Capture

Play begins with the capture of the Rebel mole. He (she) has been planted aboard the Shining Comet, a lower class personnel transport en route from Lanthryrn to Bodrin. The character has been provided with a universal lockpick - planted within his jawbone - and a two way transponder radio/microphone, imbedded in the skull behind his right ear. With it, he can communicate with the rest of the commando squad (lurking nearby in the Morrt) and allow them to track him through deep space.

The Comet is a dingy, clanky, unkempt hole of a freighter, designed to pack as many people on as possible. The mole will be assigned a bunk in a communal living quarters, with four other passengers in the same room. Recreational facilities are at an absolute minimum on the ship, although the viewing deck provides a spectacular view of the surrounding stars. Those not on the viewing deck generally stick to their quarters.

GMs should feel free to role-play any encounters on the Comet they see fit. The crew is for the most part sullen and uncommunicative, concerned more with doing their job than making chit chat with others.

Most of the passengers are poor migrant laborers, leaving Lanthrym for greener pastures. They tend to be reserved, yet optimistic sorts, hopeful about their prospects for the future. A smattering of criminals and ne'erdo-wells may have found themselves on board as well, and one may try to take the mole for a ride (GM's discretion).

At the proper moment, the Comet should suddenly shudder, as if struck, and the engines will grind to a halt. The slaver's flagship, Tamras Fang has disabled the engines, and its crew of cutthroats is in the midst of boarding the vessel.

Having no defenses and little incentive to prevent the takeover, the crew will stand by as slavers stride down the corridors, blasters in hand. Those few passengers who fight back are ruthlessly gunned down. Allow the player to conduct any action he wants, but unarmed as he is, he shouldn't prove much of a match for the hard-working employees of Consolidations Unlimited. Treat any slavers encountered as Imperial Army Troops from the SWRPG rulebook.

The player's passivity (or fighting spirit, whichever he most exudes) will be rewarded by a brief visit from Tarnta Bane himself. He will stride into the character's quarters, flanked by a pair of guards.

Tarnta Bane:

Dexterity 4D+1: blaster 6D+2, dodge 5D, melee combat 6D, melee parry 6D, running 5d+2
Knowledge 3D- business (slaving) 71), intimidation 6D +2, planetary systems 4D, streetwise 7D, survival 4D
Mechanical 3D: astrogation 4D, space trans, ports 5D, starship piloting 6D, starship gunnery 4D+ 1
Perception 41): bargain 6D+2, command 7D, con 7D, hide 5D, search 5D+2, sneak 5D+1
Strength 2D+1: brawling 4D, climbing/jumping 3D, stamina 4D
Technical 2D+2: first aid 3D, starship repair 3D

Tarnta is a seeming anomaly among the slaving community: a jovial, boisterous man who genuinely likes people. The ethical connotations of his job just haven't hit him, and he doesn't let the abject misery of others get in the way of his good time. He enjoys seeing his men made happy and puts his other business associates at ease with his boyish charm and easy smile. Even the slaves are given friendly treatment; he treats his profession like some kind of grand game in which his victims are the losers ("better luck next time, big guy!"). His jocularity should not be confused with frivolousness, however, and he will kill those who cross him with the same passion and glee he does over the rest of his life.

Tarnta dresses in no-nonsense clothing designed for close combat fighting. He carries twin blasters stuffed into his belt like a pirate, a wrist communicator on his right hand. His black hair is tied back in a pony-tail and his eyes flash with a deep-set love of his job.

"So, this is the prize we've heard about, " he booms at the mole in a good-natured voice. "Let's hope you're all you're cracked up to be, my pretty pet." Allow the player to engage in any witty repartee he wishes at this point. When the conversation has run its course (or as soon as the character does something threatening), the guards step forward, subdue him with stunsticks (6D stun damage) if necessary, and latch restraining collar around his neck.

As always, the slavers will waste little time procuring their other victims. Within twenty-five minutes, they will have found who they need stunned and collared them, and returned to Tarnta's Fang, which is preparing to go to light speed.

