Raj Kuran

[Ran Targas]

Here's a character I used in a RPoL game and I've grown to love:

Raj "The Tiger" Kuran
787A9A
Other - Criminal
42 years old, 5' 8" and 180 lbs, dark greasy hair with a goatee, dark eyes

Grav - 0, Comp - 0, Streetwise - 3, Small Blade - 1, Forgery - 1, Handgun - 2, SMG - 1, Intrusion - 2, Brawling - 1, Electronics - 1, Carousing - 2, Gambling - 2, Jack of all Trades - 1

Orphaned at birth, Raj was a ward of the state until he ran away at twelve. From then, he grew up on the streets and in the back alleys of Ruie, living by his wits and a lot of luck. He managed to survive to eighteen by working almost every scam and swindle there is, but his real talent lied in breaking and entering. Raj and his "cubs", mostly fellow orphans, pulled off some amazing heists. He ran with the right crowd and by the time he was forty, he was a made man. But then things heated up, his boss got whacked, and Raj, with the take from his last job, grabbed the first transport off world he could find and didn't look back. That is, until they came looking for him.

210,000 Credits
TAS Membership (forged)
Large caliber auto-pistol
Stiletto

"Now beat it before I beat yous, ya mook!"

 

[Ran Targas]

Boy, I guess nobody likes Mobsters anymore.

 

[Gadrin]

Actually I use quite a few thief/spy types for futuristic settings. I've got some of the Stainless Steel Rat's gadget/tricks down someplace.

I have a bounty hunter NPC who is in essence an above average thief/kidnapper.

I rather liked the Maria Charles/Septimus Lither pairing in BITS 101 Characters. They've got various Assassins Guilds in their setting.

In GURPS Traveller the Behind the Claw writeup for Skull (Lanth Subsector) has the Merchant Princes of Skull, who I use as a quasi-legit/mostly shady trading enterprise.

I wouldn't mind seeing what you can do with those.

 

[redwalker]

Boy, I guess nobody likes Mobsters anymore.

The trick is to not let the Mobster cliches take over the game.

Traveller can be great when it's a game of rather tough fellows in rather dangerous situations, but if the cliches get thick, it can be hipper-than-thou cyberpunk or grittier-than-thou gangsta or even macho-er-than-thou Space Marine. Some people may like that, but I try to go for a different feel.

If you've read E.C.Tubb's "Earl Dumarest" books, you have the idea. Earl is a tough guy, frequently on the wrong side of crooked governments, but he doesn't have a criminal personality; he's a survivor.

Again, many of Jack Vance's characters are not professional street criminals, although they're in criminal situations. They're more like mischievous tourists who hopped a low fence and found themselves hip-deep in alligators. Or perhaps they're like curious college students who try LSD. Rarely does Vance glorify crime for crime's sake. (Cugel's Saga, of course, is the rare exception that everyone remembers.)

If you've seen the movie "Treasure of the Sierra Madre," I find Bogart's character to be very sympathetic. Maybe he does have a somewhat criminal personality. He is *not* a crook, he just does questionable things in illegal situations because he has nowhere else to go. Maybe deep down, he's *not* a nice guy -- certainly he's no Earl Dumarest -- but *damn* I sympathized with him.

 

[Ran Targas]

When I played him, Raj was in the process of reinventing himself as something of a gentleman; still rough and rakish, but proper. He had all the money he needed but lacked the comradery of his crew. He was really looking for a sense of security to replace what he felt he lost by leaving the mob. So, he would use his skills and contacts to advance the cause of the crew but seldom slipped back into his old habits.

 

[Gadrin]

Sounds like Chili Palmer in Get Shorty.

 

[Ran Targas]

Although not the intention, Chili Palmer's a great character. But then again, I'm no John Travolta so the resemblance is only cursory. Regardless, Chili's definitely worth a guest appearance in any game where the mob's involved.

Watch "Donnie Brasco"; Raj is in there somewhere near the back.

