Like It Or Not

An Adventure Outline for STAR WARS

This adventure is designed to be a potential opening scenario for a campaign set in the time-frame described above. There are certain roles that need to be fulfilled by PCs, so the GM will need to work with the players to determine which characters best fulfill those roles. In some cases, more than one character can be working together to perform a given function.

Where there is no character that can fulfill the role, one of the players will need to adjust to play a character that will or the GM will need to run an NPC to do the job.

The Roles

The Contact: This will be an individual who is friendly to Mon Mothma and cause (which is opposing the New Order. This individual will be the one who is supposed to arrange for her passage to Outer Rim territories and facilitate her escape from ISB agents.

The Arranger: This is the "Fringe" type operator who was hired to arrange for a transport. He should be shifty and a con artist, but ultimately should have no love for the Empire and get caught up in the struggle.

The Pilot: This character is the who the Arranger contacted about a special "job." He's been having plenty of trouble with COMPNOR operatives, although he hasn't heard yet about Palpatine's declaration of the Empire. The Pilot needs to be friends with Chandrila, thus giving him a stronger motivation to help.

The Rogue Cadet:

Ideally, this is a young pilot just graduated from the Republic Academy. Their romantic interest works for Mon Mothma as part of her staff. Alternately, this could be some other military or inteilligence operative who has the added information the heroes will need.

Part One

This will be the trickiest part to do because the GM will need to choreograph each of the PCs into the situation so they all come together at the right moment. If done right, they will be thrown together in such a way that they will have a common enemy and will eventually band together as friends and comrades-in-arms.

Mon Mothma, the firebrand Senator from Chandrila who has opposed Palpatin every turn, learned that she has been labeled a traitor by the self-styled Emperor.

Organa, another influential Senator sympathetic to her cause, arranged to get her transported to a military space station, where she was to hook up with a Scout Service that would drop her off in the main starport of the Inner Rim planet, Renor. From there, Mon Mothma was to get in tonch with Contact, who was to arrange for transport to the Outer Rim.

The Contact has been in touch with the Arranger, who has, in turn contacted the Pilot. The date, time, and place has been established. The Pilot is to bring his ship to Supply Depot Port 27, which is on the outskirts of the city, where Mothma and her entourage, including the Contact, would meet them and take off. Of course, the Arranger managed to avoid telling the Pilot just what the nature of this "special cargo" was and how dangerous the mission would be....

Unfortunately, although Mon Mothma and her entourage manage to elude ISB agents, agents of another faction are able to discover the plan (they have secretly been watching Mothma's every move since Palpatine's election). They intercept her at the starbase and carry her and her entourage off for parts unknown.

The Rogue Cadet was visiting with their paramour when this occurred; the Rogue Cadet barely managed to escape, but not so their love interest and Mon Mothma. They know that Mon Mothma was headed for Renor to meet with the Contact (and they know the name of the Contact), so that seemed their only logical choice. Their career with this new Empire tossed to the wind, they stole a ship and headed for Renor.

Part Two

The time for Mon Mothma's rendezvous long past, the Contact makes their way to the meeting site, hoping to stall for time and find out what has happened. Unfortunately, they have been spotted by ISB Surveillance operatives, and ISB Enforcers and CompForce troops have been scrambled to pick the Contact (and friends) up.

The Contact arrives at Port 27 and meets with the Arranger. Of course, the problems will create tension as they argue over the situation (the Arranger hasn't received all their money, and they probably feel they are due even if the "package" doesn't arrive). That's when the Pilot (and crew) show up, further complicating the issue.

At this point, all the PCs should be somehow worked into the scene save for the Rogue Cadet, who will arrive momentarily.

At some dramatic moment. perhaps at the high-point of the argument, ISB and CompForce operatives will open fire. The GM is encouraged to decide what the best number is to give the PCs a scare but not easily defeat them. The next "wave" of agents are on their way. however, and have the place surrounded.

