I posted this on the Star Wars subreddit earlier today, so sorry if this is the 2nd time you're seeing this. But here's the deal, I own several of the EotE rulebooks and supplements, but I really found no satisfactory answer to 'How do my players conduct a smuggling operation?'. I attempted to answer this question by constructing a flowchart. It is heavily abstracted, because it would be impossible to chart out every individual decision and consequence (that's why we need a GM, right?), but I think this provides me an excellent framework for running smuggling adventures.

I'm hoping to get some critical feedback from the community here. I know it's not very pretty now, that will come later. But what about specific feedback on the functionality of this? Thanks.

http://imgur.com/bnpNHIh

We'd never smuggle Process. Process is just too hot right now.

I'm more of a seat of my pants kinda GM when I (increasingly infrequently) run stuff but that looks awesome.

A couple of thoughts, possibly resolved as scripted variations on the "standard" run:

* How does "territory" come into play? Does the system's boss approve of what you're transporting? Do they want a cut? Can they enforce it? Do they know know who you are? (Who your ship belongs to/reputation of the crew/legal status and history.)

* What happens when you aren't smuggling what you think you are? (Spice instead of jewels (Usual Suspect), frozen people instead of whatever (Firefly), highly illegal Process instead of moderately illegal wobbly headed dolls).

* Players with contacts within the empire may have an alternate option for the run itself - bribing an officer to let them by or just buying the patrol routes for the day (which will always be 100% accurate, I'm sure).

No getting out of a boarding situation all the way on the bottom right? Only ends in failure.

No getting out of a boarding situation all the way on the bottom right? Only ends in failure.

My thoughts exactly. Failure that's summed up as "you die, or might as well be dead" is better off in D&D where you can resurrect the players later. In Star Wars you've got to be more creative about keeping the players alive and functional. They don't have to win all the time, but even The Empire Strikes Back didn't end with the Falcon destroyed and everyone in prison...

+5 for the chart, but -3 for the failure result options...

We'd never smuggle Process. Process is just too hot right now.

I'm more of a seat of my pants kinda GM when I (increasingly infrequently) run stuff but that looks awesome.

A couple of thoughts, possibly resolved as scripted variations on the "standard" run:

* How does "territory" come into play? Does the system's boss approve of what you're transporting? Do they want a cut? Can they enforce it? Do they know know who you are? (Who your ship belongs to/reputation of the crew/legal status and history.)

* What happens when you aren't smuggling what you think you are? (Spice instead of jewels (Usual Suspect), frozen people instead of whatever (Firefly), highly illegal Process instead of moderately illegal wobbly headed dolls).

* Players with contacts within the empire may have an alternate option for the run itself - bribing an officer to let them by or just buying the patrol routes for the day (which will always be 100% accurate, I'm sure).

Those items can come into play however the GM wants to play it out. I might add a box for Negotiation checks underneath the 'Assignment from Boss', just so coming to terms before a job is no longer implied. For the other items, like I said, I had to have some level of abstraction. For instance, for the 'Soliciting Work Independently' path, I considered creating a sub-tree that would allow you to basically buy information from a information broker that you could then use to work a job, but I decided that process could still fall in the existing tree with little modification. Also notice the optional event 'Very Bad Things', which is kind of a catch-all for all the things that will go wrong on a routine smuggling trip.

Thanks for taking a look at it.

No getting out of a boarding situation all the way on the bottom right? Only ends in failure.

My thoughts exactly. Failure that's summed up as "you die, or might as well be dead" is better off in D&D where you can resurrect the players later. In Star Wars you've got to be more creative about keeping the players alive and functional. They don't have to win all the time, but even The Empire Strikes Back didn't end with the Falcon destroyed and everyone in prison...

+5 for the chart, but -3 for the failure result options...

I think it is more likely that he forgot it. If you look on the bottom left, he has fail and succeed against being boarded.

No getting out of a boarding situation all the way on the bottom right? Only ends in failure.

My thoughts exactly. Failure that's summed up as "you die, or might as well be dead" is better off in D&D where you can resurrect the players later. In Star Wars you've got to be more creative about keeping the players alive and functional. They don't have to win all the time, but even The Empire Strikes Back didn't end with the Falcon destroyed and everyone in prison...

+5 for the chart, but -3 for the failure result options...

I see your point. In fact, in a subsequent revision that I'm working on, there is a way to succeed at the boarding encounter. It will be extremely difficult to come away from that and still complete the job, but I do like the chance to somehow succeed from that encounter. But please keep in mind that this is a framework, not a software program where there are hard restraints. Even in my own campaigns, I'm sure my players will find a way to throw all kinds of wrenches into my plans.

No getting out of a boarding situation all the way on the bottom right? Only ends in failure.

