Campaign: Deep-66'd [SW Saga] - Session 5 - Raiders of the Lost Jedi Temple of Doom!

[AstralFire]

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SESSION 1: A New Game (You're Here)
SESSION 2: A Jarring Start
SESSION 3: Steely Dantooine
SESSION 4: Down the Rabid Hole
SESSION 5: Raiders of the Lost Jedi Temple of Doom


Our party so far:

(All images are manipulations and I take no credit for their source images)
Olhama Zanah (http://www.theanteheroes.com/Olhama3Comp.jpg) - 27-year-old Zeltron female. A dropout from the Jedi, she was shunted into the AgriCorps because she had low potential and no telekinetic ability. Went into agriculture science, became a researcher, and being a Zeltron, had a few one-night stands... got pregnant, then Order 66 hit. Her baby's turning out to be Force Sensitive, which has increased her own Force Sensitivity. Very mama bear - protective and loving, cruel as hell to people who try to hurt those she loves. Is still pregnant. That's my character, has some Dark Side points, but is mostly good.
Olhama's Character Sheet (http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/Olhama.pdf)

Jen'Tala Feng (http://www.theanteheroes.com/JenTala.jpg) - 15-year-old human girl, barely a padawan. 12 years ago, Olhama was privileged to meet this very talented Force Sensitive briefly before the older girl went off to the AgriCorps. Raised by the stern but practiced master Carr Veldo, she and her master went on the run for a while after Order 66. Two years ago, he sacrificed himself to get Feng into the last escape pod from a ship assaulted by Imperials. Disciplined (for a kid) and combat-oriented, but has some lingering insecurities from her master's death. She met with Olhama once more a few months ago in a Nar Shadaa backalley; Olhama called upon the Dark Side of the Force to defend herself from a bounty hunter. Since then, she both tries to keep Olhama in the Light and depends on the Zeltron for emotional support.
Jen'Tala's Character Sheet (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=133616)

Tama (http://www.theanteheroes.com/TamaComp.jpg)- An 18-year-old human male drifter, most of his family was killed before his eyes as part of the Clone Wars. Taking refuge with the droids in a local junkyard, he eventually hid as one of them, wearing an arcane metal mask and speaking primarily in Binary. Malnourished and infected badly, he ran into Liliira a few years back; finding him guileless, the runaway took him with her to keep up his health, and have a companion.
Tama's Character Sheet (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=133664)

Liliira (http://www.theanteheroes.com/Liliira.jpg) - 19-year-old human woman. She always dreamed of becoming a doctor as she grew up on Corellia. Gaining an early admission to Med School at the age of 16, her promising career was turned upside down two years later. Most of her family is murdered; her father had been a prominent figure in the underground, and he'd finally upset the wrong person. She becomes quite the little con artist, upgrading from the poor girl act, to outwitting beaus of their money. She doesn't have the talent for out-and-out thievery, instead resorting to charm and intellect. All the while though, she laments a past stolen from her, and spends her nights reading old medical texts. Has a small sadistic streak, and steals organs from corpses of dead enemies to sell.
Liliira's Character Sheet (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=134293)

Rebecca Elysion (http://www.theanteheroes.com/Rebecca2Comp.jpg) - 18-year-old human woman. Was part of the Old Republic's "Shadow Saber" project, a secret program set up by the woman Jedi Master An'ya Kuro. Rebecca was inducted into the program, chosen from the ranks of Younglings at the age of 8, her existence in the Jedi Temple Library removed. Three years into the program, young Rebecca and the rest of her team were doing remarkably well on their first mission, a surgical strike into Separatist territory to remove Ord Jyllan's treasonous governor. After killing or disabling all of the governor's guards, they signaled for extraction - what they got was An'ya Kuro's voice over the comlink telling them they were on their own. Though Rebecca eventually escaped with her life, she bears a grudge against the Dark Woman and many other Jedi Masters for abandoning her team.
Rebecca's Character Sheet (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=135470)

Tavi Kel'barax (http://www.theanteheroes.com/Tavi.jpg) - 34-year-old Bothan female, the youngest daughter of a large and wealthy Bothan house. Free to live her life the way she wanted to, she rejected the usual Bothan ideals of political mastery and influence, growing to crave adrenaline and fighting in her teenage years. Like many of House Kel'barax, when the Clone Wars began she joined the Republic Military; unlike the rest of her family, she chose to do so on the frontlines, learning the art of war. Though initially finding Jedi too pacifistic for her tastes, she changed her tune when she started piloting for one; the Jedi made damn good pilots and gunners once they could stop spewing philosophy. Just as they'd really grown on her - the galaxy was turned upside down. The Republic ended, and the Empire declared Jedi as evil and suddenly, anyone who didn't look like an evolved ape was getting shunned by the new government. Disgusted with the changes but still with a flavor for action, she left the military and decided to strike out as a bounty hunter and smuggler...
Tavi's Character Sheet (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=134785)


A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...

http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/StarWarsDeep66Logo.jpg

SESSION 1: A New Game (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjMNNpIksaI)

ONLY SEVEN YEARS AGO, THE JEDI WERE MERCILESSLY SLAUGHTERED THROUGH A DELIBERATE PLAN CRAFTED BY SUPREME CHANCELLOR PALPATINE. BETRAYED BY THEIR OWN SOLDIERS, THE ATTACK CAME WITHOUT WARNING. SHORTLY AFTER, CHANCELLOR PALPATINE USURPED POWER TO BECOME... EMPEROR PALPATINE.

THE OFFICIAL WORD CLAIMED TREASON ON THE PART OF THE JEDI - AND FOR THEIR CRIMES, THEY WERE KILLED TO A MAN. THE STRANGE JEDI WERE FEARED BY MANY, SO FEW QUESTIONED THE REPORTS. BUT THERE WERE ALWAYS THOSE WHO HAD BEEN SAVED BY THE JEDI. DOUBT REMAINED IN THEIR MINDS.

THIS IS TRUE ESPECIALLY ON THE PEACEFUL PLANET ALDERAAN. A RICH CORE WORLD, POPULATED BY THINKERS. THOUGH BURGEONING WITH PEOPLE, IT IS NOT WITHOUT GREENERY. LIFE STILL LIVES HERE, AND WITH IT A BIT OF HOPE. HERE, THE SPARKS OF REBELLION SHALL BEGIN...

The Session Summary:
We open up on Olhama and Jen'Tala moving through a shopping district in Alderaan, heading for an up-scale restaurant and bistro - the SienSoro Café, a Sullustan venture. After a long time on the run, they'd come into contact with information brokers who had tipped them off to the location of a sympathetic cell within the Republic - sorry, Empire. Their contact was to meet them here - she would be marked with a white flower in her hair.

Upon entering the café, they quickly encounter their contact - Liliira, chatting down a potential victim in her latest money scheme. After the group made contact, the trio immediately began chattering - speaking of maternity and early expectancy, using the chatter as codespeak to cover over their true discussion; Liliira posed as a xenomidwife who could easy the pains Olhama was suffering as she moved into her final few months of pregnancy. After noticing a bartender taking an inordinate amount of interest in the conversation, Liliira orders three expensive drinks and steps away with the two Force Sensitives while the bartender is busy.

They quickly come to the Junkyard - a large scrapheap warehouse on the outlying borders of the area. After trading some stories and information - and watching several parts fall off of a YT-1300 freighter put together entirely out of scrap - the trio reluctantly board the freighter and we are introduced to Tama.

