Brainstorming for tomorrow's Star Wars session

[RangerWickett]

I'm running a short campaign. So far I'm a little dissatisfied with how the sessions have played out, like I'm not giving the PCs enough choices. One part of the problem is that the adventure is "the villain abducted a VIP; chase the villain as she flees across world to find a ship that can get past an imperial blockade over the planet."

Because it's a chase, the plot kind of necessarily goes from point A to B to C. At each of those points I've tried to have a multi-faceted challenge which they can approach different ways, but it still feels a little railroady.

Story so far:

[sblock]There's a planet with an Interdictor star destroyer in orbit, keeping people from jumping away via hyperspace. The PCs are half locals, living in a remote part of the planet ruled by a petty warlord named Karcero. He's not critical to the plot. But his main lieutenant - Dune Gomero - is a Force sensitive with the flair for the dramatic, who tracks down other Force users and turns them over to the Empire. Dune is nefarious, but he also resents the Empire, who only let him keep his freedom as long as he is useful to them.

The other half of the party were aides to a Republic senator named Saani Argenta, whose ship got caught by the interdiction field and crashed. The local PCs - Hank, who's force sensitive; Corellia, who's a thawed-out clone who was in carbonite stasis for a long time; and Dr. Leon, a cyberneticist and former Imperial operative who got in trouble and is in hiding - rush to the crash site. They fight off some of Karcero's goons who were also looking for salvage, and they rescue the senator's aides - Lowmanda, a Wookiee pilot, and Dr. Eengo, a Mon Calamari physician who's with the senator because she's pregnant.

But a bounty hunter - Sareve, who utilizes lots of droid minions - managed to swoop in and abduct the senator, then fly away in a small ship. The PCs were able to find out she didn't head out to space, which suggests she doesn't have a way to get past the interdiction. And then Hank had a vision of the senator sitting next to him in his house, and then him briefly sitting next to her in the brig of the bounty hunter's ship. It turns out the senator's child is strong with the Force, and she began having these visions of distant places recently, so she was fleeing the Empire to protect her child.

Hank couldn't control the link, so he didn't get anymore information, but it's enough to give the PCs a common goal. Lowmanda and Dr. Eengo want to rescue their charge. Hank wants to help the woman who reached out to him. Corellia is just a loyal soldier, and Dr. Leon figures that if the bounty hunter has a way off this planet, that might be his ticket too.


Last session the party, who has no ability to track spacecraft, infiltrated one of Karcero's bases that would have tracked the ship's course. They arrived to find the place already shot up, and the survivors with itchy trigger fingers. But the PCs cowed them out of a fight, and learned that the bounty hunter had come, blown a few things up in her ship, then threatened to kill all the soldiers unless they let one of her droids access their computer system. The droid came and went, and then the bounty hunter shot them anyway and flew away, apparently to keep them from tracking her ship's movement.

However, the PCs were able to recover from the damaged computer that she was seeking the location of an abandoned Jedi temple in some mountains to the north. The PCs then high-tailed it when they heard radio chatter of incoming Karcero forces. They linked up with some local rebel forces, the leader of which had been around long enough to know about where this temple was. He also knew that there is supposed to be a secret Imperial research facility near it, built into mountains.

The rebel leader offers a ship to get the PCs to the temple, and he says he'll have his people ready to react if they find anything. He also sends along a Kel Dor marksman who works for him, named Anomen. And that's where we are now.
[/sblock]

TL;DR - A bounty hunter abducted a senator (who is pregnant with a Force sensitive baby), but the planet is under Imperial blockade, so she can't leave yet. The planet has a warlord named Karcero who kinda resents the Imperials, but is also a bad guy. The PCs learn the bounty hunter is looking for ruins of a Jedi temple, which is supposedly near an Imperial research facility, and they believe she's trying to find a way past the blockade, and so they need to find and stop her first.



