Smuggler Archive
Thread: electricnomad's compiled ideas for the Smuggler overhaul
Slice that base 10 medium up to 11-13, or that heavy to 15-17, or maybe slice the maint fee or power usage down. Speeder deed slice would give you faster speed or more durable bike.
Droids, well, instead of 10 item storage, maybe be able to get it to 13-15 or that med droid from 110 to 125.
Just some thoughts.
I'd actually add a new section on how to handle the "Smuggler-specific weapon / powerup" idea:
SMUGGLER-SPECIFIC POWERUPS:
This is more work to program than a simple cert, but more smugglerish.
Let Smugglers make personal permanent powerups that are uniquely certed to them and that modify several different stats at once, like a mixture of a slice and a powerup, plus a little extra thrown in for good measure.
So what could these permanent powerups have in them? Well, make them like a new advanced plug-in component, like Krayt tissue or a Nym's dealio. Allow Smugglers to use their Slicing skill (adding a new bonus to it to account for this type of slicing) to build a new powerup. Let us experiment on the stats and bonuses, and make resource qualitymatter. Then allow the powerupto be plugged in during a special slicing session, which can result in a critical failure depending on how much you experimented up the powerup. A critical failure would destroy the powerup and the weapon.
So what could go into a powerup?
Consider the new limited-edition Featherweight FWG. It's gota +5 Dodge, +5 Counterattack, and +5 Accuracy. Several other new weapons have skill mods built into them, such as the backpack from the Imperial Themepark or the new Crafter's Kits. Based on this, we know that the Devs will allow crafted legendary weapons/items with skill mods in them.
Based on that, let's imagine a number of bonuses rather than the typical speed and damage powerups, considered from the high-end of the scale. I'd imagine that a Master may be able to add a number of bonuses into one powerup, restricted by experimentation. Speed and damage will be the old reliable ones. But consider a gun that had mods with any of the following:
- Dodge
- Counterattack
- Block
- Aim
- Ranged defense
- Melee defense
- Accuracy
- Accuracy While Moving
- Combat Equilibrium
- Defense v Posture Change (Down)
- ...or others.
So you could tailor-make the gun to match the skills you wanted to emphasize. It might be a good idea to cap skill mods at +10 per stat, and maybe +20 total, to nobody gets too powerful or throws off the combat balance.
Once you've put on the powerup, you shouldn't be able to attach another powerup, and your gun should decay as if it had a regular powerup on it (if not a bit faster).
And let me reiterate - once you attach a powerup to your weapon, it should be uniquely certed to you. Nobody else should be able to use the special powerup.
And here's a nice way to balance this - allow increasingly-better powerups to be crafted and grafted depending on your skill at slicing. Starting at Slicing 2, when you can work on weapons, Smugglers should get increasingly better experimentation and assembly bonuses by which to craft and attach these powerups, with low-level powerups about on par with an average slice and a 30% powerup, plus a very small stat bonus. Masters should have a massive boost, with enough experimentation to make something that rivals the finest slice, the finest powerup, and a couple of substantial skill mods all rolled into one.
So, rather than a special cert, which is a one-shot deal, and which we'd need Weaponsmiths to make for us, what about the super-powerup idea? Personally, I like it a LOT more than a simple cert. Every Smuggler's gun would be a unique weapon, tailor-made by them.
. Copied and Pasted from that thread a while back... hehe.
One of the Four Horsemen of the Smuggler Apocalypse! Let's toss a few more ideas in this ol' thread little by little:
MAKING THE 'FENCE' LINE MORE FENCE AND LESS SPICE:
Following my review of many demands people made for Underworld (ironically enough), here's a preliminary set of skills I'd like to see appear in the Fence line of Smuggler.
Note: The branch is indeed called "Fence," which means dealer in illicit goods. The way I see it, this isthe Dirty Merchant of SWG. Part of that includes refining drugs, I believe. But part of it is just plain buying and selling with shady characters.
Additions to Fence:
Universal trading capabilities
--allow inter-Factional trading between Coverts (low-level skill)
--allow inter-Factional trading between an Overt and a Covert (mid-level skill)
--eliminate all trading TEFs (high-level skill)
--no contraband will be able to be sold on a regular vendor or the bazaar, BUT someone with Business 4 and Spice 4 will be able to place a special NPC vendor that CAN sell contraband (I think it should have a small chance of being discovered and fined HUGE amounts of money, not confiscated). This skill would be akin to allowing an extra vendor, but not giving the command to /placevendor, kind of like getting Aim bonuses in Pistoleer but no /aim command unless you get Marksman Ranged Support 1.
