This was a document that I wrote up for my old D6 role playing game page, but I never published it. I think it was originally a Traveler 2000 generator from 1989 that I adapted to the life of a Tramp Freighter captain - but I cleaned it up for you guys here. Check it out. . . .

"No job is too big, no fee is too big!"

- Doctor Venkman

It happens to every Game Master - your planned adventure runs short, you still have half the evening in front of you and the muse has left the building. What's a poor old GM to do? Grab a D10 from the dice bag and a couple of rolls later, you're sitting on a seed of an idea that should save your game!

WHAT IS THE JOB?

This will determine the mission that the players are sent on. Is the mission a simple federal express fetch quest or is it perhaps something considerably more involved?

01) Retrieve an object

02) Eliminate a Target

03) Reconnaissance

04) Insertion

05) Extraction

06) Delivery Job

07) Trace an object

08) Escort Mission

09) Security

10) Roll twice

Retrieve an object -

The Client wishes an object to be recovered from a specified location and returned to them. This might be as simple as picking up a shipping crate from an unsavory crime lord, this might be as complicated as searching a wreck of an old Trade Federation battleship in deep space. This also might require the players to commit thievery or piracy.

Eliminate a Target –

Something or someone needs to be taken out and someone is willing to pay you to do it. This might range from an assassination, or it might be as something as simple as keeping the target from reaching a certain destination by a set deadline. Further it doesn't necessarily have to be a living target - disabling a spaceship, demolishing a building, or industrial sabotage are also valid " Elimination" jobs.

Reconnaissance -

The Client needs information about an individual, a business, or an event. Perhaps they need a street level view of a location and a general lay of the land that only agents in the field can deliver. It might be watching a spouse suspected of cheating, gathering intelligence to pull a robbery or surveillance for political intrigue.

Insertion -

An Insertion job is the flip side of the Retrieval job, where the Client wants the players to take an item or person and put them somewhere. They might need to plant forged documents into a hardcopy archive. They might be called upon to install surveillance equipment in a location, or transport an agent to a planet to facilitate his cover story.

Extraction -

Someone is in trouble and the Client is willing to pay handsomely to extract them. This might be a family friend, relative, bitter rival (who now owes the Client for saving them) or perhaps even the Client themselves!

Delivery Job -

The players are hired to pick up a cargo in one location and transport them to another. This might involve passengers or require the players to sell the cargo at the destination.

Trace an object -

The Client needs to find a specific item or person. It could be a daughter that's run away from home, a stolen starship, a slicer that can deliver a data spike to a secure computer system or finding their hijacked cargo that's gone missing.

Escort Mission -

Much like the Delivery Job, this job requires the players to accompany goods or people. However unlike Delivery, this has no set destination. The players might need to act as tour guide or otherwise be required to travel where the item needs to go. This might involve several stops and require them to act outside their rolls as delivery boy.

Security -

The object or person is beset by external forces and needs to be guarded. The players might be hired as external security consultants for an exhibition, bodyguards for a superstar celebrity, bouncers for a high stakes sabbac game, hired guns to protect a reporter or just simply babysitters for a rich heiress.

WHY US?

It's a very big galaxy, so why did the Client decide to hire the players? What was it on their resume that made them stand out of the pack?

01) Unique Skill

02) Clandestine Needs

03) Obligation -

04) It's illegal -

05) It's personal -

06) Profit margin -

07) Unexplained -

08) Benevolence -

09) Desperation -

10) As a Take That!

Unique Skill -

Something the players bring to the table - something in their background, a talent or skill or simply their looks - make them extremely desirable for the task at hand

Clandestine Needs -

The Client wishes this matter to be dealt with under the table and cannot turn to their usual resources. Perhaps the Client needs people outside the normal chain of command who can exercise discretion or they need to keep certain people out of the loop so a rival doesn't jump on the same opportunity first.

Obligation -

One or more of the players owes the Client and now the Client is cashing the marker in

It's illegal -

The Client does not wish the Authorities to catch wind of the operation - either because they would want a taste of the action or otherwise put a halt the job.

