Smuggler Archive

Bear with me a moment here, this is the system used in another game, and oh boy it works. It's thrilling, exilerating, terrifying to smuggle. And addictive.

Here it comes.

Planetary police forces. We currently have "Mos Eisley Police" and other NPCs wandering around. These should be seriously tough - darktroopers on PCP - and they should have no purpose other than scanning for contraband. Here's how they'd work on the ground.

You get scanned. You're carrying contraband. You have a chance to evade detection. This should be something like 5 or 10% for non-smugglers. For smugglers it should rise with the with the Underworld line. If you are detectd as carrying contraband, you will be attacked. Your options are to run or die. If you die, you will also have your contraband confiscated and you will be fined 300% of its purchase price (or a fixed fine per item of about that level).

The NPC police can be explained as being employed by whichever faction controls the area you are in, but in themselves neutral and not attackable unless they find contraband on you.

Smugglers should gain the ability to make ONE extra container in which they may carry up to 20 extra items. This container - "smuggler's pouch" or something - should be craftable and perhaps confer the evade detection bonus with a new pouch craftable at each level of Underworld.

In space, any Smuggler with a multi-person ship may fit a hidden cargo hold. Police will also patrol planetary stations and be proportionately as tough as ground police. Imperial ships will also scan any smuggler who has ever been caught shipping contraband, again based on a percentage.

Players may employ smugglers to ship armaments, spice, slicing gear or slaves from planet to planet. These become "Bazaar missions", acceptable only by smugglers. The smuggler must put down collateral (decided by the mission-owner) which he is repaid on delivery along with his fee.

I've played this system. It works. It is everything smuggling should be, except that the gae in question has no ground-game. This is finally how SWG can triumph over its rivals. Be the best. Implement it, devs. You know it makes sense.

The way it works in the other game is that people have stashes on planets. But someone needs to get that stuff to them.

Alternatively, you could have a percentage chance to get caught based on number of contraband items. That way, people would stash also stash items (such as armour) outside of starport-holding cities. And who gets that stuff there? We do.

Message Edited by RichardBryant on 02-21-2005 10:37 PM

Ah, that's where the "smuggler pouches" and "cargo for smugglers only" bits come into play.

The other game has cargo for everyone and everyone can smuggle with no percentages. The only way i get away with there is sheer speed and sneakiness. They don't have professions over there, you see. Just skills, with no limit on the amount of skills you can have except training time. And no grind. And, as i said, they have no ground game. If they did have a ground game, and it was as good as the space game, i'd be there full-time.