Slaver's Chains is an adventure for the Star Wars RPG. It is designed for a mixed group of beginning and experienced PCs, allowing new characters to smoothly enter a preexisting campaign. However, with a little adjustment, it can be made to fit just about any campaign, and inexperienced characters are hardly necessary to run the adventure.

The players' stalwart band of rebels must gather vital information on a nefarious band of outlaw slavers. Executing a dangerous boarding of the slavers' ship while in hyperspace, they inadvertently cause an engine malfunction, sending the vessel careening towards an occupied planet. They must avoid crash-landing, salvage the information they need, and escape, all while being pursued by both the angry slavers and the local Imperials.

New PCs will take the role of slaves on the Tarrita's Fang, a slaver ship destined for the outlaw's headquarters. They will have a chance to cast off their chains and perhaps join the Alliance once the rebels board. Older characters can portray the rebel commando team, poised to strike at the slaver's operations. Players can use any characters they wish; if pressed for ideas, there are ready- made templates located at the end of the adventure.

Slaver's Chains has been designed to allow a certain amount of leeway in terms of how it progress' es. Parts of the adventure have been deliberately left vague for GMs to fill in with their own details. The information below should be used as a guide, not a strict fiat.

The Situation

For the last five years or so, a large band of slavers has been operating out of the Elrood sector. They use the rather innocuous name "Consolidations Unlimited," but both their business' associates and their victims know how terrible their profession really is.

With an elaborate system of informants and an intimate knowledge of shipping schedules and travel lanes, they have launched devastating attacks on settlements and personnel transports in the region, taking the strongest and fiercest as captives. They have an uncanny ability to know when and where to attack, siting only the targets that produce the greatest amounts of "quality product."

As is often the case, the Empire has turned a blind eye to these pirates, considering the elimination of "undesirables" under their chains to be a boon.

The Rebel Alliance has recently learned of this nefarious band and vowed to put an end to their activities. Besides the humanitarian concerns and the desire to eliminate a thoroughly odious business, the destruction of Consolidations Unlimited would curry favor for the Rebellion within the sector.

Furthermore, it would subtly demonstrate the Empire's incompetence to both legitimate and illegitimate interests. To this end, they have sent a small group of commandos -- the player characters -- to locate their base of operations and transmit the coordinates back to headquarters. Once the Alliance knows where the slavers are, they can launch a full strike against them, destroying their power base - and hopefully freeing hundreds of slaves who would be more than happy to join the rebellion.

The Slavers

Consolidations Unlimited was founded by an opportunistic smuggler by the name of Tarnta Bane. Taking advantage of the recent chaos caused by the rebellion, Tarnta has gathered a small army of equally ruthless scum and promptly begun carving out his own little criminal empire. The slavers have utilized a fiendishly simple modus operandi - they kidnap friends or relatives of star- port controllers, customs officials, militia captains, and anyone else with information they need, then blackmail them into providing regular data for the organization.

In some cases, they simply plant a transponder program in the proper computer system, allowing the slavers access to particular pieces of information. In others, a more permanent relationship is required and the victim's loved one is held captive for months or years on end. In any case, this web of reluctant informants has provided Tarnta and his band with everything they need to strike quickly, take what they need, and vanish before any kind of help arrives.

Consolidations Unlimited operates out of Vicerv 3, a small planetoid hidden deep within a nearly destroyed system. A nearby gas giant provides Vicerv with a barren, but survivable atmosphere, and the increasing profits of the operation have allowed a veritable fortress to be constructed beneath the surface. Comfortable living quarters and all manner of amusements are available for Tarrita's men, as well as a docking platform for attack ships, a well-stocked arsenal, and an entire floor of slave pens designed to hold their product.

No one but the slavers and their captives is ever brought here; buys are conducted at a neutral site and everyone within the operation is totally loyal to Tarnta.

Raids are typically carried out through the use of several huge frigates refitted for slave trading and numerous smaller vessels of one kind or another. They occasionally attack underdefended settlements, but usually choose personnel transports carrying large numbers of passengers. They typically force the ship out of hyperspace, board it, and move directly towards their pre-specified targets (Wookies and other such creatures are highly prized, as are beautiful women and underground species such as Ugnaughts).

