ARRRR! Dm's block!

[TheThan]

I’m planning out a StarWars Saga Edition campaign for some friends of mine.
The setting is ten years after StarWars: episode IV A New Hope. The events of the Reborn emperor have not happened (since I think its stupid and I’ve only read summaries of the event). I’m shooting for a sandbox style game and I have run out of ideas for plot hooks.

The players are starting on Nar Shadda, and have recently purchased a used Corellian Engineering Corp YT 1930 freighter. It’s a bit beat up, but they own it free and clear but they still need to pay for the cost of running a ship. Two of the three players are force sensitive. Luke’s Jedi academy has not been established yet, though Luke himself is searching the galaxy for potential Jedi. I’m rolling randomly on a list of planets each session to see where he happens to be. If they players are there then there’s the chance they can meet him and become Jedi.

Anyway my imagination seems to have hit some sort of “DM’s block” and I can’t seem to come up with enough plot hooks to satisfy me. So I was wondering if anyone has any ideas that I could add to my (rather small) list of plot hooks?

Spoiler

Show

• Someone needs some rare macguffin smuggled/shipped somewhere.
• A Hutt is hiring smugglers
• An Imperial warlord is looking to hire mercenaries to bolster his forces
• Talon Karrde is recruiting for his spy network
• The smuggler’s alliance is looking for new members
• A group of people is on the run and need transport
• Rumor has it that Han Solo has shown up on world and is sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong.

[BooNL]

You could do something with the Imperial Remnant. Killing stormtroopers never gets old.

Maybe a mission to infiltrate/break into an Imperial base and liberate some crates of bacta. The pc's would then have a choice to deliver the bacta to the New Republic or sell it to the nearest Hutt for a greater profit. Also, while in the Imperial base they might stumble onto some information that could lead to a new plot hook.

[Fax Celestis]

What about the potential extermination of local wildlife due to rampant resource abuse/deforestation/etc? Perhaps by some sort of (evil?) corporation that doesn't know what it's doing/doesn't care/is dealing with the devil.

[evisiron]

A tip-off that the players are being followed. Whether or not its true, who is following them and why are up to you.

[Sstoopidtallkid]

A trick from 30s crime novels. When you run out of ideas, have a drive-by. A seemingly unprovoked attack from generic mooks. Figuring out why is an adventure for both the players and the DM, and gives you time to think of something more concrete.

[Rockphed]

A trick from 30s crime novels. When you run out of ideas, have a drive-by. A seemingly unprovoked attack from generic mooks. Figuring out why is an adventure for both the players and the DM, and gives you time to think of something more concrete.

I approve of any and all Star Wars drive-bys. Something about it just tickles my sense of humor.

[xPANCAKEx]

*kidnap a family member - only way to get them back is by working for a hutt.
*have their ship impounded at a relay station by local security trying to extort them - they have to break it out
*their ship malfunctions... they can scavenge a seemingly diserted floating hulk for parts.
*their ship malfunctions... they crash on an inhabited planet. Small remnant force near by that they can try to raid for spares
*kidnap/extraction mission
*BOUNTY HUNTING

[xPANCAKEx]

A trick from 30s crime novels. When you run out of ideas, have a drive-by. A seemingly unprovoked attack from generic mooks. Figuring out why is an adventure for both the players and the DM, and gives you time to think of something more concrete.

taking this a step further - a damsel in distress type could ask for passage off the next planet with them (she is desperate and will offer to pay them a substantial ammount at the destination), but is gunned down by a sniper before they can help

[Oracle_Hunter]

I approve of any and all Star Wars drive-bys. Something about it just tickles my sense of humor.

Extra points if it is done by Ewoks on a swoop bike

Yes, I know they have no reason to be on Nar Shadda - that's part of the mystery

[chiasaur11]

Extra points if it is done by Ewoks on a swoop bike

Yes, I know they have no reason to be on Nar Shadda - that's part of the mystery

Bonus points if you never get around to explaining the presence of the ewoks in the whole mission that arises from the thing.

[pingcode20]

Have them do The Pirates of Penzance.

Sorry, all I could think of when you went 'ARRRR!'.

