STAR WARS RPG - A Campaign Using the Fantasy Flight System, Act 2

Chapter 5 - Imperial Entanglements

Natasha and Feral meet 4-2 and head to the Typhoon so it can inspect the two containers of B1 Battle Droids they brought from Duro. It plays the holo-projector so the party can communicate with Drell Mar. All is to its satisfaction and the units are put on flatbeds and brought to loading bay 77077 inside New Jahnae City. Large droids with fork-lift actuators pull the containers and stack them. The characters notice a pair of feet sticking out from between two cargo holders at the far side of the bay. They investigate and find that the body is of an Imperial Customs Agent. They take her data pad, some credits and some unused customs seals.  Looking at the wounds she sustained, the party surmises she was attacked and killed by one of the loader droids. 4-2 asks that the party help move the body of the customs agent to a residential part of New Jahnae, which they do. Other cleaning droids show up soon after and clean the areas of any evidence.

Black Krrsantan,
Wookiee Bounty Hunter

Heading back to Red Hills Saloon, Natasha almost collides with a enormous Wookiee who snarls and bellows angrily as his personal space is invaded. She keeps her composure and enters the bar. The well-equipped Wookiee is leaving with a woman wearing Ubese armor and bristling with weapons. They have the look of bounty hunters. Asking around the Red Hills Saloon, they realize that the pair are searching for Drell Mar, the Aqualish pirate.

Doesh Dien,
Ubese Bounty Hunter

Their dinner is interrupted by two Imperial officers, Captain Lomar and Lieutenant Kriegg, with Storm Trooper escorts. They ‘insist’ that they join them at the Imperial Office for a ‘casual discussion’. When they arrive, Natasha and Feral check the Imperial Wanted Postings, seeing that the pirate Drell Mar is not listed. This makes them believe that the bounty hunters are working off of a private contract. The Captain and Lieutenant direct them to an interrogation room and tell them to secure their weapons in the locker before entering. Natasha, who is concealing two very illegal disruptor pistols, is not about to chance getting arrested for possession of a disintegrating weapon. She turns on the two troopers blocking the exit and fires, killing both immediately. More blaster fire is exchanged and Feral attacks the officers. In the end, Captain Lomar escapes with his arm gravely wounded, but the others are killed. They flee the Imperial Office to their ship for a quick get-a-way.

Captain Lomar, Bestine V
Imperial Security Detachment

As they begin to depart, the Wookiee and the Ubese bounty hunters are seen droid-napping, hauling an immobilized 4-2 on a repulsor-pallet and entering their ship, a battle-worn YV-666 named the Gruunn. The party enters the Typhoon which Blade had readied for take off and track the fleeing ship. They are heading to the site of a crashed VT-1300 freighter about 30 km from New Jahnae City, where there are mercenaries or pirates rumored to be working for Drell Mar.

They stow the G9 behind a rocky hill and sneak up to the crash site, the Gruunn is parked nearby with the entrance ramp down and a large loader droid standing guard. The party can hear blaster fire, shouting and a Wookiee’s enraged howl coming from the ruins. Natasha scans the ship, finding three other life forms and some droids on board. She, Feral and Blade rush the ramp and Natasha uses her force powers to ‘push’ the loader droid off to the rocky surface of Bestine V. They scramble on board and close the door. Natasha removes the power unit to ensure the door will not open again.

YV-666, "Grruunn" (side view)

Chapter 6 - The Upper Hand

The bounty hunters try to negotiate with them. The Ubese contacts them via holo-communicator and uses a CZ protocol droid to translate. The droid identifies his masters as the notorious Wookiee, Black Krrsantan and the Ubese bounty hunter Doesh Dien. They suggest, that if Natasha, Feral and Blade return their YV-666, they will give the characters the dread pirate Drell Mar, (really just a random mercenary with a sack over his head,) whose bounty should bring them 20,000 credits as well as several other pirate prisoners and equipment. Furthermore, the Doesh Dien holds a device which she claims is a detonator that can blow up the entire ship, killing everyone instantly. They make a quick search of the Gruunn, finding two life forms residing in prison cells and a third mysteriously moving through the walls and between decks of the ship. They eventually discover a device of four rigged thermal detonators behind an engineering panel, placed near the ship's reactor. Natasha carefully removes the device and uses her force powers to move the explosives to the wreck of the YT freighter instead. 

