The Search for Shiv: Planetside

I keep forgetting I have this blog until it's time for my promised Wednesday post. I've got to get back in the habit of doing this. Here we go:

When we last left our heroes, they had just crash landed on the blockaded world of N'zoth and the ship was now missing a stabilizer (in this case, it’s kind of like a wing on an airplane, except it's movable). His backstory establishes that Drev loved his ship. He insisted they repair it instead of finding a new one. Drev decided to stay with the ship on guard duty instead of venturing out on the mission. Not realizing that Yossa hates droids, he ordered Sparky to follow Yossa’s commands. Sparky had the specs for the necessary part. Just before landing, a message arrived from their prospective ally indicating the city he was hiding in. It looked to be a 2-3 day walk through the forest to the city Yossa’s friend, Saban, indicated.

En route, they encountered a group of vorpacks. Our GM described them as “Star Wars Tribbles”. They swarmed the party as the group tried to sleep. All they really did was go “Eep!” When a Tiss’shar gobbled one down, the rest scattered.

This concluded the December session. We didn’t get to play for over a month after that.

The next session, the group arrived at the town to find stormtroopers conducting a door-to-door search. The locals were unhappy, and it appeared a riot would break out at any moment. Remember, this is N’zoth. The locals are incredibly xenophobic. An AT-ST clanked as it walked in the distance. Zin was sent in to scout while Val, the sniper, found a place in a tall tree on the edge of the forest. The sneaky Zin managed to sneak into an apartment complex that the Imperials were searching. I don’t know why the player thought that would be a good idea. Zin got ahead of the patrol sweeping the place and went room-to-room. At some point, Zin shut the door right behind a group of stormtroopers that had just gone into a room. After much fruitless searching by both Zin and stormtroopers, Zin misstepped and made a noise. A trooper called it in. Zin then heard the words she dreaded: “Yes, sir. Switching to thermal imaging.”

Zin sprinted outside and down the hallway to the only exit where she found two stormtroopers holding the crowd back from entering the complex. On the bright side, Zin had skill points spent in jump, tumble, and several other relevant skills. She charged down the stairs before leaping through the doorway. The troopers never expected to see someone coming out of the building! When Val saw Zin dashing through the doorway into the street, she let loose a shot at one of the troopers. Critical hit! He’s down! As Zin turned down the nearest alley, Val fired off a couple more shots before climbing down from the tree. She didn’t want to risk anyone tracing the shots back to her present location. Zin continued to zig-zag through alleys. Suddenly, an arm reached out and hauled her into one of the buildings! Once inside, a shadowy figure dragged her down a hatch in the floor. “Yousa stirring up a lot of trouble. I should have expected nothing less from the great Yossa Fel.” It was Saban. Finally, we had the entire party in play! After waiting some time for things to cool down, Saban used Zin’s comlink to contact Val (Yossa doesn’t own a comlink). She handed it off to Yossa. Saban told him to meet at “the drinking spot we used to go to when we were off duty.” Yossa groaned. They were to meet outside a cantina just off the base! That was where the session ended.

Next time, join us for the grand meet-up!

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Rebooting the Search

It's been 8 months since the first session of this rebooted campaign and two months since the end. It also went on hiatus for quite awhile. For those reasons, I'm just giving the details. I can't remember much of the dialogue.

When we last left our heroes, um... they were all dead. Yossa needed to assemble a new team to take down Shiv.

Both my brother and I missed the first session after are restart (I'm playing the pilot, Drev, and he's playing Sparky, a mechanic/medical droid). The two of us had to pick a starting world. We chose Borleias. The GM laughed. "That's where everyone is meeting!"

We took the call from Yossa about the job. Unfortunately, we were low on starting cash. Most of it went toward the ship. The group was meeting on the other side of the planet and we couldn't pay our docking fee! How could a blockader runner, er, legitimate business man be so short on credits? It was decided Drev and Sparky came to pick up a cargo. When they arrived, the job offer was suddenly rescinded. Those two don't have the force to lodge a significant enough protest.

Yossa came over via commercial transport. The Tiss'shar, Val and Xin, were already on planet for some reason. I missed the session where that was explained. Xai Sho, the Nagai, crash landed her small ship in the wilderness. Any landing you can walk away from, right? It was only there to provide transport to the staging area anyway.

I can't remember if Yossa payed the docking fee so we could go to the rest or they took a transport to us. I just remember he tried to haggle the price down and failed. The group met without anything of note happening, besides Drev never spotting Xin, the infiltration expert.

As we took off, both the GM and Yossa's player started laughing. "Do you realize that he gathered all of you without telling you why you were going after Shiv?" The GM said.

It was then Yossa realized we didn't have any computer expert amongst the group. (Sparky didn't count in his eyes because Yossa hates droids.) The only trustworthy slicer he can think of is an old army buddy. After a quick explanation of the situation, his friend agrees to help. The only catch is that we must pick him up. He's stuck under an Imperial blockade. On N'zoth. In Yossa's words, "Right after we rescue him, I'm going to punch him."

This ended the session.

In our next session, the group left for N'zoth. Sparky briefed Drev on what to expect from the locals: death. The Yevethan natives are highly xenophobic. Due to the added risk, Drev elected not to take on any cargo bound for their destination.

Once in hyperspace, Yossa explained who the target of his wrath was: a highly dangerous Bothan computer/droid expert. Val disclosed what she knew of him as well. Her mother had worked alongside Shiv (in a previous campaign). That group managed to hijack a Star Destroyer from an Imperial shipyard and Shiv was the main component in that theft!

