The Star Wars '78 thread

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Dumarest

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So, as mentioned elsewhere, I'm running a West End Games Star Wars campaign set in the immediate aftermath of Star Wars, wherein the Rebel Alliance struck a massive blow against the Empire by blowing up the Death Star and (presumably) eliminating the evil mastermind Darth Vader. However, the Rebels suffered crippling losses in manpower and matériel, as well as the use of Yavin 4 as a headquarters. The Empire is now on the move, with its propaganda machine working overtime to portray the Rebellion as terrorists, and scouring the galaxy with a vengeance. The Rebel Alliance is scattered as a result of the emergency evacuation of Yavin 4, seeking new allies and recruits as well as funding.

(None of the movies after the original film are canon and I'm freely drawing elements from those early novel trilogies about Han Solo and Lando Calrissian and Splinter of the Mind's Eye, the Marvel comics, the newspaper adventure strip, and West End Games' products. I refer to the game as "Star Wars '78" to reinforce the idea that nothing post-'78 can be assumed to be canon or to transpire in the future.)

Our PCs volunteered to undertake a mission for Princess Leia, figurehead and de facto leader of the Rebellion, and General Dodonna: to make contact with an unidentified sympathizer in the administration of Vorzyd 5, colloquially known as "the Gamblers' World." (Vorzyd 5 comes from the 1979 Star Wars newspaper adventure strip.) Due to its economic value, the Empire has thus far maintained a laissez-faire attitude to happenings on Vorzyd 5 and has no garrison on the planet. The Rebel sympathizer is supposed to have information that will allow the Rebels to disrupt the flow of credits to the Imperial treasury and potentially divert funds to the Alliance. However, the PCs do not know who their contact is in order to maintain his or her safety in case they are captured and interrogated, and they must keep a low profile while waiting for the informant to contact them. Princess Leia assigned the PCs an R2 unit (named R2-FU) to assist with any technical assistance and data storage/transport they might need. If the PCs succeed in their mission, they are to travel to Kwenn Space Station and transfer data from R2-FU (and of course get sucked into WEG's Tatooine Manhunt adventure module); if they get captured or killed, the Rebel Alliance has never heard of them...they must have been a gang pulling some kind of heist gone bad.

 
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So, as mentioned elsewhere, I'm running a West End Games Star Wars campaign set in the immediate aftermath of Star Wars, wherein the Rebel Alliance struck a massive blow against the Empire by blowing up the Death Star and (presumably) eliminating the evil mastermind Darth Vader. However, the Rebels suffered crippling losses in manpower and matériel, as well as the use of Yavin 4 as a headquarters. The Empire is now on the move, with its propaganda machine working overtime to portray the Rebellion as terrorists, and scouring the galaxy with a vengeance. The Rebel Alliance is scattered as a result of the emergency evacuation of Yavin 4, seeking new allies and recruits as well as funding.

(None of the movies after the original film are canon and I'm freely drawing elements from those early novel trilogies about Han Solo and Lando Calrissian and Splinter of the Mind's Eye, the Marvel comics, the newspaper adventure strip, and West End Games' products. I refer to the game as "Star Wars '78" to reinforce the idea that nothing post-'78 can be assumed to be canon or to transpire in the future.)

Our PCs volunteered to undertake a mission for Princess Leia, figurehead and de facto leader of the Rebellion, and General Dodonna: to make contact with an unidentified sympathizer in the administration of Vorzyd 5, colloquially known as "the Gamblers' World." (Vorzyd 5 comes from the 1979 Star Wars newspaper adventure strip.) Due to its economic value, the Empire has thus far maintained a laissez-faire attitude to happenings on Vorzyd 5 and has no garrison on the planet. The Rebel sympathizer is supposed to have information that will allow the Rebels to disrupt the flow of credits to the Imperial treasury and potentially divert funds to the Alliance. However, the PCs do not know who their contact is in order to maintain his or her safety in case they are captured and interrogated, and they must keep a low profile while waiting for the informant to contact them. Princess Leia assigned the PCs an R2 unit (named R2-FU) to assist with any technical assistance and data storage/transport they might need. If the PCs succeed in their mission, they are to travel to Kwenn Space Station and transfer data from R2-FU (and of course get sucked into WEG's Tatooine Manhunt adventure module); if they get captured or killed, the Rebel Alliance has never heard of them...they must have been a gang pulling some kind of heist gone bad.