--speak all languages (currently in Underworld, but more of a merchant-type skill, ie, Fence)
[NOTE: As much as I hate the big [Edited] graffiti that it creates, I want to keep the key ideas on the front page of this thread, so I'm using this holding space to toss in something that's on page 2.]
Okay, back when I was helping prepare an overhaul of Underworld with Lodek and Associates, I combed through everyone's demands for that conundrum of a branch. It soon became clear that people were just throwing everything and the kitchen sink into that line. So I took the recurring ideas and mixed them with some others that were inspired by the proposals to come up with this brief outline of potential new abilities, and how it would all fit together.
They're below, but first let's briefly outline how the contraband system could be reworked to work more effectively.
All of this is assuming a three-prong approach to "contraband," with this system:
1) TAXABLE ITEMS - subject to tariffs
--These are regular resources of interest to crafters, but for the most part only advanced resources used in high-powered items. Consider Lokian Wheat and Talusian Water, used for advanced medical components. Consider Yavinian Leathery Hide, used for advanced Wookiee armor segments. Or consider planets supposedly under tight control, like Dathomir, Endor, and Yavin -- all resources with their origin on those planets should be taxed. Perhaps add and subtract some random items to the contraband list every 7-10 days to maintain a dynamic black market.
--Some special components could be HEAVILY taxed, potentially at a cost of 10,000 credits or more per item. These could include Geonosian Power Cubes, Janta Blood, Acklay Bones, Krayt Tissue, and other high-end looted items.
--Local security forces (CorSec, RSF, Nym's, etc) should scan for these at starports as you exit a planet. You should be able to pay the tariffs on machines akin to insurance terminals.
--If you don't pay the tariff and fail a scan, you lose a percentage of the resources. Non-Smugglers lose a large percentage (imagine 3/4). Smugglers lose progressively less if discovered (imagine 2/3 as a Novice down to 1/3 as a Master).
--Security forces are about as powerful as pirates on Lok. You may kill the security forces and loot them to recover SOME OF your resources via looting their corpses (not all of them - a percentage would be gone forever), but you'd earn serious local Faction penalties for doing so and potentially become an outlaw (see below).
2) CONTRABAND - subject to fines, confiscation, or attack
--These are dangerous or prohibited items of general interest. Sliced weapons/armor and spice are contraband.Other potential contrabandcould includeGeonosian weapons, combat droids, etc.
--Local security forces (see above) should scan for these at some starports, shuttleports, and city gates.
--These scans should happen less frequently than scans on Taxable Items.
--If you are scanned and discovered to have contraband, you are offered a choice:
A) pay a fine of 10,000 per item of contraband (or some other significant penalty)
B) surrender your contraband to the authorities
C) fight
D**) bribe (available to Smugglers only)
--If you pay the fine, you go about your business. If you surrender your contraband, you go about your business.
--If you fight, the following things can happen:
A) you defeat the security forces and go about your business
B) you are killed and suffer a serious death penalty, such as 75% decay on all your contraband and destruction of any spice
--If you kill enough scan teams, you earn a player bounty (see below).
--Smugglers who fail a contraband scan are offered a chance to bribe the authorities. This is a form of gambling. Based on your skill, the amount the authorities seek is reduced, but is random (and less than the regular penalty). You are given a one-time chance to offer money to the guards in exchange for leaving and going about your business. If you bid more than the guard secretly demanded, you are free to go. If you bid less than what the guard secretly demanded, you lose that money and now face the other three choices - pay a fine, turn over contraband, or fight.
3) REBEL FACTION - subject to attack
--Rebels are enemies of the Empire and are hunted.
--Stormtroopers conduct these scans at random locations, but typically near city gates and outside shuttleports and starports.
--If you fail a scan, you are forced Overt and attacked, with no chance to negotiate. Stormtroopers in scan teams should be at least as powerful as pirates on Lok. Killing enough scan teams earns you a player bounty (see below). Getting killed by a scan team should offer a serious penalty, such as 5% item decay and cloning with 1/2 black HAM bars.
LOCATION OF CONTRABAND AND REBEL FACTION SCANS:
All Taxable Item scans would take place as you entered or left a Starport (whichever is easier to code, but probably before you shuttled). Contraband and Rebel Faction scans would have a more randomized appearance. I think this would be a nice way to distribute the location of scans:
75-85% - Starports
10-20% - Shuttleports and City Gates
2-5% - Random urbanlocations
<1% - Random wilderness locations
[NOTE: I'm not suggesting that 75-85% of people passing through starports should be scanned, but that of the scans that take place on the server, 75-85% should happen at starports. This is an important distinction.]