They head to the YV-666 weapon controls. Quad laser canons raze the ruined YT, continuing to punish it again and again. Black Krrsantan bursts out from the flaming wreckage on a speeder bike and races towards some broken terrain nearby. The Ubese tries to do the same but the controller fin of the bike catches on some debris and she and the bike go spinning into a wild disorienting dive. Laser fire finishes her off and the Gruunn takes off to pursue Black Krrsantan. He manages to evade them for a few minutes but as the Wookiee makes a daring break, he is shot down and erupts in a giant exploding ball of orange flames. They set the Gruunn down and take everything of value from the wreck, then they land next to the Typhoon and discuss their next move.

The players assess their condition after the battle. The bodies of Black Krrsantan and Doesh Dien are looted and quickly buried beneath the red rocks of Bestine V. Anything of value from the pirate hideout is similarly taken, and they place the only survivor in one of the cells on board the newly captured YV-666.   He is a Balosar by the name of  Zorbo Chernick. He claims to work closely with the Pirate Drell Mar but the party begins to suspect otherwise.

Terran 'Smash' Mace, Black Sun Thug

The two humans already in the cells are 1) a black sun thug named Terran "Smash" Mace and a suspected rebel pilot/smuggler named Mara Joyce. They both have bounties.

They take interest in the personal items left behind by the bounty hunters. Krrsantan had the head of a stuffed Nexu, some weapons he collected as trophies. Doesh Dien had a severed human head in a fridge. 

Mara Joyce, Rebel Pilot & Smuggler

They also find mundane cargo containers of food stuffs, some various star ship and droid parts.

There is a very wounded yet talkative CZ who now accepts the players as his new masters. They collect the loader droid as well and affix a restraining bolt.

CZ informs the party that a Neimoidian named Pruuv Naytay discovered a spy had been planted in his crew by a pirate named Drell Mar. Pruuv, a veteran of the Clone Wars and now operates a medium freighter working the hard scrabble systems of the Tyus sector. In turn, he hired the bounty hunters to investigate why this pirate had any interest in him.

They take the speeder bikes to pick up a part they need to fix 4-2 and meet with protocol droid without incident. However, when trying to return to their ships, several mynocks moved in to chew on the power cables of the bike. There was little damage and the party sped away, quickly outpacing the creatures.

Nexu Head - one of many trophies collected
by the Wookiee Bounty Hunter, Black Krrsantan

4-2, who had his central power core ripped out by the Wookiee, was repaired by Natasha. 4-2 establishes a link with Drell Mar, shining a tall, horrifying image of the Aqualish in the cargo bay for them as they negotiate. Drell Mar offers the party a retainer of 20,000 credits to infiltrate Pruuv Naytay’s crew and gather information on his movements. Furthermore, 4-2 is allowed to access and download the ship’s log to see if he can verify the Gruunn's recent movements and ports of call. Natasha looks at the data simultaneously and discovers that 4-2 also made a search for a ship called the Infinite Crown – a detail that was clearly left out of their discussions with the droid and his Aqualish master.

CZ - Protocol Droid

Natasha and Feral realize the G9 is now wanted and they have similarly been identified by the Empire as persons of interest. Natasha contacts her father, gives him a status report and informs him of the prisoners they freed from the bounty hunters. Rodundo tells them to bring the Black Sun thug to his Vigo who resides on Corellia. Meanwhile, the Typhoon should be brought to the Black Sun chop-shop on Centerpoint Station in order to dispose of it. They depart and begin making the calculations for a jump to hyperspace but a patrol of four TIE fighters attempts to interdict them. They attempt to jam transmissions, then engage the TIE fighters. Both ships take a bit of carbon scoring but in the end, all four TIE fighters are destroyed.

Chapter 7 - A New Nemesis

"We'll take it from here, bounty hunter."