I like what youve got lined up and planned. But Starwars is a dirty lived in universe this seems more appropriate
 
You need wookies growling along to the theme in cacophany, like Chewie's family from the Holiday Special

(which was also released in '78 so I assume is cannon in Dumarest's game)
 
Love the concept. Post-1978 there certainly are additions to the Star Wars canon that change the flavor of the original. Back when the movies were first being created, I ran an OD&D version similar to what you describe and I used the original movie and Splinter as my main inspiration. The Daly Han Solo books have a lot of cool stuff about the Corporate Sector, and that helped to give my players something to do. I didn't enjoy the Lando books as much, and I'm sure I tapped into the Marvel comics but it's been too long and I can't recall much about them.

Your campaign sounds like a blast, and I hope you post some updates as things happen! :grin:
 
What, do you mean there were movies after the first trilogy:shock:?

Oh wait, you're not allowing ESB and RotJ, either? In a way, that might be for the better:devil:!

I'm not a SW buff, but I like your approach where Rebels are pictured as terrorists. I'd suggest letting the PCs find out about a massacre where some Rebels disappeared, with the deaths being blamed on the "terrorists", too:skeleton:.
 
The PCs are:
  • Arrogant Noble Vespa Voth
  • Smuggler Milo Talon
  • Ewok Riprap
  • Bounty Hunter Wulf Zendik
  • Failed Jedi Jubal Kinslayer
20200104_125514.jpg
L to R: Milo Talon, Vespa Voth, Jubal Kinslayer, Wulf Zendik, Riprap
The "Connections With Other Characters" are fairly worked out but subject to change as long as we don't contradict anything established in-game:

Milo Talon is captain of the Nomad, a YT-2400 light freighter (using stats for the "stock light freighter" outlined in the rulebook). At some point he landed on a lushly forested moon of Endor to evade an Imperial customs frigate and lay low for a few days; Riprap the Ewok snuck aboard out of curiosity and ended up Milo Talon's partner or sidekick (depends on who you ask). They've been flying various illicit and contraband cargoes around the galaxy for at least a year together and are 25,000 credits in debt to importer/exporter or crime boss (depends who you ask) Beebub Tinoco.

Wulf Zendik was hired by the Empire to track down the fugitive Jubal Kinslayer and bring him to Imperial justice in exchange for a hefty bounty, but nobody told Zendik that Kinslayer was a Jedi until after Zendik had located him on an agrarian planet which also happened to be Countess Vespa Voth's homeworld. When Zendik advised his employer that he had located Kinslayer and expected to bring him in within days, the Imperial officer, who had tracked the bounty hunter to Orlantho Prime via a secret homing beacon placed aboard the Nomad, dispatched Stormtroopers to occupy the planet and try to collect the Jedi without paying the bounty. Zendik decided to tip off Kinslayer and the two escaped Orlantho Prime by booking passage aboard the Nomad.

Jubal Kinslayer was a close friend of Countess Vespa Voth's deceased father and is bound by a promise to keep her safe. Lady Voth's homeworld Orlantho Prime is under martial law due to the Imperial occupation and tshehe royal family arrested for sedition. Lady Voth escaped aboard the Nomad, disguised as an ordinary star-hopper.
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The Nomad
Next I'll post a Session 1 recap (from memory).
 
Session 1: Welcome to Space Vegas!

The PCs rendezvoused with a nondescript
Rebel transport at a backwater spaceport in the Finola System, where a Rebel agent delivered to their custody an R2 unit (R2-FU) containing a holographic message from Princess Leia and General Dodonna: I've already spelled out the basic mission parameters in the first post of this thread. R2-FU also came with a map of Vorzyd City. The message from Leia and Dodonna was autonatically erased after playback as a precaution. Fortunately the players made notes of the essentials. The PCs decided the best way to arrive on Vorzyd 5 would be to have Lady Voth adopt a pseudonym but otherwise be her noble self on a gambling jaunt, Jubal Kinslayer would pretend to be her personal attendant, Wulf Zendik her bodyguard, and Milo Talon and Riprap themselves. As for why she arrived aboard a freighter rather than a personal yacht or some fancy pleasure transport, she explained to spaceport authorities--by loudly complaining to Milo and Riprap and everyone within earshot--about the substandard accommodations aboard the Nomad and pointing to a random spaceport official and saying, "You there! Do you expect me to carry my own luggage? Snap to it, man!" Between her regal snooty bearing and her 6D Command skill she was able to get past customs by belittling and befuddling the authorities and her "staff."

