GM Tarondor's Skandersvik - Traveller (Inactive)

Game Master Tarondor

How about put Zaeta in as Administrator (Legal). She has Advocate 1, and Electronics (computers) to do the research necessary for the position. That should get her a berth and a chance to be in on investigations and negotiations, which is what she wants to do.

Sounds good. Legal Officer it is.

Vacc Suits say they require at least a Vacc Suit 0 skill, but I don't have that. Can we assume that we are/will be trained on that, since the suit is required, or will we just need to roll at a negative to wear it without the skill or something?

Good question. You'll need Vacc Suit 0 in order to operate normally in a Vacc Suit, but anyone can put on a vacc suit and shuffle to the life pods.

So here's what we'll do. Downtime during jumps is often spent working on improving skills. Anyone who doesn't have at least Vacc Suit 0 will be required to attend mandatory vacc suit training for the first two weeks in space. During that time, you won't have downtime to spend on your own pursuits.

Also, was there a signing bonus, or do we just have the money we got from mustering out our careers? (I wasn't sure if Frey was joking or not above.)

Salaries for all mission members are the same, from senior officers to deckhands. Everyone receives Cr2500 upon signing on and the guarantee of the same upon returning to port, on top of all other payments. Monthly salary is Cr1000 in return for fulfilling the duties of an assigned position and whatever else the mission may require. It is all but unthinkable that a crewmember would willfully fail to take necessary actions but in exceptional circumstances a member of the mission might forfeit their pay. The damage to their personal reputation and future work prospects would be far more significant in the longer term.

At the end of the mission, 5% of the profit is equally divided among all crewmembers (and the families of anyone lost during the mission) with another 5% assigned to the most worthy personnel in a manner decided by a vote among the crew. Normally this would mean most of the crew would receive a variable bonus depending on the opinion of their peers but it is possible
that the two or three people who saved everyone else from disaster might get the whole pot.

SS SKANDER CREW ROSTER

COMMAND STAFF
Owner Aboard - Magnus Sundstrom
Captain - Dmitri Aldonov
First Officer - Margueritte Johansdottir

FLIGHT DEPARTMENT
Astrogating Officer / Second Officer - Corellon “Cor” Anders
Chief Pilot - Yukio Shimada
Pilot - Valdemar “Val” Björnsson
Pilot - Ann Olsson
Shuttle Pilot - Theodor Árnason
Shuttle Pilot - Mikkel Persson
Bridge Chief - Arne Borger
Bridge Hand - Bengt Svensson
Bridge Hand - Jón Guðmundsson

OPERATIONS DEPARTMENT
Operations Officer - Third Officer - Yuri Sokolov
Purser - Kadal Kuttner
..Legal Officer - Zaeta
...Financial Administrator - Johann Enberg
...Senior Steward - Ganimakkur “Ganim” Shugilamar
...Steward - Susanne Gustafsson
...Steward - Stefán Olafson
...Ship’s Doctor - Freyjason
Deck Chief - Magne Birkland
...Deck Hand - Frederik Sorensen
...Deck Hand - Katarina Jansson
...Deck Hand - Einar Thorfinson
...Deck Hand - Karl Midthun
...Deck Hand - Sverre Ohnstad
...Deck Hand - Anker Rasmussen
Gunnery Chief - Björn Lundgren
...Missile Gunner/Technician - Lillian Stensrud
...Missile Gunner/Technician - Konrad Poulsen
...Particle Gunner - Joakim Björklund
...Particle Gunner - Reidar Ingebretsen
...Beam Gunner - Guðmundur Jónsson
...Beam Gunner - Aksel Thorn
...Beam Gunner - Malthe Fisker
...Beam Gunner - Hanne Ellestad
...Beam Gunner - Knut Gronlund
...Beam Gunner - Aage Dahl
Security Chief - Grete Haugen
...Security Hand - Johannes Sogard
...Security Hand - Svein Kielland

ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
Engineering Officer / Fourth Officer - Crastor Deems
Powerplant Chief - Sigríður Guðmundsdóttir
...Drive Hand - Sigurd Fugelstad
...Drive Hand - Stian Lindseth
Jump Chief - Kjell Bergh
...Drive Hand - Joachim Kolstad
...Drive Hand - Magne Tandberg
Maneuver Chief - Audhild Grondahl
...Drive Hand - Eline Wiker
...Drive Hand - Kolbjørn Helgesen
Technical Chief - Torbjørn Guldbrandsen
...Drive Hand - Bjørn Eide
...Drive Hand - Mikkel Syvertsen

Thanks for helping me find that information, sorry. :)

I think Zaeta is up to date.

Vacc Suits are listed as armor. Can we have an armored Vacc Suit on the ship?

Vacc Suits are listed as armor. Can we have an armored Vacc Suit on the ship?

All vacc suits are armored, so yes. It's not like you go around wearing them all day, though.

Kadal Kuttner has left the game.

Sorry to hear that.

... but I did look up what skill he chose from the group list. It was Deception. Is anyone left in need of that skill at first level?

I could use that one! Maybe he learned a few things from that bastard who betrayed him... :)

Crastor Deems wrote:

Vacc Suits are listed as armor. Can we have an armored Vacc Suit on the ship?

All vacc suits are armored, so yes. It's not like you go around wearing them all day, though.

Unless you buy the TL12 Vacc Suit which is tailored like clothing ;)

There you go. Probably standard wear when you're not entertaining visitors.

Sadly, I have to upkeep my ship and pay for my lavish looks.

How much Cr are we supposed to be making off this trip?

LOL, um, which ship would that be?

We can probably hammer out the niceties of the trade discussion in OOC? From my understanding, we want to maximize the DM bonuses for both the Purchase and Sale, depending on the starting world and our destination.

So we start out on Narsil, which is a TL 10 industrial planet. Best goods to buy on an Industrial Planet (per the chart on pages 244 and 245) are:

Common Industrial Goods +5
Common Manufactured Goods +5
Common Electronics +2
Advanced Electronics +2
Advanced Machine Parts +2
Vehicles +2
Advanced Manufactured Goods +1
Polymers +1
Robots +1

So these give us the best odds of making a good deal on the purchase side. But we'll have to consider the sale side as well. I don't have time to suss out all the details at the moment, but for instance if we're headed to a Non-Industrial world, we would get a +5 DM for the purchase price of those Common Manufactured Goods and a +3 DM for the sale price of the same.

Am I reading all that correctly Tarondor? At the least, I'm thinking we need to research these worlds where we're heading, figure out which goods give us the best bang for the buck (err... credit) and then spend our allowance on those goods.

I found what we make. I will upgrade to a better Vacc suit then.

I am not finding it although I am sure you posted it more then once, but where do we find the info for the UPP code? Crastor is complete other then that I think.

I went with a Ship's Boat since that will help the group most and I can afford the upkeep even if it doesn't get reduced much from my own labor.

I found what we make. I will upgrade to a better Vacc suit then.

I am not finding it although I am sure you posted it more then once, but where do we find the info for the UPP code? Crastor is complete other then that I think.

I went with a Ship's Boat since that will help the group most and I can afford the upkeep even if it doesn't get reduced much from my own labor.

oh wow, okay, I looked through everything but couldn't see a mustering out roll for a ship, got it

the UPP is your stats
where 10 = A, 11 = B, and 12 = C

FREYJASON – 67677B
Intern, Planetary Administration
Species: Human
Age: 18
Homeworld: Narsil (Spinward Marches 0927)

STR: 6
DEX: 7
END: 6
INT: 7
EDU: 7
SOC: 11 (+1)

See?

Am I reading all that correctly Tarondor?

I think so.

Frey's got it.

Traveller Referee Tarondor wrote:

Crastor Deems wrote:

Vacc Suits are listed as armor. Can we have an armored Vacc Suit on the ship?

All vacc suits are armored, so yes. It's not like you go around wearing them all day, though.