It's personal -

The job is somehow linked to one (or more) of the players and/or their past.

Profit margin -

The potential return on the job is substantial and the Client would like to minimize the number of fingers in the pie by staying outside the system.

Unexplained -

The Client doesn't divulge why the players are the right people for the job.

Benevolence -

For whatever reason, the Client has taken a shine to the Players. Perhaps the Client once got a break early in his life and now wants to pay it forward.

Desperation -

The Client hires them because there is nobody else qualified (or stupid) enough to take the job.

As a Take That!

The Client wishes to get back at a rival and sees the players as a way to thumb his nose at said rival - perhaps the players slighted this rival in the past.

WHO IS THE JOB FOR?

This table will determine who the party is behind the job. It might be someone in over their head and in truly dire straits, it might be a galaxy spanning corporation or civilians in need of help.

01) A businessman -

02) Soldier or war veteran -

03) Politician -

04) The authorities –

05) Crime Boss -

06) Guild –

07) A Fixer -

08) A friend or relation -

09) A town or community –

10) Roll twice

A businessman -

The Client is a corporate type, maybe a Viceprex from the Corporate Sector Authority or a businessman from a smaller, planetary scale operation.

Soldier or war veteran -

The client is in the local military or militia .They might have fought in the Clone Wars (on either side) or perhaps they are a veteran of a local bush war.

Politician -

The Client is a local politician such as mayor or planetary governor. Perhaps they hold a higher political office like a senator, presidential aide or ambassador.

The authorities –

The Client is an Imperial officer, local planetary enforcement officer, a local sheriff or martial or perhaps a freelance gunslinger like a Bounty Hunter needing some extra manpower.

Crime Boss -

The Client is a member of the Upstanding Businessman's Association who needs some specialized muscle that he doesn't keep on staff or agents that cant be traced back to him or his organization.

Guild –

The Client is a officer or representative of some kind of Conglomerate - a trading, commerce or mining guild.

A Fixer -

The Client is a proxy for a bigger, more shadowy figure. Perhaps the Client is someone who specializes in finding individuals to fill specialized needs. Roll again to find out who has hired the crew via this intermediary.

A friend or relation -

The Client is an old friend, a family member or perhaps even an old enemy in straits dire enough to call on the services of the player. It may be someone known to all the players or just one member of the team.

A town or community –

The Client is a township, community or a tightly knit group of people that have a pressing need of skills and talents beyond their meager capabilities. See the A-Team for inspiration of mom-and-pop businesses in trouble

WHO ELSE IS INVOLVED IN THE JOB?

Perhaps these are the victims (or soon to be victims). Perhaps these are innocent bystanders or people actively opposing the players and their goals. They might just be the wrong people in the wrong place at the wrong time.

01) The Galactic Empire

02) The Rebel Alliance

03) A rival crime lord

04) Local Authorities

05) An old rival or acquaintance

06) A Robber Baron or a Rival Guild

07) A corporation

08) Politicians

09) Innocent Bystanders

10) Roll twice

The Empire -

This might range from simply enforcing the rules, being a large faceless and uncaring bureaucracy to impeding the mission or actively opposing the players goals

The Rebel Alliance -

Whatever the players want, the Rebel Alliance also wants. Information, resources, personnel or resources vital to the cause - and they'll move hell and high-water to get it.

A rival crime lord -

Criminal organizations have eyes and ears everywhere, especially when there's a profit to be turned or vice to be had.

The Local Authorities -

Not as vast or powerful as the Empire in scope, the local authorities (by they politicians, port authorities, or police) can be just as troublesome under the right circumstances. Also, the local authorities might be as corrupt as some criminals or imperials.

An old rival or acquaintance -

A familiar face appears on the battlefield. They might be an ally, they might be a hindrance, they might be an honorable enemy opposing the players.

A Robber Baron or a Rival Guild -

A business, a land-owner or Tycoon, another conglomerate or guild is involved in some way.

A corporation -

A minor form of the rival guild, perhaps another branch of the same business in a case of the right hand not knowing what the left hand was doing.

