Okay, in Far Horizons, a business owner(s) can buy a security upgrade package for their establishment - better walls, security cameras, better locks and so on for 10K each. One of the upgrades is getting a security droid.

. .. but why not just buy security droid? It's cheaper (page 412 of the main rules says that it runs 9,600 credits) and it seems silly to tie up one of the three business upgrade slots for something you can just go down to Joe's Used Droid Lot and pick up.

Is there something I'm missing here?

If there's one thing I can't stand it's a savvy coupon clipping shopper.......

The 400 credits is probably some sort of Customer Protection Racket Plan.

"For just 400 credits more, our maintenance crew performs regular checkups to make sure that for the duration of one year, the droid will not become homicidal... or at least indiscriminately so."

Or it licenses your business to have an armed droid on the premises. While the security droid may not be Restricted, that doesn't mean that it's necessarily freely allowed either.

A single droid can be compromised, but each of those items in the security package is itself another layer of defense for your business.

Well, the droid was hit with an ion blaster and is now dead. Now we don't know how stole the Nexu kittens from our pet shop.

I'd venture to say the "security droid" upgrade option would be a state of the art model rather than the one you can buy off the shelf. I'd also allow the players to replace it or have more than one droid if it made sense. Plus it wouldn't be programmed to go anywhere with them, it'd just stand there and guard the shop. Using the upgrade shop, to my mind, persists the droid and ties it to the location. Buying it outright makes it a piece of gear that they can use in any way they see fit -- and it gets destroyed just as easily as any other piece of gear, whereas the droid at the shop is still there even after they get robbed.

I'd say that you win the prize for finding a minor oversight on the part of the designers. There is no difference between the homestead/business option and a droid that is purchased. In my opinion, I wouldn't bother with the option anyways since it could always be purchased with credits, unless your group has really low obligation and 2 points wouldn't hurt and you decide to go that route.

Or it licenses your business to have an armed droid on the premises. While the security droid may not be Restricted, that doesn't mean that it's necessarily freely allowed either.

Nexu kittens.

GAH!!!! MANLY SQUEE!!!!

Okay, in Far Horizons, a business owner(s) can buy a security upgrade package for their establishment - better walls, security cameras, better locks and so on for 10K each. One of the upgrades is getting a security droid.

. .. but why not just buy security droid? It's cheaper (page 412 of the main rules says that it runs 9,600 credits) and it seems silly to tie up one of the three business upgrade slots for something you can just go down to Joe's Used Droid Lot and pick up.

Is there something I'm missing here?

There are four security options. In my mind, you should be able to take it 4 times, not 3. That may be a typo. I have a feeling I originally had the windows and walls reinforcement as one thing, and it was broken up for balance, but that last line wasn't changed? I'm not sure what happened there. I don't see anything game breaking by allowing a single location to take all 4, though.

As for the 400 credit disparity, I would absolutely attribute that to a license and registration with the local authorities, some signage warning the premesis are protected by security droid, shipping costs for the droid, or a handful of replacement parts. Yes, you could just go purchase it outright, but making it a mod means you can also acquire it for obligation.

There are four security options. In my mind, you should be able to take it 4 times, not 3. That may be a typo. I have a feeling I originally had the windows and walls reinforcement as one thing, and it was broken up for balance, but that last line wasn't changed? I'm not sure what happened there. I don't see anything game breaking by allowing a single location to take all 4, though.

My bad - I mis-remembered it. It was "may buy this three additional times", meaning that you can get four total. And really, 400 bucks in the grand scheme of things isn't all that much - so no, not really a big deal. (And I like the extended warrantee idea. "Free maintenance once a year for the life of your droid!")

However, now that I have you on the line - were there any business upgrades that you were toying with that didn't make the book? Something like "You know, X would be cool - but I'm already at my word count. Ah well! Guess it hits the cutting room floor"

As I remember it, my first draft of the Homestead Rules were pitched and written like 2 days before the deadline. The table is a lot different from what I originally pitched, which LOOKED a lot more like a character spec talent tree. Sam and the devs did a great job streamlining and simplifying it into something easier to use. I don't think much in the way of actual upgrades were lost, though. There might have been a shield generator? There might have been 1-2 others.

