 January 16, 2015 - 8:52pm | Lets spit ball a guide to contraband in the Frontier WoWL gave up one: weapons being brought into White Light When I did a big write up on Laco, I believe I said something about artifact smuggling- Laco has 10,000 year old pyramids and is sort of the Egypt of the Frontier thus since Egypt today is notorious for artifact smuggling as well as faked artifacts it makes sense to write that in here. Its cannon that the Terledrom militia imposes the death penalty on smuggling, but smuggling what? Some of the colonies with agriculture based enconmies probably have some restrictions on imporation or even exportation of certain products or even organism. Fan cannon on Family of One and a dissenting religion I invented, Bailorism has the wyvole which is the center of the Bailorism blood right being a black market item supressed by the Fo1. Fo1 also controlls the Ark of Yazira which is the gene bank of the lost Yazirian homeworld ecosystem and the Fo1 uses it for leverage with the other yazirian colonies to coerce compliance with Fo1 policies in the Frontier. Thus transportation organisms of yazirian origin out of Hentz without the proper paperwork and customs stamps is a big deal with the Hentz militia. I can see Madderly's Star being a prime exporter of weapons- military or mercenary surplus Systems with a megacorp like WarTech or Synth Corp would be hot to interdict any corporate espionage or theft of their products or designs Unless the Frontier has a Colorado, we can assume that drugs are usually contraband. Because of the ifshnit attitude that laws should not get in the way of proffit, the Rim is probably less restrictive than the Frontier. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 January 16, 2015 - 10:49pm | Sathar artifacts is I believe cannon. To this could be added click artifacts. Mechanon tech could be contraband on some worlds near Mechano. There should be tariff related contraband related to items with high taxes on their importation. Somewhere we had a thread about treasures of the frontier that would likely be a source of contraband. The trafficking of other sapients should be a possibility as well. -iggy |
January 17, 2015 - 4:33am | @Iggy: Does your yazirian brandy have the tax stamp on it? I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
January 17, 2015 - 8:16am | @jedion, the injustice of that makes me want to dress everyone in Family of One robes, board the transport and dump all of it on the tarmac. -iggy |
 January 19, 2015 - 2:01pm | Feeling a lazy streak but what were the contraband items in Warriors of the White Light? Also we have to remember that some things legal on some planets are illegal on others like those two western US states. You could apply that alot of stuff available from Star Play in the city of Maze is not supposed to be taken off planet. Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
January 19, 2015 - 2:36pm | Feeling a lazy streak but what were the contraband items in Warriors of the White Light? Also we have to remember that some things legal on some planets are illegal on others like those two western US states. You could apply that alot of stuff available from Star Play in the city of Maze is not supposed to be taken off planet. In WoWL it was weapons but not all of them I need to look more closely for the exact details. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
January 19, 2015 - 2:42pm | Not every planet will have a listing for contraband but a good handfull having a listing of x and or y (like Clarion barring weapons beyond those for personal defense) will make for a tool for plot hooks: PCs are approached by an NPC and asked to deliver a few cases of yazirian brandy to his brother on planet X. If they dont investigate more closely they may not realize there is no tax stamp on the brandy and this could become an issue with customs inspectors in jurisdiction Y or they know they are smuggling untaxed yaz brandy and must deal with customs inspectors as part of their cargo run I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
January 20, 2015 - 11:15am | "Cause they're thirsty in Atlanta and there's beer in Texarkana" Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
 January 20, 2015 - 11:49am | I'm thinking that in game any copies of the ancient recording of brutal 21st century warlord Justin Bieber will be contraband, sort of how Nazi paraphernalia is today. ----------------------------------------------- |
 January 20, 2015 - 12:02pm | For common good, contraband may include counterfeit goods (including items they defies a patent) or items that are overly taxed or levied. The smuggling or trafficking of people is also classified as contraband. For example, a wanted fugitive could face additional charges for leaving a system he or she is wanted it. And knowingly smuggling wanted fugitives out of a system, Star Wars-style, would likely get the captain/owner of a ship charged with smuggling and assisting wanted fugitives. This may even include people banned (or politically excommunicated) form certain worlds or system. Although, most governments might be lenient to ship captains/owners, as they do not have the luxury to screen all their new arrivals. The trafficking of the Sathar and their creatures would be a big no-no.* Seeing how open systems are to new arrivals (save for quarantined and corporate-own system), I do not see that illegal immigration is a real issue in the Frontier. And even still, illegal immigrates would likely be tourists over-staying their welcome than a systematic underground railroad. Seeing how manual labor is taken-up by more effective robots (or even genetically-engineered creatures like Sapes), there is no real reason for slave labor (save for sadistic control-freaks or the Sathar). On the other hand, white (sexual) slavery could still be an issue. Planets with an endangered and protected natural environments and wildlife would have strict rules and regulations on would can be removed or introduced — more so, the later. In one module, one type of animal was declared sentient. *The rulebooks and modules seems to take a hard stance on Sathar agents and sympathizers. Seeing how the Sathar use hypnotism as a racial ability, and is a well-documented ability, anyone who is helping them would not be acting under their own agency. So, would it be right to execute Sathar agents and sympathizers seeing how they could not help themselves? |
 January 29, 2015 - 5:30pm | Dramune Run Module: When Garlus was unloading the crates, the last one burst open, revealing the frightened eyes of two chukkahs. The chukkah is the official symbol of Inner Reach, Garlus’ home planet. What the Malthar wanted with the chukkahs, Garlus couldn’t imagine. No one would think of eating them. And although they were very bright animals, they were hardly efficient slave labor. But whatever the purpose, removing chukkahs from Inner Reach was a moral outrage, as well as a serious crime, <------- Smuggling and Garlus would not be part of it. Same Module, The Malthar Talking: Without that gland at the base of their little brains, I could not produce Ixiol, the drug that has brought so much happiness to the Frontier. ---- drug trafficking or smuggling or both 2 canon examples in one module. The bombing starts in five minutes. |
January 29, 2015 - 6:31pm | This conversation has been about generalities but I'm thinking maybe it could become about specific contraband- specific items with history and background that (basically a new Minzii Marketplace article) something a referee might use in game. I think it should be a broad spectrum: At least one drug related item At least one sathar artifact Possibly one tetrarch or klik artifact and some mal-tech invented by megacorps (at least 2 would round out the list) I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
January 29, 2015 - 7:06pm | I suppose not paying a tax on any item that is taxable via tariff or otherwise would be smuggling. You might even be accosted by the authorities for delivering raw ore from a mining operation if you dont pay some sort of fee's or taxes. Drain The Player Characters bank at every opportunity and create a need for adventureing. The bombing starts in five minutes. |
January 30, 2015 - 8:15pm | Lists of contraband items would be pretty extensive. One source you could use would be the US Post Office list of things you can't mail. Some of the stuff can be shipped by other means but most items are banned because of the danger in shipping them in the mail. Alot of stuff could be considered contraband simply becuase unless it is shipped properly it would be very bad. Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
