The group just blasted their way off a world with the Imperials in dogged pursuit. They are no may parsecs away and clear but Im thinking surely the authorities have been notified of their crimes and are looking for them. The scene on the Death Star comes to mind.

"The markings match a freighter that blasted its way out of Mos Eisely" or something like that.

Only in this case Im thinking its worse, the very electronic signature of the ship has probably been forwarded to the Imperial security network and relayed to starports everywhere.

Is there a ship attachment that lets you modify/change your transponder? Some new striping and a new name along with a new transponder should give you a new lease on life, shouldn't it?

I don't know if their is an official attachment that lets the characters change transponders, but I've always allowed it, with a couple caveats and limitations.

1) It's not easy. You either have to make some very difficult mechanical checks and pay out for parts, or find an outlaw tech and pay them even more money to do it for you.

2) It's really illegal, so if they're caught then they're in big trouble.

There are rules in Fly Casual. As I recall, it's a difficult task, because the transponder signal is derived from the ship's drive/energy signature. I don't have the book with me, unfortunately.

There's hiding your transponder, which is easier, but flags you as doing that which is illegal, although they won't know who you are specifically. Then there is forging one, which is quite difficult.

As Coyote said, Fly Casual is your source for transponder info.

I've got a cooy. I'll check it out.

In-game, I’m not aware of any such technology.

Wookieepedia lists the “Masking Transponder” as doing something of this sort, but so far as I know they haven’t been statted up for use with FFG’s SWRPG.

See also the Legends page on Wookieepedia for “Transponder Code”.

We made it part of the story and it took about six sessions (spread out over the first twelve sessions). We had to alter our transponder, which was easy enough (buying some custom equipment, finding someone who'd know how to do it, doing a favor for said person). But to make our ship appear to be completely clean we had to get the data altered at the Bureau of Ships and Services (BoSS). There were a number of ways to go about it but we ended up looking for dirt on people who'd have access. After finding our mark we were able to make a deal. Said person got something out of it too, so it wasn't strictly blackmail.

This was all (just) before Fly Casual came out by the way.

Yep, Fly Casual has a nice section on it but whew! Its going to be tough if the ship's mechanic is a greenhorn. Probably have to hire somebody, but they are probably broke if they are like our smugglers. Nice adventure seed huh?

It does beg the question though. Surely you don't have to do this continually to keep a bounty off your head?

Im imagining every time the crew gets in a tight spot the word goes out to stay on the look out for them. Shoot on sight or whatever. How do you guys running a smuggling type campaign keep their people from becoming instantly notorious?

I see the section in Fly Casual, thanks!

I've been thinking several way to approach it, and the necessary tasks.

First, Transponders.
- Stealing transponders off wrecked ships and installing them as new/secondary/tertiary/etc.
- Stealing a transponder from a ship and stealing its identity.
- Re-wiring the Transponders to accept codes from and Astromech.

Second, Looks.
- Paint Job.
- Electro-reactive Paint job that can change.
- Hydraulic plates that shift and alter ship outline and radar signatures at whim - great with multiple transponder codes.

- Large scale overhaul and altering of the ships structure.

- Attaching Modular Cargo pods to mask against cursory examinations.

In SAGA edition, my first experience with a SW TTRPG, there was the option of modifying your engines to have more than one transponder code. You could switch between them and the more you had the more difficult it was.

I don't know if FFG addresses it, but I'm fairly positive that the transponder code is baked into the engine like a black box in order to prevent this sort of thing.

Although, having the option to turn it on or off, or using alias' would make for a great addition to any outlaw group.

A Transponder is a very different piece of equipment to an Engine and a Transponder Signal very different from an Engine Signature.

A Transponder is a very different piece of equipment to an Engine and a Transponder Signal very different from an Engine Signature.

Ahrimon was referring to EU and game lore that the transponder code is embedded into the sublight drives of a starship making it nearly impossible to remove without damaging the engine. If not, it could be removed as quickly as swapping out VIN plates.

Nearly all of Fly Casual p. 75 addresses Transponder Codes. And yes FFG repeats that they are, "built into a ship's sublight engines".

Fly Casual includes rules of adding, concealing, or removing transponder codes.

WEG d6 had sections on transponders in a couple of the books, if I get a chance tonight I'll dig them up and post the book and pages for each.

Fly Casual covers it pretty well, everything I think group could need on the subject... sadly it makes it pretty tough to dicker with your transponder in any way.

