Star Crusade - Human Sphere - Intro

Mankind in the last years of the 40th century occupies what is called the HUMAN SPHERE.  This rough, more or less, sphere is further divided into two lobes or hemispheres.  The Westerly or Trailing-wise lobe centered on the Earth Human homeworld of Earth is commonly called the Sword Worlds, or the Solomani Sphere, or sometimes the Inner Sphere.  The Easterly or Spinward lobe centered on the Villein Human homeworld of V'land, or as its more commonly known today, New Earth, is commonly called the Padishah Hegemony or the Outer Sphere.

The two lobes of the Human Sphere are more or less united in theory into a single Imperium Solaris Sacrum, or Holy Star Empire, but in practice the First Lord of the Terran Star League rules as Westerly Emperor of the Inner Sphere Sword Worlds, and the Padishah Hegemon of the Villein Star Hegemony rules as the Easterly Emperor of the Outer Sphere Novo Terran Star Hegemony.

Both the Star League and the Star Hegemony are successor states to the Old Hegemony which once ruled all the worlds of man for five long, life-span extended generations, before the civil wars and disasters of the Occultation of the Stars broke the Old Hegemony in the long emergency of the Interregnum.

The other major race of Man, the Villein, where once themselves ruled by the fungoid serpent-parasites called the Shan of Shaggai, who burrowed into the brain-stems of their subjects and posed as Gods who ruled their cattle-subjects absolutely and nourished themselves from the faith-food and blood-food of their subject-worshipers.  This state of affairs lasted until the young men of the Ancient Earth Alliance, together with their green blooded Rhomulani allies, cast out the Shan, and ground their heads beneath the soles of their jack-boots.  Officially the Shan are extinct, but rumors abound of prideful men willing to strike terrible bargains for unholy powers and long life.

I.S.S.

Star Crusade - Intro

Far in the Future, in a Dying Galaxy lit only by Burning World-Pyres and the twilight of Fading Suns...

STAR CRUSADES

EPISODE I

DEUS LO VULT

Turmoil has engulfed the Galaxy.  It is 3999, and the Great Houses of the Trailing-wise Human Sphere, the SWORD WORLDS, are once again sliding into conflict, within and without.  The Great Noble Houses see a Throne of Terra occupied by a BOY KING, and each of the Noble Patriarchs sees himself wearing the Purple and the Diadem as the spectre of Succession War rears its ugly head.  Armies of fallen Numan Vandals, corrupted and mutated former soldier-clones of the Spinward Padishah Hegemony, raid, violate, pillage, and burn almost at will in the worlds of Man and the Padishah Hegemon has formally requested  assistance from the First Lord of the Sword Worlder Star League.  

Meanwhile the multi-racial Galactic Civilization centered on the ancient Citadel-Station of the Valar finds itself over-matched by a vile NECRO-COVENANT of Shadows, a black-mass army of cyber-wyrms and daemons striking from the darkness of the Galactic Rim.  Nearly overcome and facing an endless tide of death, madness, slavery, and terror, the Citadel Council breaks millennia of isolation and formally requests assistance from the wild and untamed 'Humon' ape-things from a mud-ball called ‘Dirt’.

Pursued by the Covenant's sinister agents, the desperate PRINCESS LIZRAEL of the Ael-Shi, daughter of the High Aeldar Aeldarin, races towards the barbarian world of Earth aboard her private Aether-ship, custodian of her father's Treaty of Alliance with the Earthers and a dowry of gifts to secure her own wedding to the Boy King, an arranged marriage that can save her people and restore Light and Hope to the free peoples of the Galaxy.

Meanwhile on Holy Terra, the pious High Pontifex Maximus suffers from strange premonitions and dream-visions of impending doom and grasping blood drenched shadows from the stars..

Venturer: Thoughts

Science Fantasy, Post Cataclysmic, Pulp Planetary Romance, in the Far Future!!

What the hell does that mean? Let me tell you dear reader (yes you, I see you over there).

