Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Rule Book

KEEPING THE CREW HUNGRY

F

or the Came Master, managing the economy

can be very tricky. It's important to encourage

the crew to save for big things—a new spaceship,

a bribe into a high-stakes sabacc game, or an entry

fee into an inter-system race—but also keep them

poor enough that they're always looking for the

next big score. It's hard to motivate a party into tak-

ing a dangerous job if they're flush with creds.

One way to accomplish this is to limit the cash

rewards from the missions or jobs they take on.

Rather than awarding the group 10.000 credits for

taking passengers to Duro or completing the Sisar

Run, award them supplies for their ship. Or give

them items that are not intrinsically valuable, but

could pay off Obligation. A cargo of used blaster

rifles might only be worth 1,000 credits, but Borga

the Hutt will take it in exchange for 5 Obligation.

The Came Master might also grant the party the

things they want (or the things the adventure re-

quires them to have) rather than currency. If they

want a bigger and better ship, for example, they

might spy the vessel they want in a local pirate

fleet. If they capture it, they can have it—but they'll

also be pursued by the pirate captain and crew.

These tactics won't always work, of course, and

a successful group will quickly acquire a decent

stockpile of creds. To keep the party cash-strapped

but still allow them to save, earn, swindle, or oth-

erwise win the big prizes they're really after, the

Came Master must occasionally drain their ill-got-

ten gains (or give them chances to do the same).

Carousing: When the heroes go to the next

spaceport for rest and relaxation, or to gather

information for their latest job, they can ca-

rouse—spending their hard-won credits on

drinks, gambling, fine food, and information. This

requires a Charm check. Both success and fail-

ure cost credits, but might also result in valuable

leads on future jobs. The exact amount spent is

set by the Came Master based on the venue, but

should generally be between 50 and 100 credits.

With the character learns something useful

for his current situation or job. such as informa-

tion about guards, helpful contacts, or the lo-

cation of a target. With O. he learns something

unexpected and valuable, such as the number and

schedule of his target's guards, the location of a big

score, or the name of a planet's city or town that

holds some rare item he's looking for.

Each <§) rolled not only doubles the original credits

spent, but likely causes trouble as well—such as a

bar fight, or catching the attention of local criminals.

Obligation: When the party's (or a character's)

Obligation triggers, they may spend credits to help

throw the interested parties off their tail for a short

while if the Came Master allows it. This might be

a bribe to a bounty hunter, a payment to a shady

operative for planting a false trail, or a payout to

someone who might rat them out. The exact price

must be set by the Game Master, and is dependent

on the nature of the Obligation and its current level.

Low levels of Obligation should be relatively cheap

to put off, while high levels are nearly priceless.

Ship Maintenance: Ships are expensive to main-

tain. Battle damage or flying through asteroid

fields can force a captain into bankruptcy if he's

not careful. Rules for repairing and maintaining

ships can be found on page 243.

guidelines for this process, here are some basic rules
covering trading.

Trade works the same whether with black market

(Restricted) items or with legal items. Selling the items

follows the rules for selling items listed above; whether

the items are black market or legal. However, when de-

termining the sell price based on the success of the Ne-

gotiation check, first multiply the cost of the item based

on the difference in the item's rarity between where the

item was bought and where it's sold, referring to Table

5-2 and Table 5-3: Increased Costs When Trading

Then take the new, increased cost and determine the

sell price by the results of the Negotiation check.

Of course, these rules do not account for all sorts of

details, such as buying in bulk, marketing and advertis-

ing, and myriad other factors that may affect prices and

costs. This is why the rules for buying, selling, and trading

are all modifiable by the CM, and subject to his judge-

ment. It is also important to note that these rules only

apply when engaging in commercial trade. If the PCs sell

a cargo load of blasters on a world using these rules, then

later one of them buys a blaster on that world, he would

pay the listed cost, without any increases. Remember,

these rules are for engaging in trade only.

Always remember when engaging in intergalactic

trade that the CM has final say as to how much an item

is worth, which can also be based on narrative factors.

For example, if the PCs collect some E-11 blaster rifles

off dead stormtroopers, they may try to sell them.

However, though a blaster rifle is not (R), it's still ob-

viously an Imperial weapon. Some shopkeepers may

refuse to purchase them, others may offer a criminally

low price for these goods, no matter how well the PCs

roll on their Negotiation check. Finally, some may of-

fer to buy the goods at a reasonable price, then turn

around and sell the PCs out to the Empire.

GEAR AND EQUIPMENT

EDGE OF THE EMPIRE