This coming Friday, September 30, is Force Friday, the day all the new Star Wars goodies are released. Many of them will be for the upcoming Rogue One movie, a return to the classic SW Rebellion Era. So, I present an outline of an AoR scenario I created and ran for my Friday Nite Skype friends. “Little Girl Lost” wasn’t the first SW adventure I created for my AoR game but it was the first that was meant to be part of a story arc. It also marked a major turning point for the Rebel SpecOps PCs. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. I would also like to thank my players for not only playtesting but for feedback and suggestions on this final version of the scenario.
I am breaking my presentation into 2 parts, not because it is intended to be run that way. Part one covers the NPCs, GM’s outline, and Episodes 1 and 2. The remainder and major NPC stats will follow on October 3.
Outline
Ep. 1: Briefing aboard Star Raker. Mission assumes the PCs are either an established team or have been brought together for this operation. A very young Rebel agent was among those arrested in a routine raid on a cell. She is Force-sensitive and the Alliance wants her back before the Imperials realize what a prize she is. What they don’t know is that the cell included an informant and he told them about her before the raid.
Ep. 2: Fishy Business. The PCs have a chance to steal a delivery vehicle to help them get into Seskyra Garrison–or even to obtain willing aid from Lord Kam Morin, who is secretly no friend of the Imps, and his seafood business.
Ep. 3: Jailbreak. Getting into the Garrison and slipping–or fighting!–to the Detention block to open the cells. Jade is not with the others. Records show she is in Secure Quarantine in the Infirmary per CO Loros’ orders.
Ep. 4: A Traitor in the Midst. One of the prisoners, Iver Garris, is really an Imperial military informant. He has remained with the prisoners in hopes that he can obtain additional intel outside of the formal interrogations. He also informed Loros and Imperial Intel that Jade is a “Jedi Apprentice or something,” which resulted in the raid.
Ep.5: Infirmary. The party, probably with aid from the prisoners, confronts Loros and Stormtroopers in the Infirmary, to rescue Jade. They will witness the Imps’ mistreatment of the young agent.
Ep. 6: You Shall Not Pass. “Boss Fight” with the Rebels vs. ISB Agent Abyss and his personal Stormtroopers. The Inquisitorius has tasked Abyss with bringing Jade Morningfire to them alive. Failure is NOT an option for this cruel agent.
NPCs
Note: NPCs without included Adversary statblocks have suggestions for stats from Age of Rebellion and/or the Imperials and Rebels Adversary Deck (page numbers are from AoR). For minion groups, vary the numbers depending both on the PCs’ XP totals and how skilled at combat they are. Not all NPCs may need stats.
- Jaster Rael (Alliance Advisor): Human male who appears to be in his mid-20s but is years older. Force-sensitive.
- Lord Kam Morin: Human male, owner of Whitecap Specialties, a large vendor of fresh and marine seafoods with an Imperial contract. (Wealthy Noble, p. 430)
- Jes-Rak: Mon Cal indentured overseer of Whitecap workers. (Rebel Quartermaster, p. 414)
- Whitecap workers: Humans and indentured–read: slave–Mon Cal. (Nerfherder, substitute assorted hand tools and fishing tackle for crook–improvised weapons; p. 433)
- Gor Loros, Garrison Commander (CO): Human male. (Imperial Army Officer, p. 419)
- Interior Garrison Patrols and Detention Center:
- 4 Imperial Army Troopers (p. 418). (May switch out Blaster Rifle for Heavy Blaster Pistol). Will be switched for Stormtroopers (p. 420) once the infiltrators are noticed.
- 1 Imperial Stormtrooper Sergeant, 3 Stormtroopers in Detention Control to start. (p. 420)
- Rebel Prisoners: 5, Mixed human & Mon Cal. (Alliance Infantry; minus all weapons and gear; p. 411))They will take weapons from downed Imperials.
- Iver Garris, Rebel Traitor: Human male in late 30s, kept with his “fellow” Rebel prisoners to gather more information outisde of interrogation sessions. (Military Informant; minus all weapons and gear, p. 420)
- Jade Morningfire, Force-sensitive Rebel Agent: 18 year old Human teen. Injured and very traumatized.