So, what I have in mind is that they land, trek to the temple, find it in ruins but with some poor folks living in it. They think the PCs are Imperials, but can be convinced to help, since they saw the bounty hunter searching the area, and then she vanished. Shortly afterward they saw her shuttle fly over the hill, and heard the distant sounds of mechanical doors opening and closing.

She's in the research facility and has killed the Imperials inside, then landed her ship in a hidden hangar and set up her own droids to cover her as she fiddles in the guts of the computer system. One of the PCs is a pretty solid slicer, so he'll probably be able to figure out that she's trying to get landing codes to actually land on the star destroyer, because there's some research tech there. (She had thought it was in the facility, but it's already been moved.)

When the PCs show up, her droids probably sound the alarm so she preps to leave, and things are made more complicated because the PCs have been followed by Karcero's forces (tipped off by Anomen, an NPC who's tagging along with the party). So the PCs get caught in the middle, but Karcero's men are just trying to capture the PCs. Ideally the bounty hunter escapes with the senator in tow. But the PCs can team up with Dune Gomero, Karcero's Force sensitive minion, and make a plan together to use the access codes from the research facility to fly up and attack the star destroyer.

While some of the PCs work this out, Dune takes Hank to the ruined temple and talks to him about the ways of the Force, but from a dark side perspective of how the Force will make you strong, break your chains, and set you free. I'm not sure how things will shake out, but I imagine the PCs will make a starfighter run on the star destroyer, and while their allies keep up a battle outside, they'll land and try to rescue the senator -- while also trying to, like, blow the ship up, disable the interdiction field, or recover whatever experimental tech is going on.

I need to think of a variety of ways for things to go, so this doesn't stay a railroad.

 

[RangerWickett]

So I need droid threats, and a layout for the facility. Eh, I'll just base it on the biomedical research lab across from my job. Seven stories (but underground), with a hangar bay where our parking deck is. The entry would be concealed in a cave, and the hangar doors might be spotted because the snow is jostle. Once inside there are sentries in the foyer (where dead Imperials still lie on the floor), and if you can take them out without their sounding the alarm, you can navigate more stealthily. The doors are locked every 30 or 40 feet, and it requires slicing to open them, which means that if you are spotted, you can cut off the enemy droids. Signs mention that 'contamination protocol requires doors to remain hermetically sealed when not in use.' Set up a slightly creepy vibe as you move only a short distance at a time.

Five room dungeon: entry foyer with sentries and basic computer terminals, hallways that are a little labyrinthine (and one stretch has blast proof windows that overlook the hangar so you can see the bounty hunter from far away but not readily engage her - she'll be talking with a hologram, laying the seeds of the next adventure), research lab with holographic recording of what the device does (and a hint that it's unstable and dangerous) and another lab that has an experimental ion weapon that's just amazing against droids if you can properly activate it, and then the hangar itself. At some point when the PCs are just about to reach the hangar, alarms go off but they're not the reason why. Power flickers throughout the facility, and a quick hack briefly reveals Karcero's men streaming in upstairs, before the security cameras go offline.

The bounty hunter has already gotten what she needed, and she's in the hangar just looking for more info on the 'Phantom Drive' research tech. There should be a chance, albeit slim, of stopping her right here, but she's ready to leave at a moment's notice. And once the alarm goes off, droids who were in the hangar bay start to head for the entrance and run smack dab into the PCs.

A gun fight probably happens, and the PCs need to figure out whether to push for the bounty hunter, or try to flee and avoid Karcero's goons. I'm hoping I get to have a proper grand entrance of Dune Gomero as he kills the lights and Force moves empty storm trooper armor forward in flickering firelight. Shoot at the 'storm trooper' and it seems to be invincible (because there's no one in there to kill). He'll call for a ceasefire if the bounty hunter has escaped, because killing them won't help. After all, they have a common enemy in that Star Destroyer up there.

 

[RangerWickett]

This will be useful to me:

 

[Chimpy]

From experience, players don't mind a little railroading every now and then. I wouldn't worry about it too much. You may be over-thinking it?

