Referee Questions - FAQ - Contacts - Systems
Perceived Attitude
Attitude is one of the key factors in judging how the Travellers intact with Contacts and how they are looked in return. Attitude is something that also applies to how the Travellers interact with Systems. The details here help weigh the effects of potential interactions and how they could influence both theirs and others' interactions with Systems and Contacts. The tables that describe the specific Dice Modifiers that are applied can be found in Fantasy Grounds.
Attitude is something that the Travellers judge for themselves. Do they feel they treated that young girl fairly? Did they shoot their way out of a starport lounge? Are they known as fearsome pirates in a system or as protectors of merchants? Do they pay a fair wage? Are they good leaders? The Players will assign their own Attitude assignments as they go along. The Referee will note these and make their own adjustments when adjudicating results.
The Attitude of a system towards the Travellers ranges from being a Haven for the group to being Hostile towards them. Some of the things that the System Attitude affect include: Fence Percentage, Recruitment, Risk Arrest, Risk Spies, and Protection. Many of these imply Piracy is at the heart of the Attitude, but that it can also refer to other actions taken against or for a system such as flooding a trade market with goods or working on a diplomatic agreement. The limits are only the Travellers imaginations.
The Attitude of a Contact ranges from Affinity to Enmity towards an individual Traveller. This Attitude affects the Influence and Power of a Traveller's relationship with the Contact.
The Travellers Standing with various powers in the Trojan Reach will determine who is willing to assist them, grant them leniency, or send out patrols to track them down.
Applying Perceived Attitude
System Attitude
Contact Attitude
Standing
In this campaign, starports are classified not only by their letter rating (A-E), but also by their relationship with the Travellers. Ports can be Havens, Friendly, Tolerant, Neutral, Suspicious, Unfriendly or Hostile. This can apply to individuals or to starships by the reputation of its name. Find the full table with specific Dice Modifiers in Fantasy Grounds.
Haven ports are either part of the pirate’s organisation, or count the pirates as their own ships. Not only are pirates able to land here, the port’s System Defence Boats and the local population will defend the pirates against enemy ships and pirate hunters.
Friendly ports are willing accomplices in the piratical trade. While they will not take up arms to defend the pirates in open battle, they will do everything else they can to help the crew, such as repairing battle damage without asking questions, providing replacement crew, and fencing stolen goods.
Tolerant ports are willing to turn a blind eye to fencing goods, and may even provide repair facilities without too many questions, but are otherwise not involved in piracy. The Travellers can land freely, but must keep a low profile.
Neutral ports are willing to take the Travellers’ money, but offer no protection. If the Travellers bring trouble, the port authorities will turn on them.
Suspicious ports are law-abiding and have reason to suspect the Travellers are pirates. Everything is more difficult at suspicious ports. The Travellers can still land here, but can expect to be searched or detained.
Unfriendly ports do not tolerate pirates. Landing here is not permitted; if the Travellers try, they will be arrested. If they linger in the system, system defence boats will be deployed to chase them away.
The pirate ship will be fired upon as soon as it arrives at a hostile port. The Travellers’ faces are on wanted holograms throughout the starport; the sensor profile of their ship is logged with every listening post and System Defence Boat in the system.
Activities affected by System Attitude
Fence %: The share the Travellers receive of pirated goods sold at the port. For example, at a haven, the pirates get 30% of the normal value of stolen goods. See Division of the Spoils.
Recruitment: The chance to recruit replacement crew at that port. Note that this roll just determines the presence of willing volunteers, and does not guarantee they have the necessary experience and skills.
Risk Arrest: When the Travellers land at this port, the referee should roll 2D against the listed number. If the roll succeeds, then the local authorities will attempt to detain the Travellers.
Risk Spies: When the Travellers depart the port, the referee should roll 2D against the listed number. If the roll succeeds, then a spy at the port reports their presence and heading to the Travellers’ enemies, if any.
Protection: If the Travellers are attacked in space controlled by the port, roll 2D against the listed target number. If the roll succeeds, the port’s defenses help protect the Travellers.