 

[rancke]

Orphaned at birth, Raj was a ward of the state until he ran away at twelve. From then, he grew up on the streets and in the back alleys of Ruie, living by his wits and a lot of luck.

So... which part of Ruie?

After all, Ruie is divided into 152 separate nations, ranging in population from 1.2 billion in the former world power, Strolojka, to 23,000 on the tiny island kingdom of Ringinsel. Currently, the four most powerful nations (the ones with starports) are Jingarlu, the Comors Union, Nebelthorn, and Godarlu.

More details can be found here: http://jtas.sjgames.com/login/article.cgi?244 and here: http://jtas.sjgames.com/login/article.cgi?528 and here: http://jtas.sjgames.com/login/article.cgi?718.



Hans

 

[Ran Targas]

Never got that far; guess I should have, huh?

 

[Gadrin]

So what kind of adventures does he get involved in ?

 

[Ran Targas]

On RPoL, as an introduction, he was on the run from a rival faction. Out of desperation, he bought a ticket on a Type S headed for the next system out. The scout crew was on a mission to update sub-sector survey data; he eventually convinced the captain he could support the survey by reporting the extent of the black market and organized crime activity where ever they made planetfall. So he hired on as a contractor in support of the mission.

When things got complicated, he used some contacts and street savy to outfit the crew with replacement weapons and uncover clues to the where abouts of some ship-jackers.

Since then, he's been idle except for a short stint in another PBeM. This time he masterminded the fencing of a hot cargo the players thought was legitimate, then threw the shipper under a bus with the authorities when he came to collect.

But it wasn't his accomplishments in the games that I thought was that memorable; it was the in between stuff. I wish I could play him more.

 

[Gadrin]

These are some of the types of scenarios I come up with:

MERCHANT PRINCES OF SKULL

Based on Lanth in the Lanth Subsector of the Spinward Marches, the MPoS are ruthless &
reckless traders who engage in speculation to make money. All are rich enough to have
ships and participate in the local economy (of Skull and the surrounding worlds). Always
looking for deals and offers to get their foot in door to rake in more.

The players may own a ship, be part of a crew or even play one of the merchant princes
(better be a good writeup!) which means it can resemble a Minor Noble House or something
along those lines.

Scenario #1 -- The "alliance" of Merchant Princes is tentative in certain places,
but being threatened by outsiders usually means the group as a whole is at risk. In
this case, a rumor from a fairly reliable source has it that the Ministry of Justice
is launching a probe into various dealings within the MPoS territory. There's plenty
to find out naturally. But the MPoS want to arrange an accident for the investigator
(doesn't have to be lethal) which should stall the probe and give the "alliance"
time to tidy up. The players are to ferret out the investigator and take care of things.

Scenario #2 -- A very good deal is in the works for the players, thanks to their
making an ally out of Maria Charles (see BITS 101 Travellers) a professional thief
with "imperial credentials" (eg, she's got an Imperial Bounty on her head). She's
found out a special shipment of "nova stones" is arriving in Mora and she plans to
make a switch and abscond with them. She has one she picked up legally on Regina and
will show it to the players. It's impressive. Are the Merchant Princes interested in
fencing any others ? Imagine 30 more, each worth 30,000 credits or so. She's wants 12%
of the total. She just needs transport to and from Mora and everyone will cash in. This
could be the beginning of a rather lucrative partnership as she moves about, scouting
out new opportunities. The good thing for the players is that if the job's a bust,
they can still turn her over for the reward/bounty...heh!

Scenario #3 -- ADV MOTION is a rival ship company. They do things a bit different,
like ferry long-term charters to remote worlds for large paydays rather than rely
on weekly jumps. Of course ADV MOTION has a different mindset being "people persons"
and long-term planners, caterers, quite different from the "stow & go" jump methods
of the MPoS. The team thinks it might be worth masquerading as clients to get the
feel of how ADV does business, then "engineer an accident" so they don't have to pay
(only the front money), then find a way to "squeeze" ADV out of business...


