Tramp Freighters (1990)

[boot]

Interesting. Looking at 1E, page 54, the Consumables rating already is considered to include fuel.

[boot]

Aug 7, 2018 11:02:27 GMT -6 buzzcorry said:

The consumables rules might work for you but I don't bother keeping track of time with such detail when running an RPG. So they are fairly unusable to me.

But, you know how long a ship is in hyperspace, right? About how many days? From the Astrogation roll.

That should give you all you need to keep track of days easily, and it's not hard to figure. You can just take the days spent in hyperspace, or you can round up or add to it every once in a while to cover any long term atmospheric flight.

If a ship takes 13 hours to jump from one world to the next, then your Consumables multiplier is 1, if you are rounding up.

The extra pays for time that you don't count.

[Starbeard]

I hadn't noticed the consumables rule before either. It makes sense. It does seem like the best of both world to simply keep track of consumables and pay for replenishments that way. Otherwise, if you're keeping track of fuel you should also keep track of food and water on the ship. Instead, the ship's 'fuel' could be used not only to power the engines, but also to process the water generator and space paste food maker in the ship.

Rounding up is always best too, I think. You could worry about every minute detail: how many hours you spend aboard the ship orbiting a planet, not using the fuel but still using other consumables; hours in hyperspace as opposed to realspace; what if you're docked at a starport and sleeping on the ship, but not using it for anything else? Instead, it's much easier to assume that all of that comes out in the wash when you just round up every portion of a day.

[boot]

In 1E, the formula for replenishing consumables is:

10 x number of crew and passengers x days (where "days" is what we are counting--see above).



If you look in the 2E GG6, the formula has some nuance:

Base Fee x number of crew and passengers x days.

BASE FEE changes, depending on the starport and landing bay.  On well traveled routes, the base fee is usually 10 Cr.  On isolated worlds, the base fee can be as much as 35.



So...

The jump from Adarlon to Travnin may be on the other side of the star cluster--quite a distance--but only a standard 15 hours because it is on a well traveled route.

The trip from Adarlon to Eliad, where Eliad is less than half the distance in lightyears from the planet Travnin, is a standard 75 hours because it is an isolated world on a rough route that is not traveled frequently.

Our ship, the Nifterlaan, needs to add 7 hours to the Astrogation difficulty in order to make the jump safe.  That means it can make Travnin in 22 hours, or it can arrive on Eliad in 82 hours.

Nifterlaan has two crew and, for figuring's sake, has 5 passengers for either trip.

Base fee at Travnin is 10 credits.

Base fee at Nifterlaan is 35 credits.

Therefore it will cost the captain 70 credits go make the trip to Travnin, it will will cost 280 credits (rounding up a day in either case).

[boot]

What I don't understand is why it cost so much to travel in the Star Wars universe. Remember that Luke and Ben charted Han and the Falcon for 17,000 credits.

Given, that's a high number due to their desperation. The Sourcebook (1E version, page 47) tells us that charting a ship like that starts about 10,000 credits.

Let's say that you get that. What are the expenses for a tramp freighter captain? Docking fee. Consumables (see above) restocking fee. He's got the one time fee for his license, weapons permit, and BoSS documents.

And, the Sourcebook describes a restricted universe (Chapter 4) where parts of space are off limits (costing more Consumables to go around) or requiring a permit.

But, still at 10,000 credits from a charter, players would get rich real quick unless you can show me some more costs for players to have to pay.

[boot]

Instead of jumping right into a campaign involving Rebels and Imperials, I like the approach suggested by the Minos Campaign in GG6. The PCs start as fringers, operating a tramp freighter, trying to make a credit and keep the loan sharks off their back.

(Hey...maybe that's the answer to the above question I posed...the major expense for a ship captain is the ship payment!)

I've always wanted to start a campaign like this, where the players are slowly introduced to the Rebellion. Maybe a do a job for them unknowingly, then figure out later what they suspected--that they're really being paid by the Alliance. Then they graduate to mercenary status for the Rebellion, doing jobs for credits, before finally becoming believers.

I always thought it would be interesting to see how fast or slow different players would warm up to the Rebellion.