Examples of the Effects of System Attitude on Activities
| Port | Fence % | Recruitment | Risk Arrest | Risk Spies | Protection |
| Haven | 30% | 3+ | - | 12+ | 3+ |
| Friendly | 25% | 5+ | - | 12+ | 7+ |
| Tolerant | 20% | 7+ | 12+ | 10+ | 11+ |
| Neutral | 10% | 9+ | 12+ | 10+ | - |
| Suspicious | 10% | 11+ | 10+ | 8+ | - |
| Unfriendly | - | 12+ | 10+ | 8+ | - |
| Hostile | - | - | 2+ | 2+ | - |
New Large Chunk of Text from Companion
Contacts for the Travellers can be classified in several different ways. Ally, Contact, Rival, or Enemy are often easy shorthand methods to track their influence on the Travellers
Not all Enemies are hell-bent on the destruction of the Traveller. Some are hostile in a passive manner, and will simply refuse to help rather than going out of their way to set death-traps. At the other end of the scale is the implacable Enemy who will pursue the Traveller to the grave, and might even find a way to arrange posthumous revenge. Some Rivals are actually friendly to the Traveller, but have an agenda that will cause them to put their own requirements before those of a friend.
Likewise, some Contacts are pretty neutral or even a little hostile, but will still prove useful if a deal is beneficial to them. Some Allies are willing to fight to the death for a Traveller others merely well-disposed but not willing to put themselves out.
Every Ally, Contact, Rival or Enemy has a degree of Affinity and a degree of Enmity. Often one of these values is zero, placing them firmly on one side of the line or the other. However, some relationships are more complex than this, making these people unpredictable. Interactions with them have the potential to be tragic, or may be the key to undoing the plots of their masters if they can be won over.
Contacts - range from: Affinity to Enmity
Fanatical - Love - Loyal Friend - Very Positively Inclined - Positively Inclined - Vaguely well inclined - None - Mistrustful - Negatively inclined - Very negatively inclined - Hatred - Bitter hatred - Blinded by Hate
These affect: Power Influence
Affinity
Affinity represents how favourably inclined the person is towards the Traveller. It is rated from zero to six.
Enmity
Enmity is the opposite of Affinity. It indicates how much trouble the person will go to in order to harm or impede the Traveller. It is rated from zero to negative six.
Affinity and Enmity as Indicators
The sum of Affinity and Enmity values is a useful indicator of an individual's actions toward the Traveller. For example, a former friend who feels bitterly betrayed but sometimes remembers the good times might have an Affinity value of 3 and an Enmity value of -4, giving a net -1. On average, this person will not actively seek to harm the Traveller. However, depending on circumstances he might act in an unexpectedly positive manner - though in a bitter and 'don't you dare thank me' sort of way. On another day he might screw over his former friend out of spite, and later regret it.
Determining Affinity and Enmity
Very high levels of Affinity and Enmity are extremely uncommon. Even Enemies and Allies are usually fairly moderate in their outlook and will not allow their relations with the Traveller to dominate their lives. There are, however, exceptions. The base score for Affinity and Enmity is determined by rolling the appropriate dice on the Relationships table, and then comparing them to the Affinity/Enmity table.
RELATIONSHIPS
[Relationship] [Affinity] [Enmity] [Ally] [2D] [0] [Contact] [1D+1] [1D-1] [Rival] [1D-1] [1D+1] [Enemy] [0] [2D]
AFfiNITY/ENMITY
[Result] [Value] [2-] [0] [3-4] [1/-1] [5-6] [2/-2] [7-8] [3/-3] [9-10] [4/-4] [11] [5/-5] [12+] [6/-6]
[Affinity] [Degree of Affinity] [Notes] [0] [None] [No Affinity towards the Traveller. This may be an enemy or just someone who does not care at all what happens to the Traveller, depending on Enmity] [1] [Vaguely well inclined] [About as well inclined towards the Traveller as any random stranger with a social conscience is likely to be. They will take minor actions to help, largely out of common courtesy, but not go to much trouble on the Traveller's behalf unless there are benefits to the action.] [2] [Positively inclined] [Will probably help in a safe and easy manner if asked, even without reward, but will not take much risk.] [3] [Very positively inclined] [Will take modest risks on the Traveller's behalf or offer help without being asked, if they realise their friend could benefit.] [4] [Loyal friend] [Will do almost anything to help the Traveller, but may have higher loyalties to their own family, cause or service, or to other close friends.] [5] [Love*] [Will probably put the Traveller's interests before their own or that of others.] [6] [Fanatical**] [Will do whatever the Traveller asks of them (or what they think the Traveller would want), no matter what risks are involved. May also expect others to do the same.]