ROGUE S-3 TEAM

The players are based in the Marches and are all members of the Scouts or mercenaries
who work closely with them. Frustrated by the long, hard work and little to show for
it, the team has decided to "incline things in their favor" to accumulate some wealth
before they muster out. Their leader is a spymaster (or the equivalent) they've got S-3
members and an android (rather lovely female body type) and some of the best equipment
and training around. Think McHale's Navy for profit

Scenario #1 -- the spymaster has acquired the service logs for a Donosev Tender
which works the Regina system. Due to the high radiation levels of the gas giant, the
Tender sets up shop quite a distance outside the normal shipping routes, then relays data
via meson comms. It turns out the Scout HQ on _____ uses the same x-boat system to place
& consolidate requests for inventory (such as starships, small craft, monies and other
gear). If the team can breach a single x-boat, they could alter the communiques aboard
her and ask for gear and have it sent to places where they could acquire it. They also
need a place to hide it. Then at certain intervals sell the gear (preferably beyond
imperial borders). Health & safety inspections are usually unannounced, and the team
has a beautiful female operative (android) and x-boat pilots tend to be lonely...

Scenario #2 -- It's time to cash in, and the team needs to put together a trip
beyond 3I borders and transport the maximum amount of gear for sale. There's no trouble
in routing personnel (doctoring up phony orders to allow for travel), but the people
they'll be dealing with are dangerous (pirates and mercenaries who'd love to pounce
on any weak spots they come across). A week-long, mercenary arms show is taking place
on _______ which will lure mercs and pirates from all over to browse and buy; a nice
place to unload gear. The team just has to transport & sell, and make it back with
the cash...alive.

Scenario #3 -- While on routine patrol the team comes across a distress
beacon. After rescuing the man (a Suerratt scientist) they find he's particular
about hanging onto a piece of luggage he's kept with him. It's the blueprints to
a gravity comm system, something that would allow normal space comm with ships in
jump (one-way transmission so far). The problem is that modulated gravity waves can
pull a ship out of jump (just like normal precipitation) providing the sender knows
the jump path. Participating in an experiment is Naasirka, the mega-corp comm giant
whose very interested in the technology. They have a Leviathan frontier cruiser for
the experiment and happen to be transporting a small cargo of specie (read precious
metals) to help finance their operations in District 268. It's a remote jump plan,
perfect for testing...and for luring rich-laden ships out of jump!

Scenario #4 -- rumors have it that there's a rogue genetics clinic beyond
imperial borders that can create clones of certain species. The spymaster isn't sure
the team can just "get away" with everything they've done. If, however while being
hunted their opposites come across the dead bodies of their own clones... Is the team
willing to go that far ?


>

 

[Ran Targas]

^ Very interesting, I will be sure to use it liberally, if you don't mind

 

[Gadrin]

Help yourself...

MERCHANT PRINCES OF SKULL (additional)

Scenario #4 -- The players have come across a unique item that they're
trans-shipping for another merchant company. Someone is willing to pay a bonus fee
to retrieve a cargo from a jump-masked ship that just entered the system, move it to
another ship that's leaving the system for the next destination world. Naturally when
the MPoS hear about this they step in, flex their muscles and gain the contract. What's
even weirder is that its a single item: a coffin-sized container of black metal; and
it's costing the shipper 20x what a normal cargo of it's size would be worth. What's
in the box ? Densitometer scan reveals nothing, so it must be composed of some sort
of collapsed-metal shell. Other scans reveal nothing. The MPoS have some time though
(about 24 hours) and there's a scientific ship in port with a densitometer of a
higher TTL crewed by geeks. Can they be persuaded to cooperate (read: threatened with
a random customs inspection or bribery) and then will they keep quiet about what's
inside ? Everything's insured, so maybe the item won't make that next destination if
they can just get the thing open...