Meanwhile, the commandos on board the Morrt will be able to make their move as so the slavers launch their attack. The pilot maneuvers the Morrt into the general vicinty of the Tarnta's Fang, then wait for the slaver ship to fire up its hyperspace engines. The pilot must make a Moderate starfighter piloting roll to avoid being spotted by the slavers; give a bonus for particularly clever ways of getting close (if the character keeps the Comet between them and slaver ship, for example).

Revolt/Boarding

The mole will be dragged into the Tranta Fang and led down to the slave holds along with other captives. He will be stunned and shackled to a wall, and left there to suffer until the slavers to Vicerv.

In contrast to the Shining Comet, the Fang is a clean, efficient well-run vessel. (For statistical purposes, treat the Fang as a modified Corell frigate as per the rule book pg. 119. It fires twelve turbolaser cannons instead of the six, and has a crew Capacity of 50. Up to two-hundred slaves can be held the storage areas, which have been converted pens. In all other aspects it matches the listed stats of a Corellian frigate.)

Tarnta expects his men to keep their quarters clean, and to conduct themselves as professionally as possible - the fun of raids should never translate over to sloppiness. The atmosphere of the Fang reflects this philosophy. The walls and floors glow with a soft white light, the corridors are free of debris, and dirt and dust are never given a chance to coalesce.

The slave pens, however, are another story. Dark, poorly lit and crowded, a few hours in them is enough to turn most captives into gibbering wrecks. Slaves are swiftly taken down to the dual holding floors, where they are chained to the wall and forced to crowd in with hundreds of others. Food is distributed in buckets and no provisions are made for the captives' hygiene (Tarnta finds such conditions a useful way to break the slaves' will - they are cleaned up and made healthy before being presented to buyers). Pens are divided into upper and lower sections, with a central catwalk dividing the floor down the middle. The shackles prevent any of the slaves from reaching the catwalk.

The slave pens are overseen by Nuubsal the Hutt, a frustrated, pathetic member of his odious species.

Nuubsal the Hutt
Dexterity 2D+2
Knowledge 2D: intimidation 6D, value 3D
Mechanical 2D
Perception 3D: bargain 4D, con 4D, persuasion 4D
Strength 4D: stamina 7D
Technical 1D+1

Nuubsal's clan was on the losing end of an extended intra-Hutt conflict, and its survivors have been scattered throughout the galaxy. Nuubsal tried his hand at the covert, manipulative form of crime that his race excels at, but never quite got the hang of it. He's been reduced to actual physical labor, acting as the slave driver for Tarnta's band.

Needless to say, this has made him bitter, caustic and hateful to every being he meets. Since he can't challenge Tarnta or any of his other associates for a position of real importance, he takes out his frustrations on the slaves. He can be found waddling up and down the catwalk, shocking passive captives with a stun stick and following it up with some witty comment. He enjoys pitting the slaves against each other, forcing them to fight over food, supplies and preferential treatment (i.e., not getting stunned into unconsciousness). This is the closest the miserable Hutt can get to the vaunted manipulation his race is famous for.

Nuubsal always has a contingent of four guards with him, in case of serious difficulties (treat as Imperial Army Troops - they are armed with an assortment of blasters).

Once things have settled down a bit and the ship is under way, the mole will be free to interact with Nuubsal or with any of his fellow prisoners. There are approximately one hundred slaves here, having been captured on a series of raids stretching back several months. Many of them are fright,ned and demoralized, but a few have nurtured a healthy hate for their captors. None of them is so far gone that they wouldn't revolt against their captors if the opportunity presents itself.

This is the point where new characters can enter the game. PC slaves should be chained up near the mole and allowed to quietly interact with him. If no characters are playing slaves, substitute Jarson and Ch'dioqua from the Appendix. In any case, however, a few minutes talk and a pre, sentable means of unlocking the chains (i.e the lockpick) should be enough to get them on their feet.

Depending on how the character handles it, word could spread quickly throughout the entire cell, alerting all of the slaves of a means to freedom. Or it could be just the players breaking their chains and lurching wildly up at Nuubsal. It is up to individual players and GMs to decide exactly how to play the slave revolt.

