Your Starfield crime spree can include assaulting NPCs, says ratings board
If you want to commit a ton of Starfield crimes, the Korean ratings board may have just hinted how you can deal with witnesses.
The Korean Game Rating and Classification board (GRAC) has rated Starfield as not suitable for children. GRAC confirmed that players may attack NPC citizens, and that Starfield will feature “excessive profanity”, and the player’s mining origins.
Among the many Starfield crimes confirmed in gameplay trailers, interviews, and the previous ESRB rating, only the GRAC has hinted at the ability to attack NPCs. The aforementioned ESRB rating revealed that drugs and pickpocketing would feature in Starfield.
Now that the Korean Game Rating and Classification board has revealed their rating, we have a more complete picture of how crime could work in Starfield.
Bethesda has previously implemented simplistic crime systems in the Elder Scrolls and Fallout series. These systems revolve around a law enforcement ‘bounty’ – a monetary fine against the player that increases depending on the severity and number of crimes committed. Stealing items in Skyrim added half of that item’s value to your bounty, whereas murdering an NPC added a flat 1000 gold to the fine.
Once the player was apprehended by the guards, the player was given a choice:
- Pay the fine (the value of the bounty)
- Go to jail, losing any stolen items and requiring a time skip to the end of your prison sentence
- Stand and fight, turning most NPCs hostile towards you
Starfield will likely see a similar system to the one above. However, it is unlikely your bounty will carry over from system to system. In Skyrim, your bounty was limited to the local ‘Hold’ – the region you were in. In Starfield, it would seem strange for the United Colonies faction to arrest you for taking action against their bitter rivals the Freestar Collective, or the Crimson Fleet. This is further hinted at with several Starfield traits descriptions. For example, the ‘Freestar Collective Settler’ trait states, “crime bounty towards other factions [are] greatly increased.”
One feature that Skyrim introduced which Starfield could see return was the ‘Witness’ system. In the ‘Witness’ system, if you committed a crime and were witnessed, you could kill that NPC to remove it. However, if another NPC saw you committing the murder, your bounty would increase substantially.
So, if you find yourself caught red-handed with your hand in someone’s pocket or digipicking someone’s front door, you can either run to your ship and fly off to friendlier planets, or go on a massive killing spree.