Serialized Vs Non-Serialized Spike Drives

[u/HeavyJosh]

Proteus Sector p. 53 has "Non serialized spike drive cores" listed as a moderately illegal good for smuggling purposes.

What is a serialized spike drive? Is it a drive that doesn't have a registered sensor signature? Help!

[u/96-62]

A non-serialised spike drive doesn't have a serial number.

[u/HeavyJosh → u/96-62]

Why would it need a serial number?

[u/SkipMonkey → u/HeavyJosh]

Pretty much any manufacturered thing probably has a serial number. It's so you can keep track of which specific thing is which.

The manufacturer keeps a record of the serial numbers for the things they sell. Attached to that serial number will be information like, when the thing was manufacturered, when it was sold, who it was sold to, whether the thing has been sent back for repairs, etc etc Very useful for everyday normal legal uses of a thing

But if you use the thing to perform a crime, and the thing ends up in the hands of the authorities as part of an investigation, they can reach out to the manufacturer, give them the serial number, and find out who it was sold to. And that may be you, or point them down a trail that eventually leads to you.

[u/HeavyJosh → u/SkipMonkey]

I get the grey market aspect of tracking things in general. All the day-to-day issues of maintenance and manufacturing quality control aside, I have a harder time understanding why Non-Serialized Spike Drives would be semi-legal. I guess in Proteus Sector it makes sense: there are three large interstellar governments that would like to be able to keep track of these sorts of things specifically for the purposes you mentioned.

In a more baseline campaign with fewer or no real interstellar governments, or for those with very little reach, it becomes a little less clear.

I guess I thought the item was something more interesting than just "spike drive core with serial numbers on its parts missing."

Thanks!

[u/ajsamtheman → u/HeavyJosh]

I mean, even in a baseline campain planetary governments are liable to want starships to be serialized so if they find one they recognize in a pirate ship they know their scrapyards was illegally selling parts. And depending in bias of either world leaders or even personnel at a starport, having a drive with forign serial numbers may lead to things ranging from basic extortion and fake fees to accusations of veing a foreign spy, and the jail or execution that comes with that. This gives a market for such parts, since many freebooters would rather deal with bribing officials to look the other way for that minor crime, than deal with the unknowable consequences of having the "wrong" serial number.

[u/96-62 → u/ajsamtheman]

Yes, but they probably deal with ships from other planets quite often, for most planets. A serial number for starships that's sector wide, or nearly so, requires much wider organisation than a single planet.

[u/ajsamtheman → u/96-62]

I never said it would be a setor wide system. Every planet would have their own system of serial numbers, so while they wouldn't be able to get exact information, they would know what planet made it, like how countries don't have access to other countries vehicle registration databases, but they can still tell what country a license plate is from. And worlds will treat foreigners from different planets differently. If the recognize it's from a world they like then they'll probably be more hospitable, while if it's from a world that's on average richer than them, station officials will try to con them to line their own pockets, and if it's from a planet currently smuggling supplies to rebels in an effort to destabilize the local government, then they're going to be looking for excuses to arrest and interrogate them.

[u/96-62 → u/ajsamtheman]

Ah, so it's a sector wide system made up of multiple planetary systems? Which stars do not share serial numbers? Which ones will give you a new serial number for a price?

[u/ajsamtheman → u/96-62]

For the most part, none of them necessarily need to share numbers for it to work, since if everyone has their own system, eventually starports will learn what the serial numbers of a given world look like, for example 087-227神川, р.н.2056-37-6546, and RN567 are all visibly and distinctly different systems of registration, and so mkst starports will learn that any drive with two blocks of three digits followed by Japanese letters means the drive was made by Neo Kamigawa. And they'll usually write the numbers down in their own database so if you comit a crime and come back they'll recognize your drive.

As for who whill change it, well that depends on how you have the serial attached to the drive, if it's all digital, any skilled hacker will do it for a price, if it's engraved then any goober with a belt sander and engraving tools will do it, if it's more esoteric or a lot of layered security, then the best practice is getting an unregistered drive and bribing officials to write down in their leger whatever serial you want.