Hello FFG forums!

I'm currently playing a half-sandbox, half-module driven game where the PCs are acting as relatively amoral pirate-types. They are the perfect scoundrels for the EotE universe and are as likely to bomb a rebel outpost as an imperial one. Really, they're only interested in the payouts.

Most of the group are interested in working together and creating a sort of syndicate.

I'm interested in making their goal a reality in game. Now, I'm more than content to let the players tell me how they plan to do this (they have a great imagination).

I also want to help them along with a few hooks they could take.

I was thinking of introducing a pretty vocal NPC who would offer himself as almost a concierge secretary. Perhaps they could "liberate" him from another organization. This guy could help advise them on what they could do to successfully establish an organization.

I'll tell you what I have planned and then perhaps you guys could offer some feedback or ideas!

So far this is what they have accomplished:

1. They have a small Ryll-spice producing town that offers them a cut off of every payload in return for protection. This is a small, but stable source of income.

2. They have a pretty solid ship as a base-of-operations. It's a CX 800 freighter and they've poured a fair amount of money into it to make it functional.

3. They've recently captured a veteran stormtrooper, rather than killed him, in a recent raid on an imperial intelligence facility. They mostly did this because he pulled a vibroknife on the group and tried to "hold the line" by himself. They respected his moxy and took him prisoner. Most of the group wants to see how strong his loyalty is and if he's willing to join them as a guard.

4. They have a bothan spy contact (who may or may not be part of the larger spynet), an arms dealer contact on Geonosis, and an information broker Toydarian.

5. The corellian of the group earned his bloodstripes and a reputation among smugglers by pulling off the Corellian shuffle in record time.

Here's what I have planned so far:

1. I plan on giving them a way to make money via bounty hunting. I've already written up a few one-shot hunting modules that take them to remote vistas in order to find the prey. I'll probably write a third in a more urban setting that'll require some detective work to find.

They want to get connected with the guild, for obvious reasons.

2. I plan on sending a little motley crew of ruffians to approach them, inform the PCs that they were hired to beat the tar out of them (by a known rival) and, instead, offer to defect for a price.

3. Offer them a way to set up a planetary, more stable base of operations. Perhaps by ousting existing leadership??

It's not too much, but it's a start.

My question is, what sort of tips do you have to helping the PCs establish a criminal underground?

Not going to lie, this sounds interesting and daunting. Good luck with it!

As far as I can tell, the group will want to do the following:

1) Make contacts. LOTS of contacts. This cannot ever be emphasized enough. Contacts to get jobs, contacts to get dirt on opposite, contacts to buy, contacts to sell, contacts to get more contacts. . .

2) Have a business plan. No, not the boring "We'll be playing Edge Of Wall Street!", but rather a few ideas about what the goal is of this syndicate. Look at Black Sun, the Hutts and other "long term" criminal groups. They have a business plan that has kept them going all this time.

3) In addition to the business plan, Hierarchy. You always want to know who's in charge when the first person gets killed. . .

4) Know your allies, know your enemies, and watch them all. You never know when an ally who is taking care of a location for you will stab you in the back, after all.

5) Even though it's risky: delegation. If you don't delegate, holdings will falter. It's like a military thing: leave a place undefended and the enemy will just walk in and take it.

That's all I have right off the top of my head. Needed to be out the door five minutes ago, but wanted to get this sent out for you first.

Good line of thought so far, so keep up the good work!

I would suggest befriending one of the independent or outlaw shipbuilding centers as fast as you can. Sooner or later you will need more ships IMO, and probably some that are hard to get off the open market. Of course I'm a massive starship geek so when I start thinking of forming an interstellar crime syndicate my first thoughts are what kind of ship or ships will it start with, what kinds will it need in the long term, than where and how will it obtain them?

What Libby said.

Here's what I have planned so far:

1. I plan on giving them a way to make money via bounty hunting. I've already written up a few one-shot hunting modules that take them to remote vistas in order to find the prey. I'll probably write a third in a more urban setting that'll require some detective work to find.

They want to get connected with the guild, for obvious reasons.

2. I plan on sending a little motley crew of ruffians to approach them, inform the PCs that they were hired to beat the tar out of them (by a known rival) and, instead, offer to defect for a price.