Science Fantasy: This one's easy, two great tastes, together at last. The fallen Imperium of Man once ruled 30+ stars alone and serene in the vastness of space (science). As the Empire slowly ossified and sunk into degenerate hedonism, cults began to spring up that worshiped the ancient things beyond space and time (fantasy). Taking advantage, the wild men at the fringes of the Imperium; barbarians, pirates, raiders, fanatics, and outlaws began to run wild in an orgy of rape, pilliage, and destruction (science). One cult rises up to convert the wild men and lead them across the breadth of the Imperium smashing and burning worlds to feed their dark gods, culminating in the Sack of Terra (fantasy). With the Western Imperator dead (strangled in bed), Terra fallen, and the wild men settling down to enjoy the fruits of their conquests, Terra Nova in the East is the last bastion of Imperial technical civilization (science). Just when the traumatized human sphere thinks the worst is over, the stars come right again and the ancient things from beyond space and time, the vile Xothians rise up out of the depths of the wells of chaos and emerge from the ebony spherical event horizons that have opened up all across the worlds of men (fantasy).

Post Cataclysm: Well I think this speaks for itself, post apocalyptic just doesn't mean what people think it means, and has the wrong connotation to boot. Despite the fact that 'apocalypse' just means 'change' to most readers the connotation is one of finality. A cataclysm on the other hand, is in fact a major catastrophe, but it is not the end. One story ends and another begins. Most of the invading wild men were just looking for habitable worlds to settle on, and they intermarry with the surviving Imperials to found a new culture. One that looks back to the very Imperium that the invaders help to bring down as a lost golden age. In fact the new Western kingdoms that spring up adopt the Church of the Spirit of Man of the Earth, like their ex-imperial neighbors and in contrast to the popularity of the Spirit of Man of the Stars in the areas dominated by Terra Nova to the East.

Pulp Planetary Romance: Well, each habitable planet will have a unifying theme that will guide me in creating the textures of background and setting. For example, Venturer Mars will be based on Dark Ages Britain, while North America takes on traits of Gaul, Italy, and Spain, with Eurasia representing North Africa and Germania. The Asteroid belt and the moons of Saturn will be home to space vikings and so on. The characters will be larger than life, heroic or vile. This is not a setting for second guessing or navel gazing, but direct action!

Venturer: Careers, one more time

Ok got it. If we rearrange the Freeman career slightly;

Freeman: Not many of the few skilled free-guild members will leave the relative safety of their walled towns, underground vaults, and guarded cantonments, but some skills are rare and in high demand in the scattered small villages and settlements on the edges of the Yankish Kingdoms.

• Tech Rigger: This skilled technician can create and repair electronic and robotic devices, even remotely control drones and automatons.
• Mechanic: Generators, engines, windmills, tools to make tools... someone has to keep civilization going...
• Merchant: Merchants can make real money bringing resources to the cities and finished goods to the fringes.

Then we add two more career trees: the Entertainer and the Adept.

Entertainer: Man does not live on bread alone, he needs stories to feed his soul and frame his life. The road is dangerous, but you never know what you will find. Will ye Venture out with me?

• Bard: Musician, poet, minstrel, troubadour, six-string samurai; your songs can move the masses
  
• Harlequin: Jester, juggler, tumbler, mime, actor, masked man; your antics can bring laughs and tears, also few can control their bodies like you can
  
• Gladiator: Man must learn face his end, and you show how by facing death to give example. Few can best you one on one.

Adept: There a few educated men left, and fewer still go out into the world a Venturing. Those few have valued places in any party.

• Field Researcher: Archeologist, biologist, planetologist, a thousand others; you have a theory and need data to back it up.
• Churigeon: Medics and healers are all well and good, but sometimes you need a real student of the human body. Sure would be nice if he would stop studying you long enough to actually fix you though.
• Mad Spark: They said it couldn't be done, that it shouldn't be done. You'll show 'em, you'll show 'em all!!
  

Venturer: Careers II

more paths to 'Venture:

Psion: These mentalists use their talents to peer into other's thoughts, or to form darts of their will

• Wyld Psyker: Cast out into the wilderness for his wytchery, the Wyld Psyker has little training but raw power and a connection to the natural world
  
• Mentalist: Trained by an order or guild of mind-masters, the Mentalist has a breadth of skill and fine control of his abilities.
• Psyber Knight: A psionic warrior-mystic, the Psyber Knights are respected and feared.