More character bonding was here. (Sorry - first real session and all. :P)

They take the (as yet) unnamed freighter to the other side of Alderaan, a Senatorially protected wildlife refuge, intended to preserve the thousands of unique grasses on the world. In this shockingly zen landscape, marked by occasional cliffs, oddly shaped trees, sweeping fields and hills of green and powerful winds, they come across a small contingent of humanoids - a well-dressed Gungan, a Bothan, two Duros, Four Near-Humans and a Protocol Droid. With half of the contingent heavily armed and in imperial armor, Liliira directs her 'cargo' to the Smuggler's Hold, just in case. As the loading bay opens, there's a few tense moments as both sides are ready to jump, ready to run.

Liliira asks for a price higher than originally agreed to; though the Gungan agrees, the Bothan cuts him off quickly and corrects him - ten thousand credits, not twenty-five thousand. Identity confirmed.


Liliira smiles, and steps forward more, patting the Gungan on the shoulder. "Then you get your Jedi. Just a test." She presses a key on her bracer, activating her comlink. "They're legit, c'mon out. So... What's with the imperial troopers, anyway?"

"Because this is a Imperioral mission." He laughs broadly. "Mesa Senator Binks. And I needs you ta help the Empire find out what -really- happened to da Jedi."

- SESSION END -

Yes, I just used Jar-Jar Binks seriously in a Star Wars RPG.

:)

And yes, I'm both DM and player, at least for the first two sessions. Then my friend will be picking up the torch from me as a dedicated Dungeon Master.

By the way, we're running this on MapTools; I don't know if anyone else has had trouble finding readymade stuff to use on it, but I did. Here's some tokens I made from pre-existing images for characters:

http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/Banger.png http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/Geiro.png http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/JarJar.png http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/JenTala.png

http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/LaborDroid.png http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/Liliira.png http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/Loba.png http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/Matale.png

http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/Olhama.png http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/Rebecca.png http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/SpeedBike.png http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/Tama.png

http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/Tavi.png http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/YT1300.png http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/TaunWe.png http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/Arrow23.png

And here's some I didn't even manipulate, but found online:

http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/Force%20Adept.pnghttp://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/Force%20Adept%202.png

http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/Bandit%20Human.png http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/Bandit%20Quarren.png http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/Bandit%20Wookie.png

http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/Kath%20Hound.png http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/Horned%20Kath%20Hound.png

[ondonaflash]

I read your post in the "Gawdawful DM" post right? You had a few horror stories. I'd like to see where this campaign goes, it sounds neat.

[Kol Korran]

nice read, but a confusing one. there were many points in which i didn't understand why the characters were doing what they were doing. this might have been your intetnion, but it was confusing. at first it thought Olhama and Jen'tala were just going for a meal...

i haven't played the SW saga game, so i might be a bit confused at how are characters added up, but what is exactly the deal with Tama? is he a human masking as a droid? what are his skills? is he your technician or pilot, what exactly?

what is order 66?

a small request pleae: next when you first introduce a race, can you give a small description of it? at least physical, it helps imagining things.

btw, nice the way you used Jar Jar. kudos!

Kol.

P.S. sorry for being such a pain with the questions, i don't know the game, just the movies. seems it will be a great read though.

[Kol Korran]

first of all- a much better read. thanks for that.
secondly- thanks for the "order 66" clarification. it has been an education.

as to the ship, here are some suggestions:
- "clank" or "clanky".

- "baby"/ "mama"/ "big mama" (this could be Tama's idea, inspired by Olhama's pregnancy. he finds it easier to relate to mechanical beings, in this case the ship, instead of living beings. he might call the hsip that enough times until it will grow on you)

- "whatchamacallit"

- "tin bucket"

- "Grumble" (my friends has a car that makes, according to him, grumbling noises. he calls it Grumbley)

- "astral fire" (hey, it's a good name for a ship as well!)

- "aurora" (just sounds nice, noble)

- "Jumpy Jack" (i would realy want to see ships being treated like male personalities for a difference. i always see the opposite)

- "the gorgon, harpy, succubus, lamia, naga, or space hag." just namres of famous feamle monsters. something on the lines of a hag could be awesome!

just my ideas. from yours i like best the junkyard. least the revenant.

[kamikasei]

All ships full of unlikely crews with hidden agendas in sci fi should be called the Lying Bastard. It's a rule.

\/ It's from Ringworld.

Hmmm; the Long Shot?

[AstralFire]

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SESSION 1: A New Game
SESSION 2: A Jarring Start (You're Here)
SESSION 3: Steely Dantooine
SESSION 4: Down the Rabid Hole
SESSION 5: Raiders of the Lost Jedi Temple of Doom



A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...

http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/StarWarsDeep66Logo.jpg

SESSION 2: A Jarring Start (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKnrxx-szj8)

ONLY SEVEN YEARS AGO, THE JEDI WERE MERCILESSLY SLAUGHTERED THROUGH A DELIBERATE PLAN CRAFTED BY SUPREME CHANCELLOR PALPATINE. BETRAYED BY THEIR OWN SOLDIERS, THE ATTACK CAME WITHOUT WARNING. SHORTLY AFTER, CHANCELLOR PALPATINE USURPED POWER TO BECOME... EMPEROR PALPATINE.

THE OFFICIAL WORD CLAIMED TREASON ON THE PART OF THE JEDI - AND FOR THEIR CRIMES, THEY WERE KILLED TO A MAN. THE STRANGE JEDI WERE FEARED BY MANY, SO FEW QUESTIONED THE REPORTS. BUT THERE WERE ALWAYS THOSE WHO HAD BEEN SAVED BY THE JEDI. DOUBT REMAINED IN THEIR MINDS.

THIS IS TRUE ESPECIALLY ON THE PEACEFUL PLANET ALDERAAN. A RICH CORE WORLD, POPULATED BY THINKERS. HERE A SMALL GROUP OF FORCE-SENSITIVES AND ROUGHS HAVE COME TOGETHER TO MEET A GROUP INTENT ON BRINGING THE TRUTH TO THE GALAXY... A GROUP LED BY A FAMILIAR GUNGAN WITH A FAMILIAR SPEECH IMPEDIMENT...

Confused and suspicious, the two Force-Sensitives sit in the smuggler's hold beneath the floor panels of the ship. Though it'd only been a few moment, they were on edge; if they'd been betrayed, it wouldn't matter if Liliira hid them, the ship would be searched and... well... that could be the end of that, right there.

The panel above suddenly shifted, and their hands both went to their sabers - but it was only Tama, assuring them that it was alright to step out. When the group reassembled outside, they found Liliira, Senator Binks, and his Duros guard "Geiro" bartering for more money. Liliira demanded more money, claiming that you got what you paid for; Geiro agreed - they paid little and got a kid spacer and her junk heap friend. All Liliira and Tama were needed for was transportation, the security chief was certain that the two Force-sensitives could handle the footwork themselves. He remembered seeing one Padawan take out an entire squad of battle droids.

Geiro and Liliira stare at each other, neither one willing to back down, when Jen'Tala jumps in to break the tension with a question about what the job is in the first place. Logical...


Geiro: "The job is simple. Senator Binks knew General Skywalker some time ago; not only were the General and the Emperor good friends, Skywalker had a strong bond of trust with his mentor, General Kenobi. We find this whole business of a Jedi rebellion to be suspicious. We think someone is manipulating the Emperor, and we need to get to the bottom of it. We'd like to hear accounts from you and your friend, and then we'd like you to help us get some proof."

Liliira frowns, and then shrugs with a sigh. "What sort of proof do you need?"

