We're on Nar Shaddaa.

I may have made a mistake in our last session. The group was humiliated a bit by a ship thief. Basically he set them up, they seemed to see through the trap, went anyway, escaped with a few blaster burns and a wrenched loading ramp.

They then discovered that there were several bounties out for this guy, small but adding up to a decent stack of credits. Only one specified live delivery (the smallest one). Two of the others only wanted proof of demise while one wanted a body, alive or dead.

They caught him, acquiring another couple blaster burns, and locked him up on their ship. Then they had the idea of turning in all three of the dead-or-alive bounties. So they put him on camera (holocam), still unconscious from stun bolts, showed the camera identifying marks (retina prints, tattoos and scars) then blasted him right there.

They took the body and got the first bounty, then took recordings and got the other two. A bit dark, but honestly, this guy was unloved. None of the local "law enforcement" (gangs) cared, the murder was on their ship as opposed to out in public, and while he might have a partner out for revenge, the bounty for live delivery was Imperial so even the Empire considered him a criminal.

Should I assess some penalty for the cold-bloodedness of the murder? I'm inclined to let it go since it was, rather darkly, simply a financial decision.

On the plus side, the players all agreed amongst themselves, out of character, that this guy was a cautionary tale for them and that they should think very hard before stealing a ship.

Nah, they're bounty hunters, not tour guides. Maybe have whoever wanted live delivery take a bounty out on them because the mark knew something indispensable.

If this were WEG, sure. If they had a Jedi in the group, absolutely. But this - yeah, it's dark as hell, but if you're okay with the tone (and everyone else at the table is okay with it) - then proceed.

Casual? Sounds like it was carefully considered, to me.

As for consequences: Everybody has family. Somebody who is a ship thief? They might have family that doesn't care that he had a mark on his head. They might have family that doesn't care that he was the black sheep. They might have family who will stop at nothing to see the PCs pay for what they did. Especially for the manner in which they did it.

So give the ship thief a family. A powerful family. Perhaps a powerful family with links to the Empire, Black Sun, or the Hutts. A powerful family that doesn't care about bending morals, rules, or laws to avenge themselves on those who have wronged them.

And make sure the PCs know who is hurting them and why. Maybe even have them get into a conversation with one of the ship thief's family members....

"Look, I understand why you did what you did. I'm a business man. My brother was bantha poodoo and he deserved what you did to him. But that's not what this is about. You didn't just kill him. You recorded it. Played it for the whole galaxy to see. And if word gets out that you can do that to one of us? Well, you won't be around to find out. Say, 'Hi,' to Mace Windu for me."

I think this pretty much depends on whether you want there to be consequences. If you're comfortable with what they did and it fits the tone of the campaign then I don't think there's any fixed rule that says there has to be any. But if you think they went too far there are plenty of options available to you.

If you're using the Morality system from F&D then this is obviously 10+ points of Conflict for everyone. If you don't, there's still Obligation; maybe some Bounty, or Bad Reputation, or Notoriety, depending on how you want to handle it. And if you prefer more in-universe consequences there's the possibility of the guy having powerful friends or family. If your PCs are guild-affiliated hunters they could get in trouble with their guild for taking outside contracts. If the bounties weren't legal (and they don't sound like the sort of bounties that law enforcement agencies would post) then your players essentially just committed murder for money and recorded it; they can look forward to being hunted by real law enforcement for some time to come.

Krieger22 I think you solved it. I don't mind the murder in this particular case because I now realize I practically set it up that way. If I wanted to discourage it, I should've made the live bounty the largest. In effect, I killed the guy, not the PCs.

I don't want this to be a trend however. I'd prefer that the PCs (and players) at least think the situation through before they decide to murder someone. Bad Reputation is an excellent way to show them that while no one is actively upset about what they did, there are still a good number of people that aren't comfortable with it, or the PCs.

I would like to echo Vigil's idea. Your players may have sent a message that they did not intend to send. That makes the group dangerous and unpredictable. Rival bounty hunters may be more inclined to engage the group first if they are chasing the same target. If the live bounty was from the Empire there may have been reason to place that kind of bounty. Maybe the Ship Thief knew the location of some suspected Rebels and had been operating as a freelance agent for the Empire. Maybe the Ship Thief was a Rebel and the Empire was looking to capture him for interrogation. Just some more ideas..

I also seem to recall the Hunters' Creed laid down by the Mandalorians Fett and Kryze says something fairly specific about not killing an 'acquisition' once captured. Unless they try to escape. So I don't think it would be especially strange if other hunters started to treat them as outsiders, non-hunters, no longer protected by the Creed (which includes not attacking other hunters).

It says "Capture by Design, Kill by Necessity.." but some Bounty Hunters I know would say "Hunter's Creed? We don't need no stinking Hunter's Creed!" The group did capture him alive though..

As my signature may suggest, my 'hunter character prefers dead to alive. Less mess, less stress. Don't need to sleep with one eye open, don't need to feed anyone, take turns on watch, and they take up less space in the cargo hold. Easy to just vaporize if rival bounty hunters decide they'd rather kill you and take the bounty for themselves.

They can kinda stink after a while, though.



That being said , killing someone who has surrendered? Not likely to happen. Although, "Look, ma! I washed for supper," incidents may occur. Killing a prisoner and making a recording of it? Definitely not happening. Just get a receipt from the guy who wanted the body and take it to the guys who want proof but don't want the body (although I imagine they would heavily barter down the agreed upon bounty, due to the hunters having already been paid).

Definitely wouldn't want to kill a guy without knowing everything about him. Such as, "Will killing this guy bring retribution down on my head? And will that retribution be cousin Greedo or brother Xizor?"

