My players have come across a group of pirates (they infiltrate luxury transports, sabotage the hyperdrive, then pick the ship clean of valuables after all the passengers evacuate -- they then collect the passengers to sell into slavery). The ship is in orbit and needs to be capable of carrying enough pirates for this tactic to be practical. It should, also, be able to carry shuttle craft and have a small contingent of fighter support. I've been thumbing through the books, searching Wookiepedia, and I haven't come up with something.

Suggestions?

A silhouette 5 transport might be ideal. The Gozanti (Fly Casual or AoR), YZ-775 (Dangerous Covenants), or something similar.

Pirates are unlikely to have ships that are too large. But a Sil.5 Maurauder Corvette would certainly fit the bill.

See http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Marauder-class_corvette

and http://swrpg.viluppo.net/transportation/starships/448/

Also, a lot of WEG material that got into pirates had them use things like patrol boats and stuff that were stolen and modified. The Customs frigate (Fly Casual) seemed like a recurring favorite. For anything with a boarding party and crew, the easiest choices are probably medium transports, such as the Action VI, the GR-75, the Space Master, or the Wayfarer. The Citadel-class isn't a bad choice either. Lords of Nal Hutta used the TL-1200 as a pirate ship. Something that at least looks like a tramp freighter.

There's a space salvage ship in Special Modifications that would work. It can hold up to 50 salvage pods which can act as really crappy fighters (but should be sufficient for piracy) in addition to the holds needed to take the loot. It may not be ideal for hauling slaves though, but a second ship could always to that.

For pirates, I like the Wayfarer transport because it can take a cargo pod that holds starfighters. Also, it has stats in the core EotE book, and deck plans available online.

-Nate

For pirates, I like the Wayfarer transport because it can take a cargo pod that holds starfighters. Also, it has stats in the core EotE book, and deck plans available online.

-Nate

Seconded.

Although the Wayfarer was designed to be a cargo ship, Rebels used them as assault shuttles at times. So it's not at all a stretch to use it this way. It's totally fitting for a pirate crew, they probably originally took it from a hapless merchant and repurposed it for piracy.

Where do your pirates sell the slaves and the goods and to whom? There are very few places without imperial presence. Are they trying to stay under cover, are they bribing officials to avoid unwanted attention or are they wandering through the galaxy? A wandering pirate band might have a small warship or a heavy armed frighter as their main ship and a lightly armed frighter to fence of the goods as well as a few fighters for cover and support. The Modus Operandi you described makes it necessary to have a unobstrusive ship to bring the sabotage party to a spaceport where they can board their target. So a SIL 5 Ship as a main base and a SIL 4 Frighter or Yacht would fit the needs of this group.

An Armos Modular Transport from Far Horizons or a Mobquet Medium Transport would fit the description.

Suns of Fortune introduces the PB-950 patrol boat, which is mentioned as favored by pirates because of the twin ion guns on it. It works well for the ambush part, then add another ship for the slave trade and a shuttle for the infiltration team and you're done.

However i think that waiting for the passengers to evacuate isn't effective: imo it sorks better if they ambush the ship at the point where the hyperdrive fails an capture them on board. Heck after the passengers have been captured the pirates could hijack the ship and sell it for scrap parts as well.

IMO (and sticking strictly to the stat block), most suggestions can't carry very many passengers. From the suggestions so far, I'd say go with the Mobquet (upgraded for speed at least) with 90 captives or the Marauder with 80 captives. For new suggestions, the Corellian Star Shuttle with 200 passengers (just add guns), and the good old CR-90 with a max of 600 passengers are good ideas. For something a little bigger the Armos Modular Transport with (up to) 1000 passengers (just add guns) could go after big ships.

With any of these you could add the hanger add on from the core book to get some other small ships for it.

the passanger complement number is for them to be comfortable and have the duration lited in the consumables section. it is very possible to overload the ship with 2, 3, or even 4 times the listed passangers if the ship is not going to be operating for long periods of time.

Earth pirate ships in the age of sail, routinely carried far more people then the same ship sailed as a civilian merchant shop.

Same with the salve ships that had 100s of people being used as cargo.

Since the OP wrote that the pirates routinely attack passenger ships they need ships big enough to carry lots of slaves, so yeah any big transport are good.

I also think that such actions would attrack the attention of the imperial fleet very quickly (especially if the slaves were rich citizens) after all piracy is the second highest priority for the fleet after the rebellion. Just food for thought.

