This episode seemed to me to be
perfectly in tune with the Star Wars feel, and I offer it up for your
enjoyment. Again, I am using StarCluster 3, with specific "Star
Wars-ish" modifications.
So the PCs are temporarily stranded
in Tibannopolis, the abandoned floating city on Bespin, their ship's
landing gear broken, sitting on a landing pad. Sharaska, Dindar, and
Delilah wanted to explore a small ship they saw through a break in the
clouds, sitting on a pad about a quarter of the way around Tibannopolis.
There was no way to go there directly, so they had to go into the
abandoned city, then out the other side. They left the droid and Lyssia
aboard, working on the landing gear.
The layout of Tibannopolis
is as follows - each landing pad is linked to other landing pads like a
cluster of grapes, with the stem leading to a door. Inside, the level of
the landing pads is a commercial level, with bridges arching up from
each landing pad stem and meeting in the center at a small park - all
plants dead now, of course - with waist-high parapets on each side of
the bridge. All around the periphery are stores, shops, eateries, and
bars, with occasional others beside the bridges. Between the periphery
and the center are two radial roads, like a spiderweb. There is a
void/atrium under the center area, going down the four levels of
residential living area, and a clear glass dome overhead. All very airy
and clean. Below the residential levels are a couple of maintenance
levels, with work docks and a well equipped hospital, then the huge work
levels, extending downward, where the Tibanna gas is extracted and
refined.
The PCs had gone to the center and headed back along the
proper bridge, when they met up with a tall figure in black jedi-style
robes and a deep hood, accompanied by five stormtroopers. He demanded
the party turn over Duke, as his master - assumed to be Vader - required
his (Duke's) services. This was in response to Duke 'throwing in' with
Vader to avoid being thrown into carbonite last weekend. Sharaska
refused to say whether they had Duke or not. The Dark Jedi got impatient
and force-choked Dindar, picking up the Wookie and dangling him over
the void/atrium, then demanded Duke again, the stormtroopers readying
their blasters.
At that point, Delilah broke out into a song and
dance - being a former entertainer, she pulled it off well. All eyes
turned in her direction. At that moment, Sharaska launched herself
through the air, knocking the Wookie across to the inner circle bridge
with her, and breaking the force choke. She called immediately for the
Jedi on the ship to come to their aid. At this point, while attentions
moved back to Sheraska, Delilah darted into a small alleyway between two
buildings, and hid herself - Delilah is at her most dangerous when you
don't know where she is.
In a short, sharp fight, the dark jedi
gravely wounded Sharaska, though not before she got an excellent hit on
him, whch he half-healed. Dindar hid from the jedi, as not only was he
badly wounded by the force choke, he is a bit of a coward. Three storm
toopers went down the alley to locate Delilah, while two remained,
covering the Dark jedi.
The troopers went right by where Delilah
hid, and she slipped out behind them. She sneak killed two, leaving the
leader alone while hiding again. The leader turned around at the end of
the alley, and seeing his two mates dead on the ground behind him, and
nothing else there, he opened up at random, then dashed back to the
mouth of the alley. Again, Delilah slipped in behind him and her knife
flashed once more, and none were left.
Meanwhile, the jedi from
the ship - Hosea, his padawan Torota, Duke, and Daykon - came in on the
scene. The Dark Jedi stood, one foot on Sharaska, his light saber on and
pointing down at her back. He offered to trade Sharaska for Duke,
implying that she was of far more use to them than a jedi who was
definitely darker than he ought to be. They conversed, while Hosea
readied a TK. He flung a pebble, loosened in the fight with Sharaska, up
into the Dark Jedi's light saber, turning it off for a crucial moment.
The
two covering storm troopers immediately started firing - and missing! I
couldn't roll anything at all on ten total dice! - and the Dark Jedi
grabbed Sharaska and force jumped down four levels to the floor of the
atrium. At this point, with four jedi against him, he was just trying to
escape. He had only known of Duke and Daykon, but four was a bit much,
even for a very dark adept.