Anyway, a distribution like that would ensure that transportation routes would be the focus of most scans, and that simply strolling around a planet wouldn't open you to many scan opportunities. Basically, once you'd get your contraband to a planet and out of populated areas, you'd be more or less home free.
I think that makes sense. Consider trying to fly out of Istanbul with drugs in your pocket. Then consider walking around downtown Istanbul with drugs in your pocket. The former is about as risky as it gets. The former is relatively safe, all things considered. That's the sort of feeling I'd like to recreate in SWG.
Player Bounties and Outlaw Status
--if you kill enough security forces charged with scanningin too short a time, you end up on a Bounty Hunter terminal.
--[Smugglers-only] You may try to slice a bounty to eliminate it, but it should be VERY risky and potentially carry serious consequences upon failure,such asincreasing the bounty on you, increasing the bounty's duration,and giving you a5-10%decay on all itemsif you are killed. To prevent a "sacrificial lamb" scenario where Smugglers go willingly to their death at the hands of a BH,Smugglers should never know whether their failure was so serious as to trigger a bounty.
--Also, earning considerable negative local Faction (perhaps -3000) should make youkill on sightto local forces.
--If you acquire -4000 local security force Faction, you should be given a TEF that allows you to be attacked by all players whenever you set foot in a city controlled by the Faction with whom you are at odds. You will effectively be an outlaw and declared a menace to society. Imagine that wanted posters plaster towns on planets you have terrorized.
ADDITIONS TO THE SMUGGLER SKILLTREE:
Thebranch names are at the top,followed by general subcategories of skill, and then include specific abilities that might fit.
FIXER (Underworld)
Smuggling-related Stealth/Evasion
--avoid contraband scans / customs checks / Faction scans for oneself (progressively better up to Master)
--avoid contraband scans / customs checks / Faction scans for other players (ditto)
--mitigate failure of contraband scans (progressively lower penalties for getting busted)
--bribe scan authorities (see above - progressively more effective)
GCW- and access-related Stealth/Evasion [for Factional Smugglers only]
--bypass cityban/citywarn to access places others can't, such as shops(Master-level to ensure that griefers stay out - griefers usually being too lazy to Master a profession)
--mask Faction/TEFs for oneself (should roughly follow the current contraband scan evasion numbers)
--mask Faction/TEFs for other players (should be a Master-level skill and not beoverwhelmingly effective)
--reduce TEF or Overt-to-Covert changeover time for oneself (mid-level skill, with failure extending the TEF/Overt period)
--reduce TEF or Overt-to-Covert changeover time for other players (high-level skill, perhaps very low effectiveness as Fixer and medium effectiveness as Master, with failure extending the TEF/Overt period)
--evade detection by Covert scanners for oneself(should be progressively moreeffective but last for a short time, and be most useful for closing in on a scanner to slice it - see below)
--evade detection by Covert scanners for group members (should be very risky, last for a very short time,and cap at perhaps 50-60% effectiveness)
Criminal Faction Affiliation
--Novice Smugglerswill be able to officially join a criminal organization (in addition to a GCW Faction).
--Criminal organizations will include patrons such as the Hutts, Black Sun, Nym, Talon Karrde, and Lady Valarian. Balance it so that doing work for one syndicate hurts your relationship with one or more of the other syndicates (similar to the current Jabba vs. Valarian dynamic). Each syndicate should have a particular specialty relative to other factions.
--progress along Underworld increases the available perks (depending on Faction Points in the organization) and the types of missions/responsibilities available. Some perks and mission typesshould be unique to particular groups to distinguish their roles and character.
--perks include schematics for new-and-improved spice (similar to Deadeye Serum), schematics to craft special slicing gear (improving the percentages, etc), personnel (you can have thugs and scoundrels assist you), installations (special vendors on which to sell contraband - see below), etc.
--add Smuggler missions for their criminal patron to move contraband, escort, destroy, deliver information, steal information, etc.
--add Smuggler missions to acquire raw spice components (using the Deadeye 3 "steal Alderaan flora" mission as a prototype), and increase the maximum possible acquisition depending on "Smuggler Content" points (ie, investment in the entire skilltree rather than just Underworld).
--add safe houses and criminal hideouts in the "rough neighborhoods" of certain NPC cities where missions can be acquired. Wandering too close to the safe house of a rival criminal organization should be hazardous to your health, wandering into any of these places as a non-Smuggler should make you kill-on-sight to them.A Smuggler should enjoy a certain amount of protection at a hideout, and the NPCs present should be as tough as pirates on Lok. Safe house means safe house.
