[TML] Space Piracy

[Richard Aiken]

On Thu, Jun 5, 2008 at 6:59 PM, Bruce Johnson
<johnson at pharmacy.arizona.edu> wrote:
> Two words: "Chop Shop"

I actually had one of those in my first campaign.  I was inspired by
the Emissary story in TTA and came up with "Doc Jones" who had bought
a surplus IN destroyer tender and turned it into a jump-capable chop
shop/repair yard for ECMs.  He had the perfect set up.  Most
chop-shops wouldn't be mobile, however.  The IN (or other large power)
is probably not that dumb routinely.  So they wouldn't be around too
long, before getting shut down, either by the locals or by the IN.

If your pirates can reliably hook up with a chop shop, they'll keep
more of their captures.  They still won't get very much cash for them,
though.  There can't be more than a very few shops running at any
time, unless piracy is waaaaay out of control IYTU.  And these few
shops would need an extremely high profit margin, as they can only
operate for a limited time.  They must shut down before they get
located by the authorities, then set up again somewhere else.  The
infrastructure costs involved in that sort of business plan are
non-trivial.

-- 
Richard Aiken

"Never insult anyone by accident." Robert A. Heinlein