Until they arrived, the passengers amused themselves by playing holochess repeatedly. Drev joined in occasionally, but couldn't win a match (or even come close). "Why do I even have this thing?" he grumbled as he headed toward the cockpit. Experience told him there would be a hyperspace interdiction field around the planet. The ship would be pulled out of hyperspace upon arrival.

The interdiction field cut the Rodent's Bane out of hyperspace a fair distance out from the system. An approach through an asteroid field hid the ship's approach. I had bragged about Drev being able to perform any maneuver at full speed. I was wrong. As I approached the planet, Drev missed his pilot check to avoid hitting a Star Destroyer. The GM waved it off, saying Drev barely dodged it. "But be careful."

The run to the planet was uneventful, until it came time to land. My bragging came back to bite me. A natural 1! The ship scraped a stabilizer against the overhang Drev was trying to park under. The ship crashed to the ground. Sparky went out to check. The whole stabilizer was gone. Without that part, the group would be unable to get off the planet!

More to come next Wednesday.
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Dramatis Personae: The Search for Shiv

As always, I have links to Wookieepedia and TV Tropes as judged appropriate.

Time for new characters! Always a fun time! After I displayed dismay at only having a few races to choose from in the core rulebook, our GM opened up the Ultimate Alien Anthology to our group. 180 new species to choose from! Well, 177. Our GM banned 3 races. Bartokk were removed when several players expressed an interest in them. As they gain ability bonuses for the number of Bartok allies nearby, adding 5 Bartokk would break things. Kushiban were tossed out as a previous player's action convinced the GM the race is unbalanced. I really wanted to play a Givin, but that was vetoed since several members were around for an infamous Givin character that died in spectacular fashion. I must reiterate, thermal detonators in mass quantities is a bad idea.

Our character deaths occurred the week before Thanksgiving. Since I had a large essay to due the following week, I missed the next session. Having three weeks to flesh out a character was nice! The GM imposed a harsh restriction: though we were level 8 characters, we would be starting with the same amount of credits as a level 1 character! Instead of starting with 20,000 credits, I had a mere 100! On the up side, you will see he was very lenient on that when we put together our backstories. All characters were required to have worked with Yossa before. How could Yossa trust someone he didn't know?

Yossa: A Gungan war hero, Yossa's survival is the only reason we still have a campaign. Shiv has something very important to him and Yossa will stop at nothing to get it back.

Drev (player's former character was Baniss): An ace pilot and blockade runner, Drev is the owner of the Rodent's Bane. The Rodent's Bane is a Firespray Patrol Craft. Drev is in his thirties, nearly middle age for a Xexto. He mostly takes humanitarian jobs delivering medical supplies and food. He refers to Imperials and other oppressors as "rodents," hence the name of his vessel. He was the wheel-man for an operation with Yossa and four other soldiers in the Corporate Sector. Should he gain more cash, he has the ability to quad-wield blasters. A combination of discounted runs for the Rebels and a droid purchase has left him searching for a big score.

Sparky (player's former character was Bishop): Medic, surgeon, and repair droid, Sparky is a 2-1B medical droid owned by Drev. The Xexto recently picked him up at an auction though the details are a bit murky. The fiercely loyal aids Drev in combat repairs and provides medical attention to passengers when need. Sparky is obsessed with upgrades: both to himself and his patients. He is an expert at building and installing cybernetics. Broken and abandoned droids are raided for parts. He's trying to acquire an ion pistol, but has had no luck so far. Useless droids are rare. Why not make some of your own The group needed a nickname quickly since the character was still being finalized in his first session and "Sparky" was the first we thought of. Signature phrase: "I'm afraid that will have to come off."

Val (player's former character was Ith): Val is a Tiss'shar sharpshooter. whose mother is a legend amongst our group: the medical ninja. Val is not on good terms with her mother. This mother used to be one of Shiv's co-workers. Don't get on her bad side.

Zin (player's former character was the ASP droid): Zin is a Tiss'shar infiltration and explosives expert. Since she frequently remains unseen, she is also referred to as "Val's Imaginary Friend." So far, the only party members to see her are Val and Yossa. Enemies' signature phrase: "[censored]"

Tai Sho (player's former character was Neela): She is a Nagai soldier. Like most Nagai, she is driven by honor. Observant readers might recall that this is set sometime during Empire Strikes Back. Star Wars fans might be saying, "Wait, a Nagai? I thought they invaded the galaxy! And wasn't that after Empire Strikes Back?" Yes they did and yes it was. She may be an advance scout. She once fought a Tusken Raider with only a knife. She kept his gaderffi as a trophy. Her connection to Yossa is unknown. Sparring with her is how beings earn respect and honor in her eyes. Signature phrase: "Honorable combat?"

Shiv: Remember him? He's the Bothan computer and droid expert. Oh yeah, he's also the BBEG of this campaign.

Join us next time as we begin Star Wars: The Search for Shiv!

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Loose Ends and Lessons Learned

Loose ends:

The message Baniss sent was to his parents. I knew I would have to do something with my computer use skill and couldn't think of anything helpful. I thought this fit jittery character's cowardice. The message said, "I didn't do it." Baniss took all his levels in Scoundrel.

Ith was force sensitive. In the week I was absent between our escape and reaching the safehouse, Ith used the force to heal Yossa. Our GM joked that the Emperor was sitting on the toilet reading the newspaper at the time. "Huh? What was that?" Ith multi-classed as a Force Adept/Noble.

Bishop never got the chance to properly shine. He was built on the idea of using one blaster set to stun and another on the normal setting. Unfortunately, both the GM and player misread the rules on stun before the first battle and ran with what the GM said there. They'd sorted things out for future fights, but opportunity to use this tactic never materialized. Stunning an opponent with one shot and killing them when they're immobilized fit the "not a nice man" theme the player was going for. Bishop took levels in Soldier before entering the Elite Trooper prestige class.