- Technicians/Medtechs: Optional, use as non-combatants to add to chaos. (Naval Engineer; substitute Medicine for Mechanics and no sidearm for Medtechs; p. 420)
- ISB Agent Amis Abyss: Merciless and dutiful Imperial and reluctant “errand boy” for The Inquisitorious. Abyss really relishes knife fighting and will use Scathing Tirade and Deception to goad/lure PCs into engaged range.
- Abyss’ Guard Contingent: 6 Stormtroopers (p. 420)
Duty Awards
All PCs will receive Duty if Jade and/or at least 1 prisoner is successfully extracted. 5 points if Jade is rescued; if the PCs don’t bring her out, but do liberate some prisoners, award 2 points. Individual PCs with the following Duties may receive additional Duty points, as below. (Other awards may be possible, depending on how things play out for your party.)
- Recruiting: 2 points for persuading Whitecap’s owners or employees to help them enter the Garrison. If it occurs to a PC to try to arrange for future aid, and they succeed, +1 point.
- Internal Security: 2 points for seeing through Iver Garris and identifying him as an informant/traitor.
- Intelligence/Support/Tech Procurement: 1 point for returning with at least one hypospray of the drug cocktail used on Jade.
- Combat Victory: 2 points
Ep. 1: Briefing aboard Star Raker
Read/paraphrase to players:
You are escorted by Star Raker’s Captain to the briefing room, which is guarded by 2 troopers at the door. Inside is a standard conference room with table, chairs, and holo-projector. A weary-looking human in his mid-20s is standing at the table, talking with 2 officers via holo. The man has dark-gold skin, brown hair and beard stubble. He is in plain civilian traveling clothes and cloak.He greets you and jumps immediately into the briefing. “I’m Jaster Rael, special advisor. These are Commander Ryk and Major Vao. This is an emergency mission. Two days ago, a cell on Seskyra was raided by the Imps. All the cell members were either taken or killed per intercepted comms. Also taken was my partner, Jade Morningfire, who was to assist in a cell mission.” He activates a holo of a pretty human in her late teens, who doesn’t look serious enough for any ops. “Jade is–like Comm. Skywalker. The Alliance needs her back. Before the Imps figure that out. If they do–she’d be better off dead–and so would we all.”
The Twi’lek officer on holo interjects sternly, “Jade Morningfire’s abilities do not leave this room. Is that understood?”
Jaster continues, “Jade and the rest of our people are being held in Seskyra Garrison an hour’s flight outside the capital. The op is simple–get in, extract Jade and if possible the others. Before they are transported elsewhere or learn what Jade is. The prisoners can’t hold out forever under an IT-0. Jade should do better, but she is injured and frightened, which makes it more likely it will become obvious.”
The Twi’lek officer provides the formal objectives. “Extracting the Morningfire girl is your primary objective. Above everything else. Secondary is to extract other Rebel prisoners. Any additional intel is tertiary, very tertiary.”
Questions & Answers:
- We need a ship. If the party doesn’t have their own ship, an average Persuasion check will get them use of Rael’s small shuttle, which does have transponder codes able to pass Imperial scrutiny. With additional pushing, they can get a pilot or astromech for Rael’s ship, if they need one, or forged codes for their own ship.
- What’s Seskyra like? A temperate world, with numerous large fresh and salt lakes. Fish and shellfish are the major exports. Population is majority Human, but a large minority are Mon Calamari indentured/enslaved since the Empire’s regime. Planet is considered pro-Imperial.
- Intelligence on Seskyra Garrison? It has a standard layout for a medium garrison.* Detention, the Command Center, and Infirmary will be in the best-protected interior sections. It is located on an island and receives deliveries from local vendors, such as the food vendor Wavecap Specialties.