Plus, this type of game is perfect if you only have one or two or a few players. You get a Han and Chewie combo, a beat up ship, and a tip for some work, and boom, you're off to the races.

[Falconer]

Agree with every word.

[Starbeard]

Same here, the Minos Cluster setup seems like the ideal Star Wars campaign in every way.

You can also have Imperial or anti-Rebellion jobs available as well as neutral, pirate and Rebel jobs, and the 'bad guy' jobs should always be better paying and less dangerous, of course. That way the players have a reason to be hesitant about giving up their neutrality, and siding with the rebellion feels more meaningful.

A dastardly wrench to throw into the works would be to make a few of the mysterious rebel jobs red herrings: the players aren't working for the rebels at all, but evil pirates exploiting the rebel cause, or even Imperial agents trying to counter sabotage the alliance. An unwary party might pick the wrong group to side with and only realize several missions in they've been helping the wrong side the whole time. Back to square one!

[Falconer]

Another fan-made map I’ve found:

By S. Will Whicker:

[boot]

GALAXY GUIDE 6:  TRAMP FREIGHTERS (1E version)


I am reading it cover to cover.  I'll make some notes.

The book is part sourcebook and part campaign outline.  I say outline because it will require some work on the details by the GM to make the adventures playable.  Still, the outline is more than an adventure idea.  There's lots of solid information there.  Many GMs, I've read, have put their creative talents to work on the Minos Cluster.

Chapter One is nothing but advice to the GM on how to pull new or existing characters into this campaign.

Chapter Two is a description of the type of atmosphere that is promoted in the campaign.  This isn't the world of the Rebellion, the Alliance fighting the evil Galactic Empire.  This is the world of Han Solo.  Life as a Fringer.  Scamping around in a tramp freighter, one step ahead of the Loan Shark's bounty hunters, trying to make a deal that will get you even with the crime lord.

Chapter Two is short, and it is suggested that the chapter be used as a player hand out before the campaign starts.



Chapter Three is a good GM's over-view of the state of the galaxy, from the point of view of a tramp merchant captain.  Good read.

Here's something from that chapter that you can use in your game:  On popular routes, the chance of encountering an Imperial Customs vessel is about 1-in-20.  5%.  (A roll of 6 or less on 3D is a 5% chance)  

For the GM who likes to have random, chance encounters, this is a nice bit of news to work from.  An encounter or two with Imperial Customs will go a long way to encouraging your players to take less well know, more dangerous hyperspace routes. 

[boot]

Escape From An Imperial Customs Frigate




Reading GG6 reminds me of an encounter I had, on the fly, with my players who had been detained by an Imperial Customs Frigate.  There were four crew aboard the PC's ship.  The ship docked with the frigate and one of the PCs was escorted by 2 Customs Guards to go over the PC's vessel.  The other three PCs were escorted to the Imperial ship.

One of the three PCs on the Customs Frigate decided to make a move.  He wanted to get back to the Rebel ship as fast as possible.  They were still wearing their sidearms--the Imperials had not taken those from them yet.

The Frigate has a crew of 16.  I made up this chart, on the fly, and let fate decide how hard it would be for the three PCs to get back to their own vessel.  I let the player roll his own fate.  If he rolled an 8, then there would be 4 Imperials to defeat.  Defeating them quickly meant that the PCs would be able to get past their obstacles and back to the PC ship before the Imperials realized what was going on (of course, there are still 2 other Imperials aboard the ship with the fourth PC).

If, on the other hand, the players got bogged down in a corridor firefight, this would seal their fate.  The Imperials on the Frigate's bridge would lock the hatch and give the PCs no where to go.

2 - 10
3 - 9
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11 - 1
12 - 0

[Starbeard]

Neat idea, I like it. Rather than having to worry about maps and dispositions, just roll on a bell curve to determine how much of the ship they have to fight through to get out. I'm stealing that.

[boot]

Apr 20, 2019 19:38:10 GMT -6 Starbeard said:

Neat idea, I like it. Rather than having to worry about maps and dispositions, just roll on a bell curve to determine how much of the ship they have to fight through to get out. I'm stealing that.