Neela had some depth we never touched on. I don't have her player's e-mail, but the GM filled me in: "Neela had an odd backstory of parents who were Rebel Sympathizers that died in a smuggling run gone wrong. She was sold into slavery, hence her aversion to binders. She escaped from said slavery and became a bounty hunter with a heart of gold. She would only take bounties that were honorable and didn't conflict with her own moral code... Unless she was desperate and she was reaaaaally hungry. All in all, a very odd duck." Neela was a Scout.

More from the GM regarding our final battle: "They didn't trace you from the credit chip. The "safe" contact that gave you the safe-house also sold you out to the Hutts, who in turn gave your position to the Imperials as a gesture of goodwill. They might have exaggerated how much ordinance you had at the safe-house, leading to the siege formation. Your [computer] message did not make it to your parents as the cache that sends the message was in the same building and hadn't dumped to the main server yet. The Imps never had the chance to look it over. The cache was destroyed in the explosion."

The unnamed ASP droid is still out there. According to the player, the droid has found some new friends. Maybe he'll show up in another campaign. He has not disclosed what levels the character has.

Lessons learned:

1. When reacting to detention by the authorities, it's helpful if the whole party acts together.

2. As cliche as it is, starting in a tavern/cantina can be fun.

3. Write down your backstory and take a hard copy with you. This should lessen potential confusion.

4. If your boss is a crime lord, never tell them you're quitting.

5. If you can't be there, make sure someone has a copy of your character sheet.

6. Delusional characters are entertaining, but can takeover the session.

7. Constitution is not a dump stat. (Compare Baniss being hit by small arms fire to Bishop taking several heavy weapon blasts to the face.)

8. Playing a droid has serious drawbacks. Especially against [spoiler redacted].

9. If you are bitten by an insect, don't wait to get it treated.

10. If you want to make a campaign journal, update it consistently.

I'm working on a piece for the end of the week that will introduce my new character and then we're on to more adventure!

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Shootout at the OK Hiding Spot

When we last left our heroes, Baniss had just spotted a stormtrooper with an e-web blaster across the courtyard.

There's four benches in the courtyard that serve as the endpoints of an X. In the middle of that X is a reflecting pool.

Bishop leans out the door and opens up with his repeater. All three shots miss.

One of the e-web's return blasts strikes Bishop. Somehow he remains on his feet. Two stormtroopers dash out from the courtyard's entrance.

Baniss pokes his head out and scores a hit on one.

"Nice shot," says Bishop.

"Thank you!" says Baniss.

"Can you do it again?" he asks grimly.

Neela shoots and misses.

Bishop again opts for volume in place of accuracy. He doesn't hit anything.

Two more stormtroopers run out from behind the e-web.

The round continues with nobody scoring hits. The benches and doorway provide excellent cover.

On the next round, the e-web scores a hit on Bishop. He stumbles back to Ith. "Medpac!"

As she tends to his wounds, he points out that we're not making any headway. We can't overpower them and the current setting is not working to our advantage. There's now four stormtroopers behind each bench plus the e-web. Seventeen stormtroopers is more than one squad, but less than two so there must be a few more out of sight.

Baniss grabs his datapad and begins typing furiously.

"I thought you said they were tracking you!" Neela reminds him.

"That really doesn't matter now! Buy me some time!"

Ith sighs.

I scrawl something on a scrap piece of paper and hand it to the GM. He chuckles. "That's what you're doing?"

After much debate, we decide our best option is to fire across the doorway at the walls opposite us. Two characters on each side. Baniss gets a little out of control and singes Ith. After what feels like forever, we hear the clang of boot steps approaching the open door.

A small round object flies in. Stun grenade! With a scream and a thrump, Ith and Neela both fall. The GM looks at us and says, "What do you do?" We can't think of anything.

We hear the stormtrooper speaking into his comlink. "Confirmed detonation on two targets." Pause. "Yes, sir."

Another stun grenade; only Bishop remains.

"Confirmed detonation on one target." Pause. "Yes, sir." Now he addresses Bishop. "I have been authorized to used deadly force... with this!" The trooper's arm reaches through the doorway, holding a thermal detonator.

Bishop's player looks at the GM. "My gun's illegal, right?"

"Yes."

"So I'll plant it on Neela before I surrender."

"Make a move silently check."

Suffice it to say, he did not roll well.

"You were warned!" the stormtrooper yells. The grenade lands in the middle of the room and the door closes.

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"Well, I saw that going better," says the GM. "I guess that's the end of the campaign."

"No! Yossa's still alive!" Bishop's former player says.

"That's right!" He looks at Yossa's player.

"Oh I'm going after Shiv! He's still got something of mine."

"Alright, everyone roll up new characters. They need to be someone Yossa would count on."

"Remember, Yossa's not so cool with shady business."

I rolled well. We'll discuss my new guy soon, but we need to wrap up some loose ends next time.
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Safehouse

I missed a session due to illness. I've combined what I heard about that session and a couple the following ones as well as they fit a similar theme. Okay, it's really because I want to catch up to where we are now.

In the session I missed, Ith reunited with the party. Our droid wandered off during that session. The player was frustrated with the whole hacking incident and decided he was done. One of the party members found a safehouse to let Yossa, Baniss, and Neela recuperate from their injuries. During this time, the bite Yossa received from the sand tick began to cause him some issues. Ith tried to discretely use the force to heal a party member. No one in the party noticed.