- Love might be romantic or in the manner of a close family member, comrade through some traumatic event, or the like. Someone who owes a debt of honour to the Traveller, even if they do not like the Traveller all that much, might also have an affinity value of 5.
- This level of affinity is rare, and may not be healthy for either party. A deluded stalker might have an affinity value of 6 but other considerations make them dangerous.
[Enmity] [Degree of Enmity] [Notes] [0] [None] [No Enmity towards the Traveller. This may be because they do not know who the Traveller is, or because the Traveller has done nothing to offend them.] [-1] [Mistrustful] [Vaguely ill-disposed towards the Traveller (or perhaps everyone in general) but will not go out of their way to impede them. Someone with an Enmity value of -1 is unlikely to take an action that will have serious consequences for the Traveller unless there is some great benefit.] [-2] [Negatively inclined] [May engage in acts of petty spite for no gain, just to annoy and upset the Traveller. Someone with an Enmity value of -2 will probably stop short of actions that would seriously harm or kill the Traveller.] [-3] [Very negatively inclined] [Will go to some trouble to impede the Traveller, just out of spite. Does not care much what happens to the Traveller and will more than likely feel they deserve anything they get.] [-4] [Hatred] [Will do almost anything to get one over on the Traveller. Might actively plot against the Traveller for the sake of revenge or causing further harm even if there is little or no gain involved.] [-5] [Bitter hatred*] [Will actively plot or take serious risks to cause the Traveller harm at any opportunity.] [-6] [Blinded by hate**] [May engage in self-destructive actions in order to harm the Traveller, or put innocents at risk.]
- Bitter hatred can also represent an obligation to destroy the Traveller. The reasons might be personal or on behalf of someone else. Alternatively, the enmity might be due to the Traveller's opposition to a cause. It might even be altruistic after a fashion - someone who genuinely believes the Traveller is a bad guy who must be stopped may be just as determined to destroy them as someone who hates the Traveller on a personal level.
- Someone with this much hated may be willing to harm others to get to the Traveller, and may extend their enmity to his friends and comrades.
Note that this occasionally creates Contacts who are more negatively than positively disposed towards the Traveller, and Rivals who actually rather like the Traveller and are disposed to help them when possible. This can create an interesting situation with many possibilities for roleplaying.
For example, Ivah has a Rival and an Enemy as a result of her time in the Scout Service. Her Rival rolls 1D-1 for Affinity, getting a result of 5. This indicates an Affinity of 2. Her score on 1D+1 for Enmity is a 2, which indicates an Enmity value of 0.
Ivah's Rival actually likes her and has no hostility towards her. Ivah declares the two were friends whose similar career paths caused one to lose out in favour of the other on various occasions. Each has occasionally had to put their own interests first, which has strained their relationship. However, Ivah's Rival is generally inclined to help her if it is not much trouble, and if it does not impede his own progress. Ivah decides that her Rival is now the leader of a team of Scouts, and that Ivah believes she should have held that post. The next time they meet things might get complicated, especially if they start taking risks to try to outdo one another in a way that starts out friendly but escalates....