I just used my imagination when I ran that, above, BITD, describing the interior of the ship as I saw it in my head. But, for quickie fights, you can also pull out the Death Star Technical Companion. It is full of small section maps that you can use for ships, installations, bases...you name it.

[boot]

I like random dicing. Sometimes, I run entire encounters using it.

Take the above scenario, for example, where the PCs are trying to get off the Customs Frigate as fast as possible. I might say (to myself) that the PCs are going to face 1D6 - 1 hot spots on their way out.

A hot spot is a bad decision that leads to combat.

So, I roll a 4. That means there will be 3 decisions to make.



A Hot Spot Decision Example: "You come out of the room and run to your left. You don't see anybody. You're down to the end of the corridor. It's a T intersection. You can go left or right."

I'll throw a difficulty for this decision behind my screen.  There are two different ways to go, so the difficulty will be 2D.  I'll let the players know that it's a 2D difficulty, but I won't tell them the actual result.  It could be 2.  It could be 12, or something in-between.

The player throws a skill.  Probably Knowledge based, but any reasonable skill will do.  If he's got a good Mechanical skill and can show how that skill is related to his knowledge of the deck layout of this particular vessel, I'll let him use it.

I don't really know which way is correct.  I'm making this up as I go.  I usually just let the dice decide this, too.  If the Difficulty total I throw behind the screen is odd, then left is the correct way.  If what I throw is even, then right is the correct way.

If the PC's skill check passes the test, then the player remembers/figures out the correct path.  If he fails the task, then the PCs travel deeper into the ship.



I might set some kind of limit on failures.  Two in a row means that the Imperials have had time to get their act together, post guards near the airlock, and seal the ship.

Depending on the danger level, I might say to myself, on every other PC throw, which in this case, with 3 Hot Spots, an even numbered PC task throw (fail or succeed, it doesn't matter) means that there is another roll on the enemies chart above.  This allows the PCs to pick the correct corridor, and maybe run into a squad looking for them, or pick the wrong corridor and run into nobody.  Or the opposite can occur, all depending randomly on the roll.



The next Hot Spot Decision might be an intersecting corridor.  The players can keep going straight, go right, go left, or even double back down the way they have come.  "No, this isn't right.  Let's go back."

So, this hot spot might be a 3D difficulty.  There are three ways to go:  straight, left, or right.  So, it's a 3D difficulty.  I'd do this just like I described above.  The player knows that he's going up against a 3D difficulty, but he doesn't know the secret total that I roll.  The player rolls the appropriate skill.

Now, if I know the players are going the wrong way, I would secretly add a fourth die to the difficulty.  The players think it's a 3D difficulty, but it is really a 4D difficulty because I'm adding a fourth path--the double back the way you came option.  If the player succeeds on this roll, then they realize or get a strong gut instinct that they need to go back.  "I'm telling ya, we're going the wrong way.  Let's double back."


If I want to have less encounters, I don't use the odd/even thing on the PC roll.  Instead, I just do something like, (to myself) "Any roll of 6 on a difficulty dice means that the PCs run into a guard or a crewmember walking down the hall, coming out of a room, whatever.

Difficulties can get bigger than 4D if there are hatchways, up and down.  But, I'm easier on these because characters would remember getting on ladders.  Elevators are another story.

You get the idea.

[boot]

I'm now into Chapter Four of 1E GG6, the chapter on speculative trading. There's a very good, simple, very "1E" category system for grading a world's technology level. Man, these guys at WEG sure knew what they were doing when it comes to rules. I am consistently impressed.

Each tech type has an example. I was surprised to read that Ryloth, the world of the Rodians (you know...Greedo, from ANH), is rated at "Industrial", which is a step older tech than 1960's Earth "Atmoic".

No prime directive here.

It made sense when I read that Gamorr, the homeworld of the Gamoreans (the orc-like guards at Jabba's palace), is rated at Feudal. They don't have blaster tech. They know armor and blade weapons. High tech must be imported.

But, when I saw that Ryloth was "Industrial" (and think we're talking 1900-1940 earth--somewhere around that), I thought that very interesting.  And, you gotta think, this is the same kind of tech but in a very alien world populated by very alien beings.  That gets the creative juices going, doesn't it?

Lots of good hidden treasures in these write-ups.