The PCs were then conveyed by transporter tube to the casino and hotel, where Lady Voth (as "Princess Wylona of Jerdik 3") bitched about the incompetence of the casino-hotel for losing their record of her reservation for a luxury suite. "I will be in the casino while you sort out your errors!" She ended up getting comped with an upgrade she didn't need and the casino gave her credit at its tables.

Since the PCs had no idea who their contact was and were to wait for him or her to contact them, they did a little gambling, but Riprap did a fuckton of cheating, winning too much and attracting more attention than they wanted. Pretty soon casino security was drawn in to intervene and a brief fight broke out until Milo grabbed a bunch of big-credit chips and threw them in the air, causing a greedy throng to gather and get in the way of security while the PCs fled the casino. They took a conveyer tube to a different casino (there are several big ones in the capital--it's basically Las Vegas in space) where they decided to duck into a theater to take in a musical show where they could hide out and plan their next moves.



They were pretty sure the humans in their group could disguise themselves in case security forces pursued them or tried to stop them at the spaceport later, but Ewoks are not exactly a common sight and they didn't have any good way to disguise Riprap. One player suggested trying to get a hold of a right-sized droid whose innards they could scrap so Riprap could hide inside, but they weren't sure if it would work. After the show ended and before they had decided what to do about Riprap, they were loitering near the theater entrance when they were approached by a Twi'lek cocktail waitress who invited them to a private booth at the casino's restaurant. Figuring this must be mission-related, they followed her to a table in a smoky lounge, dimly lighted mainly by the flickering of vidscreens displaying sports and news, where they were introduced to Lucky Jaxxon, the performer they had just seen on stage.

20200119_200244.jpg
How I pictured Lucky Jaxxon
"I'm trusting y'all with my life," Jaxxon said (sounding somewhat like a good ol' boy from Tupelo, Mississippi). He explained that he was a favorite of Governor Greyshade of Vorzyd 5, and that they carouse regularly. One evening while at a dinner party at the gubernatorial palace, Greyshade was inebriated enough to let slip that he funds his lavish lifestyle by skimming off the top of the tribute paid to the Empire. Acting duly impressed, Jaxxon subtly expressed disbelief and got the governor to explain the computer algorithm he and his favorite administration droid worked out to deduct tiny percentages from every transaction on Vorzyd 5 and deposit the funds into a secret account on Phartooine (a Planetary Systems roll revealed that Phartooine is basically the Cayman Islands of the galaxy). Jaxxon explains that he can get the Rebels into the palace, but it's up to them to figure out a way to get control of the credits or the account. He'll disavow any knowledge of their actions if things go awry and claim he was taken in by the con artist "Princess Wylona" and her associates. After all, he has a career to consider--he's been offered a part in a holovid--and the Rebel Alliance isn't exactly fertile territory for entertainers.

Right about then, they notice a vidscreen announcing some news about the unexpected arrival in orbit of the Imperial Star Destroyer Ultimatum, which apparently will be allowing shore leave for some of its crew and complement. The PCs don't seem too happy about this development, but Jaxxon tells them it's not unexpected, although ordinarily Imperial vessels keep to a strict schedule so an early arrival is rather unusual. A contingent of security personnel showed up looking for a group, including a "small furry sabacc cheat, species unknown" that caused an incident at the other casino. The PCs decide to sneak out the back (if there is one) and to part company with Jaxxon until he contacts them with details about getting into the gubernatorial palace.

We left off with the PCs looking for a rear exit while the security personnel came in through the front...I'll post a recap of Session 2 next.
 