Rogue: Members of Societies seedy underbelly, the Rogue has many abilities that may be useful to a Venturing party.

• Thief: Any thug can kill people and take their stuff, it takes skill to just take without the killing.
  
• Assassin: Stand up fights are so declasse; the only fair fight is the one you loose.
  
• Intruder: Information is the real prize; knowledge is power and you can't stop the signal. No information system is safe from electronic intrusion.
  

Scout: Scouts specialize in seeing and not being seen, they are the eyes and ears of any group travelling the wastes and ruins.

• Ranger: Mountain man, monster hunter, bandit slayer, forester, wilderness guide.
  
• Outrider: Mounted scout whether the mount is living or machine.
  
• Scavenger: The 'Scav' specializes in recovering artifacts of the ancients from the ruins and selling them. Some ability to jury rig and repair, all serious Venture groups should have one.
  

Sky People: The lords of blue and black, orbital angels, the Sky People are the lifeline of a fallen world to the wider system. Smugglers, raiders, smugglers and even honest merchants. The Vikings of space, they are loved and loathed.

• Pilot: The dashing flyboy, aerial acrobat, the Pilot's Guild is ancient and venerable.
  
• Able Hand: The Able Hand forms the body of any Sky Ship crew.
  
• Specialist: No proper ship could get by without its Mission Specialists; from Sawbones to Scotsmen to Stewards, these are the department heads that Captains rely on.
  

Ok, that's what I've mapped out so far. What am I missing? Agents? Not a whole lot of ideas there. I know I want a drone specialist sub career, but I don't know where to put it. Maybe an Adepts branch with more educated classes? I need somewhere for fixers/bag men...

Venturer: Careers

Ok let's talk careers. The initial setting will be somewhat zoomed in on the Central States of Coventry (CSC) and the Yankish people, but most of its assumptions will be true for not just the ruins of Mundopolis Terra, but the solar system as well.

Instead of enlisting in imperial services or entering galactic careers, characters in Venturer will be testing to apprentice themselves into various guilds. If accepted they will gain some initial training and an opportunity to continue. Each 4 year indenture will give a character a chance to gain skills and to advance within the profession, or to crash and burn out miserably. The Nomad career will always be open, and some service will take levees, but you may only be levied once. Upon leving the service of their master, succesful characters will have the opertunity to gain starting funds (his master investing in his student) or trappings of his profession (starting gear).

I'm still mapping out some of the sub-careers (professions) but here's what I have so far:


Armsmen: Armsmen make their living with the strength of their arms, they are natural Venturers.

• Land Warrior: The most fundamental Armsman, the Land Warrior is skilled in hand weapons and military armor
• Dragoon: The Dragoon is a vehicle based soldier he is a driver, loader, gunner, commander, mechanic, or other crewman. Also capable of fighting on foot in a pinch.
• Immunes: The Immunes are skilled warriors who support their comrades in the fight and off the battlefield. Medics, technicians, artilleritsts, they are immune from most camp chores because of their rare skills.

Augmentees: These armored and enhanced warriors seek the toughest challenges, with great risks come great rewards.

• Power Troopers: Those who seek to master the almost lost art of battledress and power-suited combat. These powerful and valuable suits attract hostile attention on and off the battlefield.
• Excelsiors: These few crazed individuals seek to eek out impossible performance from their bodies with combat drugs, aftermarket parts, and metabolic tuning.
• Cyborgs: Where does the man end and the machine begin?
  

Divines: These holy men and women seek to bring the light and law of the spirit and gods of true men to the downtrodden masses in these dark times. Sometimes evil must be confronted directly

• Cleric: These ordained priests are forbidden from rending flesh or spilling blood. The good book is a mite fuzzier on the subject of neural maces or knee caps. Also respected healers of flesh and spirit.
• Monastic: Battle Monks and Warrior Nuns, these lay ascetics have left the walls of the monestary or convent to bring the word to those who will hear and sword to those who will not.
• Paladin: Former Armsmen and Noble warriors who have heard the call and enlisted as a Knight Brother in an order-militant.
  