The Enemy is rather more clear-cut. His Affinity roll is automatically a zero, indicating no friendly intentions whatsoever towards Ivah. The roll for Enmity comes up an 8, giving a base value of -3. This might change as other characteristics are generated, but for the time being his outlook towards Ivah is very negative. Ivah decides this is another fellow Scout who was dropped from the team at Ivah's recommendation and is intent on revenge. Although his enmity is not serious enough to contemplate murder or waste his life pursuing, this enemy feels that Ivah deserves anything bad that befalls her. For her part, Ivah wonders if losing leadership of the Scout team to her Rival was something to do with this Enemy, further complicating her relationships.
Some associates and enemies are more valuable than others, and not always in a tangible way. The two key factors are Power and Influence.
Power Power represents the level of force, money or other assets can be directly brought to bear. This does not mean the individual can always send in the troops - an army officer might command a powerful force but it is unlikely he will be able to divert it halfway across the sector to help out an old friend without an overwhelmingly good reason. However, very powerful individuals can often use a small part of their overall powerbase without compromising their position.
Influence Influence is less obvious than Power, but in many ways more versatile. When action is taken using gunmen, cases of cash, or the direct intervention of a topend legal team, it is usually very apparent what has happened. On the other hand, an influential individual might discreetly put an idea in the mind of a powerful legislator, or remind a sector duke that his nephew owes his life to the Travellers without actually asking for anything. Influence can sometimes result in power being used from a different direction; subtly and without trace.
For any given person, Power and Influence are determined by rolling on the Power/Influence table. Some individuals may have a lot of one and very little of the other, most have a little of both. Note that this method indicates the level of power this individual can actually wield rather than everything their position has available. The owner of a vast business empire might not actually be able to bring much leverage to bear on a problem due to constraints of accountability and barriers built into the structure of his business.
A person with Power and Influence values of zero is still capable of bringing their own personal talents to bear. Conversely, just because someone has a given level of Power or Influence does not always mean they can use it or choose to do so.
POWER/INFLUENCE
[2D] [Value] [5-] [0] [6-7] [1] [8] [2] [9] [3] [10] [4] [11] [5] [12] [6]
POWER VALUES
[Power] [Degree of Power] [Notes] [0] [Powerless] [The individual has virtually no resources they can bring to bear other than their own personal possessions.] [1] [Weak] [Has a few friends or contacts who might be willing to help] [2] [Useful] [Has a significant asset such as a small starship and crew, or a small force of skilled mercenaries, high-end lawyers, or the like.] [3] [Moderately Powerful] [Has access to very significant assets such as a mercenary unit or a modest sized business entity.] [4] [Powerful] [Has powerful assets, equivalent to a small merchant shipping line or major business group.] [5] [Very Powerful] [Has enormous power, such as someone in the top echelons of a planetary government or the CEO of a large shipping line.] [6] [Major Player] [Is a factor in interstellar politics, such as a navy admiral or an official in an interstellar government.]
INFLUENCE VALUES
[Influence] [Degree of Influence] [Notes] [0] [No Influence] [Has virtually no influence over anyone.] [1] [Little Influence] [Owed a couple of favours by minor officials and local notables such as the leader of a street gang or a port authority official.] [2] [Some Influence] [Has one or more minor local notables 'in their pocket' and can get them to act illegally or dangerously on the odd occasion.] [3] [Influential] [Has some influence over powerful people such as mid-level planetary government officials or rich portside merchant factors.] [4] [Highly Influential] [Has some influence at the interplanetary level, with government or underworld figures that owe him a favour or two.] [5] [Extremely Influential] [Has very significant influence at the interstellar level, and can lean on lawmakers or officials in interstellar government.] [6] [Kingmaker] [Has the ear of extremely powerful people, such as the ruling noble of the local subsector.]
The general nature of the association may be indicated by the career event that created it, but there is often a more complex story waiting to be told. At the referee's discretion, a given Contact, Ally, Rival or Enemy can be further fleshed out. The referee should decide how many of the Traveller's associations are to be expanded in this way or roll 2D for each one; on a score of 8+ there are special characteristics.