Loba: The http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/BothanBothan on the other side of Jar Jar moves forward - the voice is gruff, but female as she smooths out her chops. "Data. Holovids, paper trails, anything. The clonetroopers were the ones who 'heroically' stopped the Jedi - what if they were manipulated somehow? Brainwashed? We've found out that there is a planet not on any starcharts, but it appears to be the first production location of the clonetrooper army. When we investigated personally, the facilities had been shut down. We have two agents located elsewhere tracking down scientists involved with the project one by one. But they could use some help."

Liliira: "Then put us in touch with them, and we'll get you the evidence you need. I only run with two rules. You contact us, you contact us on an encrypted, secure line, and two, you keep your nose outta my business. Otherwise, I'm in." She glances around, and looks at Tama. "How bout you squirt? You game?"

Tama: Tama whistles back in Binary: "I have no complaint."

Jen'Tala: "And that leads to our next question, what will you do when you find out we've been betrayed? I doubt another vote of no confidence will help with the current situation, so I assume you've got another plan...? Not to convince me, as clearing the tarnished name of the order is really in my interest obviously. I just hope this information won't be wasted."

Senator Binks: "We'll bring da proof to da Emperor so he can call off dis crazy thing! Palpy will be boosa happy to find out his old friend didn't go traitor on him!" Jar Jar lowers his voice. "Don't let dis get out, but he not very smart. Only believe what he been told."

Hearing the mission, Jen'Tala agrees Liliira needs more payment - if only to make sure that the spacer won't turn on her. Over Geiro's objections, Senator Binks finds the request reasonable:



Senator Binks: "Dat's enough, Geiro!" Jar-Jar waves a hand in front of the Duro. "She do gotta point. They be needing supplies to help demselves, I am dinkin'."

Liliira: A smirk curls onto her lips.

Geiro: "Senator, with all due resp-"

Senator Binks: "It'll be comin' outta my pocket, Geiro."

Geiro: "That cuts into your food salary which means you'll be pinching food out of my icer for a-"

Loba: "If it'll stop the bickering," Loba sighs, "I'll pay it."


After obtaining coordinates and the names of some people to meet in the search of truth, the party sets off. Jen'Tala having been the person who got the party an extra ten thousand credits, she rises a bit in their estimations, and Liliira offers her a compliment. As they take off, Geiro asks Jar Jar if they should let their friend Grand Moff Tarkin (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Wilhuff_Tarkin) know... to which Jar Jar replies no. Not yet. Wilhuff gives him a bad feeling...

(Next section is spoilered because it's not plot relevant and is just so people get to know one another.)

Entering hyperspace, the two Force Sensitives begin practicing with one another in saber combat - Olhama is much less light on her feet and considerably more rusty as Jen'Tala easily bats away the older woman's attacks, until with a frustrated heave she puts all of her aggression behind the slice... missing and running straight into a chair, which she cuts in half. Getting rather frustrated with herself, Olhama shuts off her saber as Jen'Tala preaches to her about patience; meanwhile, Liliira and Tama are sipping a cocktail of Liliira's own invention, the 'Wet Cat' (Actually had a more risque name!) and mourning the loss of their chair. After Jen"Tala resumes meditation and Olhama storms off to her quarters, Tama cradles the fallen chair into his arms and tries to do what he can to repair it.

Last session, Olhama had mentioned being unable to drink during pregnancy unlike most Zeltrons; one of her redundant livers had gone missing during her time on the run. Liliira was curious about this, given the commonplace existence of flashcloned organs. Turns out, picking Nar Shaddaa as a place to hide when she had no friends there had its draw backs, and well... one morning, Olhama woke up in a Cryo-shot bin with a cut in her abdomen.

Afterwards, Jen'Tala reflects on the comforts of closeness - noting that Liliira and Tama are rather close, she asks Liliira how close - something which the older girl shrugs off. Tama is too interested in droids for that sort of thing.

After a three day transit to Dantooine, the party makes landing at the nearly abandoned Matale Airport. Airport, yes, because the place is so rarely used for exoatmospheric ships. (Also, almost no one is strapped in when the ship begins atmospheric re-entry - including poor Olhama, who's vomiting while experiencing morning sickness. It was a bumpy ride for everyone but the pilot, Tama...) There, they meet their contacts - Tavi Kel'barax (a female Bothan in armor in her 30s) and Rebecca Elysion (a female human in her late teens, wearing a loose white nylon bodysuit and a black jacket) - who have been waiting for them. The mission is to hunt down an alien woman, who they only know by the name of Taun We - they have no pictures, and the only instruction of her appearance that they are given is that she looks nothing like any other alien they have ever encountered. Last seen a hundred kilos from the airport, the party has nothing else to go on. Rebecca and Tavi have had little success, and now they can't search with the party, because Tavi's speeder only holds two.

(All the while, Tama has found an old labor droid thousands of years old and has begun tinkering on it, before taking it onto the ship for later work.)

After some discussion of how fuel inefficient the ship - now named the Junkyard - is in subatmospheric flight, it's agreed to take it on a short hop to the residence of the local human landowners, the Matale family, and ask to borrow a speeder. While most of the party does that, Tavi and Liliira slip off in Tavi's two seater speeder, to try and steal one if diplomacy doesn't work - a plan the two force-sensitives and Rebecca don't approve of, but they can't really stop them. Hopping over to the estate, they find it highly secure and incredibly high-tech.

When the Junkyard lands, they attract the attention of a handsome, aristocratic 20-something by the name of Jerrax Matale; heavily armed, he rushes outside to, the party presumes, "yell at them for landing on his lawn Jawas."

But not so; his little brother sideswiped him in the field and stole his speeder, leaving Jerrax and his heavily pregnant wife with little ability to maintain the farm. The little brother ran off to join the local raiders, bored with farm life. Giving the party the memcard with the data to track the speeder, he offers to pay them well for the assistance, but refuses to loan them his speeder if they recover it; he needs it to run the farm.

And then one of the party members disappeared and it was 6 AM for another, so... SESSION END. And my last session as primary DM, though I'll be assisting my friend with story elements.

EDIT: Random note - at one point, Liliira attempts to contact Jar Jar through the private comline address he'd given them, to make sure it works.


"You be reaching the office of Senior Senator from Naboo, Jar Jar Binks! Yousa opinion is very important to me, but I can't be coming to the com right now, and dis is a private line so I don't have any aides! But, if yousa leave a message, I'll be gettin' right back to you boosa fast! Vote Binks '24!"

[Kol Korran]

sounds nice, though you stopped in a very confusing place. who disappeared exactly? and what are your plans- after the missing noble with the raiders, or Taun-We?

i'd be worried that you change DMs so fast. in my campaigns things built over a few sessions, and continuity is importent. it's a bit hard to do that while replacing DMs, before even a minor story arch is completed. would be an interesting experiment.

loved the part with Jar Jar's voicebox. "vote Binks 24"... cool!

Kol

[AstralFire]

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SESSION 1: A New Game
SESSION 2: A Jarring Start
SESSION 3: Steely Dantooine (You're Here)
SESSION 4: Down the Rabid Hole
SESSION 5: Raiders of the Lost Jedi Temple of Doom



A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...

http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/StarWarsDeep66Logo.jpg

SESSION 3: Steely Dantooine (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvsNz0xJ9K0)


SEVEN YEARS AGO, THE JEDI WERE SLAUGHTERED THROUGH A DELIBERATE PLAN CRAFTED BY THE SECRET SITH LORD DARTH SIDIOUS, SOON TO BECOME EMPEROR PALPATINE. HIS TRUE IDENTITY UNKNOWN TO ALL, HE CLAIMED TREASON ON THE PART OF THE JEDI. THE STRANGE MONKS WERE FEARED BY MANY, SO FEW QUESTIONED THE REPORTS.

