Building The Red Planet Empire - Mixing Warriors of the Red Planet (WotRP) with the Domain-level Architecture of ACKS II Rpg - How ACKS II market rules handle selling forbidden or ancient technology in a standard planetary romance city-state, including black market modifiers.

 In ACKS II, commerce isn’t just a background transaction; it is a mechanical pillar driven by the Market Class of a settlement. When your players roll into a high-tech, insular Sword and Planet city-state (a Jeddakate) looking to liquidate ancient artifacts, high-grade radium, or forbidden bio-serums, the transaction is governed by supply, legality, and the reach of the local ruler's secret police. This blog post picks up right from Building The Red Planet Empire - Mixing Warriors of the Red Planet (WotRP) with the Domain-level Architecture of ACKS II Rpg - Skyship Construction & Combat

By modifying the baseline ACKS II mercantile engine, you can simulate a high-stakes, black-market tech trade.

1. Settlement Market Class & Availability

The size and economic output of a city-state dictate its Market Class (ranging from Class VI border outposts to Class I imperial capitals). This determines the baseline chance of finding a specialized buyer with enough liquid capital to purchase high-value ancient relics.

Because ancient technology is tightly controlled, use the standard ACKS II Monthly Market Demand caps, but apply a strict Legality Filter:

Market Class	Example Settlement Type	Baseline Cash Cap	Tech-Buyer Availability
Class I	Imperial Radium-Citadel	100,000+ gp	Automatically available; 1d4 rival syndicates.
Class II	Major Canal Hub City	50,000 gp	90% chance per week to locate a tech-fence.
Class III	Standard Oasis Trade City	15,000 gp	65% chance per week to locate a tech-fence.
Class IV	Fortified Border Outpost	4,000 gp	35% chance; likely an eccentric lone collector.
Class V/VI	Nomad Encampment / Mining Pit	1,500 gp / 500 gp	5% chance; bartering for basic supplies only.

2. The Black Market Transaction Loop

Selling illicit or ancient tech requires a character (typically a Scoundrel or a face character with the Streetwise proficiency) to navigate the underworld. The transaction follows a three-step mechanical loop:

[1. Locate Fences] ──> [2. Law Enforcement Check] ──> [3. Price Negotiation]

Step 1: Sourcing a Tech-Fence

To find a black-market broker willing to handle forbidden technology, the character makes a Streetwise or Bureaucracy proficiency check.

• Success: A buyer is located. Proceed to Step 2.

• Failure: No buyer can safely be found this week. Trying again in the same month triggers an automatic law enforcement alert.

Step 2: Law Enforcement & Heat Check

Every city-state regulates ancient artifacts differently. Roll a Law Enforcement Throw based on the Jeddak’s local authoritarian grip:

Legality Level	Example Tech Restricted	Law Enforcement Throw	Consequence of Failure
Open Trade	Radium ammo, standard blasters	None	Standard open market sale.
Restricted	Heavy ship weapons, medical serums	14+ on 1d20	Broker panics; demands a 20% bribe or tip-off.
Contraband	Atmospheric parts, AI cores, telepathic gear	10+ on 1d20	Raid! Imperial guards ambush the meeting.

Characters with the Criminal Underground or On the Run class features can modify this throw by their relevant mechanical bonuses.

3. Black Market Price Modifiers

Once a safe transaction is secured, the final selling price is calculated using a base percentage of the relic's true item value, modified by the market's conditions.

Unlike standard ACKS II trade goods which fluctuate based on regional supply tables, black-market ancient technology is subject to a steep Risk & Desperation Modifier:

$$\text{Final Sale Price} = \text{Base Value} \times (\text{Baseline Market \%} + \text{Modifiers})$$

• Baseline Market Percentage: A fence typically offers only 40% of the true item value upfront due to the risk of execution or asset seizure by the Jeddak.

Transaction Modifiers:

• Seller has the Trading Proficiency: $+5\%$ to $+15\%$ (based on proficiency ranks).

• The City-State is at War: $+20\%$ for functional weapons, ammunition, or sky-ship components.

• The City-State is facing an Environmental Crisis (e.g., failing canals): $+40\%$ for atmospheric or water-condenser tech.

• High Surveillance State (Thick Guard Presence): $-15\%$ (fences take a bigger cut to pay off inspectors).

• Selling to a Direct Rival of the Ruling Jeddak: $+15\%$ value, but increases the Law Enforcement Threat throw by 4 points.

4. Laundering Tech Wealth into Domain XP

In ACKS II, characters gain Experience Points (XP) when gold is brought back to a safe haven and secured. However, black market gold is "dirty."

• The Money Laundering Tax: To convert gold earned from forbidden tech sales into actionable Character XP, it must be funneled through legitimate fronts (bribing officials, falsifying sky-ship cargo manifests, or investing in legitimate local real estate).