[Raum]

Anyway my imagination seems to have hit some sort of “DM’s block” and I can’t seem to come up with enough plot hooks to satisfy me. So I was wondering if anyone has any ideas that I could add to my (rather small) list of plot hooks?

You might try coming up with interesting NPCs and let the plot hooks grow organically. A few simple questions multiplied by several NPCs and you can weave a complex web to tangle the PCs in.

Here's a couple potential examples:

• NPC: Joe the Engineer
  • What are his goals? Purchase a business. Avoid high taxes.
  • What are his resources? Some cash but not enough. Training as an engineer. A certain amount of cunning. Knows some 'people'.
  • What are his limitations / disadvantages? Taxes are too high. Can't earn credits legitimately.
  • How will he interact with the PCs? This is the real question - will he hire the PCs as smugglers to avoid taxes? Perhaps he wants the PCs to blackmail the owner into selling for a lower price...or a tax official into writing down taxes... Possibilities are endless.
• NPC: Sirap the Socialite
  • What are her goals? Fame and the next ex-Mr Sirap.
  • What are her resources? Fame, riches, knows all the right party places.
  • What are her limitations / disadvantages? Not taken seriously very often...of course that can be turned to an advantage...
  • How will she interact with the PCs? Could meet at a party (assuming one or more PCs in similar social crowds), or while running / hiding from the latest scandal, or perhaps as security for one function or another. Up to you.

Obviously these are superficial and probably have little to do with your campaign. Point is simply to give some of your NPCs goals and limitations and then let the PCs interact with them and see what happens.

[Hawriel]

Tens years after star wars puts your campaine just after the Thrawn trilogy and befor the Jedi Academy trilogy.


If your characters are on Nar Shada there are only afew things characters are up to. Trade both honest and illicit, guns for hire, or they are hitting rock bottom. I'll assume that the mony used to pay for the ship was not loaned out by a respectable New Republic bank.

Here are some plot ideas that come out of the old D6 game.

Its a used ship, alot of things can go wrong. Hyperdrive, landing gear, hull integrity.

The ship may have a history. The charcters are investigated by law enforcment because if the criminal activity of former owners. Criminals themselves might want to give the players a hard time. The ship might have been stolen so the former owner or former owners buisness partners, or both might come after the players for varios reasons. The players find something strange in a smuggling compartment when examining their new ship. A person apporches them and asks them for passage off Nar Shada. Is this person running from some one, delivering somthing, has chargo, needs to get to a location?

What are the goals of the players? Do they want to run a tramp frieghter buisness. Smugglers, mercinaries, exlorers, get in on the swoop racing cercut? No matter what they do they will have to pay off who ever they got the mony from. Maybe there was a catch to the loan. Not just a deadline and intrest, but a task or two.

Considering the time frame Jedi would still be a mistery. This is a year or so befor Luke starts up a new Jedi academy on Yaven. If there are any jedi around they may just now feal safe enought to act openly. Force sensatives may be more open to explore their odd abilities.

The factions in the galaxy are not just the old stand by of Allience/Empire. The New Republic now has the responsibility of being a government. No matter if your characters are lagit or shady the Republic can be an obsticle, as well as the Empire, Huts, Corporate sector, and the Hapens. These are just a hand full of factions finding there place in a post Emerial galaxy.

[Kazasu]

You could always make something that attacks only force sensitives in a way that causes them to be near useless or do something incredibly comical. This would give the non force sensitive a feeling of being more needed and less of a background character.... But I am partial to explosives myself.. Especially if you have them almost take off in their ship only to have a large explosion, or have scans of the explosives in place, the explosives rare and unfamiliar to any of them. Then you could have rumors of a expert in the device, only to be lead through several lies and end up finding out who placed the explosive on their ship in the first place, but thats just me.. Of course if I did it, it would probably end up relating to their original objectives and allow them to see some kind of corruption in the person who originally hired them. You could also

• Have all of their power packs stop working
• Have them encounter a rare jedi hologram of forgotten force knowledge.. Only to have it be a fake passed down through a large chain of people. Of course, you could always have it be believed as a fake because of a security measure in place.. Only to have it be an ancient soap opera.