GCW Faction purchases [for Factional Smugglers only]
--10%/25% Faction Point discounts stay as-is
--completely lift the cap for Faction Point purchases (from 500 to whatever your rank allows you to hold)
SLICER (Slicing)
Custom-cert powerup slice for Smugglers
--see several posts above
Slice travel terminals for reduced ticket prices
--put the ability on a 10-minute timer
--implement a high chance oftriggering an alarm (progressively lessened by Slicing skill/Master status), spawning local guards (CorSec on Corellia, RSF on Naboo, etc) 150m away who rush to the area and have a TEF on you.
--if you kill enough security forces in too short a time, you end up on a Bounty Hunter terminal. Also, earning considerable negative local Faction should make you KOS to local forces. If you acquire -4000 local security force Faction, you should be given a TEF that allows you to be attacked by all players whenever you set foot in a city controlled by the Faction with whom you are at odds.
Slice Bounty Hunter terminals
--eliminate bounties on oneself (should be VERY risky and carry serious consequences upon failure,such asincreasing the bounty on you, increasing the bounty's duration,and giving you a triple decay penalty if you are killed)
Slice Covert scanners [For Factional Smugglers only]
--temporarily reduce their effectiveness and/or not detect everyone (should be risky, impossible to perform within 20-30m ofa Factional enemy,and TEF you upon failure)
More things to slice
--everything listed several posts above
ROGUE (Dirty Fighting)
Feign Death overhaul
--should not guarantee success (progressively better chance of success through Master level, where it should be 95% or so)
--should be put on a timer and made unspammable(perhaps 1 minute after standing up fromits last use would work well)
--should have a check in order to maintain its effectiveness (perhaps every 30 seconds, with failure making you attackable again and visible to aggro enemies)
--should make you look dead and unattackable in PVP(progressively more effective through Master level)
PVP combat bonuses
--half FP value for dying in PVP (currently in Underworld, so transfer it here; low-level skill)
--no FP value for dying in PVP (Rogue-level)
Panic Shot restoration
--put it back like it was, since it's now just as (and perhaps less)effective as Novice Brawler's Warcry, which is unworthy for a Hybrid-levelskill
Add unarmed moves
--see several posts above
FENCE (Spice)
Universal trading capabilities
--allow inter-Factional trading between Coverts (low-level skill)
--allow inter-Factional trading between an Overt and a Covert (mid-level skill)
--eliminate all trading TEFs in participants (high-level skill)
--no contraband will be able to be sold on a regular vendor or the bazaar, BUT someone with Business 4 and Spice 4 will be able to place a special NPC vendor that CAN sell contraband (I think it should have a small chance of being discovered and fined HUGE amounts of money, not confiscated). This skill would be akin to allowing an extra vendor, but not giving the command to /placevendor, kind of like getting Aim bonuses in Pistoleer but no /aim command unless you get Marksman Ranged Support 1.
--could be acquired from your criminal patron as a result of having performed enough work for them(see above)
--speak all languages (currently in Underworld, but more of a merchant-type skill, ie, Fence, so move it here)
Spice refining
--process componentsinto refined, usable spice with useful effects. The components are acquired through missions for a criminal organization, which depends on Underworld skills. Model the system after Deadeye Serum from the third Cries of Alderaan missions.
--allow the current spices to be crafted without advanced components and left with their current effectiveness (which is to say, none).
--allow increasingly better experimentation as you climb the branch to Master. Someone with Underworld 4 might be able to acquiresome of thebest components and get great spice schematics from their patron(s), but someone with Spice 4 would be the best at processingeverything into usefulspice.Someone with more skillpoints invested in the entire tree would have an advantage from "content points," which wouldenable them to find better raw components and more of it.
Slicing - item customization,terminal manipulation,and emergency evasion techniques
Dirty Fighting - improved combat stealth and powerful disorientingcombat moves
Spice/Fence - merchant and trading skills in addition to spice refinement
Message Edited by electricnomad on 04-01-2004 04:12 PM
electricnomad wrote:
Well dammit, looks like I'll finally have to write out all those revamp ideas...
I'll make a short outline and cough it up later tonight. If this thread gets too much traffic, I'll just edit and paste it into this space. Ain't nobody gonna read past the first page on a revamp thread.
If you would like the background information, or just want to read up on how this idea came to be developed, please follow this link.
Smuggler "Tinkering"
A Smuggler makes changes to his or her weapon over time, and each time holds their breath in hopes they do not damage their weapon irreversibly. This weapon is highly illegal, but a Smuggler deals in illegal businees daily, right? What I am suggesting is a system where each progression in "Smuggler Ability" (see Smuggler_Caylin's Revamp Proposal here for an in depth explanation) of +20 grants the Smuggler the ability to experiment on their weapon one time.
