Shipjacking

[Wajeb Deb Kaadeb]

It seems to me, if you've got a droid with the right programming (a high Security skill), that breaking into a ship ain't all that hard.

DJ didn't seem to have too much of a hard time jacking the smuggler's vessel in TLJ. He must have a high Security skill, and maybe a tool or two that gives him a bonus.

Maybe the droid can be fitted with a special gizmo that gives him a bonus, too.

I remember the skip jacking kit from the game, but I'm not so sure even that's necessary.

If you've got the skill and the tools, it doesn't seem like its that hard to take a ship.

[garhkal]

Yea, even looking at some of the ship securing tech via Galadiniums and the like, the HIGHEST i see requires a mere very diff (25) to break through. So someone able to get 7d+1 or more in security ON average should be able to break into most any ship..
_________________
Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[cheshire]

Just a thought. Maybe what's stopping most skilled beings is not the inability to stroll off with a ship, but the ability to get away with it in any meaningful sense afterward.
_________________
__________________________________
Before we take any of this too seriously, just remember that in the middle episode a little rubber puppet moves a spaceship with his mind.

[Wajeb Deb Kaadeb]

[Mamatried]

How to jack a ship

use a boarding vessel
plasma cutting torch
enter and neutralize the crew/troops
make sure the boarding crew is large enough to pilot the ship
the pray and try to get out of dodge

if successful ship is jecked
if not then the poor sods will be breathing vacum

[cheshire]

[garhkal]

[Sutehp]

Adventure Journal 13, pp.132-165 has an excellent article specifically on shipjacking. It's half short story (starring T'Charek Haathi and her Special Ops team trying to acquire a new YT-1300 from a spaceport on Zelos II) and half game statistics manual on shipjacking in the D6 SWU. It's specifically stated that trying to legally purchase ships the Rebel Alliance needs would bankrupt the entire Alliance in just a few days. Moreover, because of BoSS' exacting records, such ships could be easily traced, which would render them useless for covert operations. Even purchasing ships on the black market would still be too expensive to fill the Alliance's needs. Thus, the Alliance has only one viable option: steal the ships they need.

Also, in light of Mamatried's post about how to steal a ship, it needs to be noted that what he posted was essentially piracy: force your way onto a ship, subdue the crew, man the controls, and get the hell outta dodge. But the AJ article shows that there's a MUCH easier way to steal a ship: jack it while it's still on the ground. Not only do you not have to worry about any crewmen, it's arguably a lesser charge if you get caught: stealing/grand theft vs. piracy. The former is (kinda/sorta) a property dispute while the latter puts lives in danger and will be looked on FAR more harshly by the authorities, especially if any civilians got hurt or killed during the shipjacking.

There are three levels of security that shipjackers have to overcome to successfully steal a ship: 1) physical barriers like guards, walls, tripwires and the like; 2) the hardware and/or physical protection of the security system itself (namely locks and alarms and such) which are dealt with by the security skill; and 3) security software, which is dealt with by the computer/programming skill.

The article then addresses what to do with the ship once the shipjackers get away with their booty. If the ship is going to be used for combat, there's no need to make the ship "legal" again because BoSS licenses tend to be rather low on the priority list when ships are shooting at you. But if the ship is going to be used for covert operations, then the ship has to be made "legal" in one of two ways: either find a really skilled slicer who can both modify the ship's transponder and slice into BoSS' database to insert the new transponder signature; or bribe a BoSS official into modifying the existing records of the ship's transponder from "recently stolen" to "everything's fine, nothing to see here, zoom zoom." Either way has its advantages and disadvantages, but both tend to be pretty expensive depending on either the slicer or the BoSS official.

There's also a blurb about the black market occasionally setting up a regular event known as "the Auction," which is usually set up by a crime lord or pirate syndicate where shipjackers from all over the galaxy can sell their wares in relative safety. Needless to say, that "relative" in "relative safety" needs to be highly emphasized because y'know, no honor among thieves and pirates and Hutt gangsters and all that. The security of the Auction is the responsibility of the crime lord sponsoring the event; needless to say, this sponsor is only going to reveal the location and time of the Auction to contacts he knows he can trust. Furthermore, the docking fees for the Auction are going to be lavish because hey, security isn't going to be cheap. Also, one needs to remember the whole "no honor among thieves" thing previously mentioned. Just because the sponsor is going to do everything he can to keep the Empire from finding out about the Auction doesn't mean that the Auction is going to be safe for the PCs, especially if they're going to be in such unsavory company as pirates and shipjackers and gangsters (oh my!).

The next parts of the game mechanics section of this article detail how to form a shipjacking team and what skills are required, followed by a lexicon of shipjacking terms and an adventure ideas section, and concluding with a shipjacking equipment list.

All in all, I really liked how this article fleshes out how shipjacking works in the D6 SWU. The short story about another one of T'Charek Haathi's Spec Ops adventures just adds to its awesomeness. 8)
_________________
Sutehp's RPG Goodies
Only some of it is for D6 Star Wars.
Just repurchased the X-Wing and Tie Fighter flight sim games. I forgot how much I missed them.

[Argentsaber]

[Sutehp]

[Whill]

[garhkal]