Examining the Fringes- Smuggler

[Colt Ward]

To clarify- this is for a TW game that incorporates a lot of RP in outcomes & interaction to make their story more enjoyable to me.  I used the RPG set up for the commander when using FM:Mercs(R) and then built on the story.  I do not use the RPG rules but do use the character fluff to make some of them more interesting.

In a effort to flesh out more of the characters my mercs can or would come across in the early 3060s in the Chaos March started filling in some non-combat types they would meet.  Already my vet admin character has a wide range of contacts that she uses to facilitate her job of checking contracts and getting supplies/equipment.

After looking past my X-wing novels on Kindle I got to thinking . . . I do not have a smuggler.

What would a smuggler look like in BT?  A tramp JS freighter with a single DS owned by the JS's owner to move the illegal goods, letting other collars be rented out for shipment?  A single-collar JS with a fast dropship for hitting pirate points & getting down before local authorities could respond?  Or do they just hit systems with orbital or JP stations where the goods are hidden in a transshipment- breaking down interstellar smuggler handing off to a system smuggler?  How do you see that sort of operation working in BT, keeping in mind we do have some fiction from IIRC the MoC during the Jihad about a small craft pilot who does that sort of thing.  We could run the gamut from Talon Karrde to Mal with the Serenity (Or Han and the Falcon if you want to keep it in the same 'verse).

Is the whole cargo smuggled goods?  Bothersome hidden compartments that are hard/impossible to scan or even shielded to prevent scans?  Is the smuggled goods hidden in a shipment of legitimate goods- drugs as pottery, covered in a enamel shell or in crates with false bottoms to conceal the guns being smuggled to rebels, etc.

For reference I have a lot of old SW WEG books, like Platt's Guide to Smuggling, Guide to the Galaxy and others . . . lots of ideas there, but they do not work as well in BT.

[monbvol]

Realistically I think they would just hide the illicit goods among the legitimate trade goods.

For a few reasons:

1. Jumping in at a pirate point is a good way to make the locals think a raid is underway and despite how close you are to the planet now this will still give them plenty of time to scramble up some forces to do some damage that will be rather difficult to explain.

2. Jumping farther out without being announced can raise some flags as well but makes it a bit more likely you'll get inspectors instead of aerofighters.

3. By being part of a regular route/traffic you can get the inspectors into something of a routine or even build up relations enough that a few well placed bribes will let you get through with little trouble.

[Colt Ward]

I would agree with #1 for major systems . . . but when a JS can come in at a pirate point in the Hesperus system to let DS sneak in without getting caught . . . it raises questions.

Then again, what is a raiding force but another smuggled good?

[Archangel]

Smugglers are by their very nature non-conformists so trying to set a "standard" is an act of futility.  Not to mention you have different sized smuggling groups ranging from independent smugglers or part-time smugglers (legitimate businessmen who will smuggle if the price/cause is right) to house sponsored operations to huge organizations that span the entire Inner Sphere (not talking about them constantly operating throughout the entire sphere but rather that they have operations business interests/contacts that span the Inner Sphere-conduct several operations in one area within a short timespan then won't visit the region again for a number of years).

One also has to consider who they work for/with.  A smuggler can work for a Great House agency (military, intelligence, etc), a faction within a great house, a noble/noble family, corporation, criminal organization exclusively or with all of the above.  One day he might be meeting with the local head of the Triads in Cathay (Solaris VII) and a month later with an IrTech executive.  Contacts are obviously vital to the success of a smuggler providing him with sources of goods, access to markets, etc.

[massey]

Well, for one, it should probably be a cinematic smuggler.  You're probably looking for more of a Han Solo type and not some guy who pays desperate young women to be drug mules.  And even if he's not a completely reprehensible slimeball, you probably want something more daring and entertaining, rather than perfectly planned and boring.

The easiest way to smuggle stuff (besides paying off the guys who do the inspections) would be to ship contraband inside normal goods that sail through inspections.  I always thought if I wanted to run drugs or something else like that, I'd drive an oil tanker truck and have the package of goods secured to the bottom of the tank underneath 10,000 gallons of oil.  But that sort of thing isn't very entertaining because the smuggling goes off without a hitch.