When I returned the next week, three days had passed. Baniss and Neela spent the whole session unconscious last week due to their injuries. They ended up doing the same this week. Ith tended to them as well as the feverish and delusion Gungan. Our GM had Yossa's player make wisdom checks to comprehend what other characters were saying.

Yossa awoke. He looked around, not recognizing any of the characters due to his delusional state. Ith was the first to notice.

"Lie down, you've been shot," she said.

Yossa misunderstands you. Lie down or I'll shoot you? What's going on?

"Weapons?" he asked.

"In the corner," Ith replies.

Yossa's player looks to our GM after failing his wisdom check. "I think she means the galactic core, don't I."

The GM chuckles. "No, you think she means the core rulebook."

"What?"

"Yossa's having an existential moment."

Ith's player speaks up. "A Deadpool moment?"

"Maybe."

Back in character, Yossa says, "Give me weapons!"

The reply he hears: "When you can stay straight and tell me who you me and arm specifically ons."

Loudly and slowly, he tries to repeat what he said before, "Give. Me. My. Wans!"

She replies slowly, "Tomorrow. Go leap." (She said sleep.)

He staggers to his feet. Ith pushes him back onto the bedle.

"I'll tie you down if I need to!"

He stands again and punches her.

Bishop yells, "Don't you dare!" and raises his gun. "Get out of the way, Ith! It's set!" (He added "for stun" on the end, but Yossa misses that.)

"I don't care!" Ith won't budge.

"Fine. Have your fun."

Yossa stumbles toward, but trips and hits his head.

The next day, Yossa remembers nothing. The Rodian is up but only barely. She tries to aid in restraining Yossa. He punches her hard and she goes down again. Ith sedates him. Again, Bishop spends most of the day cleaning his weapons and inspecting them to make sure they are in working order.

The next day, he's tied down. "Fever. Delirious. Rest," is all Ith says to him.

All Yossa remembers from the previous day is aggression.

"What do I see?" Yossa's player asks.

"You think you're in Gungan Valhalla," the GM replies.

"What's that like?"

"You're surrounded by Gungans. Gungans with beards."

"I'm died?" asks Yossa.

"Rest," says Ith.

The next day, Baniss awakens. His first action is to insure his bed is moved away from the delusional Gungan. We end the session there. The GM tells us to level up our characters for next session.

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At the beginning of the next session, Ith brings him up to speed. She tells him of Shiv's betrayal, conveniently leaving out that he has planted information indicating she planned the explosions used as a distraction during the prison break. The Imperials suspect Rebel terrorists. Baniss doesn't believe her.

Baniss begins to panic. Did the Imperials tamper with his gear? Did they put tracers in his comlink or his datapad? Did Ith and Bishop pay for the safehouse in hard credits or did they use credit chips linked to their personal accounts? "I bet they will be tracing my comlink!" he exclaims. He intends to find someone on the streets to sell it to.

"I can take care of that," Bishop says. He grabs the comlink from Baniss, lays it on the table, and shoots it with the ion pistol. The comlink explodes. "Oops. I thought that would disable it."

We have a brief debate with the GM. Most of us understood that ion weapons disabled electronics. Turns out, the comlink took too much damage.

Our GM loves to have our group make paranoia checks because of the results they bring. I'd prefer to roleplay my characters reactions instead of the dice making my guys act out of character, but the checks sure makes things interesting. Due to the result, Baniss is now certain that, not only did Shiv not betray us, but Ith is also a serial killer.

Baniss decides it's best not to annoy the maniac. We skip over the next two days the characters spend recovering. By this point, Yossa has recovered from his illness. As Baniss gets directions from Bishop to a place where he can buy a datapad under the table and trade in his current one, Yossa leaves on an errand. The directions take some time and Baniss can't write them down. That's what a datapad is typically used for.

As Yossa rounds a corner, an Imperial squad car rushes down the street. He doesn't see it. By the time Baniss starts to leave on his errand, a stormtrooper has set up an E-web blaster across the courtyard from the safehouse. The Empire has found them and they've brought the big guns!

Next time: Shootout at the OK Hiding Spot.

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Jailbreak, part 2

A lone Kel Dor waited at the docking platform.

That could have gone better, Ith thought. He said the others would be here soon. I think they will want to hear who framed Baniss.



As Neela, Yossa, and Baniss reached the bottom of the stairs, Neela gasped, grabbing her chest and falling to the floor.

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House rule: If you don't have your character sheet, your character is stricken with a sudden medical condition rendering them unconcious until the sheet is produced. If a reasonable amount of time has past and you still can't find it, the character dies of a heart attack. In this case, Neela's player couldn't be there and had not ensured her sheet was there.
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Six stormtroopers had just re-entered the complex. A U-shaped reception desk stands just in front of our heroes. Yossa and Baniss sprint to cover behind the desk as the stormtroopers duck behind nearby stone benches. Baniss pops up and fires off a shot, drawing a hail of return fire.

"Stay down!" said Yossa.

Before Baniss could react, a blaster bolt catches him in the shoulder. He was down for the count. Yossa swears and remains behind cover. After several moments, he hears the clatter of stormtrooper armor approaching. Yossa jump ups and lets two energy balls fly with his atlatl. One finds its mark. Four more troopers reach Yossa. Wielding his atlatl like a club, Yossa smacks one across the helmet. Two fire into that melee. Yossa makes a radial attack. A blaster misfires and a trooper goes down. Another loses his grip on his rifle and it slips from his fingers. (Game mechanics note: fumbles are awesome!) Yossa is now in melee with two troopers and three more stand within firing range. Blaster fire strikes Yossa as two troopers charge at him. Cue ASP-707. He lets loose a blast with a flamethrower. The trooper's armor looks crispy, but he's still on his feet. Yossa thumps a trooper on the head, dropping him. The droid takes a swing at another trooper. He's down! Only one left! The last one fires point blank at Yossa, scoring a hit. The mighty Yossa lapses into unconciousness. A final strike from the droid is all it takes. The ASP droid retrieves the final trooper's blaster rifle, and fires into the man's head. He then does the same to the other stormtroopers. He then pulls his black cloak out of the collection he looted from the evidence room and puts it on.

