Well, my players are interested in selling a hostage into slavery. Or at least ransom. Possible spoiler for Beyond the Rim
He was the commander of the Deep Dark. They took him hostage, and one of the character's briefly stole his identity. Now they don't know what to do with him, except slavery or ransom. He's an ISB officer, I honestly don't know if he'd be considered valuable enough to the Empire to get him back, or what a Hutt slaver may pay. Anyone got any ideas?
Well there can be other options. Star Wars is primarily a Fantasy setting with a coat of SiFi and like most heroic fantasy bad guys can be extremely honorable or extremely dishonorable and vicious as needed. A failed commander could be released if they were one of the honorable ones because they would rather loose themselves to rot on some backwater world rather than face the humiliation of they're failure to their superiors.
Slaves are an extremely valuable commodity, especially those with specialised skills useful to the buyer.
I can't quote you any specific references from the Star Wars universe; but based on what I do know of the Star Wars economy and the history of slavery in general (a hobby of mine), I would expect the market value of most slaves to be between 2,000 and 10,000 credits.
Older, weaker, less skilled people useful only for menial tasks like cleaning might cost 2,000.
Adults in their prime years would probably average around 5,000.
Those with special skills (e.g. higher education, a useful trade, et cetera) or special qualities (e.g. great beauty, membership in a rare and exotic species, et cetera) might run 6,000 to 8,000.
Prime slaves with exceptional skills (e.g. a master craftsman in his thirties) might fetch 10,000 or more.
Young children tend to cost substantially less than adults since they're not particularly useful immediately. The long-term nature of the investment tends to mean a discount for the buyer - the younger the cheaper.
A high-ranked naval command officer should be worth a great deal to the right buyer, provided he will cooperate. A pirate band, for example, might easily pay 15,000 or more for a slave like that if they can be convinced that he will do what they tell him and not try to escape.
The issue with someone like a naval officer is that many buyers will be wary of purchasing someone so "independent" and "uppity". A slave who isn't obedient isn't of much use.
I'll defer to Over's pricing but another thing to consider is that the guy you want to sell is an Imperial Naval officer. The Empire will for the most part turn a blind eye to slavers because they are useful, they provide plenty of fodder for Imperial production, but they will almost certainly come down hard on any slaver holding one of their officers. I doubt there are many slavers who will risk a potato as hot as this.
Yes, like any "hot" commodity, a kidnapped Imperial command officer is not something that just anyone with the credits will be willing to buy. Many buyers (who might otherwise be interested) would be unwilling to risk the trouble it could bring down on them.
Also, in case it wasn't obvious, I should note that the estimated prices I gave above are intended to be final market prices. They are what I would expect the PCs to pay if they wanted to purchase a slave, or what they would probably get if they sold a slave directly to the new owner (and cut out the middle man).
In practice, most people would probably sell to a professional slaver (the middle man) since it's much quicker and easier. He would only offer a "wholesale" price (say 40%-70% of the prices above) because he'll be looking to turn a profit when he resells to the final owner. And like any middle man, he'll probably offer less for something that's easy to acquire, that he already has in stock, and that's in lower demand. He'll offer more for slaves that are more unique, unlike anything he currently has in stock, or that are in particular demand.
An experience naval officer is likely very unique; but may not be in much demand unless he does business with pirates or long-haul traders or something.
Your best bet is honestly "selling" him (ie: cashing in a standing bounty on him) with the Rebellion. they probably pay a nominal flat rate for captured officers.
One sure could pay down some obligation with a gift like that. Let the Hutts figure out the street value.
sure, sounds good. But who would pay money for a civilized Imperial officer, who has training and obviously contacts who would help him out? The Officer could find some contact somewhere use a pass code and immediately have a few quads doing his bidding. And how would the players prevent a double cross where the buyers are more interested in liberating the officer to remain in good standing with the Empire, and jailing the players?
No, the best option is finding a contact in the Rebellion who would pay a bounty for the officer. Any player with some knowledge underworld should be able to figure that out.
If my players took this course of action, the ISB agent would eventually escape and become their worst nightmare as a recurring Nemesis.
