So after a few years of Gming and listening to podcasts I've narrowed down the two main ways player get their hands on capital ships A. They are bequeathed them on behalf of the rebel alliance if they are playing AOR or B. murder hoboing with a dash of theft. Now no one has actually bought one (understandable because they are rare plus worth multimillions). Now I always have grand plans when it comes to my characters in d&d. Encounter a black market ring? The lawful good paladin will conspire to destroy it. Encounter a nation or city with a tyrant, plot a revolution. Observe a wealthy mansion in the distance. Chaotic Neutral rogue wants to organize a heist.

I have a few characters on stand by if a star wars campaign opens up. At least two of them have the grand ambition of creating a mercenary company hoping to hire out services to whoever hires them. Now logically I turn to the question of buying capital ships because stealing the ship wont help you stay on the right side of the law. In the event of such a miracle that i'm able to finally play and the other players and DM agree to this plan and we somehow gather enough funds, how would someone who is not affiliated with a military forces get their hands on a ship of that size (I'm looking for a Nebulon-B, Dreadnought heavy cruiser ect.) through purchasing? Who do you think would sell such a craft and what complications would get in the way of my power fantasy?

Well, you're thinking big, just not big enough.

You want to be the head of a Merc Company?... no... no... the Wild Geese don't get a heavy cruiser... You want to be the head of a Private Military Contractor!

Talk with the GM as this is a big-picture campaign concept, so standard rules won't apply... well not easily anyway... But the idea is you're not renting out just you and your squad at a time, you're renting out entire companies, battalions, maybe even Division level forces, and generating significant income.

That said you've go the rules. Rebel Base and Merc base probably ain't too different. And once you've go the cash you can buy anything with right Negotiation or Streetwise roll.

Just apply a modified duty system showing how your jobs are putting you in the good graces of the powers that be and at what point you can by Restricted items of what type legally...

7 minutes ago, Ghostofman said:

Well, you're thinking big, just not big enough.

You want to be the head of a Merc Company?... no... no... the Wild Geese don't get a heavy cruiser... You want to be the head of a Private Military Contractor!

Talk with the GM as this is a big-picture campaign concept, so standard rules won't apply... well not easily anyway... But the idea is you're not renting out just you and your squad at a time, you're renting out entire companies, battalions, maybe even Division level forces, and generating significant income.

That said you've go the rules. Rebel Base and Merc base probably ain't too different. And once you've go the cash you can buy anything with right Negotiation or Streetwise roll.

Just apply a modified duty system showing how your jobs are putting you in the good graces of the powers that be and at what point you can by Restricted items of what type legally...

That sort of thing was actually the concept/backstory of my old Galaxies guild, which I ported over to be an NPC organization in one of the campaigns I run. A Star Wars Blackwater-style company serving as cover for a Rebel cell, to legally justify their military hardware.

Capital ships are expensive (and rightly so), but they are not really all that rare. In fact, it's slightly easier to find someone selling a Neutron Star-class Bulk Cruiser than it is to find someone selling a basic blaster rifle.

18 hours ago, HappyDaze said:

Capital ships are expensive (and rightly so), but they are not really all that rare. In fact, it's slightly easier to find someone selling a Neutron Star-class Bulk Cruiser than it is to find someone selling a basic blaster rifle.

"Got any blaster rifles?" "Naw but we got some Neutron Stars" "No thanks im good" (d@mn used capital ship salesmen)

20 hours ago, Samuel Richard said:

So after a few years of Gming and listening to podcasts I've narrowed down the two main ways player get their hands on capital ships A. They are bequeathed them on behalf of the rebel alliance if they are playing AOR or B. murder hoboing with a dash of theft. Now no one has actually bought one (understandable because they are rare plus worth multimillions). Now I always have grand plans when it comes to my characters in d&d. Encounter a black market ring? The lawful good paladin will conspire to destroy it. Encounter a nation or city with a tyrant, plot a revolution. Observe a wealthy mansion in the distance. Chaotic Neutral rogue wants to organize a heist.

I have a few characters on stand by if a star wars campaign opens up. At least two of them have the grand ambition of creating a mercenary company hoping to hire out services to whoever hires them. Now logically I turn to the question of buying capital ships because stealing the ship wont help you stay on the right side of the law. In the event of such a miracle that i'm able to finally play and the other players and DM agree to this plan and we somehow gather enough funds, how would someone who is not affiliated with a military forces get their hands on a ship of that size (I'm looking for a Nebulon-B, Dreadnought heavy cruiser ect.) through purchasing? Who do you think would sell such a craft and what complications would get in the way of my power fantasy?

Hutts would probably be fine with selling you a warship, some fellows in the corporate sectors could probably see the wisdom in handing one off to you as well.

A hutt-clan would probably be your best bet for getting a sponsor to front you a ship. If you manage to win a ticket to the Granee Noopa and win the event then you're free to pretty much ask for whatever you want from your hutt patron. A Minstrel Star-Yacht is pretty good as a pocket capital ship that would work as a base for a small merc company. Or pirates. But why limit yourself to one way of morally questionable revenue?

If you want a cheap cap ship there's a couple of options

1) a croc gonzati for 190K credits, the thing is horribly overpowered considering the lore and price, it's in no disintegrations.

Take a ir-3f systems patrol ship for 1 million credits strip off the hull to gain 3 hp, add a "sleek carapace" for 2 hp but I think the crafting lets you add 1 or 2 hp and get a free integrated attachment (hyperdrive), you can also get the armor up to 5 or 6 and increase the handling. You have extreme sensors 2 twin light turbolasers and 2 quad laser cannons. Smallish crew requirements, speed 4, and you've got 4+ hp to spare

Assuming that you want to purchase the ship legally (whatever that means), you'll need the appropriate permissions and licenses from the dominant power in your sphere of influence. The Empire is the most obvious, if you intend to work with them as subcontractors. The Hutts are another possibility, as is the Rebel Alliance or any of the more powerful nation-planets. Once a semblance of legitimacy is established, you should be able to contact the manufacturer directly.

If you're looking to buy used, then your best bet is finding one of those nation-planets that's engaged in upgrading their fleets with the latest & greatest. As is the case in our real world, they're often willing to sell off older military equipment to offset the expense of upgrading to the new hotness. A de-milled hull might be cheap & easy to come by, if you're willing to source your weapons & targeting hardware and do the installation yourself.

Finally, for what it's worth, I think that stealing a ship is a viable option. It may be a little trite, but if you're wanting to establish your reputation as a legitimate paramilitary force, stealing a capital ship from whichever power you plan to NEVER work for has got to earn you some instant credibility. Naturally, it's also great story fodder for your GM.

Given the state of the galaxy, capital ships would logically be fairly easily found for cheap. A cheap one would probably have a host of problems of course, but that’s adventure fodder in its own right.

”Ok, so you found a guy selling a surplus Star Dreadnought. Only 100k credits and completely legal! I mean sure the life support is on the fritz, half the cannons are missing and the rest are malfunctioning, and there is that vagrant Ithorian living in cargobay 2, but it’s great. Just great!”