Determine the nature of these characteristics on the table below by rolling D66 (as defined on page 5 of the Traveller Core Rulebook). These characteristics can modify values already generated, or create a complex relationship where someone is an Enemy but well disposed towards the Traveller. A situation like this might arise where an individual is required by honour to avenge an incident, but has come to like and respect the Traveller despite the enmity between them. The converse might apply when causes and agendas align but the people involved hate one another.
Affinity and Enmity have a maximum value of 6. If either reaches 6, it cannot be further modified and the Traveller has a fanatical friend or enemy no matter what else happens.
- Table: Special Characteristics Find the Table with specific Dice Modifiers in Fantasy Grounds.
There are two great powers who cast long shadows over the whole Trojan Reach – the Third Imperium and the Aslan Hierate. A ship’s Standing with these two powers determines how they react to the pirate’s activities. Both sides are willing to ignore minor acts of larceny and extortion as long as it does not impact the flow of trade, and both sides are secretly in favour of attacks upon the other by pirates – the fewer Aslan merchants in space, the more likely the Imperium is to dominate the trade routes, and vice versa. However, if the pirates are too brazen and their Standing drops too far, the Imperial powers will respond with violence. There are also other powers in the Trojan Reach that the Travellers will have Standing with. Similar modifiers based on actions the Travellers take with those powers apply.
Standing with the Imperium starts at 0; Standing with the Aslan Hierate starts at -5. The other powers such as the Florian League, Glorious Empire, Senlis Foederate, Belgardian Sojurnate, Strend Cluster and even the more distant Darian Confederation, Sword Worlds, and the Zhodani Consulate might all be interested in what the Travellers are doing in association with Drinax.
Standing is modified as follows:
- Stealing Cargo: -1 per incident in which more than Cr100000 is stolen.
- Per Infamous Incident: -1D for incidents where the pirates steal a large amount of cargo, capture ships, and otherwise ‘rock the boat’.
- Per Atrocity: -1D for incidents where the pirates destroy ships, murder prisoners or otherwise breach the code of the stars.
- Per Interference: -1D for incidents where the pirates attack Imperial scoutships, couriers or registered convoys, damage starports or refuelling stations, or otherwise interfere with the flow of trade.
- Per Heroic Deed: +1D for attacking pirates or inflicting significant damage on the other Imperial power.
- Per Month Elapsed Without Incident: Over time, Standing trends towards its starting point. The Travellers’ Standing moves one point towards its starting position(0/-5) after each month in which the pirates do nothing of consequence.
These rolls can be combined. For example, an incident in which a pirate steals millions of credits worth of cargo, destroys an Imperial escort and guns down fleeing escape pods would qualify as an Infamous Incident, an Atrocity and Interference, so the pirate’s Standing with the Imperium would drop by 3D+1. However, the Aslan would be pleased by this setback to the Imperium, so the pirate’s standing with the Hierate rises by 1D.
Like System Attitude Standing can also refer to other actions taken against or for a system such as flooding a trade market with goods or working on a diplomatic agreement. The limits are only the Travellers imaginations.
EFFECTS OF STANDING
Standing Effects
| 20+ | Ally: The pirates are rewarded for their heroic efforts. All ports belonging to the Imperial power are now Friendly, and the pirates gain SOC+2 within the Imperial power’s territory. |
| 6 to 20 | Tolerated: The Imperial power is willing to overlook the pirate’s excesses. All ports belonging to that power are now Tolerant of that pirate. |
| -5 to +5 | Ignored: No effect. |
| -6 to -20 | Irritant: A bounty is placed on the pirate’s head of Cr1000 x 1D x the pirate’s Standing (reversing the negative). |
| -21 to -40 | Infamy: A patrol is dispatched to hunt down trouble in the reach, including the pirate menace. |
| -40+ | Enemy of the State! The pirate is hounded by agents of the Imperial power, ranging from assassins to naval ships. The attitude of any ports not already Friendly or better drops by one level. |
This example focuses on the Third Imperium, the same applies to the other Powers of the Reach. If the Travellers are are an Irritant to the Imperium, they might well be tolerated by the Hierate.
BOB needs to find the Table with specific Dice Modifiers in Fantasy Grounds and share with players.