Torota leapt and killed one of the
two stormtroopers. Daykon grabbed his blaster rifle, and began shooting
at the Dark Jedi below. Duke and Hosea followed the Dark Jedi, matching
his leap. and confronting him below. This time he held Sharaska up with
his light saber at her throat. He bargained, offering to let them have
Sharaska if they would let him go. He had his lightsaber in shield mode,
and it would take a lot to batter that down. Meanwhile, Torota killed
the last storm trooper. Daykon, firing from above, couldn't penetrate
his defense, as he slowly backed towards an opening.
Duke offered
to let him go, abiding by the deal. The Dark Jedi refused to accept his
word, as he had proven himself false already. Hosea, a jedi slightly on
the light side, took his offer, promising to let the Dark Jedi leave if
he left Sharaska behind, alive, and agreed to cut off Duke's head if he
intervened, promising to do so "by the light side of the Force."
The
Dark Jedi took Hosea's word, letting Sharaska go and steping back
towards the door behind him. Duke grabbed Sharaska and dragged her away
to safety, but Hosea attacked, becoming forsworn, and gaining dark side
points while losing light side points. Between Hosea and Daykon,
shooting from above, they had beaten down his defenses, but had nothing
left to actually harm him, when Torota force leapt from on high, coming
down behind him, slaying him with her light saber.
With this,
they located the hospital level and patched up Dindar and Sharaska,
Daykon and Torota contributing jedi Healing as well. Then they moved the
partly repaired Albireo, and the Dark Jedi's small ship, down to the
garages below to hide from sight and finish all repairs, and as well to
reconfigure both ships so that they looked somewhat different.
Monday, March 10, 2014
Friday, February 28, 2014
Mercurian Mystery
AP Wire story, originally published in the Sunward Observer, Bitter Sea City, Mercury.
Remains of five earth humans were found today in a newly discovered shadowland sunward of the Salt Desert. Judging by the skeletal structures, all five were males, the youngest under the age of majority - possibly the child of one of the others. Analysis of evidence at the site showed copious ammunition expended, yet no sign of anything actually being hit.
Examination of the skeletal remains indicates the bones were gnawed clean, as if by hordes of giant rodents. A nearby abandoned lander may have been the vehicle used to bring them to this remote site far from any inhabited area. The lander appeared to have been damaged in landing, and the five may have been marooned. The lander had apparently been subject to an abrasive sandstorm at some point, because all serial numbers and other identifying marks had been ground off. The skeleton of a large snake was also found, possibly the pitiful survivors' last meal.
Dr. Kladeny Jorikov of the University of the Bitter Seas, who headed the expedition which found the remains, theorizes the five men may have been survivors of an accident in orbit who came down in the wrong lace. "They had obviously been blinded by the katabatic winds, or possibly a glimpse of the sun," explained Dr. Jorikov, "As despite being well armed, the men seemed to have been firing at random. The only creature they injured was the snake, which appears to have been strangled. Perhaps they encountered it by touch?"
Ample provisions appear to have been available in the lander, but being blinded, they may have been unable to find it once they had left. The details may forever remain a mystery. Were they fleeing some unknown space battle? Had their ship been struck by a sunward meteor? We may never know. For now, their bones hold the only testimony.
Remains of five earth humans were found today in a newly discovered shadowland sunward of the Salt Desert. Judging by the skeletal structures, all five were males, the youngest under the age of majority - possibly the child of one of the others. Analysis of evidence at the site showed copious ammunition expended, yet no sign of anything actually being hit.
Examination of the skeletal remains indicates the bones were gnawed clean, as if by hordes of giant rodents. A nearby abandoned lander may have been the vehicle used to bring them to this remote site far from any inhabited area. The lander appeared to have been damaged in landing, and the five may have been marooned. The lander had apparently been subject to an abrasive sandstorm at some point, because all serial numbers and other identifying marks had been ground off. The skeleton of a large snake was also found, possibly the pitiful survivors' last meal.
Dr. Kladeny Jorikov of the University of the Bitter Seas, who headed the expedition which found the remains, theorizes the five men may have been survivors of an accident in orbit who came down in the wrong lace. "They had obviously been blinded by the katabatic winds, or possibly a glimpse of the sun," explained Dr. Jorikov, "As despite being well armed, the men seemed to have been firing at random. The only creature they injured was the snake, which appears to have been strangled. Perhaps they encountered it by touch?"