For a cinematic smuggler, I'm thinking a dropship captain.  I'm thinking commercial jumpships don't ask a lot of questions -- they don't have the manpower to conduct any real customs inspections, and if you've got some forged paperwork that looks semi-official, and your money is good, they let you dock.  Communication is slow in the Inner Sphere, so a clever guy could probably get around most sorts of interplanetary police notices or whatever.  You take off from Planet A's starport after a quick shoot-out with local police (think the Millenium Falcon leaving Mos Eisley).  You outrun some local aerospace fighters and now you're headed towards the Zenith point.  Now the planet will probably send an HPG message to nearby worlds, telling them to watch out for you.  And maybe they'll beam a conventional radio signal towards the Zenith point, telling anybody there not to pick up a Buccaneer cargo ship with the following registration #123-456.  But maybe you've got some equipment to jam that signal.  Or you've got forged papers changing your registration number to something else.  Or you just slip the captain of the jumpship 10,000 C-bills to look the other way.

That's the kind of exciting stuff that you want in an RPG.

[Colt Ward]

Not looking for strictly a RPG experience, more like say a Talon Karrde or Booster Terrik . . . I mean I could totally clone either one for the equivalent operator in BT, but the question then comes back to what level of assets would they have?  what sort of capabilities might be different to how spaceships operate differently?

Basically looking to fluff out a background character/contact for my mercs operating in the Chaos March and looking for others opinions.

[massey]

Not looking for strictly a RPG experience, more like say a Talon Karrde or Booster Terrik . . . I mean I could totally clone either one for the equivalent operator in BT, but the question then comes back to what level of assets would they have?  what sort of capabilities might be different to how spaceships operate differently?

Basically looking to fluff out a background character/contact for my mercs operating in the Chaos March and looking for others opinions.

I have no idea who those people are.

[Colt Ward]

heh . . . Talon Karrde supposedly became the top smuggler chief a few years after Jabba kicked off.  Booster was a independent solo operator but had a lot of connections to move things and knew a bunch of tricks to get past any security.  He became a deal broker after getting out of lock up.

Talon first appeared in the Thrawn trilogy and played a role in the EU afterwards.  Booster came up with the X-Wing series and appeared intermittenly in the SW universe there after.

I have the character templates and a SW guide to smuggling, what I am wondering is how people think the BTU and SW universe differences would come into play.

[massey]

I got to "X-Wing" and then realized this was a Star Wars thing. ;)  Never was a fan of the SW novels.

[Nav_Alpha]

I reckon a  Merchant class jump with just a single Mule class dropper - allowing other dropships to dock, you can pick up extra ships, etc.

Keep the crew small - below the bare minimum for staying, meaning everyone pulls double duty. Nothing works bar the bare essentials because the captain is too greedy to waste cash on things like safety measures and new light globe.

Maybe the ship used to be regular military or merchant navy that "vanished" during the chaos of the Clan invasion. Or: deserted.

You ship small times goods between the Chaos March worlds - food, electronics, parts, medical supplies, etc.
But you also have lucerative contacts among the various petty Chaos March governments - you sell them weapons and ammo and in exchange they look the other way, don't check your ship too thoroughly at customs, etc.
The only think between you and a hangman's noose is those contacts - just because the TerraCap is a client today, doesn't mean they won't turn on you.

To supplement that income you occasionally move shadier items for various nobles - people, drugs, etc.

Most importantly - you have a patron of sorts who owns a big share in your ship. You owe him big and need to keep paying him his tribute. Or maybe he just mentions to a certain customs officer what's really in your hold?
Is he a crime lord operating off Outreach? A yakuzza on Epslion Indi? Or maybe a corrupt governor on Hsein?
Eitherway, when he declares he has a job for you... You do it

[Archangel]

Talon Karrde was the head of a smuggling network while Booster Terrik was the head of his own smuggling operation.  In BT, Karrde would have several JumpShips and DropShips spread between multiple operations in several states while Booster would, at most, have a single JumpShip and DropShip and his area of operations would be limited to a smaller region (a small portion of the FedSuns/Combine border for example).  Karrde would have a wide range of contacts in all the Great Houses and ranging from crusty bartenders to upper nobility (who else would supply a Capellan noble with cases of Palos' best after it fell to those damned Davion dogs).  He would also have an excellent intelligence network to alert him to dangers and opportunities.