MgT 2E - Referees Briefing 3 - Going Portside.pdf

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R E F E R E E S B R I E F I N G 3 : G OI N G P O R TSI D E
CRED
Marc Miller
S
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
PORTSIDE FEATURES
HOTELS, BARS AND RESTAURANTS
RETAILERS, MERCHANTS AND SERVICE PROVIDERS
RECREATIONAL FACILITIES AND PLACES TO VISIT
2
3
6
10
14
CLASSIC TRAVELLER
Loren Wiseman, John Harshman, Frank Chadwick, Darryl Hany,
Winston Hamilton, Tony Svajlenka, Scott Renner, Doug Poe,
David MacDonald, Wayne Roth, Paul R. Banner.
MONGOOSE TRAVELLER
Author
Editor
Martin J. Dougherty
Matthew Sprange
Layout and Graphic Design
Will Chapman
Interior Illustrations
3D Model Design
Sandrine Thirache
Amy Perret, Carlos Nunez de Castro Torres
Special Thanks
Marc Miller, Robert Eaglestone, Loren Wiseman
Traveller
©2016 Mongoose Publishing. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this work by any means without the
written permission of the publisher is expressly forbidden. All significant characters, names, places, items, art and
text herein are copyrighted by Mongoose Publishing.
This game product contains no Open Game Content. No portion of this work may be reproduced in any form without
written permission. To learn more about the Open Game License, please go to www.mongoosepublishing.com.
This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United Kingdom and of the United States. This product is
a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual people, organisations, places or events is purely coincidental.
Traveller is a trademark of Far Future Enterprises and is used under licence.
INTRODUCTION
Travellers pass through many starports in their
wanderings, and after a while these places can begin
to blur into one another. The endless procession of
generic bars and hotels, the same shops and tired old
décor can be soul-destroying. But it does not have to be
like that!
Referee’s Briefing 3: Going Portside
presents
a miscellany of things to do and places to visit that
are both interesting and memorable. Not always for
the most positive of reasons but then, you can’t have
everything….
T
R
A
V
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L
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2
PORTSIDE FEATURES
By convention, the main interplanetary or interstellar
port on a world is known as its starport, and all other
ports are referred to as spaceports. This can cause some
friction where several ports vie for the status of starport,
since being the recognised starport brings in increased
trade and therefore income. In some systems, newly
arrived starships may be bombarded by messages from
ports, all claiming to the legitimate main starport of
the entire star system, perhaps offering inducements
to use them instead of another. Starship operators can
get some good deals this way, but must be careful –
anything that seems too good to be true almost
certainly is.
A starport is the public face of the world or government
that owns it, and a source of both revenue and
political credibility. Thus most operators try to keep
their spaceports clean and orderly, though specialised
installations such as high-bulk ore loading depots may
not follow this rule. A port that is run-down and badly
maintained is not only potentially hazardous to visit
but can indicate the owning government or corporation
is struggling financially. This can have the effect of
further damaging the economy, so most operators pump
money into their port long after other projects have
been cancelled. There might be a sharp divide between
the clean and efficient starport and conditions on the
surface of the planet.
Whatever laws may apply on the planetary surface, ports
– especially the orbital highport component – tend to
be reluctant to allow visitors to carry powerful weapons.
Some ban everything but handguns or hand weapons,
some allow only hand weapons and some do not allow
weapons at all in the port. This is partially in case of
hull breaches or – more commonly – damage to pipes,
wiring and other essential internal components, and
partially so Travellers causing trouble in a bar do not
outgun the security team sent to arrest them. There is
also the factor that openly carrying weapons can create
a ‘frontier’ feeling that most port operators would prefer
to downplay. The message is: feel safe, spend money.
C
H
A
P
T
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TRANSPORT
All but the most primitive spaceports make provision for
personnel and luggage movement within the port using
moving walkways and small vehicles. Typically, the latter
are small, open-sided or open-topped carts seating two,
four or six. A typical example is the ‘Portsider’ range of
electrically powered vehicles designated Portsider 2,
4 or 6. There is also the Portsider Mule, which carries
cargo in its rear container, and the Longsider, which is
a locomotive unit capable of towing several unpowered
passenger or luggage carts. Longsiders are usually
driven by port staff or run on an automated route, and
rarely have more than four cars behind the prime mover
unit. However, very large longsider trains do sometimes
trundle though the port, often to the inconvenience of
everyone nearby.