3. Offer them a way to set up a planetary, more stable base of operations. Perhaps by ousting existing leadership??

It's not too much, but it's a start.

My question is, what sort of tips do you have to helping the PCs establish a criminal underground?

Why not link these three things?

Have the bounty heads get bigger and bigger. First a single guy, then a pair of brothers, then a swoop gang, finally a smuggling operation, like a whole base of guys.

When you get to the swoop gang make it clear the players can't do it alone,have the bothan give em some intel as a warning, then they can get word out they need some backup through the toydarian. Go with the rolls to decide what they get. Good rolls they get a squad of disciplined vets lead by a grizzled mando, bad rolls they get a bunch of aqualish and gamoreans lead by a perticular nasty rodian.

When the swoopers are taken care of and everyone paid, they say they'd like more work if the opportunity arises.

When the smuggling base bounty comes up they already know who to call, and tell them to bring friends.

When the mission is over, they walk away with a solid crew of mercs, a smuggling base, all the contraband, and a supply chain power vacuum that needs to be filled...

Libraria, your overall advice is very good. I will absolutely incorporate this into my planning sessions. Currently the group has a loose hierarchy, every member sort of fitting a role. They do have a single PC leader, however. I wonder if it might be better for storytelling purposes to keep things on the smaller end; it sounds like my PCs are interested in going to the big times.

Rogue, that's a good point. They'll probably stay small time and the majority of ships *are* purchase-able. I'm sure they'll get early acquisitions via piracy.

Ghost, that's perfect advice. Great advice. I'll be able to whip up a few modules no problem to reflect this.

I think for flavor, it would probably help to show the ugly side of the crime world. If the players make enough noise, some of the big syndicates might eventually want to "buy them out."

"This bishwag thinks he can steal my Ryll and sell it back to me? He's got less brains than you, Lenny!"

The potential for more than one Nemesis is huge here. Plus, if things are ever seeming too easy for your players, or If you just feel need to add a little pressure, you can bring in a big crime boss who is eager to defend his territory.

Oh, fear not, Farsox. There will almost certainly be repercussions for growing big. Especially depending where they grow.

The outer rim has a little bit of room to expand, surely. Maybe they deal with rivals or even upstarts within their own organization.

May the Force help them if they build up within Hutt space. Sure, a small organization could be tolerated, so long as they pay for the privilege.

Eventually, though, they'll be stepping on the toes of Zann's organization or the Black Sun. And if they go further mid-rim? Well, let's say Palp and his boys aren't terribly keen on granting more than one syndicate a pass. Hell, even the Black Sun knew their time was running out.

Antagonists are going to be the easy part.

This sounds like a really good idea and a lot of fun. Are you thinking Godfather or Breaking Bad?

I would waste no time putting my PC's into the most morally compromising positions I could and see what their commitment to this whole syndicate idea really is. How far are they really willing to go? Theft? Kidnapping? Murder? Innocent women and children?

There shouldn't be one NPC they can trust, ever. The opportunity for betrayal in this campaign is delicious!

Have fun and let us know how it goes.

I don't see how this is too difficult or daunting. My players bought the deed to the Gavos mine from the GM sceen module, and since then they've established their own mining company, a refugee settlement for a clan of persecuted Twi'leks, a smuggler's port, and a mercenary outfit. Giving PCs control of resources like that gives them fluffy stuff to pump their credits into, and it also makes them the stars of the storyline EVERY SINGLE SESSION without fail.

Plus, the players do TONS of bookeeping for me as they map Gavos and draw up plans for their corporations and settlements. I love it!

Coincidentally, my group brought up this exact same topic in last night's game, and the points made here are very helpful

(My group unfortunately, keeps informing their Hutt employer that they want to be as "powerful as him," so... We'll see how long he lets them chase that dream.)

I think the only way this could be seen as 'daunting' is for the players to think these things up on their own, without the GM feeding them too much opportunity. Starting a new organisation, in particular one of a seedier nature, in a Galaxy full of both eager upstarts (Zann and Co.) and well established, territorial groups (Black Sun/Hutts), should never be easy. Its tempting to throw them too many bones, as it were. Its also hard not to distract them with side missions and the like, in typical Campaign-style, and never let them make progress.

