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Ray
Commodore
Joined: 31 Oct 2003
Posts: 1743
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, North America, Western Hemisphere, Earth, Sol, Western Arm, Milky Way
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 Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2005 10:33 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | "Firstly, would it be standard practice for said inspector to check it with the BOSS database or would they just check over trhe paperwork." |
Standard Practice for this type of thing would be to check everything with BOSS. More likely, the guy doing it would just check the Database that was downloaded into ships computer whenever they updated it last (To speed it up, and cut down costs of calling BOSS.).
If the place is really lax, or very busy the guy just might take the paperwork at face value. Go, "Ya, that's good, get out of here.", and call it a day. They see a few hundred ships every day, so one more won't be anything special.
If he's a jerk, he'll do the full check anyway. Twice. And take a long time filling out the rest of the datawork just to make the "Illegitimate Freight Hauler" late out of spite. Why? 'Cause he's joined the Imperial Navy to kill Rebels, not check freighters to see if they're illegal, and if he's going to suffer, everyone else should!
| Quote: | | "Secondly, say they DID check with the main registry, and it showed the ship as not listed/stolen etc. What would the penalty be for the owner?" |
Not Listed: Depends on what is meant by "Not Listed". If the ship's registered under another name, they'd probably buy a story like, "Damn BOSS and it's Beurecratic nightmare. We registered the new name a month ago, and they still haven't changed it!". As this likely, legitimately happens a dozen times a week, the Imperial will probably let it pass. There may be a fine, but that'll almost definetly actually be a thinly disguised bribe to let them go as opposed to being a real fine.
Again, we come to the jerk. He won't let anything pass, 'cause, well, he's a jerk.
If you mean there's *NO* listing for the ship, well, it could be a problem with the records only. If the group has all the paperwork in order, the Imperials will likely go, "In the interest of keeping commerce flowing, please continue as everything SEEMS to be in order, but this is going into the records now. Please see a BOSS representative to get this sorted out upon planetfall, however.". Again, a fine (*Cough*Bribe*Cough*) may be needed.
If they don't, well, expect a long wait while the Imperials and BOSS fight it out with each other. Or just let you go after a bit of a wait, 'cause the ships are backing up and their needed to inspect those ships, with a warning to get things sorted out with BOSS as above. The jerk won't be able to do anything here, as he's likely to be cussed out by his Superior, but the jerk will probably find any reason he can think of to fine the group as much money as he can. "Obvious Maintence Violations" are a good one here.
If the ship is listed as "Stolen", then the group gets an all expense, paid trip to the brig, complete with all the Stormie Rations and water the Imperials feel like giving them until everything is either sorted out, or they get put on trial for Grand Theft Starship. The jerk will probably follow the group, taunting them from the safety of behind the Stormtroopers/Naval Troopers.
No, I haven't thought about this much, my Father is a truck driver, and here's some of his horror stories of trying to move stuff accross a border. |
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garhkal
Sovereign Protector
Joined: 17 Jul 2005
Posts: 14032
Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.
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| Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2005 2:15 am Post subject: |
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Well, it would not be lax, due to the fact they called for it to happen. Usually when a bureaucratic group calls for some sort of inspection (going off of military ones here...) they are more harsh than normal as for how they look.
| Quote: | | Not Listed: Depends on what is meant by "Not Listed". If the ship's registered under another name, they'd probably buy a story like, "d*mn BOSS and it's Beurecratic nightmare. We registered the new name a month ago, and they still haven't changed it!". As this likely, legitimately happens a dozen times a week, the Imperial will probably let it pass. There may be a fine, but that'll almost definetly actually be a thinly disguised bribe to let them go as opposed to being a real fine. |
I doubt it would take that long, and if they DID get that happening that often, they would imo actually make MORE checks.
| Quote: | | If you mean there's *NO* listing for the ship, well, it could be a problem with the records only. If the group has all the paperwork in order, the Imperials will likely go, "In the interest of keeping commerce flowing, please continue as everything SEEMS to be in order, but this is going into the records now. Please see a BOSS representative to get this sorted out upon planetfall, however.". Again, a fine (*Cough*Bribe*Cough*) may be needed. |
See the bribing imperial officers thread. The female i have doing the inspections is tenacious and a snitch at heart, so won't take bribes... she is a stickler, and the slightest problem will get her 'squeeling'.... to pardon the expression.