I like the second because it reminds me of KotOR II

Now for ship related suggestions

• The ship was actually stolen and they encounter the owner who has records. However, they find him killed when they return to take the stuff from their ship, depending on how they deal with it.
• They meet people who know the ship, it being used for smuggling, and ask for something that may be in the cargo holds. If it was originally used for smuggling, then it would likely have secret compartments. They ask that you try to break into it, if you succeed, they will pay a large amount of money. They give the players contact information and eventually they meet people who knew people that had worked on the ship.
• While in the cantina, someone recognizes them after seeing them walk out of their ship. They say that they were the original pilot and start a fight over it. If the players fight and win, the man dies, everyone goes back to their business. If they loot the man's body, they find a data pad revealing information about a bounty on them or their ship.
• Their ship has a history which makes it a huge target to all authorities.

But these are just suggestions.. Not many that I have used, also, the Galactic Campaign Guide for SW has some interesting things in it that specifically help when you can't think of anything.

[Thane of Fife]

I believe that the classic Star Wars novel plot goes something like this:

1. Invent new, previously unmentioned Imperial (or hostile alien) superweapon of incalculable power.
2. Have high-ranking yet for some reason unmentioned Imperial (or Hostile Alien) Officer activate the superweapon.
3. ???
4. Profit!!!

More seriously, they could perhaps be hired by Senior Anthropoligist Hoole to help him study some obscure alien species.

A Falleen could try to capture some of them for use as consorts.

You can also pull a Redwall and invent something which everyone should know about, but which has, for whatever reason, only just become relevant (I just spent a good hour trying to find a name for this on tvtropes - I couldn't find one).

[Fishy]

PC's encounter a TIE fighter, poking around in areas of space that are supposed to be Remnant-Free.

Turns out to belong to a pair of musicians, who picked it up at a scrapyard auction, to replace their old vehicle, which was traded for some recording equipment.

They're playing terrible gigs in terrible Cantinas, trying to raise enough money to save the orphanage they grew up in, and need help with either transportation, fundraising, or protection from a psychotic and heavily armed ex-girlfriend.


... What? I loved that movie.

[Oracle_Hunter]

You can also pull a Redwall and invent something which everyone should know about, but which has, for whatever reason, only just become relevant (I just spent a good hour trying to find a name for this on tvtropes - I couldn't find one).

That's a pretty standard Mac Guffin, possibly of the Plot Coupon variety. More details, perhaps?

[AslanCross]

*points at thread title*
Pirates.

[Lert, A.]

Next time they are in port, have a group of banditos riding velociraptors steal a nearby astrodroid, threatening the heroes to not follow.

Of course they will.

[Ethdred]

It's always a good idea to let players come up with at least some plot hooks. Ask them what their characters are interested in doing, and then decide whether they can or not. You don't have to hand it to them on a plate, or even let them know whether it's possible, but they can have a lot of fun trying to find out.

[TheThan]

Wow, a lot more replies than I thought. Thanks for the help everyone.
I’m a huge starwars fan and I know exactly what’s going on in this time frame (right after Thrawn, but before the NJO). So knowing what is going on is not a problem.

I’m not sure what the background on two of the characters will be. But the third one is part of a secret organization that gathers together and protects force sensitive people in the hopes that the Jedi will one day rise again. It opens up a lot of potential plot hooks but its not anything I’m looking to peruse right away. The ship does have a history and is finicky, but I haven’t gotten around to filling that bit out yet. Sadly the galactic campaign guide is the one book I don’t have. But using Senior Anthropologist Hoole is a brilliant idea, as is the Ewok drive by. I may have to steal those.

I have three players, two human soldiers, (one force sensitive) and a Kel’dor scout, also force sensitive. Right now I’m off to stat out some NPCs that I may or may not use.

[Egiam]

Imperial sympathizers looking for force sensitives.
P.C.s walking down the street when fight starts. Fight is between aprentice of Luke and previously mentioned Imperials. Jedi wins and meets P.C.s. Jedi then finds P.C. force sensitive. takes pcs to Luke and luke sends them to help jedi find imperials on Nar shadaa