There was a time, my young friends, if you can believe it, when the world had only three Star Wars movies. Heck, when I first got on the Internet myself back in the late 1990s, this was a fact frequently cited by Star Trek fans in order to prove that their franchise was superior. Now, while online flame wars back then never solved anything (a trend that continues to this day), the fact of the matter was that there was only so much Star Wars to go around, and a great demand for more of it.
West End Games came in with Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game in the late 80s, and they answered this call for more. Much of what became the Expanded Universe (now known as Legends continuity) had its genesis in these roleplaying game books, serving to provide setting details for even Timothy Zahn’s seminal Thrawn Trilogy and the cavalcade of novels that came afterwards.
Much of what was established in these old sourcebooks went on to become common Star Wars knowledge. Some of it was remarkably silly and perhaps rightly faded into obscurity, as well, but there are also a few gems that are there to be found, ready to be made new again for another generation of RPG players and fans.
Among these is a quirky little vehicle that I’ve always had a special sort of fondness for: the Verpine asteroid hopper. Featured in classic adventures such as Strike Force: Shantipole and Operation: Elrood, this craft could find great use with players and GMs alike in Fantasy Flight Games’ Edge of the Empire, Age of Rebellion, and Force and Destiny roleplaying games.
Originally developed by the Verpine, an insectoid species that live among an asteroid field themselves, the asteroid hopper is a small repulsorcraft that moves by “bouncing” between asteroids or similar objects, making use of gyroscopes to keep the vessel (and pilot) facing the proper direction.
Hull Type/Class: Patrol Ship/Asteroid Hopper
Manufacturer: Verpine
Hypedrive: None
Navicomputer: None
Ship’s Complement: One pilot
Passenger Capacity: 3
Encumbrance Capacity: 12
Consumables: 2 days
Cost: 17,000 credits/6
Silhouette: 3
Sensor Range: Short
Speed: 4
Handling: +2
Defense: 0/0
Armor: 2
Hull Integrity: 6
Strain Threshold: 10
Customization Hardpoints: 2
Special: The asteroid hopper uses repulsorlift propulsion, and cannot travel through empty space.
A common modified variant includes a light blaster cannon (increase total cost by 5,000 credits and rarity by 1; this uses 1 available Customization Hardpoint).
Lacking either a hyperdrive or even ion engines, these craft can’t travel very far, and likely won’t be a primary means of transportation for anyone in a party. However, they can be great for specific scenes, set pieces, or even entire adventures, in addition to being encountered with NPCs behind the stick.
Given the asteroid hopper’s unique means of locomotion, the GM may want to add certain situational bonuses and penalties. Since the craft needs a physical object to “hop” off of, a more sparsely populated asteroid belt or debris field could add setback dice or even increase the difficulty of Piloting (Space) checks made to navigate hazards or move between range bands; conversely, more tightly packed space junk and the like could provide boost dice or upgrades—though given the craft’s relative fragility, an overconfident pilot could wind up in big trouble real fast if they’re not used to how it handles (as reflected by the preexisting rules for collisions).
Here are a few ideas and adventure seeds that could potentially make use of these unique little craft.
– The PCs escape (or stage a breakout) from an Imperial asteroid mining facility manned by prison labor. As the nearby Imperial base scrambles its TIEs, the PCs must navigate the asteroid belt in their stolen asteroid hoppers to reach safety.
– The PCs must search and scour the wreckage after a massive fleet battle (for survivors, a piece of evidence, or even just valuable salvage); however, they aren’t the only scavengers picking their way through the debris, and so a simple search could easily turn into a race against time or even an all-out dogfight in hazardous quarters.
– After a successful shipjacking from a well-defended shipyard, the owners scramble their contingent of hoppers to chase the thieves down, adding a wrinkle to the escape attempt as the PCs attempt to figure out the various quirks and workings of their new ship.
Kevin Frane
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