More About High Level Play - Paths to Get There

From the Traveller Book, Introduction chapter, “Adventuring in Traveller”

Traveller is a set of detailed rules covering how the universe operates. These rules govern day-to-day activities to be expected for any individual. Against this background of basic information, players can work, earn money, travel to distant worlds, and lead exciting lives of daring and adventure.

But Traveller does much more. The characters have an opportunity to undertake genuine adventures as they search for their own self-appointed goals. Some adventures happen as a result of day-to-day activity. Some occur as players use pre-written adventures . . . (m)ost Traveller adventures come from the referee's own imagination. Each new world is an opportunity for the referee to present a new situation to the players, who must cope with this scenario if they are to progress in their own adventures. (emphasis mine)

What's the win condition? What you (the player) decide it's going to be.

When you start playing Traveller, you look for patrons, NPCs who tell you what to do. Your PC uses skills and equipment to accomplish the mission. As a player you learn how Traveller 'does' as a game. Marc Miller states in the Experience chapter that real experience in Traveller is in the realm of the player. “Experience gained as the character travels and adventures is, in a very real sense, an increased ability to play the role which he or she has assumed.” That role is a person in a setting who interacts with other people in that setting. That person will develop goals of their own in the setting, beyond what the patron of the adventure wants. (See above)

The End State or Goal in Traveller is the same for everyone.

Another Benefit of playing a Noble PC

I realize that I have overlooked something about what it means to play a Noble PC in Traveller. Having high status confers more benefits than just money.

Elites Know People. They go to the same schools, they belong to the same clubs and Orders of Knighthood. They go on vacation to the same places. They Know Each Other. Think about how many European royalty used to be in fact related to one another back in the day. They met at diplomatic functions and at exclusive resort spots. 

I work in higher education. It is common knowledge that the quality of education is not necessarily better at an Ivy League school. What the Ivys offer is connections. Mention that you went to Harvard and all kinds of doors will open that would not otherwise. This confers advantages that people will pay top dollar to acquire.

I translate that into contacts for Traveller Nobles. Whenever a PC Noble arrives on a new planet, they can check if there's anyone that they know on planet. Such people might lend direct aid. Contacts can provide information to assist the PCs in their endeavors. Starports will have records of off-world visitors. A simple Admin throw (6+) will get the PC access to the records.

When the player announces that his PC is looking for Contacts, the player gets a number of throws equal to SOC-10. For each success there is one Noble Contact on the planet.

As you walk into the Starport Lounge, you recognize this man from that time with the Thing and the Guy in the Place. Good Times.

Benefits of playing a Noble PC

For years as a Referee I beat my head against a metaphorical and game-mechanical wall trying to resolve a conundrum. Traveller allows PCs to be high ranking members of interstellar society. But there are exactly no rules or directions on how playing a Noble confers any advantage.

High Status in the Far Future

 

Much of my thinking about his amounted to “how much money should I give a Noble PC? Is this too much? Is this too little?" I used to think the cash handouts from the Robe & Blaster article were tiny and pointless. I have revised my thinking on this somewhat. Nobles in Traveller have their money tied up in land, properties, investments and ships. The benefits given below are the dividends, the residual free cash.

I now also see these dividends as small enough to not break the game. If a PC gets rich by adventuring, great! Travellers can and should seek High Level play. That should happen in the game, not because of meta-game artifacts like huge cash grants. Eventually Nobles will have connections with all sorts of VIPs, own ships and direct large-scale ventures. But beginning Noble PCs don't have all that. Not yet, anyway.

Below are the likely benefits from the R&B article.

