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Imperial Prison currency.
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CRMcNeill
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 18, 2019 6:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

How long will he be in, and when will he get out in BBY?
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MrNexx
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 18, 2019 7:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

In "The Logic of Empire" by Heinlein, access to alcohol was a major bit of currency. I could see the Empire having some sort of consumable narcotic available to prisoners... something that would keep prisoners calm and give them something to strive for as a means of reducing in-prison problems.
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CRMcNeill
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 18, 2019 8:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

MrNexx wrote:
In "The Logic of Empire" by Heinlein, access to alcohol was a major bit of currency. I could see the Empire having some sort of consumable narcotic available to prisoners... something that would keep prisoners calm and give them something to strive for as a means of reducing in-prison problems.

That fits. The Empire would be all about control, and not too particular about how it achieved it in its prisons.

It opens the door for a post-prison drug addiction as a character flaw and story factor, too..,.
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Pel
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 18, 2019 9:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Not to mention the corrupt officials that riddle the Republic and Empire who either turn a blind eye to or encourage criminal activity for a cut of the profits. All that contraband flowing into a prison makes for a tidy sum. Commlinks are also highly sought after, as are cell phones in real prisons. Oh, and don't forget the rock hammers. Wink
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 18, 2019 10:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Maybe dumb question here, but how do new prisoners "buy in" to an unofficial prison economy if you can't take anything in with you? What do they have that can get anything of value for? Some guy loves pudding day and he'll set you up if you give him all your pudding?
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CRMcNeill
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 18, 2019 10:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

That depends greatly on how “real” you want your prison to be. The most realistic version can get pretty ugly...
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 19, 2019 12:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Rebel Rising, the Star Wars novel by Seth Revis detailing Jyn Erso's life between her rescue by Saw at Lah'mu and her liberation by the Rebel Alliance from the prison at Wobani (known as LEG-187) has a few chapters detailing her life while in prison at Wobani. While I don't remember anything about prisoner currency, the daily routine of the prisoners at LEG-187 is pretty detailed. The prison chapters are interspersed a bit intermittently with the rest of the story of Jyn's childhood and adolescence, I think there's one prison chapter for roughly every four regular chapters. Jyn was held at LEG-187 for six months until she was rescued by Rebel SpecForces, so each chapter detailing her time at LEG-187 is titled with the month number (i.e. "Month One," "Month Two," and so on.

If you want a detailed account of what Imperial prisons are like, read Rebel Rising. Imperial prisons are obviously pretty brutal (understatement), but it's not at all unknown for weaker-willed prisoners to kill themselves rather than continue facing the despair and drudgery that is daily life at these places.
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Tupteq
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 19, 2019 8:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

How about energy being an in-prison currency? Power cells, to be precise - they are standardized and came in few sizes. Prisoners might want them to use for powering illegally owned equipment (comlinks, datapads, heaters, glowrods, tools or even weapons).

Power cell itself could be a larger bill (most power cells cost ~25c), but charging a cell or replacing empty for charged could function as coins. Moreover, there could be special devices to measure and exchange energy - where power could be transferred from one cell to another. Owner of such device could consume a bit of power as a transaction fee. This way power cells could work like a credit card.

And finally, there's a lot of space for abuse. Fake cells, cheating exchange devices, stealing or draining cell energy when owner sleeps etc.
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 19, 2019 1:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Tupteq wrote:
How about energy being an in-prison currency? Power cells, to be precise - they are standardized and came in few sizes. Prisoners might want them to use for powering illegally owned equipment (comlinks, datapads, heaters, glowrods, tools or even weapons).

Power cell itself could be a larger bill (most power cells cost ~25c), but charging a cell or replacing empty for charged could function as coins. Moreover, there could be special devices to measure and exchange energy - where power could be transferred from one cell to another. Owner of such device could consume a bit of power as a transaction fee. This way power cells could work like a credit card.

And finally, there's a lot of space for abuse. Fake cells, cheating exchange devices, stealing or draining cell energy when owner sleeps etc.


How would these power cells even make it into the prison? To be useful as a currency, it has to be 1) relatively plentiful and 2) not something that will get immediately confiscated as contraband. Something as useful as a power cell is not going to be issued to Imperial prisoners by the guards or the warden unless they're already in tools used for forced manual labor. And even then, those tools will be both used under strict supervision and very carefully accounted for if they're issued to prisoners with the expectation that they will be returned to whatever quartermaster issued them, especially if these tools could be misused as weapons. If the power cells are removed from the tools, that's going to be immediately noticed.