My thoughts exactly. Failure that's summed up as "you die, or might as well be dead" is better off in D&D where you can resurrect the players later. In Star Wars you've got to be more creative about keeping the players alive and functional. They don't have to win all the time, but even The Empire Strikes Back didn't end with the Falcon destroyed and everyone in prison...

+5 for the chart, but -3 for the failure result options...

I see your point. In fact, in a subsequent revision that I'm working on, there is a way to succeed at the boarding encounter. It will be extremely difficult to come away from that and still complete the job, but I do like the chance to somehow succeed from that encounter. But please keep in mind that this is a framework, not a software program where there are hard restraints. Even in my own campaigns, I'm sure my players will find a way to throw all kinds of wrenches into my plans.

Looking forward to it. I'm only being hard on ya because I think it's a nice little resource. With some polish it's essentially a how-to for smuggler adventure design. Just plot a path for the players, include valid branches, and insert characters, locations, mcguffins, and encounters ... Could have used something like that years ago...

http://imgur.com/bnpNHIh

Tried and got this failure:

Imgur is over capacity!

Sorry! We're busy running around with our hair on fire because Imgur is over capacity! This can happen when the site is under a very heavy load, or while we're doing maintenance.

Please try again in a few minutes.

Nginx

I posted this on the Star Wars subreddit earlier today, so sorry if this is the 2nd time you're seeing this. But here's the deal, I own several of the EotE rulebooks and supplements, but I really found no satisfactory answer to 'How do my players conduct a smuggling operation?'. I attempted to answer this question by constructing a flowchart. It is heavily abstracted, because it would be impossible to chart out every individual decision and consequence (that's why we need a GM, right?), but I think this provides me an excellent framework for running smuggling adventures.

I'm hoping to get some critical feedback from the community here. I know it's not very pretty now, that will come later. But what about specific feedback on the functionality of this? Thanks.

http://imgur.com/bnpNHIh

Can you maybe provide some contrast between the background and the connections. I can barely see the connections.

Yeah, that overcapacity error is for the entire Imgur network. They get overloaded several times a week. Wait an hour and it's usually fixed.

As for the background color, once you get to the imgur page, try clicking on the image itself. It will zoom in and restore it to the intended white background. For some reason the preview file is a black background. Still trying to figure imgur out, so I don't know why it's doing that.

So, looking at the chart, a lot of the results seem a bit too “final”. For example, if you don’t have the Underworld Contacts and you fail your Streetwise roll, you don’t all just pack up your bags and go home and wait for the game session next week. That shouldn’t be what “FAIL” means in this context.

Likewise, if the local law enforcement attack and you fight back, your ship isn’t necessarily destroyed if you lose the fight. It’s disabled, and then you get hauled in, and then the adventure continues from there.

So, I’d like to see some indication of “Fail Forward” on this chart, and that each result can reasonably lead to a new part of the adventure, as opposed to just everyone being dead or going home because there’s nothing to do this week.

As for the black background on the imgurl site in preview mode, the problem is that the image is uploaded as a PNG, with a transparent background for the image. If you make that image background white/non-transparent, or you upload it as a JPEG (which doesn’t support transparency), then you shouldn’t have that problem.

Out of curiosity, what program was used to create this image? I might be able to help make some modifications, if I had the original file to work with.

So, looking at the chart, a lot of the results seem a bit too “final”. For example, if you don’t have the Underworld Contacts and you fail your Streetwise roll, you don’t all just pack up your bags and go home and wait for the game session next week. That shouldn’t be what “FAIL” means in this context.

Likewise, if the local law enforcement attack and you fight back, your ship isn’t necessarily destroyed if you lose the fight. It’s disabled, and then you get hauled in, and then the adventure continues from there.

So, I’d like to see some indication of “Fail Forward” on this chart, and that each result can reasonably lead to a new part of the adventure, as opposed to just everyone being dead or going home because there’s nothing to do this week.

As for the black background on the imgurl site in preview mode, the problem is that the image is uploaded as a PNG, with a transparent background for the image. If you make that image background white/non-transparent, or you upload it as a JPEG (which doesn’t support transparency), then you shouldn’t have that problem.

Out of curiosity, what program was used to create this image? I might be able to help make some modifications, if I had the original file to work with.

I see what you are saying about the hard success vs hard failure. It was kind of an executive decision on my part not to include partial success/failure on this chart, just because it would get too crowded and unmanageable. Plus my personal GM style is that the players should have agency to fail, but that's another topic entirely. You can still have variable outcomes that don't necessarily conform to this model- I just needed something personally to demonstrate how to run a smuggling adventure, because like I said before, the official published material was not that much help to me.

Thanks for the guidance on the PNG vs JPEG. That makes perfect sense.