Ample provisions appear to have been available in the lander, but being blinded, they may have been unable to find it once they had left. The details may forever remain a mystery. Were they fleeing some unknown space battle? Had their ship been struck by a sunward meteor? We may never know. For now, their bones hold the only testimony.
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Star Wars-ish Characters
An intro to the characters in my Star Wars-ish game:
The Crew of the Albireo
Sharaska Vey, Captain and pilot of the smuggling ship Albireo, Sharaska is a stunning Togruta of 38 years. She is a master pilot, and has Masteries in Beam Weapons, Sneaking, and Stashing contraband. She is smart and strong-willed, and is always finagling for a profit.
Dindar is a Wookiee, dapper and sleek, and 31 years old. He's a ladies' man, and has been known to be kidnapped by love-lorn women. He is the co-pilot, and pretends he understands the ship's machinery, which he bangs on with a wrench until it surrenders and starts working again, or it completely falls apart. As the only male in the crew, he gets far too much attention.
Delilah is a pretty Twi-Lek thief and stage magician of 30 years. Actually a Force adept, she uses stage magic to make people think she's not using the Force. Sh is the ship's cargomaster and the Captain's right arm.
G2S4 (General-Purpose 2 Spacer 4) is a droid assassin, disguised as a butler. He is a Master at programming and Beam Weapons, and can do just about any job on the ship except pilot.
Lyssia Highsaber is a 40 year old human. Attractive and ultra-competent, she has masteries in Navigation, Blades, Ship's Drives, Electronics, and Mechanics. She is strong in the Force, but completely untrained.
The Passengers
Daykon is a very handsome human Jedi of 30 years. He is firmly of the Light side, and a master of Stun, Telekinesis, and Blade. He is a human, arrogant and roguish. He lived quietly on a backwater planet for many years, attracting no attention from the Empire.
Duke Warcest is a Dark-side human Jedi of 32 years. He is a master of Jedi Mind Tricks and Telekinesis, and loves to manipulate people. He hid for many years among a teeming crowd of people in the sector capital. He is patient and sly.
Hosia Zabos is a mildly Light-side human Jedi, and also 32. Strong and enduring, he is Master of Melee Weapons, Telekinesis, and Shield. He hid for a long time on an ice age planet, making a good living by trapping and hunting animals and selling their fur. he uses a Light Pike - a long-handled staff-like weapon, and is upright and blunt. Intellectually he professes neutrality in the Light vs Dark question, but has a slight attachment to the Light.
Torota Savina is a 25 year old Timactrin female Padawan. She is sleek and otter-like, and militantly neutral in the Light vs Dark question. She is Padawan to Hosia, and her coming to him, with Daykon and Duke tagging along, precipitated their flight from the comfortable lives they had been living in hiding into their desperate search for the Rebel Alliance.
Torota was half-trained, but her master died leading her people, the Timactri, to pushing the Empire out of their space. Her people wanted her to lead, but she - being extremely traditional Gray Jedi - did not consider herself a Jedi yet, and left them to find a new master. The Force led her to Duke, Daykon, and finally Hosia - whose masters all had the same master, and thus knew each other - but the Empire was trailing her, as she is naive and a motormouth. They fled just ahead of the Imperial unit that was there to capture them, and have been on the run ever since.
Last year they were instrumental in bringing the Mon Calamari into alliance with the Timactri, and eventually, they hope, with the larger Rebel Alliance.
The Crew of the Albireo
Sharaska Vey, Captain and pilot of the smuggling ship Albireo, Sharaska is a stunning Togruta of 38 years. She is a master pilot, and has Masteries in Beam Weapons, Sneaking, and Stashing contraband. She is smart and strong-willed, and is always finagling for a profit.
Dindar is a Wookiee, dapper and sleek, and 31 years old. He's a ladies' man, and has been known to be kidnapped by love-lorn women. He is the co-pilot, and pretends he understands the ship's machinery, which he bangs on with a wrench until it surrenders and starts working again, or it completely falls apart. As the only male in the crew, he gets far too much attention.
