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I was reading the second book in the Han Solo Trilogy and I was thinking of the upcoming space expansion and how this would create some content for our profession. I was intrigued by Han's first Kessel Run. Imagine having to navigate your spaceship through a series of waypoints that is both dangerous and cunning. The rewards you reap can be high, but the risk is your life and your ship.

The Kessel Run

The Kessel Run isa challenge to get your spaceship from known space to the planet Kessel. It falls perilously close to The Maw, a tightly packed group of black holes that will pull your craft from hyperspace to be lost forever. Kessel is also found in a system that is surrounded by asteroid fields that are difficult to navigate. There are easier and safer ways to navigate to Kessel, but the resulting trip is not profitable because of the cost and time for the trip. The only way to exploit a trip to Kessel is to cut corners, with a shorter trip and possibly destruction.

Glitterstim

Glitterstim is the spice mined on the caves of Kessel. It must be mined and processed in complete darkness. It is very rare and highly prized throughout known space. The cost of the glitterstim and the dangers of the Kessel Run make this a valuable commodity. It will strongly buff all stats for 120 minutes and make a user very dangerous indeed with no side effects. Glitterstim has a very short shelf life and will decay at a very fast rate. The only way to make a profitable run is to take the most dangerous routes to get it to the customer in a timely fashion. It is a highly controlled substance, and is illegal in all quadrants of the galaxy. The empire is very thorough in the interdiction and capture of smugglers. It is rumoured that Han Solo is being sought by Jabba the Hut himself for dumping a load of glitterstim, to evade imperial capture.

Black Market

There is a limit to the amount of glitterstim that is produced on Kessel. The price of glitterstim is driven by demand and the number of smugglers willing to attempt the Kessel Run. A terminal (which must be sliced) will provide that day's price of glitterstim and the quantity available and unspoken for. You will be allocated an amount upon request at that days price. If you make a successful Kessel Run your ship will be loaded with that amount and your bank account will be accessed for the amount of the load. You then must again navigate the Kessel Run to get your load back to known space and avoid Imperial interdiction. Quantities of glitterstim that are not picked up are added back to the pool and the next days price is adjusted accordingly based upon supply.

Glitterstim cannot be sold on the Bazaar or by vendor. It must be sold using a secure trade window. Security personnel will always be on the lookout for glitterstim smugglers and those that are caught will be fined heavily. Unfortunately it is impossible with current scanning technology to determine without a blood sample, who is using glitterstim.

Conclusion

I recommend reading "The Hutt Gambit" by A.C. Crispin. It is the second book in the Han Solo Trilogy that really rounds out the character for me and builds out the smugglers and their society. I'd like to see your comments on this "Kessel Run" idea. Keep it focused, and on topic please.

Thanks for your consideration.

Nice post Waer. This is the kind of content i think all smugglers are gunning for, and we'd all rejoice to see.
However, being that this is dependant on the Space Expansion, i doubt it'll be well received, simply due to the fact that so many Smugglers want immediate gratification instead.
Personally i would be wiling to wait for this kind of quality content over some immediate kind of content.

Those 3 books, are the bomb. And if you think #2 is good, wait till ya read Rebel Dawn the 3rd and final book of the Han Solo Trilogy. Man the last few pages of it will bring the BIGGEST smile to your face!!

Is that he trilogy were Han has to replace the "super-duper" radar dish he has on the falcon a couple times? then he losses it again on the asteroid worm in Ep.V heheh

i loaned that out ages ago...i needto go crack some heads and see if i can get it back.

yep...

Highlights :

Wins The Falcon

Meets Chewie

Han in an IMP? yep....

Lando is introduced...

Also, remember the Bothans that died to get the rebels the plans for the 1st Death Star? Well the leader of that group was Han's lady.....

lol, yeah i read parts of those books when i was doing community service at my library. Han joins the imperial navy and thats where he learns how to fly. Right?

Great response to the post. But what do you think of the Kessel Run idea? I never thought that the smuggler would get any serious content until the space expansion was released. "The Hutt Gambit" is my inspiration for the idea. I'd like to see discussion as to it's merits.

Focus people! LOL

Absolutely top class idea, though I'm with Kav vis a vis, buying the stuff from NPC's.

Perhaps make kessel the only place you can mine/buy the substance's needed to make Glitterstim, and the only place with the facilities to make it.

You can, perhaps only make so much per journey, and you cannot place permenant structures.

Also, the journey should be very hazourdous, the type to make even the most hardened Smuggler think twice, or thrice about making it.

Ships will likely be very expensive (as they should be) and the idea of losing your beloved ship should put you off a bit.

The rewards for a successful run should be large though.

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JWing wrote:

Also, remember the Bothans that died to get the rebels the plans for the 1st Death Star? Well the leader of that group was Han's lady.....

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Actually Han's Lady...Bria...did not lead the group of Bothan's that died obtaining the plans. The Bothan's died getting the readouts on the 2nd Death Star seen in Return of the Jedi, not the 1st. You can read all about how they die in 'Shadows of the Empire.' She did, though, lead a group of Rebels that obtained the 1st Death's Star's plans that were beamed to Leia's ship.

Back on subject...I think it would be wishful thinking to have Kessel as a planet in the Space Expansion because its inhospitable to sentient beings. Granted you can land there and go inside buildings but if they stick to continuity you won't be able to walk around or place structures. Therefore the entire planet wont be coded, it would be more like a space station of sorts.

Although the thought of the Kessel Run is a great idea and I'm sure it may be something that have crossed the minds of the DEVs. I like the idea, also, of the handing out of the glitterstim instead of mining it, because after all we won't be able to really mine it anyways. It should almost work in the way you described it in that a player would do the run and only be alotted so much 'glitterstim crates' per day as he is allowed, lets say 2 crates per day. Maybe if you are a master smuggler you can get 3-4 crates per day or if you have high Hutt faction you can buy more per day. Then you can obtain more after 24hrs or so but only after you have left, then come back through the Kessel run and have no crates in your inventory. And yes its also a great idea to have the spice, and other spices too, to have fast decay rates so its hard to stockpile them. It would create more of a demand for them and raise prices because it would take alot of effort and danger involved in flying out there to get this stuff.

However, I don't think the DEVs would be keen on the idea of a smuggler only planet, because there really isn't anything else there and you won't be able to walk around and explore without spacesuits or the proper vehicles. But it would be awsome. I can see my badge now: ...has dared the infamous Kessel Run and survived.

I think its a great idea! Really, I thought this would be the devs intention all along. On top of it all, you still have to watch out for Imperial ships and the "secret" base inside the Maw itself. Ah but we are forgeting one thing about Kessel. When the Imperials threaten to "ship you off to the spice mines of Kessel" it is the real deal. Therefore there must be tons of prisoners on Kessel, ready to be liberated by Rebels. Just like the mission in Rogue Leader, you could rescue prisoners if you are a Rebel. You could have missions and everything. We all know that we can get NPCs to follow us for missions, it wouldn't be that hard to code.

I disagree. I think a small break in continuity would be welcome here. Let's say you can walk around on kessel. That would be one cool looking planet. Think Tatooine but all the sand is black! Lot's of convicts and stuff running around. Lot's of dangerous creatures.

Plus the only planet where you can mine spice. You could have it where you can't set down mines and all the stuff has to be extracted by hand. That would be very newbie artisan friendly.

Oooooo, I like it!