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Session 2: The Getaway

Our Failed Jedi Jubal Kinslayer wanted to try the old "Jedi mind trick" (Affect Mind) on the security guards, only to realize that he needs Control+Sense+Alter to pull that off and he only has Control+Sense. So instead he tried to confuse the security guards by using Projective Telepathy to broadcast a bunch of non sequiturs into their heads while he and the others looked for a rear exit.

The good news is there was in fact a rear exit; the bad news is that it was locked. Their best Technical attribute is 2D+2 so the Smuggler and Bounty Hunter jointly decided, "Eff it!" and started blasting away to stall for time while they figured out another option. A few "BEEP! bloop! squees!" from R2-FU reminded them they had at their disposal an astromech droid, but they didn't realize that although R2-FU has 7D in Computer Programming & Repair, he only has 1D Mechanical. They realized to their chagrin only after trying to have him override the lock and fail miserably. He set off an alarm in the process of failing because he rolled less than half the difficulty number needed. Then, while the firefight went on and tore the restaurant apart, Riprap's player remembered he could spend a Force point and double his dice and did so, successfully unlocking the back door. Just in time, too, as reinforcements arrived for the opposition.

Jubal Kinslayer enjoyed playing the part of a Jedi reflecting blaster bolts back at his attackers, but the others all chided him for exposing the fact that there is a Jedi on Vorzyd 5, especially given there is a Star Detroyer in orbit. Seems ol' Jubal totally forgot about that even though we started with a brief recap of what went down the week before to be sure everyone was on the same page.

During the shootout Milo was hit a couple of times and Stunned, and Vespa was Incapacitated so they had to drag her out the rear door. Since her Strength is 2D+2, she'd need to roll pretty well (14+) to naturally heal to Wounded status, and risk death (8-) to boot, so they hoped to get a medpac somewhere quick. Anyway, parked out back of the restaurant was a cargospeeder (basically a big truck version of a landspeeder) which Milo Talon managed to into and hotwire while Riprap and Wulf Zendik used the rear door of the restaurant for cover and bottlenecked the security guards and Jubal carried Vespa into the cargospeeder.

The PCs made their getaway as the security guards were on foot, although they were obviously using a comlink to call in the situation. They made a few zigs and zags in the streets before ditching the cargospeeder and Milo used his pretty good Streetwise of 4D+1 (and the map in R2-FU) to figure out a likely part of town in which to buy a medpac no questions asked, maybe get different clothes and disguise themselves, and to generally lay low until the heat died down.

They came to a street bazaar in a seedy section of town and negotiated what they needed. Jubal's Bargain skill of 4D+1 came in handy (the player's background idea was that Jubal had been hiding out since Darth Vader started killing off Jedi, so he learned to haggle to make last what few credits he had when he went on the lam). So they got a basement to hide in and a medpac for Vespa, who got healed up to Wounded. They also made a note to always bring along a few medpacs on any future jobs. Since Vespa can't roll for natural healing until the following day and they're not on a timetable to complete their mission, the PCs decided to hide out in the basement until dark, then move to a new location just in case, and hope for a good healing roll by Vespa. They got a hold of some odds and ends clothing-wise, plus some hair dye. The plan is to change their attire and dye the Ewok blue and drape him in robes rather Jawa-style since the fuzz is seeking a brown-furred critter.

After nightfall, the PCs went back out into the bazaar, deliberately not telling their host or letting him see them leave (just in case), and found a shisha parlor type of place, very sordid and seedy-seeming and full of all sorts of aliens, and got themselves a booth in a dark corner, this time near an exit, ordered food, and discussed what to do next. Milo headed up to the barman under the not-too-farfetched pretense that he's a freighter captain recently arrived on Vorzyd 5 and seeking cheap and discreet accommodations for himself and his crew for a few days while his cargo is unloaded, and also asking about any potential cargoes he might procure before he lifts off again.
images_blog_posts_Adam-Dupuis_2018_03_27_image-6.jpg
I tried to describe something like this crossed with the Mos Eisley Cantina

About that time, some local police types, accompanied by a utility droid and a small group of Stormtroopers, appeared at the entrance of the parlor. They spoke to the manager of the parlor and a couple of employees and the droid displayed a vid of the suspects they were seeking, but the shisha parlor people shook their heads and said no one matching those descriptions had been in, though they'd be sure to contact the authorities if the perpetrators showed up. Convinced that their disguises were sufficient--since they were only seen briefly in the casino and then in a relatively dark restaurant--the PCs determined it would be safe enough to head back the next day to the casino where they met Jaxxon. Milo got a cheap pensione's address and they left the shisha parlor to go there for the night.

