you know about but don't have the capital to exploit. Part of the adventure is to get the money to mine the Lanthanum while keeping the grubby hands of your competitor from stealing it from you.
On the other hand many of subjects don't recognize your authority and have thier loyalty up to the highest bidder.
On the other hand many of subjects don't recognize your authority and have thier loyalty up to the highest bidder.
Ok, we have TheDS, Gunther Darm, alanB, and Egapillar. The first step is to roll up characters. Having a high Soc doesn't mean you have to choose the Noble Class. I need you all to answer some questions. First:
What race do you want to play?
Vilani, Solomani, Zhodani, Vargr, Aslan, Luriani, Sydite, Ursa, Virushi.
What race do you want to play?
Vilani, Solomani, Zhodani, Vargr, Aslan, Luriani, Sydite, Ursa, Virushi.
Just a couple of thoughts...
A Scout ship is a little underpowered to be the main vessel for a world. And, if the characters take off for another system, they'll only have the scout ship. Accomodations will be pretty cramped on the ship, and cargo is pretty small (even with T20 rules)?
How about a 200 dTon Far Trader or even a 300-400 dTon ship that can carry one or two of the fighters?
Ron
A Scout ship is a little underpowered to be the main vessel for a world. And, if the characters take off for another system, they'll only have the scout ship. Accomodations will be pretty cramped on the ship, and cargo is pretty small (even with T20 rules)?
How about a 200 dTon Far Trader or even a 300-400 dTon ship that can carry one or two of the fighters?
Ron
A fighter is a 15 ton vessel and costs MCr27.3.
There are 8 fighters with a total cost of MCr218.4
I'll allow MCr250 to be budgeted for the main vessel. A Subsidized liner (Type M) can carry all 8 of the fighters and has 21 Staterooms, it is capable of Jump-3. The cost of the Subsidized liner is MCr234.674 because its a standard design. The total expenditure for the Planet's fleet is MCr453.074. You have MCr46.926 with which to arm your ships. This is out of a total budget of half a billion credits. That's just my suggestion, you can choose other standard starship designs, just keep in mind the cargo space and its ability to hold fighters.
Ok we have 5 people who have expressed interest:
TheDS
Gunther Darm
alanb
Egapillar
Ron Vutpakdi.
I need to know what races you've selected.
I need to know the character names, and gender if applicable.
The character classes,
and the maximum age for any of the characters is 30 at the start of the game. We also need to decide who gets to be the Baron. Any suggestions?
There are 8 fighters with a total cost of MCr218.4
I'll allow MCr250 to be budgeted for the main vessel. A Subsidized liner (Type M) can carry all 8 of the fighters and has 21 Staterooms, it is capable of Jump-3. The cost of the Subsidized liner is MCr234.674 because its a standard design. The total expenditure for the Planet's fleet is MCr453.074. You have MCr46.926 with which to arm your ships. This is out of a total budget of half a billion credits. That's just my suggestion, you can choose other standard starship designs, just keep in mind the cargo space and its ability to hold fighters.
Ok we have 5 people who have expressed interest:
TheDS
Gunther Darm
alanb
Egapillar
Ron Vutpakdi.
I need to know what races you've selected.
I need to know the character names, and gender if applicable.
The character classes,
and the maximum age for any of the characters is 30 at the start of the game. We also need to decide who gets to be the Baron. Any suggestions?
Standards and Assumptions:
This subsector is the Egyrn subsector, it is rimward of District 268 of the Spinward Marches, Just off the Map. The Planet Barony is in hex 0506 of this subsector and it has the following stats
Hex 0506
Orbit UPP
Primary: G2 V
1: Y300000-0
2: Y8B0000-0
3: E867450-F
:60 Y200000-0
4: Y430000-0
5: Y000000-0
6: Large GG
:2 YR00000-0
:3 YR00000-0
:8 Y430000-0
:12 Y300000-0
:15 Y300000-0
:30 Y200000-0
7: Large GG
:2 YR00000-0
:5 Y100000-0
:10 Y200000-0
:30 Y320000-0
8: Large GG
:2 YR00000-0
:15 Y5A0000-0
:24 Y310000-0
:40 Y100000-0
9: Y220000-0
Hex UPP
0103 B500554-9
0104 C466856-9
0106 D648557-3
0110 C7A6754-5
0202 A837454-D
0208 B556556-B
0209 C68B55A-A
0210 B563554-A
0303 D549655-6
0310 B535752-8
0401 B987354-7
0403 C343657-7
0410 E500050-0
0501 B6A8354-A
0504 C100958-C
0506 E867450-F
0601 A764655-C
0607 X665257-0
0703 A125455-E
0707 C679158-6
0708 B899955-D
0709 A533756-B
0710 C362456-B
0801 C551655-7
0805 E865553-7
0808 E454657-4
This subsector is the Egyrn subsector, it is rimward of District 268 of the Spinward Marches, Just off the Map. The Planet Barony is in hex 0506 of this subsector and it has the following stats
Hex 0506