He scoops up the three bodies and carries them outside. Bishop spots him and pulls up. "Throw them in the back!"

After the droid does so, he slides into the front seat. "Drive," a metallic voice under the hood says.

A few kilometers out, sirens sound behind them. Three patrol aircars in pursuit. The ASP flips a switch and the roof of the speeder tumbles into the never-ending depths below. He takes his rifle and fires off a barrage at their pursuers.

Just then, the radio crackles to life. It's Shiv! "I do believe you have outlived your usefulness." With that the radio shuts off. So does the engine.

Bishop miraculously puts the craft down as gently as a crash landing from several stories can be.

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[Extra remarkable because Bishop has but a single skill point in pilot. He rolled a natural 20! Baniss is now one hit point away from death. He needs to make a fortitude save to survive. He is awful at those, so I mentally prepare myself to bring in a new character. Everyone else does the same. I need a 15 or better on my d20. And we have an.... 18! An 18! We're all still alive!]
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The crowds descend upon the crashed speeder as soon as the bodies are dragged from the wreckage. All the patrol cars passing over them see is the usual mass of people found at that level on Coruscant.

The droid points at a nearby store. "Fix them and I'll get info," he says and walks into the crowd.

Bishop ignores the orders, deciding instead to keep an eye on his comrades. Dragging three unconscious bodies around while shopping looks suspicious.



No one has shown up yet. An impatient Ith is leaning against the wall. Suddenly, she hears steps coming down the hallway toward her. Metallic boots. And lots of them. This is not good. Maybe I need to check a computer. She walks off in the other direction in search of the nearest terminal.

What she finds there shocks her. Out the window, she sees a plume of smoke. I need to get out of here! A rebel attack! And they're calling me the mastermind? Shiv, you Sithspawn!
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Session 3: Jailbreak

Bishop Nabool too had a message upon his return. This one contained instructions on how to contact an unnamed individual about a job offer.

"Ah, Mr. Nabool," everyone's favorite Bothan said. "I have a job for you."

"I figured as much."

A map appeared in the projection. "I need you to drive to this location. An aircar will be provided on the listed date."

The date flashed on the screen. Ah, the day of the big parade. Nice cover, thought Nabool. "And?"

"And wait for further instructions. I will pay you 2000 credits. I'll pay you half in advance."

"Most of my weapons were confiscated. I'd like you to replace those."

"I trust you still have something?"

"I have a light repeater."

"That will do."

The message terminated. Well, now to give my current employer the bad news.

The face of Grogga the Hutt appeared on screen.

"Grogga. I just wanted to let you know I've gotten a better offer and will be moving on."

"Oh. I am... disappointed to hear that." A protocol droid translated from off screen.

The link suddenly terminated.

Oh no. What have I done?! Angering a Hutt is generally considered to be a very bad idea.


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Pro tip #1:
Always make sure your back story is available in written form just in case the player and the game master disagree on what was in it. The player intended to be working for a small-time criminal and not no that person's boss. The GM did not understand that. In order to keep the game moving, the GM went with what he understood in order to avoid backtracking and replaying the sequence.

Pro tip #2:
Never contact a crime boss to tell them you quit. They will be... disappointed to hear that.
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Bishop laid low for the rest of the week. The car arrived as promised on the appointed day. Upon arrival, Bishop looked around noting the nearby bank and a couple of other prime targets. He was a little surprised to be involved in a job so close to the detention center. Suddenly, there was a loud explosion in the distance and the area shook. Lights flickered as and died.

In the jail, the backup generators quickly kicked in. A couple seconds later, another explosion disabled them as well. The containment forcefields on one of the lower levels died. A single red light appeared, accompanied by the skittering of spidery legs.

"Ah, Yossa," Shiv's voice intoned from the droid.

"Well, what's your plan for getting outta here?"

"Retrieve your atlatl."

"And?"

"In good time."

Yossa and the droid took off down the corridor. The other prisoners, having been kept in a weakened state much longer, did not keep pace with the pair.

"Do the guards have the day off or somethin'?"

"There was a fire drill before the lights went off."

"A fire drill?"

"A fire drill."

"I don't even want to know what you're up to."

"You are wise beyond your years."

Yossa skidded to a stop and whirled on the droid. "Patronize me again and I'll smack you!"

The bot did not even stop. "Noted."

They arrived at a dead turbolift. After what felt like forever, they emerged in an empty hallway. No guards were in sight.

"We need to find the evidence room." With that, the droid skittered away.

"'Da hell?" Yossa looked down the other way, seeing nothing of note. "Can't hurt."


ASP-707 booted up. A strange bot was climbing on him. Only voice and optics are functional. A quick diagnostic test verified nothing had been added to his programming.

The small bot spoke. "Next directive: collect all our weapons and proceed down the hall."

"Next directive is my own."

A sigh emanated from the other bot.

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Controversy arose for a second time as our GM sliced into our droid character's CPU. There are drawbacks to playing a droid.
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The droid completed the repairs on ASP-707 quickly, then hopped to a locker. "This is the one you want."

