Smuggler Archive

Just a few thoughts, suggestions, ideas and/or ramblings that I thought I might toss out there on the forth coming smuggler revamp. If any of these ideas have been put forth before, my apologies in advance as I don't read the boards that often. I thought that perhaps the revamp could contain the following:

Making "special" resources a contraband item. In other words any resource that is very specific i.e. a certain steel type, could no longer be brought, sold, or traded off planet. If a weaponsmith needed this steel type, he would need to seek (for a price) the services of a smuggler who would then find a dealer in that resources, purchase the requisite amount, and transport the resources to their intended user. At first that all sounds very boring. But add in the prospect of being caught by a random stormtrooper or, once JTL arrives, trying to get off planet through an imperial blockade and it starts becoming a little more daring. Also to this system you could add static NPC's that deal only with smugglers and who provide parts and resources for more rare items. The higher your underworld training, the cheaper you could purchase from these NPC's and the higher your profit margine.

So lets say you are caught transporting contraband off planet. Or youre not even a smuggler, you just happen to be the poor weaponsmith caught carrying contraband you just purchased. What happens to you? That would depend on a number of things. First what are you carrying, and how much of it do you possess? And secondly your training would again come into play. The higher your underworld skills, the more likely you are to talk your way through the situation. Penalties would range from small fines to imprisonment.

Making it possible to be imprisoned probably isnt an overly popular idea, until you examine the possibilities it creates. If you create imperial detention facilities on each planet...with perhaps a maximum security facility on endor and dathomir you open up several aspects of play that are currently not available. Imagine hunting on dathomir when a friend sends you a mail (he cant send a tell from prison). "Help, Ive been captured and imprisoned in the Dathomir Prison Mine." You grab a couple buddies from your guild and attempt a jail break. A successfull jail break means you and your friend get to high tail it out of dodge, with some faction points left behind. An unsuccesfull attempt could mean imprisonment for party members...or even death.

And what happened to that shipment of steel you were caught with? Its impounded and the NPC you purchased it from (a hutt employee) has put a bounty on your head.

There would obviously need to be some tweaking done to these ideas to make them playable, but the general idea remains.

This would certainly add a great deal to the smuggling experience as well as add interesting elements to other players as well. I could be way off base here, but it sounded good to me.

Gwebacca