[SW] The Slave Planet

After waiting for Gakomon to recover from his wounds (and doing a quick “milk run” to help pay for the repairs to the Twilight Jumper’s primary weapon) the group interrogates one of the pirates who attacked Galinda and Gakomon on the space station.  He is forced to tell them that his shipmates are heading for Rygellia, to participate in a major slave auction.

After a bit of planning, the PC’s go to Rygellia and bribe the local customs person into getting a ticket to the slave auction.  They also managed to find some uniforms similar to what the Rygellians wear, but unfortunately one of them is very small–only D.J. will be able to wear it.  The Ferret, Gib, and Addama put a new “program” into Peyton’s astromech droid to help it seize control of not their initial target, Storm Killer, but the pirates’ main ship The Counter Puncher.

 Gib, D.J. and the droid (”Landry”) disguise themselves as Rygellians and bluff their way aboard the ship claiming to be a random inspection.   They convince the skeleton crew that the ship is actually leaking radiation, and following a truly terrible Perception roll the pirates buy it hook, line, and sinker.  While aboard the ship, Gib overhears the pirates saying that the highlight of the auction is supposed to be a real Jedi, but D.J. misses the comment (the player wasn’t paying attention)  The other PC’s, disguised as service workers, then board the Puncher to “fix the problem.”  The pirates are then ambushed and the Counter Puncher takes off to rendevous with Galinda and Gak, who were still aboard the Twilight Jumper.  Finally, after leaving Rygellian space, Gib mentions the rumor about the Jedi, prompting a lengthy discussion about the practicality of heading back to Rygellia to rescue him or her.  Eventually Addama and Peyton head back with the Twilight Jumper, with D.J. having snuck aboard.

At the auction, Peyton uses the Force to contact the captive Jedi, Shaak Ti (who has the notable quality of being the first NPC of the campaign to have appeared in the movies).  Shaak Ti tells Peyton to be on her guard, because an Imperial task force in en route!  As the Clone Troopers storm the colloseum where the auction is being held, Peyton and her friends overcome Shaak Ti’s guards and manage to escape back to the Twilight Jumper in all the chaos.

Shaak Ti informs the PC’s that there is a fledgling rebellion in the works and asks them to meet with a contact of hers who can help them be a part of this.  Shaak Ti then spends some time with Peyton to help train her in the ways of the Force and then, citing the need for the Jedi to not travel together lest they be caught, commandeers the Twilight Jumper and leaves, promising to return.

[SW]A Yard of Opportunity

While aboard the Twilight Jumper, Addama tells his background story.  He was part of a crew of hijackers and pirates who nevertheless avoided unnecesary violence.  Unfortunately there was a mutiny on his ship led by a shipmate named Tharafax.  Tharafax and the crew had seized the ship of a Wookie big game hunter named Gakomon and intended to kill him.  Addama managed to get away in an escape pod with Gakomon and make their way onto the planet where they met the other PC’s.

While on board the pirate ship, Addama had heard about a place called “The Yard” where entrepeneurial individuals could make some quick cash if they were flexible in their morals.  The Yard is operated by a woman named Sarjutta-Ok-Topii, a former member of the Trade Federation and the Separatist movement.  Now she runs an outfit called Executive Results which ships parts and supplies and has a small mercenary wing.  After meeting a few of the other employees, Sarjutta offers the PC’s a job: recover a ship, the Storm Killer, which has been impounded by the authorities on a space station called “Zirtan’s Anchor.”

Before leaving, the crew picks up another member: a mysterious “librarian” named Galinda who is apparently stranded on the Yard.  Jager hires her to tutor his niece.

When the PC’s get to Zirtan’s Anchor, they check with the local authorities and discover that the ship hasn’t just been impounded, it’s been sold to a visiting businessman: a Captain Tharafax.  By pure coincidence, Tharafax and some of his crewmen have had a near run-in with Addama, Gak, and Galinda.

Jager argues with the authorities that Tharafax is himself a criminal, while the crew rounds up Gak to offer evidence.  Things don’t go their way, however, with several members of Tharafax’s crew jump Gak and Galinda.  Gak goes down quickly, but Galinda makes handy work of three of them with a vibroblade (Gak misses the entire scene, but is later given credit for the kills by Galinda).