Unless you buy the TL12 Vacc Suit which is tailored like clothing ;)

Thanks for the inspiration Mal ;)

Chief Medical Officer FREYJASON (Dailywear/VaccSuit)
VaccSuit Specs

Love the suit, Frey! Very like our dandy to have a Coat of Magnificence.

Okay, fun fact: You people suck at trade. :-)

Kadal had all the Broker skill and he has left the building.

Broker is the skill necessary to get good deals in trade, and unless I'm very much mistaken, you folks ain't got it.

So! "Tarondor's One Time Good Deal!" I will permit one of you to swap out a skill you have at "2" for "Broker 2" right now. Just convince me you could have gotten it in your career.

Love the suit, Frey! Very like our dandy to have a Coat of Magnificence.

I cannot believe you somehow just turned him into the Sword World's version of Donny Osmond LOL

"Donny" can take the trade though too, if the team wants.
Since he isn't going to be 3rd Officer, he doesn't actually need ADMIN the way I had visioned it before, and for backstory purposes I can actually say he was lead negotiator at Narsil Memorial.

Your guys call though.

Sure.

Just remember that skills like Admin, Advocate, Broker, etc. can all become more useful in this campaign than in some. Admin could be useful in getting through red tape at a port or in gaining intel from port records.

Your call.

By the way, anyone not familiar with my favorite YouTuber, Seth Skorkowsky, might really enjoy his videos. He did a great overview of Traveller in a multi-part series, starting with this one.

I mean, I can give up my Animals (training) 2 skill and say she was just a solo performer during her career, and bought and sold endangered animals on the side, because she still would have Animals (veterinary) 1, so she would restore them to health and then do some trading.

Would that work? That skill was just a background skill mostly, and Broker seems like it will be more useful.

Sure.

Just remember that skills like Admin, Advocate, Broker, etc. can all become more useful in this campaign than in some. Admin could be useful in getting through red tape at a port or in gaining intel from port records.

Your call.

and I was really only offering that slot, since it's the only lvl2 I have.

I would rather pool our resources and do side deals that just benefit the team if I were choosing.

The idea is that you will be the "Second Team", negotiating in Paris while Sundstrom is negotiating in Shanghai. Side deals are not possible. The ship's hold is for ship's business.

Yes, I think Broker 2 will do the team a lot of good if you're planning on trading. But Admin 2 can also be quite useful.

One suggestion might be for Zaeta to give up her Animals (Training) 2, which is somewhat unlikely to come up in this context and take Broker 2. It would still leave her with Animals (veterinary) 1.

I see that Zaeta had the same idea. Yes, Zaeta, I think that's the best way to go. Please swap the two out. That leaves Frey's valuable Admin skill in place.

Freyjason - Can you please put your character sheet in your link and also put in the header I requested? Thanks.

Freyjason - Can you please put your character sheet in your link and also put in the header I requested? Thanks.

Will do :)

By the way, anyone not familiar with my favorite YouTuber, Seth Skorkowsky, might really enjoy his videos. He did a great overview of Traveller in a multi-part series, starting with this one.

I am not sure that I can committ to all 4+ hours of content through the 10 installments, but I love that he started with the base comparison of level-based play. AMAZING place to start, wow.

I'm thinking our best bet is for Zaeta to grab that Broker 2 in place of the Animals (Training) 2 that she currently has.

As far as goods go, I think we stick to the ones with the biggest Purchase DMs on the Industrial world of Narsil:

Common Industrial Goods +5; CR10,000
Common Manufactured Goods +5; CR20,000

With a 3D roll of +5 (or so, though the supplier's Broker skill will come into play as a penalty against our Broker skill as as a bonus), we stand a better than decent chance of getting a pretty good discount on the purchase price if the dice fall our way at all.

The first few worlds we're headed to seem to be non-industrial in nature, which would let us sell those goods at a +2 or +3 for the Sale DM.

Tarondor, would we have the opportunity to purchase more goods at the other worlds we'll be visiting? I'm seeing textiles and wood at +7 and +6 on agricultural worlds for the Purchase DM if we were to do some trade on Gohature, for instance.