Definition of Nobility Benefits 

These are the ones available to Knights and Barons:

• Pension: Same as standard additional service pension. Roll ld6 X 1,000 Cr./Pt.
• Merchant House Holdings: Stock/bond portfolios yielding annual value of ld6 X 1,000 Cr. dividends. May be sold at market value.
• Space Lane Carrier Holdings: As per merchant holdings, except player rolls 2d6 X 10,000 Cr.
• Court Influence: Used as a+DM on Reaction Rolls as allowed by Referee. May also be used as a DM in dispensing patronage.
• Ancestral Lands: Planetary holdings held by player in perpetuity. Roll 3d6 X 10,000 Cr. for value. Lands yield 10-60% total value (1d6) annually in revenues and cost 10-60% of value for maintenance once every four years.
• Immediate Inheritance: As per Ancestral Lands but player additionally rolls 3d6 X 10,000 Cr. For immediately available cash.

Instead of cash, the Referee can use other already available force multipliers. I mean, of course, henchmen and vehicles. A PC with a Noble title enters play with one or more loyal retainers, one of whom can operate the vehicle they may own.

Session Report Heirloom Heist!

Holtzmann, week 9 of year SA 929

At this week's session we had three Travellers: Graham Clark, Dietrich Smith and a fellow known only as C-418 or C4.

Clark and C4 are senior staff in the motor pool in the household of Count Murietta, one of the Contenders. They are usually serving the Count's son, Lord Francisco, a Naval officer.

Some while back, Carter and C4 made an impression on Lord Francisco when they were instrumental in recovering a data device which someone had stolen from Murietta's estate.

When Lady Elise Kindrick, a friend of Lord Francisco (not his fiancee) came to him with a problem, he knew just the guys to help resolve it. Lady Elise had accepted a marriage proposal from the son of Marquis Tellez, a prominent nobleman. Her fiancee gave her a piece of heirloom jewelry which she would wear publicly at the party when they announced the engagement. The party was a week away.

I bet you can guess where this is going.

Sure enough, somebody had pinched the heirloom. Lady Elise hadn't told her fiancee, as the news would certainly end the engagement and cause a big scandal. She went to Francisco, instead, who promised to help.

On the Pursuit of Noble Titles

More Thoughts on Noble Titles

In an essay titled “Courting Dishonor” in The New Criterion January 2020 issue, author Simon Heffer writes:

“Some people angle desperately for letters to put after their name, or even better, a title before it . . .”

I've spent lots of time thinking about how to get a noble title or into the society of the rich & powerful, at least for my PCs. I've written about it here, here, here, here , and here.

The New Criterion essay made me think about a way of getting a Noble title that I had not considered before. The PC who finds that he has a lot of cash (up into the MCr range) can just BUY a title. Go to the sovereign of some world with a Pr trade code and offer a wad of cash. In exchange you get the right to style one's self Baron of Somewhere or other.

In England, a Baronetcy had no political authority vested in it. It was a title paid for with cash, which means only the wealthy could get it. A Baronet could brag of having a title (like a certain Percy Blakeney, Bart.) which he could pass on. Whatever other benefits accrued were social not material. The king, on the other hand, got a big cash infusion.

Ian Fleming's novel On Her Majesty's Secret Service involved a villainous character trying to get a patent of nobility. The claim was spurious, but the villain thought he could do it through bribery and deception. I don't recall what further villainy he intended to do from there. Though the PCs wouldn't think of using a title as a pretext for crime. Right?

How far would you go to get this estate?

I have written a bit about the idea of social promotion but always from the perspective as SOC promotions coming as the result of real effort – as a reward for success.

Social Standing and Class Consciousness

It seems that I am on a quest to make Social Standing a more important aspect of Traveller. Not sure why this is. I tend to play and write more plot-heavy and action-driven games, and have never gotten a PC into a 'comedy of manners' type situation. Pride and Prejudice is a great novel, but not a good model to base a Science Fiction adventure upon. (If you think I'm wrong, please do comment and explain your idea.) But as I look back across my now five years of writing posts for this blog, I see that I've spent some time trying to integrate Social Standing (SOC) into my favorite game.

