You get into two rough groups:
1) planet has radio - you call ahead, and see what the planet has to offer. Rough scans in orbit are covered in other traveler books to determine if the planet is industrialized, population level, world type (water?). These scans won't take long as most of what you can find out you can simply call the planet and ask. The bad part is the government has higher tech available, so expect lots of political rolls about trade that are harder than normal.
2) planet has no radio - expect longer times figuring out what the planet is capable of, but if you screw up the greetings at one location (or you don't like the local leadership), you can lift off and go to another city.
The GM has to pre-design the planet, and slowly reveal clues to the players (I forget where the exact rules are for this). Maybe World Tamer's Handbook, pages 9-24 would be a start, focusing on 9-10. Megatraveller world Builders Handbook has far more data though.
For scanning the planet, they will likely need special equipment to do so, or it will take longer. If the planet is inhabited, several of the steps can be shortened (figuring out seasons, local wildlife, local planets, etc), but plotting densities for mineral richness will still take time. Time can be stated to pass by the players, but keep track of how much food was brought (i.e. if they bring 8 weeks of food, and the scans will take 7 weeks to perform, they did their math wrong) and any other alarms they pre-set (i.e. a rescue mission is scheduled to show up in 6 weeks, but they have no way to call it off if everything is going okay)..
As to one play session, the stuff that reveals little data, or are minor rolls, those can be done within a half hour, tops. For stuff that actually requires player interaction, the GM can spin that off. I.e. landing near the local herbivores to hunt one for biological analysis (is it poisonous? If not, lunch) is a fairly easy task. Casually mentioning clouds nearby might give a hint. Having lightning cause the herd to stampede and separate the players from their shuttle gives you room for fun (aka local carnivore shows up).
For the Starport, that will be up to the decision for the players. One idea is a place with expendable terrain (desert or water), so a ship can use its main engine to slow down, and nobody cares about burnt crops. Water is a key item, so ships can refuel. Making it nearby a local population/trade center would be good. If a high-tech world, this is not necessary, as grav/train/road transport can bring the cargo to the Starport without the ship launches affecting as many locals).
For ship landing capability, not sure.
As to damaging the players' ship, I'd avoid that unless the players are really foolish. If it does happen, have an enemy ship show up. The enemy is better armed than the player crew, so the players will not be getting an easy fix. If they take too long, the invaders will accomplish their goal, and the players will have to learn to live local. If the planet is not inhabitable, this could mean a new group of characters is needed. Having a rescue plan set up ahead of time might be a good idea, so if they completely screw up, the RCES can send a ship to rescue them.
However, I'd expect the RCES to take the players' ship away (if it belonged to the RCES), or do non-payment of the contract. This puts the players into a deeper hole as far as paying off the ship, and if they lose the ship, they get to do a bunch of ground missions on a planet until they have proved they can be trusted with a ship again (aka missions that are below their skill level, and pay low XP).
Todd Kes
________________________________
From: Richard Crowley
Sent: Tuesday, January 29, 2013 8:54 PM
Subject: Re: [Traveller_TNE] Trade routes in the RCES
Thanks. I was kinda wondering about the importance of the "first contact" (discovery) missions and the reasonable length of time between a "recovery mission" and estimating a planet's capacity for trading natural resources, raw materials and ancient technology.
Can this be done in one play session? Are hot recoveries the only type of scenario that is fun/satisfying in a game session. What kind of challenges, encounters and battles Would a party need to keep this interesting? For example, starting from "discovery," could a party of players be dispatched from Aubaine (or some other where) with the goal of making contact with an unknown civilization, estimating possible trade resources and, finally, reporting back to Aubaine that a suitable location has been found to plant a rudimentary class X starport?
Forgetting about the currency exchange rate (which is very low for a class X starport), how can this be made interesting and risky for the players. Is role-playing a survey simply a matter of "trickling" system information every time the players overcome an obstacle? Does the RCES have ships capable of landing on a dirt runway (decayed landing pad)or are we talking parachutes and long falls through the atmosphere?
According to "Path of Tears," Discovery consists of "identifying and locating key resources necessary to establish interstellar commerce." (30) Initial surveys are called "stardust," but the actual process of evaluating a world seems a bit confusing because with "hot recovery" we are talking about landing on a planet that may be truly hostile to outsiders. We could end up just like the Mary Ellen Carter (famous merchant ship of the Dawn League) If a party's starship becomes damaged, is the expedition lost (high tech shipyards would not be an option on an isolated world.)? Assuming global radio or meson communicators, could the party reach the rest of the expedition? Thank you for your responses,
Richard
1) planet has radio - you call ahead, and see what the planet has to offer. Rough scans in orbit are covered in other traveler books to determine if the planet is industrialized, population level, world type (water?). These scans won't take long as most of what you can find out you can simply call the planet and ask. The bad part is the government has higher tech available, so expect lots of political rolls about trade that are harder than normal.