Things unravel quickly as Tharafax flees in his ship, the Counter Puncher, while some of his crew attempt to leave in the Storm Killer.  Addama and Noc pursue in the Twilight Jumper, but quickly fall to the Storm Killer’s superior firepower.

The group has been dealt a hard blow.  Gak is seriously wounded but recovering.  The Jumper has lost is only weapon, and their goal has eluded their grasp.

[SW] The (not so) Great Casino Caper

Matthias, Peyton, DJ, and Noc scout out a possible casino for them to enact their scheme of raising enough credits to buy a ship with a little “help” from Peyton’s Jedi abilities.  The casino is a large but somewhat seedy, located in the back of an old warehouse.

Initially, the plan goes well, with Noc being able to run up almost seven thousand credits (with the odd bit of help).  All doesn’t go to plan, however, when Noc and Peyton are invited to visit Lido Kast, the owner of the casino.  Kast informs them that he is wise to their scheme; his security measures spotted Peyton’s lightsaber when she came in (Noc at this point had no idea she was a Jedi and thought he was just doing very well!)

Matthias and DJ realize that their partners are in trouble, and Matthias drops a smoke grenade in the casino, while DJ rushes the office where the other two are kept.

Inside the office, things aren’t doing well.  Noc is being pummeled by one of Kast’s goons while two others overwhelm Peyton and seriously injure her.  DJ and her uncle burst in and make short work of them, however.

Around this time, two other people in the casino, a cyborg pirate named Addama and a Wookie big game hunter named Gakomon have concluded they are witnessing the armed robbery of the premises.  Not to be outdone by (other) criminals, the two begin raiding the gaming tables of loose winnings and then head for the back office themselves.

In the office proper Matthias grabs the unconscious Peyton and leads DJ out the secret exit Matthias used to flee the combat.  Gib Noc, however, is determined to find the safe of the casino’s owner.  Concerned that the police are on the way, Matthias grabs the winnings and tells Noc to meet him at the starship dealership later or else.

While Noc tries to locate the safe, Addama and Gak enter the office and quickly stun Noc before he can make trouble.  Then they try to open the safe (Noc had actually uncovered it) but fail before the police arrive.  Grabbing an unconscious Noc, they also escape through the secret passage.

In a cab heading for the starship, Matthias realizes that Noc has held out on the winnings–he’s several thousand short.  Noc, meanwhile, is being questioned by Addama and Gak, who realize that Noc and his associates may help them also flee the planet.  They meet up with the original group and together work out (after a lot of posturing) a rough partnership and purchase the Twilight Jumper.  They quickly flee the planet (there appears to be an Imperial cruise en route) and Addama quickly sets a course for an out-of-the-way pirate sanctuary.

While in flight, Addama states that the Jumper’s condition seems very shaky, despite Ferret’s assertions to the contrary…

GM’s Note:

All participants receive seven Character Points.

Star Wars: the Darkness Between the Stars

Payton was a young padawan who was running a simple errand for her master when Anakin Skywalker and his Clone Troopers assaulted the Jedi Temple on Coruscant (as depicted in Revenge of the Sith).  Terrified and alone, she managed to remain hidden from the authorities for several months, even arranging transport for herself off Coruscant and to Cerulia, a resort planet that can cater to those wanting something a little beyond the law.

In a crowded marketplace on Cerulia Payton saw Drun Cairnwick, a merchant who occasionally supplied goods to the temple on Coruscant.  Payton took a chance and approached him to ask for help.  Cairnwick was glad to see her alive, and told her that he had heard rumors that there was a rebellion fermenting in the Senate.  Unfortunately, he did not know where any other Jedi could be found, but did know a man who possessed expertise in locating people–a bounty hunter named Matthias Jager.

Jager had his own problems however.  His sister and her husband had recently died in an airspeeder accident, leaving behind their daughter.  Jager was the girl’s only family, and now the bounty hunter was having to travel with a pre-teenager.  Jager agreed to meet with Payton in a crowded spaceport bar, and after hearing her story agreed to help her on one condition: Payton would help him control his niece while in the field.

