Pretty new GM here, have run the Core Rulebook adventure and Beyond the Rim. So my group just finished the Beyond the Rim adventure, and the PCs stole the Deep Dark ship listed there- which was roughly akin to an Imperial version of the YT-2400 as far as silhouette, Hull/Strain threshold and credit cost go, if you're unfamiliar. It kind of caught me off guard when they decided to do that so I said sure, but now I'm wondering how I should handle this going forward - I was thinking of adding a Criminal Obligation of around 10-20 to the group for stealing an Imperial ship, and maybe do a session based on resolving that in some way, but I'm not really sure what that would look like- somehow getting falsified codes and Imperial outfits? The only idea I had was an encounter where they get extorted by an Imperial officer in the next session for ~ 1500 credits to remind them that having this stolen Imperial ship will be an issue going forward. Any other thoughts on how this should be handled?

Stolen ships are actually a big issue. Since ship transponder codes are routinely scanned in orbit for arriving ships.

The transponder codes can be changed but it is expensive and difficult. The easiest way to clean a hot ship is to falsify a receipt of sale from the previous owner and log it with the space DMV.

i would only add the criminal obligation if they are positively identified as the thieves who stole that ship. Otherwise it’s only when they are with the ship that issues can arise.

I don't hand out Obligations for routine game play. A stolen imperial ship is already a flashing narrative neon sign. I use Obligation as meta currency, so for example if they wanna be indebted to Zsa Zsa the Hutt, she'll give em X.

I feel like if I didn't add the obligation they wouldn't really be inclined to do anything about it, and then I would just keep throwing some setbacks/run ins with Imperials resulting from the ship being stolen to add it to the narrative/encourage them to fix it- which is pretty much what obligation is, and haveing a numerical value attached to it would help the PCs gauge how serious it was/let them track if it was still an issue.

Also would there be anything else needed to do other than space dmv? (BoSS, right?) Not sure if there were additional things they would need to resolve since its an Imperial ship and not just "Joe the Smuggler's" ride

Well they might have to do several things.

1) change imperial records to no longer label the ship as missing/stolen. This would involve sneaking into an Imperial records facility.

2) forge documents showing the Empire decommissioning the ship and selling it as military surplus. This would again involve an imperial records facility, but you’d be planting documents instead of changing any.

3) make up a fake bill of sale which can then be given to the BoSS who will change the ship registry to sow the PCs as the legal owners.

this is way easier than trying to change the transponder codes or hack the BoSS directly. Unlike the real DMV the BoSS is actually highly competent.

this could easily be several game sessions itself.

My group stole a ship once, but we had the advantage of holding the previous owner at gunpoint and making him sign a bill of sale, and he was later executed by the Hutt we turned him over to for the bounty. So he is no longer around to file any claim of theft. An Imperial ship is a more involved process.

If they stole the ship without any negative results, meaning they stole it, and nobody knew THEY stole it, then I wouldn't immediately apply any obligation to them. But I would keep in mind that if they fly the ship anywhere in the core worlds, and possibly even the rim worlds, there is a good chance that their transponders and ship IDs might get noticed, and flagged. "Hey boss, I got a hit on this ship here, looks like it went missing from an Imperial garrison 2 months ago. It's been flagged as stolen. Probably a good reward if we returned it to them, along with the thieves huh?" Kind of thing. If you want a good example of this from pop culture, watch the pilot episode of Firefly, and notice the way the Federation ship reacts when they scan Serenity. Until they actually got a notification of the ship being wanted, they didn't really care. But once that flag went up, then the party was in trouble. That's kind of what I'm thinking of.

If the players made an effort to "reskin" the ship, and change it's identifying factors, I would make any attempts to spot it as stolen later much more difficult. But there would always be some level of risk, unless they REALLY went all out on the job. Like a level of effort that amounts to a small campaign's worth of stuff done to strip the ship clean of markers.

But if/when a perception style check succeeds at spotting the ship is stolen, THEN I would apply some obligation to them, as at that point, the theft is officially tied to their group.