Scenario #5 -- The Spinward Point to Point race is cutting through a corner of
the MPoS territory and is the topic of conversation at the next quarterly MPoS Round
Table. Betting is common for this event, but a proposal is made: can any one of the MPs
arrange it so that one of the favorites is slowed down enough for some of the ships just
behind them to catch up ? Knocking a parsec or two off the leader will stimulate more
business for bookies in their territory as things are perceived to be bunching up. People
bet on shorter legs within the larger race, this way they're not sunk early. If so a 3%
or 4% fee (about CR 250,000 to 300,000) can be garnered by those who can pull it off.

Scenario #6 -- The MPoS have a few corrupt Customs Inspectors on their payroll
to facilitate their own transfer of items, no question asked; and more importantly to
keep abreast of things moving through their territory. Contact with one informs the
players that a far trader was stopped recently carrying a cargo of IISS equipment, but
the real kicker was that in low passage were six humans, two of them perfect duplicates
of the living crew. So far maintaining this is all IISS business (its a civilian ship
but all their paperwork is in order) but the Customs Inspector is holding them until
the MPoS team gives them the go-ahead. What would the Scouts be doing with clones of
scout personnel ? Getting nervous, the ship's master offers a bribe to the Customs men:
clear title to the ship's gig in exchange for jump out-system. The Customs men won't
betray the MPoS, who are now very, very curious. (x-over scenario with the Rogue S-3
team from above)

MEETING MARIA CHARLES

The PC's MPoS ship is getting ready to lift off (within 30 minutes or so) when one
of the barcodes on a small cargo container that's being brought aboard comes up with
an error. Further examination of the barcode reveals its a fake (a reasonably good
one too) and that the container has been tampered with. By removing the fake, they
find the original under it, cut open (barcode stickers also serve as seals and are
tough like the license-plate registration stickers on cars in the US) A check of the
manifest shows this trunk-sized container is missing one of the smaller 15 packages
it's supposed to carry; item #6: case of pearls worth approx CR 25,000.

Quick check with security finds an abandoned ground-crew jumper, ballcap hat, gloves
and boots near one of the cargo holding areas. Whoever it was isn't big, say 5'6" and
fairly thin. A security guard is found in the restroom, having reacted violently and
suddenly to a strong sense of vertigo. He stopped a woman exiting the cargo storage
facility, she was crying into her hanky and the next thing he knew...he thinks she got
into a taxi. At this point the MPoS can send out an alert and have the taxi stopped and
the woman + pearls reclaimed at the satellite police station. Which happens, but with one twist:
she want's to talk with the captain of the ship.

Speaking to the woman, an attractive, dark-haired lady who fits the basic description of
the person in the jumper to a tee, she asks the captain not to prefer charges against
her, otherwise it can prove to be embarrassing. She directs him to a rented-locker at
the starport where an audio disk is waiting in an envelope pre-labled for him! Even
more incredible, it contains a word for word recording of a rather private discussion
the captain had last night (say Scenario #1 from the MPoS above, where the captain is
agreeing to help obstruct the Ministry of Justice investigation). Apparently she has
a confederate who'll pass on the information if she isn't released by dawn the next
morning and inform the MoJ and implicate them. Is she bluffing ? It certainly doesn't
seem so. What to do ?

1) Players don't prefer charges then attempt to assassinate her later before she can
escape Skull.

2) Players don't prefer charges and ask her to aid the MoJ plan as a way to payoff
her affrontery.

3) Players don't prefer charges and get her to join in...after revealing how she did
all this.

4) Ignore her, it's all a bluff.

Note: the phrase "satellite police station" is meant to describe a semi-secure building
with a few guards, not a full-security jail.


BREAKOUT

After the MPoS ship leaves the planet (late that night) a series of explosions rock
the satellite police HQ. Prisoners are held here until a transport can come in the
morning and MC is amongst them. A mini-van with a PGMP-12 mounted in the back opens
fire on the building's west side by remote control. Once breached, it's followed by
several rounds of tear gas (actually a psycho-tropic agent) to deal with anyone left
standing. Entering the breach is a large reptilian with a gas mask, auto-snub pistol and
combat armor. He finds MC and releases her (she has built up an immunity to the drug)
and they escape. Naturally this makes the morning newscasts and suddenly puts the MPoS
ill at ease. Subsequent investigation reveals the mini-van and PGMP-12 (left behind)
are from off-world. It'll be another few weeks before the true identity of the woman
thief is revealed along with her Imperial record. Oops.