Delilah is a pretty Twi-Lek thief and stage magician of 30 years. Actually a Force adept, she uses stage magic to make people think she's not using the Force. Sh is the ship's cargomaster and the Captain's right arm.
G2S4 (General-Purpose 2 Spacer 4) is a droid assassin, disguised as a butler. He is a Master at programming and Beam Weapons, and can do just about any job on the ship except pilot.
Lyssia Highsaber is a 40 year old human. Attractive and ultra-competent, she has masteries in Navigation, Blades, Ship's Drives, Electronics, and Mechanics. She is strong in the Force, but completely untrained.
The Passengers
Daykon is a very handsome human Jedi of 30 years. He is firmly of the Light side, and a master of Stun, Telekinesis, and Blade. He is a human, arrogant and roguish. He lived quietly on a backwater planet for many years, attracting no attention from the Empire.
Duke Warcest is a Dark-side human Jedi of 32 years. He is a master of Jedi Mind Tricks and Telekinesis, and loves to manipulate people. He hid for many years among a teeming crowd of people in the sector capital. He is patient and sly.
Hosia Zabos is a mildly Light-side human Jedi, and also 32. Strong and enduring, he is Master of Melee Weapons, Telekinesis, and Shield. He hid for a long time on an ice age planet, making a good living by trapping and hunting animals and selling their fur. he uses a Light Pike - a long-handled staff-like weapon, and is upright and blunt. Intellectually he professes neutrality in the Light vs Dark question, but has a slight attachment to the Light.
Torota Savina is a 25 year old Timactrin female Padawan. She is sleek and otter-like, and militantly neutral in the Light vs Dark question. She is Padawan to Hosia, and her coming to him, with Daykon and Duke tagging along, precipitated their flight from the comfortable lives they had been living in hiding into their desperate search for the Rebel Alliance.
Torota was half-trained, but her master died leading her people, the Timactri, to pushing the Empire out of their space. Her people wanted her to lead, but she - being extremely traditional Gray Jedi - did not consider herself a Jedi yet, and left them to find a new master. The Force led her to Duke, Daykon, and finally Hosia - whose masters all had the same master, and thus knew each other - but the Empire was trailing her, as she is naive and a motormouth. They fled just ahead of the Imperial unit that was there to capture them, and have been on the run ever since.
Last year they were instrumental in bringing the Mon Calamari into alliance with the Timactri, and eventually, they hope, with the larger Rebel Alliance.
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Star Wars-ish Season Two Begins!
My second campaign of StarWars-ish began yesterday. The Albireo came out of hyperdrive over Hoth. There were a number of Star Destroyers orbiting the planet, along with great chunks of debris.They were, of course, immediately noticed, and were ordered to prepare for boarding. The Captain ordered Lyssia, the Engineer, to disable the hyperdrive, and she did so. The Jedi spilled into their usual hidey holes in the smuggler ship, and the ship was boarded.
The Captain, Sharastra, managed to convince the Imperials that she was on her way to Javin, but her hyperdrive had blown coming into Ison. They bought a new shunt there, but only made it as far as Hoth before that, too, blew. They inspected pulled the hyperdrive shunt and, examining it, found evidence of tampering. They gave her a lecture on buying cheap, possibly stolen parts, told her the people she sold it to probably rigged it to blow near Hoth so they could come in and collect the ship after everyone starved, and sold her a new shunt at "Fair Value" from their stores. They gave her a warning, and left. The engineer installed the shunt, and they headed off to Bespin, figuring it was the closest advanced world the Rebels might flee to, if there were any Rebels left!
They came into Bespin, and noticed that the beacon for Tibannopolis was darkened, but they ignored it and landed on a landing pad on Cloud City. As they exited, Sharastra noticed the Slave I on a nearby pad and wondered what Boba Fett was doing in Cloud City. She knew him as a former bounty Hunter herself. They split up into three groups - Sharastra and her second, Delilah, the Jedis Duke and Daykon, and the Jedi Hosia and his Padawan Torota - to find out what had happened on Hoth, and where the rebels had gone to. Lyssia, Dindar, the Wookie co-pilot, and the Protocol/Assassin Droid G2S4 remained with the Albireo.
