The Edge of the Empire core rulebook doesn't include a list of costs for common services such as starship fees, medical services, food, lodging, travel and the like. However, such expenses make great credit sinks and help to keep the group scratching for money.
In an effort to fill this gap, I dug up SAGA Index spreadsheet (an awesome resource, no matter what Star Wars RPG rules you play with) and pillaged it for ideas. Here is my greatly simplified list of proposed service costs for discussion and debate. I'd love to get opinions on these, including why you feel the cost is too high or too low.
Proposed Costs for Common Services
Astrogation Data
- (100cr - 500cr depending on region and data rarity)
This is mainly for rare, archaic or unusual astrogation data, because common astrogation data is widely available. The cost for such specific or unusual data should vary wifely; those regions closer to the galactic core would likely be easier to obtain data for, while anything in or beyond the Outer Rim might cost a lot more. Of course, there are lots of ways to obtain such data, including slicing and bribes. The proposed cost here assumes a normal, legal purchase price.
A bribe might also come in handy if the purchaser wants to maintain a certain amount of discretion, keeping the purchase a secret.
Bothan Spynet Information
- (Varies, perhaps 500-10,000)
The cost for information from the Bothan Spynet should depend entirely on how difficult or dangerous that information was for the Bothan spies to acquire, and also how badly they think the player in question wants it. The numbers listed are purely aribtrary, and the GM should decide the final value.
Also keep in mind that merely contacting the Bothan Spynet can be an adventure in itself, especially if its agents do not want to be found. Coded transmissions, shadowy meetings in dark corners and working through proxies or false identities are all appropriate here, Play up that Cold War-era spy stuff! Also, note the great opportunity to earn Obligation here. If the party does not have enough credits, the Bothan spies might trade for a favor or for other intel.
Dining (per meal)
- Luxurious - 150
- Upscale - 50
- Average - 10
- Budget - 2
This isn't likely to be a huge concern for most parties. If all else fails, the ship's stores should be able to provide meals for the crew (assuming the party has a ship, anyway). Perhaps a character has a motivation that makes them want to live above their means (greed, for example), and they decide to blow some money on a fancy dinner to show off. It might also be that the characters want to impress someone, perhaps a potential employer or client, and a nice dinner is a good way to accomplish that.
Some places the PCs visit might not have access to the entire range of meal qualities. An impoverished planet might not have any luxurious restaurants, and some prosperous Core World systems might bump up all the costs by one step, so that an average meal on that planet actually costs the same as an upscale meal on most other ones.
Lodging (per day)
- Luxurious - 200
- Upscale - 100
- Average - 50
- Budget - 20
Sometimes, you need to get away from the cold, metal bulkhead walls of your cabin on the ship and stretch out a little. Or, worse, your ship just got impounded and you don't feel like sleeping in an alley. The above costs are basically the cost for a room at a hotel. It's possible that more than one character can share such quarters, but most self-respecting establishments expect no more than 2 adults to be in a single room. Anything more might elicit suspicion, disdain or even a flat-out refusal to stay in the room.
GMs should feel free to tack on a whole bunch of fees in the Core Worlds. The same is true anywhere if the characters damage any property in their lodging. There are plenty of seedy places to stay in the Outer Rim; GMs are encouraged to play up the image of a cheap motel room infested with vermin, dirty blankets, stains on the walls and bed and unpleasant smells.
Medical Care
- Bacta tank treatment - 20 cr per 2 hour block of time
- Long-term care (per day) - 100
- Surgery - Varies, maybe 300 to 1,000
This was a really tough one to cost out. In Edge of the Empire, a character with even minimal access to supplies can spend 150 credits and heal 15 wounds, courtesy of the incredibly powerful healing capabilities of the basic stimpack. For a mere 25 credits each, with a rarity of 1 and an encumbrance of zero, stimpacks are virtually unbeatable for rapid and portable wound healing. That's the main reason I knocked the cost of healing in a bacta tank down so far from what it was in Saga Edition: bacta tanks are not nearly as convenient or accessible as stimpacks, so unless they're dirt cheap, I'm not sure why a character would prefer to use one for healing wounds.
However, bacta tanks do accelerate natural healing, they avoid the risks of a Medicine roll that generates harmful dice symbols, and they allow the character to attempt to recover from one critical injury per 24 hours of rest.
For long-term care, I imagine that includes dealing with all manner of injuries both critical and mundane, as well as conditions and effects brought on by disease, radiation, poison and so on. A boost to natural healing might be a good trade-off for the cost of extended rest in a hospital. Surgery I see mainly as being needed to heal really severe critical injuries or install cybernetics, and the GM should modify the cost based on how bad the injury is.
Starship Fees & Maintenance
- Docking fees (per day docked) - 20 up to Silhouette 5
- Refuel & resupply - [silhouette x 100] up to Silhouette 5
The cost for repairs is already covered in the book, so I won't bother with that here. Docking fees will vary widely from one place to another, and many starports will look to profit by offering additional services, such as cleaning and basic, low-level maintenance. So how often does a ship need to be refueled and resupplied? Probably not too often, but it's a good way to ding the party's funds if the story needs it, and it could also result from negative dice symbols resulting from a skill test made while piloting the ship. ("Oh great, the fuel light just came on... that's all we need.")
Note that I don't cover anything silhouette 5 and larger ships... that's mainly because the party will not usually be in a ship that big, and I imagine the fees for docking such a ship would get very steep the bigger it is.
Transportation
- Passage, luxurious (per person, 5 days of travel) - 5000
- Passage, upscale (per person, 5 days of travel) - 2000
- Passage, average (per person, 5 days of travel) - 500
- Passage, budget (per person, 5 days of travel) - 200
- Taxi, local (up to 5 passengers) - 10
What would a gritty Star Wars game be if the party didn't have their ship taken away at least once? In a galaxy full of shipjackers, pirates and imperials who won't hesitate to impound a ship at the merest hint of suspicion, it's entirely possible that the players will need to arrange for some means of transportation other than their vessel. There are a lot of good opportunities to be had in public or private transportation; the GM might introduce some interesting NPCs, the party might overhear an important and useful piece of information or perhaps get robbed or conned by a criminal who doesn't like to stay in one place for long because the law is hot on his tail.
Taking taxis is common practice once the party gets planet-side, especially in a large city or on a world with many remote settlements that don't all have starports.
Vehicle Rentals (per day)
- Speeder bike - 20
- Landspeeder, average - 50
- Landspeeder, luxury - 100
- Airspeeder - 500
- Shuttle, interplanetary - 1,000
- Shuttle, interstellar - 2,000
Public transportation is great, but sometimes the players need to drive. After all, not every taxi speeder or passenger ship goes where the party needs to go. Renting a shuttle of either type should be a pretty big deal in the Outer Rim. It's a lot to ask, handing over a ship like that to a bunch of strangers, so the renter might well demand a lot of money up front as well as something significant as collateral. Of course, this is another great opportunity to introduce new obligation, too.
Edited by Venthrac