Politicians -

There are aides, ambassadors or planetary governor opposing the players or otherwise standing in the way.

Innocent Bystanders -

These are completely unrelated people caught in the crossfire. Civilians on a train, citizens of the target town, innocent patsies duped into action or some form of general populace getting in the way.

COMPLICATIONS

If the job was just a simple milk run, then the Client wouldn't have hired specialists to pull it off. So what went wrong?

01) Nothing goes wrong

02) It's a trap!

03) The job is more dangerous than expected

04) The job is more illegal than expected

05) The job is morally repugnant

06) Sometimes things plain just go wrong

07) The Client reneges on the deal

08) Someone doesn't want the players to succeed

09) Someone already beat them there

10) Something from the past comes back to haunt them

Nothing goes wrong -

Unusual, but not every job leads to trouble and intergalactic drama. Sometimes, every once in a while, all the pieces fall into place just right, the job is exactly as described, the Client does not betray the players or withhold payment.

It's a trap!

The whole job was just a setup to get the players exactly where someone wanted them, either to take the fall for a bigger unrelated crime, the Client had it out for the players for some reason, or the Client is really on the payroll for someone else.

The job is more dangerous than expected -

What should have been a simple delivery of blasters to Tatooine runs afoul of Imperial entanglements as Mos Eisley is locked down and in the middle of a manhunt. Perhaps the cargo is infested with Stone Mites and now threaten to cripple the ship in deep space. Perhaps a cargo of military grade medical supplies is really a crate of unstable thermal detonators.

The job is more illegal than expected -

What started as a simple job picking up some spice now involves shipping slaves or weapons or death sticks - and the cargo handlers are not willing to let the matter drop. Perhaps the local regulations prohibit importation of the items they are using as cover for the controlled substance, and suddenly the fines leveled against the players far outweigh the profit from the cargo.

The job is morally repugnant -

The cargo is slaves or freshly skinned wookiee pelts or something else well past the characters moral event horizon.

Sometimes things plain just go wrong -

Random happenstance fouls the deal. A bounty hunter mistakes the contact for a target and terminates him. The local constabulary, in a prostitution vice raid accidently hit the rendezvous point. Armed escaped convicts break into the hanger and steal the ship (along with the cargo), leaving the players holding the bag with a local crime lord.

The Client reneges on the deal -

The Client changes their mind and has second thoughts, perhaps they straight out lied about the deal. Perhaps they are unwilling to pay or are unable to pay.

Someone doesn't want the players to succeed -

Perhaps a secret cult wants to keep the players from recovering the lost idol for the Client. Maybe the rival of the team want them to fail not to screw the Client, but just to make the players look bad.

Someone already beat them there -

Despite getting to the job as quickly as they could, their starship doesn't move at the speed of plot - and someone else is already on site. Perhaps the Client hired two teams to carry through on the transaction to make sure that the job gets done. Perhaps the Client has a rival who got a hot tip on the item and sent their own team?

Something from the past comes back to haunt them -

The contact is a bitter rival of a player from the academy days. The person the players are charged with escorting to safety is an ex-lover of a player from a relationship that ended badly (and will no doubt wind up with the two reconciling). The client seems to remember the captain from somewhere - "Oh, I'm sure I'll remember. It's not important now. . .. "

THE SETTING

Where does the job go down?

01) Major city

02) Military or Scientific outpost

03) Space station or Spaceship

04) Wilderness

05) Den of vice

06) Business complex or office building

07) Civilian housing complex

08) Rural setting

09) Religious site

10) Deserted setting

Major city -

This setting is a major population center like Cloud City, Mos Eisley, or the Down-Below levels of Courscant.

Military or Scientific outpost -

It could be a Imperial listening post, a Corporate Sector Authority research facility, it could be a prison asteroid or a pirate base.

Space station or Spaceship -

This could be on a luxury liner, a refueling waypoint like Kwenn Space Station or something larger in scope like the Kuat. shipyards

Wilderness -

The setting could be a forested moon full of aboriginals, a desert wasteland where machinery breakdown is your worst enemy or the ice plains of a tundra world with bitter cold and zero visibility.

