Shadowports for Pirates with large ships?

By HeavensThunderHammer, in Star Wars: Edge of the Empire RPG

So this is on my mind recently, where do pirates, with larger ships, like Frigates and Cruisers, go for repairs? Do they have to hollow out their own asteroid or build facilities themselves? Or would there be ports for them to get proper dockyard maintenance? Or would they "pretend" to be some other kind of licensed vessel with a different name? (I just don't see how the last idea would work with actual stolen warships or the like.)

I've looked through FFG and WotC supplement examples, and most of these shadow ports could only hold freighter sized ships, let alone something larger like a Corellian Corvette.

Edited by HeavensThunderHammer

Planets that look the other way. Outlaw Tech group that 'found' a mobile fleet tender. Good idea for PCs to set one up. Honestly speaking on behalf of pirates I'd use a cruiser for pure intimidation and would try and avoid any kind of combat at all.

1 hour ago, 2P51 said:

Planets that look the other way. Outlaw Tech group that 'found' a mobile fleet tender. Good idea for PCs to set one up. Honestly speaking on behalf of pirates I'd use a cruiser for pure intimidation and would try and avoid any kind of combat at all.

But in the time of the Empire, there can't be actually that many planets looking the other way, though, can there be?

Or is it planetary/governors or Sector Moffs taking a cut from the pirates? Or an individual planet that quietly lets the pirates offload goods there, who come in on different transponder codes?

In the Age of Rebellion adventure book Friends Like These, there is an out-of-the-way, little-known planet settled by refugees* that has ship building/servicing facilities and frequently refits outlaw vessels.

*That's the nutshell version, don't gripe at me for inaccuracy.

Other ideas, there are some worlds like Socorro which are pretty much beyond the law and will be more than willing to help. Perhaps there's even a mobile spacedock out there somewhere, willing to work on your ship as long as they get paid.

23 minutes ago, P-47 Thunderbolt said:

In the Age of Rebellion adventure book Friends Like These, there is an out-of-the-way, little-known planet settled by refugees* that has ship building/servicing facilities and frequently refits outlaw vessels.

*That's the nutshell version, don't gripe at me for inaccuracy.

Other ideas, there are some worlds like Socorro which are pretty much beyond the law and will be more than willing to help. Perhaps there's even a mobile spacedock out there somewhere, willing to work on your ship as long as they get paid.

Super helpful, thank you so much! :)

1 hour ago, HeavensThunderHammer said:

But in the time of the Empire, there can't be actually that many planets looking the other way, though, can there be?

What about the Outer Rim? This region could have many planets that would outfit pirates for the right credits. Much of the Outer Rim has no Imperial presence. Sure these planets may have some fear from random Imperial patrols, but I don't think even a Shadowport is required.

Here's some quotes from the canon Wookieepedia on the Outer Rim during the Imperial era:

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The budding Galactic Empire increasingly attempted to take control of the Outer Rim, although many worlds never fully fell under the Empire's sway, and were instead controlled by unsavory criminal organizations.......

Quote

In the farthest reaches of the Outer Rim, the Empire barely bothered to patrol its territory, and local citizens' militias took it upon themselves to protect friendly convoys.

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The Empire was never able to fully control the Outer Rim...

If they operate more like privateers, they would know a few places that are friendly toward them. Mon Cal shipyards probably have a few layers of security where they can slip in ships belonging to Rebel privateers for repairs.

3 hours ago, HeavensThunderHammer said:

But in the time of the Empire, there can't be actually that many planets looking the other way, though, can there be?

Or is it planetary/governors or Sector Moffs taking a cut from the pirates? Or an individual planet that quietly lets the pirates offload goods there, who come in on different transponder codes?

Ships are so ubiquitous in Star Wars there are countless companies zipping hither and yon and all manner of ship service providers. We see the criminal underworld thriving in the movies, so I'm confident there would be options out there for vessels to be worked on where the paperwork is fudged.

3 hours ago, Sturn said:

What about the Outer Rim? This region could have many planets that would outfit pirates for the right credits. Much of the Outer Rim has no Imperial presence. Sure these planets may have some fear from random Imperial patrols, but I don't think even a Shadowport is required.

Here's some quotes from the canon Wookieepedia on the Outer Rim during the Imperial era:

Not to mention the Hutt sector. ou can do anything until you don't step on a hutt's tail