SW: At what level should PCs be able to buy a ship?

[dpdx]

I'm in a quandary.

I'm fixing to write a series of adventures for the Star Wars RPG universe (and share them, to the extent that I can), and I want a good chunk of it to be filled with exciting, harrowing space travel. I have ideas for what I want to do with that section of it, but my problem comes before.

I'm aware that PCs, even at first level, have the skills to fly a ship. Some of them even have hefty bonuses to Pilot checks, and can thus fly very well. But do they have the means to get their own ship?

I understand that PCs could be hired to fly someone else's ship, but for me, that takes the fun of ownership out of it. I'd like a party to have their own means of transportation in this adventure path. On the other hand, if they're not flying already, when they do level up, it takes away the believability of gaining additional ranks in Pilot.

At this point, I'm confused, maybe even to the point of missing an obvious suggestion in the RCRB or another pre-RCRB SW book, and I'm asking the considerable collective wisdom of the ENWorld membership to help me. By voting in my very first poll, you could do that.

Thank you.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I voted beyond 3rd, meaning probably never, but if you want it within a max. level 20 limit, probably beyond 10th.

If a character in Starwars is able to buy his own space craft, he could as well settle down, I think.

Well, the problem does also occur when you see D&D characters (why having magic items worth 200.000 gold pieces? 10.000 and you can live a nice life)

I used two approaches in my "Starfaring campaigns":
1) Starwars, before being revised
The charaters were assigned a ship they could grow accustomed and use nearly as if it was there own, though technically it wasn`t. Later they had enough money to buy their own ship, but this was probably "my fault" because they got to much money, I think... Though I am not sure about this. In Starwars, there is few to do with money - no cybernetics, no magic items...

2) (based on) Dragonstar
The characters captured an orcis space corvette whose crew went away raiding a primitive city, leaving back only a few guards. They never had to pay much for the ship, except some maintenance. They got some torpedos as payment for their job when they later helped freeing some (this time good ones) orc from a jail.

I figured a real problem with Starwars and money - if you give the characters to much to early, they have no real reason to go "adventuring".
But if they have few money at high levels (10+), some classes seem to be stupid - consider a Scroundel2/Noble8/Crimelord2 - he is already a real crimelord, but where is his organisation? Where are the smuggler ships that cause the "Resource Access"?

Mustrum Ridcully

 

[nsruf]

I voted 1st level, for the following reason:

If the ship is supposed to be an integral part of the story, then by all means give them one. If you are afraid of them selling it and settling down or buying other gadgets instead, then give them also an accompanying debt to pay off (IIRC this is how the old d6 SW handled it), or just make the ship obsolete enough to not fetch a high price on the market.

A starship is more of a plot device than a piece of equipment, really. And did you ever ask yourself "are the PCs of high enough level for this plot device?"

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

... sometimes I do.

Though I must agree with you - it is more a plot device than real equipment...

Unless you start wanting to have intriguing starcombat, and suddenly it might become an equipment, because even the best pilot stands n chance within a Z-95 against a flightgroup of TIE Defenders...

At least not in the current system ... My homebrew space combat system works somewhat different, and though it is still important to know how powerful the ship is, the abilities of the pilots are also extremely important (I add pilot hitpoints to the ship ones. Obviosly, I use different 'scales' between spacecraft and characters. Against 8d10x2 points of damage the 6 HD of the pilot won't do much...)

Mustrum Ridcully

 

[Benedict]

I voted 1st level because I think the characters can have a ship at 1st level if the story calls for it.

My last SW D20 campaign began with all characters at 3rd level, and with them aboard a chartered Trandoshan transport ship getting them off a plague planet that was being evacuated. The Trandoshan flew them to Shryyriwook instead of their intended destination with the intent of selling them to the slavers who were snatching Wookies (Rebel Era weeks before the start of Episode IV). By the end of the second game the characters had a ship, some Trandoshan corpses and a bunch of very grateful people they had rescued from slavery.

The players really appreciated not having to bum a ride everywhere they went.

benedict

 

[LostSoul]

I suggest you do what the old Star Wars d6 game did. Give a PC a ship as well as a debt equal to the value of the ship to a crimelord. That's an adventure hook just waiting to happen.

I've never found that money's been a problem in Star Wars. There's enough going on in the galaxy (the Civil War, for one) to keep the PCs adventuring.

 

[dpdx]

Excellent idea!

That's kind of what one of my game group suggested to me a long time ago, too: he's an old d6 DM, and he's helping me with the adventures I write up.

So then, at what level is that debt paid off? I'm kind of leaning toward around 4th, but in terms of the credits the party runs off with, that's kind of hit or miss (depending on such esoteric factors as which hooks they follow, luck at the sabacc tables, etc.).

The spaceship's gonna be important, too, for what I have in mind.

 

[wighair]

i would suggest sea level!

;-)

 

[LostSoul]

So then, at what level is that debt paid off?

The debt can be paid off at any time, it just depends on how much omney you want the PCs to have. But the influence of the crimelord should never go away until you're ready to leave the NPC behind. I'd suggest using the crimelord and his organization to harrass the PCs every now and then. The price of the debt will increase at a high rate, and when it gets too high the PCs will start to encounter bounty hunters.

Even if they pay him off, don't let the crimelord forget about them. Build the crimelord up slowly: at first, he is slightly beneficial to the group, if self serving; as time goes on, he becomes more and more of an adversary, trying to take down the PCs at any cost.