Orbit UPP
Primary: G2 V
1: Y300000-0
2: Y8B0000-0
3: E867450-F
:60 Y200000-0
4: Y430000-0
5: Y000000-0
6: Large GG
:2 YR00000-0
:3 YR00000-0
:8 Y430000-0
:12 Y300000-0
:15 Y300000-0
:30 Y200000-0
7: Large GG
:2 YR00000-0
:5 Y100000-0
:10 Y200000-0
:30 Y320000-0
8: Large GG
:2 YR00000-0
:15 Y5A0000-0
:24 Y310000-0
:40 Y100000-0
9: Y220000-0
Hex UPP
0103 B500554-9
0104 C466856-9
0106 D648557-3
0110 C7A6754-5
0202 A837454-D
0208 B556556-B
0209 C68B55A-A
0210 B563554-A
0303 D549655-6
0310 B535752-8
0401 B987354-7
0403 C343657-7
0410 E500050-0
0501 B6A8354-A
0504 C100958-C
0506 E867450-F
0601 A764655-C
0607 X665257-0
0703 A125455-E
0707 C679158-6
0708 B899955-D
0709 A533756-B
0710 C362456-B
0801 C551655-7
0805 E865553-7
0808 E454657-4
Woo hoo!
Normally, I would think that the Baron should be an NPC, and players should take roles as the Knights. However, it seems to me that you don't (necessarily) have any idea what the Baron should be doing, OR you want to give the PCs as much control over their destinies as possible, and well, there's always the Count to report to, right?
I would also normally volunteer to be the Baron if no one wanted to be (or even if they did) since I have often had to lead people, particularly in my time in the Navy, BUT I just started GMing a game (HALLE-FROGGIN-LUYAH!!) and so I do not want to be responsible for not coming up with the critical leadership decision if I get distracted by some session in this other game.
My email is TheDS at Mopjockey dot com (you know how to type it in). Everyone is going to need to supply their email to our wonderful GM, who then will need to mass-mail them to us all. My AIM-name is "DS2Mopjockey". I use that for ICQ as well. (Actually, MSN and Y! too, but they are changing their system, and my Trillian will likely no longer be able to access them for some time.) I highly recommend that everyone also submit their AIM-names (or get themselves one), which is also to be disseminated. Don't ask me to IRC, unless you can tell me how to get Trillian to actually do it.
Regarding race, well, I have no overwhelming preference. It will be dictated by where we are, right? Humans and Vargr are spread out pretty well, I'd say. Droyne and Hiver and K'Kree just don't seem appropriate. Those other non-major races, well, the only thing I know about them comes from the 4 GT Aliens modules. Dang, the poblem with aliens is that they're ALIEN. I guess I'll be Solomani, because I like the word, and I get to tout my superiority over all the other players, and they can't complain.
I'll try something truly alien, though, and be female, something I've done in only one other game, and did a good enough job (not counting GMing).
In Risus terms (the simplest game system I've ever seen - the rules are only 9 pages), I see Chris Knight as:
Persuasion Artist(4), Latin Lover(1), Throws dangerous stuff(3), Doctor(1), Gambler(1) (These are the cliches that come closest to describing her.)
I could also send you her GURPS character sheet, and some details about her personality. (Keep in mind, she was made for a completely different campaign, but she fits in well in this situation, and she's the character I've played that I liked the most.) I don't have T20, so you will have to give me a rundown on stats and stuff (just HOW MUCH like D&D is it?) and I can suggest stats and skills to aid you in creating the character for me.
Regarding the equipment list, how compatible is this stuff with MT and TNE and T4? I would think something like a Merc Cruiser, which is DESIGNED to have lots of gear and useful vehicles, might be better suited. I can also design (and HAVE designed) some nifty gear that was intended for use with TNE and shouldn't be too hard to translate. AND, have you heard of "3G3" by BTRC? It's for making GUNS, baby! I could perhaps make something with that if you will allow it. I have some REAL NIFTY guns for use with TNE, and they're even low tech (like TL8-10).
I may think of other suggestions later; right now I'm concentrating on something else.
Normally, I would think that the Baron should be an NPC, and players should take roles as the Knights. However, it seems to me that you don't (necessarily) have any idea what the Baron should be doing, OR you want to give the PCs as much control over their destinies as possible, and well, there's always the Count to report to, right?
I would also normally volunteer to be the Baron if no one wanted to be (or even if they did) since I have often had to lead people, particularly in my time in the Navy, BUT I just started GMing a game (HALLE-FROGGIN-LUYAH!!) and so I do not want to be responsible for not coming up with the critical leadership decision if I get distracted by some session in this other game.