Also, are those Purchase DM bonuses cumulative? So if, for instance, we purchase Common Electronics on an Industrial and High Tech world (such as Narsil perhaps), would you get the +2 for the former AND the +3 for the latter for a total of +5? Same question for the Sale DM? That might have an effect on things.

Nevermind, I saw the answer to my own question.

Tarondor, would we have the opportunity to purchase more goods at the other worlds we'll be visiting?

Yes.

Your plan for each of you to do trading separately is going to be a pain my butt. That is five times as much math for me to do, as the profit on each needs to be calculated separately.

PLUS only one of you has the Broker skill, and the price of the cargo and availability of freight was calculated using Zaeta's Broker skill. If you're all going independently, you're not going to get to use her skill. So even more work for me.

Plus, it's going to be SLOW, as we'll always have to wait for five people to do all their calculations and I'm pretty sure not everyone signed on hoping to do such calculations.

No, I hate this plan.

We went from "fun adventure in space themed around a trading voyage" to "Spreadsheets and shotguns".

PLEASE work out a method of trading ONE cargo set for the whole group. If you must go your own ways, perhaps a different PC can be in charge at each port?

No worries, whatever works for the group and the referee is fine with me. If the whole trading thing isn't a big deal, maybe we just hand wave it? Otherwise doing the straight up trading for a portion of the cargo already purchased (Plan A, I think?) is fine. Seems like that might be easiest for everyone AND meets in the middle ground?

If this is hard for the DM, then let's just not do it at all. I vote handwave.

My interpretation was that only the divvying up process for Plan B was going to be difficult on Tarondor. If we are all on the same page as to the what and how (which was shaky for Plan B), I'm under the impression it will add to the adventure.

That said, I'm fine with whatever everyone wants to do. Be it Plan A or handwaving. Heck, I'm fine with the Mail idea for plan B if nothing else. At least we'll have our hands in the pot.

If I can offer a little historical perspective; it is part of the game I always loved. Like LOVED. Going back to the videos I started to watch last night, there is no part of DnD, Pathfinder, etc where you can impact your income, meaningfully. The dragon hoard has what it has.

In Traveller though, as a kid, I could make millions with good die roles. I could payoff a ship, I could do these life changing things and it was awesome.

Here though, I think we need to balance out the situation at hand as much as anything. There is already a master-trader present. The team is not working for itself, it is working for the ship and the 5+5 cut that everyone splits at the end of the line, so this is not quite the 1-to-1 trading scenario of my (mispent) youth: this is a little more team oriented. That doesn't make it bad per se either.

So for me, I'd like to go down the middle. I would like the owner-aboard to report on trading at our staff meetings every planetfall (ie, we see the rolls and participate in the trade results) AND then the team is also assigned periodically maybe to lucrative side-missions that he might not otherwise be able to undertake. Maybe peppering in some James-Bond action here and there with like opportunistic income potential, either just for the team or we can throw it into the pot (gambling, side deals, etc.)

So basically a handwave with staff meetings ;)

Interesting idea, Freyjason, but I don't want to have to make rolls for Magnus. He's not a PC.

I agree that trade can be a lot of fun. What I'm concerned with is time. As both a tabletop GM and a PBP GM, I know that if I let things drag in a PBP game players will quickly lose interest. If five people all have to make decisions it's never going to be one or two days per round of decisions. There's always going to be one or two who drag their feet. I'm just looking for an option that moves things along in a fun manner.

I agree that your proposal would move things along, but I want you guys to the ones having the fun, not Magnus Sundstrom.

Are you all agreed that letting the first person to post make the buying decisions won't work? That really would work quickly and well.

I mean, if you were willing to hand-wave it or have Magnus do it, why not let your fellow PC do it?

REFEREE'S DECISION

Okay, here's what we're going to do. We'll TRY IT. We'll let each PC buy and sell their own stuff. Everyone has 50 tons and Cr200,000. If it works, we'll go with it. If it doesn't we'll change it to something else.