Feral, who is piloting the Gruunn along with Terran and the droids, watches the Typhoon jump to hyperspace and he nearly engages the YV-666's engines until a proximity alarm begins to flash an angry red. A Imperial Star Destroyer jumps in, blocking the flight path of the Gruunn. Fortunately, it hails them on their communicator, rather than opening fire. Feral sends Terran to the back to make sure the captured Balosar, Zorbo stays quiet and he dons a space helmet to hide his face. Feral answers Commander Sienna of the Imperial Star Destroyer Vengeance. Sienna also contacts Captain Lomar who was previously wounded gravely by Feral and Natasha. The Empire is now calling the incident a concerted 'Rebel attack' and Captain Lomar orders Feral to remove his helmet. To Feral's surprise, Captain Lomar states that he was not among the attackers and requests the Vengeance collect his information, then release him and the ship. Captain Lomar's smiling face now looks more like a snarl. He concludes the conversation with Feral privately, ordering him to provide a scapegoat for the incident at New Jahnae City so that Lomar can save face. He also threatens to make further requests from Feral and Natasha in the future, as needs arise. Feral meets a contingent of Storm Troopers at the site of the crashed YT-1300 and he gives over a battered and bruised Zorbo to take the fall for the attack.

Chapter 8 - Corellia, Jewel of the Core

Dianoga in the Sewers

At Centerpoint Station, Natasha sets the Typhoon down in hanger 41, the Black Sun controlled chop shop. They clean out the ship. Four hours later, Feral joins them and they make a list of repairs needed for the Gruunn and give them to the furry Drall in charge of the landing pad while they eat refreshments in a cafe called the Bantha Trax. The refreshers and sewerage system in the Gruunn are replaced and a high output emitter is added to the ion engine to boost its speed. Unfortunately, they forgot to warn the Dralls of the dianoga living in the sewer storage tanks and an extra 2,000 credits got added to the bill for hazardous duty and damage the disgusting creature caused to a cleaning droid.

Centerpoint Station, Location of Black Sun Chop-Shop

Once the modifications are completed they travel to Corellia to meet up with Black Sun Vigo Nemitza, another Falleen who is a cousin to Vigo Agiatoz on Coruscant. Rebel Smuggler Mara Joyce departs to find her parents.

The meeting with Nemitza starts out well. The conversation turns into the Vigo complaining about the White Worms street gang and how much money they have cost him in territory disputes. They have members entering his underground dog fighting competitions and their Corellian hounds have bested his premium Kath hounds, causing the loss of several of the expensive animals. Furthermore, he has businesses who are being plagued by the petty criminals and are now refusing to pay protection money which they say isn't worth the plasticard it's printed on since their establishments are getting burglarized and vandalized regardless.

Vigo Nemitza

At this point, Nemitza uses his Falleen ability to release potent, mind affecting pheromones into the air and he begins to ask the questions. Natasha and Feral manage to keep their answers cryptic but Nemitza questions Smash about his apprehension and the thug succumbs to the biochemicals. He admits that he surrendered to the bounty hunters to spare his life, even though his boss courageously fell in the ensuing blaster fight. The Falleen is not pleased with 'cowardice' in his organization and has Smash taken out back to be fed to his fighting dogs as an example.

Nemitza tries to 'compel' Natasha and Feral into visiting Cyan Cybernetics, a medical facility that has refused to pay protection money. Natasha isn't impressed with the Vigo's treatment of his subordinates or the businesses within his territory and she lets him know that she isn't to be intimidated or influenced by him, (pheromones or not). This infuriates him, yet he offers to pay the three a substantial sum if they can humiliate the White Worms and get Cyan Cybernetics to resume the protection payments.

Band of Culisetto 'Blood Thieves'

They sleep on the Gruunn but in the morning they visit Cyan Cybernetics and are given a tour by Dr. Cyan Tames, a human who has received so many modifications that he could pass for a droid. Once the doctor realizes Natasha and Feral are not customers, he becomes guarded. He explains he will no longer pay any protection money until Black Sun stops his place from being burglarized. He has lost several shipments of biomass-products such as liquefied fat and bags of donated blood needed for the surgeries he preforms. They convince him that they are here to stop the break-ins. They stake out his storage area but no one attempts to burglarize the business on the first night. Natasha examines the security cameras within the building and discover a slicing transmitter connected to the system. This is sending the security feed to the burglars and so they hide in the only room (used for surgery) that doesn't contain cameras. The following night, they hear someone slicing the controls of the loading door. The door slides upwards and eight Culisetto, a flightless, mosquito-like alien, skitter into the room, some walking on the walls effortlessly. Feral, who waits in the structural beams overhead, readies his energy pike, while Natasha peers back at the giant, multi-faceted insect eye that stares at her through the small window into the surgical room.