Grav vehicles are not common in enclosed starports,
partly because wheels are much cheaper and partly to
reduce the chance of a highly expensive accident. Those
grav vehicles that are present will commonly be locked
into flight paths between certain points. Some large
ports use automated grav platforms rather than moving
walkways, permitting rapid transit from one point to
another above the heads of those shopping or dining
below. A network of such platforms is sometimes used
to move personnel in three dimensions, flitting from
a ground-level point to a high transit level, permitting
the occupants to transfer to a horizontal (or more or
less horizontal) transit plane before stepping onto a
final platform to go up or down to the desired level. For
movement of small items, carrybots are typically used.
3
One common carrybot configuration resembles nothing
so much as a large saucepan with four rapidly-swivelling
wheels. A grav-powered version is used for faster
deliveries in some ports. Most designs have a lockable
top and can be used to deliver a customer’s purchase
from a shop or to take a weapon across the concourse to
be released where it is legal. There have been claims of
‘carrybot scams’ in some ports, where bots have simply
gone missing with someone’s goods, but it is in the
interests of port operators to ensure this does
not happen.
Larger carrybots typically used tracked propulsion, or
low-powered gravitic drives that allow them to float
gracefully overhead. Many port visitors forget about the
large amounts of heavy luggage and small cargo being
moved about above them, leading to the occasional start
as someone suddenly realises a half-ton of assorted
goods and cargo is hovering over their head.
ADVERTISING
AND MARKETING
Dozens, sometimes hundreds, of businesses compete
for the attention of port visitors. As a general rule,
success at generating business trumps good taste, and
so advertising has tended to become ever more shrill
and hysterical. This trend is controlled in some ports,
where regulations dictate how loud and lurid advertising
can be, but in many places the concourse is a riot of
attention-grabbing colours and sounds, which can be
hard on the senses.
People and robots are also used for marketing and
advertising purposes. The least subtle methods include
having a robot follow new arrivals around, offering them
deals or blasting out music and slogans. The ‘helpful
official’ gambit is often used as well, with someone
who dresses almost but not quite like a port official or
security officer offering guidance or official-sounding
instructions that channel new arrivals towards certain
businesses or purchases.
This bedlam of advertising can get so out of hand that
nobody buys anything, and the concourse is avoided
by anyone who does not absolutely have to be there.
To avoid this, most port operators try to regulate the
activities of marketers, but those that most closely push
the limits have an advantage over those that act more
politely. As a result, unless draconian laws are passed
and enforced there will always be an element
of the noisy bazaar about a port concourse and
business district.
Subtler methods to get Travellers to part with their
credits are also used in many places. Data outlets are
sponsored by local businesses, or heavily biased towards
those who pay for the privilege. This can in some
cases be dangerously misleading, as getting money
out of people often trumps providing useful or truthful
information. Likewise, entertainment is often sponsored
and sometimes deliberately biased, with blatant
product placement or less obvious but equally
manipulative practices.
It is not just shops and service providers that participate
in this bombardment of the senses. Political groups,
religions, charities and even individuals might all
sponsor noisy and aggressive marketing campaigns.
Occasionally what amounts to an advertising war will
break out, as two rival groups produce campaigns
that put one another down or undermine their rival’s
advertising. This can at first be incomprehensible to a
new arrival, as without context some of these response
ads are meaningless. Soon, however, Travellers will
be as weary of the back-and-forth campaigns as
everyone else.
05/26621
Most carrybots operate on wheels or tracks,
sometimes at high speeds along designated lanes
segregated from foot traffic. Some ports have bots
zipping around at ground level, weaving in and
out of people. This can look like chaos but most
carrybots have a guidance system that allows
them to not only avoid collisions but to predict
a good path – albeit not a straight one – though
foot traffic. Carrybot malfunctions or errors do
sometimes trip people up, and getting kicked
across the concourse is a common experience
for one of these robots.
Hits
Speed TL
10
12 m 8
Profession (Porter) 2
None
Armour (+2) Small (-1)
Basic (porter)
Cost
Cr6000
CARRYBOT
Astro-Mech Droid
Skills
Attacks
Traits
Programming

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