Rules:
1) From the time I announce the trade availability at each port, you have 48 hours to make your purchases and sales. If you don't give me trade orders in that time, I'll make the best decision for you I can.

2) there is no Rule #2.

Good enough?

I've been Refereeing Traveller for almost as long as I've been GMing D&D/Pathfinder. But I have -way- more experience and comfort with the latter than the former. So please excuse me while I work my way through this. I hope I'm not making anyone uncomfortable by switching directions - It's just me working through the apparent complexities of a new-to-me subsystem and trying to balance them with the goal of narrative fun.

Carry on!

I think that seems fair.
48 hours seems super lenient too, given how we are all posting now, but things do change.

Ruling: can players incorporate their own funds, and yield those results out of the deal for themselves personally. IE: if Frey wants to work with 220000 as his base, 10% of that is his. So when he makes 100% on a deal, can 40kcr return to him? Really just wondering.

Not really just wondering tbh: the guy has 275kcr in debt

Definitely fair, and thanks for running with this, Tarondor! After acquainting myself with the idea of trade I found it appealed to the part of my brain that revels in that sort of thing. I may not be very good at it, but the details involved are intriguing to me! I stayed up WAAAAYYY past my bedtime last night working on those details!

To make things easier, can we assume we are all involved in the process? So Zaeta's Broker skills are used for everyone on the team, as are my contacts with the Army (for the mail), etc? And do we have to 'declare' ahead of time where our goods are bound? Or are we allowed to see what deals (for purchase and sale) are available on the planet in a similar manner to the table you put up for Narsil before pulling the trigger on selling/purchasing items? So if, for example, I think that selling my electronics on Condaria isn't going to give me the kind of profit I was hoping for, I could take a pass and hope for a better price ion Dorannia?

That said, Cor will stick with what I've got in the Gameplay thread, if that's okay?

I think that seems fair.

48 hours seems super lenient too, given how we are all posting now, but things do change.

Well, faster is encouraged, but life happens and I don't want this to feel like a job to anyone.

Speaking of which, if any of the players have no interest in the trading aspect, they may assign their "Fifth" to Traveller to handle. No problems. I expect the trading to be a secondary aspect of the game.

Ruling: can players incorporate their own funds, and yield those results out of the deal for themselves personally. IE: if Frey wants to work with 220000 as his base, 10% of that is his. So when he makes 100% on a deal, can 40kcr return to him? Really just wondering.

Not really just wondering tbh: the guy has 275kcr in debt

Given the community-oriented aspects of Sword-Worlds culture, I think that would be seen by the crew (and Ship's Master) as an abuse. Not of your money, with which you are free to do as you will, but of the cargo space which could be used for the joint purposes of the Freikorps.

Remember I'm tracking not only Trade and Intel gathered, but your Reputation among the crew and Sundstrom's Satisfaction with your performance.

That was the next thought I had: that the contribution to the whole endevour was a trackle part of crew performance. Got it. That makes total sense. and of course selling drugs would be bad mojo ... ;)

and of course selling drugs would be bad mojo ... ;)

Wisdom in what you choose NOT to trade can be an important part of your Satisfaction rating, to be sure. Sundstrom is trying to create an image of Sword Worlds goods as necessary and reliable.

Definitely fair, and thanks for running with this, Tarondor! After acquainting myself with the idea of trade I found it appealed to the part of my brain that revels in that sort of thing. I may not be very good at it, but the details involved are intriguing to me! I stayed up WAAAAYYY past my bedtime last night working on those details!

Fun fact: me too. It -is- fun.

I was once a player in THIS TRAVELLER GAME and no one else wanted to handle the trade. I did it all and was on the way to making us a fortune! Those of you playing in the "Secrets of the Ancients" game may notice a familiar face in that crew!

