CF-6407

[Spartan159]

I had a character roll a secret of knowing the location of a wrecked battleship, I decided that it was actually CF-6407, "Bard Warlord", thought destroyed on 243-1083 during the 4th Frontier War. Her black globe capacitors nearly full from constant bombardment she attempted an emergency jump and misjumped. Some questions are:
Where did she end up?
Why didn't my character report it? (Does he actually realize what it is?)
How damaged is she and is she repairable?
Would emergency low berths still be functioning after 37+ years? (Timeline is currently 1100)
Just what will The Powers That Be do if/when the cat is out of the bag?
I am certain there are plenty of other questions I have yet to address here but it could have been worse, it could have been a wrecked battleship
Thoughts, ideas, flames?

FWIW, I am trying to play the character as a heroic "Knight of the word" albeit with some different attitudes about things than the Imperial bureaucratic powers what are might agree with... And in my universe Strephon is an honorable and charismatic leader of good character. The bureaucracy and megacorps, maybe not so much. Nobles are people, some are good, some are really bad apples.

OK, have at it. :toast:

 

[Timerover51]

In the Real World, the rule is that a government retains the ownership of any wrecked naval vessel unless is was captured by an opponent. Your character might get a nice salvage award or finder's fee, but if he tries to use it, he should expect to loose it, and find himself in very hot water as well.

 

[Spartan159]

In the Real World, the rule is that a government retains the ownership of any wrecked naval vessel unless is was captured by an opponent. Your character might get a nice salvage award or finder's fee, but if he tries to use it, he should expect to loose it, and find himself in very hot water as well.

I don't think the characters would roll that way. But I'd pay a credit to see the look on peoples faces if they could blip out of jump space at Regina say and transmit "This is CF-6407 Bard Warlord requesting permission to enter orbit, we've returned home." No clue what the minimum crew for an AHL would be in any case. I'm no where near to dealing with this event at any rate so I'm open to input.

 

[jcrocker]

Some possibilities:

Where? The outer system of a world near your players. Outer systems are big so the ship could be hidden there quite easily.

Why no report? Someone was going to, honest, but it took them a while to put the pieces together (wait a minute, there was that surge on the K-band radar, and that usually means...) or they wrote everything down and died and a PC inherited the effects, and the PC actually connected the dots.

How damaged? Lots.

Repairable? Patch up and get to the nearest base, maybe, with lots of work and task rolls, and that would be a Really Cinematic Ending. More realistic would be finding it and heading straight for the nearest Navy Base, and letting them sort it out.

Low berths? Well, if it's been adrift in space in the outer system, overheating doesn't seem to be one of the inherent risks. As long as they're still frozen, they'd be fine if revived under close medical supervision.

OR - a different setup. The ship misjumped on that fateful day, and reentered normal space not in any system, but deep in space. Undaunted, the brave Navy crew did all the major repairs, set course for the nearest star, and set up the systems so that the low berths would have enough power to let them survive after all. Some things have broken down in the decades since, but most of the hard stuff was done by the Navy back in the day. Note this is the Really, REALLY Cinematic Ending.

1083 + 37 years = 1120. What the Powers That Be do with it depends on how badly they need ships, I suppose. But there is zero chance the players get to keep it, sorry, and if they don't hand over the keys when asked, they're pirates to be hunted down and killed.

 

[Spartan159]

1083 + 37 years = 1120.

Yeah, I FUBAR'd the math hard there. 17 years is a lot better chance.

 

[flykiller]

Why didn't my character report it?

the ship's drives are inoperable. pirates have found it and are using it as a base. some of them used the clothing they found on the ship and the character recognized the ship's crest on a hat. on the character confronting them they kidnapped his sister and told him to shut up. the character now seeks a way to rescue his sister covertly without the imperial navy and marines showing up.

 

[Leitz]

If you want to be cinematic, the characters get the ship back and have already contacted a noble who is friendly. They turn the ship over to the Navy amid fanfare and whatnot, and the Navy remembers that it happens to have a few old tramps that are no longer needed.

I read one of the old modules the other day, it was pathetic. If you railroad PCs from one stupid encounter to another you have no reason to ask why Traveller never made it as big as D&D. "Your ship happens to break down due to poor maintenance". What if the PCs maintain their ship? "The local government impounds your ship". Over a pile of bodies to get into it since they don't even have laser technology? "They force you to..." They ever learn to talk or negotiate?

If the PCs bring this ship home make them famous. Open social or business doors that were closed. Throw some money at them and see what they do with that set of problems.

 

[Brandon C]

But there is zero chance the players get to keep it, sorry, and if they don't hand over the keys when asked, they're pirates to be hunted down and killed.

Only if they take it back to Imperial space. The further they take it from the border, the less likely Imperial thugs, err, warships, will come after it.

 

[Leitz]

Only if they take it back to Imperial space. The further they take it from the border, the less likely Imperial thugs, err, warships, will come after it.