I created it in Lucidchart. It's a premium software, but it has a free subscription model too. Admittedly, I don't know how much functionality you lose once the 7-day full feature trial expires - I just started messing with this. I didn't link the native file at first because I was afraid of getting tomatoes thrown at me for linking a file that required you to register an account (happened to me yesterday on reddit). But here's a link to a copy that you can edit:

https://www.lucidchart.com/invitations/accept/5b400112-c418-40bb-a46f-cd7ea96c4b2b

Let me know if that doesn't work. This link can be used by anyone, so if for some reason it's been vandalized or destroyed by the time you get to it, I can send you a private copy later.

I created it in Lucidchart. It's a premium software, but it has a free subscription model too. Admittedly, I don't know how much functionality you lose once the 7-day full feature trial expires - I just started messing with this. I didn't link the native file at first because I was afraid of getting tomatoes thrown at me for linking a file that required you to register an account (happened to me yesterday on reddit).

I definitely prefer to have a link to a file that is a standard file format and doesn’t require a particular piece of software to open or edit, and I can understand why people wouldn’t like being given a link to a file that requires an immediate registration. That all makes sense to me.

OTOH, I also sometimes like to edit original files when I can.

IMO, the best practice in this space is to give people both links, tell them which is which and what the requirements are for opening/editing the respective files, and then let them choose which one they want.

Thanks!

_{That is EXACTLY the process my tactician character tried to describe to our smuggling team at our last team meeting. Pity they all fell asleep or wandered off before we got to "smash and grab" or they would have been hooked!}

Setting up a smuggling adventure doesn't require a flow chart. It requires three things. A planet where something is legal. A planet where that same something is illegal. Someone with a ship and a certain moral flexibility. The thing isn't really important. The relative values aren't important. Come up with two worlds and a McGuffin.

The players want to smuggle. You give them a hook, "The Empire just restricted the sale of Self Sealing Stem Bolts to non Corellian worlds. An old (military buddy/college roommate/childhood chum/etc.) happens to be sitting on twelve cases of them he can't move. He's willing to let them go for centicreds on the credit. If they can scrape up (whatever money you know they have plus calling in all the gambling debts various other people in port owe them) they can have them. Then they just need to fly them to a non-Corellian world that uses Self Sealing Stem Bolts in their manufacturing process. Then they will make (enough to pay off all their obligations with enough left over to get a full tank for the ship and all the Crazy K'linztars fried Drilth they can eat). Sounds too good to be true.

Well of course it is.

First off, getting all the credits other pilots and crews owe them. Hilarity can ensue here. Let the dice lead you. Good rolls, they have it but they want to have just one drink... Insert bar room brawl here. Bad rolls, they can get the money, but it will be in Turellian Knarrs. Coperite pyramids that trade 1,000 to 1 credit. The bags weigh hundreds of pounds and you need to bring them out on some kind of large smelly beasts that are very cantankerous. More hilarity ensues.

So now they have the money. When they get there his buddy owns the bolts... but they aren't exactly in his possession.... So you need to help him.. er... acquire the bolts. Oh the hilarity that can ensue. It could be a heist, maybe they are on an abandoned space station that is infested with mynots, perhaps his ex-girl friend has them and the further complication is that one of the players (who is key to getting the stuff) dated the gal and it was a very bad break up. Oh the levels of hilarity we have now.

So now they have the bolts. They fly them to the nearest non-Corellian world and find out they don't need any but the plant foreman knows of an operation on another moon that needs them. So they fly there. Yes they need them, but can only pay in some other cargo that is illegal somewhere else in the galaxy. So fly on or get this cargo that might make them even more money!

Have this go back and forth, one new cargo after another until they find a lead on someone with real credits to pay for the cargo of medicines they got in the last trade. Then have them hit a moral quandary where they can sell it to the guy for an impressive amount of money knowing full well he is going to use it to develop a line of horrible biochemical weapons for the Empire or they can deliver it to a planet that needs the meds to deal with an outbreak of loathsome plague but can only pay a fraction of what the loonatic scientist will pay. So help the madman and know they aided the Empire or do the right thing and make enough to cover expenses, resupply their ship and have some pocket money for the next Sabac game.

You could draw this thing out for several sessions. Each one getting funnier than the last with crazy things they have to do each time dreaming of a larger and larger payoff. All leading up to a moral quandary of life vs. death. If you play it right they might not even draw a blaster for several sessions, but still have had a great time.

Oh, had a second thought. You could add a bit of Blues Brothers. Make it so at each stop they piss off another crew who chase them wanting to either kill them, get something from them or marry one of them. Some with ships of their own, others who have to book passage, hijack or outright steal transportation. In the end they all catch up and wind up fighting each other for the privilege of getting the PCs giving them the opportunity to escape.

I hate Illinois ISB agents.

As much as you hate Space Nazis?