My players have come across a group of pirates (they infiltrate luxury transports, sabotage the hyperdrive, then pick the ship clean of valuables after all the passengers evacuate -- they then collect the passengers to sell into slavery). The ship is in orbit and needs to be capable of carrying enough pirates for this tactic to be practical. It should, also, be able to carry shuttle craft and have a small contingent of fighter support. I've been thumbing through the books, searching Wookiepedia, and I haven't come up with something.

Suggestions?

By the way, these are some pretty sophisticated pirates. Pirates generally don't infiltrate, they typically force an enemy to surrender under threat of destruction, and/or disable a ship by shooting it. I'm curious how this infiltration is occurring. Are they using stealth to cut into the ship without the crew noticing? Are they conning their way into the ship with deceit? I think some more details about their actual tactics might give more informed answers to your question. There are lots of ships that will work well for traditional piracy, but you're not proposing traditional piracy.

Also, you can swap out or add ion blasters to just about any ship, which might not be a bad idea for whatever ships you use. The pirates aren't intending to blow up their prize after all.

I also recommend getting a ship with a reasonable number of hard points. There are some attachments that can really help a pirate ship be more effective. Here are some to consider:

Decoy Buoy (Special Modifications book, page 65): This is great for luring a ship or otherwise tricking it. It might play into the infiltration portion of your pirates' plans.

Pseudo-Cloaking Device (Special Modifications book, page 66): If the pirates are using stealth to get onto the ship, this will help them get in close to do it.

Secondary Transponder (Special Modifications book, page 67): Another device that could help with infiltration. They could possibly have the transponder falsely signal that their ship is an Imperial ship, like a customs ship or other ship that needs to dock and make inspections.

Slicing Computer (Special Modifications book, page 67): Why physically disable the hyperdrive when you can just shut down their computer systems?

High Output Ion Turbine (Any of the Core Rulebooks): Even if you disable the hyperdrive they may try to escape using sublight engines. Make your own ship faster to prevent this tactic.

Ram Attachment (Stay on Target book, page 65): Go old school and crash into them. If the pirates act reckless and crazy it might help intimidate their victims. Also, you need to get in close to board them anyway.

Sienar T9 Stinger Assault Boarding Tube (Dangerous Covenants book, page 61): Lets the pirates get onto a ship quickly and easily by cutting a hole into the airlock.

Sienar Grappler 213 Tactical Tractor Beam (Dangerous Covenants book, page 62): Slows an enemy ship down and makes it harder to maneuver. It's smaller than a full-powered tractor beam so it will fit on a smaller ship. Combine this with the High Output Ion Turbine and it's really going to be hard for a target to get away.

NIghtshadow Coating and Whisperthrust Engine (Fly Casual book, page 63): Combine these with a Pseudo-Cloaking Device and if a ship is trying to stealth up to the target for infiltration it will be that much harder for the marks to notice.

You guys have a lot of great suggestions! Also a lot of great input about the pirate's motivations. To be honest, it was something I threw together rather quickly after having to, unexpected, work longer hours that week. It turned out really well, and I sort of went with it (my only idea was "ship crashes and that's how you meet"). But as I talked about it, I got images of the Titanic and how each deck were for the wealthy and that below decks the poor would stay. I then thought about how the Titanic didn't have enough life rafts and that the poor ended up being left behind. So I said escape pod access in the lower holds was non-existent and that there weren't enough for them.

As I developed the story, I figured the pirate captain's plan was that they hold ship crew's family hostage and will release them if they do this job. They got to meet the captain as they were exploring the planet and trying to find salvage. The pirate captain and 6 pirate crew found the ship and were in the process of taking the survivors as prisoner when the PCs discovered them. Unfortunate for them, they had split the party (2 went off on their own and three stayed back trying to find salvage in the ship that they could use -- food, warm clothes, etc). The PCs were overwhelmed and had to watch, impotently, as the pirates took the people they were protecting as prisoner. I really played up that part (crying child losing a stuffed toy while being dragged away). Needless to say, they are determined to rescue the passengers now.

As to where they are going to sell the slaves: Hutt space of course.

I would go for a Kossak. Fulfills all your needs and works for a Hutt connection as well.

I would go for a Kossak. Fulfills all your needs and works for a Hutt connection as well.

That is perfect!