And that's where they are until we pick up again next Saturday.
 
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(I should probably note that the Lego minifigures are just something I built for fun based on my impressions of the PCs as they were being created, although we did use them a couple of times, along with some of my son's Stormtrooper Lego minifigures to represent security guards, just to show things like relative position on a hastily drawn map when the firefight went down.)
 
(I should probably note that the Lego minifigures are just something I built for fun based on my impressions of the PCs as they were being created, although we did use them a couple of times, along with some of my son's Stormtrooper Lego minifigures to represent security guards, just to show things like relative position on a hastily drawn map when the firefight went down.)
There’s so much cool stuff out there for Star Wars that’s visually appealing, it’s a shame if you never use any of it at the table.
 
Aliexpress is good source of block* figures that are vaguely** Star Wars Lego-like. Buy mixed, bulk or individually. Seriously tempted to make a Legion wargame force with them. Watch out for the ones that are twice the size, somewhat inexplicably.

* Lego
** Completely
 
Aliexpress is good source of block* figures that are vaguely** Star Wars Lego-like. Buy mixed, bulk or individually. Seriously tempted to make a Legion wargame force with them. Watch out for the ones that are twice the size, somewhat inexplicably.

* Lego
** Completely
A few years back I got the Ewok village set. The thing with the Chinese knockoffs is the pieces are not separated into Bag 1, Bag 2, and so on the way the Legos are, so it takes forever to find the parts you need when building a large set. It was a Christmas present so I had to build it to make sure it was ready to be played with on Christmas morning. I gave myself 2 hours because I didn't know about the issue with the haphazardly bagged pieces; it ended up taking more like 4 hours because I had to empty all the parts bags and sort the pieces into colors and types, plus some of them are not up to Lego standards to I had to use an X-Acto knife now and then to trim plastic. I now only buy minifigures or small sets if they're not real Legos. It is a good way to get extra minifigures. We have about six Jawas and half-a-dozen extra Ewoks for the village. Lord knows where in the house they are hiding now...I'm sure I'll find them one night by stepping on them. The Ewok village was pretty awesome after it was assembled, though.
lego-ewok-village-set-10236-15-4.jpg
 
This game sounds like how I wish almost all Star Wars was - fun with exciting new characters in strange locations and close escapes. Not overly focused on Jedi/Sith, chosen ones, or trying to exhaustively fill in back stories for existing characters.
 
Gonna have to try to remember as much as I can since the game happened last Saturday...

Session 3: Bazaar Disguises

The PCs spent the night at a cheap pensione in a not-great part of town, but it was uneventful. Or, as I describe it to the players: "The night passed uneventfully...as far as you can tell." :devil: Wearing disguises and with the Ewok's dyed blue and his traditional Ewok garb swapped out for Jawa-type robes so all a passerby would be likely to see was maybe blue-furred paws or part of a blue-furred face, the PCs decided they would try to keep a lower profile this time and avoid getting into trouble with the authorities, particularly with a Star Destroyer in orbit and Stormtroopers in town. Milo Talon (the Smuggler) was concerned about the state of his freighter and whether they'd be able to get back to it without being caught on a dragnet, but Jubal Kinslayer (the Failed Jedi) tried pulling an Obi-Wan Kenobi "Leave the tractor beams up to me" bit, which convinced exactly no one since they saw in the prior session that he couldn't even pull off a Jedi Mind Trick™.

Determining the best way to locate Lucky Jaxxon again would be to find out where his next performance was, they accessed a listing of various entertainments and found that Jaxxon had a matinee at the same casino they got into trouble at before. Time to put their disguises to the test. Figuring also that the authorities would be looking for a group of 5 with an astromech droid, the PCs decided to split into 2 groups: Riprap and Milo would take R2-FU and go see if anyone was watching the freighter and Jubal, Vespa,, and Wulf would return to the casino to make contact with Jaxxon and figure out how they were going to get into the governor's palace.