As a side note, what sparked the idea for these was actually the Assassin's Creed video game series. There is a sort of base building mini game in there that made me think, hey, this could work as a fun mini game in the RPG for colonists!

However, now that I have you on the line - were there any business upgrades that you were toying with that didn't make the book? Something like "You know, X would be cool - but I'm already at my word count. Ah well! Guess it hits the cutting room floor"

I think it is pretty well covered. The whole thing is already so open ended to your creativity that most things can be covered by various specialized licenses. I am wondering who exactly are these NPCs that live and work at your homestead if you have to pay credits or obligation to attract someone with reals skills. I guess you have to deal with whiney nephews always wanting to run to Tosche to pick up power converters. "Well, he'd better have those units in the South Ridge repaired by midday, or there'll be hell to pay.

Half the idea with the skilled NPCs is for GMs to really develop those as supporting characters to use as drivers of adventures. Your mechanic might ask the PCs to try and acquire some very specific spare parts during their next adventure, which can prompt a nice little sidequest. Your Medic might have a family member that goes missing or gets arrested, and its up to the PCs to try and locate or negotiate their return. The idea is to get the PCs attached to these NPCs, so that when you use them as entry points into adventures, the PCs already have some connection to them. It also gives you a nice supply of NPCs to kill off for emotional impact. GMs should slowly flesh these NPCs out with motivations, backgrounds, and personalities of their own, if not for the adventure seeds, than just to make the homestead feel like a more vibrant, living place. Sometimes NPCs should even move on, having achieved their dream of joining the Corellian Circus, or retire, and hand over the reigns to the mechanics shop to a trusted apprentice or their child.

Bottom line, if you only use the base of operations for mechanical benefits, you are really missing out on the biggest advantage that it has for a GM over a party starship, which is all the narrative possibilities.

RPG economics are always screwy. Always. I wouldn't get wrapped up in the Cr. savings or whatever best to choose what best describes the situation. In this case is the place protected by a Security Company contract or is the owner an ornery old bast*rd that'd rather trust his own Droid.

Bottom line, if you only use the base of operations for mechanical benefits, you are really missing out on the biggest advantage that it has for a GM over a party starship, which is all the narrative possibilities.

Can verify: our crew and their bar is stocked with all sorts of colorful NPCs that the players are wildly attached to. One of them got badly hurt in a gang war exchange and their first reaction (after making sure their business was taken care of) was a burning need to go exterminate the gangs with a scorched earth policy.

The town is also is also a great source of NPCs and Plot Points - they've become very attached to the planet and woe be any villain who tries to do harm to their territory. It's actually a little refreshing after years and years of Tramp Freighter campaigns, to have a base of operations like that. So yeah, while I like the rest of the book and the new talent trees - the winner for best chapter is the business and homesteading section.

(As a side note, it's also more difficult to come up with games in that regard instead of having the entire galaxy to draw upon. It really flexes your creative muscle as a GM - there's only so many times that you can go to the A-Team well. . . . )

Desslok, watch more westerns, and draw from their plot ideas. Star Wars obviously already draws a lot from westerns as an influence, and while many of those plots can be turned into galaxy hopping adventures, they can work just as well adapted to a single planet.

I just want to add that many of the NPC development advantages of a homestead can be done with larger starships too. The Gozanti has a crew of 12, so even large groups of PCs will usually only crew half the ship. This leaves plenty of room for long-term NPCs to fill out the rest of the crew.

Daze, very true, but the Gozanti, IIRC, isn't an option for a party starting starship, thanks to its cost. A homestead is. (though, of course, by GM fiat, you can totally do a campaign like that, and it would be awesome). Getting into larger ships though comes with its own campaign notes and challenges. Hopefully thats something that can get covered in the AoR Commander splatbook, but if not, certainly a lot of the advice for playing homesteads can work for that sort of campaign as well.

Homesteads offered additional features that can be added at the start of the game for taking on more Obligation. Something similar to allow for more expensive starships should certainly be reasonable. The Gozanti is one of my favorite examples of a small Sil 5 ship, and with a cost of only 200,000 credits, it's not too far beyond PCs' starting ship options.