STAR WARS RPG - A Campaign Using the Fantasy Flight System, Act 1

I want to put these campaign notes online, mostly to preserve them for future reflection and enjoyment but also to share the story with others playing these games. Due to our personal schedules, there are only two players and myself the GM. We are playing a little less than twice a month as not to disrupt our Pathfinder and Battletech RPG campaigns that are still ongoing. Fingers crossed for more players! The images seen are from Wookieepedia at https://starwars.fandom.com, many of them poorly photo shopped by me, or at the very least, 'renamed' to fit our story.  

Introduction: The Campaign & Characters

We are new to the interpretive dice system but are enjoying it immensely. Rather than play "born heroes", we decided to start out on a darker note and see where their moral compasses lead them. We begin ten years after the end of the Clone Wars, (nine years before the Battle of Yavin).

"Black Rose" played
by Scarlett Johansson

Collin’s character is "Natasha Hawthorne,” aka "Black Rose".

She is a force-sensitive human female spy/sleeper agent working as a freelance operative through an organization known as 'The Guild'. Her handler is a human who goes by the codename, 'Shadow of Eridu'. She graduated with a male Torgruta called 'Saber', a male human called 'Flame' and a Gand named Isek Nyuglioo who left the Guild mid-training. It was rumored he developed a 'deathstick' habit while trying to mimic 'vision questing' so many of the other hunters and trackers of his species perform, (though without the help of hallucinogenic drugs).  Her mother is a former pageant winner and a Coruscant debutante. Her father is a Vigo in Black Sun, a widespread, galactic criminal organization. Her brother went against family tradition and became a Law Enforcement Officer in the Capital City. He has little to no contact with the rest of the family but makes frequent attempts to lure her into colluding with the police. A security droid named Hunter protects the family's condo.

Sam is playing “Feral,” a Zabrak marauder from Dathomir. We role-played out the details of his backstory in the first chapter.

Feral, Zabrak Marauder

Chapter 1 - Escape from Dathomir

 Nightsister Shelissa has made an attempt on the Mother’s Seat for the Singing Mountain Clan but is sorely humilitated and banished from Dathomir. She informs Feral and six of his brethren to "pack lightly" and prepare to depart with her. They search for an abandoned Consular Class frigate turned freighter named Intrepid, deep in the ruins of an abandoned mining city.  A rancor hunts them as they travel and they attempt to hide. The rancor plucks two Zabrak from a shallow river and one is immediately eaten. The other, named Blade, is saved after a daring rescue by Feral who rushes the hungry beast, climbs up it's back and uses an energy pike to strike it on the top of the head, (our first 'crit' of the game)! This stuns the monster enough so that he drops the gravely injured Blade and Shelissa uses her dark side force powers to scare off the rancor. She then scolds Feral for his recklessness and for not protecting her. "Remember your place and the insignificance of your life."

They find the Intrepid and she tasks Feral to prepare the ship while she takes the remaining able bodied Zabraks and attacks a local village of the Singing Mountain Clan in a final act of revenge.  After clearing the ship’s cargo hold of venomous Bane-back Spiders, Feral begins system checks and repairs, keeping the injured Blade close by. The only Zabrak to return alive from the raid with Shelissa is a hulking brute named Killgore. The ship barely flies but they manage to make it off planet. It takes several tries to find a hyperspace route as Dathomir is extremely secluded and Feral has limited experience with plotting courses. They suffer additional indignities from Shelissa who is maddened with anger and thoughts of revenge. He realizes that she will be the death of them all. Once on the Celanon Spur hyperlane, Feral programs the drive to jump but jettisons himself, Blade and Killgore in an attempt to rescue his brothers from their cruel Master.

After four days adrift, they begin to eat the bacta shots included in a medical kit within the pod to stave off dehydration and starvation. With a stroke of luck, they are picked up by merchants, Captain Hapt, a Cathar and her human co-pilot Ido Burznen in the Action VI Freighter, Iguila. They refuse them their weapons but grant them passage in exchange for the pod. While getting resupplied at the space station “Titanus” in the Bandomeer system, Kilgore ditches them to search for his master, the Nightsister Shelissa. The merchants help Blade and Feral get 'refugee identification documents' and recommend they find work on Coruscant as hired muscle. They do well with the advice and in a short amount of time they meet a low ranking Black Sun boss named Lorenz. They collect 'protection credits' from local businesses, and are given a modest apartment and some cash. All of their immediate needs are provided for.