Some players may consider SOC a 'dump stat'. I don't. I think it deserves its place in the UPP, because it can tell a player some interesting things about the PC. In the hands of an experienced player, SOC can be a useful tool in the arsenal for getting things done.

What's All This About Class Consciousness?

I assume in my TU that each planet has a mostly unified culture, even if the governments are not unified. There is not one monolithic 'Galactic Culture' or even an 'Imperial Culture'. Planets are like islands. Most residents don't ever leave, and don't ever interact directly with folks from somewhere else. This results in planet-based cultures.

Some cultures rate highly on what is known as the 'Power Distance' scale. These are socially stratified or 'class conscious' cultures. It matters what class you come from, and you stick with 'your people'.

Random Encounters: The Rulers of Worlds

Have you ever noticed that John Carter, no matter where he goes, meets the rulers and leaders? Tars Tarkas, Dejah Thoris, Tal Hadjus, the prince of Zadonga, The chief priest of the White Martians, the Queen of the Black Martians, the displaced king of the Yellow Martians. Everywhere, he's encountering the Nobility. Why does this not happen in my games? Earl Dumarest, interstellar wanderer and Traveller also runs into the high & mighty regularly. Dominic Flandry rubs shoulders with the rich & powerful all the time. 

Working from memory, the adventure anthology 76 Patrons has several Noble patrons. None are world-rulers or Dukes, but still, the concept of a Noble patron is well established.

So why is it that in all the years I've been playing Traveller, my PCs have never once met a Duke or a Count or King?  I can't say that I'm 'doing it wrong' but I surely have been missing out on a lot of adventure possibilities.

There is no reason why this outfit could not appear in Traveller. TL-4, anyone?

"So your Majesty. We hear you've got a little revolution problem. We can fix that for you."

 From the Wikipedia entry on Traveller:

Sociological: Interstellar society is socially stratified (high, mid, and low passage; SOC [Social Status] is a primary character attribute). Affairs are often managed by independent nobility, who make use of classic titles such as Baron, Duke and Archduke. The typical game shows how being a traveller crosses classes and breaks stratification.

Look at the Patron Lists, from The Traveller Book. You've got your criminal types (swindler, smuggler, terrorist, spy) and your ordinary citizens (scholar, courier, police, tourist) but you also have people with real power and authority: Diplomats, Naval Officers, Government Officials, Playboys, Governors, Doctors. Many of these could reasonably be nobility as well.

Masters of the World - the Barons of Stavanger

Stavanger is, by itself, the 7th largest economy in my TU, with a GWP of 17.1 trillion credits. Yes, the Big Four are an order of magnitude larger, but Stavanger has more economic clout than the Solaris Alliance, Thrainian Confederation, Correllian League or Republic of Tamarkand.

And thirteen Lords run the planet. I have characterized their noble Houses using the system I described here.  Apart from the three most powerful houses, they are listed in alphabetical order.

The planetary Coat of Arms of Stavanger

Each house has a number of Shares which represent their weight of influence on the Baron's Council. Each house has at least one Share, a few houses have accumulated more property and businesses and can claim more Shares.

World Leaders and Hot Zones in the Corridor

On Stavanger, the senior Baron is the Head of State; with a Chancellor appointed as Head of Government.

Baron Allan, of House Hokksen 996ACF Age 50 Nobles

Leader-3, Administration-2, Steward-3, Air/Raft-2

Baron Hokksen is driven to see his barony's and his world's economic power increase, to an extent that even mercantile Stavanger sees as excessive.

On Lanzhou, there is a President and Vice President.

President Long Duyi A788AE Age 38 Merchants

Admin-2, Computer-2, Jack-o-T-2, Steward-2
President Long is viewed as a wise grandfather who has run his political party for over two decades.

Dekalb is a Civil Service Bureaucracy so they have a Prime Minister, who is simply a figurehead. The Business leaders are the real power.

