Associate

A Sophont or group with a specific relationship to a character

• It is a game mechanic.

Description (Specifications)

Over the course of their previous careers, characters will have made friends and foes and established ties with other Sophonts who may play a part in future adventures. Such Associates include:

• Allies: Who will actively help the character
• Contacts: Who may aid the character
• Rivals: Who will oppose the character
• Enemies: Who will seek to doom the character

These also include implied Associates from other relationships explicitly mentioned

• Family: Who may be any of the four categories above and may be:
  • A Parent or other person of an older generation
  • A Partner or Spouse (potentially including ex-Partners)
  • A Child
• Colleagues: Other Characters with a specific inter-party connection

Further types of Associate are also possible:

• Consort: An influential form of Spouse
• Assistant: A specialist form of Ally that work within a specific sphere:
  • Buyer/Seller Assistant (as below but more reliable)
  • Drone Assistant (also a Slave/Equipment - depending on your viewpoint)
  • Secretarial Assistant (also an Employee)
• Servant: A specialist Ally and a personal servant (May be an Employee or Slave)
• Buyer/Seller: Aids in predicting prices of goods in the markets

Where the Associates are groups rather than specific individuals, these are known as Networks.

• Networks are groups of anonymous individuals that may be used to generate temporary Associates.
• Networks will have a general area of expertise and require work to maintain (and may require expenditure).
• A character's family may also work as a default Network

Finally, the Associate may be an Imperial (or other) institution, when the relationship is called:

• Detached Duty: Where the institution is the IISS.
• Independent Operation: Where the relationship is to the Imperial Navy (or another Navy) and a corporation owned by the character but funded by that Navy.
• Retainer: Where the institution is the Imperial Navy (or some other) and the Character may be recalled to duty
• Subsidised Route: Where the relationship is to a Government and they are subsidising a merchant Ship.
• Trust: Where the relationship is to an Agency of a Government and the resources of that Agency may be drawn upon by the Character.

These forms of relationship are often associated with specific obligations and backed by Imperial Law.

References & Contributors (Sources)

This list of sources was used by the Traveller Wiki Editorial Team and individual contributors to compose this article. Copyrighted material is used under license from Far Future Enterprises or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.

• Gareth Hanrahan. Core Rulebook (Mongoose Publishing, 2008), 35.
• Gareth Hanrahan, Dom Mooney. High Guard (Mongoose Publishing, 2008), 39.
• Bryan Steele. Merchant Prince (Mongoose Publishing, 2010), 30.
• Bryan Steele. Agent (Mongoose Publishing, 2009), 3.
• Matthew Sprange. Core Rule Book (Mongoose Publishing, 2016), 45.
• Author & Contributor: BackworldTraveller