Freemen: Not many of the lucky few skilled freemen will leave their walled enclaves, vaults, and cantonments for Ventures in the Wyld.

• Bards: Singers, story tellers, poets, troubadours, these wandering performers are one of the few sources of entertainment on the road, or off it.
• Tinker: Skilled crafters; a brave maker of fine things can make good money on the road
• Technician: Those skilled in the decaying technology of the ancients, the ruins still hold untold riches for recovery, if one is bold enough.
  

Mystics: Mystics use the power of their wills and their knowledge of hyperdimensional metaphysics to shape reality more to their suiting. Most honest people avoid mystics like the plague they are.

• Wizard: The Wizard, or Arcane Caster focuses on the formulaic side of magyckal theory; by holding strange alien and barbarous formulae of power in their minds they can rewrite the code of reality.
• Sorcerer: These magyckal casters focus on the wyld act of will to tap into sources of power beyond mortal ken.
• TechnoMage: These scientist-wizards seek to unify human reason with alien blasphemies. The search to unify law and chaos continues.
  

Noble: These grandees have great resources and credit available to them, but also attract attention to themselves without trying.

• Knight: A noble warrior, noble in station if not motive
  
• Lord: A holder of a title of some import or wealth
  
• Dilettante: An idly rich noble with many interests.

Nomad: Societies outcasts, this option always remains open to those who would walk alone.

• Barbarian: A rough hewn wanderer of mighty thews.
• Road Warrior: A wheeled drifter on the crumbling byways
• Vagabond: A little of this and a little of that in the big rock candy mountains.

Next time: Psions, Rogues, Scouts, and Sky Raiders

Venturer: Post Cataclysm Science Fantasy Traveller

As much as I love Basic Roleplaying (both for Elfquest, my intro to the hobby, and Call of Cthulhu, the BRP masterwork), I have been continually sidelining my BRP projects in favor Mongoose Publishing's new Traveller ruleset since I first aquired it, doubly so since I started running a Traveller campaign.

The new MGT rules approach the conceptual simplicity of the little black books, but with a unified system that doesn't require a separate sub system for every skill. It also blows away most versions after the LBBs due to comparatively tight editing and the aforementioned simplicity. Contrary to the closely held shibboleths of greybeard Traveller Grognards(tm), the great weight of Third Imperium Cannon was strangling Traveller, not defining it.

The MGT rules return us to a sense of wonder and wide open setting material with only a few essential assumptions penciled in, rather like early D&D and the neo-classical retro-clone movement. Even better, the new ruleset was released under an Open Gaming License, indeed, The OGL. which means that all those that want to develope for traveller, or even games inspired by Traveller are free to do so. Awesome! I truly believe that MGT has within it the potential to become the D20/D&D of SF roleplay, the baseline that it was always meant to be.

What does this mean for me? Well the 'Nemesis Gates' material I was working on for Chaosum's new BRP release will find a new home under Mongoose's Traveller, and I may just be able to sell it. Now that's something I wasn't expecting. This all became clear to me when I realized that in the MGT campaign I was running (it is on hiatus now) WAS the background story for the Nemesis Gate campaign. With the redirection of focus I need a new working title/codename, so now I am working on Venturer: Post Cataclysmic Releplaying, in a Science Fantasy vein.

So things in MGT that are awesome and must be included:

-careers and lifepath chargen.
-dynamic initiative
-stats as hitpoints
-quality of success adding to damage!!
-skill system encourages teamwork to solve problems
-connections between characters and party campaign skill packages
-social and education stats

Stuff that isn't in MGT that must be added:

-critical damage a-la WHFRP (love those bloody charts) 'head flies off 2d6' in a random direction'
-character advancement beyond trading down-time for skills
-magic
-sanity
-coolness under fire or 'bottle'
-situational awareness
-suppressive fire as area of effect attack not get driven back involuntarily
-mutations, corruption, and Lovecraftian stuff
-'gold' as experience (which ties into #2 above)

Watch this space, this is going to get interesting.