The amount of experimentation points (maximum of 10 at Master) and the chance of success or failure will be based off of a Smuggler's ability to slice (the Slicing Tree Modifiers in the revamp proposal).Each experimentation session would allow a maximum of a 10% increase on one stat (at Master) if successful. If adding an ability to the weapon (such as Dodge) it would take 2 experimentation points per +1 attribute increase.
Each "experimentation" session would allow the Smuggler the ability to rename the item, and this information (along with the number of times modified and the level of Smuggler Ability required) would be added to the weapon's description. The weapon then becomes non-tradeable (Just like the Collector's Edition Goggles) and is considered highly illegal (giving a chance to be detected by contraband scanners). This would keep us from being able to use this method to slice a customer's weapon, instead of our own, as well as keeping someone from mastering the profession, modifying their weapon, and dropping the profession.
An example of how the certification would read is as follows: (This would be shown by examining the weapon)
"This weapon has been modified to be exclusively used by [NAME]"
"This weapon has been tinkered with a total of [X] times."
"This weapon requires a Smuggler Ability rating of [XX] to use."
In order to modify their personal weapon, a Smuggler would have to craft a "Personal Weapon Modification Kit" which would be available at Novice Smuggler. When used, just like a repair kit, you would have to manually select the wepon you want to modify from the list. This helps to ensure that a customer's weapon is not accidentally chosen to modify. Upon finishing your modifications the kit is consumed.
Only the weapons that can be certified by advancing in the Marksman and Brawler Professions would be able to be tinkered with. This would prevent the possibility of a Commando / Smuggler having an unbalanced weapon in the form of a tinkered flamethrower, or a TKA / Smuggler and a tinkered set of VKs, or the Geonosian Sonic Blaster modified in the hands of a Pistoleer. There are many other examples, these are just the ones that came up most often in the disucssion prior.
NOTE: The weapon can either be sliced conventionally, or "tinkered" with, but not both. This prevents the possibility of a 35% Dmagae increase on a slice, and then further modification by means of a damage increase of 60% through "tinkering" which would result in an overly powerful weapon. Also, Tinkering is an IRREVRSIBLE process. It acts just like slicing in that respect.
This is how the skill tree would look:
The following is a list of stats that could be tinkered with:
- Weapon Speed
- Weapon Damage
- Dodge
- Counterattack
- Block
- Ranged Defense
- Melee Defense
- Aim
- Accuracy (Including variations such as while moving, standing, prone)
- Defense versus State Attacks
- Armor Piercing**
**NOTE ON ARMOR PIERCING: This would take three tinkering sessions to complete, and would only grant AP1 on a weapon that has no Armor Piercing ability.
Here is an example:
A Master Smuggler decides to "tinker" with his or her weapon. They have the ability to "tinker" 6 times (at each +20 Smuggler Ability Skill achieved, of which a total of +120 can be gained by Mastery). Also, because of being Master, they have the best chance at succeeding (+100 to Smuggler's Luck). On the first attempt they choose to increase Pistol Speed. An experimentation window opens, and the Smuggler has 10 experimentation points to place where they see fit. In this scenario let us say the Smuggler is successful (either success or failure, no variations) and gets a 10% increase in speed (all points attempted in speed, equates to a 1% increase per experimentation point). The Smuggler gets hyped up because of their success. The second attempt is in damage. The Smuggler gains a 10% increase in damage output. The third attempt is to try and add some mods to Dodge. Success, the Pistol now has a +5 Dodge modifier (2 experimentation points are required per +1 mod). The Smuggler seems to be on a roll, and decides to try again. Fourth attempt is a failure, and the weapon is rendered unusable (condition 1/1). The Smuggler had bad luck on that attempt. Granted, more often than not the Master Smuggler would not fail, whereas the Novice would.
This probably is too difficult to implement, but it would allow a much larger diversity among Smuggler's and their chosen weapons, and could help provide more content in a contraband sense. After all, these "tinkered" weapons would be highly illegal, and therefore anyone caught with one (which would only be Smugglers who do not manage to evade scans) would be punished. On a side note, I really like the idea Smuggler_Caylin had in his revamp thread about an "Impound" and think that it would fit nicely with this scenario.
Okay, back when I was helping prepare an overhaul of Underworld with Lodek and Associates, I combed through everyone's demands for that conundrum of a branch. It soon became clear that people were just throwing everything and the kitchen sink into that line. So I took the recurring ideas and mixed them with some others that were inspired by the proposals to come up with this brief outline of potential new abilities, and how it would all fit together.