BUT THERE WERE ALWAYS THOSE WHO HAD KNOWN THE JEDI. DOUBT REMAINED IN THEIR MINDS. A GROUP HAS FORMED INTENT ON BRINGING THE TRUTH TO THE GALAXY, LED BY NONE OTHER THAN SENATOR JAR JAR BINKS, WHO HAS CHARGED OUR HEROES WITH DISCOVERING THE REAL REASON THE JEDI WERE KILLED.

WE MOVE TO THE ISOLATED PLANET DANTOOINE, WHERE THE SMALL SQUAD IS IN THE PROCESS OF TRACKING DOWN A CLONE WARS SCIENTIST - TAUN WE - IN HOPES THAT PERHAPS SHE CAN PROVIDE SOME ANSWERS ABOUT THE TROOPS WHO MURDERED THE JEDI. BUT FIRST, THEY MUST CONTEND WITH LOCAL ISSUES...

Tokens introduced this game:
http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/Arrow23.png http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/Bandit%20Human.png http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/Bandit%20Quarren.png http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/Bandit%20Wookie.png

http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/Horned%20Kath%20Hound.png http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/Kath%20Hound.png http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/Security%20Droid.png http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/TaunWe.png

As we open back on our heroes, they're still at the Matale residence, discussing their next move. Jerrax Matale is the only one running this farm at the moment; feeling pity for him, Olhama suggests leaving Tavi's speeder bike here for him. But she's not entirely without an ulterior motive; having looked at the mansion and the man's state of dress, she guessed his own speeder would be far more valuable to the party; hopefully, after they rescued his brother, they could leave Tavi's two-seat speeder bike and take a luxury commercial speeder away.

Ultimately, however, Liliira doesn't trust the man; he lives on an extremely lavish and well-equipped estate and only has the one speeder? Further, Tavi vetoes giving up her speeder, and Rebecca's uneasy with the idea of helping someone with their family troubles while the party's on a mission. Unwilling to go against the group strongly here, Olhama takes the data that Jerrax had given her on tracking the Matale speeder and hands it to Tama. The wonderboy powers up the Junkyard and they set off.

Rebecca grumbles the whole way; this man should learn to solve his own problems, and Tavi agrees. The credit reward he offered was not actually effort; he was just trying to make a problem go away. There was conflict here as Jen'Tala tried to speak of the Jedi code, only to be drowned out by the two mercenaries. Tavi agrees that finding the missing Matale is their best option, as the raiders likely have other speeders to steal; but she too couldn't care less about the Matale family's predicament. Irritated, Jen'Tala retreats to the cargo hold in order to meditate and reflect on their situation.


Rebecca: Becca made her way up to the 'common' area, slimping herself down in a seat, her arms still crossed over her chest as she seemed to brood.

Jen'Tala: Jen'Tala follows the other force-user and takes a seat beside her. She examines Rebecca cautiously, "Take a deep breath. Let out the feelings that poison you."

Rebecca: Rebecca snorts dismissively. "Don't you push that Jedi crap on me... I still don't think we oughta help that guy when he can help himself..."

At the front of the cockpit, Tama and Olhama are talking; the woman tries to get to know the shy boy a little bit better, and he finds her constantly off-putting, especially when she starts to fiddle with the cockpit as though she were manhandling farm equipment back on Reytha (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Reytha), where she did her tour with AgriCorps. Alarmed, he slaps her hand away and has his pit droid, Banger, handle the work.


Olhama: "I used to work in the Jedi AgriCorps way back when. Reytha grows about 10% of the galactic food supply, so many of the... less talented ones go there to make sure things are running smoothly."

Tama: "Food capsules grow...?" :cocking his head curiously:

Olhama: "Well, they don't exactly grow on tr... er... wait." She pauses a moment. "...They're not just made out of thin air."

Tama: "I thought food capsules were made in factories..."

While doing the scans, Tama locates an anomalous energy field, consistent with that of a generator. Liliira picks that time to walk into the cockpit, and immediately realizes what that second field must mean - it's where their quarry, the alien scientist Taun We, must be. Olhama disagrees, fearing that it's the raider base camp, given that the Matale speeder's signal is immediately adjacent. Either way, the party agrees that their first course should be to grab the Matale speeder and Horace Matale. When they attempt to open up comm frequencies, the speeder immediately closes its channels and steps on the gas.

Thus, the Junkyard enters into hot pursuit of the speeder. Tama moves back to the gunner pods (leaving a panicked Olhama for a few moments who doesn't realize that Tama's droid has the capacity to pilot the plane) to fire warning shots at the retreating farmboy. Unfortunately, Horace is such a terrible pilot that he nearly drives straight into a volley of shots, forcing Tama to cut it off.

Tavi jumps into the main pilot's seat and springs to action, shoving aside Banger. For a little while the Junkyard continues the chase, but it doesn't work; the entire region is flat grassland, and there's nothing to force a stop. Olhama suggests swooping down sharply in front of the speeder, while Tama ignites the entire rear area with laser fire - a dangerous maneuver, but one Tavi's excellent piloting manages, and Horace's speeder spins to a stop as he overtaxes its repulsor brakes.

Panicked, the runaway hops out of the top and tries to... run away, but Jen'Tala leaps out of the cargo bay doors and slams shackles on the boy as he begins to blubber and bluster about how his brother has failed the people of Dantooine by not giving back to them. Liliira and Olhama saunter up next and begin a Bad Cop, Good Cop routine, with Liliira screaming into his ear while Olhama tries to mother him, to get him to spill his story. Jen'Tala, feeling a bit useless in their double-team, heads back to the ship to meditate. (Liliira also makes sure to police a few spare credit chips from the speeder.)

As this is going on, Tavi and Tama are having an... interesting side conversation.

Tavi: Does she think if she lets him feel her up, he'll help us willingly? I mean... good strategy, really. but I wouldn't have thought that of Jedi." she mumbles while watching from the cockpit. [Editor's note: NO, she was being matronly. SHEESH.]

Tama: Tama looks back to Tavi, not understanding the insinuation

Tavi: "She does have a nice pair of knockers though, doesn't she?" she winks to Tama, nodding towards Olhama again. "You're quite the lucky kid to be surrounded by a host of sexy girls."

Tama: The masked boy's head ***** curiously, as he tweets back in binary, *...I don't understand.*

Tama: *What are knockers...? Like on a tumbler system..?*

Tavi: The Bothan raises one, furry eyebrow and then shakes her head a little. "To hear that question from someone in your circumstances is almost frightening. No... I meant her... whatever you call the things this Jedi chick has on her chest."

Tama: He looks to Olhama through the cockpit, asking back, *I thought that was a dress...*

Tavi: "Well....you'd be surprised when she takes off the dress that the parts remain." she grins idly, muzzle baring her fangs for a moment. "You never sneaked a peak while the girls were showering or something?"

Tama: Shakes his head in confusion: *Why would their maintenance processes be of interest to me...?*

Tavi discovers that Rebecca was knocked unconscious during the ship's sharp maneuvers, and attends to her friend; luckily, there are no major injuries, though before the nature of the wound is discovered, the on-board crew fear a saboteur is on board.

