Smuggler Adventures

[beaumont sebos]

I am retiring my current campaign after nearly 9 years of play. I am now going to run a campaign where the characters are smugglers.

Currently, I am running a modified version of the Sisar Run for the characters. Problem is, I need to get some creative juices flowing for future adventures.

Anybody have ideas on any WEG books that might give me some good smuggler hooks?

And more importantly... do you have any of your own ideas for smuggler hooks that you would like to share?

Thanks
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Beaumont Sebos

"Saving the multiverse, one Gamorrean Ale at a time."

[Trusty]

Well, I've begun our campaign with the characters are tramps/smugglers. The books I have found that are absolutely neccessary are the following (in this order):

Galaxy Guide 6: Tramp Freighters
Galaxy Guide 9: Fragments from the Rim
Galaxy Guide 11: Criminal Organizations
Pirates and Privateers (and Far Orbit Object as well)
Galaxy Guide 10: Bounty Hunters
Platt's Smugglers Guide
Platt's Starport Guide
Wretched Hives of Scum and Villainy

An alien book is most helpful as well if you don't have one of them, just to give you more species to populate your campaign as smugglers deal with all kinds...and if you want the Black Sun involved, I also suggest The secrets of the Sisar Sun, Shadows of the Empire, and Shadows of the Empire: Planet's guide for resource material.

With dealing with crime bosses and their organizations, other competeing smugglers for big runs, bounty hunters, the Empire, local governments, pirates, and the like, the adventures write themselves...to the point that you have to be a flexibable GM, because events never turn out the way you plan them, usually due to the players luck, one way or the other, and you'll have to adept. But it sure is fun. Our players usually have to deal with four or five things at once. And make them keep track of everything and everyone they deal with. It is a lot of fun.

The main thing is to make them do the mundane things, docking fees, supplies, bribes, you know...the usual. Though the GG6 book tels you to keep your players broke more often than not, I don't play that way. Seems cliche, and from the perspective of GG6 the whole campaign they wrote out was to get them involved in the fight......so do it your way. I don't like to keep my players broke...in fact, I like the opposite. Money gives smugglers options, I always give my players a chance to make lots of money, but they have to keep it and I give them lots of ways they lose it too. Always in trouble. But also, I've seen them lose all but a couple of grand just gambling with their fortunes. And don't even try to make the dealer's skill die any higher than the characters.

Anyway, there is lots to do.
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Growing old is inevitable. Growing up is optional!

[Ray]

Smugglers are often in conflict with the people that hired them. They can't run to the Trade Guilds or the Police and go, "They didn't pay me for the contract on this illegal goods shipment", now, can they?

Or the PCs are paid in Planetary Script, which isn't worth anything off the planet (The Imperial Credit is the standard unit for spending on a Galactic level. It doesn't *HAVE* to be used on a Planetary Basis. Kinda like the Euro can be used, but every European Country still has it's old currency.).

The shipments can also be dangerous. Animals are nice for this. As are radioactives and corrosives.

Sometimes what they're shipping is legal by the terms of the Empire, but illegal to ship into or out of by the laws of the planet. Fertilizer might be illegal to Import on a Farming Planet ruled by a restrictive Corporation that wants to keep everyone in check, and the farmers are still willing to pay Black Market Prices for Prime Bantha ****. Kegs of Lum might be illegal to import to a planet that's "Dry" (Prohibition Planet. No fun!). It might be illegal to export Cigars from another planet as they don't wish to let the "Unwashed Heathens" soil their fine quality goods.

Then there's just being smugglers to get around heavy Terriffs (Taxes on goods moved In/Out of a place.).

And there's Gun Running. Always profitable, but dangerous as you've just equipped the people who you want to be paid by with weapons.

A good suggestion for ideas, "Firefly". It's worth the paying price for the DVDs, and it's movie "Serenity" comes out in a few months! Excellent ideas for a Smuggler Ship Campaign!

[Trusty]

[Endwyn]

One of the most fun adventures I ran (fun for the GM in spades) was an adventure Inever got to see come to fruition. The basic plot goes like this:

An evil businessman invited the PC's to a special business dinner where he was going to hire them for a very important job. The PC's arrived and had small talk and such prior to dinner, and they signed the contract to deliver the package to (random world). Over dinner the businessman explained that the characters would be taking encoded data disks off planet to protect their security, that a competitor had been trying to steal the disks. He further explained that the contents of the disks were going to corner the market and his competitors would do anything to get the disks. He placed the disks on the dinner table and they went about serving dinner. Shortly therafter a bounty hunter in full armor came through the new hole in the wall and moved directly, quickly towards the disks. He ended up taking quickly and exiting again. The PC's then were left confused and bedazzled. The businessman then said he had to get the disks back and "freaked out". He sent his security after the intruder. He came back to the PC's the next day and had a list of the transport schedules for each disk - the competitor wasn't going to let all the data disks be in one place at one time. Then the PC's go after them, one disk at a time....an adveture for each, as many disks as you want.

The twist, and the fun is that the PC's didn't know that the businessman was the "bad guy"; and were oblivious to the fact that they were being used to steal the competitor's product. That the bounty hunter had been hired by the businessman and those disks were blank. Every encounter the PC's had gave clues something wasn't right. Mine had one, and ignored the clues. They were accused of stealing, ect - my PC's responded with things like "Just stealing it back!", ect.

[beaumont sebos]

Hey, thanks for all the help on this. And thanks for the idea Endwyn. Keep 'em coming folks!
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Beaumont Sebos

"Saving the multiverse, one Gamorrean Ale at a time."

[KageRyu]

Prior to settling on my current campaign I was, for a time, going to run a campaign where the players were smugglers and hired guns for a small corporation. They were not going to realize their boss's activities were illegal, but there were going to be constant clues. Their were going to be a lot of "odd" cargo runs that made little sense. Recovering lost artifacts, transporting researchers, deep space rendevous. All the stuff that makes a characters life dangerous. Salvaging materials from ancient battlefields, hauling dangerous...even prohibited life forms, and yes...gun running.
It would have been an interesting campaign, replete with chases, conflicts, imperial entanglements, hyperspace hijinks, alien tech, new worlds, old worlds, mysteries, intrigue, drama, and whatever else I coulda fit in...
It's on the back burner now.
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"There's a set way to gain new Force Points and it represents a very nice system, where you're rewarded for heroism, not for being a poor conductor to electricity." ~Jachra

[Argamoth]

One of the best things with Smugglers is that they can get involved with just about ANYTHING. Ancient weaponry, old blood feuds, Rebels vs. Imperials, the Hutts, whatever.