They're below, but first let's briefly outline how the contraband system could be reworked to work more effectively.
All of this is assuming a three-prong approach to "contraband," with this system:
1) TAXABLE ITEMS - subject to tariffs
--These are regular resources of interest to crafters, but for the most part only advanced resources used in high-powered items. Consider Lokian Wheat and Talusian Water, used for advanced medical components. Consider Yavinian Leathery Hide, used for advanced Wookiee armor segments. Or consider planets supposedly under tight control, like Dathomir, Endor, and Yavin -- all resources with their origin on those planets should be taxed. Perhaps add and subtract some random items to the contraband list every 7-10 days to maintain a dynamic black market.
--Some special components could be HEAVILY taxed, potentially at a cost of 10,000 credits or more per item. These could include Geonosian Power Cubes, Janta Blood, Acklay Bones, Krayt Tissue, and other high-end looted items.
--Local security forces (CorSec, RSF, Nym's, etc) should scan for these at starports as you exit a planet. You should be able to pay the tariffs on machines akin to insurance terminals.
--If you don't pay the tariff and fail a scan, you lose a percentage of the resources. Non-Smugglers lose a large percentage (imagine 3/4). Smugglers lose progressively less if discovered (imagine 2/3 as a Novice down to 1/3 as a Master).
--Security forces are about as powerful as pirates on Lok. You may kill the security forces and loot them to recover your resources via looting their corpses, but you'd earn serious local Faction penalties for doing so and potentially become an outlaw (see below).
2) CONTRABAND - subject to fines, confiscation, or attack
--These are dangerous or prohibited items of general interest. Sliced weapons/armor and spice are contraband.Other potential contrabandcould includeGeonosian weapons, combat droids, etc.
--Local security forces (see above) should scan for these at some starports, shuttleports, and city gates.
--These scans should happen less frequently than scans on Taxable Items.
--If you are scanned and discovered to have contraband, you are offered a choice:
A) pay a fine of 10,000 per item of contraband (or some other significant penalty)
B) surrender your contraband to the authorities
C) fight
D**) bribe (available to Smugglers only)
--If you pay the fine, you go about your business. If you surrender your contraband, you go about your business.
--If you fight, the following things can happen:
A) you defeat the security forces and go about your business
B) you are killed and suffer a serious death penalty, such as 75% decay on all your contraband and destruction of any spice
--If you kill enough scan teams, you earn a player bounty (see below).
--Smugglers who fail a contraband scan are offered a chance to bribe the authorities. This is a form of gambling. Based on your skill, the amount the authorities seek is reduced, but is random (and less than the regular penalty). You are given a one-time chance to offer money to the guards in exchange for leaving and going about your business. If you bid more than the guard secretly demanded, you are free to go. If you bid less than what the guard secretly demanded, you lose that money and now face the other three choices - pay a fine, turn over contraband, or fight.
3) REBEL FACTION - subject to attack
--Rebels are enemies of the Empire and are hunted.
--Stormtroopers conduct these scans at random locations, but typically near city gates and outside shuttleports and starports.
--If you fail a scan, you are forced Overt and attacked, with no chance to negotiate. Stormtroopers in scan teams should be at least as powerful as pirates on Lok. Killing enough scan teams earns you a player bounty (see below). Getting killed by a scan team should offer a serious penalty, such as 5% item decay and cloning with 1/2 black HAM bars.
LOCATION OF CONTRABAND AND REBEL FACTION SCANS:
All Taxable Item scans would take place as you entered or left a Starport (whichever is easier to code, but probably before you shuttled). Contraband and Rebel Faction scans would have a more randomized appearance. I think this would be a nice way to distribute the location of scans:
75-85% - Starports
10-20% - Shuttleports and City Gates
2-5% - Random urbanlocations
<1% - Random wilderness locations
That would ensure that transportation routes would be the focus of most scans, and that simply strolling around a planet wouldn't open you to many scan opportunities. Basically, once you'd get your contraband to a planet and out of populated areas, you'd be more or less home free.
I think that makes sense. Consider trying to fly out of Istanbul with drugs in your pocket. Then consider walking around downtown Istanbul with drugs in your pocket. The former is about as risky as it gets. The former is relatively safe, all things considered. That's the sort of feeling I'd like to recreate in SWG.
Player Bounties and Outlaw Status
--if you kill enough security forces charged with scanningin too short a time, you end up on a Bounty Hunter terminal.