Outside, the good cop/bad cop routine doesn't work, he just keeps blabbering. As Olhama holds him close, she signals to Liliira to get out the sedatives; shortly after, the boy is limp and and unresponsive. The younger girl asks Olhama to help carry him, but the Zeltron sees a good opportunity to practice her Force powers. She strains to erratically lift and push the boy into the main entrance of the Junkyard, eventually fainting from the strain; here we see her powers are very weak when she's not calling on the Dark Side. She blames it on her morning sickness, however.

Liliira suspects something odd on board and begins a biological and psychological scan of the boy - her hunch is correct. There are mind-altering spices present in his system, and likely not the recreational kind. Anymore than that, she cannot discover; the spices are designed to denature upon being exposed to scanning.

(Also, there is an amusing section where Olhama gets the nickname "Knockers" [Ed Note: x_x], Tavi becomes "Fuzzbucket", Rebecca is "Headcase" and Jen'Tala is "Tomato." Tama was already "Squirt." Somehow, Liliira escapes unscathed.)

Concerned, the party flies back to the Matale mansion with the speeder slaved to follow below (and en route, Olhama has a confidence boosting talk with the upset Jen'Tala - reminding the young girl that she is a Jedi Knight and has done a lot to help the older woman - so ignore those mean old mercs). They have the boy, but they have questions, too. First comes the reward money, though - and when Rebecca demands it, Jerrax admits that he can't deliver. The Imperial tariffs have wrecked his family's exporting for the last several years, and they've been living almost purely off of surplus funds from bygone heydays. Rebecca's not happy, but Liliira's even more curious now. After explaining Horace's unusual state, Liliira demands to know if Jerrax is a spice smuggler - there's no way he can afford this estate otherwise on a backwater planet.

Jerrax claims innocence, the Matale estate having been claimed for thousands upon thousands of years. (You may remember them from Knights of the Old Republic.) But Liliira keeps pressing, reminding him of the heavy armament on both the YT-1300 parked outside and the fact that she's traveling in the company of soldiers and Jedi alike.


Jerrax crumbles under the threat. "I... I'm not really growing anything out of the ordinary, but there's something that's broken into my storage and has taken almost everything there. I don't know what it is or where it goes, but about three nights ago, the alarms on my storage went off. We didn't think anything of it - Kath hounds sometimes set them off when they're nosing around at night, but the next morning, Harold and I went down to look but everything had been taken."

Olhama immediately suspects the missing cloner is involved; a drug that denatures when examined? It has to be the work of a master geneticist. In the background, Jen'Tala and Rebecca continue to glower at each other over some unexplained enmity while Liliira sets out a new deal with Matale - they'll get back the stolen supplies, Matale will use them to pay back the party, and will use his droids to restock and repair their equipment and ship. With no other choice in sight, Jerrax Matale agrees.

With his blessing, the party heads into the underground storehouse where the Matales had been raided. Staring at her sensory array, Olhama finds... absolutely no chemicals of interest, probably broken down ages ago. The other five are a bit more observant... and notice a gigantic hole in the wall of the storeroom, leading down into a network of caves. More than that, it happens to lead in the direction of the earlier power anomaly.

Though the party wonders how in the HELL Jerrax and Harold missed a giant gaping hole in the wall, it enters. Time to investigate.

SESSION END (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQtQUedddio&feature=related)

Hope you enjoyed the read, and hope you like the new title picture

[Hyooz]

Nice logo. I wish more people would do session recaps. These are fun.

[Colmarr]

Steely Dantooine

Oh no you didn't! :smallbiggrin:

[AstralFire]

I didn't have anything better to put. No idea what to name the next one, but I have all week to do it. :3 Enjoy the read?

[Colmarr]

Enjoy the read?

To be honest, I haven't read it yet (I'm at work). Scanned the thread just long enough to wolf-whistle at all the anime-portraits and notice the atrocious/awesome pun.

Will take a look later, I promise.

[AstralFire]

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SESSION 1: A New Game
SESSION 2: A Jarring Start
SESSION 3: Steely Dantooine
SESSION 4: Down the Rabid Hole (You're Here)
SESSION 5: Raiders of the Lost Jedi Temple of Doom (You're Here!)



A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...

http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/StarWarsDeep66Logo.jpg

SESSION 4: Down the Rabid Hole (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2s2vXDcOGo)


SEVEN YEARS AGO, THE JEDI WERE SLAUGHTERED THROUGH A DELIBERATE PLAN CRAFTED BY THE SECRET SITH LORD DARTH SIDIOUS, SOON TO BECOME EMPEROR PALPATINE. HIS TRUE IDENTITY UNKNOWN TO ALL, HE CLAIMED TREASON ON THE PART OF THE JEDI. THE STRANGE MONKS WERE FEARED BY MANY, SO FEW QUESTIONED THE REPORTS.

BUT THERE WERE ALWAYS THOSE WHO HAD KNOWN THE JEDI. DOUBT REMAINED IN THEIR MINDS. SENATOR JAR JAR BINKS HAS CHARGED OUR HEROES WITH THE DUTY OF DISCOVERING THE REAL REASON THE JEDI WERE KILLED. THEIR FIRST STOP... DANTOOINE.

HERE IS WHERE THE CLONE SCIENTIST TAUN WE WAS LAST SEEN. AFTER DISCOVERING AN UNUSUAL HALLUCINOGEN IN A LOCAL MAN'S BLOOD, THE SQUAD BEGAN AN INVESTIGATION OF HIS FARM - AND FOUND A SUSPICIOUS UNDERGROUND TUNNEL. DO ANSWERS LIE IN WAIT FOR THEM, OR MERELY DEATH?

Tokens introduced this game:
None.

Our party slowly begins a careful exploration of the granite-shorn cave, Jen'Tala and Rebecca taking the lead to sense around with the Force.

Wild Kath Hound appeared! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7Iy8H7cWNk&feature=channel_page)

Tavi fires upon the first one that she sees, hoping to eliminate it before anything else can happen. Though she hits it square, the beast roars angrily, and along with its friends, begins to barrel down the tunnel. Before anyone knows what's happening, Rebecca's disappeared from sight and an entire pack, led by a Horned Kath Hound, comes rushing down the tunnel.

Battle ensues, with Liliira and Tavi firing head shots as Jen'Tala and Rebecca leap into the fray. Panicking at the disappearance of Becca and feeling protective of Tama, Olhama rushes forward and draws on the Dark Side of the Force, then pulses a powerful wave of Force Energy into the pack, utterly destroying two hounds. (We have GOT to alter how UtF works, too much damage from Force Powers at low levels.)

No incidents, the pack goes down. Arguing, however, breaks into the group - Tavi angry at the three Force-Users rushing ahead and against her orders, while Olhama snarls back.


Olhama: Her voice is still curt as she recoils from the Dark Side burst, but her eyes are more normal now, though nothing can hide the burst blood vessels. "That was the farthest I could be and still do something. Would you rather I have sat back and do nothing?"

Tavi: The Bothan just smirks and shakes her head. "Yeah. I would rather you stay where you are and let them come to us. That's what I frikkin said!" snapping her head around, she moves forward again then. "But we can discuss this on the ship or not at all, more likely."

Liliira: She shrugs. "I've got to say, that was amazing." She gives a soft sigh, and moves closer to Olhama, canting her head. "Are you hurt?"

Olhama: She spreads her arms and turns to look at Tavi. "We're standing, they're not. Jennie didn't even get a scratch." She turns to smile at Liliira. "I'm fine, sweetness, just a little light headed."