My email is TheDS at Mopjockey dot com (you know how to type it in). Everyone is going to need to supply their email to our wonderful GM, who then will need to mass-mail them to us all. My AIM-name is "DS2Mopjockey". I use that for ICQ as well. (Actually, MSN and Y! too, but they are changing their system, and my Trillian will likely no longer be able to access them for some time.) I highly recommend that everyone also submit their AIM-names (or get themselves one), which is also to be disseminated. Don't ask me to IRC, unless you can tell me how to get Trillian to actually do it.
Regarding race, well, I have no overwhelming preference. It will be dictated by where we are, right? Humans and Vargr are spread out pretty well, I'd say. Droyne and Hiver and K'Kree just don't seem appropriate. Those other non-major races, well, the only thing I know about them comes from the 4 GT Aliens modules. Dang, the poblem with aliens is that they're ALIEN. I guess I'll be Solomani, because I like the word, and I get to tout my superiority over all the other players, and they can't complain.
I'll try something truly alien, though, and be female, something I've done in only one other game, and did a good enough job (not counting GMing).In Risus terms (the simplest game system I've ever seen - the rules are only 9 pages), I see Chris Knight as:
Persuasion Artist(4), Latin Lover(1), Throws dangerous stuff(3), Doctor(1), Gambler(1) (These are the cliches that come closest to describing her.)
I could also send you her GURPS character sheet, and some details about her personality. (Keep in mind, she was made for a completely different campaign, but she fits in well in this situation, and she's the character I've played that I liked the most.) I don't have T20, so you will have to give me a rundown on stats and stuff (just HOW MUCH like D&D is it?) and I can suggest stats and skills to aid you in creating the character for me.
Regarding the equipment list, how compatible is this stuff with MT and TNE and T4? I would think something like a Merc Cruiser, which is DESIGNED to have lots of gear and useful vehicles, might be better suited. I can also design (and HAVE designed) some nifty gear that was intended for use with TNE and shouldn't be too hard to translate. AND, have you heard of "3G3" by BTRC? It's for making GUNS, baby! I could perhaps make something with that if you will allow it. I have some REAL NIFTY guns for use with TNE, and they're even low tech (like TL8-10).
I may think of other suggestions later; right now I'm concentrating on something else.
You also might want to consider a modified version of R_Kane's Ebon Rapturious. The Ebon Rapturious is a 400 dTon ship that is pretty well armed and has a 100 dTon hold. Modify the ship for 4 fighters, and you still have about a 40 dTon cargo hold. Being able to carry all of the fighters probably isn't necesary since if the ship leaves the system, you'll want to leave at least some of the fighters to defend the place.
Along that line, you may want to have half or so of the knights be NPCs...
Anyway, thanks for the invitation, but I'm going to pass. I just wanted to make a suggestion about the ships.
Ron
My E-Mail is TKalbfus@aol.com so just e-mail me and tell me about your character, and I'll know how many characters I have. I don't know any of you so I think you can trust me to use a Die role to pick the Baron. I'll be waiting to hear from you If I don't contact you first.
Here is the backstory. One of you is the illegitimate child of the Baron, but as the Baron has no legitimate children, and he left a will after he died, one of you inherit the title of Baron and the Barony. A number of knights were killed in the same engagement that killed the Baron, the PCs will replace those knight since knighthood is non inheritable the Baron will have to knight the PCs. The Knights are basically fighter pilots, so whoever wants to be a knight the position is open. Each knight controls a district about the size of one continent on the planet's surface. There is a 9th continent on the South Pole, but no one lives their. Their are a number of native intelligent species living on the planet's surface. The annual revenue from taxes for the entire planet is about Cr50,000,000. The ships were recently bought using a 20 year bond issue. These bonds are tax free and yield about 3%. The count pays half the amount for the subsidized liner. I've worked out the payments and they come to about Cr20,000,000 a year. The rest goes to meet payroll for the government employees including annual stipends for the knights of about Cr100,000 and Cr500,000 for the Baron himself. The rest is commited to payroll, law enforcement, tax collection, the Army and ship's crew.
Nice ship there, Ron! It's a good thing you have a description, because I can't make much of the sheet (no T20). Is there any way you can relate the important stats in like TNE terms? Like, what's the armor level, the power of the turrets, etc.
The CONCEPT you have there is very similar to what I was going to push for: basically a ship that has a large cargo capacity (allowing the 9-ton fighters, a couple AF 20-ton boats, G-carrier, conference room, honor guard), J3, M3, a large non-grav X-ray laser (2 meter diameter gives excellent range), a couple missile launchers, sandcaster, stealthing/EMM, and armor of about 50 (minimum for a 3G ship is 30).