- The CO, Gor Loros, is considered to be somewhat lax–he has friends in high places. However, given the logical expectation of either a breakout or extraction attempt, the Garrison will be on higher alert than usual. Alliance intelligence analysts also suggest Loros will tighten discipline due to Jade’s age and gender, which might arouse unusual sympathy among the troops. The CO’s pals aren’t in high-enough places to protect him from those scandals. Rael agrees strongly with this last, because Jade “is like that.”
*If you intend to use maps, there is the AoR Beginner Box, “Takeover at Whisper Base,” Chris West’s Maps of Mastery webstore has many SF military base maps, or Wizards of the Coast’s Star Wars Miniatures maps.
Ep.2 Fishy Business
Landing clearances and Customs for Seskyra can be hand waved or expanded into a full encounter. Either way, once the party is at the spaceport, it’s high time to find a way into the Garrison, or additional information towards that goal. As the players move about the city, describe the Imperial presence, which seems slightly heavy for a pro-Imp world. It will probably occur to the PCs that stealing/hijacking a delivery vehicle from Wavecap or another vendor is a good ruse–or even bribing employees to smuggle them in–perhaps combining this with a breakdown once they are inside the Garrison. (Other methods are possible–just wing it, if that’s your style.)
Steal a speeder: Use appropriate skills (Computers, Persuasion, Perception, Steath, etc.) for any research, surveillance or other prep work for gaining entry. Once at Wavecap, use a “Skill challenge” set up of 5 Successes before 2 Failures. It will require a HARD Mechanics, Skulduggery, or Computers check to break in. Average Stealth check/s once inside, followed by EASY Piloting (Planetary) or Mechanics check to “hotwire” a delivery speeder capable of land and water operation.
(Possible Setback for above checks: daytime entry and Threat/Failure/Despair on preliminary checks. Possible Boost: Advantage/Triumph on preliminary checks. Success on Perception to notice security cameras when at site.)
If the PCs are caught (Despair or 3+ Threat on any rolls once on Wavecap property, or fail the challenge), they will be confronted by Jes-Rak and 4-8 employees. If the party chooses to fight or threaten the employees, they will be allowed to leave with a vehicle. But Lord Kam is furious and will report the incident to civil authorities immediately. This means the Garrison will learn of the theft, become suspicious due their captives, and the players will have to fight their way in and face increased security around Jade.
Ask for Aid: If the party isn’t violent and tries to talk/bribe their way out of trouble–or approaches Jes-Rek and company for help from the start–they are again taken to Lord Kam, who will question them about what they were trying to do. He is clearly annoyed and angry with the PCs, but a successful opposed Discipline check (3 Challenge) will reveal that he is less aggravated than he appears and is willing to hear them out
Lord Kam hasn’t forgiven the Imps for various offenses and insults, including the Imperial Governor confiscating his family’s fanciest manor for the new Gubernatorial Palace. Their treatment of the Seskyra Mon Cal has also left a bad taste in the noble’s mouth. So Lord Kam has been quietly doing little things, staying under the sensors of both Imperials and Rebels. Such as the fiction that “his” Mon Cal are indentures when secretly they are his business partner (Jes-Rak) and paid employees like the rest. In other words, the party has accidentally come to the right place. If the PCs ask to be smuggled into the Garrison, Lord Kam will help under three conditions: his people won’t go on the op, he doesn’t want to know any more details, and he will throw them under the speeder bus if things go bad. “This is a black op–The SpyNet Director will deny all knowledge of you and of your activities,” he adds in the tone of a stock character in holo spy capers. “After all, we still have to live here after you flee back to your hidden lair–or get dragged in front of a firing squad.”