Jen'Tala: She thinks a bit and then decides to speak in her quoting tone, "Patience is a Jedi's most priced virtue, though one should always be mindful that your allies would be able to turn your miscalculations into a winning situation. As no one got hurt, I feel we can say this worked well enough."

Tavi: Ignoring Olhama, the ex-soldier moves forward again, Rifle held casually, but at the ready. Subtle signs of her body though would betray her anger to those who knew her, or Bothans in general. "And using that as an excuse is what gets soldiers killed on the battlefield." she growls softly as she moves onwards through the tunnel.

A chill settles through the tunnels, and Olhama draws the two youngest next to her - though Tama freaks out and runs away. Becca, who's been scouting ahead, sends an angry signal for silence - she found something. Watching Becca and Olhama, all Liliira can do is comment dryly to Tama on a Jedi's temper, "I'm wondering if there's any coverup at all, with the way these act."

Voices come down the tunnel.

A wild Quarren and three humans appear! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sm6Wy04Yaj0&feature=related)

Tavi leaps around the corner and sets her rifle to AutoFire, raining plasma on them, no questions asked - the humanoids manage to duck and run behind cover, most of her shots scattering onto rock. Return fire is heavy, despite them only wielding blasters - they're deadly aims, and one manages to place one right in her gut.

Jen'Tala and Rebecca advance once more to defend as Liliira injects adrenaline into the fallen Bothan. Tavi jumps back to her feet and sprints forward - the strangers advance, exposing themselves to heavy rifle fire that knocks them off their feet as Becca strikes from the shadows, barely missing the nearest one.

Jen'Tala yanks one man near her with the Force, but he manages to rebound off of the cave wall, narrowly dodging her lightsaber; in the rear Rebecca's target narrowly avoids her arcing green and blue blades. Though Tavi's been hurt, Olhama's ire hasn't been raised yet - Tavi's a professional soldier and Jen'Tala is a Jedi - so she's more curious about who they're fighting than fighting them just yet. Focusing on the nearest man for answers, she gets a vision of... robots.

The fighting continues, with lots of missed shots on each side; Tavi offers them a chance to surrender, but it's ignored, and a shot hurls into Rebecca's arm, burning a hole through the flesh - something she powers through, scissoring a Quarren between her blades and removing his tentacles.

Liliira finally has enough and pulls a classic move - Thermal Detonator with a Persuasion check - back off (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpX2du-_8BY).
"BACK DOWN, unless you want to be this cave's new paint job. Back. Down."

That's a natural 20 on your diplomacy check.

The group ties up the men, finding them to be members of the Dantooine Liberation Front, a group trying to bring equity from the 'corrupt' landowners like the Matale family. Rebecca shrugs off her wounds as Liliira attempts to tend to them, in an almost robotic, war-like state, focused on mission completion. After they've been questioned thoroughly, Olhama pulls Tavi, Jen'Tala and Becca off to the side - Olhama is angry. The group just fired on men for no apparent reason, not even trying to figure out if they were the hostile type or not. Rebecca wants to kill them so they can't stab the party in the back. And when Tavi snaps at Olhama, Olhama snaps right back -


Olhama: Olhama lowers her voice, "I'm fine with cutting them loose, considering that as far as I can tell, we just blasted our way through the first group of humanoids we saw for no other reason than that they were there. Did you try and scout them out at all to see what they were like?"

Tavi: "Do you walk into the next best group of people with weapons in a hostile environment to talk? Well yeah...you would. Tell you what Miss Big Shot. From now on, you lead the group and Becca and me will stay in the back."

Rebecca: She was as similarly short with Ohlama, her voice low as she stood before her, "They were a mission hazard and should be dealt with." she glanced over her shoulder, definitely in a 'business' mode Tavi would be used to, but could catch the others unaware in contrast to her sweet niceness on the ship (except towards Jen) "You should kill them whilst I scout down the northern passageway..."

Olhama: "I'll tell you what I'd do, I'd watch them to try and gauge some level of their intention. You were the one who ran straight around a corner into combined weapons fire, so... don't talk to me about walking into a group with weapons."

Tavi: She smiled brightly. "I took what I can take. Next time, you can be the buffer sweetums." Shouldering her rifle, the Bothan gestures towards the continuing tunnels.

Jen'Tala: Jen makes wide eyed at the notion of killing them, "We don't need to kill them, we can let them go instead."

Olhama: "Oh? Can I?"

Olhama: "Here's an idea, it's one of yours. We see that they're coming, and wait for them to turn the corner with weapons drawn. Not run head on 3 on 1. A kath hound can't shoot plasma."

Tavi: "I'm waiting for you to take the lead lady. Don't start lecturing me on warfare tactics. It might make for unpleasant times."

Olhama: "I won't start lecturing you. I'll just remind you that the only ones who got hurt here were you two, following your tactics that you've been lecturing us about."

Liliira: The human female sighs, shaking her head. "Look, these aren't innocent bystanders, but they don't deserve to die. How do we know they aren't under the effects of the same drug that the boy was? I think we can use their help...we're both after the same thing, and we shot first."

Tama: Shaking his head, Tama looks to the Bandits, typing into his computer, to speak in basic for him once more. *Designation: Scumbags, you may return down the tunnel we followed here. It leads directly to an exit. Do not approach the ship outside, or it will open fire, and do not return to this cavern, or we will be forced to kill you. However, if you leave us a commcode to contact you by, we will contact you in the event that we find your transports and negotiate a fair return price. Thank, Designation: Scumbags.*

Tavi: Tavi steps in front of Olhama, even with her diminutive size seeming to be a little larger than she seemed to be. " We are here to draw fire away from you. Every action I took back there was designed to do just that. We get hurt, that's what happens in war. It does not make a difference. Now, you want to do it your way. Then we will. You can keep to your own version of how things should be done. But do not expect help from me."

Eyes narrow a little further. "I'll complete this mission, but after we're out of here, consider our agreement terminated."

Olhama: "So, you really think we ought to just SHOOT every single person we see down here? Is that your brilliant tactical plan? Is that what they teach soldiers these days?" Olhama's voice echoes down the cavern angrily.

Tavi: "No...only those with weapons at the ready in hostile territory." she replies, without shouting. "But I also remember the kind of Jedi who tossed about Lightning from before they turned traitor."

Olhama: "You might know tactics, but firing on every sapient that's so much as holding a stick isn't what I call a good way to run anything. Don't you lecture me about Jedi who shoot lightning when you act like that."

Tavi: "I know what it does to you. So I will NOT take a lecture from someone like-"

Olhama: "I'll take every blaster bolt that comes my way if it means I'm not shooting someone down for no good damn reason!" Olhama shrugs off Jen'Tala's hand.

Liliira: "Shut up! Alright? Shut up! You're both acting like...like children! No wonder I was hired to babysit you." She says fiercely at Olhama, then turning upon Tavi. "And you. You're not terminating anything, understand? From now on, we don't fire first, we try to win our battle with words, and -then- start shooting."

Tavi: "We covered this already. You're in the lead. After this, we split. I'm not going to jeopardize our safety for some highstrung ideal of yours."

Olhama: "This mission doesn't mean squat to me if I have to act like a Sith to do it."

Eventually, Tama and Liliira let the men go, procuring an agreement from them to leave the tunnels, and the party moves on, Olhama taking on lead of the group as promised, though Becca stays farther ahead to continue to scout. Large droids stand in the distance down another tunnel - and when Tama tries to slice in...


