Does every starport have a registry of all ships in the sector?
I would guess so. A smaller the port on a low law level world might not care enough to impound the ship themselves, but it could still flag you for bounty hunters and last known location.
Still trying to get a handle on how easy it is to take over ships.
Good question, and I'm following the thread myself for GMs who've thought about it more than I have.
This isn't what you're asking for, but a tool for things like "I hack their ship and take it over at a distance," "I roll Medic to cure the alien plague,"
or "I'll just change the transponder, how hard can it be" is only roll once, and use that to establish whether its even possible, not just whether they succeed on their first try. And of course communicate that to the players: "this a one time roll for the group, make sure of your plan before you proceed." Using hacking a ship as an example, if the roll fails I'd establish that the ship's computer is air-gapped from their comms, not just that they'd failed but could try again.
This way I don't have to agonize too much over setting odds, or calling for multiple different skill rolls before I allow success, or worry about the whole group taking turns to roll, hoping for that
Nat 20 WOO! boxcars. Just one and done, and its easier to give them rolls to accomplish something big without establishing a game breaking precedent.
It occurs to me that if the ship and crew were far from home, it might just be easier to steal their identities and leave the ship alone...
Geir, that's genius.
Its in a class of ideas I would never, ever suggest to my players, that would be playing the game for them, but I absolutely would roll with if someone thought of it, even if it broke my story or was too big a win. They'd deserve it.
Last session my PCs boarded a ship that was run by a smuggler. They killed him and left the rest of the crew alive. Now they want to take over the ship.
Its just now sinking in for me, this part is darkly hilarious. Is there any more to this story, did he screw with them first, was he smuggling cold berthed slaves or suitcase nukes, or did they really just whack a dude for not paying tax?
I'm not saying I mind either way. There's a Conan story that starts with a look inside the head of a white slaver, he's got a target picked out and is just waiting for the right time. Then Conan kills him in a bar brawl, so its got a happy ending. But Conan doesn't know, that's just how a shades of grey, gritty pulp setting works out. I would totally make this smuggler a real piece of work, even if retroactively. But I'm still curious.