 

[RangerWickett]

Probably. It's my first time with the system, so I think I've been self-conscious about not handling the mechanics as smoothly add I'd like.

 

[Chimpy]

From experience things rarely if ever go as planned once the players are let loose.

One thing I try to do is create a bunch of events or scenes, which occur or can be triggered in generally any order or not at all. The characters can go to these places, or do things, and I find it makes prep a bit easier.

 

[RangerWickett]

The party amusingly thwarted my planned escape route for the villain.

The villain parked her ship in an underground hangar, which has sliding hangar bay doors on the roof that lead to the surface. Well, the Wookiee pilot spotted an unusually flat piece of land, scanned it, saw it was shielded, and realized he couldn't blast through it. But he could park his own ship on top of it.

So this session the party fought through the facility and blasted some droids. Next session when they confront the villain, she'll try to run, open the hangar overhead . . . and have another ship land on top of her ship. That won't actually blow them both up, but it'll cripple both and injure the villain (and her hostage, though). There are other shuttles in the hangar, but it's possible she won't be able to reach one and flee. So I might not get the space battle I was hoping to work into the climax.

 

[Matchstick]

Sounds like both sides would be unable to space battle at that point. Is this the climax of the short campaign?

I'd be very tempted to have at least one of the ships explode, just for the additional drama and environmental impact on the battle. Or maybe have them explode after some time, to add a timer to the battle, with some sort of fairly obvious countdown (similar to a fuse burning or fire burning along a line of spilled fuel). Big boom, or maybe a series of small booms, smoke, flame, heat. The wookie better hope they didn't use hair spray.

Such an environment could help a foe escape for sure, especially since she knows the hangar and the players don't. But it could make a fun cinematic battle up until that escape (if it happens). The villain could also put the hostage in a deadly situation in the hangar to distract the party and allow her to get away, temporarily.

If you want the players' ship to be crippled just have the villain's ship explode. Then when she escapes in another shuttle they can chase, but somebody's got to be doing repairs the whole time. Otherwise if she gets away you could put all sorts of other ships in the hangar for the players to use; cloud cars for pairs, Z95's, whatever. That gets you to your dogfight.

Just thinking out loud.

 

[Eltab]

With the PCs' ship sitting on top of the ceiling doors, the failsafe refuses to allow the doors to open. So the bad guys cannot get out - they certainly cannot fly their ship out - that way.
How clever are they, and do they think fast on their feet? Where is an R2 unit when you need one?

If you ignore my suggestion,
You can still get your space battle (in low orbit) between PCs and bad guys, which has to end when the Star Destroyer, obviously on an intercept course, reaches extreme weapon range and opens fire. Then it's hot pursuit time. Maybe SD disgorges a few fighters to keep everybody but their main target busy?

 

[RangerWickett]

Last session the party made it to the ruins of a Jedi temple, met some Imperial deserters who had set up a village near the temple, and they go delving into the facility, hoping to catch up with the bounty hunter, Sareve. Unbeknownst to them, Dune Gomero the force-sensitive lieutenant of the planetary warlord, knows where they've gone and is following with a cadre of soldiers. The PCs want to rescue Senator Saani Argenta from Sareve, Sareve is in the facility to she can while Dune wants to retake the facility and use it to get a code to land at the Star Destroyer overhead so she can steal research tech, and Dune Gomero wants to get access codes so he can get off the planet.

So,
Sareve = bad, and has to go down
Dune = bad, but might make a deal with the party
Empire = bad, but we probably won't defeat them single-handedly

The PCs (with one deserter imperial researcher tagging along as a guide and to make racist comments toward the party's Wookie and Mon Calamari) enter the facility and fight off some droids guarding the entrance. Luckily they can't send an alert because the facility is heavily shielded against radiation, so comms don't work, only direct line communication. So the party has the element of surprise. They sneak in, and through a blast window that overlooks the hangar they see Sareve's ship, with droids loading equipment onto it, and Sareve kneeling before what looks like a hologram. But Hank, the party's force-sensitive PC, is convinced there's another person down there.