The screen displays "Welcome to the Jedi Enclave intranet. Official use only. All other access will be logged. Error, current news could not be displayed." Quickly breaking past the protocols, you notice that the droids have spotted both you and Rebecca, and their behavior cores are in "WAIT_GREET_JEDI" state. No determine hostility instructions appear to be waiting in their control queues.

They procure some information from the droids - seems they've been running continuously in the now sunken enclave for thousands of years. Their software is broken so that they refuse any attempts at repair, but otherwise function. Tama makes a guess using the procured map at where the location of the energy field disturbance seen earlier could be...

And hits the jackpot. The Kaminoan Taun We. Located there for three months, she's begun work on Force Sensitive clones here in the enclaves, forged from the genetic template of General Anakin Skywalker. So far all attempts have been fruitless, but she maintains hope... there's a batch of twenty-seven being cooked as the party speaks.

When they interrogate her about the Clone Troopers' training regimen, she doesn't recall any oddities at first - but as the questions continue, she does remember something odd... despite the absence of Sith from the galaxy, Orders 62 to 66 pertained with the identification and elimination of Sith, who were oddly very similar to Jedi in the manner they were described. And moreover, there were holes in this programming that allowed for flex room in descriptions which could only come from the Senatorial level or higher.

The thick. It plottens.

The Kaminoans give the group the information on finding her planet... but before the group leaves, Tavi and Tama just have to know more about where she got her supplies, and what she's going to do with potentially 27 cloned Jedi Knights.

- SESSION END -

The party leveled up! We are now level 6! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vk8MaVo5VpI&feature=related)

[Colmarr]

An intriguing plot, with lots of great fine detail. I especially like how you/the DM are weaving core NPCs (Jar Jar, Anakin Skywalker and Tarkin) into the plot without great risk of upsetting Star Wars canon. That's no mean feat.

It's recaps like these that convince me I couldn't GM a sci-fi game; my mind is simply too unfamiliar with the techno-stuff that star wars games are made of. Any attempt would simply be D&D-in-space.

Having said that, I am curious to note how much in-character exposition you've had already (the conversation about knockers is a great example). At the risk of sounding chauvinistic, what's your mix of male gamers to female gamers? I'm in an all-male group at the moment (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=104388), and intra-party socialising is pretty rare.

How much of this is being "acted out" live (I believe you mentioned IM in the godawful DM thread)? I'm curious because most of our best roleplaying occurs in written form - some of us are good(ish) writers but none are good actors.

PS. It's good to know that something good (this group and campaign) came from that experience.

PPS. I'll be impressed if you can keep those pun-tastic session titles going for much longer...

[AstralFire]

An intriguing plot, with lots of great fine detail. I especially like how you/the DM are weaving core NPCs (Jar Jar, Anakin Skywalker and Tarkin) into the plot without great risk of upsetting Star Wars canon. That's no mean feat.

Taun We's also a pre-existing character from the movies, albeit a minor one. And thanks. We're both big fans of Star Wars, even if we haven't read as much EU as we'd like to.


It's recaps like these that convince me I couldn't GM a sci-fi game; my mind is simply too unfamiliar with the techno-stuff that star wars games are made of. Any attempt would simply be D&D-in-space.

A lot of it really is D&D in space so far, honestly. I mean, remember in Episode 4 that Uncle Owen describes Obi-Wan as a wizard. Star Wars only looks more like sci-fi and less like sci-fantasy the more time you spend on Coruscant, Corellia and the other ecumenopoli (planet cities).


Having said that, I am curious to note how much in-character exposition you've had already (the conversation about knockers is a great example). At the risk of sounding chauvinistic, what's your mix of male gamers to female gamers? I'm in an all-male group at the moment (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=104388), and intra-party socialising is pretty rare.

It's something of an unusual mix, actually. We have five girls (including the DM), and two guys, and everyone talks up a lot.


How much of this is being "acted out" live (I believe you mentioned IM in the godawful DM thread)? I'm curious because most of our best roleplaying occurs in written form - some of us are good(ish) writers but none are good actors.

Purely text, via the MapTool program. One person is in Germany, one is in Britain, one is in Sweden, two are in California and I'm on the East Coast.


PS. It's good to know that something good (this group and campaign) came from that experience.

Yeah. I think we picked up a lot of group cohesion from 'wtf is this DM doing' back then, so on the whole, that was a good thing. The Force willed it! :smallyuk:


PPS. I'll be impressed if you can keep those pun-tastic session titles going for much longer...

Going to push it as long as I can! Down the Rabid Hole was pure last minute thinking here, too. :D


---

Currently working on some houserules below, would love some feedback.
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=117434

[Kiero]

Nice logo. I wish more people would do session recaps. These are fun.

I did one in full (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=104952) (mechanics and narrative). Didn't get a single reply, most likely because not being D20 it lasted about ten minutes on the front page.

To the OP, could we see the PCs sheets? I always find that brings things into focus when we can see mechanics and story interact.

[AstralFire]

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SESSION 1: A New Game
SESSION 2: A Jarring Start
SESSION 3: Steely Dantooine
SESSION 4: Down the Rabid Hole
SESSION 5: Raiders of the Lost Jedi Temple of Doom (You're Here)



A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...

http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/StarWarsDeep66Logo.jpg

SESSION 5: Raiders of the Lost Jedi Temple of Doom (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVNNhBtBbOs)
(The first session not using SW music for the crawl!)


Seven years ago, the Jedi were slaughtered by the Clone Troopers they had commissioned, leaving only a handful of survivors across the galaxy. They were framed as spies, traitors, and villains, and bounties were placed upon the remnant. The strange monks were known by few; and most did not question these reports.

But a few did, assembling a Jedi Padawan, four spacers and a mercenary to investigate what they could. This ragtag group tracked the paper trail to DANTOOINE, where they found the Clone Scientist TAUN WE, hiding in the ruins of an ancient JEDI ENCLAVE. And following a series of strange local events, they have many questions to ask the Kaminoan.

These long dead halls quietly scream death in their minds. Even with the first piece of the puzzle solved, many questions remain. It was obvious now that the Anti-Sith programming in the Clone Troopers had been turned against the Jedi - but who gave the order? And who put the instructions in there in the first place?

Tokens introduced this game (Spoilers!):
http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/PowerDroid.png http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/B4-DA4SToken.png http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/Holocron.png http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/VisasHolo.png
http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/B4Holo.png

Portrait:
http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/B4-DA4SPort.jpg

As we return to our heroes, we find them still questioning Taun We; pushing her about the drugs and stolen farm food, she reveals that it's one of the many drugs used to make new clones docile and servile early in their training. She used it to train the local kath hounds to bring her biomass. Due to how it metabolizes in kath hounds, if anyone killed and ate a kath hound's gizzard, it might cause a temporary psychosis. The drug denatures when exposed to specific frequencies of ultraviolet-A light used in standard biomedical scanners; this was by design so that the drug could be easily removed from clones who were beyond that step of the process.

Jen'Tala and Olhama continue to push the Kaminoan about her responsibilities to the local farmers - the kath hounds stole food from the Matale estate. Though Taun We is not without sympathy, she's without the means to pay, and offers to aid them many times over once the Clone Jedi program is successful. A strange sort, Taun We views the clones as her 'children', and is choosy about who gets the privilege to buy them. Notwithstanding this, however, Jen'Tala and Tama are rather uneasy about the idea of Jedi Clones. Tama notes that Jedi are now hated and hunted through the galaxy, and it's the responsibility of any creator to tend for its creations.

