Starfield Deep Cover: Should you pay Karl Fielding’s debt?

Starfield’s Deep Cover mission sees you going undercover for the UC to infiltrate the Crimson Fleet. Before you can get face time with the Crimson Fleet, however, you need to speak to member Adler Kemp.

Adler Kemp hangs out in the Broken Spear Bar in Cydonia and, unsurprisingly, will only give you access to the Crimson Fleet if you do a favor for him. Kemp asks you to collect a 3,000 Credit debt from miner Karl Fielding. When you speak to Karl Fielding, he initially tries to deny knowing Adler Kemp but gets his memory back after a couple of gentle nudges. Karl claims he doesn’t have the Credits leaving you with yet another Starfield choice: Should you pay Karl’s debt, persuade him to pay the debt, or take the debt by force?

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What happens if you pay Karl Fielding’s debt in Starfield?

The easiest (and nicest) way to rectify this situation is to offer to pay Karl’s debt for him. It costs 3,000 Credits to do this but Karl will be very thankful and Adler never needs to know. Also, you have Sarah Morgan with you, she will be pleased by the action.

What happens if you persuade Karl Fielding to pay his debt in Starfield?

You can persuade Karl to pay the debt, even though he says he doesn’t have the money, which requires passing a Persuasion check. When I did this, I only had Rank 2 Persuasion but still managed to succeed. Here are the options I chose to get Karl to pay his debt:

• “[Persuade] I’m tired of playing games.”
• “Is this really worth the risk? You could always make the money back later.” [Persuasion +2]
• “There’s no reason for us to have a problem, is there?” [Persuasion +1]
• “I know there’s a way to get past this.” [Persuasion +1]

Karl then apologizes for trying to wiggle out of his debt and hands the Credits over.

What happens if you attack Karl Fielding in Starfield?

In short: chaos. If you decide to attack Karl Fielding, and kill him, in an effort to claim the debt then you find the miner is telling the truth: he doesn’t have enough credits. If you kill and loot Karl’s body, you find he only has 740 Credits and the move also turns Cydonia hostile, with the UC out to kill you for murdering someone in plain sight. You also can’t pay Adler the debt because you didn’t actually collect it.

Should you pay Karl’s debt for him in Starfield?

My advice is to pay Karl’s debt for him if you can afford to do so. After all, the guy is just trying to get by. If you would rather not lose any Credits then the next best option is to try and persuade him to hand it over.