On 25/9/20 9:43 am, xxxxxx@gmail.com wrote:
> <snip>
>
>
>     Part of the fun for me has been deconstructing players' latent
>     assumptions (notoriously, Easy Frag) about what is _necessarily_
>     implied
>     by a sci-fi setting with FTL, even a comparatively near-future one
>     as PA.
>
>
> It's always fun to take the incredibly confident assumptions and tip
> some over... as in over a cliff...
>
>
>     Deconstructing the assumption of faster-than-travel comms (I can't
>     abbreviate this as FTTC - my brain backronyms that as
>     fibre-to-the-curb)
>     was fairly lulzworthy - especially Easy Frag's blank look (over voice
>     comms) at me telling him Nikki, his PC, was aboard one of the fastest
>     communication devices seen in the Milky Way galaxy in the past 300,000
>     years.
>
>
> * Lol * - Brilliant!
>
>
>     Universal Currency is another one, even if taking a few more attempts
>     than expected to mallet flat.  Part of it has been people like Jordan
>     Weisman (Shadowrun), Mike Pondsmith (Cyberpunk 2020/203X/RED/etc),
>     Hilmar Petursson (EVE Online), to name a few, opting for a universal
>     currency in their works (nuyen, eurobucks and InterStellar Kredits,
>     respectively).
>
>
> I have a fondness for the Imperial Credit. There are some practical
> reasons, but their is the obvious vanity project for every Duke,
> Archduke or Emperor to get their face on some cred notes everyone is
> using.
>
> That said, it is the specie of trade within the Imperium, but there
> are thousands of other currencies and have varying exchange rates. (I
> used the article out of the wee-book version of TAS from way back in
> CT to establish planetary currency values although I add a bit of a
> random factor and a bit of a 'what's the local situation?' aspect in
> determining the final rates and they change daily).
You actually seem to be reinforcing my point about deconstructing latent
assumptions - this time of TML members, not my players.  The _Second_
Imperium does not yet exist in PA, and it looks like the 3I has been
well and truly butterflied away.
> <snip>
>
>
>     The sheer amount of _damage_ the PCs have done to their own ship
>     has had
>     me in tears, laughing. 
>
>
> Are you sure your pilot's early life background was not 'Demoliton
> Derby Driver'?
Ziru Sirka Navy helmscritter, actually.
>  
>
>     Especially now I've started applying the
>     "sustained damage" rules (MGT2 core, p 158 or so), wherein Das
>     Boot cops
>     a severity 1 critical hit each time it loses 10% of its starting hull
>     points - I reroll the system affected each time, as it would seem to
>     default to hull hits otherwise.
>
>
> Yes, stuff does pile up. One day, they'll have to acquire themselves a
> new ride.
See Theseus, Ship of.
>
>
>     I have yet to fully introduce the effects lack of faster-than-travel
>     comms has had on banking.  That should be interesting.
>
>
> The system has had hundreds if not thousands of years to sort out FTL
> issues. There must be some common inter-polity agreements (when not at
> war) and there must be some common ways to extend credit throughout
> nearby planets.
See above about latent assumptions.  As far as the ZS is concerned, I
doubt the Terran Confederation _qualifies_ as a polity.
> <snip>
>
>
>     - Bank drafts, letters of credit, and the differences between them.
>
>
> <YOINK!>
>  
>
>
>     - Disabling the ship's armour.  (Nikki ended up stripping the entire
>     original, compromised, armour shell and is in the process of
>     replacing it)
>
>
> Why would law-abiding individuals need defenses?
I think you contradicted yourself in your next point.  Assuming malice
where incompetence suffices, etc.
>
>
>     - El Capitane taking the helm during skimming (after Curly
>     leeroyed into
>     the Deeps, imposing a -2 turbulence mod), despite having a net Pilot
>     (spacecraft) mod of 0.
>
>
> Repat after me: NEVER let the Captain take the helm. IF you think it
> might work okay, THINK AGAIN.
In general, that would depend on the skills of the individual skipper. 
An experienced _Iiken_ driver (1I analogue to Xboats) probably wouldn't
be a problem, as she's had to fly, astrogate and handle jump drive
single-handed.  Drake Milford, though - definitely.
>
> To avoid banks (registered or underworld), some people would use a
> shawallah model (A trusted courier is sent from A to B to deliver
> money but he does not carry it, but instead he stops at someone with
> money at B and provides some information to convince that someone that
> monies deposited at A in his name will cover the money the courier
> wants, who then takes it to the customer). This works in ethnic
> communities that are fairly insular but stretch across multiple systems.
>
> TomB
>
I think the term you're looking for is "hawalah".  Thanks for the tip -
I'll have to go mine for ideas.