Roger that. A smart Impie will make it worth their while, so it depends on how well developed the NPCs are. An Impie ship big enough to do anything isn't going to leave Impie space without a real good reason. Like, declaring war.

The "modern" rule of shipwrecks seems likely not to apply as the idea of "Imperial Space" is doesn't extend outside Imperial borders. In an Imperial system, yeah maybe. Outside, don't think so.

 

[McPerth]

Why didn't my character report it?

Maybe its internal layout is according MgT 2E HG and he's afraid about the Aldmiralty reaction and about being blamed for the modifications :devil:...

(sorry, after trying really hard, I could not refrain myself)

 

[Xerxeskingofking]

I had a character roll a secret of knowing the location of a wrecked battleship, I decided that it was actually CF-6407, "Bard Warlord", thought destroyed on 243-1083 during the 4th Frontier War. Her black globe capacitors nearly full from constant bombardment she attempted an emergency jump and misjumped. Some questions are:
Where did she end up?

she jumped to her target system, but the J field dint quite form properly. the ship itself came though more or less OK, but every plant and animal onboard died because every single cell in their bodies suffered irreparable damage during the jump. the jump dropped the ship a long way "short" of the d100 limit and the ship has been coasting in-system at a low velocity ever since.

Why didn't my character report it? (Does he actually realize what it is?)

you character is in possession of a theory put forward by a jump scientist who theorised that this might have happened, but had no evidence. the PC was able to connect the theory to some long range sensor data that reports what is thought to be a comet slowly heading in system, and is able to connect the dots. he hasn't reported it yet because he only just figured it out, during play.

How damaged is she and is she repairable?

if she was taking enough fire to force her make a risky jump, odds are she has extensive damage to at least some parts of the vessal. how repairable she is boils down to DM FIat, really. it might be mostly exterior damage to things like turrets, so she might be fit only for the breakers.

Would emergency low berths still be functioning after 37+ years? (Timeline is currently 1100)
Just what will The Powers That Be do if/when the cat is out of the bag?

the Powers That Be will still view the ship as thiers. due to the slow rate of tech increase, the ship could still be fit for service once salvaged, so form their point of view its still a viable cruiser and not something they want running around out of their hands.

I am certain there are plenty of other questions I have yet to address here but it could have been worse, it could have been a wrecked battleship
Thoughts, ideas, flames?

FWIW, I am trying to play the character as a heroic "Knight of the word" albeit with some different attitudes about things than the Imperial bureaucratic powers what are might agree with... And in my universe Strephon is an honorable and charismatic leader of good character. The bureaucracy and megacorps, maybe not so much. Nobles are people, some are good, some are really bad apples.

OK, have at it. :toast:

 

[Spartan159]

Maybe its internal layout is according MgT 2E HG MgT 2E HG and he's afraid about the Aldmiralty reaction adn about being blamed for the modifications :devil:...

(sorry, after trying really hard, I could not refrain myself)

Blasphemy! Heretic! /pets S5 and Arrival Vengeance... My preciousss

Been working real hard on MgT 2E HG stats for Lightning Class Crusers, I think the ones in the book are as wonky as the deckplans.

 

[Spartan159]

Xerxes, I was also thinking of other polities, depending on where it is. Might have a Zhodani or Pirate ship sniffing about. I wonder what Arden would do if it was near them as far as that goes. According to MT:AV the crew of an AHL type CF was 655 with a frozen watch of 160, and up to 20 passengers (40 with double occupancy)

I like the scientist / jump theory angle, I can introduce that during play.

I reread supplement 5 again and realized 243-1083 was the date Bard Warlord returned to service, not when she was lost. I need to look and see what data I can find on the 4th frontier war.

I also need to get back to current events and figure out what the Navy is doing, why they chose to use the characters, and why pirates want/want to destroy what the Navy is shipping. Random rolls got me here, now I just have to understand the circumstances.

 

[Xerxeskingofking]

Xerxes, I was also thinking of other polities, depending on where it is. Might have a Zhodani or Pirate ship sniffing about. I wonder what Arden would do if it was near them as far as that goes. According to MT:AV the crew of an AHL type CF was 655 with a frozen watch of 160, and up to 20 passengers (40 with double occupancy)

I like the scientist / jump theory angle, I can introduce that during play.

I reread supplement 5 again and realized 243-1083 was the date Bard Warlord returned to service, not when she was lost. I need to look and see what data I can find on the 4th frontier war.

I also need to get back to current events and figure out what the Navy is doing, why they chose to use the characters, and why pirates want/want to destroy what the Navy is shipping. Random rolls got me here, now I just have to understand the circumstances.

about the only reason the imperium would let such a powerful fleet ship continue to exist in the hands on Someone Who Is Not Them is because the want to do "false flag" ops using that "rogue" AHL as cover.


of coruse, pirates would absolutely love such a ship. I mean, it's proof against pretty mich anything smaller than another cruiser, so it would make a perfect mobile base for their ops, with a few conversions.

 

[Leitz]

about the only reason the imperium would let

What they would want to let, and what they can actually control are seldom the same.