Remind the Players that in EotE their PCs are heroes making their way in a criminal setting, not just petty criminals themselves. What would any of the heroes in SW do? Sure they'll kill without hesitation in a battle, but cold blooded murder or the selling of prisoners into slavery? Not so much - unless the prisoners were slavers themselves so you could see them screaming "I'll get you for this!" from behind bars while being hauled to some mine or something as the credits roll. Poetic justice and all that.
Leave him on the planet or turn him over to the Rebels, or if he's honorable then have him to promise on his honor to forget about them and drop him off somewhere. Be heroes not criminals.
If my players took this course of action, the ISB agent would eventually escape and become their worst nightmare as a recurring Nemesis.
Can you imagine just how vindictive this guy would be as the players' recurring villain? With his skill set and contacts... and nothing but revenge on his mind? He would give up any idea of getting back into uniform. He would relentlessly pursue the fools that discredited him, used his identity, and sold him into slavery or gave him up to some crime lord. And he wouldn't just settle for killing the PCs quickly. No... We're talking "Count of Monte Cristo" patience and vengeance.
And rightly so, in my opinion. No need for savagery, even on the edge of the empire.
If my players took this course of action, the ISB agent would eventually escape and become their worst nightmare as a recurring Nemesis.
Agreed. If my character was part of your group, the ISB agent would be taking a stroll outside of the ship without a vacsuit. A death that the Imperial dog deserves.
Yeah, I guess I should go into more detail... I was actually still in the middle of that session at the time. It was... an unexpected turn of events. See... I still can't figure out how serious the players are about doing this. I have one that's definitely against it, and the others that are for it might just be joking/curious. It's hard to tell with my group sometimes
The Rebel idea is a good one, especially since the one against it would probably readily agree. The players have, up till now, been pretty moral, this is really the first time any of them have wanted to do something this bad... And since they have Criminal obligation with the Empire, maybe the Rebels could reduce it for them. They'd probably like that.
And yeah, there's a good chance he'll come back as a Nemesis at a later date. They've already got one guy coming for them for revenge, maybe they can meet up along the way (Trex, from the Beginner Game. They left him alive, and took his ship. They also ended up stealing the Deep Dark, due to a series of very crazy plans and very good dice rolls, so... I like the poetry of the 2 guys who own the ships they stole teaming up)
I like the poetry of the 2 guys who own the ships they stole teaming up)
The first thing that flashed to my mind after reading this was a scene in a dark dirty cantina somewhere on the edge of nowhere, with a raging Trandoshan going on about what he’s going to do to those stupid ship thieves when he gets his claws on them, and the eyebrow of a down-and-out agent going up when he hears the description of the party.
I can literally almost picture the scene in my mind.
I like the poetry of the 2 guys who own the ships they stole teaming up)
The first thing that flashed to my mind after reading this was a scene in a dark dirty cantina somewhere on the edge of nowhere, with a raging Trandoshan going on about what he’s going to do to those stupid ship thieves when he gets his claws on them, and the eyebrow of a down-and-out agent going up when he hears the description of the party.
I can literally almost picture the scene in my mind.
This idea makes me almost regret putting a blaster bolt through Trex's head(his own heavy pistol)
Adjust the story so it's Trex's mate/sibling/friend that takes up the hunt for Trex's killers.
This idea makes me almost regret putting a blaster bolt through Trex's head(his own heavy pistol)
As a Wookiee, I was more than happy to cut him in half with my vibro-axe.
Adjust the story so it's Trex's mate/sibling/friend that takes up the hunt for Trex's killers.
Yeah, there’s cameras all over the place, and family members are a good candidate for taking up a blood oath to hunt down the killers of their mate.
I’ll have to remember that. But then, as a Wookiee, I would generally be inclined to just kill any Trandoshan that I come across, so maybe not such an additional concern for me.
I like the poetry of the 2 guys who own the ships they stole teaming up)
The first thing that flashed to my mind after reading this was a scene in a dark dirty cantina somewhere on the edge of nowhere, with a raging Trandoshan going on about what he’s going to do to those stupid ship thieves when he gets his claws on them, and the eyebrow of a down-and-out agent going up when he hears the description of the party.
I can literally almost picture the scene in my mind.
My god. I imagine this guy rounding up all of the party's recurring antagonists, researching all of their obligations and figuring out how to leverage all of it into some kind of delightful Xanatos Gambit situation.