My current plan is similar to yours: Let them earn lots of capital, and then give them some opportunities to invest it in their seedy future.

To further elaborate on things since I'm a bit more coherent:

1) Don't worry if the party starts to get "too much money." This can be taken care of with the need to spend it. Like any business, it's a money gain and a money pit. With a crime syndicate, this is so much more important as you are paying not only the legal costs of things, but also bribes, equipment, recuperating losses, and "hazard pay."

2) I mentioned the need for contacts, which I can never emphasize enough. I should elaborate that "contacts" is my catch all for any and all types of information. You could even call some of them "employees." Such things should include spies, members of government agencies (knowing someone in BoSS can be a lifesaver), grunts and thugs, and more of that nature.

3) Emphasize that Obligation can work both ways. I can see the group building up an Obligation to their new Syndicate, and they can probably use that to have people beholden to them. Just look at the list of Obligations for ideas, but a few favourites are: Addiction, Backmail, Debt, and Duty. If the players are creative enough, NPCs can serve (and betray) them over these Obligations.

4) I made the comment of "Know your allies, know your enemies, and watch them all" before, and I mean that in many ways. They should know who is competing against them, so you as a GM have some work cut out for them. You'll need to know which organizations are in the area, small and large, who they feed into/work for, etc. Your party will therefore want to start doing homework if they are being smart about it, which means you as the GM will need this on hand for them to learn.

5) Start small, grow large. Just like the Rebellion, you don't want to create such an obvious target of yourself before you are ready for it. They'll want to start with a small place, like how JonahHex's party is doing it by starting with the mine, and then grow from there. As Kaalamity has so wisely noted, there's a lot of opposition out there, and the last thing you want to do is make yourself a target for those organizations.

And of course, the most important part of playing in a group like this:

Have fun and watch the fireworks :-D

I find your plan untennable due to a lack of prostitution and rum running. Two 'must haves' in any legitimate crime syndicate....

Make sure they get high on their own supply.

Obligation is a big part of running crime syndicates, corporations, and settlements in this game! As noted earlier my players more or less own the planet Gavos from the "Debts to Pay" module, but that also means they have Rsponsibility Obligations (hope this helps as a springboard for other ideas);

-- The group's Gadgeteer/Assassin/Mercenary Soldier/Big Game Hunter is the chief of security. When his Responsibility triggers, something that none of the ordinary Gavos security officers can handle has come up. Perhaps there's an unsolved burglary or murder, or (with doubles) perhaps some pirates have paid a visit to the colony.

-- The group's Doctor/Politico/Scholar/Force Emergent is the princess of a pacificistic clan of Twi'lek healers. She has two Responsibilities, one to her people and one to the healthcare of the Gavos colony. When her clan Responsibility triggers, her people have a dispute for her to settle, resources for her to acquire, or (with doubles) the Imperials and/or rival Twi'leks tracking her clan catch up with them. When her health Responsibility triggers, someone in the Gavos colony comes up with a serious medical condition that her clan's healers can't handle (someone went into a coma, lost a limb, became irradiated, etc), or (with doubles) an important NPC needed to run to the colony is either dying or cannot work in the long-term without a medical miracle.

-- The group's Trader/Fringer is the president of Krik Enterprises, the corporation that now owns and runs the Gavos colony. When his Responsibility triggers, he needs to meet with important clients, organize more efficent work schedules, or (with doubles) deal with a disaster like a lost shipment or a collasped tunnel in the mine.

-- The group's Pilot/Scoundrel/Driver/Gadgeteer is in charge of running supplies to the group's most important clients. When his Responsibility triggers, shipping delays cause serious problems that need addressing, or (with doubles) a hyperlane collapses and a new one needs to be mapped in order to keep profits rolling in.

-- The group's Scoundrel/Thief/Scout is the company's top salesman who deals with all of Krik Enterprises' buisness with Hutt cartels and also runs their small smuggler's port. When his Responsibility triggers, shipments are lost or stolen, gang rivalries errupt in the port town, or (with doubles) a crime lord of some kind takes action against the Gavos colony by sending some muscle their way.