After securing their victims, they disable the ship if possible and. retreat before any serious opposition organizes. This process continues again and again, over a period of weeks, until the holds are full.

Once captured, potential slaves are tagged with restraint collars, herded together into pens and shipped to Vicerv. From there, they are cleaned up, holo-taped for sales Pitches, and if necessary, broken into accepting their new lifestyle. The slave drivers of CU are very talented, and ensure that there is no permanent damage to their product during this process.

Thus far, no one has been able to get a mark on Consolidations Unlimited. They strike fast, move quickly, and vanish before anyone knows what's going on. That, however, is about to change.

The Mission

As stated earlier, Imperial authorities have been reluctant to do anything about Consolidations Unlimited. As long as Tarnta and company do not inordinately disrupt Imperial shipping or harass "decent" Imperial citizens, the local magistrate will happily ignore their depredations. Several weeks ago, however, one of C.U.'s blackmailed informants had had enough. He discreetly contacted the Alliance and asked for their help. The rebels agreed.

The biggest difficulty the Alliance faces in dealing with Consolidations Unlimited is getting a decent bead on them. Lacking the resources to patrol the sector and unwilling to tangle directly with the local Imperials, the rebels need to know exactly where C.U. is based before launching their strike.

Through their informant, they have been able to plant a single mole (one of the PCs) onboard a transport slated for attack. A combination beacon/microphone has been planted beneath the mole's skin that will permit a small group of commandos (the other players) to both monitor his situation and follow the slaver's ship.

The official plan runs as follows: the mole will allow himself to be taken by the slavers. Once onboard, he will assess the situation and attempt to engineer a revolt amongst the other slaves. Whether the revolt succeeds is not the issue; it is merely designed to distract the slavers from the other rebels.

At the proper moment, the rebel commandos will board the ship, locate the bridge, record the coordinates to Vicerv from the navicomputer and depart. If they're lucky, the slave revolt will be successful, and they can pilot the now-captured ship back to headquarters. If not, they must depart and leave the rescue operation for later (the mole will have to suffer until the strike force arrives).

The Morrt

The Morrt is an experimental vessel that the Rebellion has loaned to the players in order to board the slaver ship. It is a three-man craft designed to latch onto another vessel while in hyperspace, bore a hole in the hull and allow a commando unit access to the "host ship."

Essentially just a big engine with a cockpit attached, the Morrt combines the hyperspace capacity of long-range fighters with the hull penetration of classic Corellian boarding skiffs. It is designed to ride behind the host ship in hyper, space, gliding along in the wake of the hyperdrive engines.

When the time is right, it accelerates alongside of the host, latches to the side and uses the edge of the cockpit to drill a hole in the hull. With the addition of mass and weight, the hyperdrive will be forced to deal with a new set of figures. Safety routines will click into place and the ship should drop out of hyperspace just as the Morrt's crew begins to board. This has the twin benefits of halting the host's movement, and allowing it to be attacked by larger ships in the area.

That's the theory, anyway. The players are expected to see how well it works when they board the slavers' ship.

Stats for the Morrt

Type: experimental boarding ship
Scale: Starfighter
Length: 15 meters
Skill: Starfighter piloting 4D (at least)
Crew: 1 plus 2 passengers
Cargo Capacity: 50 kilograms
Consumables: 1 week
Hyperdrive multiplier: x2
Hyperdrive back-up: none
Navicomputer: Yes
Maneuverability: 4D
Space: 10
Atmosphere: like a turkey dropped from a B-52
Hull: 4D
Shields: None
Sensors:

Passive: 20/0d
Scan: 40/1D
Search: 65/1d+1
Focus: 3/5D

The Morrt's hull is designed to reduce the engine signal, making it very difficult for enemy sensors to detect. It can approach stealthily, leap into hyperspace alongside its host, and glide along smoothly until boarding operations commence.

Slaver's Chains Star Wars RPG Adventure

Situation and Mission
Plotline
Appendix: Characters