Estimating ship costs

[ZepDek]

One of my favorite game types to run is pirate based games, but the one think that always irked me is that many of the imperial ships that could be seized (Say a light corvette) by clever players have no cost. I am usually spitballing prices and guess'timating how much they may cost if the players want to sell it to the rebels, the hutts, or keep it and modify it. How do you all estimate costs for ships with 'not available for sale'?

[Bren]

Usually I don't.

You have to ask yourself and your players, how much tracking of gold pieces, I mean credits, do you want to do in your Star Wars game?

Unless the actual tracking really appeals you and your group, you may want to avoid the accountancy that tracking will require.

For light freighters there are enough examples one can estimate actual value. The problem is usually with military vessels. One option is not to put a literal price tag on the ship, but to treat it as a bartered trade. Rebels probably don't have a big stash of cash anyway so they will trade something that they have but that they want less than they want than the vessel that the pirates or privateers are offering. Freeports will do much of the same. What can they offer?

Other ships in trade, possibly ships with clean ownership and title
Fake ship papers, registration, and transponder codes
Food, supplies, ammunition
A place to rest and refit
Medical services (someone has to install those cybernetic arms that the pirate template has)
Repairs and modifications and upgrades to the PCs ship

Another question is what do the players want money for?

Historically many pirates (and English sailors with prize money) squandered all or most of their wealth in port. If the players just want the fun of having PC pirates who can throw credits around like water whenever they are in port, then instead of tracking credits use some sort of wealth levels and figure out what the temporary wealth level per crew person the sale of a ship will afford. Sell a Guardian-class light corvette and maybe that allows the crew to spend a few weeks in port living really well. Sell a light cruiser and the crew can maybe live like kings for a month or two.

If the players want wealth to achieve some other goal e.g. buy a small moon to retire to, restore their family fortune, buy an even bigger and better ship. Rather than track actual credits, let each ship acquired give them some percentage of the required total that they need. Figure out how many ships you want them to need to capture to get to 100% of their goal.

[Whill]

[Bren]

Not so much that they wouldn't, but more that they couldn't. And some Rebels will have ethical concerns dealing with pirates as opposed to privateers.

[Whill]

[Mamatried]

Not Available for sale I tend to give some huge price of bought, and this being sometimes in the 100s of thousands of credits, to millions even.

However some of those could be a fun mission to "get for free" as they call is.

Also most such ship are warships, even if for sale the restriction would in many cases cause them to be blow to bits or simply boarded and arrested by the empire, or other governments.

I mean why don't people by AH_64 Apaches here on earth

[Bren]

[ZepDek]

Fair enough I suppose. Thank you all for the advice!

[garhkal]

But for a 'base cost' to base repair costs off of, you still need a 'estimated value'..
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[Mamatried]

[MrNexx]

My simple suggestion? Look for a similarly sized ship that DOES have a listed cost, and just assume it's somewhere near there. A corvette and a cargo ship aren't REALLY similar, but it will at least give you a ballpark.
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