• The Cost: This process consumes 15% of the total gold earned. The remaining 85% is cleanly integrated into the character's personal treasury and safely awards its full face value in XP.

5. Sample Underworld Contact: "The Iron Broker"

If your players look for a fence in a Class II or Class III city-state, you can drop this ready-to-use NPC contact into your session:

Sola-Var , The Rust-Dealer

A cybernetically or biologically augmented former scientist who operates out of a subterranean scrap foundry beneath the city's hydroponic bays. He breathes through a clicking radium-filter mask and speaks in a low raspy whisper.

• Underworld Grip: Controls the local tech-fence pipeline. He offers a flat 50% base value for ancient components (higher than standard fences due to his private network of rebel scientists), but he always demands a favor in return—such as a specific tech-piece from the players' next salvage run—before he will liquidate items worth more than 5,000 gp.

 When dealing in forbidden radium-tech or ancient planetary relics, the transaction itself can be as lethal as a sky-ship broadside. In ACKS II, these complications can shift a routine commerce phase into a sudden tactical encounter or a domain-level political crisis.

Whenever your characters fail their Black Market Sourcing check, or if they roll a failure on their Law Enforcement Throw, roll $1d10$ on the table below to see how the deal unravels.

The Illicit Tech Transaction Complication Table

1d10	Complication Event	Tactical & Campaign Consequence
1	The Imperial Sting The "wealthy rogue scholar" buying your gear is actually an undercover inspector for the ruling Jeddak's secret police.	The meeting location is instantly surrounded by $2d6+2$ elite city guards. The players must either surrender their contraband, pay an immediate 3,000 gp bribe, or fight their way out of a locked vault.
2	The Counterfeit Coinage The fence hands over heavy metal chests that look and weigh exactly like legitimate Barsoomian silver bullion.	A close inspection or an Alchemy check reveals the ingots are cheap, gold-washed lead. The fence's crew attempts to slip away into the crowded bazaar before the ruse is discovered.
3	The Radium Leak During the inspection of the goods, a vital container or fuel cell is dropped or mishandled by an anxious buyer.	The room is flooded with emerald radiation. Everyone present must immediately succeed on a Saving Throw vs. Poison or suffer $1d8$ damage and a permanent loss of 1 point of Constitution until cured by advanced medicine.
4	The Syndicate Hijack A rival criminal faction has tracked the players' salvage haul and decides to cut out the middleman entirely.	Midway through negotiations, $1d4+2$ masked raiders crash through the ceiling or doors wielding silenced blasters. They attempt to kill both the players and the fence to seize the cargo.
5	The Tracker Tag The transaction goes off flawlessly, and the players leave with a heavy chest of clean, legitimate gold.	The fence secretly slipped a short-range radio-beacon tag into the coin linings. Within 48 hours, a hunting pack of nomadic green-skinned mercenaries ambushes the players' camp or tracks them to their sky-ship hideout.
6	The Tracking Glitch The ancient relic the players are trying to sell unexpectedly activates its long-dormant internal power grid.	The device begins projecting a massive, blinding holographic map or emitting a low-frequency hum. This immediately alerts every city-guard patrol within five city blocks, turning the sale into a frantic race to escape.
7	The Bidding War Twist A second buyer unexpectedly interrupts the meeting, offering a massive 50% premium over the agreed price.	The catch: The new buyer is a known political terrorist or a mortal enemy of the local Jeddak. Accepting the deal nets immense wealth but automatically brands the players as enemies of the state across the entire sector.
8	The Poisoned Hospitality The fence welcomes the players warmly, offering sweet desert wine or traditional hallucinogenic pastes to "seal the contract."	The refreshments are laced with a heavy paralytic agent. The players must succeed on a Saving Throw vs. Death/Poison. On a failure, they wake up hours later in a desert ditch, stripped of both their technology and their personal weapons.
9	The Structural Collapse The underground black market bazaar or sewer vault chosen for the meeting is structurally unstable.	A sudden subterranean tremor or shifting sand dune causes a localized cave-in. The players must pass a Paralysis Saving Throw to dive clear of falling stone pillars, which risks trapping their sky-ship salvage beneath tons of red rock.
10	The Mastermind's Demand The fence turns out to be a direct agent of a powerful local crime lord or warlord who refuses to pay cash.	The crime lord demands the players hand over the ancient tech as a "tribute" or mandatory tax to operate in their territory. Refusing means the players' local domain or business fronts will face a coordinated Underworld Sabotage campaign next month.

Running the Outcome

If a fight breaks out during an illicit deal inside an urban center, remember that ACKS II Urban Encounter rules dictate that city watch reinforcements arrive every $1d4$ rounds once an alarm is raised or blaster fire is heard. The players' primary goal shouldn't just be winning the shootout; it should be securing their heavy salvage and escaping over the city walls before the city gatehouses are locked down tightly.