This is a good plan, because at the moment “The Kid” had been off at the restroom and while returned saw several local police officers entering the bar in search of someone.  The Kid assumed that it was the person to whom her uncle was speaking and, in an attempt to throw them off, approached the police with an offer to lead them to their quarry–for a price.

The police were not amused by this offer, and were discussing beating it out of the Kid when Matthias noticed what was going on.  Thinking fast, he drew his blaster and shot a low-level hoodlum in the back (Matthias had spotted him earlier).  The distraction allowed the Kid to free herself, and Matthias successfully hauled the criminal out of the place.

Back at his hotel room, Jager informed the small-time con artist Gib Noc that he “owed him” for getting him out of the bar without being caught.  After being threatened for a bit more Noc agreed to help Jager and his accomplices off planet.  First, Noc said, they would need a ship.  To get that, they needed someone who knew ships, and Noc knew just who to ask: a Sullustan techie named “the Ferret.”

Ferret was only too happy to help out an old friend (he figured there was money to be made if Noc was involved), so they went to “Fizzi’s Slightly Used Spaceships,” a seedy dealership where someone could buy a ship, no questions asked.  The cheapest one of the lot was a Ghtroc Freighter called the Twilight Jumper, which sold for a measley 10,000 credits.  Ferret swore (after blowing his Starship Repair roll) that the ship was in fine shape.

But how to pay for it?  A loan shark?  Possibly too risky, and they’d have to find a way to pay him back.  Jager had an idea that Payton could use her fledgling Jedi powers to help Noc win the money at a casino.  Payton reluctantly agreed, and they began to make plans to win 9,000 credits without being caught…

GM’s Note:

After a lof of consideration, I decided to try out a new RPG, just to see what it might be like.  I decided to go with one of my all-time favorites, the old West End Games Star Wars RPG.  Rather than try to start off with all eight-to-ten players, I decided to go with a few and then build up from there.  Frankie’s player is Ferret, Willow’s player is Payton, Ransook’s player is Jager, Violet’s is the Kid, and Hanthel’s is Gib Noc.

It’s a very different style from the “kill them and take their stuff” D&D campaign we’ve been doing for years.  There was only blaster bolt fired, and that was from Jager’s gun into Noc’s back.  Instead there was a lot of in-character talking, innovation, and willingness to make this their story.  All told, a good start.

Now, what to do with the casino?

The Slavers’ Cove

While Sebastian recovers from filth fever, Ransook rounds up some old and new friends.  The old: Xander (now an eladrin wizard) and Willow (still a half-elf cleric).  The new: Nik (a half-elf ranger and a replacement for Hanthel), Delilah (a dragonborn paladin and replacement for Violet) and an unamed tiefling warlock (a last-minute replacement for Hammer, whose player showed up unexpectedly).

Together the group heads back to the old mansion and uses the lantern to signal whomever was out on the lake.  In a short while a longboat with two human and two halfling slavers show up, and the group summarily dispatches them.  One of the humans was spared, and after a brief interrogation reveals that there is a slaving ring operating off the island.

Following the interrogation, there was a dispute between Ransook, who had promised liberty to the captive if he gave them information, and Nik and the warlock who wanted to either kill or severally cripple the slaver to insure that he wouldn’t cause trouble.  This conflict continues until Delilah and Willow sided with Ransook and the pirate was bound and stashed in a closet in the house.

The group then took the slavers’ longboat and headed towards the lagoon on the far side of the island (using two dead halflings to complete the disguise).  The PC’s then overran the slavers’ ship that was docked there, pulled up the gangplank and then used it as a platform for attacking the pirates coming out the their hideout in the cove.  During the combat a few of the melee-oriented PC’s jumped to the dock; Delilah missed the dock, however, and sank to the bottom of the lagoon (she was fished out, nearly drowned, after the encounter).

So far the (new) Strange Quests crew had managed a pretty easy time of it, but this was to end.  The inner sanctum of the slavers proved to almost be their undoing.  The lead slaver, a human wizard, was protected by two guardian drakes and two bodyguards who managed to overcome both Delilah and the warlock, and deal out a great deal of damage before finally falling.  After this brutal battle, the PC’s were shocked to discover yet another chamber, one holding a very young white dragon!  Xander somehow managed to render it unconscious with a sleep spell, and the other PC’s gang-piled on it (using those once-a-day powers) and kill it before it could do too much damage.