Sharastra and Delilah cornered a Bespin worker, who tole them that Vader was there and had taken over the city, and that Boba Fett was there to collect a gift from Lord Vader. They let him go and contacted the others. "Darth Vader is here!"
Duke and Daykon were walking through the city when they felt a metal-clad hand on their shoulders. "The Force is strong in you. The last time I had seen you, you were about to destroy a Star Destroyer." said Darth Vader. There were two dozen Stormtroopers at his back. "Come along with me," he told them. "I have a proposition for you." They were taken down into the bowels of Cloud City. Their communicators chirped. "Lord Vader is here!" "Thank you, we know." answered Duke. Sharastra immediately contacted the others that Duke and Daykon were captured by Vader.
Duke and Daykon were brought to catwalk high above a huge room. "This," said Vader, "Is how I treat my enemies. Join with me, or enjoy the pleasures of carbonite." They watched a hoist lift a slab of carbonite from a pit. Protruding from the slab was part of the body of a man, his hands reaching out and his face contorted in sheer agony. Daykon flinched. "I will not work with you!" Duke, on the other hand, said "Carbonite looks very painful..." Duke was somewhat Dark already, and Vader knew it. Daykon started to walk away, when Vader said "Stop him, and earn your place at my side." Duke drew his lightsaber.
"you are drawing on me?" said Daykon. He hit Duke with a powerful stun. Duke fought through it, but had a significant penalty as his head rang and swam. Nonetheless he said "You want to surrender" and waved his hand at Daykon. Jedi mind tricks! Daykon fought, but couldn't resist the compulsion. An aide came up to Vader and whispered in his ear. "I have pressing duties." he said to Duke. "Finish this one, and I will meet with you on my return." Duke contacted Sharastra telepathically, telling her not to leave, and mentioning he was working with Vader. She immediately dropped the connection and told everyone else by communicator that Duke had gone to the Dark side - he was always teetering - and that they were going to leave immediately.
When Vader had left, the two dozen Stormtroopers still surrounded them on the catwalk. Duke said to Daykon, waving his hand: "We have to get out of here," reversing his former trick. His mind fogged with pain, Duke was not up to facing down twenty-four Stormtroopers. Grabbing Duke, Daykon force-leapt through the steam and smoke of the carbonite pit, landing well on the other side, the Stormtroopers missing with every shot. (I rolled straight, not nerfing them for 'genre', they just completely failed!) He and Daykon found a lift and headed up to the living levels. Daykon contacting Delilah telepathically, and telling her that they were coming, and not to leave until they did.
Hosia and Torota force-questioned a Stormtrooper, who told them that Lord Lando Calrissian was working with Lord Vader to trap the Rebels leaders, and that Vader was currently in the mining area deep underneath the city. They headed down to the nearest lift, when Sharastra's call to leave immediately came through. "But what about the Rebel Leaders?" asked Torota. "Shouldn't we rescue them?" "We have to go! Sharastra won't wait!" They headed back to the landing pad.
Sharastra and Delilah got to the Albireo first, closely followed by Hosia and Torota. As they were running up the ramp, they all watched as the Slave I departed in a hail of blaster fire. "Maybe Fett is rescuing the Rebel Leaders!" said Torota. "I doubt that," said Sharastra darkly. They grabbed seats as Duke and Daykon came in, and they blasted away.
"When you told us to get ready," Lyssia told Sharastra, "I checked comm traffic. There are a couple of Star Destroyers in orbit that came in after we left. We'll never get out!" Sharastra remembered the darkened beacon. "We'll go to Tibannopolis - I think it's deserted. We can hide there." Sharastra did some neat piloting, and located Tibannopolis deep in a cloud bank. It was dark and lifeless looking. She parked the Albireo on a firm looking pad, and they all went to sleep, to wait out the Star Destroyers.
The Albireo groaned and shifted as they slept, waking everyone up. When they looked out the view ports, there were huge, two meter long feathers everywhere. Hosia left though the ramp, while Sharastra told Daykon to shoot the giant bird on top of them with the top turret gun. Instead, Daykon pumped loud music through the external speakers, frightening the bird away. As it leapt off, however, it overstrained the landing gear, which collapsed. Torota wormed her way out and joined her Master.