Any talking above a whisper is likely to attract the attention of Nuubsal, who will apply his stunstick with vicious glee to any transgressors. If talk of escape is widespread, he will be stunning a great many captives, which may be the spark that sets everybody off.

Meanwhile, the other stalwart commandos should be following developments in the slave hold via the transponder. The Morn will have gone into hyperspace quite easily, and should now be wafting quietly behind the Tarnta's Fang (Easy piloting rolls to avoid alerting the slavers to their presence). They should be able to make suggestions to the mole concerning the particulars of the slave pen and revolt, but anything they say or do must be channeled through him.

Once they feet the time is right, they can put the Morrt into action. It will require a Difficult piloting roll to maneuver the ship out of the Fang's wake without colliding with the engines (Force points should be encouraged here). From there, they need to match speeds with the Fang, pick a good spot to attach, and engage the ships boarding program.

A series of claws will appear from housings lodged around the cockpit. A sharp burst from the engines will shoot the Morn towards the Fang's hull, where the claws dig in and begin to superheat the surrounding metal. Within seconds, a seal is made, the hull is broken through, and the entire front end of the cockpit opens forward like a flower petal, giving the crew access to the ship (exactly where depends on where the pilot decided to board and the GM's whim - a nice corridor somewhere is probably best).

As they prepare to board, however, the ship should lurch terribly, and an horrible shudder will cause the surrounding metal to buckle.. Have everyone make a Moderate dodge roll in order to stay on their feet. Those who fail take ID damage.

Landing

Some of the calculations regarding the Morrt's ability to bring a ship out of hyperspace were a wee bit flawed, and the Fang's hyperdrive has gone belly-up from the stress caused by the connection. The good news at this point is that the Mortt has indeed opened a hole in the Fang, and the Rebels are now free to charge through the corridors at their leisure.

The bad news is that the connection has done irreparable damage to the hyperdrive, the lurch back into real space has caused a nasty explosion, and the ship is now spiraling hopelessy out of control. If they haven't already, the shuddering ship causes the slaves to finally make a bolt for freedom, overpowering their guards and forcing their way towards the upper decks.

The characters' orders are to find the bridge and download the coordinates to Vacerv from the navicomputer. In light of the Fang's malfunctioning, however, they may want to change their plans.

The engineering section is currently leaking flaming debris into space, so attempts to gain control of the ship from there are going to be a bit touchy. If they somehow get through the boiling plasma and avoid getting sucked out into space, they will find the controls here completely useless.

Some players may want to go down to assist the slave revolt, others may want to hunt down the slavers before they can escape (the Fang is equipped with emergency lifeboats). A few may even want to find the escape pods or go back to the Morrt and get the heck out of Dodge.

In any case, the entire crew has been alerted, and with the slave revolt underway, is expecting trouble. The commandos should have a firefight or two on their hands before they get to where they want to go. Rebellious slaves will soon be wandering the halls as well, and might not be par. ticular about who they shoot at.

Sympathetic slaves may want to join the rebels in a burst for freedom, and in any case, there should be at least one opportunity to hook up with the mole. Everyone should also make routine dodge checks of varying difficulty to avoid taking light damage as the ship continues to pitch and yaw.

The only place to regain control of the vessel is the bridge. The Fang's officers have been running around like headless chickens trying desperately to correct what is rapidly becoming an overwhelming problem. When (if) the players enter, there will be five slavers scattered about the bridge, all operating various controls. They will open fire if the players make hostile acts (again, treat as Imperial Army Troops), but are otherwise too busy trying to keep the Fang from exploding to notice anything else. Tarnta Bane is not among them (he's trying to quell the revolt).

Luckily, the Fang came out of hyperspace near an inhabited system. Darstell 4 is a fairy pleasant little planet located along a minor-league shipping lane. Its primary continental mass consists mainly of softly rolling hills, and the many settlements dotting its surface have achieved a harmonious balance with the surrounding ecosystem.

The local Imperials are able to keep order with a minimum of strong-arming, and the quiet flux of travelers along the trade route does little to ruffle the native's feathers. Things on Darstell are by and large fairly peaceful.