Within the frozen lake, the tiefling warlock discovered the dragon’s meager hoard.

Having defeated the slavers and rescued several local townspeople, the heroes slowly manage to get the slavers’ ship back to Silverton, where the Lord Sheriff (after some vacillating) finally agreed to recognize it as “spoils of war” for the PC’s.  A few questions remain:

• who are the mysterious tribes of minotaurs that were receiving the shipments of slaves, and why?
• why is there a young dragon living amongst the slavers?  Pet?  Mastermind?
• what will the PC’s do with a ship they can barely sail?
• where will the SQ crew go next?

DM’s Notes:

This adventure was all about battlefield control.  When the PC’s could control the field, they did very well.  In the encounter with the slaver boss, the NPC’s controlled the field, separating their defender and one of the strikers from the group while at the same time keeping the other two strikers and the leader from being effective.  The group still needs to learn how to work a large area without getting “bunched up” in places like doorways (now that we are no longer allowing PC’s to move through each other’s squares like we did in C&C).

The Secret of the Old Mansion

CK’s Note: we had a campaign “reset” when we switched to a new ruleset “Heroes & Horrors.”  In the reset, we dropped the quest for the twelve relics and the Grimfeast locale.  At the first session only one player ended up making it (everyone else had some last-minute things come up).  As a result, the player ran two PC’s.

Ransook and his brother, a cleric named Sebastian, had bought passage on a ship traveling to the city of Silverton, located in the Silvershire region.  Ransook had heard that the region was ripe for fortune seeking adventurers: decaying ruins, old silver mines, and not a lot in the way of civilization.  While passing through Lake Lodun, Ransook notices a run down manse on the shores of the lake.  In the upper window is a flickering light, flashing in what appears to be some sort of signal.

After checking into the local inn, “The Old Bag of Nails,” Ransook and Sebastian follow the lakeshore to investigate the reputedly abandoned estate.  After scaling the walls, they encounter large scorpions prowling the grounds, goblins running about the rooms, and two human skeletons sealed up in the dining room.  They also find the goblin’s leader, a Hexer, who has a signal lamp and some basic instructions.  From the upper room they can see an island out in the middle of the lake.  Who could they be contacting?

Below the house, the brothers also find a boat (and some dire rats who give Sebastian a nasty disease) and a bunch of shackles.  The brothers head back to Silverton to plan their next move.

Down the Well

The PC’s travel to Grimfeast, and make a bee-line for the Fiery Grog Tap Room.  There they meet several other adventurers including “The Hands of the Gods,” and Uabai, an accomplished Crasher.  Xander charms Uabai into guiding them down the underground passage into the tower located in the basement of the Tap Room.  Uabai wasn’t the best of guides, leading them into a kobold ambush, a run-in with a Otyugh, and finally a bizarre theatre complete with a ghostly actor (who was driven off by Willow).  Play ends with them getting deeper into the tower.

CK’s Notes:

All participants receive 720 XP for this session.  Willow gets a 300 XP, although the kudos seemed to be across the board.

I’ve been thinking about some logistical problems I’m having with gaming sessions.  First, there’s the unfortnate combination of a large group and small rooms.  Most rooms are 20′x20′, 20′x30′, or 30′x30′, because those were the sizes in the Descent board game.  I understand that you want to be able to lay out several rooms in a board game, but for my game of C&C, things are getting too crowded, and very often a good half of the PC’s aren’t able to affect play in a scenario because they are in the back of the queue.  Since I don’t want to limit the size of the group, I need to “air out” my dungeons with larger rooms, perhaps even going to a less “tinker toy” layout (rooms attached by long, thin corridors) to a “house” layout where the rooms are more adjacent.  Rather than cast loads of Hirst Arts bricks, I may just consider investing in a WorldWorksGames cardstock set and using it.

Second, I’ve changed gears in this campaign.  For a while I was going lightning-fast through the different relics that needed to be found, which the PC’s finding one after one or two sessions, then moving on.  I liked the roleplaying in this adventure and the corresponding greater depth of the backstory, but I could tell that the players were expecting to find the Lantern this adventure, and were getting antsy that it didn’t seem like they were getting close.  Truthfully, I wouldn’t mind setting aside the whole “quest” structure and instead get a chance to work a few Grimfeast-related subplots (and of course some good ol’ fashioned crashing) instead.