We ended on that mystery.

Now, tonight!

I want to get us primed and ready for a space battle, to cap things off next week in the final session. So in this session, I'm shooting for:

1. PCs navigate research facility, which has a handful more of Sareve's droids on patrol. As they sneak, they move between different labs and can get hints about what the Imperials were researching. They might also grab some limited-charge, highly experimental weapons for the upcoming fun.

2. They get near the hangar bay, where there are droid guards. Through the Force, Saani calls out to Hank and warns him to hurry, because her kidnapper is preparing to leave. She thinks they're headed for the Star Destroyer. Their conversation is suffused with a growing sense of unease, like someone else is pressing their emotions upon them. Sareve sends one of her droids to retrieve the rest so they can depart, which will almost certainly trigger a gunfight.

3. Sareve makes a quick calculation and falls back with two of her droids, intending to fly away. In maybe the second round of combat there's a power failure, and all the lights go out. A voice comes over the intercom, the voice of Dune Gomero, "We've driven you rats into your hole. You will find no escape. Surrender if you value your lives." Now the PCs have a few minutes before Dune's forces get down to their level. I really don't know how the party will react here -- try to hole up and fight, try to go out through the hangar, try to sneak around Dune's men as they come down.

4. Sareve tries to leave, opens the hangar doors, and has a ship fall onto her ship. (When they arrived, the party's Wookie pilot Lowmanda parked his ship on top of the concealed hangar bay doors to the facility, which will pose a problem for Sareve escaping.) This might provoke a rush from the PCs to get to the wreck and pull the senator to safety. I need to figure out the mechanics of using a human shield, because Sareve will drag herself out of the wreck and try to get to another shuttle. Sareve might go down here, or she might manage to escape, especially if Dune's men distract the party.

5. If the PCs get stuck, Dune's men have orders to take them alive. Stun galore. I've got a cool idea for how Dune first appears - he's killed the lights, and he uses telekinesis to move a helmet and hood through the air, almost like a ghost, so if they shoot at it, it doesn't hurt him at all. The helmet has a camera and speaker and so he can speak through it from afar. I'm hoping to get the PCs to talk to Dune, where he'll make an offer. He wants out of this system, and in examining the facility's research, he might be able to use the codes in this facility to help him slip past the Star Destroyer, but he's not confident about that.

So he'll give the PCs access to fighters to they can attempt a rescue, which will provide him cover he needs to get past the Imperials and leave. The PCs know the rebels on this planet were already making plans to launch an attack, and the facility's codes should give them a shot at getting within range before they're shot down. In the midst of the space battle, the PCs can board the star destroyer and attempt their rescue, and in the confusion Dune will be able to slip away. As assurance that the party won't betray him, Dune has some of his loyal men holding Hank's family hostage, and he'll release them once he's clear of the imperial blockade.

Of course, this entails betraying his master Lord Karcero, but if the PCs agree, Dune cuts down the troops with him.


6. Possible scene, I wish I could make this happen but I can't guarantee it, Hank the force-sensitive has the power that lets him turn invisible from someone, so I had an idea that if the party's captured, Dune will assign a couple men to watch them, giving Hank a chance to sneak out and head to the Jedi temple ruins for reinforcements. When Dune finds out he'd pursue Hank, cow the deserters in the village, and offer to negotiate with Hank in the temple. There he'll give him the sith code,

Peace is a lie, there is only passion.
Through passion, I gain strength.
Through strength, I gain power.
Through power, I gain victory.
Through victory, my chains are broken.
The Force shall free me.

Y'know, offer the PC a mentor in the ways of the Force, and then provide a functional example of power setting them free from the empire.

And hopefully next week is the assault on the Star Destroyer.