Sunday AAR

This past Sunday only two other (aside from yours truly) made the game. Present at the table were myself, Ulot, and Mr. Puente. Not having a quorum to continue the Traveller Campaign, we decided to play boardgames.

Lesson Learned. Always have a backup game; usually a boardgame-like game that can be played with small numbers and not much lead time. Of course, my roommate and I have boardgames so...

Ulot had just recently acquired the Battlestar Galactica board game so we broke out the box and started setting up. We only had three players so the game wasn't as good as we all quickely realized it could be, but it was pretty damn good nontheless. After the second game (which I won as the cylon president; starve you puny humans, starve! muahahaha!!) we tried a third game in which we each controlled two characters, alternating playing one and then the other, which worked surprisingly well. In the end though, having to divide our suspcicions between multiple characters made detecting cylons very difficult. All in all great game.

After we pigged out on the rich gamyness of the BGBG, we followed up with desert; a generous helping of light, whipped Zombies! I've heard there are some that don't like this game, no accounting for taste. Abyway, despite not getting in any Traveller, sunday went rather well.

Traveller: After Action Report II

After assembly at the usual time and place, it was discovered that we were down to three players to 50% strength. Aborting the campaign session in favor of board games was discussed but on the unanimous acclimation of Ulot, Puente, and Brandon, we proceeded as planned.

Play began at the sub-sector capitol's high-port in orbit, where we left off from last session. The crew then decided to entertain a lengthy debate on how and with what venture the party would embark to pay the mortgage on their ship. Captain Wong (Puente) strongly advocated a strategy of preying on outlaw spacers (drug dealers, pirates, and slavers) to finance the ship. Neither Cap'n Ronin (Brandon) nor Gideon (Ulot) had fundamental objections to that plan, although Gideon argued that it was best to start with Drug Dealers on the grounds that Slavers had manpower and weapons and Pirates had those and armed ships.

I let the discusion take its course and used the time to listen to the players plans (and formulate my own) as well as to catch up on some prep. The party then decided to to make for another planet (Freya or Frigga) to purchase supplies with the IC (imperial credits) 100,000 burning holes in their hold. There went all my prep for the High Port, arrrrgh!!

Aside, given that FTL comms are extremely rare, expensive, and low bandwidth; physical hard currency is big in my traveller universe. Treasure!!

Once dirtside, the party went shopping. I decided to throw a wrench in their plans at this point and threw a shady dealer at Cap'n Ronin (yar, pirates!). He made his streetwise check and I told him he got a bad feeling from this guy, but Ronin bought his shiny las pistol any way. Which ended up dragging him into a whole planetside police investigation into arms smugglers. To the rest of the parties horror, Ronin found himself wearing a wire to catch a big time arms dealer selling illegal arms.

What followed where some great roleplaying scenes as Ronin tried to work his way through the underworld without getting made. Just when I thought I was going to snap up the whole party in an escalating power struggle dirt side, the other two players manage to short circuit my plots in a daring extraction using the ship's launch (the same one that crashed into a mountain side during a previous extraction last game). They managed to nab both Cap'n Ronin and Markoth the Pink, Kra'ken arms dealer, target of Detective Swanson's operation. Then with some quick over the radio fast talking they managed to get to their ship and into orbit.

Not going to be outsmarted by the players, I figure that they can't hide from radar, and Detective Swanson manages to find them in time to have planetary defense ping them with targeting systems. In response to the sudden outbreak of radio problems on the Raptor as the party's ride is now known, the good detective sends them an g-mail (grav-wave network) 'put down or we'll put you down'. To which Captain Wong makes a counter offer; how much would it be worth to you if Markoth come down with a case of kinetic energy poisoning rather than live to get off the charges in trial.

But... Damnit. There goes that story. Of course the good detective leaps at a chance to cauterze this boil on society, she knows that alive he has money and political support, but dead he's just trash. Wong then maneuvers his way into getting 4 hours alone with the crime scene, it's not like the good detective wants these weapons on her planet stiring up trouble... Shit. Then the party manages to convince Markoth to pay them off for his life, which he does. They kill him anyway, of course. Bloody players got paid twice...