And how else would prisoners get their hands on power cells? Would their families on the outside try to smuggle them inside care packages or something (on the big assumption that a tyrannical regime like the Empire would even allow something as frivolous as care packages)? If the power cells aren't coming from outside the prison and they're strictly accounted for if they're in tools issued inside the prison, where else could they come from?

I just can't see how prisoners would be able to get their hands on a sufficient number of power cells to be usable as a currency without them being confiscated as contraband. Remember, the guards and wardens of Imperial prisoners are always looking for an excuse to punish prisoners for ANY reason. And sometimes, they just don't bother with an excuse and beat you up or kill you anyway.

(On a related note, I remember reading in MAUS, Art Spiegelman's graphic novel about his father's time at Auschwitz, where it was mentioned that sometimes the guards would take a prisoner's cap off his head and throw it some distance and then order the prisoner to retrieve his cap. As the prisoners had to obey any and every order from a guard, the prisoner would rush to get his cap...and then the guards would shoot the prisoner for "trying to escape." And if the prisoner was savvy enough not to run so he wouldn't be mistaken for "trying to escape," then the guards would shoot him anyway for not rushing fast enough to obey an order from a guard. I'd expect this sort of thing to be commonplace at hellholes like Imperial prisons.)
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garhkal
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 19, 2019 2:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dredwulf60 wrote:
garhkal wrote:
What about 'chits'.. Prisiners get issued a chit or two a day, and can use them in the prison shop/barbers.. Or can bank them up??


Well then, that leads to the next question I was pondering;

Would the Empire have prisons that run a commissary, RL prisons do, where goods can be purchased?

I was initially against the idea, with the idea of the Evil Empire doing away with any kind of luxury for prisoners. Thus, no commissary. No pay for forced work parties and thus no allowance of chits for purchase of anything.
The unofficial prison economy would all be for getting contraband smuggled in, paying for services and protection, etc. Thus the currency used would have to be something of inherent value to an inmate.

But then, I remember that the Empire grew out of the Republic, and wonder what Republic prison was like. Rebels, traitors and those engaged in sedition might be held in facilities closer to prisoner of war camps by the Empire, while 'civilian' criminals might enjoy an experience closer to our RL prison systems as a hold over from the Republic days.

Maybe the Empire is systematically cleaning out the prisons for slave labour and the like, but just hasn't gotten around to the one my Player's character is in yet.


I'd say there'd be two maybe 3 tiers for prisons.
Low-level or civilian ones, which would have commissaries and medical centers, even work out zones and the like.
Mid-level, political prisoners. Medical facilities, maybe a gym, but no commissary.
High level - REBEL SCUM!! They get nothing!

Pel wrote:
Not to mention the corrupt officials that riddle the Republic and Empire who either turn a blind eye to or encourage criminal activity for a cut of the profits. All that contraband flowing into a prison makes for a tidy sum. Commlinks are also highly sought after, as are cell phones in real prisons. Oh, and don't forget the rock hammers. Wink


Or sneaking in women, for "Conjuical visits"..
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Dredwulf60
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 19, 2019 4:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

CRMcNeill wrote:
How long will he be in, and when will he get out in BBY?


He was sentenced for a murder he didn't commit. (He's killed lots of people...who had it coming. Just not THAT one, who didn't.)

It was just a couple years after the end of the Clone War, so say, 16 BBY.

He'll be getting out after 10 years due to strings on the outside getting pulled, so, he will coming out in circa 6BBY.
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Dredwulf60
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 19, 2019 4:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

MrNexx wrote:
In "The Logic of Empire" by Heinlein, access to alcohol was a major bit of currency. I could see the Empire having some sort of consumable narcotic available to prisoners... something that would keep prisoners calm and give them something to strive for as a means of reducing in-prison problems.


And inmates can usually brew their own alcohol in a pinch.
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Dredwulf60
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 19, 2019 5:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sutehp wrote:
Tupteq wrote:
How about energy being an in-prison currency? Power cells, to be precise - they are standardized and came in few sizes. Prisoners might want them to use for powering illegally owned equipment (comlinks, datapads, heaters, glowrods, tools or even weapons).

Power cell itself could be a larger bill (most power cells cost ~25c), but charging a cell or replacing empty for charged could function as coins. Moreover, there could be special devices to measure and exchange energy - where power could be transferred from one cell to another. Owner of such device could consume a bit of power as a transaction fee. This way power cells could work like a credit card.