They went inside, where Hosia brought a public kiosk up to power. They encountered a flock of man-sized bird-things with sharp teeth, but were able to frighten them off. They returned to the Albireo, and told Sharastra what they had found. The Jedi combined to lift the Albireo up while Lyssia and Dindar built temporary supports to hold the ship up while they repaired the landing gear.
As the clouds lifted, Sharastra saw a small ship on another nearby platform. "Let's investigate that!"
End of session.
The Captain, Sharastra, managed to convince the Imperials that she was on her way to Javin, but her hyperdrive had blown coming into Ison. They bought a new shunt there, but only made it as far as Hoth before that, too, blew. They inspected pulled the hyperdrive shunt and, examining it, found evidence of tampering. They gave her a lecture on buying cheap, possibly stolen parts, told her the people she sold it to probably rigged it to blow near Hoth so they could come in and collect the ship after everyone starved, and sold her a new shunt at "Fair Value" from their stores. They gave her a warning, and left. The engineer installed the shunt, and they headed off to Bespin, figuring it was the closest advanced world the Rebels might flee to, if there were any Rebels left!
They came into Bespin, and noticed that the beacon for Tibannopolis was darkened, but they ignored it and landed on a landing pad on Cloud City. As they exited, Sharastra noticed the Slave I on a nearby pad and wondered what Boba Fett was doing in Cloud City. She knew him as a former bounty Hunter herself. They split up into three groups - Sharastra and her second, Delilah, the Jedis Duke and Daykon, and the Jedi Hosia and his Padawan Torota - to find out what had happened on Hoth, and where the rebels had gone to. Lyssia, Dindar, the Wookie co-pilot, and the Protocol/Assassin Droid G2S4 remained with the Albireo.
Sharastra and Delilah cornered a Bespin worker, who tole them that Vader was there and had taken over the city, and that Boba Fett was there to collect a gift from Lord Vader. They let him go and contacted the others. "Darth Vader is here!"
Duke and Daykon were walking through the city when they felt a metal-clad hand on their shoulders. "The Force is strong in you. The last time I had seen you, you were about to destroy a Star Destroyer." said Darth Vader. There were two dozen Stormtroopers at his back. "Come along with me," he told them. "I have a proposition for you." They were taken down into the bowels of Cloud City. Their communicators chirped. "Lord Vader is here!" "Thank you, we know." answered Duke. Sharastra immediately contacted the others that Duke and Daykon were captured by Vader.
Duke and Daykon were brought to catwalk high above a huge room. "This," said Vader, "Is how I treat my enemies. Join with me, or enjoy the pleasures of carbonite." They watched a hoist lift a slab of carbonite from a pit. Protruding from the slab was part of the body of a man, his hands reaching out and his face contorted in sheer agony. Daykon flinched. "I will not work with you!" Duke, on the other hand, said "Carbonite looks very painful..." Duke was somewhat Dark already, and Vader knew it. Daykon started to walk away, when Vader said "Stop him, and earn your place at my side." Duke drew his lightsaber.
"you are drawing on me?" said Daykon. He hit Duke with a powerful stun. Duke fought through it, but had a significant penalty as his head rang and swam. Nonetheless he said "You want to surrender" and waved his hand at Daykon. Jedi mind tricks! Daykon fought, but couldn't resist the compulsion. An aide came up to Vader and whispered in his ear. "I have pressing duties." he said to Duke. "Finish this one, and I will meet with you on my return." Duke contacted Sharastra telepathically, telling her not to leave, and mentioning he was working with Vader. She immediately dropped the connection and told everyone else by communicator that Duke had gone to the Dark side - he was always teetering - and that they were going to leave immediately.