AND it needed to be airframe, in case we needed to land/hide it, and I'd like to travel in style, and I like the Aslan style (if not the smell and attitude). I saw the "400 ton Aslan Trader" in BL, and liked that look. Use Thruster Plates, not HEPlaR. I think it can be done if you don't use HEPlaR.
Anyway... do you realize that this world has only 10,000-99,999 people on it? When I saw the budget, I was wondering (I didn't see your system detail post, since you were posting at the same time as me) why it was so low, and realized it had to be because of low pop. I'll have to do some study here on some stuff.
I was thinking, shouldn't this world have at least an escort and an SDB or two? I like the design of the 400 ton Fiery-class Close Escort. J4 M4, airframe, good weapons spread (pop out a laser for a sandcaster tho, and replace the other two lasers with non-grav xray, which will give a significant boost to firepower), and it looks pretty to boot. Think Gazelle without droptanks, and put into an airframe shell.
Anyway, yeah, I'll have to think about what kind of guidelines to give you for creation of my character, and ask a bunch of impudent questions.
One thing I can ask now, so everyone knows: How crazy are you on base-stats? For instance, in one of my other groups, a character with any stat of 10 or less is generally considered a wuss. Most people have 2 or 3 stats that are 16+, and usually one or two above 18. At least one person will have a 21. (This is for D20 D&D, and as I haven't rolled any characters in that system, I THINK 10 is average, but don't KNOW for sure.)
SO: what are the guidelines about this?
The CONCEPT you have there is very similar to what I was going to push for: basically a ship that has a large cargo capacity (allowing the 9-ton fighters, a couple AF 20-ton boats, G-carrier, conference room, honor guard), J3, M3, a large non-grav X-ray laser (2 meter diameter gives excellent range), a couple missile launchers, sandcaster, stealthing/EMM, and armor of about 50 (minimum for a 3G ship is 30).
AND it needed to be airframe, in case we needed to land/hide it, and I'd like to travel in style, and I like the Aslan style (if not the smell and attitude). I saw the "400 ton Aslan Trader" in BL, and liked that look. Use Thruster Plates, not HEPlaR. I think it can be done if you don't use HEPlaR.
Anyway... do you realize that this world has only 10,000-99,999 people on it? When I saw the budget, I was wondering (I didn't see your system detail post, since you were posting at the same time as me) why it was so low, and realized it had to be because of low pop. I'll have to do some study here on some stuff.
I was thinking, shouldn't this world have at least an escort and an SDB or two? I like the design of the 400 ton Fiery-class Close Escort. J4 M4, airframe, good weapons spread (pop out a laser for a sandcaster tho, and replace the other two lasers with non-grav xray, which will give a significant boost to firepower), and it looks pretty to boot. Think Gazelle without droptanks, and put into an airframe shell.
Anyway, yeah, I'll have to think about what kind of guidelines to give you for creation of my character, and ask a bunch of impudent questions.
One thing I can ask now, so everyone knows: How crazy are you on base-stats? For instance, in one of my other groups, a character with any stat of 10 or less is generally considered a wuss. Most people have 2 or 3 stats that are 16+, and usually one or two above 18. At least one person will have a 21. (This is for D20 D&D, and as I haven't rolled any characters in that system, I THINK 10 is average, but don't KNOW for sure.)
SO: what are the guidelines about this?
roll 4d6s and drop the lowest die roll for each stat. Assign the stat scores as you like. Do not let your character exceed the age of 30 when rolling for prior career. I think that should result in about 3rd to 5th level characters.
I'd like the stats to be presented in compact form if you have the T20 handbook. The format as such:
Bill :Mercenary level 3: medium-size male human; TL 15; SD 3d10 St/Lb 26/11; Init +1 (Dex); AC 17 (+1 Dex, +6 CES); AR 6 (CES); Spd 6m (4sq); Atk +7 ranged (snub pistol 1d10/20),
+5 melee (fist 1d4+2/20); SV Fort +4, Ref +3, Will +5; Abil Str 12, Dex 12, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 10, Edu 11, Soc 10; Skills Pilot +4, Spot +5, Listen +5, P/Security +6, T/Electronics +6, T/Communications +6, T/Computer +6; Feats Alertness; Equipment Etc.
I'd like the stats to be presented in compact form if you have the T20 handbook. The format as such:
Bill :Mercenary level 3: medium-size male human; TL 15; SD 3d10 St/Lb 26/11; Init +1 (Dex); AC 17 (+1 Dex, +6 CES); AR 6 (CES); Spd 6m (4sq); Atk +7 ranged (snub pistol 1d10/20),
+5 melee (fist 1d4+2/20); SV Fort +4, Ref +3, Will +5; Abil Str 12, Dex 12, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 10, Edu 11, Soc 10; Skills Pilot +4, Spot +5, Listen +5, P/Security +6, T/Electronics +6, T/Communications +6, T/Computer +6; Feats Alertness; Equipment Etc.