The obvious choice will be to climb aboard the Pilot's craft and escape. However, as they do, Imperial ships (probably Z-95 Headhunters) will be spotted. This is where the Rogue Cadet comes in, assisting the Pilot in blasting away and defeating the imperial ships. The heroes get away by the skin of their teeth and with most of them in hot water with the new Empire.

At this point, the situation is such that the GM is encouraged to let the players decide the best course of action. They must, essentially, do two things:

1) Find out who took Mon Mothma and where.
2) Rescue her (as well as the Rogue Cadet's love interest).

One of the most obvious ways to go about this is to "slice" into Imperial databanks and search for data regarding her kidnapping. Finding the right place to go and ask questions is another possibility.

Rather than cover all the possible methods, or plot out a linear course, this adventure will remain open-ended for the GM to determine (or allow the PCs to determine) where they go and how they find out what they need to know.

Ultimately, they will discover that the ex-Senator has been taken by Senator Pel Talon, a man who is in hne to become one of the Emperor's Grand Moffs. He has kept his abduction of her a secret, hoping to exploit this situation in the near future once all the chaos has died down and he is sure who is in command.

Pel is holding Mon Mothma and her entourage in his private retreat in the Mid Rim sector. He has a Victory-class Destroyer and her crew at his disposal (the Captain and he go a back a long way), as well as his own personal guard (use ISB Enforcer stats for them, but add vibro-blades, STR+3D).

The estate is, essentially, an ancient castle. He has kept the technology within to a minimum, especially in the dungeon, where Mon Mothma is being kept. This will force the PCs to deal with archaic mechanical locks and such. The GM is encouraged to utilize any maps of medieval style estates or castles they have on hand (a good chance to re-use some old D&D ™ modules or whatever else you may have; Palladium's COMPENDIUM OF WEAPONS, ARMOR, AND CASTLES is an excellent source).

The heroes will have to break or sneak in, find and rescue the hostages, and escape again, all under the threat of a star destroyer. Of course, as happened in the author's run, they might well con their way onto the destroyer and then sabotage it. To add more drama (and challenge), the GM might add in a band of capable mercenaries in Talon's employ. Additionally, Talon may have a force shield surrounding the complex that the heroes will have to bypass.

Finally, Pel himself is no pushover. He has begun the path of the Dark Side of the Force...

SENATOR PEL TALON

DEXTERITY: 3D+1
Blaster 6D+1
Heavy Blaster Pistol 7D+1
Brawling 5D
Pany 5D
Dodge 6D+1
Lightsaber 5D+1
Melee Combat 4D
Melee Combat: Sword 6D
Melee Parry 5D+1
KNOWLEDGE 3D
Bureaucracy 5D
Ancient Cultures 7D
Ancient History 7D
Willpower 5D+2
MECHANICAL 2D+2
Beast Riding 3D+2
PERCEPTION 3D+2
Command 4D+2
Persuasion 4D
Search 4D+1
STRENGTH 2D+1
Brawling 3D
TECHNICAL 2D

This character is Force Sensitive.

Force Skills: Control 4D, Sense 3D, Alter 2D
Force Points: 2
Dark Side Points: 7
Character Points: 13
Move: 10


Equipment: Lightsaber (5D), Heavy Blaster Pisiol (5D), Archaic Armor, Modified (+1D all attacks; gauntlets give him +1D Strength for Brawling damage)

Senator Pel Talon has long had a fascination with the "old ways," the times when there was royalty and matters of honor were dealt with through direct blood- spilling. He is most fascinated with the what he calls the "brutal, honest" nature of those times (even though he is more than willing to use deceit and subterfuge for his goals).

To this end, he has taken up residence in the ancient castle that has been in his family for generations, and he has maintained the motif as much as possible. Even what technology there is (for he is not so foolish as to not have any on the premises, especially in terms of arming his troops) has been disguised as much as possible.

Finally, he has begun his study of the Force. He has, in the past, met with Palpatine and Vader to enhance his gifts. He is a formidable (if somewhat odd) opponent. .

More Star Wars:

Introduction
A Closer Look: Star Wars History of the Empire
Adventure Outline