Bounty hunters - how much to pay

[JAFARR]

I have a player who has turned bounty hunter looking for skipped ships. (1) What's the likelyhood that he will find one? (2) How much does he earn when there is a sucessful repossession?

LBB2 says the skipping owner must roll 12+ to avoid a repo attempt. + DMs for distance form homeworld which I understand to mean either a specified world that is used as HQ for that ship or the world where it was built. - DM for frequency of visit to a specific world. I am thinking he needs to roll 10+ to discover that a particular skipped ship has been here within the past 2 months. DM + streetwise. He then can roll 7+ to find someone who talked with crew of the ship. He can then roll 10+ for them to remember that something was said about where the ship was going. DM + admin, streetwise, or other skill ref thinks is acceptable. Now ref rolls 1D6 for odd equals this person was told the truth, even equals told lie. Now PC must roll 10+ to actually find the ship. DM +1 for each sucessful world skipped ship is traced to. Or can locate outright on a roll of 13+ DM + (Int/3)

As payment: 1% of new cost of skipped ship. Do these seem fair and accurate?

 

[LordVince]

I always assumed that the the "Homeworld" referrence, in this specific situation, meant the world on which the Lienholder was based. Not necessarilly the planet that the ship is based out of (although, more often than not, they WOULD be the same).

I like your Skill and DM selection, but IMTU I add another factor to the process -- that there are not only Bounty Hunters/Skip Tracers, but that there is an entire "subculture" centered around them.

"Tracer Supply Shops", "Hot Sheets" that can be downloaded, for a price, at any C+ Starport (these list newly Skipped ships, reports of sightings of pre-reported ships, plus reports of ships that have been brought in, and any other data that might be useful to Tracers). The Hot Sheet info on a specific ship may be anywhere from 1d6 weeks old (I usually fudge this number, to drive the adventure, as needed).

I've even gone so far as to posit "Tracer Guilds" -- organizations of retired or disabled Tracers, who create an organization that provides support for younger, more active Tracers -- for a price, of course.

Everything about Tracers is for a Price

 

[aramis]

All IMTU:

I've always used both the world of the lienholder and the world of registry.

I use 1% of value as well, but modify it. If the ship is a known case of barratry or piracy (IE, the purchaser has notified the lienholder that the ship's been stolen, or the purchaser has been found dead), it doubles. If the ship's been violent in anti-skip traces, double it. If it's less than 10 years old, double it (they can still resell on 40 years and hope to make it back before expected end of useful life). Further, undamaged recovery (or repaired before return) is worth another double.

In general, skip notices go out via X-Mail Broadcast... to aboout 12 parsecs from both... and so the skip tracer needs to get it before the port authority does. Most C ports, almost all A&B ports are a serious danger... they usually check for it.

Likewise, if the skip tracer has the recovery authorization, he can usually spend Cr10 and get a listing of the ship's last few ports before their last few trips to the world; it's a search fee, for the data entry time to run the query. Of course, once a port gets notice of the Recovery Authorization, then they know to stop the ship and impound it and snag the bounty themselves.

 

[Hemdian]

Originally posted by Lord Vince:
I like your Skill and DM selection, but IMTU I add another factor to the process -- that there are not only Bounty Hunters/Skip Tracers, but that there is an entire "subculture" centered around them.

Sounds like the film "Repo Man".

"Tracer Supply Shops", "Hot Sheets" that can be downloaded, for a price, at any C+ Starport

Why for a price? Tracers and bounty hunters would be a very cost-effective way for the MOJ to solve cases that are its remit. Thus the MOJ would want to disseminate such information for free.

No ships yet, but here are some wanted posters modeled after the FBIs wanted posters.

Regards PLST

 

[Fritz_Brown]

Oh, Hemdian, I really like those! (Those aren't real wanted pictures, are they? Somebody could sue.... CYA, buddy.)

 

[robject]

Hey... I know Dhaven...