Star Wars: The Rebellion Campaign

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House Rules

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Last updated September 22, 2002

Starship Information

Spacefaring Agencies

Imperial Space Ministry: The Empire inherited most of the Old Republic's laws, including starship regulations and the general infraction codes - what's now commonly known as the Imperial Penal References (ImPeRe among some smuggler circles). These rules are updated and tracked by the Imperial Space Ministry, the Imperial Navy's regulatory agency monitoring space travel.

The space ministry reviews the immense volumes of the Imperial Spacefaring Regulations annually, updating older rules and creating new ones to encompass new space traffic situations, astrographical features, military controls and other situations requiring a regulated set of protocols. The Imperial Space Ministry (more precisely, the Imperial Navy Bureau of Regulations or INBOR) publishes the updates and changes every year in the Spacers' Information Manual, or SIM, available for a minor 25 credit charge when spacers update or renew their flight certification. Of course, smugglers and others who obtain their captain's accredited license through less legitimate channels have no easy access to the Spacers' Information Manual... not that they particularly need it or pay much attention to it anyway. Most are too lazy or busy to read the entire 5,947-datapage document.

The Imperial Space Ministry also certifies new starports and occasionally inspects heavily used starports to be sure landing and docking facilities meet with certain Imperial standards for safety and security. The space ministry most often concerns itself with regulating starports with busy or high levels of starship traffic, those starports along major trade corridors or starports in systems with industrial, tactical or political importance to the Empire. As a rule, its inspectors don't even bother with starports classified as landing fields or limited services - even standard class starports are often overlooked if not important to the Imperial military and industrial machine.

The space ministry also coordinates reports from Imperial traders and scouts regarding new or upgraded hyperspace routes, new systems and worlds discovered. This data is sold as download astrogational and informational updates for starships' general and navigational computers. The download includes updated astrogation charts and routes, new areas mapped, as well as new and updated planet profiles for access through a ship's computer banks.

The astrogation update is available from Imperial Space Ministry offices throughout the galaxy - most often found at sector capitals. To receive the update, spacers must show their captian's accredited license and their ship's operating license. These documents are checked for authenticity and any violations of the Imperial Penal References on file before the astrogation update is authorized. A small fee of about 150 credits is also charged for the update.

Offices of the Imperial Space Ministry throughout the galaxy also issue permits for transport of restricted goods, usually at the capital of the sector where the restricted cargo originates. Other petty permits for travel through certain hazardous routes, secure landing facilities and restricted hyperlanes or systems are also issued at space ministry offices in sector capitals.

However, when it comes to keeping track of the innumerable starships and certified spacers out there, the mighty Empire turns the formidable and important task over to an agency seemingly separate from the great military power which controls vast portions of the space lanes - the secretive and clan-administered Bureau of Ships and Services (BoSS).

BoSS: The Bureau of Ships and Services (BoSS) is one of the oldest institutions in the galaxy. It has its own customs, traditions, and unique personality. Most of the positions are filled through hereditary means. BoSS is as much a star spanning tribe as it is a civil bureaucracy.

As the decades have passed and one government after another has come to power, BoSS is one of the few bureaucracies ro remain relatively unchanged. BoSS has assured itself independence for two reasons. First, the sprawling and complicated files of BoSS are kept in nearly indecipherable codes. Only family members have access to the organization codes of the files. The second reason is BoSS's long-standing policy of neutrality. Each power that rules or manages the galaxy simply inherits BoSS. Apparently, the BoSS family has no political aspirations, and the Empire seems to be yet another government that accepts BoSS without threatening it.

Only once has BoSS faced a legitimate threat. Several centuries ago, the Borvak Clan threatened violence against he family. BoSS managed to bring interstellar trade to a standstill by threatening to delete every file of every starship in the galaxy unless the planetary government united to defeat the Borvaks. The Borvaks backed down after the first thousand warships arrived in their home system.