--[Smugglers-only] You may try to slice a bounty to eliminate it, but it should be VERY risky and potentially carry serious consequences upon failure,such asincreasing the bounty on you, increasing the bounty's duration,and giving you a5-10%decay on all itemsif you are killed. To prevent a "sacrificial lamb" scenario where Smugglers go willingly to their death at the hands of a BH,Smugglers should never know whether their failure was so serious as to trigger a bounty.
--Also, earning considerable negative local Faction (perhaps -3000) should make youkill on sightto local forces.
--If you acquire -4000 local security force Faction, you should be given a TEF that allows you to be attacked by all players whenever you set foot in a city controlled by the Faction with whom you are at odds. You will effectively be an outlaw and declared a menace to society. Imagine that wanted posters plaster towns on planets you have terrorized.
ADDITIONS TO THE SMUGGLER SKILLTREE:
Thebranch names are at the top,followed by general subcategories of skill, and then include specific abilities that might fit.
FIXER (Underworld)
Smuggling-related Stealth/Evasion
--avoid contraband scans / customs checks / Faction scans for oneself (progressively better up to Master)
--avoid contraband scans / customs checks / Faction scans for other players (ditto)
--mitigate failure of contraband scans (progressively lower penalties for getting busted)
--bribe scan authorities (see above - progressively more effective)
GCW- and access-related Stealth/Evasion [for Factional Smugglers only]
--bypass cityban/citywarn to access places others can't, such as shops(Master-level to ensure that griefers stay out - griefers usually being too lazy to Master a profession)
--mask Faction/TEFs for oneself (should roughly follow the current contraband scan evasion numbers)
--mask Faction/TEFs for other players (should be a Master-level skill and not beoverwhelmingly effective)
--reduce TEF or Overt-to-Covert changeover time for oneself (mid-level skill, with failure extending the TEF/Overt period)
--reduce TEF or Overt-to-Covert changeover time for other players (high-level skill, perhaps very low effectiveness as Fixer and medium effectiveness as Master, with failure extending the TEF/Overt period)
--evade detection by Covert scanners for oneself(should be progressively moreeffective but last for a short time, and be most useful for closing in on a scanner to slice it - see below)
--evade detection by Covert scanners for group members (should be very risky, last for a very short time,and cap at perhaps 50-60% effectiveness)
Criminal Faction Affiliation
--Novice Smugglerswill be able to officially join a criminal organization (in addition to a GCW Faction).
--Criminal organizations will include patrons such as the Hutts, Black Sun, Nym, Talon Karrde, and Lady Valarian. Balance it so that doing work for one syndicate hurts your relationship with one or more of the other syndicates (similar to the current Jabba vs. Valarian dynamic). Each syndicate should have a particular specialty relative to other factions.
--progress along Underworld increases the available perks (depending on Faction Points in the organization) and the types of missions/responsibilities available. Some perks and mission typesshould be unique to particular groups to distinguish their roles and character.
--perks include schematics for new-and-improved spice (similar to Deadeye Serum), schematics to craft special slicing gear (improving the percentages, etc), personnel (you can have thugs and scoundrels assist you), installations (special vendors on which to sell contraband - see below), etc.
--add Smuggler missions for their criminal patron to move contraband, escort, destroy, deliver information, steal information, etc.
--add Smuggler missions to acquire raw spice components (using the Deadeye 3 "steal Alderaan flora" mission as a prototype), and increase the maximum possible acquisition depending on "Smuggler Content" points (ie, investment in the entire skilltree rather than just Underworld).
--add safe houses and criminal hideouts in the "rough neighborhoods" of certain NPC cities where missions can be acquired. Wandering too close to the safe house of a rival criminal organization should be hazardous to your health, wandering into any of these places as a non-Smuggler should make you kill-on-sight to them.A Smuggler should enjoy a certain amount of protection at a hideout, and the NPCs present should be as tough as pirates on Lok. Safe house means safe house.
GCW Faction purchases [for Factional Smugglers only]
--10%/25% Faction Point discounts stay as-is
--completely lift the cap for Faction Point purchases (from 500 to whatever your rank allows you to hold)
SLICER (Slicing)
Custom-cert powerup slice for Smugglers
--see several posts above
Slice travel terminals for reduced ticket prices
--put the ability on a 10-minute timer
--implement a high chance oftriggering an alarm (progressively lessened by Slicing skill/Master status), spawning local guards (CorSec on Corellia, RSF on Naboo, etc) 150m away who rush to the area and have a TEF on you.
--if you kill enough security forces in too short a time, you end up on a Bounty Hunter terminal. Also, earning considerable negative local Faction should make you KOS to local forces. If you acquire -4000 local security force Faction, you should be given a TEF that allows you to be attacked by all players whenever you set foot in a city controlled by the Faction with whom you are at odds.