They met the Gungan in the hall. "Directive fulfilled," Shiv's bots said in unison. "Let's free your future colleagues."

"Do it yourself," said Yossa. Footsteps echoed further down the halway.

"I... need assistance," Shiv said reluctantly.

"They're the ones that got me into this mess!"

"I know where the warden is."

"You got me there. I owe him a good beatin'."

As those two set off, the second bot turned to 707. "Will you follow?"

707 raised his arm. A cloud of flame burst forth. He slowly stalked down the hallway after Yossa.

Two levels down, they found a control room. Yossa spotted the warden and dashes down the stairs. As he rounds a corner, he finds the warden waiting for him with his back to the wall. Yossa skids to a halt as the smiling warden raised his baton, showing the Gungan a wide array of buttons as he pressed one. Sirens erupted.

Yossa raises his atlatl and fires. The warden smiles again as the projectile harmlessly strikes an energy barrier. Again, the warden smiles and presses a button on his baton. Two small sections of wall slide upward and a single creature walks out. A sand tick the size of a human fist emerges.

"'Da hell?" Yossa says. Suddenly more pour out of the hole and begin crawling all over the energy field, unable to penetrate it. When Yossa moves to fire again, the ticks swarm toward him. One bites him as he flees. The sand ticks pursue.

After several attempts, 707 slices into the the computers in the control room and disengages the pressure-locked cells on the levels holding Banniss and the Rodian.

"Hi, guys! Dis way!" Yossa says as he runs past his compatriots, pausing briefly to flip a blaster pistol to Banniss.

After donning a large, black cloak he pulled from the evidence room, 707 walks slowly out of the control room, flaming sand tick stragglers as he goes.

The Rodian slips on the final flight of stairs, striking her head and tumbling to the bottom. She doesn't get up. Yossa and Bannis hop off the staircase just in time to avoid being struck by her body. A squad of twelve stormtroopers await them in the lobby.


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Editor's note:
Bishop does know Huttese, but Grogga insists on always using a protocol droid to translate.

Introducing: Yossa Fel

My apologies about the lack of post last week. I had two large papers due. That also precluded the next session from making it through the editing process in time. Session updates will resume next week.

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Yossa Fel is a 34 year old Ankura Gungan. He grew up among his people and served in the Grand Army, achieving significant rank and prestige. He also married and while he has no children as of yet, he is very close to his wife. He doesn't talk about his past at all with anyone, because he's been banished. The great war hero Yossa Fel is not allowed to return to his people, but his wife could not leave her responsibilities to join him. Their solution is to send journals back and forth, so that at least they can share that much. Since his exile, he has been making a living as a mercenary, selling his prodigious skill with his atlatl to whomever offers legitimate work. Even despite all that has happened, Yossa still has a strong respect for the law, although he suspects with considerable frequency that imperial law isn't worth the trouble to follow. He'll generally come across as gruff and a tad mean, but can you blame him?

Yossa is known for his skills with a Gungan atlatl.

Session 2: We have Ways of Making You Talk

First, a pair of stormtroopers came for the Duro. They paraded him along a corridor, through a turbolift, another corridor. Finally, he arrived in front of an Imperial officer. Probably the warden, he thought.

"Ah, Baniss Nootka. You can save yourself a lot of pain by telling us what we need to know now."

"What do you need me to tell you?"

"You know."

"No, I don't. What did I do?"

"You know what you did! Strap him in! I'll be inside shortly."

The guards dragged Baniss into what appeared to be an amphitheater. A single, ominous-looking chair stood on the middle of the black stage. Arm, leg, and head restraints jutted out. Bright lights pointed at the chair obscured Baniss' vision of the audience and reflected off the stage floor. The guards strapped him in, enlarging the metallic head restraint to accommodate his large cranium. After several minutes of waiting, in stepped the warden holding what looked like a stun baton.

"Care to tell me who your accomplices are?"

"Accomplices in what?"

"You know what I mean!"

"No, I don't. What did I do?"

The warden touched a button on the baton and it began to crackle with electricity. The warden pressed it to Baniss' chest and pain shot through his entire body. "Tell me who they are?"

"I don't know what I did." The baton struck him across the face and Baniss felt a shock there as well. "Tell me what you want me to tell you!" A jab to the chest this time. I've got to think of something. Maybe they're interested in the datapad programs I collaborated on over the HoloNet. "I'll talk! Their names are lovemonkey28, piloting_ace32, captainduro..." Whap! The hardest blow yet stung his face.

"I want real names, not user names!!!"

"I don't know their real names!" Another jab. I've got to do something! "Give me any name you want! I'll implicate them in a crime! Any crime! I'll... Oh, that's right. You don't need me to do that. You can handle that on your own."

The warden raised a needle. "This is good at making beings tell the truth, but if you're insistent on just giving us anything..." There was a snap-hiss as a door behind Baniss opened. A humming sound began to resonate. "...this is all we will need." The sound came closer.

A needle jabbed into the back of the Duros head; he screamed in pain, then lapsed into unconsciousness.



Next, the guards grabbed the Gungan and dragged him to a similar amphitheater. The warden arrived at right behind the guards this time. After strapping him in, a guard nodded to the warden. He began to pace in front of the chair.

"Yossa Fel. Tell me what you know about your Duros friend."

"He ain't no friend of mine. Meesa just met him at dinner."

"And what do you know about your... prospective employer?"

Yossa shrugged. "He was picking up the tab. I ordered the most expensive thing on the menu."

"I noticed. It was in the report."

"I figured I would get hauled in, so I thought I'd finish the stew."

"You've been hauled in before?"

"No, but I know how you Imperials operate!"

