Welcome to the HoloNet Uplink, citizen. This series focuses on Fantasy Flight Games’ Star Wars Roleplaying Game, with content aimed mostly at the Gamemaster. Threats, adventure seeds, rules supplements, and more are all to come for those who access The HoloNet Uplink.
A few weeks ago we had Games of Yore week on the Gamer Nation Blog. I took a trip down memory lane and covered the PC classic Star Wars: Dark Forces, offering some dos and don’ts we can learn from that’s design. Since then, I have had imperial bases and midi music on my mind. Today’s article will serve as an outlet for that obsession. Much like my bounty contract sub-series, this article is meant to provide a seed for development into a more full adventure, or even simply provide the bare bones on a target for GMs to challenge their cunning rebel PC.
My hope is to provide something you can bust out for when your Rebel cell needs to slice into an Imperial network to steal data, plant false data, just plain blow something up, or any other purpose. The Player Section contains information suitable for release to your PCs, possibly even cut and paste with an image or two creating a handout intelligence report. The GM Section has all the details on the layout, security, and adversaries for this locale.
Player Section
Target: Imperial DataVault
Type: Imperial Installation
Description: Underground data storage facility
Desired Effect: Network Intrusion and/or Sabotage
Priority: Medium-High
Rationale: This DataVault contains local data downloaded from the military HoloNet to speed recall on local Imperial networks. Network intrusion by Rebel operatives would provide valuable intel on local Imperial military deployments, security statuses, and future plans for the region. Sabotage or destruction would hamper the efficient operation of the Imperial garrison and send a message that the Imperials are vulnerable.
Security: Exact measures unknown. Military personnel stationed on site as security. Physical entry is barred by reinforced doors. Cooling assembly opens into the sewers but is protected by locked security cages, cameras, and laser tripwire sensors.
Personnel: Exact figure unknown, estimated to be 10-20 inclusive of security and technical staff
Commentary: A covert informant from the local civilian government provided intelligence suggesting this DataVault was converted from a civilian infrastructure planning office. While increased physical and electronic security measures have been installed, it is likely the cooling system has not been completely overhauled. It may be possible to gain entry to the facility through the sewer system via the original, Old Republic era, heat exchanging fan system.
GM Section
NPC Checklist:
The remainder of this article will refer to NPCs as follows. In some cases, such as the Imperial Technician, I will take liberties by adapting another stat block rather than provide a complete new write up for minor NPCs. These are just suggestions made quickly and easily in the interest of saving space and time, so as the GM feel free to develop your own stats or otherwise adapt and tweak as you see fit.
- Protocol Droid (Rival) – AoR pg. 429
- Imperial Army Trooper (Minion) – AoR pg. 418
- Imperial Technician (Minion) – Note: use Incom Engineer stats – AoR pg. 413
- Imperial Officer (Rival) – AoR pg. 419
- Stormtrooper Sergeant (Rival) – AoR pg. 420
- Stormtroopers (Minion) – AoR pg. 420
Area Breakdown:
Ground Floor, External:
The building itself is a metal and ferrocrete structure in the administrative district of the city, unadorned by the usual banners and signs. The entrance is a set of metal double doors. There are no windows. Cameras are sited to watch the doors and the nearby street.
Under normal operations the doors are locked but not guarded. Two separate patrols of two Army Troopers each provide a roving picket in the general area. Under elevated threat conditions there are four stormtroopers plus a stormtrooper sergeant guarding the door.
Ground Floor, Internal:
The doors open to a small, cheaply furnished waiting area. There is a security desk at the far side of the room and a secure door to the side of that desk. Behind that door is a short corridor leading to a small shared office with a few terminals, a weapons locker for rifles, and a locked cage in front of stairs downwards.
Two Army Troopers including a Corporal (use minion stats) man the desk alongside an RA-7 protocol droid. Normally, these troopers have their rifles secured in the weapons locker and instead are armed with blaster pistols. Two more similarly armed troopers are on call, either in the shared office or the waiting area. On higher alerts, these troopers keep their rifles close at hand.
Sub-Level 1:
The stairs down lead to a break room containing personal lockers, weapons lockers, tables and chars, a kitchenette, and fresher. Beyond this area is an office for the vault officer and a code-cylinder locked door leading down to the mainframes. The office is of moderate size, with enough room for a modestly nice desk and terminal for the vault officer plus a smaller terminal for an assistant or clerk. Attempts to slice into the network can be made from either terminal in this office, however security protocols should make this more challenging than what would be required in the mainframe room. It is at the GM’s discretion to set this difficulty, but it should at least add two Setback dice.
Depending on proximity to shift changes, up to four technicians and four army troopers can be found in the break room. However, there may be no one there during the middle of a shift. One Imperial Army Officer, the vault officer, and one technician as an assistant can be found in the office. At the GMs discretion, another protocol droid might be found in the office.
Sub-Level 2:
A small stairway connects from Sub-Level 1, leading down to a long catwalk to one side of the room.. There are a series of terminals on the stairway side. The mainframes themselves fill the remainder of the room, about two meters below the catwalk accessible by a short ladder. The floor is heavy metal grating above a massive constantly whirring fan. Skill checks relying on hearing suffer a Setback die because of this noise. Cameras observe the room from several angles, but due to the density of mainframes any Stealth check made in the area gains a Boost die. There is a heavy locked trapdoor leading down into the heat exchanger. Attempts to slice into the network can be made from any terminal in this room, or by plugging a portable computer into one of the mainframes.
Two technicians man the terminals by the stairs up, with up to two technicians conducting maintenance on the mainframes themselves. Due to the ambient noise levels the technicians wear hearing protection in this area, adding an additional Setback die to hearing based Perception checks.
Heat Exchanger and Sewers:
Below the heavy trapdoor are a few ladders leading down through the heat exchanging fan assembly. It is cramped for humans throughout this maintenance space. The ladders lead to another secured trapdoor in the ceiling of a forgotten part of the sewer system. Visible light laser tripwires, which can be disabled via control panel, provide early warning of intruders in the fan maintenance space.
During standard operations one patrol of two army troopers rove the vicinity of the ceiling trapdoor in the sewers. At elevated threat levels this is replaced by two groups of two stormtroopers patrolling the area, as well as a permanent sentry of two stormtroopers at the trapdoor.
As always, I am looking for feedback and discussion. Is this a useful resource for all you GMs out there? Do you have a better name than the authentically military, yet ever so boring, “target package”? Want to see something completely different? Let us know in the comments below.
Christopher Hunt
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