After a while of this philosophical waxing, Tavi and Rebecca go from tired of waiting to more tired; they point out that there's nothing more that can really be resolved at the moment, and that it's just a time waster at this point. Reluctantly, Olhama and Jen'Tala agree and the group begins to move on.

But as they make to leave, hundreds of rusty gears whirr behind them; the Jedi Enclave protocol droids have massed nearby, leaving the group on edge. A hologram of a protocol droid appears, and introduces itself as B4-DA4S. His internal calendar lists the year as 'negative 47 Alpha'; due to memory buffer overflow and signing errors, all he can surmise is that it has been approximately a multiple of a thousand years since he was activated, and it's been a very long time since the last Jedi he had. Built to serve them, the droid's become quite lonely as the caretaker of the last few Jedi treasures in the Enclave's ruins.

Intrigued by the prospect of wealth, Tavi and Rebecca don't raise their usual objections to a detour, and begin to probe deeper into the facility. Early on, the group finds a gigantic hole blocking a narrow passageway - and on the other side, a pack of Kath Hounds. One of the nearby Enclave Droids explains that the caverns below are home to Kinrathi, crystal spiders, savage predators that outclass the Kath Hounds. Seeing a chance to kill two hounds with one stone, Olhama and Jen'Tala use their Force Powers to send some of the pack hurling into the dark below; all that can be heard are animalistic screams, and the rest of the pack flees.

The group makes to cross, and most of the trip is uneventful - but the weak ledge finally gives way as Tavi and Jen'Tala stand upon it, leaving the two dangling over the maw of a hungry Kinrath, clinging to syntherope.

BGM (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRMwJe7kbvk)
They scramble to get back up as the spider begins to tug and toy with the line, shaking them; though Tavi manages to hold on well despite the interruption, Jen'Tala slips and nearly knocks them both down. Feeling as though she's a liability, the Jedi leaps down and slices the syntherope in two on her way, breaking the giant spider's hold.

Tavi scrambles back up with the aid of the rest of the party and Rebecca jumps back down to help Jen'Tala, but the two quickly find themselves outmatched, even with fire being peppered down from above. In two passes, Jen'Tala is unconscious from poison and fierce blows, and Rebecca's only choice is to run. Olhama leans over the edge and retrieves her young friend with the Force, just barely sliding her out of the reach of the Kinrath's pincers.

After taking a break to mend wounds - and for Olhama to severely chastise the young girl -

Olhama: What, did you think you were some kind of hero or something?! One Annie Skywalker was enough! Did you never ever pay attention to Master Bindo's holocron? Or its lessons on 'destiny' and 'heroism'?!
Enraged at Jen'Tala's recklessness, she actually grabs the younger girl tight by the wrist and leads her around to prevent a repeat.

The party moves on, entering a deep, fog-filled passage.
BGM (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3e8P1BP73k&feature=related)

The fog is solid here; it entraps and entwines its occupants, continually splitting them as new walls sprout at random. Voices of long-dead Jedi call out to the party, here:

Force Ghost: "GET BACK... GET BACK... GET BACK TO WHERE YOU ONCE BELONGED."
Force Spirit: "Beware... the two that are one..."
Force Ghost: "Beware... the one that are many..."
Force Wraith: "Beware... for you are few..."

Force Ghost: "It will not let you leave."
Force Wraith: "So we will not let you pass."
Force Spirit: "But you cannot go back..."

Force Ghost: "Come into my parlor..."
Force Wraith: "No, no, never!"
Force Spirit: "Said the spider to the Jedi..."

Force Spirit: "Knowledge, immaterial like the whisper of the clear wind!"
Force Wraith: "The wind... it brings death..."
Force Spirit: "For gossamer strings do not lightly judgment rescind..."
All: "The wind is blowing..."

Eventually, however, the party realizes that they're all just illusions - including the walls that keep springing up - and are able to break free. With little further incident, they find the turbolift down, to the level where B4 is waiting for them.

B4 turns out to no longer be a simple protocol droid; over the years, severe errors have been introduced into his memory core, causing an insane personality. Absolutely dedicated to serving the Jedi, he traps the party so they can never leave and make him lonely again. The doors in and out of his room are magnetically sealed, making them virtually impossible to damage. When Tama suggests a memory wipe to bring him back to his primary function, B4 turns completely hostile, launching into the air to fire stun weapons and electronets at the party while the GONK power droids that surround him amble towards the party, armed with holdout stun pistols and stun grenades.

BGM (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgS-0O2goWE)
The fight's essential design consisted of the power droids exploding when they got within a certain range of the party, requiring the lightsaber specialists to focus on neutralizing another 1d4+1 droids every round on the ground, while up above, B4 overpowers targets one at a time with a flurry of attacks, dealing decent damage and disabling one person for a round every round.

Feeling hurt and sorrowful for B4 - who had only gone mad after 4 millenia of solitude - Tama talks the protocol droid down. But his assault crab half rips the faltering protocol droid away and crashes to the ground, engaging in violent melee combat with brutal claws. Doing far more damage in this form and considerably more accurate even without the power droid backup - which deactivated on B4's regret - the droid is still quickly brought down at this point, due to the party's ability to bring its full offense to bear on a landbound target. Jen'Tala delivers the final blow to go 1 for 1 with polypods today - a vicious flip slash that cuts the droid in two.

With a regretful whine, the B4 protocol droid gestures to undo the magnetic seals locking the party in, then the droid completely breaks down, badly damaged by its other half's violent act.

- SESSION END - (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huTmJaO4j1M&feature=related)

Thus ends the Dantooine miniarc. We'll be updating this thread over the week with vignettes and miniRPs to play out the rest of this planet.

[AstralFire]

Olhama's Character Sheet (http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/Olhama.pdf)
Jen'Tala's Character Sheet (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=133616)
Tama's Character Sheet (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=133664)
Liliira's Character Sheet (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=134293)
Rebecca's Character Sheet (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=135470)
Tavi's Character Sheet (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=134785)

I am, as of now, the DM again rather than merely the co-DM. The DM kind of bailed on us at the last minute. @_@ If you're interested in this group and would like to run for us, please let me know.

[AstralFire]

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SESSION 1: A New Game
SESSION 2: A Jarring Start
SESSION 3: Steely Dantooine
SESSION 4: Down the Rabid Hole
SESSION 5: Raiders of the Lost Jedi Temple of Doom
SESSION 6: The Faux Hunt (You're Here!)



A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...

http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/StarWarsDeep66Logo.jpg

SESSION 6: The Faux Hunt (http://tinyurl.com/kmy6fp)


Seven years ago, the Jedi were slaughtered by the Clone Troopers they had commissioned, leaving only a handful of survivors across the galaxy. They were framed as spies, traitors, and villains, and bounties were placed upon the remnant. The strange monks were known by few; and most did not question these reports.

But a few did, assembling a Jedi Padawan, four spacers and a mercenary to investigate what they could. This ragtag group tracked the paper trail to DANTOOINE, where they found the Clone Scientist TAUN WE, hiding in the ruins of an ancient JEDI ENCLAVE. A deeper foray into the ruins reveals many dangers... and much enlightenment.

With a quiet and damaged holocron in tow, the party heads back through the ruins and tunnels to the farm where they began this little journey. The sun is forbiddingly bright as they pass from darkness into the fields once more... where two great dark shapes await them.

Tokens introduced this game (Spoilers!):
http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/Wudan.png http://www.theanteheroes.com/SWSE/Dynamic.png

SESSION IN PROGRESS - UPDATES FORTHCOMING