When Vader had left, the two dozen Stormtroopers still surrounded them on the catwalk. Duke said to Daykon, waving his hand: "We have to get out of here," reversing his former trick. His mind fogged with pain, Duke was not up to facing down twenty-four Stormtroopers. Grabbing Duke, Daykon force-leapt through the steam and smoke of the carbonite pit, landing well on the other side, the Stormtroopers missing with every shot. (I rolled straight, not nerfing them for 'genre', they just completely failed!) He and Daykon found a lift and headed up to the living levels. Daykon contacting Delilah telepathically, and telling her that they were coming, and not to leave until they did.
Hosia and Torota force-questioned a Stormtrooper, who told them that Lord Lando Calrissian was working with Lord Vader to trap the Rebels leaders, and that Vader was currently in the mining area deep underneath the city. They headed down to the nearest lift, when Sharastra's call to leave immediately came through. "But what about the Rebel Leaders?" asked Torota. "Shouldn't we rescue them?" "We have to go! Sharastra won't wait!" They headed back to the landing pad.
Sharastra and Delilah got to the Albireo first, closely followed by Hosia and Torota. As they were running up the ramp, they all watched as the Slave I departed in a hail of blaster fire. "Maybe Fett is rescuing the Rebel Leaders!" said Torota. "I doubt that," said Sharastra darkly. They grabbed seats as Duke and Daykon came in, and they blasted away.
"When you told us to get ready," Lyssia told Sharastra, "I checked comm traffic. There are a couple of Star Destroyers in orbit that came in after we left. We'll never get out!" Sharastra remembered the darkened beacon. "We'll go to Tibannopolis - I think it's deserted. We can hide there." Sharastra did some neat piloting, and located Tibannopolis deep in a cloud bank. It was dark and lifeless looking. She parked the Albireo on a firm looking pad, and they all went to sleep, to wait out the Star Destroyers.
The Albireo groaned and shifted as they slept, waking everyone up. When they looked out the view ports, there were huge, two meter long feathers everywhere. Hosia left though the ramp, while Sharastra told Daykon to shoot the giant bird on top of them with the top turret gun. Instead, Daykon pumped loud music through the external speakers, frightening the bird away. As it leapt off, however, it overstrained the landing gear, which collapsed. Torota wormed her way out and joined her Master.
They went inside, where Hosia brought a public kiosk up to power. They encountered a flock of man-sized bird-things with sharp teeth, but were able to frighten them off. They returned to the Albireo, and told Sharastra what they had found. The Jedi combined to lift the Albireo up while Lyssia and Dindar built temporary supports to hold the ship up while they repaired the landing gear.
As the clouds lifted, Sharastra saw a small ship on another nearby platform. "Let's investigate that!"
End of session.
Monday, February 17, 2014
Star Wars-ish Explicated!
I'm gearing up now for another "season" of Star Wars-ish. As before, we
are going on a radical re-interpretation of Lucas' opus: the original
trilogy is the only canon. The Jedi were almost exterminated long ago -
about eighty years, long enough for people to think of the Jedi as "some
old religion". There are no midichlorians - the Force is a
philosophical religion. Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader about 20
years ago. The extended Universe simply does not exist, as well as the
second trilogy of films - Episodes 1 through 3. Jedi of the Light are
just as unbalanced as those using the Dark Side of the Force. Those
using the Light Side do so because it gains them power - different but
equal to the Dark Side. Jedi can choose to be neither, and can access
both Dark and Light-Side powers, but but at a lower level than those
committed to one side or the other overall. The Empire is basically
pro-human and rather racist about it.
We are using StarCluster 3 as a system, adapted to the setting, with the Force replacing PSI powers, but using those labels to enable us to use the CharGen unchanged. Ships are limited - no one uses missiles in StarWars - and using the optional dogfighting rules from In Harm's Way: StarCluster for small ships and fighters.
Right now I am Genning-up star systems. In StarWars, there is usually one world per system, but they usually mean one important world. The other worlds are simply ignored. I am creating full star systems in case the less important worlds in the system become important to the game.
I would publish the rule-changes for StarWars-ish, but I don't know the limits for this - are things given away for free, but written for a specific publisher's system *by* a designer/publisher of that system considered fan-made? Does anyone know the limits of this?
We are using StarCluster 3 as a system, adapted to the setting, with the Force replacing PSI powers, but using those labels to enable us to use the CharGen unchanged. Ships are limited - no one uses missiles in StarWars - and using the optional dogfighting rules from In Harm's Way: StarCluster for small ships and fighters.
