Anyway, here's what I've come up with so far. Apologies in advance for the block of text.
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This will be for several 1st level players, in a one-shot adventure. I fully expect there to be at least one Jedi Padawan amongst the heroes since, let’s face it, this is Star Wars. Also, a Jedi is about the only reasonable method of providing on-the-fly healing in Saga Edition; medpacs and whatnot are really crappy.
We start with a cold opening, “roll for initiative”. The heroes are in a battle, providing support for a squad of Clone Troopers attempting to destroy some tank or artillery or some other type of heavy weapon from the droid army. Said squad will have almost gotten the job done (plant the bomb, do a large amount of damage, etc.), but will tragically take a heavy blast from the weapon, wiping out the squad almost completely, if not entirely. (Reasons for this will soon be apparent.) This leaves the heroes to do one small task (e.g. push the button on the detonator that went flying in the blast) to finish the job. The enemies then retreat. I may alternately use a portion of the “Bridge 242” mini-adventure from the Galaxy at War book, which tasks the players with blowing up a shield generator protecting a bridge.
The heroes contact base HQ to notify them of their success, where the Jedi Master(s) there congratulates them. (These being the same Master(s) under which our Padawan(s) study.) The conversation is short-lived, though, as the transmission is suddenly cut off…
…
… because Order 66 has just been invoked.
(This explains why there must be no Clone Troopers anywhere near our heroes, at least not ones that aren’t practically on death’s door. Our Level 1 heroes would be no match for them.)
In the pain felt by anyone Force-sensitive, experiencing Jedis being slaughtered across the galaxy, there is a knock at the door. Our Padawan awakens from the nightmare reliving that fateful day.
(Note: I would like to put in some sort of escape here for the heroes, as they are forced to flee a planet containing Clone Troopers who have been ordered to kill any remaining Jedi there are, but it could be trouble if things go south. Even so, should things go awry, that could also just be part of the nightmare. I’m not a fan of the “all just a dream” out, though. I’d like the preceding to be a memory of actual events.)
And so begins the true adventure. (Consider the above a sort of interactive cutscene, if you will.)
The knock is from someone letting us know it is time for the memorial service to begin. A small crowd has discreetly gathered to commemorate the fallen Jedi. They players can discuss their relationship to the masters, if desired; how they knew them, fond memories, etc. As part of the service, the heroes are tasked with returning the personal effects of the Master to the homeworld, as is part of the tradition for that world and/or species. Among the effects is a favorite poem of the Master’s, from a famous prophet/bard/writer of the homeworld, entitled “Opening the Heart”. It espouses the futility of conflict and the desire for peace, and how when only time remains, only then with the heart be opened. It seemed particularly poignant given the Clone Wars, so the Master wants the Padawan to heed its words should some terrible fate befall him.
So, circle wipe, and the players are headed to the homeworld. There’s a problem, though – as part of Order 66, all Jedi and their supporters have been branded traitors to and enemies of the newly-formed Empire. (Ideally, I’d like this to be a planet known to have generally supported the formation of the Empire at its inception.) The players must head to the council of a “holy city”, the latter of which also named after the above mentioned prophet, in order to petition the council to allow the belongings to be returned to the sacred grounds, the “Heart of {Prophet}” at the center of the city. The council is divided; on one hand, some do not want the remains and the associates of a criminal to be given access to the grounds. On the other hand, the Jedi Master was up to recently very well regarded on the planet, so some are hard-pressed to believe the charges. The heroes can negotiate with the council to be allowed access.
On success: The heroes will be given access to the grounds. However, one of the most zealous members of the council will surreptitiously contact the local security force, who will try to block them from getting there. They may fight the force, evade them, negotiate or bribe, whatever choice they’d like to take.
On failure: The heroes are denied access, and a larger security force is called to arrest the heroes. However, one of the particularly helpful supporters of the Master on the council offers to lead the heroes to some secret passages below the council chambers to escape. The passages will end up having their own type of hazards, perhaps some nasty critters have nested there, or maybe some sort of trap as a security measure. The tunnels could be an option even on a success.
Ultimately, the heroes arrive at the sacred grounds. There, they face one final challenge: the gates to the grounds are closed with some sort of puzzle lock (which I shall be adapting or blatantly ripping off from a Professor Layton game)
. However, the players already have a clue in their possession. Remember the very important poem mentioned earlier? It’s also the key to how to open the lock. The lock is mostly intended just to keep the riff-raff out, and anyone with knowledge of the works of the Prophet should be able to figure out how to enter. I’m hoping they’ll clue in with enough references to the Prophet’s name, the “heart”, and other similarities to the poem’s contents sprinkled into the conversations and dealings up to this point. If they don’t clue in, or can’t solve the puzzle, there are alternative methods of entering (e.g. scale the walls, the Padawan can slice open the gates with a lightsaber, or something else the players might think of). The alternatives could lead to more conflict with the local authorities, though.
In any case, finally, the belongings are laid to rest and the heroes can say their farewells. As they leave, there is a light that turns their attention back. They get a glimpse of the Jedi Master(s) Force ghost (“blue glowie”) smiling at them one last time before it fades away.
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Going with the Order 66 theme solved a few problems for me. I knew I wanted some sort of a “commemorate a fallen comrade” theme for the adventure, to reflect the purpose of both the PCs and the players. The fallen comrade in-game was meant to be an expy of out recently departed friend IRL. In the plot, I knew there had to be some sort of opposition to the heroes, to prevent them from the completing the final task, from getting the MacGuffin to its destination. That could entail the villain trying to steal the object or otherwise just prevent it from getting there for some reason. However, I wasn’t sure what the best MacGuffin would be. Then the Order 66 approach hit me. If the PCS were suddenly outlaws, it’s not so much the items transported that were important, but the PCs themselves. This makes the specific items themselves largely irrelevant. It also enables me to do something that my friend liked to do when he GMed – he’d often ask the players to describe what they see in the building or the setting, rather than describe it himself. So, the players can decide what the other personal effects are, what the council chamber looks like, etc.
So, this leaves me with the following to workshop. I need to work out:
- what sort of heavy weapon the troops face at the beginning
- the security forces on the planet
- most notably, what should go in the secret passages beneath the chambers. A thought: The council member who aids their escape might warn them to keep an eye out for “sewer rats”. These could optionally be actual rats, e.g. scaled-down or reflavoured womp rats, or a gang of criminals using the tunnels as a hideout (possibly even called the “Sewer Rats”).
There’s also an option for a space battle, either when trying to leave the memorial for the homeworld, or when arriving at the homeworld. That would be more elements to figure out. In all, I want to make sure there’s a decent mix of roleplaying, non-combat solutions, and some combat, for those players who create characters geared towards the latter. At present, I don’t know that there’s much combat content, apart from the first pseudo-battle.