And finally, there's a lot of space for abuse. Fake cells, cheating exchange devices, stealing or draining cell energy when owner sleeps etc.


How would these power cells even make it into the prison? To be useful as a currency, it has to be 1) relatively plentiful and 2) not something that will get immediately confiscated as contraband. Something as useful as a power cell is not going to be issued to Imperial prisoners by the guards or the warden unless they're already in tools used for forced manual labor. And even then, those tools will be both used under strict supervision and very carefully accounted for if they're issued to prisoners with the expectation that they will be returned to whatever quartermaster issued them, especially if these tools could be misused as weapons. If the power cells are removed from the tools, that's going to be immediately noticed.

And how else would prisoners get their hands on power cells? Would their families on the outside try to smuggle them inside care packages or something (on the big assumption that a tyrannical regime like the Empire would even allow something as frivolous as care packages)? If the power cells aren't coming from outside the prison and they're strictly accounted for if they're in tools issued inside the prison, where else could they come from?

I just can't see how prisoners would be able to get their hands on a sufficient number of power cells to be usable as a currency without them being confiscated as contraband. Remember, the guards and wardens of Imperial prisoners are always looking for an excuse to punish prisoners for ANY reason. And sometimes, they just don't bother with an excuse and beat you up or kill you anyway.

(On a related note, I remember reading in MAUS, Art Spiegelman's graphic novel about his father's time at Auschwitz, where it was mentioned that sometimes the guards would take a prisoner's cap off his head and throw it some distance and then order the prisoner to retrieve his cap. As the prisoners had to obey any and every order from a guard, the prisoner would rush to get his cap...and then the guards would shoot the prisoner for "trying to escape." And if the prisoner was savvy enough not to run so he wouldn't be mistaken for "trying to escape," then the guards would shoot him anyway for not rushing fast enough to obey an order from a guard. I'd expect this sort of thing to be commonplace at hellholes like Imperial prisons.)



Well, I think you may be surprised by the things that get smuggled into RL prisons. I know I was, before doing a bit of research on this subject.

ie...cell phones are strictly forbidden. But I read an article where they were pretty common. Stored in that body cavity that every human has, but don't like to talk about.

Apparently there are certain people who will get arrested purposely for the express purpose of bringing in contraband, or at the very least try to load up on useful items if they know they are going to be put away for a bit.

And then there are the corrupt corrections officers. In return for money or other favors by an inmate's organization on the outside, they will smuggle things in for inmates. If the rewards don't work, sometimes threats will.

In any case, If humans can smuggle items like that where proverbial sun doesn't shine...imagine the hiding places some of the more exotic species might have!!!


It's a dark, dark hole.

No pun intended. Well....little pun maybe.
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CRMcNeill
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 19, 2019 5:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dredwulf60 wrote:
It's a dark, dark hole.

No pun intended. Well....little pun maybe.

This isn't the sick joke you are looking for. -->Hot Pockets, anyone?
Move along.
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Sutehp
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 19, 2019 8:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dredwulf60 wrote:
Well, I think you may be surprised by the things that get smuggled into RL prisons. I know I was, before doing a bit of research on this subject.

ie...cell phones are strictly forbidden. But I read an article where they were pretty common. Stored in that body cavity that every human has, but don't like to talk about.

Apparently there are certain people who will get arrested purposely for the express purpose of bringing in contraband, or at the very least try to load up on useful items if they know they are going to be put away for a bit.

And then there are the corrupt corrections officers. In return for money or other favors by an inmate's organization on the outside, they will smuggle things in for inmates. If the rewards don't work, sometimes threats will.


I had no idea about the RL cell phone in jails thing. Wow. That's definitely an eye opener.

As for corrupt Imperial correctional officers, that's also not outside the bounds of possibility as the Empire is notorious for both being incredibly corrupt and in league with a great many criminal organizations. Stormtroopers may be nearly impossible to bribe (or so I'm told), but the officers are alot more amenable to that sort of thing. Maybe the power cell thing isn't so outrageous as I first thought. I still would have expected something like the Star Wars equivalent of cigarettes to be the currency of Imperial prisons. Maybe death sticks instead (even though they're an apparently illegal narcotic)? Eh.

Dredwulf60 wrote:
In any case, If humans can smuggle items like that where proverbial sun doesn't shine...imagine the hiding places some of the more exotic species might have!!!

It's a dark, dark hole.

No pun intended. Well....a little pun maybe.


Nah, I don't wanna imagine or contemplate the orifices of alien species. I just had dinner. Shocked
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