Maybe I missed it, but are there any rules or guidelines for providing players with the options to buy things used? I could see them wanting a new ship or a swoop bike and not having enough credits, I figured I could offer to sell them a clunker that their mechanic could fix up. Has anyone done this, and what have you done as far as pricing and, I presume, negative modifications to the original item/ship?

I don't think there are any official rules on it on way or the other.

I can't see any reason not to allow it. If, as you said, the PCs want to save some money, they should often be able to find used versions of whatever they want to buy.

The one caveat is that any used purchase that comes at a significant discount should also come with a drawback commensurate with the discount. If they buy a used blaster rifle, for example, it should inflict one or two points fewer damage, or generate one or two automatic threat when used, or something like that.

Likewise, don't be too lenient with letting a mechanic "fix it up". If used goods don't come with sufficient drawbacks, or if those drawbacks can be fixed too cheaply or easily, then why ever buy new?

Likewise, don't be too lenient with letting a mechanic "fix it up". If used goods don't come with sufficient drawbacks, or if those drawbacks can be fixed too cheaply or easily, then why ever buy new?

Good point. Perhaps in order to balance this I could simply make them capable of slowly repairing it back to nearly tip-top shape, in exchange for lots of time (across many sessions) and parts money equaling like.. 75% of the discount they got. That would allow them to get something like a junky swoop pretty early on, and slowly improve it over time. It would also allow the mechanic to feel awesome, I don't want him to feel like investing all the points that he has in mechanics was a waste so this seems like a good way to keep bringing his skills in.

You missed it because it's actually integrated into the system.

You roll Negotiate or Streetwise against a difficulty determined by the items rarity (see page 150) to locate items and set their prices (which skill depends on if you're looking for open market or black market).

Then you interpret the dice results to generate an actual effect.

So lets say you're looking for a blaster pistol and you result with 2 Successes, and three threat. The GM can say "OK, the price is only 300c (successes), but it's not in really good shape so it counts as minorly damaged (threat) until it's repaired.

Now, if you want to allow the players to specifically go out looking for used gear, that's cool too, but I'd add an additional setback for that, and maybe even spend a DP to upgrade the difficulty to add the possibility of a despair.

ProTip: Also be looking for reasons to add a setback or two to every roll all the time. The system actually works better when you do, especially when players start getting Talents that remove setbacks.

"Come on down to Mork's used weapons! Never fired! Only dropped once!"

I agree finding used stuff is kind of part of the roll. A GM could give Boost dice on the roll to represent players willingness to buy used.

If you want maintain plausibility making complex machines run "like new" costs more money than actually buying a new one.

Ever heard of a car being totaled? It means it would costs more to fix the car than purchasing a new one. Ever wonder why a car is a classic? Because it takes a lot of TLC and expensive parts no longer mass produced to make that '67 chevy run like new.

A good mechanic can contribute labor for free (the PC), but they still need parts. Parts are not be free, and most PC don't have time off from adventuring to make them.

"Come on down to Mork's used weapons! Never fired! Only dropped once!"

I agree finding used stuff is kind of part of the roll. A GM could give Boost dice on the roll to represent players willingness to buy used.

I felt setback to increase the odds of a threat by a little, boost would suggest it's easier to find... tough call... maybe both?

These are fantastic suggestions, thanks for the tips! This system is fantastic but is definitely taking some getting used to, especially for things like this that in many games are handled much less narratively. So far all signs point to it being a worthwhile thing to get used to though .

Just add the inferior quality, and have a special rule that when you roll a despair the weapon breaks or stops working.

"Come on down to Mork's used weapons! Never fired! Only dropped once!"

I agree finding used stuff is kind of part of the roll. A GM could give Boost dice on the roll to represent players willingness to buy used.

I felt setback to increase the odds of a threat by a little, boost would suggest it's easier to find... tough call... maybe both?

Setback to me are something you would add to in demand stuff or rare. Boost would be for ubiquitous stuff with lots of options available to represent competition among vendors and the player's willingness to accept used stuff.

"Come on down to Mork's used weapons! Never fired! Only dropped once!"

I agree finding used stuff is kind of part of the roll. A GM could give Boost dice on the roll to represent players willingness to buy used.

I felt setback to increase the odds of a threat by a little, boost would suggest it's easier to find... tough call... maybe both?

Setback to me are something you would add to in demand stuff or rare. Boost would be for ubiquitous stuff with lots of options available to represent competition among vendors and the player's willingness to accept used stuff.

This makes perfect sense for the location they'll be in, it's got an economy and is generally kind of okay, but has starting building out a bit faster than demand, so I could see vendors being a bit desperate for business.

These are fantastic suggestions, thanks for the tips! This system is fantastic but is definitely taking some getting used to, especially for things like this that in many games are handled much less narratively. So far all signs point to it being a worthwhile thing to get used to though .

This is the right attitude to have with this system. A lot of it's details look wonky or broken on first glance, but after you try it a couple times it starts to make sense.

Heck I had to read the vehicle combat portion 3 times before it finally "clicked" but once it did it really started to work out really well.

I fully plan to re-read all the combat rules before our first session, as I plan to have small planetary and space combat mixed in as both an intro to the system and a starter hook for the larger campaign. Gotta make sure I get it right. Might actually start another topic about balancing encounters, my PCs are not exactly combat oriented...

I would say the item has the inferior quality until repaired using a Daunting mechanics check and paying some portion of the items base cost towards new parts. Failure with a stated amount of threat could mean the damage is irreversible.

When my players buy used equipment, I usually have the equipment be considered damaged, so they are one step closer to being destroyed and they are a bit harder to use, with setback dice being applied to checks until the item is repaired. My players covet their weapons like religious artifacts, so I like to use my dice results to damage their weapons a lot. I find that damaging their equipment has more of an impact on them than damaging the characters themselves since I don't plan on killing them off anytime soon.

Also, this gives the players more options when trying to earn money. They can buy damaged weapons, spend the time and effort to repair them, and sell them off-world at a higher price. This encourages them to use negotiation, charm, streetwise, mechanics, the different knowledge skills, and various other skills depending on the different conditions they are facing.

It's supposed to be a "used and worn-in" galaxy. Used goods are not necessarily any cheaper than new products, but they also perform just as well too. Those that actually have deficiencies as a result of their used status likely won't be sold until they're restored. It's certainly a different mindset to products in the modern USA.

In truth, most often I find used items not being that much less expensive. I mean if you're selling something your negotiation check determines how much you get for the item. I want to say that started at 50% of the item cost, but it may have been 25%. I don't have my books with me right now. As the store is trying to turn a profit, they tend to set the price as high as they can, with your negotiation check bringing it down. Anyway, in my experiences with it, it's saved about 25% of the cost off new. Could be big money on a ship, but the day to day stuff and weapons/armor it didn't turn out to anything bank breaking.

I don't horse around with "inferior" quality too much Its just more mechanics to remember. For us we just replace the first purple with a red on any used item. If/when it rolls a despair something goes wrong or it breaks. At least until they get it professionally checked out, then if the mechanic says it is cool, then we remove the red.