Prime Minister Cecil Aylsworth 55699D age 42 Bureaucrat

Electronics-1, Bribery-3, Forgery-1, Streetwise-2
Minister Aylsworth is a cheerful, genial man on the surface. Underneath he is a canny manipulator, playing the business leaders against one another.

On Holtzmann, the Admiral of Naval Base Holtzmann is the de facto head of state. He often coordinates with the seneschal of Dimitrov, a private holding of a Talaveran Duke. 

Admiral Jupater 799A8D Age 42 Navy Admiral

Admin-1, Leader-1, Navigation-1, Pilot-2
The Admiral is an able administrator who chooses to be as uninvolved as possible. He delegates almost all civilian/domestic issues to his staff, leaving him free to run the Navy.

On Tabraz, The Potentate is an absolute dictator.

Potentate Indrus 697BCF Age 50 Bureaucrat

Theology (Islamic)-2, Admin-1, Bribery-2, Aircraft-1, Medical-2
The Potentate is a religious zealot and every bit as xenophobic as the people he leads.

On Dorothua, The Warlord Horkar Baddon is an absolute dictator.

Warlord Baddon 98D88F age 38 Army General

Leader-3, Brawling-3, Rifle-2, T/ATV-2
Baddon is boastful, brash, aggressive and ambitious. He despises anyone who shows sign of anything he considers weakness or passivity. 

On Narok, The Chancellor Kannos Heraklia is a constitutional monarch.

Chancellor Heraklia 3348BF age 117 Bureaucrat

Administration-3, Pistol-2, Bribery-2
The Chancellor is a stubborn old goat and an anti-religious bigot. His ruthlessness has kept him in power for most of a century.

Conflict Zones in the Corridor

• The very destructive civil war on Faldor is now in its sixth year.
• On Chapolco, the Geder region is in active revolt. Chapolco proper is supported by Stavanger; Geder, by Lanzhou. It is a proxy battleground for the two.
• Pampati's unpopular king has to contend with multiple small rebellions and intrigues. The local economy is meager enough that Lanzhou is unlikely to expend much effort to help the king.
• Narok could go the same way as Faldor once the Chancellor dies, as regional lords vie for the Chancellorship.
• Worosha could try to break away from VanGoff's World by force.
• On Dorothua, The Warlord wants to re-arm and get out from under the Empire.
• Piracy and Multi-planetary organized crime groups threaten trade everywhere.
• The Lycosky Trade Protectorate will back any group willing to impede the Talaverans, and vice versa.

Seven steps to designing Noble Houses for Traveller

Designing Noble Houses

Welcome to my humble abode.

     Traveller's Third Imperium is a vast place, ruled by the Emperor. However, with the limits of communication-at-the-speed-of-travel, the Emperor cannot rule everywhere personally. So authority is distributed in a feudal fashion through the network of the Imperial Nobility. 

     The character creation rules in Traveller allow for the possibility of one of the PCs being from, or rising into the ranks of the Imperial Aristocracy. I suspect the authors had in mind Poul Anderson's stories of Dominic Flandry and his beloved Terran Empire in developing the setting for Traveller this way. 

     As I have noted elsewhere on this blog, the rules are sketchy on what it means to be of the Nobility. There is a table of noble titles correlated to SOC scores, and a vague paragraph about owning land. How much?  Does it mean the PC has political power? Does this give the PCs access to more money?

     Nobles are the movers & shakers of the Imperium, and above the rank of Baronet the titles are inheritable, which means that there are Noble families who are & have been in the business of running things. Erin Smale at the Welsh Piper blog wrote up some tables for generating Noble Houses in a fantasy setting. He's allowed me (Thanks, Erin!) to adapt those tables for the Far Future of the 3rd Imperium - and they can be easily tweaked for a non-OTU setting. Also check out the link (on the WP page too) to Inkwell Idea's Design a Coat of Arms studio!

