Breaking Down Items into UPBs

[Isaac Zephyr]

Crafting Equipment wrote:

At the GM’s discretion, you can scavenge similar items for parts, allowing 10% of the scavenged item’s value to count toward the UPBs needed.

Was reading into this and wondering, how much would it hurt the game system overall if instead of adventurers hoarding every pistol and suit of armor they find to sell for 10% if you could spend four hours just deconstructing it for 10% of the items value in UPBs? The end result is the same amount of player wealth, but thematically it to me makes more sense in the setting to recycle rather than pawn.

Honestly I've been discouraging my teammates from hoarding every bit of equipment we find, instead suggesting we keep things we're actually going to use or just pop the batteries out of any lazers since one 60 credit battery is worth more than selling it for 35 credits.

This obviously won't be the case later when the value of items jumps past the 4000 credit range in a few levels. Though based on the treasure we've been getting so far, I think you can get away without insisting every defeated gang member strips down to his skivvies so you can pawn his stuff. Am I wrong on this one? And again, could the above be a viable substitute for pawn everything? Especially when you're out and about in space.

Additional note: The Assembly Ooze creature does something similar though you get 1 to 1 virtual UPB value, though they are limited by their CR. And I don't think keeping one on a ship would be a good idea (plus since it doesn't make actual UPBs, and instead makes random finished products it wouldn't be particularly great unless you intended to just roll the dice until you got what you needed).

[Robert Gooding]

It doesn’t break anything, I’m implementing it in mine, minus the breakdown time

[Metaphysician]

Ditto. It breaks nothing, and is probably one of the underlying assumption used when building the economy of the setting. Why are stores always willing to pay 10% for loot? Because 10% is the minimum value of stuff if broken down into raw UPBs or the equivalent. . . which is what most vendors do with "salvage" sold to them with sketchy provenance by dubious adventuring types. It may be broken, bootleg, cursed, or stolen, but none of that matters much once its been reduced to raw materials by The Grinder.

[Vexies]

I do this and it works just fine. It actually helps placate the, I only get 10% reaction and gives and I think adds to the flexibility and overall lore of the UPB in my opinion.

[Qui Gan Dalf]

I agree with the others who've said they allow for recycling. It also raises the question of how base level UPBs are created in the first place. The issue hasn't really come up that much in the game I run, but I've been thinking about creating a series of UPB reclamation devices at different item levels. Each item level allows the device to reclaim a greater percentage of usable UPBs and can be added to a starship's tech workshop expansion bay.

I could see the devices themselves becoming hotly sought after treasure items. The highest level ones might be built and controlled by corporations with an interest in limiting their availability, opening doors for corporate espionage adventures to acquire designs or working devices to be studied and reverse engineered by the competition -- which could include the PCs themselves.

[BiggerJimmerSlader]

Coming from Pathfinder into SpacePathfinder has been a process of changes.

Many changes, many many. Goodbye free five-foot-step for example, now it's a move action. Still getting used to it.

Anyhoo, Money, Credits, UBP.
Ol' Pathfinder: Standard rule is half for selling. 50%
New Starfinder: Standard rule is 10% If they buy them at all. Trade goods are worth 100%.

Now in the future, this makes sense. SpaceWalmart does not want your used space-armor with the warranty ticking down. Thus, you are effectively taking things to SpacePawnshops, and if you've ever tried to sell your stereo to one of them, you know that 10% is depressingly common.

Taking your example gun there.
|Laser pistol, azimuth|1|350|1d4 F|80 ft.|Burn 1d4|20 charges|1|L|—|

Vs the Pathfinder closest equivalent:
|Stonebow|35 gp|1d4|1d6|x2|50 ft.|4 lbs.|B|—|
|Crossbow, light|35 gp|1d6|1d8|19-20/x2|80 ft.|4 lbs.|P|

Becomes 35 Spacebucks and a battery worth 60. Which to a pawnshop, this is fine, but then you have to have access to said Spacepawnshops.
In Pathfinder, 35 comes back at 17.5.

From Core pg235:
To create an item, you must have UPBs with a total value
equal to the price of the item to be created. At the GM’s
discretion, you can scavenge similar items for parts, allowing
10% of the scavenged item’s value to count toward the UPBs
needed. Even magic and hybrid items are created using UPBs,
as the Mysticism skill is used to form the materials into runes
and specific implements for rituals utilized in the creation of
magic devices.

So what you are salvaging isn't UPBs, but a separate pool of "salvaged bits".

Recycling makes sense, as you fight five guys, each with weaponX and get enough from selling those five weaponX's to get half a weaponX.
Pathfinder gives you in the same example 2.5 purchasable weaponX's from selling their weaponX's.

This would, in theory, require them to haul more bulk back to their ship, be more overburdened, more at risk for thefts, explosions, etc. Risk vs reward and all that.

Possible further rules: Only being able to recycle gear of levels up to your skill ranks in Engineering or Mysticism but anything higher level may take rolls?

[Metaphysician]

Where do UPBs come from? I think that's fairly obvious: from factories that manufacture UPBs. Its a commodity item, so the profit margin is tiny. Thus, most UPB manufacturing is done in fairly large factories for achieving maximum efficiency of scale.

So why can't PCs do it? Well, they can. They just need a factory, and a supply line of raw commodity materials to fuel it. Which they don't have, because PCs are adventurers, not business executives in one of the lowest profit margin businesses in existence.

[Pantshandshake]

"I know, I know, Vesk isn't a great racial choice for the C.I.O. class, but I love the flavor of a big lizard being in charge of the IT nerds!"