There is much we can learn from the team of bounty hunters who captured Luke Skywalker and attempted to start a bidding war between Vader and Xizor - with Vader offering the greater amount of money for a live Skywalker and Xizor offering less and planning to kill the bounty hunters, rather than pay them, for a dead Skywalker. (And because they sat around instead of hauling butt to turn the bounty in, they ended up being killed by rebels and Stormtroopers or imprisoned by the Empire.) If the Empire offers a live bounty and somebody else - particularly somebody unknown or mysterious - offers a dead or alive bounty, it's probably best to just take the bounty to the Empire, collect, and then hit the black as fast as your ship can carry you.

(I just re-read Shadows of the Empire for the first time in nearly 20 years, which is why this is on my mind.)

I also seem to recall the bounty hunters' creed from Edge having something to say about not killing an 'acquisition' once captured. Unless they try to escape. So I don't think it would be especially strange if other hunters started to treat them as outsiders, non-hunters, no longer protected by the creed (which includes not attacking other hunters).

Well they are really more like guidelines....

I also seem to recall the Hunters' Creed laid down by the Mandalorians Fett and Kryze says something fairly specific about not killing an 'acquisition' once captured. Unless they try to escape. So I don't think it would be especially strange if other hunters started to treat them as outsiders, non-hunters, no longer protected by the Creed (which includes not attacking other hunters).

Well they are really more like guidelines....

And now it's fixed.

"No disintegrations!" - Lord Vader while addressing bounty hunters.

It would appear that sometimes Bounty Hunters end up killing targets very extensively.

deleted.

I will flip a Destiny to the Dark Side for unnecessary cruelness. In this case I'd rather consider it on this side of EotE's overall shadiness; it's only killing for increased profit.

If any of the players show a guilty conscience about it, you could create a minor Obligation from it.

If you want consequences, you could add a "Ruthless" obligation to the party (for no one specific PC). When it comes up, the party's reputation for ruthlessness comes up in the session and strains them (e.g. maybe the locals rush inside and bolt their doors, that kind of thing).

I will flip a Destiny to the Dark Side for unnecessary cruelness. In this case I'd rather consider it on this side of EotE's overall shadiness; it's only killing for increased profit.

I've done something similar, but in reverse. When the PCs do something unusually altruistic, I've flipped a dark to a light.

In the context of an RPG, capturing a fugitive with so many bounties on his head should earn reputation of some kind, especially done in such a cynical, ruthless fashion. So, yes, some kind of Obligation seems in order, recollecting that total party Obligation is also a measure of underworld street cred -- that point doesn't get mentioned enough in these forums. Note, that doesn't mean the Obligation has to fluctuate for every bounty -- at some point Boba Fett is "BOBA FETT!", and his latest disintegration is just par for the course after putting his pants on in the morning.

In the context of an RPG, capturing a fugitive with so many bounties on his head should earn reputation of some kind, especially done in such a cynical, ruthless fashion.

Capturing a fugitive is one thing. Capturing a fugitive and then murdering him in cold blood while he is in captivity, that is quite another.

Yeah, I’d definitely give them an increased Obligation for that. And the murdered captive would definitely have friends and family that would come back to haunt the party. Multiple times.

They’d probably also get a “friendly” visit from virtually every major bounty hunter in the game, where he buys them all a round of drinks, and then while they’re sitting at the table chatting, he quietly tells them that if they ever violate the Bounty Hunters Code like that again, then they’ll be guaranteed to have the entire Guild after their heads — and just their heads, the rest of the body won’t be required. Their recent activities being “Bad for Business”, and such. The drinks aren’t spiked or anything, but they could have been.

Now, if they just want to be outright Assassins and Murderers-For-Hire, that’s a different Guild.

I'd be careful about piling-on in a way that does not lead to any particular adventure, but retribution, especially for personal reasons, would make a fine adventure hook.

I added 5 Obligation for Bad Reputation to the Gand bounty hunter PC that was actually shown on the holo-recordings. I think that's reasonable. I'll let him buy that off 1 or 2 at a time by "being nice" with Guild assignments.

I also decided the live bounty from the Empire was from an ISB agent who wanted to make an example of the ship thief. The agent is quite pleased with the results and now would like to meet the Gand. *insert evil grin*

I have found that Morality from the F&D beta works perfectly well in Edge and Age as kind of a "mental check" on PC's actions. Yeah, they won't be gaining Conflict from Force power usage, but then again they don't need to follow the same moral standards as a Jedi does when the voices in his head start whispering. And if you give it a try and it doesn't work for you, you can toss it without having to alter anything else along the way.

I like that idea!

Don't care for the reduced strain and extra wounds of the F&D but already know how to handle that in a way that doesn't need involving the other core systems... well unless they ask!

Another idea: Give the player group a bounty (or two) that specifies a live capture... that is costly to set up... but, barring some exceptional cleverness on the part of the PCs, make it so the acquisition recognizes the Gand and makes it all but impossible to be taken alive: They know his reputation, they don't want to be the next guy who gets executed in a holorecording, so rather than surrender, they fight and fight and fight.

Another idea: Give the player group a bounty (or two) that specifies a live capture... that is costly to set up... but, barring some exceptional cleverness on the part of the PCs, make it so the acquisition recognizes the Gand and makes it all but impossible to be taken alive: They know his reputation, they don't want to be the next guy who gets executed in a holorecording, so rather than surrender, they fight and fight and fight.

That's hard to do in a system that makes taking down somebody with non-lethal weaponry so easy.