The Smuggler moves things. Weapons past orbital checkpoints. People past identity scanners. Data past Kadiss audit trails. The Smuggler does not ask what is in the crate. The Smuggler asks where the crate needs to go and how many checkpoints are between here and there. The answer determines the price.
Asset Realisation books the Smuggler as "trade compliance liability -- unregistered." The Nine's customs apparatus exists to tax, control, and restrict the flow of goods. The Smuggler exists to bypass all three. Every inspection Station, every cargo scanner, every customs inspector is an obstacle the Smuggler has already solved: false manifest, shielded compartment, bribed inspector, or route that avoids the checkpoint entirely. The Smuggler's Kadiss record is a work of fiction -- shell companies, dead traders' credentials, import licences for goods that do not exist.
The Smuggler's hidden compartments are works of art. A bulkhead that opens into a void behind the environmental systems. A cargo container whose back third does not appear on any manifest and does not register on any scanner. A crew cabin with a false floor deep enough for a person to lie flat and breathe recirculated air for the eight hours it takes to clear inspection. The Smuggler has hidden everything -- weapons, contraband, fugitives, the occasional experimental xenotech that three different corps would kill to recover -- and nothing has ever been found.
Operating on the Edge chassis (d6 HD, 3/4 BAB, Ref good, Fort/Will poor, 8 SP). Light armour and concealable weapons -- the Smuggler is a talker, not a fighter. Prime requisites: DEX (compartment construction) and CHA (the voice that talks the party through the checkpoint).
Rules Reference
Field
Value
Armor Allowance
Light
Bab Tier
three-quarters
Base Skill Points
8
Hd
d6
Hd Sides
6
Max Level
20
Multiclass Notes
Smugglers can multiclass with Pilot and Fixer archetypes. Non-humans use simultaneous multiclassing rules.
Primary Abilities
DEX, CHA
Prime Requisites
DEX, CHA
Save Tiers / Fortitude
poor
Save Tiers / Reflex
good
Save Tiers / Will
poor
Weapon Allowance
Pistol, Knife, Concealable weapons
Notes
Archetype Niche: The Smuggler is the party's invisible logistics arm. Hidden Compartment solves the 'how do we get the weapons past security' problem and scales to moving living beings in shielded compartments. Customs Dodge turns checkpoints from obstacles into speed bumps -- the Smuggler talks the party through where other parties fight. Contraband Network provides an economic endgame: passive income, trade routes, and sector-spanning influence. The Smuggler's niche is moving things where they shouldn't go -- the party's gear, the VIP, the stolen prototype -- all invisible to the authorities.
Level Table
Runner
Field
Value
bab
0
fortitude
0
level
1
reflex
2
skillPoints
32
title
Runner
will
0
xp
0
Mule
Field
Value
bab
1
fortitude
0
level
2
reflex
3
skillPoints
8
title
Mule
will
0
xp
1250
Smuggler
Field
Value
bab
2
fortitude
1
level
3
reflex
3
skillPoints
8
title
Smuggler
will
1
xp
2500
Blockade Runner
Field
Value
bab
3
fortitude
1
level
4
reflex
4
skillPoints
8
title
Blockade Runner
will
1
xp
5000
Master Smuggler
Field
Value
bab
3
fortitude
1
level
5
reflex
4
skillPoints
8
title
Master Smuggler
will
1
xp
10000
Shadow Hauler
Field
Value
bab
4
fortitude
2
level
6
reflex
5
skillPoints
8
title
Shadow Hauler
will
2
xp
20000
Grand Smuggler
Field
Value
bab
5
fortitude
2
level
7
reflex
5
skillPoints
8
title
Grand Smuggler
will
2
xp
40000
Trade Ghost
Field
Value
bab
6
fortitude
2
level
8
reflex
6
skillPoints
8
title
Trade Ghost
will
2
xp
70000
Void Runner
Field
Value
bab
6
fortitude
3
level
9
reflex
6
skillPoints
8
title
Void Runner
will
3
xp
110000
High Void Runner
Field
Value
bab
7
fortitude
3
level
10
reflex
7
skillPoints
8
title
High Void Runner
will
3
xp
160000
Trade Prince
Field
Value
bab
8
fortitude
3
level
11