Chapter 2 - A Messy Business

On Coruscant, a Falleen Black Sun Vigo named Agiatoz, calls fellow Vigo, Rodundo Hawthorne for assistance with a 'situation'. Lorenz, who is a son of one of Agiatoz's Lieutenants, was sent to the Super Nova Hotel and Casino Resort to negotiate a meeting with a Hutt named Dagiz Besadii Sadeen over some disputed drug marketing territories around the Senate Spaceport district. Both sides want an amicable, bloodless agreement. The Hutt shows up with a Gossam Lieutenant named Tixir, and three Trandoshan bodyguards. Lorenz brings two human thugs, a Besalisk named Babo and Feral, (our player’s Dathomirian Zabrak). He also is being escorted by two Twi'lek dancers from the Starlight Casino who Lorenz likes to employ as 'arm candy' while doing business. Everything is going great with negotiations until one of the human bodyguards accidentally discharges a heavy blaster into the pretty green head of the Twi'lek dancer, splattering brains on the wall and making a pool of blood on the floor. None of the gangsters dare to leave without cleaning up the mess as security cameras would easily place them at the crime scene when the body is discovered later by hotel droids. Lorenz calls Vigo Agiatoz who in turn seeks help from Natasha Hawthorn's Vigo father who sends her to fix the problem. He instructs that her priority is Lorenz's life, (despite being a spoiled playboy who seems to frequently create difficult situations for the organization).

Dagiz Swallows the Evidence

Tensions are running high in the meeting room, the Trandoshans are hissing among themselves and the Gossam Tixir fears they will make a break for it. Everyone is keeping their fingers on triggers. Natasha arrives and calms everyone down. She sends the Besalisk Babo out for matching paint and cleaning supplies. They cut the carpet out, relieved the blood didn't soak through. Rose begins working on the window to see if it can be opened wide enough to allow them to get the corpse into a hover car or some other transportation out of sight of security cameras. Feral talks up Dagiz the Hutt who eventually agrees to eat the dead Twi'lek as long as Feral can provide a bottle of Shuura Fruit Sauce to help the poor thing go down. Feral 'strong-arms' the item from a nearby restaurant and Dagiz gobbles the evidence in a gut wrenching display of mastication. The section of carpet is removed, and the walls painted with the supplies procured by Babo. Everyone departs except for Rose who hangs back and slices the security systems of the Hotel to delete the last few hours of camera footage. Everyone goes their separate way. No body, no crime.

That night, Natasha confronts her feelings and a strange, growing sense of 'energy' within her. As a child, she fantasized about being able to make things float with her mind. Now, that power has come to fruition and she moves a glass of wine from the table into her waiting hand. Frightened, she confides in the one person she trusts the most: her father. "Never do that! Never do that again, especially here in Coruscant." He advises. "I know of this power, and beings that use it are taken away in the night by Imperials. Even I will not be able to protect you."

Chapter 3 - Two Heads Aren't Better Than One

Shadow summons Natasha Rose to meet in a shady back room of one of the many casinos in the Super Nova Hotel and Resort (coincidentally, the establishment is also under Black Sun protection). He offers her an assassination job of a peculiar nature: she must kill ONLY one of the heads of a certain Troig nammed Kevessu-Timmult, and must guarantee the safety and survival of the other. She accepts the contract for 15,000 credits and visits a medical doctor on the Black Sun payroll to discuss options. She procures an amputation sleeve and researches her victim's profession and residence. 

The Troig is Kevessu-Timmult, and works as investment bankers, however, Natasha quickly discovers that one of the personalities has a severe gambling addiction. Furthermore, the Troig stands to inherit a large sum of family money which is currently being withheld in the courts by other family members due to gambling debts with the casino, loan sharks and Black Sun.

Troig, Kevessu-Timmult

For four-thousand credits, Natasha employs the Besalisk Babo as additional security for the job and seeks to gain the Troig’s trust. She entertains them at the Casino and is able to negotiate a peaceful resolution with some Black Sun debt collectors looking to break one (or four) of the Troig's arms. She joins them for after dinner drinks at their estate in the suburbs of Coruscant’s Senate District and is greeted by a large security droid, not much unlike ‘Hunter’, a droid she grew up with at her father’s estate. Once she locates the security recorders in the estate, she calls in Babo, neutralizes the security droid and stuns the Troig to unconsciousness. The medical sleeve is put in place around Timmult's neck and she shoots him in the head with her blaster.