Slice Bounty Hunter terminals
--eliminate bounties on oneself (should be VERY risky and carry serious consequences upon failure,such asincreasing the bounty on you, increasing the bounty's duration,and giving you a triple decay penalty if you are killed)
Slice Covert scanners [For Factional Smugglers only]
--temporarily reduce their effectiveness and/or not detect everyone (should be risky, impossible to perform within 20-30m ofa Factional enemy,and TEF you upon failure)
More things to slice
--everything listed several posts above
ROGUE (Dirty Fighting)
Feign Death overhaul
--should not guarantee success (progressively better chance of success through Master level, where it should be 95% or so)
--should be put on a timer and made unspammable(perhaps 1 minute after standing up fromits last use would work well)
--should have a check in order to maintain its effectiveness (perhaps every 30 seconds, with failure making you attackable again and visible to aggro enemies)
--should make you look dead and unattackable in PVP(progressively more effective through Master level)
PVP combat bonuses
--half FP value for dying in PVP (currently in Underworld, so transfer it here; low-level skill)
--no FP value for dying in PVP (Rogue-level)
Panic Shot restoration
--put it back like it was, since it's now just as (and perhaps less)effective as Novice Brawler's Warcry, which is unworthy for a Hybrid-levelskill
Add unarmed moves
--see several posts above
FENCE (Spice)
Universal trading capabilities
--allow inter-Factional trading between Coverts (low-level skill)
--allow inter-Factional trading between an Overt and a Covert (mid-level skill)
--eliminate all trading TEFs in participants (high-level skill)
--no contraband will be able to be sold on a regular vendor or the bazaar, BUT someone with Business 4 and Spice 4 will be able to place a special NPC vendor that CAN sell contraband (I think it should have a small chance of being discovered and fined HUGE amounts of money, not confiscated). This skill would be akin to allowing an extra vendor, but not giving the command to /placevendor, kind of like getting Aim bonuses in Pistoleer but no /aim command unless you get Marksman Ranged Support 1.
--could be acquired from your criminal patron as a result of having performed enough work for them(see above)
--speak all languages (currently in Underworld, but more of a merchant-type skill, ie, Fence, so move it here)
Spice refining
--process componentsinto refined, usable spice with useful effects. The components are acquired through missions for a criminal organization, which depends on Underworld skills. Model the system after Deadeye Serum from the third Cries of Alderaan missions.
--allow the current spices to be crafted without advanced components and left with their current effectiveness (which is to say, none).
--allow increasingly better experimentation as you climb the branch to Master. Someone with Underworld 4 might be able to acquiresome of thebest components and get great spice schematics from their patron(s), but someone with Spice 4 would be the best at processingeverything into usefulspice.Someone with more skillpoints invested in the entire tree would have an advantage from "content points," which wouldenable them to find better raw components and more of it.
Slicing - item customization,terminal manipulation,and emergency evasion techniques
Dirty Fighting - improved combat stealth and powerful disorientingcombat moves
Spice/Fence - merchant and trading skills in addition to spice refinement
Taxation:
The scan can be done randomly. There's nothing that says we have to scan everyone at every starport. However, a 1 in 10 likelihood of a scan could be done without too much lag I'd imagine. One thing we should think about is what happens if you can't pay the tarriff. Perhaps a negative balance thing with the Intergalactic Bank where future missions or sales would be diverted until the balance is paid off. Think of it as a lien.
Contraband:
Death is a penalty. Adding additional penalties to death is really salt in someone's wounds. I don't think that's the way to go. Yes, there should be a penalty to death. It's already implemented.
In general, the Empire isn't oppressive enough. There's not really sufficient oppression to keep the masses down. Do think about how smuggler can play into such a society. Smugglers can evade the scans or facilitate evasion. I think an ability to have someone carrying a ton of contraband goods to be concealed by a smuggler is handy. However, trusting the smuggler to carry it may be too much to ask of players. Perhaps a command like how skill teaching is done can be used. Each resource should come with its own concealment difficulty rating. With the smuggling skill of the players and the scans it'd be neat to see how it all unfolds.
I'm against the idea of smuggling missions. The missions are old and boring. I mean how many of you actually read the text that goes with the destroy mission? I don't. I'm sure no one will read our over glorified delivery boy mission texts either. Having a system where other players depend on us for helping them work with concealment of goods they carry creates player content and negotiation. Having difficulty ratings on contrabands would allow up and coming smugglers to get experience. You wouldn't need a master smuggler for a low difficulty item.