Ordinarily this could be boring for whichever group of players is not involved, so I gave the others the options of looking at the Star Wars Sourcebook or watching our DVD of Star Wars Rebels while they waited, or they could just sit tight but keep out of whatever went down. So Milo, Riprap, and R2-FU took a conveyor tube back to the spaceport, where they were challenged by security when they went to the docking bay for the Nomad, since that was the ship the fictitious Princess Wylona of Jerdik 3 arrived on--she and her associates are wanted for questioning by the city police. Milo used his none-too-shabby 4D Con skill and explained, "That's why we're back! We don't want anything to do with them! Had we known she wasn't really a princess we'd never have transported her to Vorzyd 5! We have our own reputation and problems to think about. She stiffed us on our payment as well. We just hope we can find a halfway decent cargo to make this trip worth the expense or we're gonna be late on our next lien payment for this bucket of bolts!" He and Riprap were fairly convincing and the security guys actually sympathized and offered them a tip on a local merchant who might have a cargo and let the PCs onto the Nomad. However, once they were aboard the ship they realized they had no plan what to do if they got past security. "Well, at least they aren't locking down the ship...for now."

"Meanwhile" Vespa, Jubal, and Wulf went to the theater and managed to get by without drawing any special attention to themselves--it's a crowded city populated by all types and even though their disguises are not the best, there's not a lot of reason to think three random individuals coming to the theater would have had anything to do with the shootout the day before. After the show, a Rodian casino employee approached the PCs on behalf of Jaxxon and brought them backstage to his dressing room. Jaxxon used a sonic-chronic distortion gadget to cancel out any listening devices that might be present and told the PCs that he was invited to a party at the governor's palace and it was naturally expected that he would bring a female friend along, meaning Vespa had a way in, but the others would have to figure out how they would get in. Jaxxon made it very clear he wanted to be able to make a plausible denial is anything went wrong: he'd throw Vespa to them as well if need be. He sketched out on Wulf's datapad the top floor of the casino hotel where the governor's palace was and wished them luck. Vespa was instructed to meet him at his hotel room at 0800 hours and he'd have something appropriate for her to wear. His story for Governor Greyshade would simply be that Vespa (who needed a new pseudonym) was a fan he was trying to impress, which was perfectly in line with his usual activities and so would arouse no suspicion.

Leaving the casino again, Wulf, Vespa, and Jubal decided to head back to the bazaar where it was noisy and crowded and use their comlink to get in touch with Riprap and Milo. Back at the spaceport, Riprap and Milo got the address of the merchant who might have a cargo for them and used visiting the merchant as an excuse to leave without seeming suspicious. The quintet (plus their droid) met up at a curbside food stand run by an Ithorian vendor and ate some Ithorian garden loaf while they worked on their plan of action. I had a Stormtrooper patrol pass by every once in a while just to throw a scare into them, but for the moment they were not that badly wanted as they had caused some property damage to the casino and Riprap was wanted as a sabacc cheat, but they hadn't killed anyone and weren't known to be associated with the Rebellion. If anything, the sight of a Jedi wielding a lightsaber had done more harm than anything else that happened, as that was sure to attract Imperial attention. The other PCs contemplated trying to take the lightsaber away from Jubal but relented when he agreed not to use it unless they absolutely had to fight their way out. Anyway, it was agreed that Vespa would get inside the palace as Jaxxon's date and she would take her comlink with her to keep in contact with the others only if necessary. She would try to figure out where the governor kept his personal computer system that he was using to skim off the top of the casino profits and transmit the proceeds to his account on Phartooine. Once she knew where it was located, the others would need to somehow get R2-FU inside and cause a distraction that would allow Vespa to get R2-FU hooked up to the computer and--hopefully-gain access to the account. The biggest question they had was what to do if they gained access to the account. They could maybe transfer the account to a new owner, but then Governor Greyshade would soon discover that and the revenues would dry up as he'd likely just start a new account. Another option was to skim off the governor's account just a small percentage and have that go to another account on Phartooine that would fund the Rebel Alliance, and hopefully the amount would be small enough that the governor wouldn't realize. However, in the second case, they weren't really sure it was worthwhile if all they were gaining the Rebellion was a tiny share of the profits. After some debate they decided to take over the existing account entirely (if R2-FU could manage it) and then expose Governor Greyshade's corruption to the Empire, the idea being that this would cause the Empire to assert its authority on Vorzyd 5, which would then make it a less popular gambling destination, thereby ruining it as an Imperial revenue source.