She then calls emergency medical services to save Kevessu, steals the security hard drive and makes a hasty get-a-way before police droids can respond. She receives payment from Shadow and (as she suspected), learns that surviving head, Kevessu, is the one who took the contract out.

Chapter 4 - Skeletons of the Past

Black Rose’s father bought some property on planet Duro. The area had been decimated due to orbital bombardment by a star destroyer after the city Qintepid was determined to be ‘infested’ with rebel supporters and hidden cells. He tasks Natasha and Feral to pick up two recovered shipping containers on Duro, and transport them to Bestine V to a contact, “Fourtu” (spelling?), who is to meet them in the Red Hills Saloon. They are given a ship to use, Typhoon, an old G9 Rigger and bring Feral's brother Blade with them as an additional gunner and to act as ship security.

In the Duro system they are scanned by Imperial TIE fighters who question them and ask them for their itinerary. The party is followed to the surface, but the TIEs break off without further complications. Heavy rains and weather do little to slow them and they acquire the two shipping containers which they discover are each filled with 32 B1 battledroids, spare parts and weapons for the droids. The containers are listed as 'destroyed' and the contents can now be sold on the black market.

"Typhoon" the party's G9 Rigger, landed on Bestine V

Bestine IV is a well known water world turned into a Imperial manufacturing center. Much of the population keeps getting displaced for expanding starship research and construction of the Acclimator Class assault ship. There is a orbital facility called Kestic Station on the outer part of the system that supports miners and gas scoopers that work the area.

Bestine V is a cold rocky world with only trace atmosphere but agreeable gravity. It is also the location of a crashed Lucrehulk Droid Control ship left over from the Clone Wars in 21 BBY. The giant structure suffered major damage but scrappers and salvage teams were able to seal and re-power much of the hulk, developing it over the last 12 years into a massive habitat for the human, H’Kig and other alien inhabitants who have called it “New Jahnae City”. The entire ground floor has  been agriculturally developed, using Bestine V's natural soil and fertilizers purchased from Bestine IV’s oceans. They can support half the population with these vegetable and yogurt crops. The upper levels have been restructured to create living and work stations and manufacturing sections for the population as well as parks, markets, restaurants, etc. Outside, several deep and lucrative mining shafts provide employment for the locals. The senior administrator is a follower of the H’Kig religion a belief in meditation and transcendence, chimes and contemplative glyphs. The population nears 22,000 with approximately half of them H’Kig.

New Jahnae City on Bestine V,  Built from the Ruins of a Crashed Lucrehulk from the Clone Wars Era

They land on platform two, outside New Jahnae City and are greeted by  C-9 is a blue protocol droid and his excitable GONK droid partner. Both droids wear restraining bolts. They are given a brief overview of the crashed ship turned boom-town. Inside, they observe the strange meditative practices of the H'Kig and then head to the Red Hills Saloon where they meet Cilla Joy, the owner and operator of the finest bar in the Bestine System.

A socially awkward man wearing a cybernetic brain implant is asking Cilla out on a date, though it becomes evident she has refused him several times already. The characters 'shoo' him off and befriend Cilla. She explains that he is Darvin Wright, head engineer and safety coordinator of New Jahnae City. All construction or modifications to the Lucrehulk must be examined and cleared by him.

"4-2" projects a hologram of the Aqualish pirate Drell Mar

They ask to meet 'Fortu', only to discover that it is short for R4-R2, a former astromech droid turned waiter at the Red Hills Saloon. The droid brings them in a back room and says that he he works for the dread pirate Drell Mar and that he can receive the delivered goods upon inspection.

Before leaving the saloon, they meet a Quarren pilot and trader named Frizgna who tells them that he has heard that Drell Mar is an Aqualish pirate who has been plaguing Bestine for several years. He is rumored to be hiding out in a hidden base in the vast asteroid belt that surrounds the outskirts of the system, preying on the occasional mining crew. He has never encountered Drell Mar, but any spacer will tell you that those who have are never seen again.