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With the appearance of Mon Mothma on a recent episode of Star Wars: Rebels, I am reminded of an interesting dynamic from Rogue One which was only partially explored. In that film, we see a diversity in approaches towards the Rebellion. Some, represented perhaps best by Mon Mothma, espouse the Rebel idealism we are all familiar with from the original films. Saw Gerrera as seen in both Rogue One but better presented, due to more screen time, in Star Wars: Rebels represents a ruthless insurgent alternative. Cassian Andor and General Draven represent a middle ground, committed to the Rebellion’s noble beliefs but willing to transgress them for the greater good. Cassian speaks of making sure all the things he did for the Rebellion actual mean something, implying he has a lot to pay penance for. I thought this would be interesting territory to explore.
This post provides information and statistics on General Draven, as well as three miniature adventure seeds. Each seed presents a mission with significant importance to the Rebel Alliance, but which may put the PC’s into a difficult moral position. These adventure seeds may not be appropriate to all groups, but GMs can easily tweak them to present less of a moral quandary for those PCs who are not interested in ethical dilemmas.
General Davits Draven [Nemesis]
“There will be no extraction. You find him? You kill him…those are your orders.”
– General Draven
The dour representative of Alliance Intelligence on Yavin IV, General Davits Draven is a veteran of the Clone Wars. He served alongside many of the men who now fill the Imperial Military’s upper ranks. While not nearly as radical as Saw Gerrera, Draven knows full well what Imperial Command is capable of and thus believes the Rebel Alliance must take bold action to secure its noble goals of freedom and justice. He is a realist at heart, and is willing to take actions that put not only Alliance personnel at risk, but also Alliance ethical principles, in the pursuit of liberty.
Br 2, Ag 2, Int 4, Cun 4, WP 3, Pres 3
Soak 3, W. Threshold 14, S. Threshold 18, M/R Def 0/0
Skills: Coercion 1, Cool 2, Deception 2, Discipline 1, Knowledge (Core Worlds) 3, Knowledge (Warfare) 3, Knowledge (Outer Rim) 3, Leadership 2, Perception 1, Ranged (Light) 2, Streetwise 2, Vigilance 2
Talents: Adversary 1 (upgrade difficulty of all combat checks against this target once), Clever Commander (May use ranks in Knowledge (Warfare) to upgrade Mass Combat checks instead of Leadership), Plausible Deniability 4 (Remove 4 Setback from Any Coercion or Deception checks), Stroke of Genius (Once per session, make one skill check using Intellect rather than the characteristic linked to that skill).
Abilities: Former Comrades (General Draven is well versed in both Republic and Imperial military doctrine, tactics, and procedures. At a minimum, this knowledge provides him or any other commanding making a Mass Combat Check in his presence the ability to downgrade the difficulty once if the opposing commander is a ex-Republic military).
Equipment: Blaster pistol (Ranged [Light]; Damage 6; Critical 3; Range [Medium]; Stun setting), Alliance officer’s uniform (Soak +1), encrypted comlink.
Draven’s Deeds
Three adventure seeds are presented below. For best effect, be sure to present the details as to validate the potential benefits of these missions to the Rebel Alliance. The intent is to include an element of moral decision making through ethical dilemmas. However, particularly creative PCs may come up with alternatives which achieve the mission intent while retaining Rebel moral high ground. This should be possible, but not easy, so develop these seeds appropriately.
Sabotage: Sullust
Target: Central Heat Oscillator
The Imperial war machine benefits immeasurably from the industrial output of Sullust. Security is tight around the vital components for most factories. Those security measures, combined with the fact multiple shifts exist, leaving little downtime for the machines, makes sabotage quite difficult without a large number of workers as inside agents. While the Alliance is attempting to establish contacts with the Sullustan resistance, General Draven believes production must be halted as much as possible. The PCs are sent to Sullust on a mission to sabotage the Central Heat Oscillator of an entire megacomplex. Without the Oscillator, entire factory clusters will be sent offline. The disadvantage is that without the Heat Oscillator, thousands of workers will be forced to evacuate their living spaces before the heat level becomes fatal. It is likely they will all have time to be evacuated, but this mission will create thousands of internally displaced persons. Therefore, the PCs are required to ensure the Oscillator’s destruction is not traced back to the Rebellion or the Sullustan resistance: it must look like an accident.
Assassination: Iridonia
Target: Moff Avin Zorets
Moff Zorets is rare among Imperial Governors for the support and legitimacy she enjoys from the locals. This legitimacy is hampering efforts to establish Rebel cells on Iridonia, a key world within its region of the Mid Rim. The Empire is extracting yarrock, a type of spice which can be used as a powerful combat drug, from the planet for use in soldier enhancement experiments. The PCs are tasked to eliminate Zorets and make it appear as if the ISB has eliminated her for treasonous activities. It is to appear that the ISB suspected Zorets of anti-Imperial activity, due to her gentle approach to governing, and removed her extra-judicially. This will degrade Imperial support on Iridonia in order to enable recruitment and establishment of local Rebel cells. General Draven will be quick to remind reluctant PCs that Moff Zorets is a military leader as well as regional governor, making her a legitimate target.
Extraction: Socorro
Mission: Locate and Extract Dr. Perlom Etheus
A former Imperial weapons scientist Dr. Perlom Etheus is prepared to disclose everything he knows in exchange for Rebellion aid. All of Dr. Etheus’s projects, several of which were highly illegal under Imperial law, have been terminated. To prevent word from leaking to the Senate, he was slated for termination alongside his projects, but managed to escape. He is now hiding on Socorro, the smuggler’s haven. The PCs must rendezvous with Dr. Etheus and ensure his safe return to Alliance Intelligence. However, before the PCs can extract Dr. Etheus safely, a group of Lasats seeking revenge over the Siege of Lasan intercept the group. They know Dr. Etheus is responsible for the T-7 ion disruptors used to massacre Lasan’s citizens and have been tracking the scientist for months. They demand the PCs release Dr. Etheus to their custody so that “justice can be served.”
Christopher Hunt
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- Command School – Deterrence and Compellence - July 11, 2019
“Perlom Etheus” XD