Do the Caracters lean more to one side (Empire-Rebellion)? How did Raxus end for them (pissing the Empire more off - beein seen with the stolen Ship?)`? Are there plans to "leave" the Rim and go closer to the Core Worlds?

As the Skywatcher Class is a designatet scout ship, it is not totally suspicious when they fly around the Outer Rim and close the the Unknown Region - but it should be a problem every time they try to enter Empire Controlled Space and Spaceports.

Why are they not contacting Empire Bases but try to land on the civillian landing docks?

Why is there no Imperial Crew coming out of that Ship?

Even on some Backwater Rocks like Tatooine there is some Imperial presence that would start to ask questions...

If they want to keep it and pose as Imperial Scout Crew - make it an adventure to get everything they need for this. After the adventure you can make it a group obligation depending on how good their cover turned out so it triggers just from time to time and they can establish their new identity more and more. Maybe they even get some official Scout missions from time to time what you can use to start some adventures

But depending on how much the Empire knows about them and the stolen Ship - Obligation from the Start seems a bit too easy, as it would trigger over a mechanic and not fully on the narrative. Like flying to Coruscant with that thing but not triggering the obligation - seems strange.

Awesome, this is really helpful! Thanks for all the replies, really helped clear some things up about the game/universe mechanics and gave me some great ideas about some future sessions.

Great advice in this thread, indeed. I just wanted to comment that if you wish to use group obligation, you should use something lower than the regular obligation. Take for example what you can do with group obligation in Far horizons and business.

Also, the adverse effects of group obligation are quite strong.

9 hours ago, CalebML said:

I feel like if I didn't add the obligation they wouldn't really be inclined to do anything about it, and then I would just keep throwing some setbacks/run ins with Imperials resulting from the ship being stolen to add it to the narrative/encourage them to fix it- which is pretty much what obligation is, and haveing a numerical value attached to it would help the PCs gauge how serious it was/let them track if it was still an issue.

Also would there be anything else needed to do other than space dmv? (BoSS, right?) Not sure if there were additional things they would need to resolve since its an Imperial ship and not just "Joe the Smuggler's" ride

You're letting them off the hook too easily. It's like expecting to steal a fire truck and being able to just drive around town and get a ticket now and then.

A good answer for your question is provided in the adventure itself on page 27:

Quote

EXTENDED CAMPAIGN - IMPERIAL INTRIGUES

Once the Player Characters make their way onto ISB radar, getting off it again proves to be a perilously difficult task. The GM should emphasize how being cavalier about the Imperials is a bad idea at best, and suicidal at worst. The PCs should tread lightly as far as the ISB agents go, and if they don’t, it’s up to the Game Master to bring the fear and oppression of the Empire to life. Exceedingly few individuals are able to escape Imperial detention blocks once captured, and planning a breakout could be an entire story arc in its own right.

By the end of the adventure, it’s possible that the party might have crossed or even murdered two Imperial Security supervisors: Cal Alsen and Liers Ossnan. This could result in the accumulation of an additional 5 or 10 Criminal Obligation by each culpable character (including those guilty by association). In addition to making it hard to operate by legal means, the Imperials might chase the PCs increasingly Rimward, cutting off their opportunities in the Core and Mid Rim regions and forcing the PCs deeper into the spheres of the Hutt Cartels and crime syndicates like Black Sun.

I am currently running this adventure for my gaming group (currently running about 1200 XP apiece).

They also managed to "steal" the Deep Dark . The group's Jedi ended up snatching it out of the air with Move and slamming it into the ground, nearly destroying it. They also killed all of the Yiyar Clan on Gholganna when they tried to abduct Cratala and took the Nightflyer . Between their own ship, The Valiant Endeavor , and the two captured ships, they were able to transport all of the remaining survivors with them to Raxis Prime.