If you ever Referee a Traveller game with trade as an aspect, take this advice. Never permit your PC's to make three or four jumps per month. The Trade system is balanced around the assumption of two jumps a month. The idea is that Travellers will spend roughly a week between jumps transiting in-system, fueling, sightseeing, locating buyers and sellers and generally getting into trouble. At two jumps a month, the cost of maintenance and salaries should cut into profits enough to make the system work.

Of course, you people have to worry about none of that. You pay no overhead, neither fuel, berthing costs nor salaries nor repairs nor the cost of living. So your balance sheets SHOULD show a lot of profit. Just remember that in the end, Sundstrom and his accountants also have to account for all that stuff before profits are declared!

To make things easier, can we assume we are all involved in the process? So Zaeta's Broker skills are used for everyone on the team, as are my contacts with the Army (for the mail), etc?

Yes, although Army rank means nothing for the mail, ya ground-pounder!

And do we have to 'declare' ahead of time where our goods are bound?

No. Freight and Mail have a particular destination you can't change, but it is up to you to determine when and where to buy and sell Speculative Cargo.

So if, for example, I think that selling my electronics on Condaria isn't going to give me the kind of profit I was hoping for, I could take a pass and hope for a better price ion Dorannia?

Yup. Some cargos will definitely be cheaper on some planets and sell better on others. For instance, textiles will be cheap on an agricultural planet but machine parts won't, while foodstuffs might sell well on a high population planet but robots will be harder to unload on a high-tech planet than a low-tech one that can't make them themselves.

Awesome, thank you!

And yes, I'm willing to take any shares that folks don't want to deal with! Sounds like Zaeta is interested in the mail and I think Frey is going to go with speculative trade, based on his comments. Anyone else?

But he did just annouce like our whole route in our onboarding meeting, right? So it actually does NOT have to be on a 1-to-1 jump basis either. I did this part as a kid too: I divided the allocated space into "Next Jump" & "Spec Jump" purchases, so that I had things I could buy at a crazy low price that I knew I wasn't going to sell until 3 jumps later ... at 1000%

You can make a pretty rich Traveller if you speculate longer range than jump-to-jump.

But he did just annouce like our whole route in our onboarding meeting, right? So it actually does NOT have to be on a 1-to-1 jump basis either. I did this part as a kid too: I divided the allocated space into "Next Jump" & "Spec Jump" purchases, so that I had things I could buy at a crazy low price that I knew I wasn't going to sell until 3 jumps later ... at 1000%

You can make a pretty rich Traveller if you speculate longer range than jump-to-jump.

Looks like the dice roll plays a big part, though! You might be allocating space and spending a lot of credits on goods you THINK are gonna sell high, only to roll a crappy '4' on the 3d6 and wind up with a lot of stuff sitting in your hold taking up space that you now have to either sell for a loss or maybe minimum profit. Nice thing is you can just hang on to the stuff and continue on the next planet and hope there's more of a need there, but in the meantime you probably can't make the purchases you were hoping to make on THAT world because your cargo hold is too full!

LOLOLOL much much like the aging and aging drugs thing, you really really have to know your math and your DM offsets to make it work right. A weak negotiator is NOT a thing!

I think the thing is to wing it until halfway into the journey, doing the best you can, and then prepare your exit strategies as the voyage comes to an end. Remember that the last port of call is Biter, so you might be able to sell stuff there.

ALSO... While I don't want to detour wildly from the plan, once you have Sundstrom's confidence, you might be able to convince him (once or twice) to deviate from his flight plan to include a system you think has promise. He's more likely to be amenable if his Satisfaction is high and if the deviation isn't in Darrian or Imperial space.

ALSO... While I don't want to detour wildly from the plan, once you have Sundstrom's confidence, you might be able to convince him (once or twice) to deviate from his flight plan to include a system you think has promise. He's more likely to be amenable if his Satisfaction is high and if the deviation isn't in Darrian or Imperial space.

Nice! Definitely something to keep in mind! Especially if we're having trouble offloading anything in particular for a decent profit! Though again, another bad roll could make us look like idiots for making a suggestion that cost us time and fuel. Again, looking forward to this adventure as well as the dynamics of the whole trade thing!