Originally posted by Xavier Onassis:
Bill, there's no need to be patronizing.
Patronizing? I haven't been patronizing.
Yet.
It's obvious to everyone, myself included, that the "200dTon toy" is inadequate for the needs of an Archduke. I remarked that the 400 ton model linked to earlier in this thread was more appropriate for an Archduke's personal vessel, having j-4 capability, etc. But I never said it should be his primary vessel.
You said in response to Fly's suggestion about an archduke travelling about in a fleet command vessel that:
While the nobility have the power to use and command Naval assets, they don't always exercise that power.
I pointed out that an archduke won't need to commandeer such vessels because they come with the job.
You then suggested that there would be times when an archduke finds
it would be politically unwise... to use the assets that come with his office.
Please give us an example of a time when it would be politically wise for an archduke to cut himself off from his own command and control structure and flit about in a 400dTon toy.
As for the fleet command vessel, I must admit I'm not familiar with the concept.
Google USS
Mount Whitney.
Aren't the Archdukes powerful enough to provide their own vessels?
Yes they are and those vessels, plus the huiscarles they carry, will most likely be off running various sensitive errands for the archduke. Check out the behavior of Norris' ancestor Caranda after Arbellatra left him charge of the Marches for an example.
Would they not be better off aboard vessels crewed by their own huscarles rather than the Imperial Navy?
Seeing as the IN is the primary instrument of Imperial power; the power he is tasked with wielding by the way, wouldn't it be better if he were plugged into C4I network of that organization?
I'd like to know what Traveller products (if any) this information is published in, so I can get the "official" story.
Who's being condescending now? Score a laugh point.
MT's
Rebellion Sourcebook shows naval command pathways and the archduke's role in them. Presuming that the archdukes are plugged into the IN C4I network and have the assets that allow them to remain plugged into the C4I network isn't too a great conceptual leap.
As for the existence of command cruisers which are a regular feature of many Real World navies, no
Traveller materials specifically discuss shoe salesmen either. Are you now going to argue that they don't exist either?
It boils down to a matter of style really. The PCs and their actions in my
Traveller universe and most others resemble the characters and actions of
Firefly/Serenity. Simply put, the PCs ae mice in the wainscotting. The various
CT adventures and materials all lay this out. The Imperium is vast, the nobility is distant, and neither intrude greatly into the PCs everyday lives. The nearest my PCs will ever to an archduke is his profile stamped on a one credit coin.
High power campaigns in which PCs routinely rub elbows with Dulinor, Strephon, Tranian, and the like exist. There are not the norm however and barely exist in post-
CT canon at all.
If you want an archduke - a man responsible for thousands of Imperial worlds and trillions of Imperial subjects - to hie it off for a couple of weeks aboard a 400 dTon toy on some sooperdooper secret special mission that amazingly involves the PCs, so be it.
Just don't be surprised when the rest of us laugh out loud.
Enjoy your trip,
Bill
). Shall we say 200tons, TL13, J4, anything else goes and damn the expense 