BoSS records are continuously updated and shipped throughout the galaxy. What information is given to starports and worlds and how quickly it gets there is dependent upon subscription fees paid to BoSS. The higher the fee paid, the more information a starport or institution receives, and the faster it arrives. Most starports pay the minimum fee and get basic updates twice a year. The Empire pays an enormous sum to BoSS, and BoSS sends special shuttles to Imperial Center, where the information is disseminated to key Imperial worlds and bases.

Because this is an especially "delicate" period of political history, more and more people are doing what they can to skirt around BoSS's information net. The Rebel Alliance also buys information from BoSS, and while they must often outwit BoSS to cheat the Empire of information they never act against BoSS directly.

BoSS sets up special units to track down people and ships who are attempting to circumvent their data gathering services. These operatives see the collection of this information as their duty to their subscribers and only use force defensively.

The BoSS operatives, known as Gatherers, do not have a uniform. And just as the BoSS tribe itself contains countless races from many different backgrounds, so too do the Gatherers defy a simple description. They are usually well trained in computer skills, espionage, and have a wide breadth of knowledge. Some are also trained as fighters.

Transponder codes can be listed as "classified" within the BoSS files. This means that the code is not available to standard subscribers. Being listed as classified costs several hundred thousand credits. However, BoSS also sells classified information for a higher fee. Although the Empire has enough creditsa to traffic such information, the Rebel Alliance has bought its fair share of expensive information from BoSS as well.

The Imperial Navy and Imperial Customs:

Transponder Codes

Every starship has a transponder code: a unique signal beamed out continuously to identify the ship for any curious passers by, the code includes the name of the ship, its type, who owns it, and any pertinent records or data about the ship.

Adding Transponder Codes It is possible to add transponder codes to your ship to disguise its identity. You can have any number of false codes, but no more than three are suggested. If you have more than three, the codes begin to "bleed" and look suspicious. To build a false code, you must first do an analysis of your ship's code. Then run the analysis through a special program to find ships with similar codes. The analysis will produce a list of possible choices of signals to be added to your ship's signal. Then, you must go through the log of transponder codes of active ships close, if not identical, in design to yours. A ship's transponder code should pull an A-3 match of better against your new transponder code. Another requirement is that the ship not travel very often in the area you travel. This is a very boring, time-consuming task, and will take about a week of checking until you find a useable code to mimic. Once you've found such a code, add it to your base code and you'll create a different pattern. This pattern can be built into a standard sensor-transponder box retrofitted according to Alliance Akr43 specs. Attach it to your sublight engine and you're all set. When you switch on the box, someone checking out your ship's code will believe it is the other ship. For a starfighter scale ship, the first false transponder code costs 1,500 credits, the second code costs 3,000 credits, and the third costs 4,500 credits. Fourth and subsequent codes cost 6,000 credits but are easily detected by anyone scanning your ship.

Transponder codes have existed as long as there have been spacefaring societies. All ships that want to conduct legal trade of any sort must have them (a ship without one is in serious trouble as soon as it encounters an Imperial or system patrol craft). The code is the only way to track ships from system to system.

The transponder code is built into a ship's sublight engines. The code is created by giving slight variation to the frequency pattern of every ship's engine. the engine itself sets the basic pattern, while smaller elements, or "background" code, are created by a transmission device that transmits the code whenever the engine is on. The device, known as a transponder director, is sealed into every engine, so it is very difficult to alter (see sidebar).

Ship builders are required to record the transponder code of every ship they produce. When the ship is purchased, the owner's name, the intended use of the ship, and other pertinent information is recorded within the transponder code. As the ship is bought and sold (or lost and won), its standard routes change, or its weapons are upgraded, these changes are noted alongside the records of the ship's transponder code at the Bureau of Ships and Services.

Data Documents

Every spacer is required to carry certain data documents at all times. These are most often kept on a secure datapad issued by BoSS at the time of ship registry and captain's accreditation.

Port officials or those inspecting a ship in person request this datapad for their personal inspection, and can read the information and verify it through their own computers.

Ship's Operating License: Every starship