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Ray
Commodore
Joined: 31 Oct 2003
Posts: 1743
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, North America, Western Hemisphere, Earth, Sol, Western Arm, Milky Way
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| Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2005 3:02 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | I doubt it would take that long, and if they DID get that happening that often, they would imo actually make MORE checks. |
We're talking bulk checks here. Every minute you take is a minute that you're not checking another ship. And while security must be maintained, so, to, must commerce must flow.
And Freighters that have perishable goods will scream for every wasted second. And most of them are probably legitimate Guild ships, with connections behind them.
And it would depend on how good the connection to BOSS is, how quick the connection, how big a database the ship is able to allocate to ship info storage, etc.
Finally, we're dealing with human beings, not Droids. They get tired of doing the same thing over and over again. Checks and checks and checks and nothing to show for it but a large pile of data that noone will ever look at. So much easier to just wave folks on if they got the documentation they need, and can "Only get it through BOSS anyhow, so they'll just confirm what we already know *HAS* to be true.".
| Quote: | | The female i have doing the inspections is tenacious and a snitch at heart |
See my comments on "Jerk". She makes a perfect example. |
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scott2978
Lieutenant Commander
Joined: 02 Jun 2005
Posts: 220
Location: Arizona, USA
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| Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 7:37 pm Post subject: |
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Individual Imperial starships do not have a direct connection to BOSS. There are at any one time several million customs inspections happening simultaneously across the galaxy. The Holonet is not to be crowded with every single trivial customs checkout across the galaxy. Instead, each ship's computer downloads some of the BOSS datawork into it's own computer to conduct the checks. why "some" of the BOSS datawork? Because all of it is not necessarry, because of how computers work in Star Wars.
Lets take a minute to say something about computers in the Star Wars setting. They are not like computers here and now on Earth. In Star Wars information technology has reached the level of artificial intelligence, and this is used in computers and databases as well as droids. In star wars, computers don't save data as "files" to be presented to a user exactly as it was input. A computer in star wars saves information as "facts" and then constructs the answers that it gives back to the user from scratch, based on what the computer knows. A Star Wars computer's answer to any question is basically just an educated guess! When a ship's science computer is asked "Are there any humans aboard that ship?" for instance, the computer retrieves data from the sensors, and based on that data makes an "educated guess" as to weather any signs of life on the ship represent actual humans as opposed to say, a droid or a Twilek, based on what the computer knows about humans.
So, it's possible that an Imperial Customs frigate and a Star Destroyer will have the same level of BOSS records, based on what their ship's computer "knows". That ship's computer is always learning more things, and at some point that data will be transmitted to BOSS for integration into the network/database. |
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KageRyu
Commodore
Joined: 06 Jul 2005
Posts: 1391
Location: Lost in the cracks
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| Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2005 4:45 am Post subject: |
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| garhkal wrote: | | Ok. Lets say, that the imps have set up a 'inspection station; running 5 year safety and BOSS update checks on all ships coming into system Y. They run this for, say, 45 days. The pcs in their supped up illegal freighter come in, and see that there is little chance of running (say 2 Interdictors, and lots of fighters). They dock for their turn, and hand over their forged paperwork saying everything is legit... Firstly, would it be standard practice for said inspector to check it with the BOSS database or would they just check over trhe paperwork. Secondly, say they DID check with the main registry, and it showed the ship as not listed/stolen etc. What would the penalty be for the owner?? |
Unless the customs officer was in a very big hurry, or didn't care much about the assignment, they would most definately check the BoSS database. They would compare all information for discrepencies, and look for previous violations. They would also thoroughly check cargo manifests. In the event a ship came up "Unlisted" they would probably use this as a reason to flag it, move it to the side, and advise the next higher up the chain that a search would be in order (whether said officer conducts a search or passes it off for easy credits is another storry). Keep in mind, most customs checkpoints you have teams, the point officer, who revues paperwork, working under supervisor's. The Custom's officer informs the supervisor of findings, discrepencies, etc... then the supervisor is responsible for the next action. If the supervisor decides a search is warranted, then he will also decide the level of search (your smuggler remembered to buy scanner proof compartments right?)