 

[Gadrin]

ZHODANI CORE EXPEDITIONS

The players have been assigned to a team responsible for finding Lanthanum deposits and
setting up mining sites so ships can be constructed locally for the ongoing expedition.
The players will be tasked with finding a suitable site (not the geological research but
rather putting the site together) and getting it all up and running so it's producing
within a year. In some ways it's a "grind" or "business as usual" type of setup, but
there's plenty of room for adventure & RPing inside that framework. The players can
be Intendants, Nobles or regular soldiers for this type of game. Someone will have a
mining background. Psionics are welcome!

Note: This will involve a lot of travel (name of the game eh?) and for long
periods so we'll have to fast-forward things from time to time. Rather than play out each
week, we may move 10+ weeks ahead at a time, so anything you need in between that time
(and you'd have plenty of time to think ahead) can more or less be taken into account,
provided it's not too outrageous.

Scenario #1 -- Analysis of reconnaisance satellite photos show some promising
geological formations namely melting glaciers and river beds where Lanthanum is
likely to be found. The players need to set up a base of operations for this potential
"goldmine" and will be given orders to acquire goods and resources (including troops)
to pull it off. The planet's on the verge of coming out of an ice age, where things
are warming up, but it can still be cold, snowy and icy...and dangerous. Command will
need to setup a base of operations, map the area fully and protect it. Then report
back to ZHQ for formal orders.

Scenario #2 -- Travel back to ZHQ is long and rather boring, but opportunities
along the way abound, like spotting useful equipment, making alliances & contacts,
etc, not to mention presenting ZHQ with a sound plan (detailed paperwork). Once formal
orders are given a Zhodani Thought Police officer (or two) will be assigned to make
sure things run smoothly. After this point a plan must be implemented and carried out,
with a minimum of interruptions or problems. They're not placing this mission in your
hands only to have things fall by the wayside. Case in point being a grounded TTL 9
starship that's at the end of her days. She's for sale at a landing point the players
just reached. It'd be ideal as a grounded HQ for the mining site and the price is well
within the player's budget; however the ship is wanted by another zho of equal rank
and the ship represents a zho mega-corp's glory and its participation in the great
undertaking of the Core Expeditions, and the other guy has reputation for getting what
he wants...

Scenario #3 -- During jump between worlds, the players have boarded a smaller
vessel (100 tons or so) to cut down an extra week or so off their normal travel
time. The intermediary jump will save about 3+ days in the coming week, either that or
cool their heels on the current world for 72+ extra hours. After transit to the jump
point, the captain informs the crew and passengers they've picked up a weak distress
beacon. Upon investigation, a life-pod is discovered and the players and crew must
retrieve it, drifting well out beyond the 100-D limit. Once recovered and opened,
they find a Zhodani lieutenant, dead but in otherwise good shape. Accompanying him
is a small case, roughly the size of a cigar box, which he's got secured in a hidden
pocket in a noble-style cloak. The case is made from the same metals/composites as
zho-mind shields worn by imperials. It's also got a telepathy-latch and will take
any psionic aboard with Telepathy about an hour to crack. Imaging the device via a
densitometer reveals a set of "message stones"; special crystals used by nobles to
impart telepathic information with (and impossible to compromise by non-psionics). It's
a good bet this item is wanted higher up the food chain and that getting it back to
the owner/destination will curry favor. Further examination of the escape pod will
reveal the ship it was on was sabotaged (the lifepod's log), and apparently so was
the pod. Obviously someone didn't want the message delivered...are Zhodani "hawks"
setting up their own secret infrastructure in the region ? Or something more sinister ?

 

[Ran Targas]

Great stuff Gadrin! Keep it coming!