The Lantern of Lost Souls

There are, throughout the world, dozens, perhaps hundreds of taverns, all similar to the Pale Wheel Guesthouse. Dim lights, dirty floors, and cheap drinks. And information, of course there is always information available for the right price. In this case, the right price was a bottle of amber liquid and a willingness to listen to a man to whom few people pay attention. But his story was definitely worth it…

The scariest monster in Castles and Crusades

Having searched the draugr forge and found it lacking in treasure, the group does something very unusual: they split up. Hammer and Ransook go one way, while everyone else goes the other.

Editor’s note: for a multitude of reasons, only Hammer and Ransook’s players showed up for this session. As they are the two least powerful PC’s in the campaign, things had to be toned down considerably, and eventually Willow was added as an NPC to provide medical care.

Hammer and Ransook encounter several of the draugr and an ogre ally, but little else of interest. In one main room, however, the two (and Willow) encounter three draugr armed with wooden clubs, leather armor, and a rust monster on a leash. Even though it does no actual physical damage, the rust monster tips the scales in favor of the draugr, and the PC’s are on the ropes most of the fight. The rust monster itself consumes Hammer’s bearded axe and Willow’s masterwork warhammer, mace, and chainmail suit. Ransook finally manage to lodge enough arrows in the rust monster’s armored hide, and the battle turns in their favor.

Finally, the three come across the stone bridge reputed to be the last stand of the Hammerhands. On the bridge of the bottomless chasm reside ghostly remnants of the dwarf army. Far beneath the bridge is a another shadowy threat, a belker. Hammer, with surprising ease, dispatches the belkar while Ransook is scaling the cliff walls looking for the Celestine Mirror. With the belker defeated, the ghostly veterans laid to rest, and the magical mirror recovered, the group heads back the surface.

Despite their victory, the group is hungry and now short equipment, so they head for the nearby town of Fair Oaks. Fair Oaks is anything but, however, as the PC’s discover that the authorities tend to round up outsiders as thieves and debtors as sell them into indentured servitude. After buying four prisoners from the courts, Ransook and the rest of the group decide to have a few words with the sheriff. Angry words become threats, and before you know it the PC’s have slain half the town guard and quite a few townsfolk and have lit several buildings on fire.  Needless to say, the PC’s flee the city.  Once safely away, Hammer informs the group that he has had enough of this quest (his own fault to begin with, some think silently) and heads out on his own.

CK Notes:

Both participants receive 1800 XP for the adventure.

Hammer’s player had been slowly becoming disenchanted with the lack of interesting advances available to barbarians.  At third level he could only activate a power that made his a peril to his teammates.  Looking ahead to fifth, all he had coming was the ability to essentially have a few extra hit points.  Following this session, he asked if he could change PC’s completely.  In the past I’ve said players could swap out PC’s any time, and in fact one had switched character classes, but this was the first total character change.  Given Hammer limitations, both in abilities and personality, it seemed wise.

The Fallen Dwarves

The upper level of the Hammerhand clanhold turns out to be the home of some nasty creatures, referred to as “giant cave chickens” but are known to more informed monster hunters as archaierai. Unfortunately Hammer succumbs to the barbarian rage while battling the archaierai and, after dispatching his opponent, severely injures Xander. He continues to attack his friends until Ransook drops him with a well-placed arrow. After making sure the other party members are healed, Willow brings back Hammer to the verge of consciousness. The following day, Hammer promises not to let that happen again (any time soon).

The next level below reveals the true identity of the Hammerhand’s foe: a sub-race of dwarves called draugr, or “Deep Dwarves.” Long ago the draugr abandoned the dwarf gods in favor of diabolical powers. In return they gained access to dark magics, including the ability to create fields of silence around themselves, causing no end of havoc to the spellcasters in the group.

The session ends with the group having dispatched the crew of the dwarven forge, and are eagerly looking to complete their search for the Celestine mirror.

CK Notes

PC’s present: Xander, Xane, Ransook, Frankie, Willow, Hanthil, Violet, Hammer

All participants receive 578 XP, with Hanthil getting the XP bonus of 250.