 

[Xerxeskingofking]

What they would want to let, and what they can actually control are seldom the same.

true, but "what they let slide" is another thing. A function warship the size of a AHL isn't the sort of thing they can ignore if its even remotely functional. just think of what a terrorist group, or anti imperial separatists, could do with that ship and its spinal mount.

the Imperium pretty much has to devote whatever resources are needed to ensuring that it Is either destroyed or in the control of trusted owners. its pretty much up at the level where they might be willing to trod on a lot of diplomatic toes to deal with this.

 

[RandyB]

The question is this: what would make for the most enjoyable game for the group, players and referee alike?

 

[Spartan159]

Eeps, Ine Givar >shudder< I am running a solo campaign that I am documenting story like as I go along. I am intending to run through TTA shortly, assuming the characters survive a pirate encounter. I keep asking questions here because it gives me other perspectives and ideas.

 

[aramis]

true, but "what they let slide" is another thing. A function warship the size of a AHL isn't the sort of thing they can ignore if its even remotely functional. just think of what a terrorist group, or anti imperial separatists, could do with that ship and its spinal mount.

the Imperium pretty much has to devote whatever resources are needed to ensuring that it Is either destroyed or in the control of trusted owners. its pretty much up at the level where they might be willing to trod on a lot of diplomatic toes to deal with this.

It's not operating within the 3I, so, while they could make a stink...

• the owner of record is a Limited Liability Imperial Chartered (LIC) Corporation just below megacorporate status; it's got more than sectorwide operations.
• The effective owner of Oberlindes is a landed noble, Marc Haut Oberlindes, Baron Feri.
• He used deceptions and technicalities, according to TTA, p.22, to buy it for scrap as was, then hauled it beyond the imperium and refit it.
• Other megacorps know that him doing it doesn't mean they can - his lack of bureaucracy and cross-ownerships means that Oberlindes is beheld to a handful of close family members, but Marc Haut-Oberlindes has majority (if not total) ownership, save probably for a token bit to the Imperial Family; the domain he's in has no Archduke until 1116, so no need to grease his/her palm with shares.
• It would be a major disruption to go after him and his corporation for having Emissary; the Emperor probably benefits financially from those token shares, so as long as it's not costing him profits in other ways...
• As mentioned by others, it allows for false flag operations.
• It puts an imperial nobleman in a position to use a major asset against the Thoengling Emperor should said emperor get a case of anti-3I sentiment.
• It defends a fairly stable regime in Vargr space simply by being one of the biggest ships there.

Follow the Money says MWM.
Follow the politics says WFH.
Both show that Emissary has reasons to be let be by the Emperor, and the Sector Duchess is notoriously hands off, so local pressures are probably limited.

 

[Xerxeskingofking]

It's not operating within the 3I, so, while they could make a stink...

• the owner of record is a Limited Liability Imperial Chartered (LIC) Corporation just below megacorporate status; it's got more than sectorwide operations.
• The effective owner of Oberlindes is a landed noble, Marc Haut Oberlindes, Baron Feri.
• He used deceptions and technicalities, according to TTA, p.22, to buy it for scrap as was, then hauled it beyond the imperium and refit it.
• Other megacorps know that him doing it doesn't mean they can - his lack of bureaucracy and cross-ownerships means that Oberlindes is beheld to a handful of close family members, but Marc Haut-Oberlindes has majority (if not total) ownership, save probably for a token bit to the Imperial Family; the domain he's in has no Archduke until 1116, so no need to grease his/her palm with shares.
• It would be a major disruption to go after him and his corporation for having Emissary; the Emperor probably benefits financially from those token shares, so as long as it's not costing him profits in other ways...
• As mentioned by others, it allows for false flag operations.
• It puts an imperial nobleman in a position to use a major asset against the Thoengling Emperor should said emperor get a case of anti-3I sentiment.
• It defends a fairly stable regime in Vargr space simply by being one of the biggest ships there.

Follow the Money says MWM.
Follow the politics says WFH.
Both show that Emissary has reasons to be let be by the Emperor, and the Sector Duchess is notoriously hands off, so local pressures are probably limited.

Like I said, destroyed or in the control of a trusted owner, such as a major corp with a vested interest in imperial stability, or a friendly pocket empire. Oberlindes being in control of it would be a acceptable outcome in my eyes.


if its not in "safe hands", and espically if its in the hands of someone who is anti imperial, it might be worth the 3I's time to hunt it down regardless of where it is, and destroy it, politics and jurisdiction be dammed.


since their are still AHL's in service with imperial client states, (IIRC), it would be very easy for someone like Ine Givar to use a AHL to try and start another Frontier War with the Zhodani, or re ignite the Aslan border wars, by a few well places deep raids which are then blamed on the 3I. even if they loose the ship in these raids, they could cause a major crisis and seriously weaken the 3I, or give it such a massive problem that they have a freer hand to plot with as the 3I devotes its resources to sorting out the mess.

that's why I think the 3I could not let the ship be in hostile hands.