"And how is that?" the warden asked smugly.

"If you need me to tell you, you're in the wrong business."

The smug smile vanished and the guards fastened the head restraint. The baton began to crackle.

"Is this the part where you ask me a question and I say 'F*** you!'?"

Whap! "You will tell me what I need to know."

"And you really believe that?"

Zap! The baton jabbed Yossa in the chest. "The Duros! What do you know about the Duros?"

"I know he's not smart enough to order well when someone else is payin'."

Whap! "What about the Rodian?"

"I don't know what her problem is."

Whap! "Your employer! Where will you contact him?"

"He never showed at the cantina."

Zap!

"I can keep going all day," Yossa smiled.

Whap! "So can I. So. Can. I." Zap!

Next, they took Ith. Upon entering the interrogation room, the guards removed her mask. The warden was already waiting, wearing his own mask in order to supply him with oxygen. There was no baton in sight. The guards led her to the chair where they did not strap her in. The stormtroopers stood on either side of her. They must also have their own masks, Ith Sang deduced. Otherwise they couldn't survive in this. She took a deep breath, obviously glad to be out of that mask.

"So, you fancy yourself a detective."

"Yes, I am a licensed private investigator."

"Tell me what you know of those you were with."

Ith relayed everything she knew, conveniently leaving out any details about Shiv and the meeting point. After this, her belongings where returned, minus her blaster, and she was free to leave.

They came for the Rodian, but barely bothered to ask her anything. She had killed one of their compatriots. Vengance, not information, was their goal.

They didn't bother coming for the human. They simply fined him 2000 credits and confiscated his weaponry.

Ith Sang returned to her apartment to discover she had a message from Shiv. "I need you to clear the name of our Duros friend," he said. "Start with the luxury liner Glitterspur, his previous employer."

With that, Ith left to begin her investigation.

Session 1, part 2: Jailhouse Talk

The troopers roughly shoved their prisoners in to their cell; all except the droid were present. Three of them took seats, but the unconscious Duros and Rodian lay on the floor.

Yossa, the Gungan, spoke first. "Why did I go to the cantina? I knew that Duros looked like bad news when meesa get there. Meesa shoulda walked right out the door!" He paused. "At least the stew was good."

"I gathered that," the strange alien said.

"Well good for you! What are you, some kind of detective?" Yossa spat back.

"Yes."

"Oh," a deflated Yossa replied. He turned to the human. "And you! What yousa problem? That not a human place!"

The human slurred his reply, "I wanted some stew. They make good stew."

"Oh. But then why shoot the stormtroopers?"

"It seemed like a good idea at the time."

"'Seemed like a good idea at the time,'" Yossa sneered. "Great. That's great meesa stuck in cell with a crazy human." He glared at the Rodian. "What's her problem anyway? You'd think she'd never seen a pair of binders before!"

"Oh? And you've been arrested before?" the other creature asked suspiciously.

"No, but I know how they operate," he said, switching back to a standard pronoun. "I notice you didn't resist either."

"I hadn't done anything wrong. It's just easier that way."

"And you!" Yossa bellowed at the Duros. "What's your problem?"

Baniss continued to feign sleep.

"Still sleepin' it off?" He turned to the detective. "I want to know what he did! It's his fault we're in this mess!"

"I don't know."

"I don't know either." Baniss decided it was time to speak.

"Look at that! He is awake." Yossa crossed his arms with contempt.

The odd alien went right into detective mode. "Anything unusual happen recently?"

"I got fired today."

"What did you do?"

"I was a navigator on a luxury liner. They fired me to replace me with some human."

"Ain't that always the case?" Yossa shot daggers at the human with his eyes.

"Yeah." The detective sighed.

"I didn't catch your names. I am Baniss Nootka, pilot."

"I'm Yossa."

"And what do you do, Yossa?" Baniss Nootka inquired.

"None of your business, that's what I do!"

"What about you? I've never seen anyone of your race before."

"My name is Ith Sang and I'm a Kel Dor."

"Bishop Naebul." The human chimed in, unsolicited. "I work in... security."

There was a little chatter before they drifted off to sleep, awaiting their interrogation the next day.

Session 1: You meet in a tavern, er... cantina

Most updates will be shorter. This one is pretty heavy on the dialog and character descriptions. It was the last session before my work schedule changed, significantly shortening the time we have.

If you haven't checked out the my character's bio, I'd encourage you to do so.

Handy links are included to Wookiepedia for those not familiar with Star Wars when necessary.
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A dejected Baniss Nootka wandered the streets after receiving the sad news: he has been terminated from his job as navigator on the luxury liner Glitterspur. Rodians, Duros, Twi'leks, and several other non-human species wander the streets (pictures provided via links). The aliens are relegated to this section of Coruscant due to the Empire's bias against non-humans. An ASP droid wandered through the crowd as well. Normally, this would draw Nootka's attention but he isn't paying much attention to where he is going.

Yesterday, he received a message from his cousin: Baniss's uncle is dead, killed inside his favorite cantina on Corellia. A Twi'lek fugitive seated at the next table started shooting when confronted by a stormtrooper patrol. The uncle, sitting in his favorite corner booth, could not get to cover. A stray blaster bolt caught him right between the eyes, killing him instantly. Baniss sighed. Could things get any worse?

Suddenly, his datapad beeped. Conflicting thoughts run through his mind: A message? With a job offer? No reply address. Seems questionable and I've got a good bit of credits stashed away, but I want to save that for a droid. Maybe they'll let me fly a ship! Okay, I've got to check this out. He sliced into the network, trying to see where it originated. No such luck. Might as well check the meeting point.