Fly Casual covers it pretty well, everything I think group could need on the subject... sadly it makes it pretty tough to dicker with your transponder in any way.

Which doesn't seem to jibe with the canon material -- the only ship we ever see messing with its "signature" is the Ghost, and that crew does it as a matter of routine. We never really get a sense of how hard it is for other ships or crews to do this, and the word "transponder" isn't used IIRC.

Masking or switching off a Transponder is easy. Replacing it with the signature of another ship is really hard. Is hacking into a government agency and mimicking the signature of another vessel supposed to be easy?

In Smuggler's Run, a recent canon novel, the Falcon is noted to have dozens if not more transponder codes that they can feed into the computer via a data cube, right from the cockpit. This certainly doesn't jive with everything we've seen and inferred so far!

Surely this is the extreme of messing with transponder codes - it is, after all, the Millennium Falcon.

Ghost and Millenium Falcon are special ships, at the far end of the scale. That should however tell us what is theoretically possible.

Given the technical and legal functions of a transponder, I think its safe to assume that the other end of the scale is all those crews who are just trying to conduct their business without hassle or trouble from whoever the legal or local authorities are. They probably never do anything with the transponder, other than wish they could turn it off when they run into pirates (making their ship harder to detect).

What we don't know from cannon is how difficult or dangerous it is to go from "it's a black box, leave it alone" to "who do we want to be today?"

Ghost and Millenium Falcon are special ships, at the far end of the scale. That should however tell us what is theoretically possible.

Given the technical and legal functions of a transponder, I think its safe to assume that the other end of the scale is all those crews who are just trying to conduct their business without hassle or trouble from whoever the legal or local authorities are. They probably never do anything with the transponder, other than wish they could turn it off when they run into pirates (making their ship harder to detect).

What we don't know from cannon is how difficult or dangerous it is to go from "it's a black box, leave it alone" to "who do we want to be today?"

I liken it to switching license plates on a car. Some folk don't do it. Some folk do it once in a panic. And then there are some folk that build a whole automated plate switch ala Knight Rider.

One thing Smuggler's Run implied is that transponders CAN be turned off, legally!

I don't really have any basis for this other than it just "sounds right" in my head, but here's how I've always thought about it. There are 3 factors in identifying a ship. Transponder code; visual signature; emission signature.

Transponders are small, powerful transmitters that are, in some way, integral to the sublight engine. Sort of like a VIN. It basically calls out make/model/serial number. It goes into a registry, and its specific code is equated with a ship designation, like "Molybdenum Sparrow". Cursory scans reveal the ship's ID, and suffices for 95%

Visual signature is, as you'd guess, visual identification of the vessel. Unique modifications, paintjobs, changes to the appearance of the vessel. It's never gone into at great length, but I'd imagine this sort of information is part and parcel of your yearly starship registration process. Overhaul the hull and change your outline? New paintjob? Gotta let the Space DMV know. This would probably come into play if there was a BOLO out for "an orange HWK-290" and as additional verification if a Space Cop runs your transponder.

Emission Signature doesn't really have a good equivalent in car speak. I like to think of it as a combination of electronic emissions (specific sensor package model, broadcasting on X frequency, radiation leakage from the powerplant, ion footprint of the sublight engines, and all that jazz) working as a unique "fingerprint" for the vehicle. I figure this one only comes up if one of the other two factors throw a red flag. "Huh. That's funny. This ship is squawking the ID codes for the Molybdenum Sparrow but the registration says it's a stock orange 290. This one's teal with what looks like an ion cannon under the nose. Check it's emission signature."

If it's always broadcasting or emitting, then it's not really a transponder (transmitter responder) -- a transponder responds when it gets a valid interrogation signal, rather than just going continuously.

If it's always broadcasting or emitting, then it's not really a transponder (transmitter responder) -- a transponder responds when it gets a valid interrogation signal, rather than just going continuously.

Ah thanks for this. In my Signal Intel supplement I ran into an issue of transponders should make you more easily detectable by sensors (radiating a signal) versus the issues this would cause by criminal elements (pirates) using your transponder to find you. RAW has transponders being able to be beacons (should be easily detected at far ranges to be useful). My house rule to go along with RAW was transponders are allowed by law to be turned down to a very short range (the Close range specified in RAW) versus they could be turned way up when required to be a beacon.

I may consider that only those with the proper equipment (Imperial vessels) are able to ping a transponder. However, anyone may pick it up when switched to beacon mode.

When, where and how a transponder functions is largely dictated by where the vehicle is operating.