For a ship to come up Stolen, well, that is definately a one way ticket to being arrested, tried, found guilty, and shipped to scenic Kessel, or one of the empires many other slave labor facilities.
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Volar the Healer
Jedi
Joined: 04 Aug 2003
Posts: 664
Location: Arizona, USA
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| Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2005 10:02 am Post subject: Re: BOSS... |
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| garhkal wrote: | The imperial bureau of ships and spacers...
How hard would it be to forge ones paperwork for ship ownership/legality of weapons etc on it./?? |
Sometimes it helps to compare game situations to real world situations;
How hard would it be to forge FAA papers that you own an airplane, or NOAA records you own a ship? I suspect it would require a forgery roll of difficult (20).
| garhkal wrote: | | How long would it take for an inspector to get conformation that the info is 'coshier'? What would the fine be for it NOT?? |
(I assume you mean 'kosher'.) I always figured information travels trough the Empire at the speed of a x1 hyperdrive. This suggests they'd be used to the idea of working with delays in the administrative systems, similiar to admin under the British empire in the 1700's. It might take weeks or months for the Empire to realize a ship had been stolen - not sold...depending on how far you are from the core worlds.
| garhkal wrote: | | How hard would it be to actually get into BOSS's computers to input those forged paperwork?? |
How hard would it be to access a government database? I suspect the answer is very difficult (25).
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MA-3PO
Lieutenant Commander
Joined: 17 Apr 2005
Posts: 236
Location: Olathe, Kansas
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| Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2005 1:25 am Post subject: |
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One of the most interesting things about BOSS in my opinion is that it is an entity independent of the government and possesses it's own culture of sorts. From Cracken's Rebel Field Guide:
| Quote: | The Bureaus of Ships and Services (BoSS)is one of the oldest institutions in the galaxy. It has its own customs, traditions, and unique personality. Most of the positions are filled through hereditary means. BoSS is as much a star spanning tribe as it is a civil bureaucracy.
As the decades have passed and one government after another has come into power, BoSS is one of the few bureaucracies to remain relatively
unchanged. BoSS has assured itself independence for two reasons. First, the sprawling and complicated files of BoSS are kept in nearly indecipherable codes. Only family members have access to the organization codes of the files. The second reason is BoSS's long-standing policy of neutrality. Each power that rules or manages the galaxy simply inherits BoSS. Apparently, the BoSS familyhas no political aspirations, and the Empire seems to be yet another government that accepts BoSS without threatening it.
Only once has BoSS faced a legitimate threat. Several centuries ago, the Borvak Clan threatened violence against the family. BoSS managed
to bring interstellar trade to a standstill by threatening to delete every file of every starship in the galaxy unless the planetary governments united
to defeat the Borvaks. The Borvaks backed down after the first thousand warships arrived in their home system.
BoSS records are continuously updated and shipped throughout the galaxy. What information is given to starports and worlds and how
quickly it gets there is dependent upon subscription fees paid to BoSS. The higher the fee paid, the more information a starport or institution receives, and the faster it arrives. Most starports pay the minimum fee and get basic
updates twice a year. The Empire pays an enormous sum to BoSS, and BoSS sends special shuttles to the Imperial Capital. where the information is disseminated to key Imperial worlds and bases.
Because we live in an especially "delicate" period ofpolitical history, more and more people are doing what they can to skirt around BoSS's information net. I want to make it clear, however, that while we must often outwit BoSS to cheat the Empire of information, we must not act against BoSS directly. Remember that the Alliance also buys information from BoSS.
BoSS sets up special units to track down people and ships who are attempting to circumvent their data gathering services. These operatives
see the collection of this information as their duty to their subscribers and only use force defensively. The BoSS operatives, known as Gatherers, do
not have a uniform. And just as the BoSS tribe itself contains countless races from many different backgrounds...so to do the Gatherers defy a
simple description. They are usually well trained in computer skills, espionage, and have a wide breadth of knowledge. Some are also trained as fighters.
Transponder codes can be listed as "classified" within the BoSS files. This means that the code is not available to standard subscribers. Being listed as classified costs several hundred thousand credits. However, BoSS also sells classified information for a higher fee. Although the Empire has enough credits to traffic such information, we've bought our fair share of expensive information from BoSS as well. |
BoSS files only travel as fast as the courier ships that carry them. These ships will jump into a system long enough to download and upload updated files and then jump to their next destination.