Full NPC statblocks:
Jaster Rael
Human Force-sensitive Rebel Advisor
Characteristics
Brawn 3 Agility 3 Intellect 2
Cunning 3 Presence 2 Willpower 3
Soak: 4 Melee Defense/Ranged Defense: 0 /0
Wound Threshold: 13 Strain Threshold: 14
Skills: Cool 2, Discipline 3, Knowledge (Lore, Warfare) 1, Persuasion 2, Piloting (Space) 2, Ranged (lt) 2, Vigilance 2
Talents: Force Rating 2, Grit 1
Abilities: Force Power Enhance (Basic, Control [Coordination, Piloting: Planetary, Piloting: Space, Resilience, Force Leap: Horizontal, Force Leap: Vertical]); Force Power Move (Basic); Force Power Sense (Basic)
Equipment: Blaster pistol, (Ranged[lt], Dam 6, Crit 3, Medium, Stun setting)
Heavy clothing (Robes, shipboards)
Encrypted comlink
Play information: Alliance higher-ups have ordered Jaster to stay with the Rebel shuttle, preferably dropping the PCs off and hiding out elsewhere in the system, until commed for a pickup. The Rebels do not want to risk him in this op, and while he isn’t happy, Jaster will follow orders. This will also avoid the risk of him outshining the PCs)
Jade Morningfire, Human Force-sensitive Rebel agent [Nemesis]
Characteristics
Brawn 1 Agility 2 Intellect 2
Cunning 3 Presence 3 Willpower 3
Soak: 1 Melee Defense/Ranged Defense: 0 /0
Wound Threshold: 11 Strain Threshold: 13
Skills: Charm 2, Discipline 2, Perception 1, Persuasion 2, Ranged (lt) 2, Vigilance 1
Talents: Force Rating 1
Abilities: Force Power Influence (Basic, Range 1, Magnitude 1, Control [Emotion/Belief]); Force Power Sense (Basic)
Equipment: None
Play Information: Jade is injured, from her capture and at least 1 beating, and is quite ill from the drug cocktail. She has taken half her normal Wound and Strain, leaving her at 5 and 6. The drug makes it difficult for her to use her Force powers, but Jade can rally enough to do so a very few times, once she is with the PCs.
At GM’s option, a PC may spend 2 Triumphs, or flip a Destiny Point, to allow her to use a single power. It is recommended that the GM allow this only 2-3 times (unless things are going really badly for her rescuers) to avoid any chance of her outshining the PCs.
Amis Abyss, Human ISB Elite Special Agent [Nemesis]
Characteristics
Brawn 3 Agility 2 Intellect 2
Cunning 3 Presence 4 Willpower 3
Soak: 5 Melee Defense/ Ranged Defense: 1 /1
Wound Threshold: 13 Strain Threshold: 13
Skills: Brawl 1, Coercion 3, Discipline 2, Knowledge (Warfare) 2, Leadership 3, Melee 2, Perception 2, Ranged (lt) 2, Vigilance 1
Talents: Adversary 2 (May use Additional Combat Turns [Sidebar, F&D, p. 421] if 4+ PCs);
Improved Scathing Tirade (Action. Average Coercion check. For each Success, 1 enemy within short range suffers 1 Strain & takes 1 Setback on all skill checks for 2 rounds)
Ability: Imperial Valor (Maneuver. May cause all ranged attacks targeting Agent to hit engaged ally or helpless enemy until beginning of Agent’s next turn.)
Equipment: Custom crimson ISB uniform w/light breastplate (Soak 2/Defense 1)
Blaster pistol, (Ranged[lt], Dam 6, Crit 3, Medium, Stun setting)
Vibroknife, Superior Weapon Customization. (Melee, Dam +2, Crit 2, Engaged, Pierce 2, Vicious 1, +1 Advantage to all related checks)
Encrypted Comlink
1 vial of drug cocktail for use on Jade
Play Notes: (Alternately, if party is high XP–well above Knight level–you may use the Gamer Nation blog stats.) Abyss really relishes knife fighting and will use Scathing Tirade and Deception (or other means that occur to him) to goad/lure PCs into engaged range. Otherwise, he “leads from behind,” and lets his guard contingent, and any other Imperials, take the brunt of enemy attacks, including using Imperial Valor.
Abyss is under order from the Inquisitorius to bring Jade back alive, and he fears them, so the only way to leave with her is to incapacitate or kill him. He won’t hesitate to kill the PCs.
What if a PC is Force-sensitive and reveals him- or herself? Abyss will want them killed–The Grand Inquisitor’s orders only mentioned Jade, so he will vent his fear and hatred of Force-users on them.
Linda Whitson
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