reflex
7
skillPoints
8
title
Trade Prince
will
3
xp
220000
High Trade Prince
Field
Value
bab
9
fortitude
4
level
12
reflex
8
skillPoints
8
title
High Trade Prince
will
4
xp
280000
Void Chief
Field
Value
bab
9
fortitude
4
level
13
reflex
8
skillPoints
8
title
Void Chief
will
4
xp
340000
High Void Chief
Field
Value
bab
10
fortitude
4
level
14
reflex
9
skillPoints
8
title
High Void Chief
will
4
xp
400000
Shadow Fleet Master
Field
Value
bab
11
fortitude
5
level
15
reflex
9
skillPoints
8
title
Shadow Fleet Master
will
5
xp
460000
High Fleet Master
Field
Value
bab
12
fortitude
5
level
16
reflex
10
skillPoints
8
title
High Fleet Master
will
5
xp
520000
Sector Shadow
Field
Value
bab
12
fortitude
5
level
17
reflex
10
skillPoints
8
title
Sector Shadow
will
5
xp
580000
High Sector Shadow
Field
Value
bab
13
fortitude
6
level
18
reflex
11
skillPoints
8
title
High Sector Shadow
will
6
xp
640000
The Phantom Fleet
Field
Value
bab
14
fortitude
6
level
19
reflex
11
skillPoints
8
title
The Phantom Fleet
will
6
xp
700000
Supreme Smuggler
Field
Value
bab
15
fortitude
6
level
20
reflex
12
skillPoints
8
title
Supreme Smuggler
will
6
xp
760000
Special Abilities
Hidden Compartment
Field
Value
level
1
name
Hidden Compartment
description: The Smuggler builds hiding places that do not exist on any schematic. Compartments hold up to 10 lbs of cargo per Smuggler level -- in vehicles, cargo containers, buildings, personal gear. Detection requires a Perception or Security check (DC = 15 + Smuggler level + INT modifier). Scanning technology (x-ray, thermal, chemical sniffers) takes a -5 penalty -- the Smuggler knows how scanners work and builds accordingly. At level 5, compartments are shielded against one scanning type (chemical, thermal, radiation, or electronic). At level 10, compartments hold living creatures (up to Small size, 8 hours of breathable air) -- the Smuggler has moved fugitives, stowaways, and once a corp executive's kidnapped child. At level 15, compartments are shielded against all scanning types -- no scanner in the Nine's inventory can find what the Smuggler has hidden.
Customs Dodge
Field
Value
level
3
name
Customs Dodge
description: The Smuggler talks through checkpoints the way others walk through doors. Bureaucracy and Deception as class skills with +3 competence bonus. At any checkpoint, inspection, or customs station, the Smuggler makes a Deception or Bureaucracy check (Smuggler's choice) -- fast-talk, bribe, or paperwork-confuse. DC by security level: routine DC 15, heightened DC 20, military DC 25, lockdown DC 30. Success: the party passes without inspection -- the inspector waves them through, the scanner shows green, the manifest checks out. Failure: standard inspection occurs, but compartments still require their own detection check. At level 8, the Smuggler passes one companion through on their credentials. At level 13, the Smuggler's reputation precedes them -- +5 to the check in systems where they have traded before. The inspector has heard the name and does not want trouble.
Contraband Network
Field
Value
level
5
name
Contraband Network
description: The Smuggler knows who wants what and who will pay. Black-market value of any contraband item is known at a glance. Buyers for goods legitimate merchants will not touch are located within 24 hours. When transporting contraband, the Smuggler increases the sale price by 10% (stacks with Fixer's Fence). At level 10, the Smuggler establishes a regular trade route between two systems generating 100 rek per Smuggler level per month in passive income -- the route runs whether the Smuggler is on it or not, because the Smuggler has built something that outlasts them. At level 15, the Smuggler's network spans the sector -- goods move between any two points on the trade network at triple the normal price markup. The Nine's customs apparatus has become the Smuggler's distribution network.