Right now I am Genning-up star systems. In StarWars, there is usually one world per system, but they usually mean one important world. The other worlds are simply ignored. I am creating full star systems in case the less important worlds in the system become important to the game.
I would publish the rule-changes for StarWars-ish, but I don't know the limits for this - are things given away for free, but written for a specific publisher's system *by* a designer/publisher of that system considered fan-made? Does anyone know the limits of this?
Friday, February 14, 2014
Star Wars-ish, Redux!
The star map for our new "season" of Star Wars-ish. The PCs will begin,
coming in to Hoth *just* after the Alliance has fled. This was adapted
from a huge galactic map I found on the web - the stars retain their
relative positioning - but I included jump lines as used in StarCluster.
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Serendipity and Roleplaying
Had a great session in my Sunday IRC game today! The group are occult
detectives in Victorian England. For rules, we are mashing up Blood
Games II, OHMAS, and Sweet Chariot. The group has a detective; a human
changeling returned from Faerie; a Savant, able to create pockets of
space time using higher geometries, and the sister of the Changeling; a
perpetually nine-year-old immortal; and a Doctor who occasionally and
inexplicably heals people magically.
The Association had been hired by Sir Houslett Mews to clear his garden in Piccadilly of a group of pixies. They had met with the Fairies, and had begun negotiations to move them. We started off today's session with a spirited argument between the sisters, culminating in the Changeling taking on the form of a hound and running away into the night.
She decided to poke in at Sir Houslett's house. There she saw a group of men looking into the garden from the roof, and Sir Houslett talking to another man. In hound form, she meandered closer, to overhear their conversation. Sir Houslett was talking to a Professor Moriarty about sealing up the Pxie's sidhe. The Professor guaranteed that his team could do so, mentioning that they had sealed hundreds of sidhs.
Now a Fairy Sidhe is an extra-dimensional pocket - the same thing her sister created. Alarmed, she ran back to her sister. To make a long story short, the Detective and the Doctor managed to delay things long enough for the immortal to enter the Sidhe with an extra dimensional tunnel on a piece of cloth. Moriarty and his crew sealed the Sidhe, but they had a way out. There it ended.
Now here's the cool bit. The Sidhe was to be sealed by Moriarty this night. There was no reason for the group to go there - they had been there that very day. They *should* have gone there the next day or so, finding a garden with no Pixies. Because there was an argument in character between the sisters, the changeling left, angry. For no particular reason, she chose to go to Sir Houslett's. She went an hour after dinner, in time to overhear things, and in time to get the group into position fast enough to stop it.
Serendipity strikes again!
The Association had been hired by Sir Houslett Mews to clear his garden in Piccadilly of a group of pixies. They had met with the Fairies, and had begun negotiations to move them. We started off today's session with a spirited argument between the sisters, culminating in the Changeling taking on the form of a hound and running away into the night.
She decided to poke in at Sir Houslett's house. There she saw a group of men looking into the garden from the roof, and Sir Houslett talking to another man. In hound form, she meandered closer, to overhear their conversation. Sir Houslett was talking to a Professor Moriarty about sealing up the Pxie's sidhe. The Professor guaranteed that his team could do so, mentioning that they had sealed hundreds of sidhs.
Now a Fairy Sidhe is an extra-dimensional pocket - the same thing her sister created. Alarmed, she ran back to her sister. To make a long story short, the Detective and the Doctor managed to delay things long enough for the immortal to enter the Sidhe with an extra dimensional tunnel on a piece of cloth. Moriarty and his crew sealed the Sidhe, but they had a way out. There it ended.
Now here's the cool bit. The Sidhe was to be sealed by Moriarty this night. There was no reason for the group to go there - they had been there that very day. They *should* have gone there the next day or so, finding a garden with no Pixies. Because there was an argument in character between the sisters, the changeling left, angry. For no particular reason, she chose to go to Sir Houslett's. She went an hour after dinner, in time to overhear things, and in time to get the group into position fast enough to stop it.
Serendipity strikes again!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)