However, due to another obligation trigger, before they left Gholganna, they had to make a trip across the river to capture a Black Nexu to deliver to a blackmailer of one of the members of the group for his "collection". While they were off in the jungle the ISB Supervisor, Liers Ossnan, took steps to be ready to stow away on one of the ships before the journey to Raxis Prime. He succeeded and upon arrival to Raxis Prime set about letting the Imperials know about the location of scrap heap point. In the aftermath of the battle with the Yiyar Clan, he managed to convince the survivors that Reom had told him to get them aboard the Imperial ship for the get away. Fortunately, one of the party made him and stopped him from taking the survivors directly to the Imperials. In a surprising move, the Jedi beheaded him. We left off at take off from Raxis Prime. Our next episode will begin with the space battle to get away from Raxis Prime.

The group has ties to the Rebellion, so their plan is to turn over the Deep Dark and all the other captured Imperial gear (speeder bikes, Scout Trooper Armor, weapons, etc) to the Rebellion. They will probably sell the Nightflyer .

The group currently has the following things going against them:

1. Cal Alsen successfully place an ISB tracking device on the Valiant Endeavor (up in the landing gear), something the party has speculated about, but have not searched for or found.

2. Liers Ossnan did the same thing to the Nightflyer on Gholganna. He also positively identified both ships. On Raxis Prime, he determined that Reom was making a deal with the survivors of the Sa Nalaor . He has prepared a hyperspace message pod to launch once the Deep Dark left Raxis Prime's atmosphere. Not sure if that should happen automatically or not. I was thinking of having it launch and giving the the PCs a limited number of rounds to blow it up before it jumps to hyperspace (all while fending off Tie Fighters and the two System Patrol Craft). If the pod manages to jump to hyperspace, The ISB will be able to identify the owner of the Valiant Endeavor . They will also begin looking for Reom to find the survivors.

13 hours ago, BadMotivator said:

Stolen ships are actually a big issue. Since ship transponder codes are routinely scanned in orbit for arriving ships.  

Is that actually canon?

My thoughts on transponder codes are that they are only scanned if there are suspicions. Much like the police and car registration number plates.

5 hours ago, Andreievitch said:

Is that actually canon?

My thoughts on transponder codes are that they are only scanned if there are suspicions. Much like the police and car registration number plates.

Even cars are routinely scanned for outstanding warrants and unpaid registration these days. I’d go with routine scans.

7 hours ago, Andreievitch said:

Is that actually canon?

My thoughts on transponder codes are that they are only scanned if there are suspicions. Much like the police and car registration number plates.

1 hour ago, Roderz said:

Even cars are routinely scanned for outstanding warrants and unpaid registration these days. I’d go with routine scans.

Yep. It should also be noted that starship transponder codes are also more akin to the transponder codes transmitted by aircraft. These are constantly transmitted and picked up by air traffic control RADAR simply to keep track of air traffic and identify who’s flying where. So it’s not something that is actively scanned for. It’s something that is being actively broadcast at all times.

Indeed. Space Traffic control on any planet will always be detecting ship transponders just to ensure there aren’t any accidents. Which could result in a hot ship being detected if they use the regular shipping lanes.

If the planet doesn’t have dedicated traffic control or the PCs decide to go down in airspace that isn’t monitored they can avoid it.

Fly casual had great advice on how to tamper with the transponder, or clean a stolen ship.

I think the main thing is to make sure you temper two aspects:

• Cause and Effect
• Story

Cause and Effect will make the consequences of stealing that ship a factor in future situations. To my mind it's more of a hindrance than a boon and they could book passage for less trouble unless they never go near anyone who would gain from turning in some Imperial ship thieves. Also stealing something and getting away with it is a tacit announcement that stealing will work quite well for you so go ahead and do it. You don't have to say that, you are showing it. I am not saying the owner of stuff has perfect intelligence and will catch you every time, just that if they steal something, get away with it, and the ship just becomes their ship free and clear they will do this sort of thing again and again.

Story would be the aspect of this where you make that cause and effect event happen at an interesting point in the adventure, as in usually when it is least desired by the players or when their deeds catching up to them has the most dramatic impact.