So the party manages to ship about 7 tons of gauss weapons and ammo into the Raptor's hold before the black and whites show back up from their call. And several smart missiles, some combat armor, a PGMP, and a pocket nuke. The party ends up selling the bulk of the weapons to a faction of pirates out of Hel headed by Captain Roberts, a four armed and three eyed combat enhanced human and very much a traditionalist (yar!!). This of course will end up changing the balance of power on the Council of Hel (evil grin). The party gets payed something ridiculous in bearer bonds redeemable on the Citadel and in Galactic Credits (gold pressed transuranics and highly traceable). The party uses this sum to pay a few months of the ships mortgage, their monthly expenses, and start a cache against a rainy day.

On their way back to Freya to begin their 'knock over the drug dealers' plan (aka kill the orcs and take their stuff) I roll up a random encounter. 'unusually bold pirate'. Hmmmm...

So the Raptor is wrenched out of warp space by a gravity well interdictor cruiser and 3 100 ton assault boats begin burning for them at thrust 6. This begins the slowest portion of the game, since space combat is both new to me and the party. It is discovered that my copy of the main book is MISSING the range modifiers to hit table, arrrgh!!! The party manages to burn the attackers with a combination of particle beam gunnery and missile strikes. Although if the Pirates hadn't been trying so hard not to kill anyone or if their gunner had hit more than once with the EMP beam...

Aside; I need to come up with some rules for the EMP beam, right now it is an act of plot...

Eventually the assault boats open up with their spinal mount meson guns, giving the party a big scare and irradiating one of the missing players. After dealing with the assault boats the party goes after the interdictor which they figure must be running on a skeleton crew and most of its volume taken up with the gravity well device. They target the things drives and score some awesome gunnery and damage rolls, crippling the pirate and leaving him dead in the water (note check for official called shots rules for space combat). The boarding action gets exciting with vislight chameleoned battle suited pirates giving the party a bit of a start. Luckily the party's paranoia in rigging their main lock with claymores pays off and the chameleon clouds are stripped away with plastique propelled ball bearings. Before the nano-clouds can reassemble, Gideon opens up with his PGMP...

So, scratch two battle suited pirates, expected. Before I can play up the suspense for the Pirate Big-Bad, Gideon tosses the pocket nuke onto the pirate ship. Unexpected. Scratch one mecha think-tank...

no game for you.

Sigh. So the party captures the interdictor, and sells it to Captain Roberts. Well, ok, I can work with that...

Questions for the GM, answered. Pt. II

Ok I would know how to refill from a gas giant safely. Of course if you want to say its so routine we don't need to know how great.

-Gas giant mag-scoop refueling is a routine operation. What amounts to your pilot making a routine pilot check (+2) to grab the H. Refining the fuel results in large amounts of 2^H (deuterium) which enriches the fuel mix, and removing impurities.

The only danger is running into a storm during your scoop-dive. Well that and Hydrogen is highly energetic and reacts with just about everything.

I would like to know about the drug dealers in the subsector.

-Groucho the Gimp; a Capo for the La Ventura family, Groucho is at the center of a network of soldiers, toughs, drug dens, pushers, dealers, smugglers, laboratories, nurseries, fields and refineries. Groucho's products include Cocaine, Crack, Crank, Crystal, Psych-Out, Heroin, Jet, Mentat, and others.

-Don Juan Y Cordoba (aka el minotauro); another La Ventura capo, slightly higher status than Groucho, Don Juan's products are marketed to a higher end clientele. His operation is focused around the resort planet of Paradiso and the Sub Sector capitol of Thorn.

-Malkott the Slimy; Malkott is a yl'yalyat or 'leader of eight eights', usually (incorrectly) translated as octurion. This Kra'Ken's branch of the Rending Maw deals in combat drugs, illegal augmentations, truth serums, mind programmers, and the creation of augmented sophonts; everything from juice enhanced enforcers to compliant bed-mates.