The tables are:

• Head of House
• Influence
• Loyalty
• Holdings
• Recent Activity
• Current Ambition
• Family Secret

Head of House (1d6)
 1 Young
 2-4 Adult
 5-6 Retired
Young: The age of majority may be different in the Imperium, but whatever it is, the person currently holding this position hasn't made it yet. Usually there is a regent (family member or not) making the decisions.
Adult: This character can be generated by using the modified Noble career tables I wrote up here. Cap generation at 7 terms. 
Retired: This character can be generated as with Adult, but ignore re-enlistment rolls until term 8. Roll 4+ on 1d6 for the Head of House to be using anagathics.

Influence  (2d6) 
Knight: DM -3 Baron/Baronet DM -2 Marquis DM +1 Count DM +2 Duke DM +3 Archduke DM+4

2-	None	8	Jump-2 range
3	None	9	Jump-3 range
4	Regional	10	Jump-4 range
5	Continental	11	Subsector-wide
6	Continental	12	Sector-wide
7	Planetary	13+	Emperor’s Adviser

     Houses that have influence above the Continental level are likely to have smaller Houses in their sphere of influence; either as direct vassals, or by other means determined by the referee.

Loyalty (1d6)
1 Completely Loyal to the Imperium
2 Loyal to the Imperial Status Quo
3 Loyal to the Imperial Status Quo
4 Loyal, but seeking change
5 Would support a rebellion
6 Engaged in rebellion (overt or secret)

Holdings

Rank	Charge	Typical estate	Typical value
Knight	-	-	-
Baronet	-	10 sq. km	MCr5
Baron	Part of world	100 sq km	MCr50
Marquis	One world	1000 sq km	MCr500
Count	Several worlds	10,000 sq km	MCr5,000
Duke	Subsector/sector	100,000 sq km	MCr50,000
Archduke	Domain	Entire world	MCr500,000

 (1)
 For variety: (1d6)
1 10% of typical estate/value
2 50% of typical
3 Typical estate
4 Typical estate
5 Typical estate
6 150% of typical estate

Recent Activity  (2d6)

2	Political Scandal	8	Usual social/political activity
3	Put down a revolt	9	Gained new holdings
4	New heir to the title	10	Lost holdings
5	Brokered a new trade route	11	Conflict with another house, locally resolved
6	Usual social/political activity	12	Conflict with another house, Imperial
7	Usual social/political activity		Forces called in to settle

Current Ambition (2d6)

2	Recover from a financial loss	8	Gain wealth
3	Gain Imperial favor	9	Develop local culture and arts
4	Settle a new world	10	Resist encroachment on their holdings
5	Drive out pirates	11	Increase land holdings
6	Increase area of influence	12	Create their own Empire
7	Maintain the status quo

Family Secret (1d6) If loyalty is 6, DM +3

1 Psionic talent
2 Religiously unorthodox
3 None
4 Piratical connections
5 Criminal connections
6 Extra-Imperial ties
7 Rebellion

Psi talent: Some or all members of the family are psionics. The family supports the local Psionic Institute.
Religiously unorthodox: The family is devout in an agnostic/atheist society, or atheistic/heretical in a religious society. (See my post here about a Religion Index for Traveller worlds). 
None: This family keeps to the morals and manners of their society.
Piratical connections: The family does business with, or provides cover for pirate crews.
Criminal connections: The family has ties to the criminal underworld networks in their area of influence.
Extra-Imperial ties:  The family has unacknowledged ties with a political power outside of the Imperium.
Rebellion: The house is engaged in overt or covert rebellion against the Imperium. 


     Why should you do this?  Defining noble houses develops your campaign setting, giving it texture, a bit more 'reality', and most importantly, gives the referee lots of potential patrons, allies, opponents and political events to build adventures upon. A noble house has a story, that can become part of the PCs stories.


  (1) I got this table off the 'Net about a decade or so ago. I don't have a record of where I got it, so if someone can help me identify it, or can claim they did it first, I'll be happy to take it down or give attribution.