That, however, is about to change. Unless exploding in a ball of amazing Lucasfilm' special effects somehow appeals to your players, the best hope is to land the Fang somewhere on the planet. It will take three Difficult starship piloting rolls to maneuver the burning Fang into Darstall's atmosphere and engage the landing cycle. The slaver's current pilot has a skill of 3D+2, but is unwilling to hand the comm over to anyone else he may take some persuading if more competent characters want to take control.

Clever players will doubtless want to access the navicomputer and fulfill their mission. Once again, they will need to persuade the slaver there to abandon his post. It takes a Moderate astrogation roll to call up the Fang's flight plans and download them onto a storage disk. Once the slaver realizes what the player is trying to do, he will do whatever it takes to stop him.

Any number of things could happen during this time to further disrupt player activities. An enraged mob of slaves could break in and attack everyone. Tarnta Bane could return and decide to kill the players on general principles. The possibilities are limited only by how nasty the GM feels.

The Crash

Hopefully, the characters will be able to guide the Tarnta's Fang towards Darstell and engage the landing cycle, thus preventing the hideous death of all on board. Unfortunately, the ship has picked the worst possible place on the planet to crash the Governor's palace in the heart of the capital city of Symt. Burning like a meteor, it streaks right down on top of building's central tower, landing Morrt-side down in front of Governor Bellows and his tea.

The building will crack and large chunks will come tumbling all over everything. Everyone on board will suffer 2D damage for every unsuccessll starship piloting roll made during the landing. (Oh yeah, and the Mont will be destroyed beyond repair - the Alliance can bill them.)

Governor Bellows is not one to take the destruction of his living quarters lying down, and orders his troops to take down anyone they find in the wreckage. As survivors stagger from the Fang they will be fired upon or subdued, slavers, slaves and rebels alike.

At least twenty Imperial stormtroopers survived the crash and will promptly begin poking through the wreckage, looking for other survivors to kill. Furthermore, a large percentage of the slavers are alive and kicking, and now now want some payback. The characters will have to deal with twofold threats of cranky slavers inside the Fang and cranky stormtroopers outside.

Fortunately, they have a large number of rampaging ex-slaves on their side (sort of), who are fleeing the ship and won't be easily deterred by people shooting at them. In all the chaos and confusion, a determined band should be able to effect an escape.

As long as they don't draw inordinate attention to themselves, they should be able to slip out of the palace and into the city beyond. A large crowd has gathered to watch the destruction and carnage, making escape that much easier. Exact details, again, are up to the GM.

Symt is a fairly high-technology city of approximately one million beings. It contains a modest underworld element and a fair amount of crime, although its small size keeps things from getting tremendously out of hand. Streetwise characters should be able to blend in without a considerable amount of difficulty.

Once the fireworks settle down, however, the players will have a new problem on their hands. Governor Bellows has ordered a quarantine of the entire system until the "miscreants" who crashed their ship on him can be apprehended. He lacks the ships to physically prevent anyone from leaving, but anyone who does so will find themselves wanted by the Imperial authorities wherever they go. Stormtroopers will begin methodically searching for slavers and slaves alike, throwing anyone they catch into the stockade.

The players will have to dodge the troop patrols and find a way off the planet before they end up back in chains. Exactly how the players manage to leave is up to the GM. Stealing a ship is a possibility, and there are enough unsavory smugglers about who would be willing to break quarantine and take them off-planet if the price is right.

Whatever the players come up with, make sure enough pressure is there to keep them on the move. Darstell is not the place to be right now, and leaving is in everyone's best interests.

Furthermore, Tarnta Bane managed to escape the wreckage at the palace and is extremely upset. With his operation in shambles, he will become obsessed with hunting down the characters and making them pay. He could cause quite a few problems to their escape attempts, and eventually force a showdown before they can leave. Or he can go on even further to become a recurring villain for the players. Catching them has become a new game for Tarnta, and he wants to make sure he wins this one...

Players should be awarded between five and ten Character Points for the adventure, depending on how well they performed and how much fun everyone had.

Slaver's Chains Star Wars RPG Adventure

Situation and Mission
Plotline
Appendix: Characters