Den of vice -

A casino, a resort or spa with ladies by the hour, a cantina or a speakeasy. Any location with men of low moral fiber who might like to avoid the scrutiny of the authorities.

Business complex or office building -

This could be a corporate sector authority manufacturing plant, secret imperial weapons lab, a high tech tower with state of the art security or a mining facility or an ore processing plant

Civilian housing complex -

This could be a upscale apartment complex, a run down motel on the wrong side of the tracks, a five star hotel in the center of town, a spaceport flop-house or another other place with a concentration of people housed up for the night.

Rural setting -

These settings could range from a moisture farm, a small town, a rural commune or collective or other small gathering of people on the outskirts of civilization.

Religious site -

A temple housing an ancient order of monks, a ancient church, a vast cathedral or perhaps a sacred pilgrimage site guarded by a tribe of primitives who defend their holy land against all outsiders.

Deserted setting -

Roll again. Whatever comes up is a run down and abandoned version of the roll - a ghost town, ancient ruins, abandoned mine shafts or a derelict spaceship from the Clone Wars.

Kudos. Well done. Since my style is let the PCs move the game in the direction they want this will work nice when they have no idea what to do.

This is precisely the sort of thing that can be very, very useful when someone's obligation triggers on a double and the GM doesn't have something pre-made to poke the player with. Very nicely done.

Nice job on this, dude! I did a "test roll" to generate a job, and with barely any effort at all I was able to frame it out into a scenario that would fit my group.

I agree with all that's been said. This is a very helpful tool! Thank you.

Used this to generate a campaign on the fly last night. It worked great!

What about the possibility of a rewards roll?

Money, weapons, cargo, etc?

It wasn't in the original document, but let me apply some brain power over the next couple of days and see if I can come up with something. . . .

Bah! Wrong document. Never mind!

What about the possibility of a rewards roll?

Money, weapons, cargo, etc?

I think rewards should be left out and be left to the GM to decide what the reward originally offered is and how the adventure ends.

Nice stuff. You could also turn to the 'job generator' in the Leverage RPG , which has tables for the job, the mark, and the various challenges and twists/turns one might encounter while engaged in legally 'grey' activities.

What about the possibility of a rewards roll?

Money, weapons, cargo, etc?

I think rewards should be left out and be left to the GM to decide what the reward originally offered is and how the adventure ends.

Yeah, I've tried formulating a generic rewards chart - but was never really happy with it. That's the sort of thing that needs to be tailored to the individual game.

That said, one of my drafts was easily turned into a random cargo list. With some polish, I'll be posting it here in a little bit. . . .

Egads! What a bunch of typos! I cleaned things up slightly, and now shall go fall on my sword for shoddy proofreading!

Clean up your formatting, save it as PDF, put it in the Cloud, then link it in the resources thread!

Thanks, I plan on giving this a try latter in my campaign.

Agreed. Would love to DL this as a standalone instead of in thread.

Awesome. Sauce.

No seriously, I made a similar job generator to play by myself and learn the rules while doing so, but this is much more fleshed out and way cooler than what I've been able to come up with

Great job!

Also, if you put this in the Cloud as PDF, you have a quick reference page for quick rolling this. Such as...

nm, forums dont like MS-Word table format

Ask and ye shall receive (Hopefully). Here's the Random Cargo Generator and the Random Job Generator - if I've got Google configured correctly, that is.

Need to change it so its viewable and public, you are restricting access to it ATM

Bah! Phooey - the net nanny here at work wont let me access Google Files. I'll fix it when I get home tonight.

There - try it now. Both files should be set to public.

yep, working now. Consider adding a table at the end for quick reference

Thanks for both of these. I can't wait to try them out!

Hm... Interesting! I checked this out before I started my campaign, but I'd decided I could easily create my own adventures. How niave I had been!

This is very useful. It fits nicely for my campaign style, which is ohaving the PCs go on spontanious missions for their colonies they are working with. I'll try it in our next meet.