Baniss was the first to arrive at the cantina. A droid floated up to him and directed him to a corner table. Someone else was picking up the tab! He ordered a Bantha steak and looked around. Was that a human sitting at the bar? Why would a human want to be in a Twi'lek restaurant, much less the non-human section of the city? He looks a little tipsy. Maybe he just wandered into the wrong part of town.

Soon, a gungan arrived, followed by a rodian, and a being he could not identify. The being had a breath mask and appeared to be female. An oddly modified Asp droid hunkered in a corner near the table. The gungan ordered the most expensive thing on the menu, a special stew, and kept going on and on about how good it was. "Might as well get a meal like this when someone else is paying for it," the gungan explained. Soon, a small droid skittered over and hopped up onto the table. A hologram flickered out from its projector.

"Ah, you're all here. Excellent," the furry bothan said as he surveyed the three of them. "I am Shiv and I have job for you."

"I figured that," the gungan interrupted.

"Yes, well, I need a new crew for my courier ship..."

Nootka, overcome by excitement, exclaimed, "A ship! Can I fly it?"

"Yes, you will be the pilot. I'm prepared to pay 1500 credits per shipment." Baniss's eyebrows raised. Or rather, they would have if duros had any. That sounded like quite a bit more than the going rate."

"Will there be any shooting?"

"No, there won't be."

"Good! I don't like shooting! It's a bad thing."

The gungan smiled. He new the bothan was bluffing. He knew he was there as an insurance policy in case things went sideways. He guessed that's what the rodian was there for as well.

Shiv gave them the docking bay number and requested they be there in exactly one week, prepared to depart. "Do any of you have gear that would require special transportation arrangements?" Shiv inquired. The gungan raised his hand. "Yes, Yossa?"


"Yeah, I have gear that requires special transportation arrangements," Yossa replied in a surly manner.

"Okay. Yes, I shall take care of that. See all of you in a week, if you're still interested." The droid skittered off before anyone could reply.

Everyone returned to their meals, except Baniss, who grabbed his datapad in an effort to find out information about the ship in that berth. Before he got anywhere on his search, six stormtroopers (half of a squad) walked into the bar. All the patrons stared down at their food, trying not to draw attention to themselves lest they face Imperial wrath. After some looking about, one of the stormtroopers pointed to Baniss's table. "They're coming over here, aren't they?" The gungan half-asked, half stated.

"Yep," the odd being at the table with them responded.

In reply, the gungan started eating his stew faster.

The stormtroopers approached. "Are you Baniss Nootka?"

"Yes. Is there a problem officer?"

"Put your hands up and no sudden movements! You're under arrest!"

While complying with their request, he asked, "What's the charge?"

"You know what you did! Hands in the air!"

"No, tell me."

One of the troopers advanced to the edge of the table as his compatriots fanned out to block escape from that corner. As the trooper approached the rodian, she jumped to her feet, jabbering something incoherent. At that moment, the Asp droid activated its fire extinguisher. Over the commotion, a voice was heard, "Subject is resisting arrest send back-up!"

As patrons rushed from their tables toward the lone exit, Nootka replied, "I'm not resisting!"

The gungan started to eat faster. The odd being held her hands in the air.

The rodian drew her weapon and fired, immediately downing the nearest stormtrooper. "Send back-up now! He's resisting!" the trooper captain implored.

"I told you, I'm not resisting!" The rodian fired on another trooper as another advanced on the human that was still sitting at the bar. The inebriated man jumped up, producing a pair of pistols from nowhere, and popped off a couple of stun bolts that missed their mark.

The gungan ate faster. The cloud of fog expanded around the droid, now engulfing a space right next to Nootka.

"Send back-up! We need back-up!"

"I'm not resis... okay, I'm resisting!" Baniss yelled as he drew his blaster and slid into the gas cloud.

The rodian dropped another stormtrooper. The gungan continued eating.

A stormtrooper tackled the unknown human at the bar, slapping a pair of binders on him. Baniss fired on another trooper, hitting his mark but not taking that one out of the fight. As Baniss emerged from the cloud of droid-produced gas, six more stormtroopers burst through the door flipping tables and taking cover. One fired a stun blast at Nootka taking him down for the count. A trooper tackled the rodian as two of them struggled to apply the restraints. Someone shot the droid and he became useless.

The gungan slammed his spoon down onto the table "Done!" and raised his arms in victory. Both he and the strange alien were restrained and ushered into a transport to take them to the station.
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I'll attach the conversation from our stay in the holding cell to the session 2 update. This is long enough already.

Introducing: Bannis Nootka!

My character for this Star Wars d20 campaign is Baniss Nootka.

Baniss is a 20 year old, cowardly Duro pilot. The link has a picture of a Duro that should help you visualize our "hero."
Like most Duro, he grew up on his family's ship, the Glitterspur. Again, like most Duro, his family kicked him off the ship once he came of age. He left on Corellia and has worked as a navigator on a luxury liner, the Baystar, for 2 years. Before the ship's most recent voyage from Corellia to the Imperial capital of Coruscant, the son (Ganner Shran Mors) of the Baystar's owner (Arvid Shran Mors) was hired for another position as a navigator. Conflict arose between the two as Ganner did not like being the low man on the totem pole. Of course, Arvid pulled some strings to remove Baniss. Thus, Baniss is suddenly unemployed and walking around on a planet hostile to non-humans.

Nootka is not the most hardy of characters. As such, his usual response to conflict is sneaking away when no one is looking... or running if they are. If cornered, he will fight and his a good shot with a blaster. I expect his signature phrase in this campaign will be either "Please don't hurt me!" or "Aaaaaaahhh! Run!"