I think there are some monks in Mos Eisley that have managed to hack into the local BoSS database. |
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boldulyses
Ensign
Joined: 26 Dec 2005
Posts: 33
Location: Northeast USA
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| Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2005 6:29 pm Post subject: |
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They would be the DimU monastery just off the center of town near the Dowager Queen. The information in GG7 doesn't specify if they work for the Bloated One or Valarian or anyone other than themselves. They're quite a happy bunch of bantha worshipping BoSS hacking fiends!
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"There comes a time in every man's life when he has to decide whether he wants to follow the path of the Jedi, or if he wants to be cool like Vader." -Unknown
My site sucks; check it out! I hope to improve it. |
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scott2978
Lieutenant Commander
Joined: 02 Jun 2005
Posts: 220
Location: Arizona, USA
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| Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2005 6:32 pm Post subject: |
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| scott2978 wrote: | Individual Imperial starships do not have a direct connection to BOSS. There are at any one time several million customs inspections happening simultaneously across the galaxy. The Holonet is not to be crowded with every single trivial customs checkout across the galaxy. Instead, each ship's computer downloads some of the BOSS datawork into it's own computer to conduct the checks. why "some" of the BOSS datawork? Because all of it is not necessarry, because of how computers work in Star Wars.
Lets take a minute to say something about computers in the Star Wars setting. They are not like computers here and now on Earth. In Star Wars information technology has reached the level of artificial intelligence, and this is used in computers and databases as well as droids. In star wars, computers don't save data as "files" to be presented to a user exactly as it was input. A computer in star wars saves information as "facts" and then constructs the answers that it gives back to the user from scratch, based on what the computer knows. A Star Wars computer's answer to any question is basically just an educated guess! When a ship's science computer is asked "Are there any humans aboard that ship?" for instance, the computer retrieves data from the sensors, and based on that data makes an "educated guess" as to weather any signs of life on the ship represent actual humans as opposed to say, a droid or a Twilek, based on what the computer knows about humans.
So, it's possible that an Imperial Customs frigate and a Star Destroyer will have the same level of BOSS records, based on what their ship's computer "knows". That ship's computer is always learning more things, and at some point that data will be transmitted to BOSS for integration into the network/database. |
It seems like most people prefer to ignore my information! I didn't make that stuff up you know, it's in the 2nd Edition revised and expanded players handbook, and in the GM screen booklet.
Also about the question of "what would the penalty for X be?" the GM screen has a really handy chart of exactly what constitutes each of the various levels of infractions against Imperial codes, and what the punnishments for each type of infraction are likely to be. If nobody has that I might post it here in full.
Sometimes it helps to compare game situations to real world situations;
| Quote: | | How hard would it be to forge FAA papers that you own an airplane, or NOAA records you own a ship? |
I think forging BOSS records is a LOT harder than that. For one, you can't just hand over forged "papers". Every ship or base that is taking the time to check them will have the ability to check them against their BOSS records, and they have to match. It's more like trying to forge one of those ID badges that you have to swipe to get past a security door. If your forgery looks good, that's not enough to fool any serious inspection. Not to mention adjusting the transponder signal of your ship, the engine power signature and the hyperwave signature. |
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garhkal
Sovereign Protector
Joined: 17 Jul 2005
Posts: 14032
Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.
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| Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2005 2:50 am Post subject: |
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Good point for the latter part, about making the signatures of the ship match the forged document..
As to the gm handbook, no i don't have that. Might have to request it..
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scott2978
Lieutenant Commander
Joined: 02 Jun 2005
Posts: 220
Location: Arizona, USA
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| Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2005 3:15 pm Post subject: |
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| The book is called the Game Masters Screen. The cover of the book is a fold-out tabletop screen, and inside is a book with tons of good info, including the infraction codes and punnishments, towards the end. |
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garhkal
Sovereign Protector
Joined: 17 Jul 2005
Posts: 14032
Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.
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| Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2005 12:12 am Post subject: |
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Thanks. i noted that, after i spent a few mintutes trying to figure out which to download, eventually realising i already had the GM screen.
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