2) planet has no radio - expect longer times figuring out what the planet is capable of, but if you screw up the greetings at one location (or you don't like the local leadership), you can lift off and go to another city.
The GM has to pre-design the planet, and slowly reveal clues to the players (I forget where the exact rules are for this). Maybe World Tamer's Handbook, pages 9-24 would be a start, focusing on 9-10. Megatraveller world Builders Handbook has far more data though.
For scanning the planet, they will likely need special equipment to do so, or it will take longer. If the planet is inhabited, several of the steps can be shortened (figuring out seasons, local wildlife, local planets, etc), but plotting densities for mineral richness will still take time. Time can be stated to pass by the players, but keep track of how much food was brought (i.e. if they bring 8 weeks of food, and the scans will take 7 weeks to perform, they did their math wrong) and any other alarms they pre-set (i.e. a rescue mission is scheduled to show up in 6 weeks, but they have no way to call it off if everything is going okay)..
As to one play session, the stuff that reveals little data, or are minor rolls, those can be done within a half hour, tops. For stuff that actually requires player interaction, the GM can spin that off. I.e. landing near the local herbivores to hunt one for biological analysis (is it poisonous? If not, lunch) is a fairly easy task. Casually mentioning clouds nearby might give a hint. Having lightning cause the herd to stampede and separate the players from their shuttle gives you room for fun (aka local carnivore shows up).
For the Starport, that will be up to the decision for the players. One idea is a place with expendable terrain (desert or water), so a ship can use its main engine to slow down, and nobody cares about burnt crops. Water is a key item, so ships can refuel. Making it nearby a local population/trade center would be good. If a high-tech world, this is not necessary, as grav/train/road transport can bring the cargo to the Starport without the ship launches affecting as many locals).
For ship landing capability, not sure.
As to damaging the players' ship, I'd avoid that unless the players are really foolish. If it does happen, have an enemy ship show up. The enemy is better armed than the player crew, so the players will not be getting an easy fix. If they take too long, the invaders will accomplish their goal, and the players will have to learn to live local. If the planet is not inhabitable, this could mean a new group of characters is needed. Having a rescue plan set up ahead of time might be a good idea, so if they completely screw up, the RCES can send a ship to rescue them.
However, I'd expect the RCES to take the players' ship away (if it belonged to the RCES), or do non-payment of the contract. This puts the players into a deeper hole as far as paying off the ship, and if they lose the ship, they get to do a bunch of ground missions on a planet until they have proved they can be trusted with a ship again (aka missions that are below their skill level, and pay low XP).
Todd Kes
________________________________
From: Richard Crowley
Sent: Tuesday, January 29, 2013 8:54 PM
Subject: Re: [Traveller_TNE] Trade routes in the RCES
Thanks. I was kinda wondering about the importance of the "first contact" (discovery) missions and the reasonable length of time between a "recovery mission" and estimating a planet's capacity for trading natural resources, raw materials and ancient technology.
Can this be done in one play session? Are hot recoveries the only type of scenario that is fun/satisfying in a game session. What kind of challenges, encounters and battles Would a party need to keep this interesting? For example, starting from "discovery," could a party of players be dispatched from Aubaine (or some other where) with the goal of making contact with an unknown civilization, estimating possible trade resources and, finally, reporting back to Aubaine that a suitable location has been found to plant a rudimentary class X starport?
Forgetting about the currency exchange rate (which is very low for a class X starport), how can this be made interesting and risky for the players. Is role-playing a survey simply a matter of "trickling" system information every time the players overcome an obstacle? Does the RCES have ships capable of landing on a dirt runway (decayed landing pad)or are we talking parachutes and long falls through the atmosphere?
According to "Path of Tears," Discovery consists of "identifying and locating key resources necessary to establish interstellar commerce." (30) Initial surveys are called "stardust," but the actual process of evaluating a world seems a bit confusing because with "hot recovery" we are talking about landing on a planet that may be truly hostile to outsiders. We could end up just like the Mary Ellen Carter (famous merchant ship of the Dawn League) If a party's starship becomes damaged, is the expedition lost (high tech shipyards would not be an option on an isolated world.)? Assuming global radio or meson communicators, could the party reach the rest of the expedition? Thank you for your responses,
Richard