Obligation is a big part of running crime syndicates, corporations, and settlements in this game! As noted earlier my players more or less own the planet Gavos from the "Debts to Pay" module, but that also means they have Rsponsibility Obligations (hope this helps as a springboard for other ideas);

-- The group's Gadgeteer/Assassin/Mercenary Soldier/Big Game Hunter is the chief of security. When his Responsibility triggers, something that none of the ordinary Gavos security officers can handle has come up. Perhaps there's an unsolved burglary or murder, or (with doubles) perhaps some pirates have paid a visit to the colony.

-- The group's Doctor/Politico/Scholar/Force Emergent is the princess of a pacificistic clan of Twi'lek healers. She has two Responsibilities, one to her people and one to the healthcare of the Gavos colony. When her clan Responsibility triggers, her people have a dispute for her to settle, resources for her to acquire, or (with doubles) the Imperials and/or rival Twi'leks tracking her clan catch up with them. When her health Responsibility triggers, someone in the Gavos colony comes up with a serious medical condition that her clan's healers can't handle (someone went into a coma, lost a limb, became irradiated, etc), or (with doubles) an important NPC needed to run to the colony is either dying or cannot work in the long-term without a medical miracle.

-- The group's Trader/Fringer is the president of Krik Enterprises, the corporation that now owns and runs the Gavos colony. When his Responsibility triggers, he needs to meet with important clients, organize more efficent work schedules, or (with doubles) deal with a disaster like a lost shipment or a collasped tunnel in the mine.

-- The group's Pilot/Scoundrel/Driver/Gadgeteer is in charge of running supplies to the group's most important clients. When his Responsibility triggers, shipping delays cause serious problems that need addressing, or (with doubles) a hyperlane collapses and a new one needs to be mapped in order to keep profits rolling in.

-- The group's Scoundrel/Thief/Scout is the company's top salesman who deals with all of Krik Enterprises' buisness with Hutt cartels and also runs their small smuggler's port. When his Responsibility triggers, shipments are lost or stolen, gang rivalries errupt in the port town, or (with doubles) a crime lord of some kind takes action against the Gavos colony by sending some muscle their way.

JonahHex, I tip my hat to you and your brilliance.

My advice:

Age of Rebellion's duty mechanic would be perfect for this type of campaign idea. Duty is rewarded by completing missions and as you level up duty, you gain rewards. These rewards can be seen as hauls from thefts and other such madness.

As your players progress through the game, they could retire one or two of them to act as shadowy leaders while new PCs are recruits with obligation to the syndicate and are forced to have duty for the cause as well to be loyal workers.

I am running almost exactly the same thing, right down to them owning a % of a ryll mine (it's more complicated than that - they are acting as the go-between for the ryll miners and a drug syndicate, providing safe transit to their base, where the drug syndicate can then send off to their own distribution network).

They're also very keen to start a gun smuggling operation - mostly because they owe Jabba a rather large obligation (blowing up Teemo's base instead of killing/capturing him cost him a significant amount of money).

A base of operations is CRITICAL here. Running things from their ship just won't work - you need a stable (ish) base to operate out of. It allows for hiring more crew, which opens up networks for all sorts of things, and lots of side quests and plots, which means they'll have to spend money keeping it up to date (upkeep/repairs/upgrades and staffing). It also gives them a relatively safe place to recover.

RIght now some pirates have found the base and have been attacking consistently - this has forced the group to hire security officers, and even a starfighter pilot to fly the starfighter they took from a pirate who surrendered. However they realized it's not enough, they want a shield generator and ship weapons.

Which has led them to pretending to be imperials (2 stormtroopers, 1 officer, 2 technicians and a wookie "prisoner") where they took charge of a lambda shuttle and are on their way to a naval facility where they plan to *steal* the above items and also stage a jailbreak.

They certainly have courage.

They certainly have courage.

Chutzpah. The word you are looking for is chitzpah.

Hi, I'm getting ready to start my first EotE campaign. I'm planning to go sandboxy too, and I'll be using ORE - Reign Companies system for the factions part. In case anyone wants to check it out, it's easy to use just that part within EotE and it allows to have some simple yet cool rules to handle conflict among factions and account for player actions and their influence. I think it'd be specially helpful specially if the player faction grows.