Since they had time to kill before Vespa met with Lucky Jaxxon, the group decided to accommodate Milo and Riprap's desire to check in on the potential cargo, figuring it would also make a good cover when they leave if they can point to legitimate business. So they headed over to a warehouse district and looked up a merchant named Vizzy Groth.
MV5BMTQ4OTMxMzA5OV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNTk4OTc1MTE@._V1_.jpg
How I pictured Vizzy Groth
After sniffing each other out and realizing neither was exactly dealing square with the law, Vizzy and Milo discussed terms for shipping a cargo of chak-root, an illegal plant that can be processed into liquor and snuff. (I think it's mentioned in the novel Han Solo's Revenge.) It became apparent, thanks to some good roleplaying and a good Perception roll, that Vizzy was highly motivated to get the chak-root out of his warehouse as soon as possible, though he wouldn't say why.
Chakrootpic.JPG.jpg
Chak-root
The two sides came to a bargain and Vizzy lent the PCs a cargo-sled (basically an anti-gravity forklift) to move the crates of chak-root from the warehouse to the spaceport. No sooner had the PCs left Vizzy's premises than they hear some blaster fire and realized that a rival gang was shooting its way in at the other end of the building. "Well, if he gets killed we don't have to give him his percentage," reasoned Milo as they fled with the slow-moving cargo-sled. What they didn't count on was Vizzy fingering them and the gang pursuing on fast-moving speeder bikes. As the speeder bikes closed the gap, the PCs turned their cargo-sled onto a busy street to try to see what they could do to either lose or obstruct the speeder bikes, but the advantage was with the smaller, fast-moving pursuers, who also had no qualms about opening fire in a crowd. The PCs maneuvered back toward the bazaar and everybody jumped off the cargo-sled except for Milo and Riprap, so I ruled that it could move a bit faster without the additional weight.
souk-waqif-doha.jpg
I tried to give it the feeling of a souk with narrow alleys and lots of motley little stands and businesses

Vespa, Jubal, Wulf, and R2-FU ducked under a tented stall selling trinkets and blended into the crowd while the gang focused its attention on the cargo-sled. Wulf managed to get off a couple of shots as the speeder bikes passed, causing the riders to lose control and crash into a fruit vendor and an electronics vendor, respectively. There were only three speeder bikes left and two pulled up on either side of the cargo-sled, demanding Milo and Riprap turn over the merchandise. Riprap leapt from the sled onto the back of the speeder bike on the right, leaving Milo alone with the other two speeder bikes chasing him. Riprap managed to wrest control of the speeder bike from the gangster and tossed the unconscious gangster aside but Milo was having a much harder time as he could not lose his pursuers due to their speed and maneuverability advantage. Fortunately or maybe unfortunately, the city police showed up in a skiff, so the gangsters split in different directions, but Milo didn't want to get caught with the contraband chak-root either, so he jumped off the cargo-sled and let it crash into the side of the police skiff. Riprap sped by and picked him up and the two escaped in the confusion before more police could show up. "Well, we lost the cargo but at least we have a speeder bike now," Milo reasoned when they located the rest of the PCs back at the trinket stall.

(I thought we'd get to the actual party/heist, where Lando Calrissian would be a guest, but we ran out of time so that will probably happen tomorrow.)
 
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Wrapping up "Star Wars '78" this afternoon or possibly next Saturday depending on how far we get today, then preparing for a Star Trek game. I realized I enjoy Star Trek a lot more than Star Wars.
 
Wrapping up "Star Wars '78" this afternoon or possibly next Saturday depending on how far we get today, then preparing for a Star Trek game. I realized I enjoy Star Trek a lot more than Star Wars.
I always find Trek to be harder to run than Wars. He command structure and ranks make it difficult to get a good group dynamic.
 
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