-Grinderman; Kra'vak Klashton AKA 'Grinderman' is a 1%er outlaw spacer and the Drakkon Prez of the 'Hell Hounds' chapter of the White Hands. His chapter of 'swoop' single-ship 'enthusiasts' have a side line in moving various party 'enhancers'. Their main money maker is piracy and extortion, but even still, the Hell Hounds move 60% of the x, hash, acid, and mind-blast in the Sub-sector. Members of the gang do not usually distribute however, that is a job for 'earthworms', 'dirtsiders, and 'groundhogs'.

Im looking for the top four and rate them based on the following critiera I would use my contacts in the ISS and any computer searches I can do to gather the following information. Est. number of ships?

-Groucho: A veritable fleet of smugglers and mules work for Groucho, 100+

-El Minotauro: Don Juan maintains a small network of front businesses that move his product; 30-50 all registered merchant vessels working for shell corps.

-Grinderman: 100+ Hell Hounds with non-warp capable single-ships and 3-4 warp capable mother ships.

-Malkott: Unknown, ISS has yet to get reliable intell on Malkott's organization. Est. 40-60 but that is a rough guesstimate. Several ISS agents have disappeared trying to infiltrate the Rending Maw.

Est. ammount of product moved?

-Groucho: Hundreds of thousands of tons per week, Groucho's operation supplies the street vendors for the better part of two-thirds of this Sector.

-El Minotauro: Unkown, but probably thousands of pounds, irregularly. It would appear that El Minotauro and Groucho have a business relationship. Groucho handles getting the product to Minotauro's group, who then gets it to Don Juan's high end clients. While Don Juan provides Groucho with political cover inside the family and out.

-Grinderman: Tens of thousans of pounds. If there's a party happening the Hell Hounds are probably helping, usually in exchange for pussy and beer.

-Malkott: Unknown, ISS has yet to get reliable intell on Malkott's organization. Est. 40-60 but that is a rough guesstimate. Several ISS agents have disappeared trying to infiltrate the Rending Maw.

Est. number of soilders/ employees?

-Groucho: A veritable army of soldatos, associates, and made men work for Groucho, 1000+, with access to that many more street toughs through his dependent dealers network.

-El Minotauro: Don Juan maintains a wealthy estate complete with a reinforced company of mercenaries (200+) as well as a network of made men operatives who run his distribution rings through disposable cut-outs (100+)

-Grinderman: 100+ Hell Hounds with non-warp capable single-ships and 3-4 warp capable mother ships. May call on the White Hands for reinforcements (1000+ outlaw spacers and pirates with armed single-ships, fighters, motherships, and corsair frigates)

-Malkott: Unknown, ISS has yet to get reliable intell on Malkott's organization. Est. 40-60 but that is a rough guesstimate. Several ISS agents have disappeared trying to infiltrate the Rending Maw.

Major drugs moved?

-Groucho: Cocaine, Crack, Crank, Crystal, Psych-Out, Heroin, Jet, Mentat, and others.

-El Minotauro: Cocaine, Morphene, Heroin, Hash, Black Lotus, Xyrx

-Grinderman: x, hash, acid, and mind-blast

-Malkott: reflex, hyper, high-speed, besyrk, rage, others

What those drugs do.

Jet: 'poor man's combat drug' -increased reaction time, sensory amplification
Psych-out: A retrovirus and speicialised lipids and acids that give psychic experiences
Mentat: Increases neural activity
Black Loutus: Hallucinogen and euphoric, some users claim psych-out like experiences.
Reflex: Increases reaction speed
Hyper: Metabolism booster
High-Speed: Adrennal booster
Besyrk: Similar to Rage
Rage: Similar to Besyrk
Xyrx: Extreme Euphoric

Growers or resellers?

All the major 'drug lords' under consideration have both production and wholesales operations to a greater or lesser extent.

Based on single planet or mobile?

Groucho: operates from a private space yacht

La Minotauro: operates from his estate on Paradiso's moon, Ulthar.

Malkott: Unknown

Grinderman: operates from his club-house/asteroid base in the asteroids of the Wolf system.

Space based drug labs/ manufacturing?

-Yes.